Book Report: October Mysteries & A Book Club

Here's the conundrum: Barnes & Noble opened a HUGE store on State Street in Chicago. I have been there three times already. The selection is amazing and I found myself falling in love. HOWever, if you are at all a Solid Book Reader, you know Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail is in your head, begging you to help keep the little shop around the corner open against the big, bad FOX. What is one to do?

Ah, the conflict of supporting businesses, but also just needing the book you need at the moment. I solved this conflict by purchasing from the Big Box Store, while also purchasing from four different small-town bookstores. I've bought a lot of books lately. This is because I am afraid I am getting dumber by the minute with my attention span and haven't been reading as much lately. How about you? I'm fighting against it by trying to get back into reading again. That being said, here are the books I read this summer:

Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto

Written in 1958, this mystery novel involves "the bodies of a young and beautiful couple...Standing on the cold beach, the police have nothing to investigate." While it is immediately assumed to be suicide, two detectives realize more is going on with the death. "They begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime."

I described this book to a friend as a sudoku puzzle in book form. There is very little character development, and no big emotional, terrifying scenes, just the two detectives solving the puzzle of how, when, where and why. It could be you'd want to pull out a piece of paper and pencil and track the train schedules just like the detectives do!

The author Matsumoto didn't start writing until he was 40, and then took off in fame becoming "one of the most acclaimed and highest-selling writers in Japan." For a murder mystery, it reads like an Agatha Christie novel, so if those books are up your alley, give this one a try. As far as I can recall, there is no language or anything scary or traumatic, so it would also make a good gift!

Rating: 8/10 Good puzzle of a mystery. Plus, I read it on a train so that added some bonus vibes.

Malice by Keigo Hagashino

This is a locked door mystery where an author is found in a locked room, in his locked house. "The two most likely suspects, his wife and his best friend, both have solid alibis-or so it seems." The detective investigating the case realizes he knows this friend of the writer's from when they were students. He discovers that the murdered author and the friend were anything but friends. "...The detective and the killer battle over the truth of the past and how events that led to the murder really unfolded."

Compared to Tokyo Express, this book was a bit more PG-13 in some of the details of the murder and then in the conversations the two men have. The storyline was more based on the development of the characters, so if you like that over a puzzle of a mystery, try Hagashino's writing. He had an interesting way of presenting the timeline of going back to their days of school, while also playing with the details of the plot.

Rating: 7.5 Good mystery - plot took some paying attention to because it does skip back and forth in time.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

This was a popular book over the summer - I saw it everywhere. So, for some reason, I stayed away from it. However, it was recommended and I'm so glad I picked it up. Sybil is a letter writer to everyone from estranged family members, her sister, novelists (i.e. Joan Didion) and her neighbor who happens to be around anytime she seems to need some help. In her 70s, Sybil is set in her ways, but through the letters she writes and receives, we see her let down her guard and be known. The character development is well-done and interesting in that it's told mainly through Sybil's own words.

I loved this book - it kept my interest, while also being a book you can pick up and read in short spurts (because the formatting is all letters and emails.) It reminded me of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road. (Another book I highly recommend!)

Rating: 8.5/10 Good book! Good book to buy as a gift for a reader this Christmas.

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Do You Wanna Do a Book Club? (Sing that like "do you wanna build a snowman," please. Thank you.) I keep considering doing some sort of book club. I'm thinking it through. So if you'd be interested, will you let me know? Comment or email kelwick@gmail.com and let me know if you'd join me. I would "host" it online with a reading schedule, questions and then I'd decide how I would do the discussion - or maybe just keep it all online.

Of the books I am considering, the first is You're Only Human by Kelly Kapic. I read this when it first came out a few years ago and really liked it. I'm wanting to read it again. Mr Kapic is a professor of theological studies at Covenant College. Second choice of book would be Finally Home: The Christian Hope of Heaven by Dane Ortlund. If you would like to join me in my online book club, let me know which book you'd pick!

And that's it for this month's book report! As always, let me know what you're reading. And let me know if you'd like to try my online book club. It could be fun.

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