MysteryMax Reads in 2021 - Mysteries First

My name is Martha, but friends call me Max. I live in Vermont, on the side of a mountain - without cell phone coverage. It makes me feel like I'm on an alternate Earth! This will be my 10th year in the challenge. I'm basically a 'dog' person, but our dog died several years ago, and we now have a ginger cat that the dog brought home one day. Fortunately, Cato (the cat) worshiped our dog and now thinks he's a dog as well. The kids are grown and away. My husband is grown and away, as well - he's Canadian and stuck on that side of the border due to border closure. I'm forming a long list of food I want him to cook for me, and chores that need doing that I can't do. When the border is open we go back and forth, and Ottawa is our Canadian spot.



1. I Had a Hammer : The Hank Aaron Story
2. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
3. Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh
4. Oddity by Eli Brown
5.
6. Mutatis Alphonsus : A Plant Mutation & Mania of Ricco Alphonso
by Harry Rich
7. A Body Surrounded by Water by Eric Wright
8. The Good Thief's Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
9. Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll
10 The Promise and the Dream by David Margolick
11 The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
12 The Double Game by Dan Fesperman
13 Lemon in the Basket by Charlotte Armstrong
14 Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
15 The Case of the Restless Redhead by Erle Stanley Gardner
16 The Quiet American by Graham Greene
17 Storm Rising by Sara Driscoll (who is two people)
18 Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich
19 The Heart of a Man : A Naval Pilot's Vietnam Diary by Frank
Callihan Elkins
20 Castle in the Air by Donald Westlanke
21 The Artic Fury by Greer Macallister
22 Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
23
24 The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot by Colin Cotterill
25 The Lake Frome Monster by Arthur Upfield

January


January wrap-up,:
Books read:16
Non-fiction read: 1
Books added: 6
Best read: The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Comments:
I'd planned to binge on Gardner (did read one) and Stout, but since I'd started the Evanovich series in December I decided to finish it first.

February


February wrap-up
Books read: 17
Non-fiction: 3
Books added: 6
Best read: The Double Game by Dan Fesperman

March


March wrap-up:
Books Read: 10
Non-Fiction: 0
Books Added: 6
Best Read: The Case of the Restless Redhead Erle Stanley Gardner

April


April wrap-up:
Books read: 9
Non Fiction: 0
Books added: 2
Most Enjoyed: Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
Comment: My trip to Texas when my brother died and editing the first round of galley proofs of my book kept me pretty busy and it's reflected in the number of books read.

May



May wrap up:
Books read: 12
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 1
Most enjoyed: The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni
Comments: total computer failure and lack of internet made this month frustration.

June


June wrap up:
Books read: 6
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 30
Most enjoyed: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Comments: rough month! But due to a money for books gift and an introduction to Thriftbooks, I added 30 books. Of course, that means I need to get rid of some.

July


1. Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPherson One of those books that are enjoyable but nothing that grabs my heart. Have read two now of the series, and I think I'm done. So many left to be read..... Dandy goes to a girl's school to help a childhood friend.
2. Mutatis Alphonsus : A Plant Mutation & Mania of Ricco Alphonso by Harry Rich I have no doubt that this book fits the bingo square for less than 20 LTs having it. It's a short novella that presents a farce of scholarly endeavours. Complete with copperplate illustrations.
3. Imperfect Burials by Thomas Henry Pope
4. Storm Rising by Sara Driscoll Sara Driscoll is the writing Jen J. Danna and Ann Vanderlaan.
5. The Snarkout Boys & The Baconburg Horror by Daniel Manus Pinkwater Pinkwater is the only children's author I know where the average age of his readers is 40! Always a joy to read one of his stories.
6. Swing, Swing Together by Peter Lovesey
7. Waxworks by Peter Lovesey
8. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene Read the book and watched the movie. I laughed out loud several times during the book, but the movie didn't quite portray the absurdity as well as the book even though it was practically word for word the same as the book.
9. The Case of the Terrified Typist by Erle Stanley Gardner

I love all your cartoons! Making me laugh today.

Happy new thread! I enjoyed revisiting all your cartoons.

Happy New Thread! Always nice to visit.

Hurray, Part 2!

Happy new thread, I also enjoyed the cartoons and I am looking forward to hearing about more mysteries!

Happy new thread, Max, and thanks for the giggles.

>8 mysterymax: I'm loving Pooh!

Thanks everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday - whether it be July 01 or July 04!

I see I have to go back and bring forward my bingo card because I have a book to put on it.

My latest read Imperfect Burials by Thomas Henry Pope is a read I'd recommend to those that like Cold War spy/thriller books. The power that governments hold to write their own versions of history is used against journalist Finn Waters as he struggles to give voice to the truth.

Swing, Swing Together by Peter Lovesey is my favorite Sergeant Cribb so far. This was a nod at the book Three Men in a Boat and very enjoyable.

>18 mysterymax: My favourite in that series too!

>18 mysterymax: Hoping to be up there mid-to-late October!

>20 mysterymax: That would be awesome! We'll have to go back to the tea room :D

>21 rabbitprincess: Keeping fingers crossed that the covid variant doesn't throw a monkey wrench into things. For sure, I'd love to go back to the tea room!

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene Read the book and watched the movie. I laughed out loud several times during the book, but the movie didn't quite portray the absurdity as well as the book even though it was practically word for word the same as the book.

Finished July with Perry Mason. The Case of the Terrified Typist.

July wrap up:
Books read: 9
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 11
Most enjoyed: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene in a close tie with Swing, Swing Together by Peter Lovesey
Comments: Busy month, Book released, set up new website, new facebook page, etc. but I read into the night too often!

July


1. Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPherson One of those books that are enjoyable but nothing that grabs my heart. Have read two now of the series, and I think I'm done. So many left to be read..... Dandy goes to a girl's school to help a childhood friend.
2. Mutatis Alphonsus : A Plant Mutation & Mania of Ricco Alphonso by Harry Rich I have no doubt that this book fits the bingo square for less than 20 LTs having it. It's a short novella that presents a farce of scholarly endeavours. Complete with copperplate illustrations.
3. Imperfect Burials by Thomas Henry Pope
4. Storm Rising by Sara Driscoll Sara Driscoll is the writing Jen J. Danna and Ann Vanderlaan.
5. The Snarkout Boys & The Baconburg Horror by Daniel Manus Pinkwater Pinkwater is the only children's author I know where the average age of his readers is 40! Always a joy to read one of his stories.
6. Swing, Swing Together by Peter Lovesey
7. Waxworks by Peter Lovesey
8. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene Read the book and watched the movie. I laughed out loud several times during the book, but the movie didn't quite portray the absurdity as well as the book even though it was practically word for word the same as the book.
9. The Case of the Terrified Typist by Erle Stanley Gardner

July wrap up:
Books read: 9
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 11
Most enjoyed: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene in a close tie with Swing, Swing Together by Peter Lovesey
Comments: Busy month, Book released, set up new website, new facebook page, etc. but I read into the night too often!

August



Here it is the 16th of the month already. It's been busy, busy and my internet time has been so full that I haven't gotten around to posting. I have been reading, though. Besides an ER book, I've been doing an alphabetical read of Perry Mason. Not all, you understand, just one of each letter... Fun stuff.

1. Everything is Jake by Jethro K. Lieberman This was my ERss book. It would have received higher ranking if he had left out large portions of detail. A simpler explanation would have served him better. Good characters.
2. The Case of the Blonde Bonanza by Erle Stanley Gardner
3. The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner
4. The Case of the Daring Divorcee by Erle Stanley Gardner
5. The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll by Erle Stanley Gardner
6. The Case of the Grinning Gorilla by Erle Stanley Gardner
7. No Man's Land by Sara Driscoll
8. The Case of the Hesitant Hostess by Erle Stanley Gardner
9. The Case of the Lucky Loser by Erle Stanley Gardner
10. The Case of the Musical Cow by Erle Stanley Gardner
11. The Case of the Runaway Corpse by Erle Stanley Gardner

August wrap up:
Books read:11
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 0
Most enjoyed: No Man's Land by Sara Driscoll

The Case of the Musical Cow turned out to be a non-Perry Mason book. The mystery was tight, the frame was really tight, but the truth comes out in the end. Very good read.

Well this thread has become completely jumbled. Maybe I can get my act together for September.

Two books so far for September, but don't have the cartoon up yet! Chris Ewan's Safe House and Gardner's The Case of the Terrified Typist. Also The Sherlockian. A Right to Die

September seems to have been a washout for me. Too much to do and not enough energy to get it all done.l
Reads this month:
1. Safe House by Chris Ewan
2. The Case of the Terrified Typist by Erle Stanley Gardner
3. The Sherlockian by Graham Moore Enjoyed even though the time element jumped back and forth.
4. A Right to Die by Rex Stout Not my favorite.
5. The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris
6. Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri This first Camilleri book I've given such a low rating to. It was written by him to be published after his death. Camilleri interacts with Montalbanl and I thought the ending was very weak.
7. The Case of the Counterfeit Eye by Erle Stanley Gardner
8. The Case of the Restless Redhead by Erle Stanley Gardner

October

Miss Marple : The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie
2. Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird
3. The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
4. Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
5. Another Man's Mocassins by Craig Johnson
6. The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
7. Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson

October wrap up:
Books read:7
Non-fiction: 0
Books added: 0
Most enjoyed: Junkyard Dogs - one of my favourite in the series

>32 mysterymax: - If you consider 8 books as a washout, I worry about me - I've only managed 3 so far although I might finish one more later today. One thing is true though - I've had a wicked busy month too. And since our clubhouse opened here, I've found even more things to do.

>32 mysterymax: I ended up finishing the month fairly strong, but I'll just admit that I had a week where I read very little except my normal devotional stuff. I managed to get the "mojo" back by visiting the library and getting an odd assortment of books.

>34 dudes22: >35 thornton37814: I've also been having trouble reading due to my eyes. Used to be able to read for hours and now after 30 or 40 minutes I have trouble. Got myself off to the eye doc and he said I needed a new Rx for my lenses. Funny reason - two of the issues that I have to wear glasses for seems to have corrected themselves. He even said that until my new lenses are ready I'd do better to take my glasses off when driving. Go figure. Even my double vision has disappeared. Not used to getting good news at my age!

Finished the Miss Marple short stories by reading one a night. As is often the case, my favourites were the last ones.

>36 mysterymax: Congratulations!

>38 pamelad: And it happened without any participation from me, that's the funny part. I wasn't doing anything extra!

Finished Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird an excellent Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

Have enjoyed tv series binging so much I've decided to binge on Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire books for awhile. Have read them all, but they were so spaced out and sometimes not in order, so I'm going to do them all over.

>41 mysterymax: - I'm still somewhere in the middle, but want to binge read some of the series too. Maybe next year.

Happy Thingaversary!! Hope you're spending the day reading and buying books.

>43 dudes22: Many thanks! Was the plan but a friend called and asked if I was willing to risk going to a movie matinee. We went and were two of six people in the theater. Enjoyed 007, then went for a pizza.

Many, many thanks to clara53 for her review of One Bad Day After Another!

Finished the second in the Longmire series Death Without Company. I do not remember seeing this plot in the tv series. When I've finished the books, I'll have to go back and watch the tv series.

>44 mysterymax: Yay, glad you enjoyed the new Bond film! I really want to see it, but they just lifted the capacity limits for movie theatres and now I don't really want to go :-/

>47 rabbitprincess: We were both a bit worried about going but we picked the early matinee on a weekday. Six people in the theatre and we were all wearing masks (except for eating popcorn). Got a full strength Moderna booster day before yesterday, spent yesterday sleeping it off. My arm is still sore but otherwise it's okay.

>48 mysterymax: I'll be attending an in-person event this week. We'll have about 50 people in a room that can seat 325, so I think we'll be fine. That 50 includes some of us working the event who may be in or outside the room as well as some speakers who intend to come right before they speak and then leave. The majority of the audience will be joining via livestream.

>49 thornton37814: I'm beginning to think mask wearing should be the norm. It would cut down the number of colds and flu! Even with the vaccine I suddenly feel more at risk since my birthday fiasco. I managed to get two years older in the space of five minutes. Someone asked me how old I was and when I replied my hubby said, 'ah, no, dear.' Seems all last year I thought I was a year younger than I was. That's one way to cross the line from elderly to old!

>50 mysterymax: The venue requires masks, so we are okay there.

>44 mysterymax: How did you enjoy the movie? We went to see a matinee showing with about a couple of dozen others in the audience. You now choose your seat when buying a ticket so everyone was super widely spaced. And although I like Daniel Craig it was my least favourite 007 movie. I keep meaning to look for the soundtrack music because it certainly didn't stay in my memory.

>52 VivienneR: Afraid I have to agree. Craig is my favourite Bond, but I thought this was the weakest and hated the way they decided to end it. He should have stuck to his original wish not to make another one.

November

1. Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson
2. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson
3. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson
4. Any Other Name by Craig Johnson
5. Dry Bones by Craig Johnson
6. An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson
7. The Western Star by Craig Johnson
8. Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
9. Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson

Rich got here last night. Said it was easy coming into the US. He's skeptic about going home after the holidays though. He brought with him a batch of used Agatha Christie paperbacks, about 15, aloing with a couple of hardcover Peter Robinson books. Felt like an early Christmas.

>56 mysterymax: Yaaaaay!!!

>56 mysterymax: Happiness all around!

>56 mysterymax: - That's so great!

>59 dudes22: >58 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks to both of you. The Canadian rules seem to change day by day, it's very frustrating.