They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

 Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

 Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

 We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say “thank you” to every wearer.

 By Joanna Fuchs

Veterans Day was first known as Armistice Day. It became a holiday in the United States in 1926 and a national holiday in 1938. Congress changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all U.S. veterans.

Thank you Veterans!         ~Donna

You know how there are some people who are obsessed with the mail? (Has the mail come yet? Did I get any good mail? What’s in the mail today?) Or some people are obsessed with the news? (Did you watch the news last night? Did you read the paper this morning? Did you hear the story about that mailman?) And some people are obsessed with the weather? (Wasn’t the storm loud last night? Did you see that we’re supposed to get 10 inches of snow tomorrow? Wasn’t the weekend weather gorgeous?) Well, I don’t consider myself obsessed with any of those things, but I mention all of this as I think it might appear that I am weather obsessed. I was about to start today’s Latest Additions update with a soliloquy about the unbelievably beautiful weather we had over the weekend but then I realized that I talk about the weather – a lot! And I’m not a weather junkie. Honestly! Well. I just wanted to clear that up. Okay. So thanks for listening! And now on to the good stuff, a list of new reviews you can find in The Reading Room. (Where there is no weather to speak of!)

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce
The Hollow by Jessica Verday
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

And there you go. Four books to read outside, while the beautiful weather lasts…

—Stacey

I just read that Walmart lowered online prices on some popular pre-order titles like Stephen King’s new one, Under the Dome. Apparently Amazon responded by lowering some of their prices to $9 and so Walmart took it even lower to $8.98. When booksellers compete, you win! Go forth and order some Christmas presents while the price war is on:

Walmart vs. Amazon

–Julie

Okay. So generally, I find Daylight Saving Time to be a little confusing and a little annoying. I enjoyed getting that extra hour back, but I didn’t like giving it up in the Spring so that’s sort of a moot point. I changed all my clocks, except the car radio which I struggle with for weeks before I find the directions. The best part is that it’s done until the second Sunday in March, phew! And then I started wondering if we were the only people crazy enough to mess around with DST adjustments twice a year. Surprise! We’re not! I found a website with a page on which other countries are playing along with the madness… very interesting stuff.

What is *not* interesting but *is* disturbing, is turning on the television -after reading the newspaper but before snacking on Halloween candy- and I found… a Christmas themed movie! Shocked! Dismayed! Less that twenty-four hours after having spooky butterflies and eerie Jedi knights ask me for candy, I’m watching a woman realize that love is the most powerful gift of all. (Okay, I’m not totally sure what the movie was about since I didn’t watch it. It was November 1st! Too soon! Too soon for my most favorite sappy Christmas movies! Erg!) The upside of the too soon Christmas shows? The upside is that I’ll have lots more quiet reading time as I am now officially afraid to turn the television back on for a bit. Maybe I’ll read one of these:

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Ends of the Earth by Tim Downs
The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Calumet City by Charlie Newton
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhonda Janzen
The Song is You by Megan Abbott
Blue Moon: The Immortals by Alyson Noel
Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

Hmm, maybe I’ll start with The Perfect Christmas…

—Stacey

Last summer, when I heard that Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler’s Wife author) had a new book coming out, I put it on hold at our library. My name came up at the perfect time. I’m reading it now during the Halloween season, which is timely, since the new book, Her Fearful Symmetry, is really a ghost story. When Elspeth Noblin dies in London, she leaves her London apartment and her estate to her two young twin nieces whom she had never met. Elspeth herself was a twin, and her nieces, Valentina and Julia, are her sister Edie’s children. Now, the 21-year-old twins have moved to London from Chicago, but find that Elspeth’s ghost is haunting the apartment. Filled with the lore of cemeteries (Highgate Cemetery in London), spirits, ghosts, and family secrets, Niffenegger’s latest book is the perfect choice to read on a chilly October/November night (read with a spot of tea on the side of course!)

~Ann

Can there be any more to add about Bouchercon? Well, the answer is yes there can!

Some of the sessions I attended were The Mean Streets of Indianopolis, featuring Indiana-based detectives, Heroes for Our Times, with a behind-the-scenes looks at those strong, silent-type characters that always save the day, and Love, Murder and Suspense, showcasing mysteries with romance in them–and local Cleveland author Casey Daniels as well. She only stayed through Friday because she had a “paranormal” event in Parma on Saturday. Her character Pepper Martin is a cemetery tour guide that sees ghosts.

My two favorite sessions both featured thriller authors. 

David Morrell of Rambo fame and Lee Child (think Jack Reacher) both spoke of the history of the thriller. Lee Child, who is British, told the story of how, at age 11, he realized that his Greek history lesson about Thesues and the Minotaur and Dr. No by Ian Fleming were really the same story–A gratutious action scene at the beginning (Thesues sinks King Minos’s fleet of ships and, well,  just think of every James Bond movie you’ve ever seen). Second, where James Bond always seduces an enemy woman to gain secret knowledge,  Thesues wins the favor of Princess Ariadne and receives a ball of string that enables him to slay the Minotaur and get out of the labyrinth. Third, both Bond and Theuses win their challenges and go on their way leaving the woman behind. By the time Lee Child had finished his story, most of the audience was laughing their heads off — even though it was 9:30 a.m on Saturday morning!

The other thriller session I attended featured authors who write forensic scientist books, including Lisa Black who writes Theresa MacLean books set in Cleveland. Much to the delight of the audience, one author actually shared *REAL* crime scene photos that the authors then analyzed as their characters would have done.                                                                       

                                                                                                    ~Evelyn

From October 15^th through the 17^th I attended Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention) in Indianapolis, Indiana. To briefly sum it up: Michael Connelly, Michael Connelly, Michael Connelly!

Okay, there was more to it than Michael Connelly, who was the Guest of Honor. There were actually about 1700 people in attendance (authors, wanne be authors, readers, librarians) for 3 ½ days of panel discussions, programs, and general communication about the world of mysteries.

The Highlights: One of the best panel discussions I attended was called “Lost in Translation.” Moderated by Peter Rosovsky, who does a wonderful blog called Detectives Beyond Borders : a Forum for International Crime Fiction, the panel also consisted of 3 translators and an Icelandic writer. (Who can say Yrsa Sigurðardóttir?) One of the translators, Tiina Nunnally, talked about how translation is an art and that too many cooks spoil the stew. She learned this, when translating Smilla’s Sense of Snow, and the Danish author insisted on changes to the English translation that made sense in Danish but not English (can an English reader make sense of the phrase “a duck on your back”?!). Her husband, Steven T. Murray, talked about the pressures of translating the wildly popular Stieg Larsson novels.

“This Pen for Hire” was interesting, especially hearing Max Allen Collins talk about the late Mickey Spillane. My coworker Evelyn and I thought Collins looked like he’s about 40 years old, but later found out he’s 61.

I’m a huge fan of William Kent Krueger. Krueger, who sets many of his books in Tamarack County, Minnesota, was the perfect choice as moderator for a panel discussion about “Setting as Character.” Writers Deborah Atkinson, Tom Corcoran, and Jonathan King talked about how the locales they write about are actually as important as the characters in the novels they write.

The Librarian’s Tea sponsored by Sisters in Crime was fabulous. We had high tea, met and spoke with a variety of authors. The idea of SinC was to introduce librarians to authors. A panel moderated by Charlaine Harris and made up of S.J. Rozan, Nancy Pickard, Carolyn Hart, and Eve Sandstrom (aka JoAnna Carl) discussed why they love librarians. We even got to keep the tea cup and saucer!

The interviews with S.J. Rozan, the Toastmaster of the convention and with Michael Connelly were top notch.

And then there were the books. I had been to three mystery conferences in the past so my plan was to get at least a few autographs. I came prepared by bringing along my own copies of one of Michael Connelly’s books and two of Sue Grafton’s. I was impressed by what I heard from Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and the Australian Michael Robotham. The book room was too hard to resist (row after row of mystery booksellers) so I bought some of the above two authors’ books and had a chance to chat with them and have the books signed.

A great conference … did I mention that Michael Connelly was there?

~Ann

Oh my reading lists just keep on growing and growing! This problem was not helped by my recent trip to Indianapolis while I attended Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention that celebrates the mystery genre. Bouchercon (rhymes with voucher-con) is called so in honor of Anthony Boucher (1911-1968), cofounder of Mystery Writers of America. “Boucher” plus “con” (for convention). It’s is the largest annual meeting in the world for mystery lovers. The convention included panel discussions and other presentations by mystery writers, covering all aspects of mystery fiction, thrillers, detective stories, suspense novels, and more. All sorts of people come to Bouchercon, including many many authors, aspiring authors, agents, publishing reps, and of course, fans (like me) of the genre.

I attended many panels over the course of the 3 day event but am only including my impressions on my favorites.  

Crankin’ ‘Em Out: The Edward Stratemeyer Story was fascinating. Did you know that the ‘author’ of Nancy Drew, Carolyn Keene, wasn’t a real person? Sorry to break the news if it is news to you but ’she’ was actually several ghost-writers writing under that psuedonym. The very funny author Don Bruns (South Beach Shakedown, 2006) led an informative session on Edward Stratemeyer, the man who marketed books to teens and adolescents, and created and held all the rights and royalties of the famous Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. Bruns compared Stratemeyer’s kingdom to that of James Patterson’s already bursting-with-bestsellers empire. I already knew about the Stratemeyer Syndicate, but as a big Nancy Drew fan, still I found this discussion interesting.

The writers at the This Pen for Hire panel talked about the difficulties in taking over writing a series while staying true to the characters and original writers. Writers including Max Allan Collins (a mystery writer who was handpicked by Mickey Spillane to finish the last Mike Hammer tales), Donald Bain, Jon Guenther and Robert Goldsborough (who picked up the Nero Wolfe series). Most interesting was Donald Bain’s insight on his penning the beloved Jessica Fletcher/Murder She Wrote mystery series. Not only must Bain deal w/ rabid fans, but even more terrifying is that television executives get to edit his books first! 

I also attended the two big author interviews held at Bouchercon: 

The S.J. Rozan interview was great. I’ve never read her books but now I have to! She was so smart. There are only 9 titles so far in the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series. That’s not too many. I can catch up, right? I’m starting with China Trade, the first. Have I mentioned how my reading lists have grown?

Michael Connelly was interviewed by Michael Koryta (who has visited RRPL twice)! Gosh, they are both so very cute! Oh, they write books too? Joking aside, this was a big deal. Connelly was the guest of honor at Bouchercon and was promoting his new book 9 Dragons. Also, I got a promo copy of Koryta’s new standalone. (The perfect birthday gift for my lucky brother).

Librarian’s Tea - This totally fabulous event was a tea honoring librarians sponsored by the Sisters in Crime , an organization whose members are bound by affection for the mystery genre and support of women who write mysteries. Perks of this event included authors sitting w/ us at the tables (!) and delicious tea and pastries. Oh, the carbs! I was too full for dinner that night. While we enjoyed the tea, there was also a panel of SiC member authors (including JoAnna Carl and Charlaine Harris) who expressed much love for their hometown and childhood librarians. Hooray!

On Thursday night, the Gameworks store in Indianapolis’ Circle Center mall was open to Bouchercon registrants. This was a fun evening event that included tons of free food and videogame playing & an author talent show. I learn what ”filk” is. (Interested? check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk_music)  The talent show including some singing, some dancing, some joke-telling. Fun, but these most of these authors really just should stick to writing.

I attended two excellent panels Crime Fiction (my favorite of the mystery sub-genres):

At “More Noir than You Are” Some of the best crime fiction/noir authors around talked (at times vulgarly) about the difference between noir fiction (the protagonist is doomed) vs. crime fiction vs. other types of mysteries. They discussed their writing processes, did a bit of reading from their books and talked film noir. This was an entertaining panel. Charlie Newton was there and, inspired, I just devoured his novel Calumet City. Wow–talk about dark. I loved it! 

In The Dark Side of the Fair Sex, I got to hear one of my favorite authors, Megan Abbott (Queenpin, Die a Little, etc) talk to other women writers of crime fiction about their crafts. Oh yes, they had a token male writer on the panel (sorry, Derek Nikitas), but I was really there to see Chelsea Cain (of Sweetheart fame) and Sophie Littlefield (whose new novel A Bad Day for Sorry rocks). Believe me, you don’t want to mess with these fictionalized ladies!

All of the panels I went to were great and overall, the conference was just fabulous and fabulously planned! I would highly recommend attending a Bouchercon (or any other book related conference) if you get a chance, because for me, at least, authors are like movie stars. Did I mention that there were authors everywhere! I saw them eating tapas at a wine bar & hanging in the hotel lobby. I spied them on the escalator at the hotel, walking around Indianapolis (in the frigid Cleveland-like weather). and walking around the mall, with their parents! How cool?

My only complaint (and it’s a selfish one): I didn’t come home with boxes of freebies! The one event I attended that promised free books was a mob scene. I feared for my life. Luckily, I did get out alive and with a signed Charles Todd mystery (Incidentally, Todd is a mother/son writing team but they both signed it “Charles Todd.”) There was a very cool book dealer room where folks could buy books and wait in lines for author signing. I walked around a bit, but me, I like my books free from the library!

~Carol

What?! Another sunny day in Cleveland? Wooty-hoo! We win!! (I don’t know what we win, but if all we get is some sunshine as our prize… we’ll take it!) Even better? Despite the super weather, it looks like many of my co-workers have been reading up a storm! There are so many books to share, I think I’ll just have to get down to business already.

Shoo Fly Pie by Tim Downs
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran
Invisible i by Melissa Kantor
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Evidence of Murder by Lisa Black
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
The Hidden Man by David Ellis
Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter by Lisa Patton

 That’s a lot to choose from! I see a couple I’ll be putting on hold now myself; how about you?

—Stacey

I recently discovered the small English publisher Persephone Books; I’ve been reading about their books on various blogs, so I sent for a catalogue and newsletter and was immediately intrigued. Started 10 years ago, Persephone reprints novels, short stories, diaries, poetry and cookbooks by 20^th century women writers, some whose names are familiar and others that have been ignored or forgotten. The books are beautifully designed – they have dove grey covers and their endpapers are taken from fabrics printed when the book was originally written or that reflect the mood and subject of the book. I have yet to order any of the titles, but, according to their website, “The books are guaranteed to be readable, thought-provoking and impossible to forget.” Wow. Maybe I’ll get myself one for a birthday gift. Trouble is…which one to choose…

~ Dori