nomadreader

The backstory:   Sea State  is the debut by Scottish journalist Tabitha Lasley My thoughts:  This gorgeous book, part memoir and part journalism, is difficult to describe. It is both deeply personal, raw, and honest about life, love, and the passion and reality of an affair. It's also a fascinating exploration of the work and home lives of the men who work on oil rigs off the coast of Northern Scotland. How do men, Lasley wonders, act when there are no women around? The writing is extraordinary. Favorite passage: "I couldn't say  what I wanted, because what I wanted resided deep down, in a place under language, a register that lost everything in translation." Rating: 4.5/5 Length: 220 pages Publication date: December 7, 2021 Source: my local public library Want to read for yourself? Buy Sea State from an independent bookstore , Bookshop.org or Amazon (if you must), or find a copy at your local library .   As an affiliate, I receive a small commission whe...

The backstory: Michael Connelly is my favorite mystery writer. I've read all thirty-six of his novels (so far), and I read through most of those in 2014 when I was pregnant with Hawthorne. The basics: Fair Warning brings back journalist Jack McEvoy, whom we haven't seen in more than ten years (in The Scarecrow ). He finds himself a suspect when a woman he had a one-night stand with is murdered. He takes on the story as a reporter. My thoughts: Connelly started has a newspaper reporter, and he uses this opportunity to showcase how the profession has changed since we last saw Jack McEvoy: "I was proud of what we had accomplished and proud to call myself a journalist in a time when the profession was constantly under attack." Connelly has written most of his novels featuring LAPD detective Harry Bosch, but his two other series ( The Lincoln Lawyer --Mickey Haller and this one, featuring McEvoy) have always featured mysteries that couldn't or wouldn't be ...

The basics:  Blessed are the Dead  is the debut mystery for Kristi Belcamino. It introduces San Francisco crime reporter Gabriella Giovanni. It was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel in 2015. My thoughts:  I majored in journalism in college, and I'm drawn to books written about journalists (despite, or perhaps because I have zero professional interest in every working as a reporter.) Still, lines like these remind me of why I pursued the field in college: "I try not to eavesdrop, but hey, it's what reporters do. We are natural observers of everyone and everything around us." I think the same is true for novelists, and Belcamino's observations were wonderful in this novel. I also like mysteries, so a contemporary mystery with a fantastically flawed heroine who happens to be a crime reporter, and is also written by a crime reporter? It sounds perfect. I bought this book for my Kindle as soon as I saw the 2015 Anthony Award nominees. I have no i...

The backstory: Neely Tucker's first mystery novel featuring Sully Carter, The Ways of the Dead , was one of my favorite reads last year . The basics: Murder, D.C.  picks up shortly after the events of The Ways of the Dead , and it contains some spoilers from that novel. Here, Billy Ellison, the only son of DC's most influential black family is found dead in Frenchman's Bend, an unsavory part of town with deep historical roots. Veteran journalist and former war correspondent Sully Carter uses his connections to solve the crime and write the story. My thoughts: Sully Carter is a fascinating and complicated character. Much like Harry Bosch, he's an antihero of sorts. I find myself rooting for him most of the time, but I did wince at him a few times in this novel. I appreciate his complexity because it mimics the mystery itself. A whodunit can seem simple, but murder isn't typically committed in a vaccuum. Knowing who did it is only part of the story. In Murder,...

The backstory: I've been racing through Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels and loving them. I decided to read all of his novels in the order in which they were published rather than just the Bosch novels. The Poet  is the first non-Bosch mystery. The basics: When Jack McEvoy, a Denver newspaper journalist, hears his twin brother, a police officer, committed suicide, he doesn't believe it and starts investigating his death as a possible murder. My thoughts: The best stand-alone mysteries are the stories that couldn't be told the same way if the usual crime-solver caught the case, and The Poet  is a stellar mystery. Admittedly, I'm a fan of journalist-fiction, and McEvoy is a smart, savvy journalist (and character) to root for. In many ways The Poet  is the best of both worlds: solving mysteries inside and outside of law enforcement. McEvoy has access to some clues that may have been missed, while he also relies on law enforcement at other times. The result i...