Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2023

Our first Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl for 2024 is all about looking back over our reading from the past year and picking our top reads.  As usual, I am doing two lists, one of my top ten favorite new reads, and one of my top ten favorite re-reads.  I've linked each title to my review here on my blog, and provided a little info about each book as well, including its publication year.

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Code Name Edelweiss (PG-16) by Stephanie Landsem, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction spy story set in Hollywood during the build-up to WWII

2. A Deed of Dreadful Note (PG) by Patricia Meredith, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction murder mystery based on the life of mystery novelist Anna Katherine Green

3. High Lonesome (PG-16) by Louis L'Amour, 1962 -- western adventure about strangers banding together against terrible foes

4. Murder on Black Swan Lane (PG-13) by Andrea Penrose, 2017 -- historical fiction murder mystery set in Regency England

5. A Right to Die (PG-13) by Rex Stout, 1964 -- a Nero Wolfe murder mystery involving the Civil Rights Movement

6. Beauty (G) by Robin McKinley, 1978 -- gentle and wholesome fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast

7. The Lilies of the Field (G) by William E. Barrett, 1962 -- sweet story of finding common ground despite outward differences

8. And Then There Were None (PG-16) by Agatha Christie, 1939 -- classic murder mystery about people trapped on an island

9. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (PG) by Bette Bao Lord, 1984 -- middle grade book about a Chinese immigrant family in the 1950s

10. The Vanderbeekers on the Road (G) by Karina Yan Glaser, 2022 -- middle grade book about a family road trip

My Ten Favorite Re-reads:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (PG) by A. Conan Doyle, 1902 -- classic Sherlock Holmes mystery

2. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery, 1926 -- classic about a woman stepping out into life from the shadows

3. Shane (PG) by Jack Schaefer, 1949 -- western about a loner who adopts a family

4. The Black Stallion (PG) by Walter Farley, 1941 -- middle grade classic about a boy and wild horse who rescue each other

5. Playback (R) by Raymond Chandler, 1958 -- hardboiled detective mystery starring Philip Marlowe

6. The Enchanted April (G) by Elizabeth von Arnim, 1922 -- classic about four women who discover their true selves in Italy

7. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour, 1977 -- western murder mystery

8. Jane of Austin (PG-13) by Hillary Manton Lodge, 2017 -- Christian fiction retelling of Sense and Sensibility set in modern-day Texas

9. By the Great Horn Spoon! (PG) by Sid Fleischman, 1963 -- middle grade classic tall tale about the Gold Rush

10. Big Red (PG-10) by Jim Kjelgaard, 1945 -- middle grade classic about a boy and the dog he loves

You can see all my lists of favorite reads since 2014 on this page.

Check back later this week for a more fulsome look at my 2023 reading, including how I did with various challenges and so on!

"A Right to Die" by Rex Stout

This is one of the best fiction books I have read that concerns the Civil Rights Movement and was actually written during the 1960s. 

A father asks Nero Wolfe to investigate his son's fiancee because he is sure there must be something wrong with her or her past, and that his son needs to be aware of it.  The father and son are black, and the fiancee is white, and it's 1964 -- the father is sure that either this girl has ulterior motives for wanting to marry a black man, or she is simply toying with his son's affections.

Wolfe ordinarily doesn't touch things involving digging up dirt on spouses, even potential spouses, but he owes the father a debt of sorts, so he sends Archie Goodwin to dig around in the girl's Midwestern hometown.  Before Archie returns, the case takes a sinister turn, and suddenly they're trying to prove someone is innocent of murder by catching the real murderer.

What made this book noteworthy, in my opinion, is Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin's straightforward attitude toward race.  They admit that, as white people they can't understand fully what life is like for black people, just as the black people they are working for and with can't fully understand what life is like for them.  But they do their best to treat everyone they encounter with equal dignity and seriousness.  As Archie puts it at one point, "...when I consider myself superior to anyone, as I frequently do, I need a better reason than his skin" (p. 56).  

I'd be interested to know how this book was received when it was released because it strikes me as something that could have ruffled some readers' feathers.  Wolfe and Archie are both of the opinion that interracial marriage is fine, for instance.  They are both working for a black man.  There are black characters who are nice, who are annoying, who are helpful, who are dodgy, who are trustworthy, who are proud, who are ugly, who are beautiful -- as complex and varied as any cast of white characters in his other books.  Stout is clearly saying that differences of appearance, habit, style, manners, or upbringing are all external things and don't matter.  What matter are a person's values, morals, and attitudes.

The mystery here is one of Stout's best, I think.  This is going high on my list of favorite Nero Wolfe books.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for discussions of unmarried people sharing an apartment and a bed, though everything is handled delicately.  Suicide plays a central role in the plot, also.  Some mild cussing and reasonably tasteful descriptions of murder.

This is my 50th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

"Curtains for Three" by Rex Stout

I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries.  They relax and rejuvenate me.  Just hanging out with Archie and Wolfe and Fritz and Saul and Fred and Orrie and Inspector Cramer in the Brownstone on West 35th Street is like a little vacation for my inner being.

This is one of the collections of three short mysteries that are especially delightful when I'm very busy.  If I have to set the book down between stories, I won't have to worry I'll forget what's going on, as the stories won't be related in any way.

Of the three in this book, "Disguise for Murder" was my favorite because it had a pretty big surprise in it that I didn't see coming, though in retrospect, made so much sense.  I love mysteries that do that.  Also, Archie got to engage in some thrilling heroics, which is always extra delightful.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-13 for murder, violence, peril, and vague discussions of people having extramarital affairs.

This is my 9th book read and reviewed for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

The Bibliophile Sweater Tag

I wasn't tagged with this specifically -- I found it at The Book Hound, and RM Lutz tagged anyone who wanted to steal it, so... here I am, stealing the tag.  Like a year after it was posted.  Because that is exactly what my life is like right now.

I'm not just busy these days, I am STUPID BUSY.  Like, so busy it makes me stupid sometimes.  I hate it.  I need to unload something from my pile of life, but every time I try, something else jumps on the haywagon and I'm overloaded again.  GRR.  ARGH.

Anyway, here are the rules of the tag, which I am merrily disregarding because... I can.  (Just like I'm ignoring my laundry today...)

1. Give the person who tagged you an endless supply of cookies. (If I knew where she lived, I would.)
2. Answer the questions and use the blog graphic. (Check.)
3. Pass along the tag. (If you want to steal this from me, go ahead.)
4. Wear a sweater. (I only own one sweater, and while it's been cold-ish here again lately, I really don't want to wear it.  I don't like sweaters.)

Fuzzy Sweater -- The Epitome of Comfort

I turn to Rex Stout's mysteries starring Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe whenever I need cheering up.  They always do the trick.  I've collected all of them over the years, but only read about a third so far.  They get their own shelf in my library -- all the ones to the right of the Nero Wolfe Cookbook are the ones I've read and the ones to the left of it are the ones I haven't gotten to yet.

Striped Sweater -- A Book You Devoured Every Line Of

I can't help inhaling The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery when I read it.  I simply can't read it slowly!  I chomp my way through it as quickly as possible because it's soooooooooo delicious.

Ugly Christmas Sweater -- Book with a Weird Cover

I took a pretty picture of it for #AustenInAugust on Instagram, but this copy of Persuasion by Jane Austen has a very weird cover.  Look at the person on the cover!  I assume it's supposed to be Anne Elliot, but WHAT is going on with her clothes?  Her butt seriously cannot be that huge, and bustles weren't a thing during the Regency, so why is this even on this cover?  The more I look at it, the more it bothers me.

Cashmere Sweater -- Most-Expensive Book

I just ordered a used copy of My Lost City: Personal Essays 1920-1940 by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Amazon for $29.95.  I am CRAZY excited about this!  This is probably not the most money I've ever spent on one book, but it's close, cuz I buy a lot of my books used.  But the reason I'm putting it here (and the reason I'm excited) is that used copies of this book usually go for between $70 and $200.  I've been wanting to read this book for ages and ages, but cost prohibited me.  Well, thanks to meandering around my Amazon wish list yesterday, I saw that there was an affordable copy on offer and snatched it up.  I should get it this weekend.  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Hoodie -- Favorite Classic

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte... but you probably knew that already.  If you've been reading my blogs for more than like a month, anyway.  I even led a read-along of it a couple years ago.

Cardigan -- Book Purchased on Impulse

I'm not a big impulse buyer for books UNLESS I'm at a library book sale or yard sale where books are only a dollar.  This is why I have such high ratings for books on Goodreads -- I don't read books I don't already know something about and think I'll like.  I don't have time to read all the books I WILL like, so why waste my very limited time on books I know I won't?  

But anyway.  I bought Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle at the library's semi-annual book sale last year, not knowing anything about it except what the cover told me, namely that it's a mystery that involves coffee and takes place around Christmas.  It's been languishing on my TBR bookcase in the basement ever since.  I'm hoping to read it this winter.

Turtleneck Sweater -- Book from Your Childhood

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley was my favorite book from age 7 until I was in my early 30s and finally admitted to myself that I like Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo better.  It's still my 3rd-favorite book, though.  HUGE part of my childhood.  I used to spend so much time imagining I was Alec Ramsay, marooned on an island, with a horse for my best friend.  Days and days and days living in that world in my head, while my parents just saw me doing my schoolwork and chores.

I re-read The Black Stallion as an adult a few years ago, and while I now can see that much of it is wildly implausable and hinges on massive coincidences... I don't care.  At all.  I still adore it.  And to be honest, my other two favorite books have lots of coincidences in them too.  I don't mind coincidences!

(I read 3 or 4 of the other books in the series and they were meh, in my humble childhood opinion.)

Homemade Knitted Sweater -- Indie Book

Getting so excited for the release of Soldier On by Vanessa Rasanen at the end of October!  I got to read an ARC of it to review for Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife, and my review will be out in a few weeks!  I'll post about it here too, don't worry.  This book is fantastic -- meaty and deep and about so many of the hard things in life... but the good things, too.

V-neck Sweater -- A Book that Didn't Meet Your Expectations

Longbourn by Jo Baker.  Do yourself a favor and don't read it if you're a fan of Pride and Prejudice and want to keep liking Austen's characters.  Calling it a disappointment is a dire understatement.

Argyle Sweater -- Book with a Weird Format

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which is told in overlapping circles, like the stories are ripples in a pond, intersecting and widening and changing all the time.  It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I wrapped my head around the non-linear storytelling, I really dug it.

Polka Dot Sweater -- A Book with Well-Rounded Characters

Middlemarch by George Eliot is breathtaking when it comes to fantastically deep characterizations.

That's all, folks!  Happy autumn to all of you :-)  I'm not tagging anyone with this, so if you want to play, then play!

The Finally Fall Book Tag

I'm borrowing this from Joseph over at The Once Lost Wanderer.  We had about a week of what I consider to be fall weather in early October, but it's been hot and muggy again lately.  Still, the evenings are cool, trees are beginning to change color, and I've got that energized-and-creative vibe going on that I get in fall and spring, so yay!

For some reason, I keep hearing the voices of random cast members on Whose Line is it Anyway? reading these questions in the ridiculously perky voices they use whenever they're the "contestant" on the "dating show" game they do.  Which is cracking me up.

(Photo by me)

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!

I'm going to go with The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, because Middle-earth is so vivid, I want to live there.  And not just because of the movies, but because of the way he describes all the places.  Every time I re-read it, I am in awe of his world-building.

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.

I think Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is an amazing look at how the death of one person can so drastically affect others.  Mr. Dashwood dies at the beginning, and his wife and daughters have their whole world upended.

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.  

The first one that comes to mind is Sixguns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western by Will Wright.  I learned so much about story structure from it, not only for westerns but just for all kinds of stories.  And I discovered a lot about what kinds of story elements really draw them, which I hope has helped me use them more effectively in my own writing.

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.

Today I pick the Curtis family and their gang in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.  I'd love to marry Darry and help take care of Soda and Ponyboy, or move in next door to them and become their friend, or whatever -- I've actually imagined being part of their lives on and off since I first read the book.

5. The colorful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines!

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.

All of the Nero Wolfe books are narrated by Archie Goodwin as if he were telling you a story, and I love them dearly!  My favorite is A Family Affair, but I don't recommend that you start reading the series with it, as it won't work as well if you aren't already familiar with the characters.

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.

I don't read a lot of creepy books.  Can't deal with them, just like I can't deal with scary movies.  But I do like a dark story now and then.  My beloved Hamlet is quite dark, and creepy in spots too, I suppose.

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.

I think it would be hard not to be warmed and cheered by A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd.  It's so sweet and quirky and cheerful.

9. Fall returns every year: name an old favorite that you’d like to return to soon.

I get very much in the mood for The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle in October, and this year is no exception.  Not sure if I'll squeeze in a re-read, but if not this year, then next year!

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favorite cozy reading “accessories”!

Well, I kind of just read anywhere, anytime?  I read when I'm brushing my teeth.  I read when I'm waiting for water to boil while making lunch.  I read in the car (when I'm a passenger, don't worry).  So really, my favorite cozy reading accessories are a book and a bookmark. 

I mean, it's fun to sit by my fireplace on a chilly evening and read.  Or to sit on the swing in the backyard in the summer and read.  But really, I just want a book and a bookmark.

I'm not going to tag anyone with this, but if you love books and autumn and tags, feel free to fill this out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Fandom-onium

Today's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is a "fandom freebie."  I'm choosing to focus on ten literary worlds that can count me as a devoted fan.

I'm thirty-six, so I tend not to use the term "fangirl" to describe myself.  But I absolutely use the verb "fangirling" to describe my behavior at times -- I can act all fangirly even if I'm not exactly a fangirl.  Just drop a character name or quote a line, and *boom!* I'm ready to discuss, dissect, drool, or daydream.  Also bounce and make happy noises.  Pretty much this:

I belong to a multitude of fandoms, both literary and filmed, but today I'm going to limit myself to talking about my top ten book fandoms because, after all, this is my book blog.  And I have to draw the line somewhere, or we'd be here all summer.

1.  Sherlock Holmes

I'm a Sherlockian.  Or a Holmesian -- I'll answer to either :-)  I first started reading his stories in my early teens and have grown to love the canon dearly.  I also love Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novels by Laurie R. King, the Granada Television show starring Jeremy Brett, and much of Sherlock.  But the canon is the best.

2.  Lord of the Rings

I came to LOTR backwards.  My college friends dragged me to the theater to see The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, and I bought a copy of the books that same week.  I've read the trilogy six times, and am calling 2017 My Year in Middle Earth because I'm reading it again, and digging into several other books about Tolkien or Middle Earth as well.

3.  Anne of Green Gables

I've been an Anne fan since one of my mom's friends introduced us to the books when I was probably seven or eight.  We watched the movies over and over as I was growing up, but I like the books best, especially Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of Windy Poplars, and Anne's House of Dreams.  I dream of visiting PEI one day.

4.  Raymond Chandler

My absolute favorite author.  I've read all his novels and short stories numerous times, and re-read one now and then just for the pure delight of soaking in his amazing descriptive power.  People ask me what my favorite Chandler novel is, and the truth is, I don't truly have one.  My favorite tends to be whichever one I read the most recently.

5.  William Shakespeare

This one's pretty obvious, given that I've taken my blogging name from one of his plays.  I love Hamlet the most, and also Much Ado About Nothing and Taming of the Shrew, but I get a lot of joy from many of his works.

6.  Jane Austen

Ahh, the divine Jane.  I prefer being called an Austenite rather than a Janeite, but either way, I'm a fan.  She makes me laugh, she makes me think -- it's all good.  I love Persuasion the most <3

7.  Nero Wolfe

I came to Rex Stout's mystery series backwards too -- first, I started watching the A&E series starring Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin and Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe, then I found some of the books at the library and tried them.  How I love those books!  They're my bookish version of comfort food.

8.  Robin Hood

I've been a fan of Robin Hood in books and on film since I was very tiny.  It started with the Disney read-along book that came with a record, which I totally still have -- my kids listen to it now.  I've had to tape the cover of the book back on like three times.  Then I progressed to the Great Illustrated Classics version, which I wore out.  Except the last chapter.  I never read the last chapter in any Robin Hood retelling that is going to involve Robin Hood d-y-i-n-g.  If I don't read it, it doesn't happen.  Just the fact that the chapter is titled "The Death of Robin Hood" or something equally dismal doesn't make it so, as long as I don't read it.  My favorite book version so far is definitely Howard Pyle's, which delights me to no end.

9.  Harry Potter

Yup, I'm a Potterhead.  (Is that still what HP fans get called?)  My favorite characters are Sirius Black, Severus Snape, and Ron Weasley.  My favorite book is Prisoner of Azkaban.  I like some of the movies too.

10.  Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin

I read all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's naval novels more than a decade ago, before there was a movie, and I have been itching to re-read them.  Maybe I'll dedicate the next two years to them or something.  I love hanging out with those characters!

"The Mother Hunt" by Rex Stout

I've seen the Nero Wolfe Mystery version of this many times, so I was never in doubt of how Nero Wolfe would solve the mystery of who left a baby in a wealthy widow's vestibule and then killed a couple of women.  I must admit that anymore, I don't read these books for the mysteries in them -- I read them to spend time with Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe and their cohorts.  Hanging out with my imaginary friends for a hundred pages or so is what keeps me coming back for more, and the superb mysteries are simply a bonus.  Because the mysteries are excellent too!  If you love mysteries and haven't tried this classic series, you are missing out.

Archie is at his most charming here, romancing their client in his own delectable Archie way.  He almost never enters a relationship with a client, and this one gets pretty serious, so you know this woman must be fairly special.  

This one was written in the 1960s, and it does have a more modern feel to it than many of the earlier novels.  The issues of unwed motherhood and marital infidelity are important parts of the case, and while no salacious details are shared, the word "abortion" does crop up once.  Very edgy for the day, I'm sure.  But as usual, Wolfe is not interested in who is hooking up with whom, except as it might have bearing on who murdered whom.


Particularly Good Bits:

He was tall and broad and handsome, with a big smile that went on and off like a neon sign (p. 58).

"Nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book; the myriad temptations are overpowering" (p. 59).

No man with any sense assumes that a woman's words mean to her exactly what they mean to him (p. 98).


If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-13 for the content mentioned above, and for a few more swear words than I'm used to in a Nero Wolfe book.

"Archie Meets Nero Wolfe" by Robert Goldsborough

Does it ever happen to you that you're in the middle of a book (or four), and then another book arrives at your house, and you're like, "Oh, I'll just read the first page to see what it's like, and then I'll read the rest after I finish the book (or four) I'm working on right now."  And two days later, you've finished the whole new book.

Well, that's what happened to me with Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, which bears the entirely unneeded subtitle A Prequel to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries.  I mean, what else could it possibly be?

You know by now that I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries.  They're one of my happy places.  I've never read a Wolfe pastiche before, though, and I was a leeetle nervous going into this.  I've read enough Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austen pastiches to know that sometimes you find someone golden who can write those characters they way they ought to be written, but most of the time you get all miserable because it's sort of bad fanfiction written by someone with a tin ear.

Happily, Goldsborough is good.  His pacing is sound, and he plots well.  His dialog for Wolfe was excellent -- I could really feel like yes, this was Wolfe.  Same for Inspector Cramer.  The 'teers, Saul and Fred and Orrie, were good too.  But of course, the quality of any Nero Wolfe pastiche is going to hinge on the portrayal of Archie Goodwin.  He's the narrator of the originals, the real heart of the stories, and by far my favorite character in them.  Archie is make or break.

And here too, Goldsborough made it work.  Not quite so perfectly as Wolfe -- it wasn't until the last third of the story that I really started feel like yup, this is my Archie Goodwin.  But that's actually okay, and may have been intentional, because the book begins with Archie at 19, freshly arrived in NYC and trying to find his niche in the big city.  He's still zesty and charming, but feels a little unformed, and I've decided that Goldsborough did that on purpose, because Archie at 19 obviously wouldn't have yet acquired the flair he has as a grown man.  It's by hanging out with Saul Panzer and Nero Wolfe that he can learn to be more than just brash and brave.  

After I'd finished reading this, I did a little internet sleuthing of my own and discovered that Goldsborough had previously written several Nero Wolfe mysteries, so I'm kind of thinking I'll try to find some of those now too.  Not like I've run out of actual Nero Wolfe books, because I have half a shelf of them I haven't read yet, but... the more, the merrier, huh?

The actual plot of Archie Meets Nero Wolfe revolves around a kidnapping case that Wolfe solves with the help of his go-to independent operatives, Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, and Orrie Cather, as well as someone who pops up in a couple of the originals, Del Bascom.  And Del Bascom brings along a bright young fellow he's taken on as an assistant, one Archie Goodwin.  By the end of the book, Wolfe has come to appreciate Goodwin's detecting instincts, ability to recall entire conversations verbatim, and energetic inability to sit around and do nothing.  He offers him the job of assistant, warning him he'll need to be part secretary, part clue hound, and part pants-kicker.  And, well... we all know how that turns out.

Particularly Good Bits:

"False humility is a transparent plea for praise and recognition, neither of which I find worth the price of the pretense" (p. 138).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for some violence, a child in peril, and a little bad language here and there (the same kind you'd run into in the original books).  

It's Funny -- Inkling Explorations for September, 2015

This month's edition of Heidi Peterson's Inkling Explorations is focused on "A Funny Story Opening in Literature."  I'm going to share the beginning of Gambit, one of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries.

At twenty-seven minutes past eleven that Monday morning in February, Lincoln's Birthday, I opened the door between the office and the front room, entered, shut the door, and said, "Miss Blount is here."

Without turning his head Wolfe let out a growl, yanked out some more pages and dropped them on the fire, and demanded, "Who is Miss Blount?"

I tightened my lips and then parted them to say, "She is the daughter of Matthew Blount, president of the Blount Textile Corporation, who is in the coop charged with murder, and she has an appointment with you at eleven-thirty, as you know.  If you're pretending you've forgotten, nuts.  You knew you couldn't finish that operation in half an hour.  Besides, how about the comments I have heard you make about book burners?"

"They are not relevant to this."  He yanked out more pages.  "I am a man, not a government or a committee of censors.  Having paid forty-seven dollars and fifty cents for this book, and having examined it and found it subversive and intolerably offensive, I am destroying it."  He dropped the pages on the fire.  "I'm in no mood to listen to a woman.  Ask her to come after lunch."

"I have also heard you comment about people who dodge appointments they have made."

Pause.  More pages.  Then:  "Very well.  Bring her here."

I returned to the office, shutting the door, crossed to the red leather chair near the end of Wolfe's desk where I had seated the caller, and faced her.  She tilted her head back to look up at me.  She was a brownie, not meaning a Girl Scout -- small ears and a small nose, big brown eyes, a lot of brown hair, and a wide mouth that would have been all right with the corners turned up instead of down.

"I'd better explain," I told her.  "Mr. Wolfe is in the middle of a fit.  It's complicated.  There's a fireplace in the front room, but it's never lit because he hates open fires.  He says they stultify mental processes.  But it's lit now because he's using it.  He's seated in front of it, on a chair too small for him, tearing sheets out of a book and burning them.  The book is the new edition, the third edition, of Webster's New International Dictionary, Unabridged, published by the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts.  He considers it subversive because it threatens the integrity of the English language.  In the past week he has given me a thousand examples of its crimes.  He says it is a deliberate attempt to murder the -- I beg your pardon.  I describe the situation at length because he told me to bring you in there, and it will be bad.  Even if he hears what you say, his mental processes are stultified.  Could you come back later?  After lunch he may be human."

She was staring up at me.  "He's burning up a dictionary?"

"Right.  That's nothing.  Once he burned up a cookbook because it said to remove the hide from a ham end before putting it in the pot with lima beans.  Which he loves most, food or words, is a tossup."

(Gambit by Rex Stout, p. 1-2)

I always get a big kick out of Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe, and these books routinely make me laugh, which is why I often refer to them as "nice, cheerful murder mysteries."  This opener is one of my favorites, because I love how much Wolfe loves words, that he would burn a dictionary in their defense -- but it's so ridiculous too, and so I laugh with glee.

Don't forget to visit Heidi's writing blog, Sharing the Journey, to read other people's entries into this month's Inkling Explorations and to link up your own!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most-Read Authors

This week's theme from The Broke and the Bookish is "Top Ten Authors I've Read The Most Books From."  I've decided to list only authors I've read primarily as an adult, as otherwise my list would be entirely overrun by the likes of Ann M. Martin, Beverly Cleary, Franklin W. Dixon, Lois Gladys Leppard, and Marguerite Henry.

I'm listing these in alphabetical order by last name because for some of them I don't have an exact count on how many of their books I've read.

Jane Austen

I've read her six major novels, plus some of her juvenilia, Lady Susan and what there is of The Watsons and Sanditon.  My favorites are Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey.  I like Austen for her caustic wit, shrewd observations of human nature, and fully realized characters.

Raymond Chandler

Chandler is my absolute favorite author, so it's no surprise I've read all 7 1/2 of his novels (the 1/2 is cuz he never completed Poodle Springs, but Robert B. Parker did an entertaining job finishing it) and many of his short stories and essays.  I don't exactly have a favorite of his books, though I'm very fond of The Big Sleep, The Lady in the Lake, and Farewell, My Lovely.  I like Chandler for his surprising descriptions, acerbic dialog, and brisk pacing.

A. Conan Doyle

Of course by now you know I'm a devoted Sherlockian.  I read the entire canon in 12 months not long ago, but I'd read nearly all of it many times before.  I've also read The White Company, which is the only non-Holmes book of Doyle's I've read so far.  My favorite Holmes adventure is The Hound of the Baskervilles, and I also dearly love "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and many of the other short stories.  I like Doyle for creating the coolest detective and chronicler ever and for his inscrutable but logical plots.

Ernest Hemingway

I almost didn't put Hemingway on here, but then I counted up how many of his books I've read and realized that I've read 6 1/2 of his books (Garden of Eden is unfinished) and all of his short stories, plus a good many of his essays and articles, so he belongs firmly on this list.  My favorites of his are The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast, and I'm quite fond of his Nick Adams stories too.  I like Hemingway for his terseness, his attention to detail, and his ability to make me understand characters who are very different from me.

Jan Karon

Reading Karon's books about Mitford is a little like making a visit home for me.  Why?  Because she set Mitford in the mountains of North Carolina and patterned parts of it after the town of Blowing Rock.  My family moved to NC's foothills when I was 12, and Blowing Rock quickly became one of our favorite places to visit, so much so that when Cowboy and I got married, we honeymooned there.  I haven't read the last few of her books, though I own all of them and look forward to beginning the series over again one of these days.  I've read the first six or seven, and am very fond of them.  I like Karon for her warm humor, quirky characters, and heartwarming storytelling.  

Laurie R. King

I've read all of King's novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (my favorite is The Beekeeper's Apprentice), all of her Kate Martinelli mysteries (my favorite is To Play the Fool), several of her stand-alone novels (my favorite is Keeping Watch), and the first of her Stuyvesant & Grey books.  In fact, there are only 2 of her published novels I haven't read yet, and I'm kind of holding off on them so I have something to look forward to, other than her upcoming releases.  I like King for her strong female characters, exciting mysteries, and especially for her excellent characterization of Sherlock Holmes.

L. M. Montgomery

I've read all 8 of her Anne of Green Gables books numerous times, her Emily of New Moon series, and I'm currently reading a bunch of her short stories.  My favorites are Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Windy Poplars.  I like Montgomery for her happy endings, fanciful characters, and beautiful descriptions.

Patrick O'Brian

I have read all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's novels about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin's adventures in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.  I also have his unfinished 21st book in the series, but I'm kind of saving it for when I reread the whole series.  I like O'Brian for the way he immerses me in a world I would otherwise never visit, and for the complex and endearing characters he created.

J.K. Rowling

I have, of course, read all the Harry Potter books.  And the book of stories by Beedle the Bard.  My favorite is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, hands-down.  I like Rowling for her deft wordplay, humorous dialog, and ability to communicate hard truths simply and kindly.

Rex Stout

I'm not even sure how many I have read of Stout's mysteries featuring Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.  I know I've read 16 of the books I own, plus probably 6 or 8 more from the library over the years.  I've also read a couple of his non-Nero Wolfe mysteries, which were nice, but it's the characters of Archie and Nero that keep me coming back for more.  I like Stout for his snappy dialog, twisty mysteries, and memorable characters.

"A Family Affair" by Rex Stout

This is my favorite Nero Wolfe mystery.  But I don't recommend you read it unless you're already familiar with the characters and have read several of the books or seen at least a season of the A&E show.  Because something shocking happens in it, and if you don't already know the characters super well, you aren't going to care.  And that would be a shame.

I remember the first time I read this, probably ten years ago now.  I had to stop reading it several times toward the end just so I could process what had happened.  To remain spoiler-free, I'll just say that the basic plot is this:  a waiter at Wolfe's favorite restaurant is murdered right in Wolfe's house, and so Wolfe and Archie Goodwin go to work on the mystery without a client or fee present.  This was the last Nero Wolfe mystery published during Stout's lifetime, which makes the whole story extra poignant.

Random personal note:  they mention Danbury, CT, in this one.  They mention it in a few others too.  We lived in Danbury for a few years before moving here.  The thing I liked best about that city was that it pops up in Nero Wolfe mysteries now and then because it's only a few hours from NYC.

Particularly Good Bits:

I'd buy a pedestal and put her on it if I thought she would stay.  She would either fall off or climb down, I don't know which (p. 90).

The most interesting incident Tuesday morning was my walking to a building on Thirty-fourth Street to enter a booth and push levers on a voting machine.  I have never understood why anybody passes up that bargain.  It doesn't cost a cent, and for that couple of minutes you're the star of the show, with top billing.  It's the only way that really counts for you to say I'm it, I'm the one that decides what's going to happen and who's going to make it happen.  It's the only time I really feel important and know I have a right to.  Wonderful (p. 110-111).  (So timely, considering yesterday was election day, huh?)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for some language and violence.

This is my twelfth book read and reviewed for the Mount TBR Challenge!  I've reached my goal!  Huzzah!