Top Ten Tuesday: In a Word

This week's Top Ten Tuesday subject from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Books with One-Word Titles."  I am not counting articles (a, an, the) in this, just FYI.  I've gathered up my favorites and linked their titles to my reviews of them, and given you a hint of what you can find in each one too!

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- found family, brothers, young hoods, Robert Frost

Persuasion by Jane Austen -- second chance at love, family strife, personal growth, female friendship

Shane by Jack Schaefer -- found family, western, lone gunman, hero worship

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson -- swashbuckler, historical fiction, buddy story, mismatched friends

Laura by Vera Caspary -- dark mystery, detective hero, mysterious woman, unconventional romance

Bloodlines by Jan Burke -- dual timeline, connected murder mysteries, mentors, news reporter

Emmazel by Kendra E. Ardnek -- Jane Austen retelling, Rapunzel retelling, snarky talking cat, female friendship

Beauty by Robin McKinley -- fairy tale retelling, medieval-esque setting, friends-to-lovers, unconventional heroine

Hondo by Louis L'Amour -- man of few words, unconventional romance, western, sacrificial love

Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards -- gardening, cottagecore, orphans, found family

Have you read any of these?  What books were on your TTT list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2022

I had a wonderful reading year in 2022!  To celebrate it, I've rounded up my "Favorite Books of 2022" to share with you for Top Ten Tuesday today, since that's the prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl this week.

As usual, I'm actually sharing two lists here -- my top ten favorite new reads and my top ten favorite rereads.  Since about a quarter of my reading is rereading, and I tend to revisit my favorites a lot, if I didn't separate the lists, I'd mostly be sharing rereads and that doesn't seem fair to new reads, so... two lists it is!

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour -- western, mystery, lawman, amateur detective, straight-forward storytelling

2. A Little Beside You (PG-13) by Jenni Sauer -- low-sci sci-fi, fairy tale retelling, gentle bruiser for a hero, cozy vibes, lots of knitting and baking

3. In the Glorious Fields (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 3)

4. The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden (G) by Karina Yan Glaser -- family, friendship, city life, gardening, multigenerational friendship, multiracial family, homelessness, found family

5. Isabella's Daughter (PG-13) by Charity Bishop -- history-based fiction, indomitable heroine, castle life, royalty, intrigue

6. Emmazel (G) by Kendra E. Ardnek -- fantasy, fairy tale retelling, Jane Austen retelling, cozy vibes, gardening, female friendship, talking cat

7. Song of the Valley (PG) by Britt Howard -- modern west setting, romantic, enemies-to-lovers, falling for your brother's best friend, horses, helping others

8. Cranford (G) by Elizabeth Gaskell -- shabby genteel cottagecore, female friendship, multigenerational friendship, cozy vibes, slice-of-life

9. Swallowdale (G) by Arthur Ransome -- adventurous kids, sailboats, exploring, camping, friendship

10. Laertes (PG-16) by Carly Stevens -- dark academia, Roaring Twenties, Europe, Shakespeare retelling, male friendship, supportive siblings

My Ten Favorite Rereads:

1. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery -- transformation, new life, beautiful nature, cozy cottage, island life, happily ever after

2. The Eyre Affair (PG-16) by Jasper Fforde -- book-based fantasy, literature love, alternate universe, Jane Eyre, quirky humor

3. The Long Goodbye (PG-16) by Raymond Chandler -- hard-boiled mystery, male friendship, brooding atmosphere, dark vibes, private detective

4. Kidnapped (PG) by Robert Louis Stevenson -- Scottish Highlands, escape scenes, male friendship, mismatched buddies, political intrigue, reclaimed inheritance, adventure galore

5. Bloodlines (R) by Jan Burke -- triple timeline, hard-boiled mystery, intergenerational friendship, mentors, amateur detective, Irish-American characers

6. The Beautiful Ones (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 2)

7. Lost in a Good Book (PG-16) by Jasper Fforde -- book-based fantasy, literature love, alternate universe, Miss Havisham, quirky humor

8. These War-Torn Hands (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 1)

9. Loving Isaac (PG-13) by Heather Kaufman -- parenting, autism rep, hesitant romance, turtles, abusive past relationships, sisterhood, Midwestern vibes, strong Christian faith

10. Ophelia (PG-16) by Lisa Klein -- medieval, historical fiction, Shakespeare retelling, first love, young adult, coming of age, secret marriage

Okay!  I hope that gives you some idea of what each of these twenty books are about -- maybe even got you interested in reading them.  Have you read any of them?  What were your favorite books this year?  Do tell!

"Bloodlines" by Jan Burke (again)

Did it take me two weeks to read this book?  Yes, it did.  But not because I wasn't enjoying it or couldn't get into it.  I spent two weeks on Bloodlines because I was savoring it.  I didn't want to rush through it, I wanted to soak in it.  And I did, and it was wonderful.

This is the first Irene Kelly book I ever read, back in 2012, and the one that made me want to read the whole series.  Now, ten years later, I'm finally able to fulfill that desire.  I had started reading the rest of the series, beginning with the first book, after I first read Bloodlines (which is book 9), but the library rudely ditched the series before I'd gotten past book 3.  So, I've slowly been collecting up the series whenever I would find copies at used book stores and thrift stores, etc.  I got the last couple on AbeBooks at the end of last year and set off on my quest to read the whole series in 2022, which I'm calling My Year with Irene Kelly.

A big part of why I love this book is that it starts in 1958, picks up in 1978, then concludes in 2000.  Murders and crimes from the past keep spawning trouble over the decades, and the plotting here is breathtaking.  

But the real reason that I loved it even more this second time through than I did the first time... was that I know who these characters are, now.  And getting to see Irene Kelly's mentor O'Connor active and on the page, both as a kid and an adult... it's so amazing.  You see, O'Connor dies at the very beginning of the first Irene Kelly book.  Like, in the first chapter, IIRC.  And Irene is always referring to him, missing him, thinking about him, and so on.  Which makes the first two-thirds of this book extra, extra good this time.  

None of this rambling tells you what the book is about, though, does it?  Well, it involves kidnapping, murder, long-buried secrets, family, friendship, mentorship, and grave robbing.  It sprawls.  It weaves.  It surprises.  I love it.  I keep trying to sum up the mystery without spoiling it, but I can't seem to manage it, sorry.

I have two books left in the series to read.  And I'm a little worried they won't live up to Bloodlines because I love it so, so much.  But, then again, they might be just as wonderful!  Won't know until I try them.

Particularly Good Bits:

Missing, he thought, meant exactly that -- gone like a piece of you, carved right out of you, missing from you (p. 145).

There is a distance between "should forgive" and "have forgiven" that is sometimes hard to cross (p. 462).

I stared out the window of the Lucky Dragon, watching a steady stream of downtown workers, panhandlers, shoppers, and others walk by.  Each one a little bundle of troubles on legs, determined to make it through the day (p. 569).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for violence, language, and off-page sex.

"Flight" by Jan Burke

This book was a great relief.  I disliked the previous Irene Kelly mystery, Bones, so much that I didn't even review it here or on Goodreads.  I just want to forget it.  I put off starting this one for over a month because I was afraid it would be similarly gruesome and creepy.  But I do aim to read the whole series this year, so I finally started reading Flight, and it was great!  Not creepy.  Whew.

This book actually focuses more on Frank Harriman, Irene Kelly's husband who is a homicide detective.  He's tasked with solving a cold case from 10 years earlier, before he transferred to the Las Piernas PD.  The case involves a homicide detective who was accused of taking a bribe to kill a teen witness in a murder case, and then disappeared.  When his body is found, the case gets assigned to Frank because he's the only detective on the force who wasn't there earlier and doesn't have a preconceived attitude or ideas about it.

Because I happen to love stories of vindicating someone falsely accused of something awful, I totally dug the mystery here.  And even though it's "a novel of suspense" instead of a straight-up mystery (which means there are chapters from the villain's POV), the villain here wasn't super duper creepy like the one in Bones (which was also suspense, not straight mystery), so I didn't have to skip his chapters like I ended up doing with Bones.  

Yay!

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  R for bloody murder, violence against teens, scary situations, and a little more sexual content than Burke usually has.

This is my 46th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.

"Liar" by Jan Burke

This Irene Kelly mystery really kept me guessing.  I was quite convinced the whole way through that one character I really liked was going to end up being a villain because... that happens in a lot of series to new characters I like a lot.  Happily, Liar did not go that route.  In fact, I'm hoping this new character pops up again in later books. 

In Liar, Irene Kelly's aunt dies in a hit-and-run accident that turns out to have been a deliberate homicide.  Who would want to kill her reclusive, barely-making-ends-meet aunt?  That is the question!  And, suddenly, suspects come crawling out of the woodwork.  Was it Irene's cousin Travis, son of the dead woman, who lives in a purple camper and travels around telling stories to kids at libraries?  Was it the dead woman's brother-in-law who says he's had nothing to do with the family for years?  Was it a creepy private investigator who seems to be stalking Irene now, but was watching her aunt before she died?  Or was it one of the five other people with possible motives and less than stellar personalities/alibis?  

Yup, kept me guessing, like I said.  I never did figure it out before the reveal, which is how I prefer to experience mysteries.  No wonder I enjoyed it!

I also love that each Irene Kelly book takes place shortly after the previous one, so Irene and her husband Frank and the other recurring characters are still dealing with stuff that happened before.  They tie together really naturally that way, and I dig that.

Particularly Good Bits:

Trauma runs the marathon, not the fifty-yard dash (p. 90).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for bad language, violence, non-detailed descriptions of murder scenes, discussions of marital infidelity and illegitimate children, and mentions of child abuse.

This is my 27th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.

"Hocus" by Jan Burke

Well, that was extremely tense and thrilling.  Wow.  You know, I don't think I realized quite how attached I've become to Frank Harriman, police detective husband of Irene Kelly, until this book.  Maybe Irene hadn't either. 

I think this is the fastest I've read one of these books, and even though I knew (because I've read one later book in the series before) that Frank was going to come through this book alive, I was frantic to get him rescued.  I couldn't read fast enough.

You see, Frank Harriman gets abducted by two unhinged dudes who have a past history with him, a history that involves a brutal double homicide and hostage situation.  Frank was the hero of that first incident, but he's the victim this time around, and... you know how I get all protective of fictional characters I love?  MAN, I wanted so much to jump into this book and protect Frank.

Yeah.  Anyway, Irene Kelly continues to be a delight to hang out with.  I love that she never does stupid things like run heedlessly into what she knows will be a dangerous situation, or go off chasing someone without letting other people know where she's going.  Yes, she runs toward danger at times, but she knows that she's doing so, and she calls for backup and help consistently.  I appreciate that a lot.

Particularly Good Bits:

Wrigley and I have a strained relationship in the best of times, and between two and three in the morning is never going to rank as one of the best of times (p. 45).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for some brutal violence, abduction of children, bad language, and hints of sexual conduct between married people.  It's not particularly icky in any way, but it's not suitable for children, either.

This has been my 19th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.

"Remember Me, Irene" by Jan Burke

Ooooooh, this was far and away the best Irene Kelly book yet!  Also, it's the first one I've read this year that was not a reread, so that added some extra zing, I suppose.  Though, to be honest, I haven't remembered loads about the first three either, since it had been so long since I'd read them the first time.

Remember Me, Irene kicks off with a homeless man at a bus stop recognizing Irene Kelly.  Not so shocking, as she's a pretty well-known reporter in Las Piernas, CA, and her picture has been in the paper more than a few times.  But he insists he knew her long ago, though he won't tell her his name.  It's not until later that Irene learns who he is now (Lucas Monroe, alcoholic) and who he used to be (a college instructor who taught Irene years ago).

This one little thread begins to unravel a huge, hidden conspiracy involving architecture, contractors, local politics, and several murders.  It was really, really tangled, and I loved every minute.  Especially the parts that took place in an abandoned hotel called the Angelus.  First, I am fascinated by abandoned buildings, and second, it sounded like a place they would use as a setting for some random ep of Angel (1999-2004).  I loved imagining wandering around in it.

Also, I love that Irene and Frank are a happily married couple.  They are both such strong-minded, stubborn, loyal, wonderful characters who insist on standing by each other through anything, but who also don't always get along at every minute of the day. 

Particularly Good Bits:

     Holding me in bed that night, Frank was warm and solid, his simple act of affection as important to me as the beating of my own heart against his hand.  "I like being married," I whispered, thinking he was asleep.

     "Me, too," he murmured against my ear (p. 220).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for a long of very strong language, some messy crime scenes, a suicide, and quite a bit of innuendo (but no open-door love scenes).

This is my 13th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.

"Dear Irene," by Jan Burke (again)

What a perfect book to take on vacation!  This one galloped along at a terrific pace, and I really loved all the bits of Greek mythology that got woven into it.  I know I read this back in 2013 (also while on a road trip!), but really didn't remember it at all.

A serial killer sends Irene Kelly cryptic messages foretelling each kill before he makes it, or before he allows the body to be discovered.  They refer to her as Cassandra and him as Thanatos, and they reference lots of Greek mythology as little clues to lead her (and the police) to the next victim.  Of course, Irene Kelly and her fiance, Detective Frank Harriman, solve the mystery and stop the killer before he can finish his fiendish plot, but not before several people do die.

Some of the deaths in this one were pretty gruesome, but Irene herself didn't get tortured or anything, which made it easier to handle than the first couple books.  I think this is the last of the series I've read besides Bloodlines, so the next few I read will count for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022 :-D

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for profanity, gruesome crime scenes, characters in grave peril, and innuendo.  No open-door love scenes.

"Sweet Dreams, Irene" by Jan Burke (again)

I am SO happy that I decided to reread this series.  It's bringing me such enjoyment!  I read Sweet Dreams, Irene in a day and a half.  Most of it this afternoon, in fact.  Just curled up on the couch and inhaled it.

Newspaper reporter Irene Kelly is now in a definite relationship with Frank Harriman.  They haven't quite told each other they love each other, but they both know it's true.  And then Frank's next-door neighbor is brutally murdered, an election Irene is covering for the newspaper seems to be affected by the murder, and both Frank and Irene get told they can't try to help solve this case because of their involvement with each other.

Also, there are Wiccans and possible Satanists involved.  Also, some runaway teens.  Also, a burly biker dude.  And Frank wants Irene to attend his family's Thanksgiving get-together.  So much drama!  So much tension!  So much galloping excitement as all the pieces tangled together start to become clear!

Is it weird that murder mysteries are my comfort reads?  Specific kinds of murder mysteries -- ones written by authors I can trust to give me a happy ending with restored moral balance.  Like Jan Burke.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for a lot of bad language, torture, violent murder, and a lot of discussion of two unmarried people sleeping together (but they always fade to black after a kiss or a suggestive comment, which I appreciate).

"Goodnight, Irene" by Jan Burke (again)

I have embarked upon my quest to read the whole Irene Kelly series by Jan Burke in one year!  I first read Goodnight, Irene almost ten years ago -- I didn't realize it had been so long!  I'm really glad to be able to revisit these and finally finish the series.

Goodnight, Irene concerns the murder of a newspaperman, who, for decades, has been posting annually about an unsolved murder case involving an unidentified young woman.  Irene Kelly takes her old job back at the same newspaper where her murdered best friend had worked and tries to figure out how his death might be linked to that cold case he never stopped investigating.  Along the way, she meets up with an acquaintance from years ago, Detective Frank Harriman.  Their reviving friendship gives way to a hesitant new romance as they work together to uncover the truth.

I really enjoy Burke's straight-forward writing style.  She doesn't try to be fancy or literary, simply tells a good story well.  Her characters are appealing and likable, but not perfect.  And her mystery plot was top notch!  Because it's been so long since I first read this, I really didn't remember the plot at all, and I love that it was all fresh and surprising again.

Particularly Good Bits:

But how could I feel in control of my own life if all I did was run?  I had to face this head on; even if I got scared or cried or whatever -- I had to deal with it (p. 160).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  R for quite a lot of bad language, some gruesome murder details, non-graphic sexual references, and some kissing.  

"Dear Irene," by Jan Burke

This was a zippy read for me.  Finished it in two days, though that's because I was riding in a car for eight hours one of the days.  Actually had time to read!  Wheee!

This is the third Irene Kelly mystery, and they keep getting better and better.  This one involved a serial killer who sent messages to Irene with all these cryptic references to Greek mythology in them.  I'm fascinated by mythology, though I can't keep any of those gods and goddesses straight, so I enjoyed learning random stuff about them here.  Also, i appreciate that Irene usually does not get into Certain Peril by being stupid -- she's usually at the wrong place or whatever, though she does get reckless sometimes... but that's not usually when she crosses paths with murderers.  I like that, as too many female detectives don't get to be truly smart.  Also, Irene is a writer, so you know I dig that.

Anyway, don't have much else to say other than that this was an enjoyable, well-written mystery :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

I watched him struggling to learn that trick of functioning with grief -- that trick of remembering and forgetting all at once, of letting the ghost walk at your side, but not block your way.  I was learning it myself.  (p.84)

Each cover and spine seemed to long to be held again, the way a widower might long for his late wife's embrace.  (p. 150)

The waiting room chairs were apparently designed by the set decorator for the Spanish Inquisition. (p. 274)

If this was a movie, I would rate it:  R for violence and suspensefulness and bad language and implied bedroom activity.

"Sweet Dreams, Irene" by Jan Burke

Sweet Dreams, Irene is the second in Jan Burke’s series of mysteries starring intrepid newspaper reporter Irene Kelly. It begins with Irene reporting on the two men running for D.A. One candidate’s political machine accuses the other candidate’s son of being a Satanist. The boy comes to Irene to try to get his side of the story in the paper, insisting that rather than being a Satanist, he’s actually trying to get his best friend to leave a Wiccan coven. Before we know it, there are dead people, there are death threats, and then Irene winds up kidnapped. Even after she escapes (okay, sorry, that was spoily, but since there are a lot more Irene Kelly books after this, you know she didn’t stay kidnapped forever), Irene keeps having nightmares about her captivity. She expects this to put a strain on her relationship with Detective Frank Harriman, but the two of them are too busy finding out who’s behind all the murder and mayhem to stay apart for long.

This book was written in the mid-’90s, when Wicca was a hot new topic that would have raised a lot of eyebrows. Now it feels a little bit like the subject of witchcraft was included for shock value and timeliness, which makes the whole book feel a bit dated. However, the interpersonal relationships and the detective work more than make up for that.

Irene Kelly reminds me of Nancy Drew — she’s intelligent, feisty, loyal, and daring. She can get herself out of most jams, and when she can’t, her wonderful boyfriend can. Like Nancy’s Ned Nickerson, Frank Harriman is strong, handsome, athletic, and sympathetic. I look forward to reading more of this series, and am very glad to know there are almost a dozen of them so far.

(Originally published on Novel Book Ratingson Aug. 3, 2012.)

"Bloodlines" and "Goodnight, Irene" by Jan Burke

As I mentioned earlier, reading A Study in Sherlock inspired me to try out some new mystery authors.  I started with Jan Burke.  Our local library has several of her books, but not the first one in her series about Irene Kelly, so I just grabbed the one with the most interesting title.  It was Bloodlines.

Bloodlines is the sort of sprawling, nuanced, intricately rambling treat I don't usually find when I read mysteries.  By the time I was fifty pages into it, I was firm friends with the two main characters of the first section, young Connor O'Connor and his mentor, newspaperman Jack Corrigan.  I need to blog about how important it is for me to become friends with characters sometime, but for now I'll just assure you that it's important.  And the faster I make friends, the better I generally like the book.  I love this book.  It takes place over five different decades, and about halfway through I realized it was kind of tying together several events in other books in the series.  Characters I grew to love would abruptly die off-page.  I grew to love other characters in their places.  The giant, seemingly rambly narrative came into focus, then charged ahead full-steam suddenly, then tied up in a most satisfactory -- but deliciously unexpected -- way.  Complete love! 

It concerned a bunch of characters who died and disappeared in the 1950s in a way that made me think of Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels.  Also, there's a kidnapping.  And then nothing whatsoever happens with the case for decades, until someone unexpectedly unearths some new clues....  By the end, I was a confirmed Jan Burke fan and hungry for more.

So I got Goodnight, Irene, the first book in this series.  And it was quite good too, with a lovely love story and a complicated plot.  I didn't love it as much as Bloodlines, but that's okay, because it was a much earlier novel, and now I know that they improve as they go along, rather than unimproving or staying the same.  In this one, Irene Kelly's best friend gets blown up, and she helps solve the murder while doing some nice journalistic work as well.  Did I mention Irene Kelly is a newspaper reporter too?  Anyway, a perfectly good mystery, if not as delightful as Bloodlines.  Can't wait to read more!

(Originally posted on Hamlette's Soliloquy on Apr. 11, 2012.)

"A Study in Sherlock" ed. by Laurie R. King and Leslie Klinger

I got this book for Christmas and read it over the course of a couple weeks, limiting myself to a story every day or two to make it last longer.  I'm choosing it as the subject of my first review here because, although I finished reading it almost three months ago, it's directly informed my reading selections since then, which I'll be blogging about too, so I figured starting with the source would be a good idea.

I've been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was ten or eleven, when I found a giant, hardcover copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles at the library and devoured it over the weekend.  I can still remember the illustration on its cover, a giant black dog rushing toward the viewer, indistinct people in the background giving chase.  I've been a fan of Laurie R. King and her Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell mysteries since around 2005, when I first read her brilliant The Beekeeper's Apprentice.  I had the pleasure of attending a reading she did in Connecticut a few years ago, even getting to meet her and ask her to sign a couple books.  So when I learned about this new book from her Facebook page, I was eager to read it.  And I haven't been disappointed!  All the stories were enjoyable, but I liked five of them particularly well, and these are they:

"The Men with the Twisted Lips" by S. J. Rozan.  This story has a collection of Oriental black market businessmen colluding to arrange for Sherlock Holmes to have all the clues he needs to solve the mystery told in the canonical story "The Man with the Twisted Lip."  It's full of vivid details and clever arrangements of little plot details to make the whole story work with the original.

"The Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman.  This one's a bit dark and very literary. by which I mean it's not particularly a mystery, but more of a character study.  Holmes pops up in a remote Chinese mountain range to practice some highly unusual beekeeping, with startling results.

"The Adventure of the Concert Pianist" by Margaret Maron.  This story follows Dr. Watson as he returns to Baker Street during the period after the Reichenbach Falls incident, when everyone assumes Holmes is dead. Watson helps their erstwhile housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, solve a mystery concerning one of her relatives.  The very end makes me grin and say, "Awwww!" when I think of it.

"The Imitator" by Jan Burke.  This one has a bunch of post-WWI eccentrics using Holmes' methods to solve a kidnapping.  Lots of fun!

"The Startling Events in the Electrified City" by Thomas Perry.  Totally my favorite story in this book.  It posits that the assassination of President McKinley was in fact a most elaborate hoax concocted by the President himself and carried out with the help of Holmes and Watson.  I loved this story and have read it twice.  In my occasionally humble opinion, this story is worth the price of the whole book all by itself.

Reading this collection has inspired me to try out some new authors, and I'll be reviewing things by them soon, as I've read 4 or 5 books since this one, a couple of them by authors I've mentioned here.  And I'm on the hunt for more!

(Originally posted on Hamlette's Soliloquy on Apr. 2, 2012.)