FF: Oopsy!
Roary Says……the “Queen of Winter” wrap (knitted from undyed alpaca and silk yarn) being offered at the Tamson House auction is a steal. Ships free within the U.S. Really, a steal, I just priced a mass-produced knitted wrap on line.
As for the oopsy, I accidentally credited two of the audiobooks I listened to recently to Margery Allingham, when I should have credited them to Ngaio Marsh. I blame this on not actually looking at the print page, and the weird coincidence that Marsh’s detective protagonist is “Alleyne,” pronounced “Allen,” which became “Allingham” in my very allergy plagued brain. You can read my mea culpa corrections at the end of this post.
For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in. And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.
Completed:
Drink Down the Moon by Charles de Lint. Standalone sequel to Jack the Giant Killer. Mostly new cast of characters.
A Wreath for Rivera by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. Ambition doesn’t need to be for power and wealth. Sometimes it’s all about playing the drums.
Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. Marsh was a New Zealander, and WWII gave her a reason to break from the pack and set her novel in her homeland. Today, when the mystery field often seems to put “oddities” over plot and character, it’s hard to believe what a bold step that was for both her and her publisher.
In Progress:
Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. Another Alleyne mystery set in New Zealand.
River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads by Cat Jarman. Non-fiction. Curiosity about how a carnelian bead got from (possibly) India to a Viking grave in England sets an archeologist speculating. Very readable.
Also:
Murder at the Bar and Artists in Crime are both by Ngaio Marsh.
And I’m also reading the mass market proofs of my own novel Library of the Sapphire Wind, which was released as a trade paperback and e-book back in February of this year.
Oh, yes, I did start writing that short story…
