Serious Stuff
Why being kind to others is good for your health
Zodiac Killer: Code-breakers solve San Francisco killer’s cipher
‘Is this what we’re becoming?’: Anne Frank memorial in Idaho, the only one in US, defaced with swastika stickers
Roald Dahl Family Apologizes For Children’s Author’s Anti-Semitism
Op-Ed Urging Jill Biden To Drop The ‘Dr.’ Sparks Outrage Online
Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly
Lockerbie bombing: New suspect soon to be charged
French Police Barred From Drone Use in Protests
What a History of Book-Burning Can Tell Us About Preserving Knowledge Today
Washington’s Secret to the Perfect Zoom Bookshelf? Buy It Wholesale.
When “Normal” People Snap: The Unnervingly Universal Potential for Violence
How state marijuana legalization became a boon for corruption
On the Matter of SPECTRE
Can Shopify Compete With Amazon Without Becoming Amazon?
Life Without Amazon (Well, Almost)For concerned customers, avoiding one of the world’s largest retailers and web service providers is proving harder than expected.
Local Stuff
Tattooist, Muralist, Author: Seattle’s Kyler Martz redefines what being an ‘artist’ means
Bill Gates’ Holiday Book Recommendations for A Lousy Year
Words of the Month
Snow-Bones: They’re the lines of snow or ice left at the sides of roads after the rest of the snow has melted. Which will probably be around June.
-Thanks to Mental Floss & Internet Archive for this word!
Awards
A Dog Pissing At The Edge of a Path wins prize for oddest book title of the year
PW’s 2020 Person of the Year: The Book Business Worker
The 2020 Stocking Stuffer of the Year Award
Book Stuff
This Little Free Library at the South Pole is the First in Antarctica
How modern mathematics emerged from a lost Islamic library
Denver’s Tattered Cover Becomes Nation’s Largest Black-Owned Indie Bookstore
THE STRANGE STORY OF RICHARD WRIGHT’S LOST CRIME NOVEL, SAVAGE HOLIDAY
Tome raiders: solving the great book heist
Library Books: A Small Antidote to a Life of Perpetual Dissatisfaction
Crime by Committee: 8 Novels Featuring Group Misdeeds
Publishing saw upheaval in 2020, but ‘books are resilient’
Career-improvement books and e-learning courses are gifts that keep on giving
The book of love: 400-year-old tome of John Donne’s poems is unveiled
Will Dean: ‘The whole book came to me between midnight and 6am‘
The Girl Detective Disappears: On Searching for Nancy Drew, and Finding Myself
Why on Earth Is Someone Stealing Unpublished Book Manuscripts?
The Strange Experience of Reading a Book Series in the Wrong Order
How Many of the Greatest Crime Books of All-Time Have You Read? (Wait, Which Books?)
Every Dark Tower Book Ranked From Worst To Best
Many Bookstores Still Raising Cash on GoFundMe
Virtual Guadalajara Book Fair Attracted Big Audiences
The Lost Art of the “Cast of Characters” Lists That Opened Midcentury Mystery Novels
The World’s Most Valuable Scientific Manuscripts
These are the books New Yorkers checked out from the library most this year.
The Smallest Children’s Book In The Library Of Congress
The Most Scathing Book Reviews of 2020
Unemployed and Underemployed Booksellers Choose Their Favorite Books of the Year
Here Are The Most Beautiful Book Covers Of 2020
Surprise Ending for Publishers: In 2020, Business Was Good
BOOK PORN: One of the 21st Century’s Greatest Buildings Is a Library in Mexico
Other Forms of Entertainment
“Fargo” season 4 has spun a complex, compelling American fable of race and crime
Chadwick Boseman will not be replaced in Black Panther 2
Revenge of the secretaries: The protest movement that inspired the film 9 to 5
Thirty Years Later, Is Goodfellas The Greatest Mob Movie Ever Made?
Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones for fifth and final episode
Lost Muppet Christmas Carol song rediscovered
No More Mr. Nice Guy: Hugh Grant Embraces The ‘Blessed Relief’ Of Darker Roles
Say ‘what’s up, Doc?’ to Eric Bauza — the Canadian now voicing Bugs Bunny
The Sims launches 100 new skin tones thanks to the advocacy of Black players
The Most Wonderful Time For Christmas Songs Turned Out To Be … In July?
These Artists Will Change Your Mind About Winter
Successful, Sentimental And Satirized, ‘Love Story’ Celebrates 50th Anniversary
The Glasgow artist inspired by what she finds in the fridge
Lawsuit over ‘warmer’ Sherlock depicted in Enola Holmes dismissed
The Most Iconic Crime Movies Set During Christmas
On the Weird Little Essays That Inspired A Christmas Story
Why The Sopranos Has Become a Zoomer Touchstone
The Skills We Gained — Or Tried To — In 2020
Words of the Month
Piblokto: a condition among the Inuit that is characterized by attacks of disturbed behavior (as screaming and crying) and that occurs chiefly in winter
No one is entirely certain what causes piblokto (and some scholars in recent decades have expressed doubts that it actually exists at all), but what is fairly certain is that it sounds like a nasty way to spend the winter. Imagine if you had not only to perform through your normal routine of shoveling the walk outside your house and navigating the many additional layers of clothing that winter necessitates, but in addition had to do all this while in a state of hysteria.
“When an Eskimo is attacked with piblokto indoors, nobody pays much attention, unless the sufferer should reach for a knife or attempt to injure some one.” Robert Edwin Peary, The North Pole, 1910
A picture of Robert Edwin Peary in his, “North Pole Costume“
–Thanks to Merriam-Webster’s Blog Words at Play!
Links of Interest
November 29: The ‘Robin Hood’ policemen who stole from the Nazis
November 29: California Governor Again Denies Parole for Manson Family Member Leslie Van Houten
December 1: Grünten statue: Mystery over missing phallic landmark
December 1: The Literary Life Behind America’s Favorite Girl Spy
December 4: Sir Ian McKellen backs bid to buy JRR Tolkien house
December 4: Video: Arecibo Observatory Telescope Collapses
December 4: Why We See Rainbows
December 7: Ikea scraps traditional catalogue after 70 years
December 7: The day a Picasso statue vanished in Toronto
December 9: David Lew: Artist sues Los Angeles museum after work thrown out
December 9: Deer Santa strolls through downtown Invermere sporting holiday cheer
December 9: Bad Sex in Fiction Award Canceled Because We’ve All Suffered Enough
December 10: Spain Evicts Francisco Franco’s Heirs From Late Dictator’s Summer Palace
December 11: What’s Fauci Reading? We Take Another Look at Celebrity Bookshelves
December 11: Pennsylvania Turns To Man’s Best Friend To Sniff Out Spotted Lanternfly Infestation
December 11: Future-proofing Highgate Cemetery for climate change
December 13: Rare ‘Harry Potter’ book sold for $84,500 after sitting on woman’s shelf for 17 years
December 14: To Unlock Sublime Flavor, Cook Like A Scientist
December 14: Toledo Zoo Discovers Tasmanian Devils That Glow
December 15: Japan ‘Twitter killer’ Takahiro Shiraishi sentenced to death
December 15: Pup took van for a spin, police say
December 17: Woman discovers ‘thrill’ of wildlife photography in lockdown up for award
December 17: Italians Read More During the Pandemic
December 17: Long Lost 5,000-Year-Old Egyptian Artifact Found in Cigar Box
December 18: US couple find 100-year-old whisky bottles hidden in walls of home
December 18: Thieves steal 2,400 cases of whisky from trailer
December 18: The John Jovino Gun Shop: The Closing of a Noir Landmark in Downtown New York
December 19: Police in hunt for twice-lost rare whale skull
December 20: Meet Beave, The Internet’s Most Famous Beaver
December 20: 24 Inventions by Women You Might Not Be Aware Of
December 21: Viking hoard secrets ‘unwrapped’ by £1m research
December 22: Hawaii Reboots Depression-Era Conservation Corps
December 22: War Pigeons: The Humble Heroes Behind His Majesty’s Secret Service
December 23: The Night Jacqueline Winspear Helped Her Father Steal a Christmas Tree
December 26: Scientists ID potential biomarkers to peg time of death for submerged corpses
December 26: Russian historian jailed for dismembering partner
December 27: Has Thomas Becket’s treasured ‘little book’ been found?
December 27: Model Train Company Makes Comeback In Quarantine
December 30: Jonathan Pollard: Israel spy greeted by Netanyahu after flying to Tel Aviv
December 30: Kim Philby – new revelations about spy emerge in secret files
Words of the Month
Northern Nanny: A cold storm of hail and wind from the north in England. Many northern nannies hit the UK in the 17th and 18th century, during a period known as the Little Ice Age. This led to the Thames freezing over on several occasions, and when the ice was thick enough, as in 1620, giant carnivals called ‘frost fairs’ were held on the river.
-Thanks to Collins Language Lover Blog for this term!
RIP
December 3: Mad Max star Hugh Keays-Byrne dies aged 73
December 7: William Kittredge, honored for his books about the rural West, has died at age 88
December 11: Thomas ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr.
December 13: Carol Sutton, New Orleans Star Known For Role In ‘Steel Magnolias,’ Dies At 76
December 14: Ella Augusta Johnson Dinkins, Champion Of Zora Neale Hurston’s Hometown, Dies At 102
December 18: Star Wars’ Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch dies aged 75
December 26: George Blake – Soviet Cold War spy and former MI6 officer dies in Russia
December 26: Barry Lopez, award-winning and influential Oregon author, dies at 75
December 30: Deadliest serial killer in American history dies at 80, with police still searching for his victims
What We’ve Been Up To
Amber
Agatha Christie News:
INTRODUCING AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SVEN HJERSON
Six destinations every Agatha Christie fan should visit
Explore the World of Agatha Christie on PBS Jan. 17 & 24
It’s no secret that I love a well-written pastiche, and in Leonard Goldberg’s The Art of Deception, you’ve got just that – a well-executed pastiche….sorta.
The sorta is on account of the fact these mysteries are based upon the canon of Sherlock Holmes. However, the man himself is absent, as he passed away many years before these tales – leaving behind Dr. Watson, Ms. Hudson, his methods….and a daughter.
Who is just as bright, clever, and quick-witted as her father.
But here’s what I love about this series, Goldberg blends the familiar features of the original text into his new narrative with such a deft hand you’re able to recognize them for what they are, but they don’t feel crammed in. Even better? He doesn’t splice them in very often. Just enough to give flavor, but not so much he dilutes the current mystery Sherlock’s daughter, Dr. Watson, and his son are investigating.
Speaking of which, the case under investigation in The Art of Deception…
A madman, for reasons unknown, is stalking and slashing Renaissance paintings – exclusively of women. When the madman decides terrorizing galleries in the West End isn’t enough and breaks into the home of man fifth in line for the throne…well, Lestrade calls on Sherlock’s daughter, Dr. Watson, and Dr. Watson for help.
The Art of Deception is a great book. One I, unfortunately, managed to polish off in two days. (I am absolutely terrible at putting a book down when I’m enjoying it. In fact, I would’ve finished it off faster, but work, sleep, and packing got in the way!)
If you’re looking for a solid, fun and fast mystery with a Sherlockian in feel, I’d recommend you read The Art of Deception!
(BTW, you don’t need to read them in order to understand what’s happening in this book – Goldberg does an effortless job of catching the reader up.)
Fran
Trust Me.
Some of you might have been put off by the fact that a good part of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel, Station Eleven, was presented as a dystopian novel, and I suspect in these days, knowing that the world collapses in this instance is because of what is known as the “Georgia Flu” won’t help. But Station Eleven is much, much more than that, and if you ask anyone else who’s read it, they’ll agree.
Also, don’t be off-put when I tell you that it delves into the realm of Literature, because that sounds pretentious, and Emily St. John Mandel has managed to avoid pretentiousness by telling a fast-paced action story. The fact that it has solid literary worth is cleverly disguised.
Although I grant you, you’ll get more out of it if you’re familiar with Shakespeare’s King Lear. And Shakespeare in general, come to that.
Briefly, we begin on the eve of the Georgia Flu hitting the world (and this time the virus comes out of Russia instead of China, so see, that’s already one difference between fiction and reality. Aren’t you relieved?), with the collapse of legendary actor Arthur Leander onstage while he’s performing King Lear. The flu hits and within days, civilization as we know it is a thing of the past.
Station Eleven bounces back and forth between Arthur’s past and the future where one of the survivors of that fateful performance is now part of a traveling troupe of musicians and actors navigating the dangers of a new world littered with remnants and memories of the old one. And there are dangers aplenty, make no mistake.
Part of the deceptive charm of Station Eleven is that Emily St. John Mandel sucks you completely into her world, and you don’t see the power of her writing because it’s so beautifully understated. I finished it feeling like I’d been thumped over the head with a hammer that was lovingly encased in gorgeous velvet.
Oh, I know, I’m not making a lot of sense, which is why Station Eleven is a Trust Me book. Despite the dystopia and the flu, which I know sounds pretty awful to a lot of people right now, this is a book that should be on everyone’s TBR list, and honestly, I think it should be added to college level reading lists because Emily St. John Mandel’s weaving of stories is brilliant.
And it’s a page-turner too, with fabulous and complex people. And a dog. Trust me.
JB
In response to the year we’re leaving, and in hopes for the year we’re entering, I’ll leave it to this line from a great series we watched in November, “The Queen’s Gambit” ~ MY TRANQUILITY NEEDS TO BE REFURBISHED
BUY SMALL ~ SUPPORT SMALL
was great fun. It’s full of interesting details – Etta’s first name was really Ethel but a typo in the Pinkerton’s file has forever changed that, and Sundance played the guitar well – who knew? I had not heard that Sundance’s mother’s maiden name was Place and that’s likely where Etta/Ethel got it. In fact, it may be we really don’t know her birth name.
that the crimson splotches all over his clothes came from a shipment of raspberries that the blast had turned into flying jam. The red stuff now coated everything in sight – and would later make the stolen bank notes and coins easier to identify”. Later, one of the gang would be arrested after spending one of the stained notes.
story, and that fine balance between sadness and humor that his writing is addictive. Of course you know this.
The second book, Of Blood and Bone, is her coming-of-age book, and it is at times painful reading, but absolutely perfect.
James Ellroy’s 
which took place between the attack on Pearl Harbor and New Year’s Eve, 1941.
is the first book in which Dudley appears, 1982. The Black Dahlia was published in ’87. He’s got to make what is happening in books written now fit into what he wrote 38 and 33 years ago. No small feat! And re-reading it all would be daunting. I mean – that’s seven and a half inches of Ellroy!
and my interest in history and true crime smash together in San Wasson’s 
First off, J.D. Robb’s 
“This world, Quayle said, would continue almost exactly as before, except for those who understood where, and how, to look. They would see shadows where no shadows should be, and forms shifting at the periphery of their vision. As for the rest, they would watch the rise of intolerance, and the subjugation of the weak by the powerful. They would witness inequality, despotism, and environmental ruination. They would be told by the ignorant and self-interested that this was the natural order of things.
I know, I know, you’re going to say, “Oh look, Fran’s touting a book by William Kent Krueger. So what? She always does.” It’s true. I do.
A while ago, I wrote a couple of posts about a trip to San Francisco and taking the Dashiell Hammett Walking Tour. It took me a couple of weeks but I hunted down a copy of Don Herron’s 
That’s the premise of Ben H. Winters’ latest bit of speculative fiction, 
“It is difficult to confront madness, because insanity is a stranger to reason and any reasonable response would be insane.” Henry’s approach to the world is sometimes difficult for Walt – and us – to follow. But the questions of reason are real in 
I finally got to a book I’d picked up months ago. I’d heard the sad story of Michelle McNamara, how she’d spent so long investigating the wolf she tagged the Golden State Killer, started writing 
She’s always remarkable, taking on some really tough topics in that genteel Southern way she has.
Never Have I Ever is much darker than a body dumped in kudzu or an airport gypsy explaining that murder is the best solution. Amy Whey’s life starts unraveling in the first chapter. Are you familiar with the game “Never Have I Ever”? It’s kind of a middle school game, like Three Truths and a Lie, that can be adapted to an adult game quite easily. Someone says, “Never have I ever (fill in the blank with something you’ve never done)” and anyone who HAS done it has to drink. Kind of embarrassing but fun, right?
One was Donald Westlake’s 
Seattle Mystery Bookshop 