VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 discussion

I wasn’t sure I’d get this far…but here I am!

Onward!

#37 - Cat's-Paw by Bill Pronzini

A Nameless Detective mystery set in a zoo, where an investigation of thefts turns into a bizarre murder case. A rare example of this series doing a drawing room mystery (sort of; it’s a zoo office.)

Via Scribd

#38 - Close to the Bone by Kendra Elliott

Lackluster mystery with an FBI agent returning to the island where was born to recover from a shooting, only to find herself involved in a murder case when bones are found on a beach.

Kindle Unlimited

#39 - For Every One by Jason Reynolds

Biographical poem, in which the author inspires by not trying to inspire, but by attempting to connect with the reader/listener. The potential of failure is acknowledged, as is the penalty for not trying, and the tragedy of those “with their imaginations seatbelted.”

Via Libby.

#40 - American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes

Meditations on life in the time of Trump, from the perspective of a black man. The seventy poems here all share the same title, a conceit that becomes a refrain. Excellent work, with an engaging performance from the author.

#41 - Lock 14 by Georges Simenon

I docked this early Maigret mystery a star because of the awkward translation — I’d like to read the new Penguin version, The Carter of 'La Providence' to compare. Other than that, I enjoyed the book, a quiet murder mystery where the police are still adjusting to the changes in life and police processes — Maigret himself spends a great deal of time riding a bicycle around villages, harbors, locks and the canal.

Via Libby, and the Pima County Public Library.

#42 - Star Trek: Discovery - Aftermath by Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson, Tony Shasteen

Follows Spock, Pike, and Chancellor L’rell after season two of the series.

Via ComiXology Unlimited

#43 - My Friend Maigret - by Georges Simenon

In the new Penguin translation. Maigret, saddled with the visiting Inspector Pyke from London (there to learn about Maigret’s technique) is bored and frustrated. At first when a case from the island of Porquerolles comes in, he’s reluctant to deal with it - not his patch, for one thing. The murder victim, though, claimed to be an old friend of his…so, off he goes, Pyke in tow.

It’s one of the odd Maigret stories, frankly. Simenon writes about the island, about the people, about Maigret’s lassitude, with the mystery barely showing up until the end, and even the once solved the story returns briefly to musing on the people.

Via the library.

#44 - Maigret by Georges Simenon

A rather odd moment in the Maigret series — in the previous book Maigret retires to the village of Meung, in the Loire, which is where this one opens when his nephew, who Maigret got into the Police Judiciaire, turns up looking for help. Simenon had apparently decided to retire Maigret, and in fact took a lengthy break from the detective before bringing him back, once more in his old job.

It’s an enjoyable enough book, if a little odd seeming….

Pima County Library, via Libby.

#45 - 1971 - Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year

Summing up: 1971 was a golden year for rock music, making the point at which rock launched out of the shadow of pop, and got set for bigger and louder things. Also, albums.

It’s a fun read, full of good points, and it’s certain that 1971 had more than its share of great music, but it also marked the point where commercialization of music became everything, a big, brutal beast that would crush creativity beneath its treads. Hepworth Aldo can;t escape the fact that some of those mentioned here had their greater successes — and sometimes artistic achievements — ahead of them, with 1971 just being where the seeds were sown.

Via Scribd.

#46 - Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse by Georges Simenon

Maigret is drawn into a peculiar homicide — the murder of a well to figure man by gunshot, a fellow well liked, with seemingly no enemies. There are no easily definable suspects, the murder weapon belonged to the victim, and the area is full of, well, good people.

A latter-day Maigret, this doesn’t pursue the solution as much as it has Maigret observing the people, musing over methodology and mulling possible retirement.

From the Pima County Public Library.

#47 - Extraction by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Agent Pendergast takes a break from his usual FBI occultist work to recount a tale of his childhood and the mysterious Monsieur Dufour…. It’s a cute bit of gruesome horror, mostly delivered by implication.

Pima County Public Library, via Libby.

#48 - G-8 and His Battle Aces #8: The Invisible Staffel by Robert J. Hogan

Read in audiobook. Not a lot to say about this— it’s a 1930s war pulp, set during The Great War, full of preposterous action, hammy characters, and unlikely trickery.

Borrowed from Scribd.

And with that…off to the next mountain.