My index of all interviews of the last ten years up until 2018 is here
My list of all 2018 reads is here
My list of 10ish favorite books read in 2018 is here
My list of 2019 reads is here
Book #1 for 2020: A Better Man by Louise Penny. I love Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series (this is the latest in the series, book #15). I enjoy the deeply drawn characters and the interesting plots. This book seems a step above the other books with plots involving changes in Gamaches's professional life as well as several figures around him. I give it a 9
Book #2 The Tenant by Katherine Engberg. I interviewed the author here: https://mysterypeople.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/in-the-form-of-little-jigsaw-pieces-scott-butki-interviews-katrine-enberg-debut-author-of-the-tenant/
With The Tenant, Katrine Engberg has written an excellent first novel. One with a clever, intriguing concept in addition to interesting, fleshed out characters and good plot twists.
Esther de Laurenti owns an apartment building which contains two young women and an elderly gentleman. As the book begins the gentleman discovers one of the women is dead. So far, not so wild, right?
But then it is discovered that whoever killed her used details from a murder mystery novel Esther is writing, specifically cuts along the victims face. Esther says she’s not the killer but that the number of people with access to the details of her story is limited.
Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case and they are interesting characters. They try to determine if Esther is the culprit or just another victim in the killer’s twisted game.
Book #3 - Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - This is an excellent novel, a fast read, but a sobering one especially when you consider it's based on a real story. Whitehead is a consistently good writer and this is no exception as he describe events in the llife of the protagonist, Elwood, a hopeful, idealistic young black boy in the 1960s who gets sent to a boys school where discrimination and injustice is rampant. The book has an excellent spoiler which I am not going to spoil here. I give it a 9 out of 10. I just co-led a good book discussion on the book.
Book #4 - Follow Me by Kathleen Barber. I interviewed her here: https://mysterypeople.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/scott-butki-interviews-kathleen-barber/
Book #3 - Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - This is an excellent novel, a fast read, but a sobering one especially when you consider it's based on a real story. Whitehead is a consistently good writer and this is no exception as he describe events in the llife of the protagonist, Elwood, a hopeful, idealistic young black boy in the 1960s who gets sent to a boys school where discrimination and injustice is rampant. The book has an excellent spoiler which I am not going to spoil here. I give it a 9 out of 10. I just co-led a good book discussion on the book.
Book #4 - Follow Me by Kathleen Barber. I interviewed her here: https://mysterypeople.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/scott-butki-interviews-kathleen-barber/
excerpt:"For her second novel, Follow Me, Kathleen Barber has written a thriller that is based on a scary but true fact: That with the right technology and software, people can be watched through their computer.
In the book’s introduction Barber explained how she learned of this alarming fact and concludes: “I was so deeply unsettled by the thought of an anonymous ratter lurking around my computer that I did two things: first I covered my laptop’s built-in webcam with a sticker, as Mark Zuckerberg and James Comey both reportedly do, and then I began writing this story."
excerpt:"For her second novel, Follow Me, Kathleen Barber has written a thriller that is based on a scary but true fact: That with the right technology and software, people can be watched through their computer.
Scott Butki: Follow Me is a wild story based on true, scary, sobering facts. Can you tell the story of how you come to discover that some people are able to watch others through cameras on computers and other places including home security cameras?
Kathleen Barber: I was messing around online one afternoon and stumbled across an article entitled “Meet the Men Who Spy on Women through Their Webcams.” It was horrifying, to say the least.
According to the article, it was fairly easy for these guys to remotely install something called a remote administration tool (or “RAT”) on your computer, which would then grant them access to your hard drive and webcam. The men who installed the RATs (nicknamed “ratters”) had different goals. Some had the relatively innocent plan of playing pranks, while some were after credentials and financial information. And then there were the ratters who really terrified me: those who made a game of collecting “slaves” (their name for the women they spied on) and then trading or even selling access to the “slaves” amongst themselves. I was so shocked and disgusted, I had to read it a couple of times just to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood—and then I immediately covered the camera on my computer.
Book #5 - Wrecked by Joe Ide, the third in his IQ series. I love the character of IQ (full name of Isaiah Quintabe), a sharp young black man in Southern California using his wits as well as knowledge gleaned from Sherlock Holmes and other famous investigators to solve crimes, help folks dealing with messes, etc. I give this book a 9.
Book #6 - One of the advantages of interviewing authors, mostly mystery authors, for more than 12 years now, is I get a lot of unsolicited books, with requests from the author and/or a publicist, that I interview that author. I don't have the time or energy to follow up on a lot of those and there have been some definite misses, like getting a book by a guy named Dan Brown. I skipped his book and interview and a few years later he become a superstar for his Davinci Code book series.
It also means championing authors like Lisa Lutz before they get the fandom they deserve.
Last week I was looking for something to read and noticed again a book on the shelf with an intriguing title: Vinyl Detective. From the note in the book I read that I could interview the author, whose prior work, says the press release, included a "Legendary stint as script editor on Doctor Who." His name is Andrew Cartmel.
That's a long way of saying my latest read is Vinyl Detective and I wish I'd interviewed him when I had the chance as this is a delightful, fun, quirky, clever book.
I'm always fascinated to read mysteries that take the genre in a new direction and that is certainly the case here. Our protagonist is an expert on rare music - lp's only please, as he's a purist.
He is hired to track down a specific rare record and thus he becomes a "vinyl detective," searching for this rare item in regular and underground record stores and the reader gains glimpses into the fascinating world of those folks who not just collect but spend much energy, time and, sometimes, money, to get that very specific item of music that most people would never have heard of. And he has at least one set of folks chasing him and they're leaving dead bodies in their wake.
The characters and plot twists are fascinating. I recommend checking this book out, especially if you were ever a collector of, well, anything. If I had interviewed him one of my questions would have been whether the book would turn into a series and he probably would have honesty not known at that point. But time has passed and it did indeed become a series. I give the first book in the series a 9.
Book #7 - How To Start A Fire by Lisa Lutz. I championed Lisa Lutz's early books, especially her Spellman Series, and some of her stand alone novels since then have been even better. However, this one underwhelmed me. The characters and plot were good but her choice to jump around in time confused and annoyed me. I give it a 7 out of 10.
Book #8 Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly - another of his excellent books
Book #9 - Backgammon to Win: Play Like a Pro Both Online and Off. Chris Bray. This is a good introduction to backgammon but most of it was too basic for me. I give it a 7.
Book #5 - Wrecked by Joe Ide, the third in his IQ series. I love the character of IQ (full name of Isaiah Quintabe), a sharp young black man in Southern California using his wits as well as knowledge gleaned from Sherlock Holmes and other famous investigators to solve crimes, help folks dealing with messes, etc. I give this book a 9.
Book #6 - One of the advantages of interviewing authors, mostly mystery authors, for more than 12 years now, is I get a lot of unsolicited books, with requests from the author and/or a publicist, that I interview that author. I don't have the time or energy to follow up on a lot of those and there have been some definite misses, like getting a book by a guy named Dan Brown. I skipped his book and interview and a few years later he become a superstar for his Davinci Code book series.
It also means championing authors like Lisa Lutz before they get the fandom they deserve.
Last week I was looking for something to read and noticed again a book on the shelf with an intriguing title: Vinyl Detective. From the note in the book I read that I could interview the author, whose prior work, says the press release, included a "Legendary stint as script editor on Doctor Who." His name is Andrew Cartmel.
That's a long way of saying my latest read is Vinyl Detective and I wish I'd interviewed him when I had the chance as this is a delightful, fun, quirky, clever book.
I'm always fascinated to read mysteries that take the genre in a new direction and that is certainly the case here. Our protagonist is an expert on rare music - lp's only please, as he's a purist.
He is hired to track down a specific rare record and thus he becomes a "vinyl detective," searching for this rare item in regular and underground record stores and the reader gains glimpses into the fascinating world of those folks who not just collect but spend much energy, time and, sometimes, money, to get that very specific item of music that most people would never have heard of. And he has at least one set of folks chasing him and they're leaving dead bodies in their wake.
The characters and plot twists are fascinating. I recommend checking this book out, especially if you were ever a collector of, well, anything. If I had interviewed him one of my questions would have been whether the book would turn into a series and he probably would have honesty not known at that point. But time has passed and it did indeed become a series. I give the first book in the series a 9.
Book #7 - How To Start A Fire by Lisa Lutz. I championed Lisa Lutz's early books, especially her Spellman Series, and some of her stand alone novels since then have been even better. However, this one underwhelmed me. The characters and plot were good but her choice to jump around in time confused and annoyed me. I give it a 7 out of 10.
Book #8 Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly - another of his excellent books
Book #9 - Backgammon to Win: Play Like a Pro Both Online and Off. Chris Bray. This is a good introduction to backgammon but most of it was too basic for me. I give it a 7.
Book
#10 Babel-17 by Samuel Delany. This book was outside my usual comfort
range but one of the reasons I love book clubs is it will push you to
try new things, in this case a fascinating sci-fi novel about how,
during a fictional war, one side develops a language that can be used as
a weapon.
While
I read it since it's the Austin Justice Coalition book discussion book
for the month I'm always happy to encounter authors new to me and
different ideas. I give it an 8 out of 10. Grade may change following
the discussion.
Book #11 - Righteous: An IQ Novel by Joe Ide. This is the second book in Joe Ide's series about a young black man, IQ, with a mind like Sherlock Holmes solving cases around Southern California. The series is excellent, the characters are fully formed and the plot twists are great. I give it a 9.
Book #11 - Righteous: An IQ Novel by Joe Ide. This is the second book in Joe Ide's series about a young black man, IQ, with a mind like Sherlock Holmes solving cases around Southern California. The series is excellent, the characters are fully formed and the plot twists are great. I give it a 9.
#12 -
Lady in The Lake by Laura Lippman. If you haven't been reading Lippman you're missing out. I first started reading her, and interviewing her occasionally, while she was writing a series about a former journalist turned private investigator named Tess Monaghan, Lippman herself a former journalist. I'm sure part of why I liked the series was that I too was a journalist at the time I began reading her.
Then Lippman started writing stand alone books and the books became even better, with fully developed characters and fascinating plots.. There's only a handful of authors whom I have read all of their books and Lippman is one of them and she's written more than 20 novels.
Her novels are, as Lippman puts it, ""inspired by crimes," and such is the case here with a a story about a white woman in 1966 who wants to become a journalist and uses her knowledge, and some scheming and creative thinking, to try to get ahead especially by investigating details surrounding a black woman found dead in a fountain, aka the Lady In The Lake. I give it a 9 out of 10.
Book #13 - Murder Off The Page: A 42nd Street Library Mystery - by Con Lehane -
I read an earlier book in the series and loved it and how could I not? I mean two things I love are mysteries and libraries so since this has both im hooked. Raymond Ambler is the curator of the library's crime fiction coordinator and also has a habit of encountering real life mysteries, this time involving both his favorite bartender and a woman who was recently doing research in that crime fiction section. Ambler, working with a friend and a police officer, tries to help his friend which requires him to help solve the woman's murder. I give it an 8.
Book #14 - A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny, part of her Chief Inspector Gamache series. This is the fourth book in the series. I just love this series, with well developed characters and fascinating plots. They seem perfect for the times, not too deep or dark which is great because I don't think I can read something very dark or deep or disturbing during this pandemic.
Then Lippman started writing stand alone books and the books became even better, with fully developed characters and fascinating plots.. There's only a handful of authors whom I have read all of their books and Lippman is one of them and she's written more than 20 novels.
Her novels are, as Lippman puts it, ""inspired by crimes," and such is the case here with a a story about a white woman in 1966 who wants to become a journalist and uses her knowledge, and some scheming and creative thinking, to try to get ahead especially by investigating details surrounding a black woman found dead in a fountain, aka the Lady In The Lake. I give it a 9 out of 10.
Book #13 - Murder Off The Page: A 42nd Street Library Mystery - by Con Lehane -
I read an earlier book in the series and loved it and how could I not? I mean two things I love are mysteries and libraries so since this has both im hooked. Raymond Ambler is the curator of the library's crime fiction coordinator and also has a habit of encountering real life mysteries, this time involving both his favorite bartender and a woman who was recently doing research in that crime fiction section. Ambler, working with a friend and a police officer, tries to help his friend which requires him to help solve the woman's murder. I give it an 8.
Book #14 - A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny, part of her Chief Inspector Gamache series. This is the fourth book in the series. I just love this series, with well developed characters and fascinating plots. They seem perfect for the times, not too deep or dark which is great because I don't think I can read something very dark or deep or disturbing during this pandemic.
Book #15 - 25 Years Later: A Sentence From Crime to Redemption, Resilience, Advocacy and Leadership by Darwin Hamilton. I read this both out of interest and because Darwin will be joining the Austin Justice Coalition Book Discussion, which I co-lead, tomorrow afternoon.
In his book Darwin describes growing up, getting into trouble with the law, what life was like inside and what it's like trying to find work as an ex-convict and why he does activism work to both educate people about the criminal justice system and fight for ways to make things better and more fair for those who have served their time to re-enter society. This moving, educational book was inspiring and made me more excited about working alongside such great people as Darwin.
Book #16 - The Bitterest Pill - Reed Farrel Coleman has continued Robert Parker's series about Chief Jesse Stone and this is the latest in the series. I liked Robert Parker's books and I like what Coleman has done with the Stone series and what Ace Atkins has done with the Spenser series. None of them are deep or complicated and I think we can all use some mind candy sometimes. This particular novel is about drugs impacting/infecting the town of Sunshine. 7 out of 10.
Book #17 - Coco Butternut - The latest in Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard mystery series. As with most of his books it's fun, almost silly, banter and good plot twists. This one starts out with the two hired to pay the ransom to get a mummified corpse of a dog back. Only after paying and getting it back they realize that under the dog is a dead human, which makes things mighty complicated. 8 out of 10.
Book #18 - How The Light Got In by Louise Penny, part of her fun and fascinating series about Inspector Gamache.
The book has several interesting plot lines one of which is based on a real life thing: The first quintuplets which happened in 1928.
Another entertaining book. I give it an 8.
Book #16 - The Bitterest Pill - Reed Farrel Coleman has continued Robert Parker's series about Chief Jesse Stone and this is the latest in the series. I liked Robert Parker's books and I like what Coleman has done with the Stone series and what Ace Atkins has done with the Spenser series. None of them are deep or complicated and I think we can all use some mind candy sometimes. This particular novel is about drugs impacting/infecting the town of Sunshine. 7 out of 10.
Book #17 - Coco Butternut - The latest in Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard mystery series. As with most of his books it's fun, almost silly, banter and good plot twists. This one starts out with the two hired to pay the ransom to get a mummified corpse of a dog back. Only after paying and getting it back they realize that under the dog is a dead human, which makes things mighty complicated. 8 out of 10.
Book #18 - How The Light Got In by Louise Penny, part of her fun and fascinating series about Inspector Gamache.
The book has several interesting plot lines one of which is based on a real life thing: The first quintuplets which happened in 1928.
Another entertaining book. I give it an 8.
Book #19 - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King - I used to complain of what I dubbed the Stephen King Syndrome, in which the story concept was great but the endings were, imho, too often crap. But after reading his 1963 novel, which was excellent, I have been reading more of King's books and been more impressed, especially by the endings.
I don't often re-read books as I go by the adage, "too many books, not enough time," but I decided to go back and listen to this book on audio as I wanted to read/listen to the other two books in this trilogy and it's been 10 years since I read Mr. Mercedes the first time. This is King writing a detective (well, retired detective) story and the second read reminded me why i liked it so much - good characters, great plot. I'll be starting the second book, Finders Keepers, this weekend.
I give this a 9.
I explain the Stephen King Syndrome more in this review - https://thinkingandtalkingandacting.blogspot.com/2017/09/review-long-way-down-by-nick-hornby-is.html
Book #20 - The Elephant of Surprise by Joe Lansdale, part of his Hap and Leonard series. These books are light and fun (the fun being amusing dialogue between the two main characters.(I didn't like this one as much as some others in the series and I think that's because while all have some violence this one seems to be violent from the start to the end (and no, that's not spoiling anything.) So it still made me smile and laugh but not as much as usual. I give it a 7.
Book #21 - All Things Oz: The Wonder, Wit, and Wisdom of the Wizard of Oz by Linda Sunshine.
This is a fascinating, exhaustive collection of not just all things Oz but other things written by L. Frank Baum.
I explain the Stephen King Syndrome more in this review - https://thinkingandtalkingandacting.blogspot.com/2017/09/review-long-way-down-by-nick-hornby-is.html
Book #20 - The Elephant of Surprise by Joe Lansdale, part of his Hap and Leonard series. These books are light and fun (the fun being amusing dialogue between the two main characters.(I didn't like this one as much as some others in the series and I think that's because while all have some violence this one seems to be violent from the start to the end (and no, that's not spoiling anything.) So it still made me smile and laugh but not as much as usual. I give it a 7.
Book #21 - All Things Oz: The Wonder, Wit, and Wisdom of the Wizard of Oz by Linda Sunshine.
This is a fascinating, exhaustive collection of not just all things Oz but other things written by L. Frank Baum.
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