Just Finished
"Maigret Stonewalled by Georges Simenon is the 3rd Chief Inspector Maigret mystery and my last book of 2018. It was a good book with which to finish off 2018.
It's June 1930, the king of Spain is coming to Paris, occupying the efforts of most Paris's police investigators, the Head of Criminal Police is away at a conference in Prague and the Deputy Head is away on summer vacation and Maigret is in charge. He then gets called away to investigate the death of Monsieur Gallet. What seems to be a straight-forward case becomes more confusing. Monsieur Gallet isn't really Monsieur Gallet. Was he murdered or was it a suicide? The suspects all seem to have perfect alibis, from his disenchanted son, to the rich landowner who lives next to the hotel where Gallet was found dead.
It ends up being an interesting investigation with a neat little twist at the end. It's a nicely paced story and Maigret is an interesting, grumpy at times, police investigator. Always an entertaining read. (3.5 stars)"
2019 Individual Reading Group Challenges
I'm going to call this challenge my Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Challenge. Basically I'll have four separate challenges;
- Papa Bear Challenges. Since Papa Bear was the oldest, I'll pick the books that have been on my Goodreads Want - To - Read Bookshelf the longest for this challenge. I'll start with the longest residing book. Then next time I'll move down to #5, then to #10, etc.
- Mama Bear Challenge - Mama Bear is the middle, so for this challenge I'll always pick the book at the half way point in my Goodreads Want - To - Read Bookshelf. This will change over the course of the year as I buy new books and add them or as I read books and subtract from the list.
- Baby Bear Challenge - Of course, you've figured this out. Baby Bear is the youngest so I'll start by reading the most recent book added to my shelf. Then I'll follow by moving up the list 5 places, then 10 places, etc.
- Goldilocks Challenge. Goldilocks tried a bit of every bears food, chairs and beds. For this challenge I'll use a random number generator to pick the book. From 1 - whatever the last book on my Want - To - Read book shelf.
How does that sound? I'm hoping to get a good mix with this challenge. Let's see what the first 4 books are going to be.
"When a tortured young woman enters the trauma center of an Atlanta hospital, Dr. Sara Linton is thrust into a desperate police investigation with Special Agent Will Trent and his partner, Faith Mitchell. Though guarding their own wounds and their own secrets, Sara, Will, and Faith find that they are all that stand between a madman and his next victim."
"In 1995, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his home. The hilarious book he wrote about that journey, Notes from a Small Island, became one of the most loved books of recent decades.
Now, in this hotly anticipated new travel book, his first in fifteen years and sure to be greeted as the funniest book of the decade, Bryson sets out on a brand-new journey, on a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis on the south coast to Cape Wrath on the northernmost tip of Scotland.
Once again, he will guide us through all that's best and worst about Britain today--while doing that incredibly rare thing of making us laugh out loud in public."
"Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The economy was destroyed and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world.
Andrés addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time. From serving sancocho with his friend José Enrique at Enrique’s ravaged restaurant in San Juan to eventually cooking 100,000 meals a day at more than a dozen kitchens across the island, Andrés and his team fed hundreds of thousands of people, including with massive paellas made to serve thousands of people alone.. At the same time, they also confronted a crisis with deep roots, as well as the broken and wasteful system that helps keep some of the biggest charities and NGOs in business.
Based on Andrés’s insider’s take as well as on meetings, messages, and conversations he had while in Puerto Rico, We Fed an Island movingly describes how a network of community kitchens activated real change and tells an extraordinary story of hope in the face of disasters both natural and man-made, offering suggestions for how to address a crisis like this in the future.
Beyond that, a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen for efforts in Puerto Rico and beyond."
"Who would kill the perfect gentleman?
When Ernest Fletcher is found bludgeoned to death in his study, everyone is shocked and mystified: Ernest was well liked and respected, so who would have a motive for killing him? Inspectors of Scotland Yard felt it was an unlikely crime for the London suburbs: a perfectly respectable chap at home with his head bashed in. It seems the real Fletcher was far from the gentleman he pretended to be. There is, in fact, no shortage of people who wanted him dead.
Superintendent Hannasyde and Sergeant Hemingway, with consummate skill, uncover one dirty little secret after another, and with them, a host of people who all have reasons for wanting Fletcher dead. Who tiptoed into the study to do the deed? The rather nefarious nephew Neville? A neighbor's wandering wife? A fat man in a bowler hat?
The mystery's key was a blunt instrument--a weapon that the police could not find... and that the murderer can to use once more. Then, a second murder is committed, with striking similarities to the first, giving a grotesque twist to a very unusual case, and the inspectors realize they are up against a killer on a mission...."
So there you go, folks. My initial 2019 reading selections. Any interest you? Tomorrow I'll do my final 2018 Reading summary. Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment