Steven’s Comments (group member since Nov 30, 2019)

Steven’s comments from the Mount TBR 2020 group.

Leslie wrote: "Oh, I need to get back to the 87th Precinct books! Thanks for the reminder :) Unfortunately for me, they won't count for this climb as I borrow them from the library..."

They can count for the virtual Mount TBR, though!

#3 - Ten Plus One by Ed McBain

Still spring in the city, with stormy weather looming, and a sniper very publicly killing people. The squad is on the case immediately, but even before they’ve gotten started the sniper strikes twice more.

At first it seems to be a random serial killer, until an interesting piece of evidence comes into their hands. Then it’s a race to find the rest of those on the sniper’s list....

Another entry that’s very strong on the procedural elements, though there’s also a lot of character work here, and quite a few twists, turns, and blind avenues.

#2 - Like Love by Ed McBain

Spring is in the air in the City, and the detectives of the 87th have yet another suicide on their hands (several, in fact, as the book opens with Carella having a heartbreaking failure with a girl on a ledge), this time an apparent suicide pact that resulted in a huge gas explosion.

Still, something doesn't sit right with Carella and Hawes, and they find enough to convince them that it was a staged homicide...but not enough to defintively prove it. The book follows their attempts to find more evidence and collect more information before the case goes flat and ends up in the Open File, forever unsolved, an effort complicated by the never-ending pace of crime in the city (including a homicide towards the end that remains unsolved at the end of the book.)

Definitely one of the better early entries in the 87th Precinct series (this one dates from 1962), though it’s also one of the more straightforward (despite the mystery assailant who keeps beating up Carella.)

Good luck, Quirky. Let’s see if you beat me to the top this time!

A seeming slow start this year...seeming. I’m actually back to my practice of cycling through a selection of books, some in print, some digitally. Expect a sudden flurry.

#1 - You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats by Francesco Marciuliano

A book of advice from cats...though it seems suspiciously directed at other felines. Though it might be amusing to see humans try to adopt this behaviour.

To leaven the weightiness of the text, there are pleasant cat pictures to admire.

Also on this year’s reading list (as always more a hope than a certainty) are the Pendergast novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, as much of a catch-up on One Piece as I can manage, and a heapin’ helpin’ of audiobooks as I’d like to pare down my Audible backlog *and* get physical audiobooks reduced.

And here we go again, up and over!

My ambition this year is to read some of the beautiful books produced by the Central Electric Railfans Association (CERA), particularly the one on San Francisco's F-Line: The Story of How America's Most Exciting and Successful New Transportation Experience Was Built!, along with more of the film books, and, I hope, the rest of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels.

Well, at this point...I’m not stopping! I already have my messy piles and disorderly digital ready for the new year, even as I storm towards the end of *this* year.