Teaser Tuesday: Death at the President's Lodging

Why had Umpleby met his death in a story-book manner?… He had died in a literary context; indeed, he had in a manner of speaking died admid a confusion of literary contexts.

-- Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes.

This is an erudite Ivory Tower mystery, first published in 1936. I really enjoy the Vintage Mystery Challenge because it's made me search out some Golden Age authors who are new to me, like Michael Innes.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

 

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Marcia is hosting again in October.  The sign-up post is here, where you can find links for all the participants.

I got one book last week, from OSU Press. It looks like a super-interesting history of the Sherman Institute, an off-reservation boarding school for Native American children that still operates as the Sherman Indian High School.

 

The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute, edited by Clifford E. Trafzer, Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert, and Lorene Sisquoc.

This collection of writings and images focuses on the earlier years of the school in Riverside, California.  The federal government opened this flagship institution in 1902, seeking to transform American Indian students into productive farmers, carpenters, homemakers, nurses, cooks, and seamstresses.

The book is a compilation of documents from the Sherman Indian Museum examining the building of Sherman, the school’s Mission architecture, the nursing program, the Special Five-Year Navajo Program, the Sherman cemetery, and student life.  There is also a photo essay depicting life at the school.

Book Beginnings: Death at the President's Lodgings

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

TWITTER: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the has tag #BookBeginnings. My Twitter handle is @GilionDumas.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

An academic life, Dr. Johnson observed, puts one little in the way of extraordinary casualties. 

 -- Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes.

Isn't the vintage Penguin cover terrific!

I am reading this 1936 Ivory Tower mystery for the Vintage Mystery Challenge.  I'm in Minneapolis for work for a couple of days, and this is the perfect book to read after a long day.

Teaser Tuesday: The Imperfectionists

He already knew [his staff] in a way -- he understood this breed backward and had foreseen how his speech would be received.  Journalists were as touchy as cabaret performers and as stubborn as factory machinists.

-- The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. I am tearing through this novel about an English-language newspaper based in Rome. I love it. What a terrific description of the funny subculture at the center of the story!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Marcia is hosting again in October.  The sign-up post is here, where you can find links for all the participants.

Last week, I got a book from author Ray Rhamey, his futuristic political/legal thriller, We the Enemy. It looks great!



I met Ray when we were on a panel together at the Wordstock book festival.  He is a writer and editor and has a very fun blog called Flogging the Quill, where he offers to critique the first page of someone's manuscript, with readers' comments and votes on whether they would read past the first page.

The Wordstock panel was moderated by YA author and creator of the Novel Novice blog, Sarah Gundell. Sarah a real live wire! Very fun to work with.

Stephanie Guerra, author of a YA novel Torn and contributor to the popular readergirlz blog, was the third member of the panel.  Stephanie is a wonderful woman who, along with motherhood and several other pursuits, works on a literacy program for troubled teens.