The Cozy and The Metal

The New Year started off well enough, but by a week into 2015 I was already in the middle of some difficulties. My beloved feline companion of 17 years got very ill and died. That was bad enough to set me back a while. Added to that, however, we had an ice storm, and my wife slipped on said ice and broke her foot. Later that week I took a series of particularly shady hits in a dek hockey game and ended up with some soft tissue damage and some bruised ribs. With all of these things happening, I wasn’t living my normal routine (including running, which has become like medicine for me). There are a few things that have helped me immensely. Of course, I’m talking about old metal records and cozy mysteries.

 

this is what happens when you do a google image search for “cozy mysteries”

It’s no secret that I love cozy mysteries. See HERE and HERE. The books that I’ve been into early this year are the “kind-of-cozy” books by Jane Langton. They are a bit rougher around the edges than most cozy titles, especially concerning graphic language. That said, the way that Langton tells stories is engaging and entertaining. Emily Dickinson Is Dead is a great example of that. The way that the narrative winds back and forth weaving the lives of the characters together is quite remarkable. Plus, if you have a soft spot for literature (as I do) the book is filled with bits from Dickinson’s poems. A Transcendental Murder didn’t engage me quite as much, but it has a similar approach and a great connection to Emerson and Thoreau.

I also got into Carol Miller’s Murder and Moonshine. This is an interesting beginning to a series set in rural southwestern Virginia. Daisy is a waitress at the local diner and gets to hear all the local gossip. When a reclusive old man shows up there one day and drops dead a few minutes later, Daisy finds herself in the middle of a case involving local law, moonshiners, the ATF and, of course, her famous peach cobbler.

What goes well with a nice cozy mystery better than some classic metal? Early Metallica has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Ride the Lightning has been in rotation. (Listen to “Creeping Death” on repeat you ask? Yes, please!) Likewise, Master of Puppets has been getting some well-deserved attention. (Put on “Disposable Heroes” and try to mosh around your living room – then, if you’re anything like me, you remember you have bruised ribs and ease yourself back to the couch and the heating pad).

 

this is what happens when you do a google image search for “metal music”

Round it out with a bit of Celtic Frost … To Mega Therion, to be specific. Turn up “(Beyond the) North Winds” as a cold, icy gale blows outside and be reminded that, in the face of broken, busted-up bodies, and the death of our friends, we still woke up today, and have a chance to live, love, read books and listen to music. Add the classic Black Metal by Venom, and you have a fitting soundtrack for anything the winter can throw at you.

 

Eric

who is currently ensconced on his couch, cozy in hand, metal on in the background, and a heating pad on his ribs

4 Books to Take to (Insert Your Dream Vacation)

By the time you read this post I will probably be on my way to my summer vacation… I know, I know… you are pretty envious right now. You are imagining me lounging around, slacking off and reading to my little heart’s content on some far away beach…but alas, don’t get too worked up because in reality my summer vacation is going to take place in the labor and delivery ward. I am currently (as I am writing this on June 12th) 37 weeks pregnant  and, as you may know, that translates into street talk as, “lady you’re about to pop…are you sure you should be walking around out here in public like that?” But having already done this whole ‘bring a new life into the world thing’  before, well… to be honest, the novelty has kind of warn off.

My eldest daughter circa 2009

I am looking forward to my stay at the hospital, not just because it will end with me bringing home a cute little newborn to mold into an evil genius, but also (actually mostly) because it means I am going to get a couple days off! While in labor and then for a few days afterwards I will get treated like a princess…nurses will do my bidding, people will bring me food, no one will ask me, for the zillionth time, to watch Frozen or clean up something sticky they spilled (and if they do, so help me, I am having them forcibly removed from the premises). I seriously cannot wait for my little mini-vacation and like all good bookworms looking forward to a vacation I have picked out a few titles to take with me to the spa…er, I mean hospital. Let’s face it, there will be a lot of downtime in between contractions and all that other stuff, and all moms know that you grab those few precious ‘me’ moments whenever and whereever you can, even if it means you have to get yourself admitted to do so. If you are searching for some titles to take on your own vacation this summer, whether it be to a tropical island or to the 7th floor of your nearest hospital, look no further:

American Spring: Lexington, Concord and the Road to Revolution by Walter Borneman: I am student of history, it has always been my favorite subject and I love a good story. This book focuses on, in my opinion, one of the best stories of American history; the spring of 1775 and the events leading up to the American Revolution. But it gets us there in an interesting way. Borneman asks you to step back from history and remember that, while the outcome may seem preordained to us, that for the men and women living through the spring of 1775 – much like our contemporaries all over the world today – the events of that season held only uncertainty and confusion. I cannot wait to finish this book even though I already know the story; it is interesting to look at it from a fresh perspective.

The Library Lovers Mystery Series by Jenn McKinlay: Recently I was looking around for a fun mystery series and stumbled on to Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lovers Series. I sped through the first three books and am now moving on to the 4th in the series, Read it and Weep. These books are great little mysteries. They are current, which I love because sometimes it can be hard to read a mystery written 25 years ago before the wide spread use of cellphones and google. They also do a great job of balancing the love we library workers have for our jobs with a healthy dose of humor about the not-so-pleasant aspects of our duties. If you love your local library, love books, or just love a fun little mystery. this series will give you something to do on your down time during your vacation, or before the IV drip kicks in.

You Are Not Special and Other Encouragements by David McCullough, Jr.: I am really looking forward to reading this book, which is based on a Boston area high school commencement speech from 2012. Being in my early 30’s I grew up at the beginning of the “you are so awesome” movement but my default slacker personality meant that I never really took those sentiments to heart, I would much rather just be than excel at anything. I do, however, know lots of friends and family members who are struggling in a world that doesn’t automatically give them a trophy for just showing up (“You want me to, like, work overtime? Because it’s part of my job responsibilities? What? I don’t understand”).

Dodger by Terry Pratchett: I love me some Terry Pratchett and I love re-imaginings of classic characters and stories so this is right up my alley. Here we have the story of 17-year old Artful Dodger who sees a girl jump from a carriage in an attempt to escape her captors and ends up on a wild ride that introduces him to Sweeney Todd, Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one since it includes other well-known characters and some real-life people from history.

At some point I also might also pack clothes and my camera and stuff like for the hospital, but let’s be honest, the books are the most important part.

-Natalie (a/k/a baby mama)

 

 

 

 

Keepin’ Cozy in the Library

Over the last few months I’ve stumbled onto a writer of cozy mysteries that I quite like. The particular series that has grabbed my attention is the Library Lover’s Mysteries by Jenn McKinlay. I think the thing that initially drew me to this series (other than it being a cozy, which I unashamedly love, and it being about libraries, which I also unashamedly love), is the sheer amount of books that McKinlay writes. In addition to the Library Lover’s mysteries (which currently has four books in it), Jenn McKinlay also wrote the ‘Good Buy Girls’ series (containing three books) as Josie Belle, the Decoupage Murder mysteries (YES! Decoupage mysteries!!! another three books there) as Lucy Lawrence, the Hat shop Mysteries (two books in this one), and the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries (which includes six books). That’s 18 books over five different series, and STILL COUNTING. McKinlay is still writing and has no plans to stop anytime soon (And just to be clear, this is just her mystery output. Before being a successful mystery writer she was a struggling romance writer who did succeed in getting a few of those published, too!).

I picked up Books Can be Deceiving, which is the first in the Library Lover’s series and I was hooked. It has many of the hallmarks of a contemporary cozy mystery (it has no blood and gore, no explicit language or explicit sex, it features a sleuth who is an amateur at crime solving and heavily relies on her hobby or profession, and has a great cast of characters to serve the need to character development and quick-paced plots). Before I knew it I was getting into the second book in the series (Due or Die) and I was loving it as well. This is a solid cozy series and I’m getting into the third (Book, Line and Sinker) next.

The often maligned cozy mystery can be a really good time. There is a certain escapism to the genre, certainly; however, when it’s coupled with good writing the reading experience is not only fun, but enjoyable on another level as well. I urge you find a cozy that speaks to you! Maybe it’s one that features a job or hobby that you share with the sleuth. It’s a great way to get involved in a genre you might not be familiar with. I never expected to be a fan of these kinds of books, but I am! Try something mystery based. Branch out. You might find you really enjoy it!

Eric (keepin’ it cozy in 2014)

Get Cozy

I never read much mystery before working at the Library. That said, working at LBPH, and getting a better sense of specifically cozy mysteries has been quite a learning curve for me. That learning curve has resulted in a real appreciation for mysteries of all stripes.  Yes, of cozy mysteries, too. A cozy mystery generally defined as a mystery that features an amateur sleuth and often focuses on that sleuth’s hobby or profession.  Usually set in small towns, cozy mysteries rarely (if EVER) contain graphic violence, profanity or explicit sex, and favor quickly-paced plots with twist and character development over action.

Not exactly Dashiell Hammett or Stieg Larsson books! Those hardboiled writers tend to be much more graphic and intense. A cozy, by contrast, is a great bit of escape.

Two of my favorite contemporary cozy writers are Miranda James and Ali Brandon.

Both heavily rely on books and cats to tell their stories. As a person who loves books and cats, this is not a difficult leap for me. I’m already a fan of a lot of what these books are about! Add a clever mystery to the mix and I’m in.

Miranda James (the pen name of Dean James, a librarian himself!) writes the Cat in the Stacks series featuring the widowed, semi-retired librarian Charley Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel. In between volunteering at his local public library and working in the special collections library of the fictional Athena College, Charlie and Diesel solve murders that happen around their small town of Athena, Mississippi. The first book in the series, Murder Past Due, is a great start! Other titles in the series include Classified as Murder, File M for Murder, and Out of Circulation.

Ali Brandon (the pen name of Diane A.S. Stuckart) writes the Black Cat Bookshop series featuring Darla Pettistone, a Texas transplant to Brooklyn who inherited her Great Aunt Dee’s bookshop, and feisty black cat named Hamlet. Books in this series so far include Double Booked for Death, and A Novel Way to Die.

As much as I enjoy both series, I have to say that what the Cat in the Stacks series by James lacks in the technical arena of writing, the books more than make up for it with how fun and engaging they are. By contrast, the Black Cat Bookshop series by Brandon could be said to be more skillfully crafted in some ways, with attention to letting the story unfold more slowly. In addition, Brandon crafts a melody to the sentences in her work. Some of the lightheartedness so common to so-called genre fiction, may be sacrificed, but the writing flows a bit more and the plot certainly doesn’t hurt because of it.

Cozy mysteries run the gamut of sub-sub-sub-genre writing (from gardening, to baking,  to puzzles, to holidays, to holiday gardening [I’m totally serious…these exist!] and on and on…). It’s not ALL cats and libraries or bookshops. That said, generally light-hearted fare that still keeps the reader guessing can be a welcome reprieve in the worlds we navigate.

I love reading Flannery O’Connor, Sandra Cisneros, Cornell West and Eduado Galeanro.  I also love reading the Cat in the Stacks books! I’ve never been convinced that it has to be all one, or the other. Reject those binaries, dear Eleventh Stack reader! Take a departure from your normal fare and get cozy!

Eric (who is eagerly awaiting cool autumn evenings with a cozy mystery, a cup of tea and a cat curled up with him)

Shelf Examination: Mystery

When the poor sap stumbled into my office, I could see he was desperate. “You’ve gotta help me,” he rasped. “You’re the only one who knows.”

I eyeballed his lanky form and decided he was more sinned against than sinner.  “Have a seat,” I said, and gestured to the battered computer chair where all my clients tell me their troubles.  “What’s your pitch?”

“I need…” He gulped, then glanced nervously behind him, as if he expected the reading police to show up at any moment. “I need a good mystery.”

A good mystery to idle away a summer afternoon?  I should have known.  Thoughtfully I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs, inhaling deeply on my cigarette. I could try to brush him off with something simple, like a premade booklist, but something in his haunted, blood-shot, baby blues told me it wouldn’t work.   Not that booklists aren’t swell. But there was more going on here than met the eye, and if I wanted the mystery man to trust me as a professional librarian, I was going to have to give him a personalized list…and it was going to have to be a good one.

I sighed heavily, sat up straight, and fixed the stranger with my steely gaze.  His face brightened as I pushed a piece of paper and a pencil across the desk. “Here,” I said, “listen up good, and write this down.”

 

 

The Book: The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, ed. Otto Penzler.

Check this out if you like: Short stories, pulp fiction, men’s adventure magazines, danger, suspense, dark alleys, dames both classy and treacherous, gumshoes, shysters, shamuses, double-crosses, or any of the other noir-y tropes common in Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett.

The Book:  Big Boned, Meg Cabot.

Check this out if you like: Wrongly-accused protagonists, celebrity/fashion namedropping, stories set on college campuses, love triangles, heroines of realistic size, loyal friends, cute shoes, or other chick-lit elements.

                   

 

The Book:  Casanegra, Blair Underwood et. al.

Check this out if you like:  Hollywood highs and lows, street lit drama, heroes with troubled pasts, father-son conflicts, tales of redemption, celebrity authors, African American film history, the seamy underbelly of the rap business, or erotic fiction.

The Book: Death of a Cozy Writer, G.M. Malliet.

Check this out if you like:  Cozy mysteries, English country houses, family feuds, dry humor, a hint of self-conscious parody, drawing room scandal, secrets and lies, or stories reminiscent of Agatha Christie.

 The mystery man, visibly relieved, tucked the booklist into the breast pocket of his jacket and beamed at me from under the brim of his shabby fedora.  “Thanks to you, miss, I’m feeling a lot more literate and entertained.  How can I ever thank you?”

I smiled.  This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, I could tell.  “For starters,” I said, “how about you open up that briefcase you’re carrying and show me what kind of McGuffin you’ve got there?”

Cue the saxophones! And don’t forget to tune in next time for Shelf Examination!

–Leigh Anne