Book Beginning: Never Look Down by Warren Easley

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

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.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

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YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

It's hard to pinpoint when a story begins. Who knows when that butterfly flapped its wings, churning up the atmosphere enough to send a new tangle of events careening your way?

 

-- Never Look Down by Warren Easley, from Poison Pen Press. Cal Claxton is an ex-L.A. prosecutor now practicing law in Oregon.

This third book in the series finds Cal helping a 16-year-old graffiti tagger and urban climber after she witnesses a murder -- from four stories up the outside of a downtown office building.

Teaser Tuesday: Baker's Blues by Judith Ryan Hendricks

When he's gone, I sit down at the table with his empty coffee cup and chocolate smeared plate. I think I would like to cry, but my reservoir of tears is empty.

-- Baker's Blues by Judith Ryan Hendricks.

This is the third book in Hendricks' Bread Alone Trilogy, following Bread Alone and The Baker's Apprentice. Baker's Blues finds baker Wyn Morrison dealing with the unexpected death of her ex-husband and re-learning the lessons she first discovered when she opened her Seattle bakery.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Happy Labor Day!

Mailbox Labor Day!

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. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

An interesting batch of books came into my house this week:



Never Look Down by Warren Easley. This is the latest in Easley's Cal Claxton mystery series featuring an ex-L.A. prosecutor now with a private law practice in Oregon. Here, Cal steps in to protect a 16-year-old street kid after she witnesses a murder.



The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath by Kimberly Knutsen. A funny literary novel of academic life, a rocky marriage, and the bleak Midwest. My favorite!



Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions by Michael Helquist, published by OSU Press. The first full-length biography of Equi, who was a doctor, progressive activist, and open lesbian.

BOOK LAUNCH in Portland on Monday, September 14 at 7:00 pm at the Oregon Historical Society.

2015 Challenge: Vintage Mystery, Silver: INCOMPLETE

INCOMPLETE

Although I read eight books for this challenge, I failed to get BINGO. I read indiscriminately and can't seem to get a rw of six no matter how I try to make it work. Oh well! There's always 2016!

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I'm signing up late for the Vintage Mystery Challenge in the Silver category.

Every year I sign up for the Vintage Mystery Challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block. Last year was the first time I successfully finished, but I've always had fun and the challenge introduces me to authors I haven't read before (Ngaio Marsh and Micheal Innes, for example) and inspires me to read the old mysteries I love but never seem to get around to (Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, for example).

The original idea of the challenge was to read mysteries from the Golden Age of mystery writing, meaning those published prior to 1960. Bev added a "Silver" level last year for mysteries published between 1960 and 1989.

I signed up again this year for the Gold category, but here it is September and I haven't read a single qualifying book. So I decided to re-energize my mystery reading with this late entry into the Silver category. I've binged on five qualifying audiobooks in the last three weeks.

Like last year, there is a BINGO theme this year, which mixes it up a bit. You complete the challenge by filling in six in a row or the four corners and any other two. You can use one Free Space as a wild card to complete the bingo.

BOOKS READ

I haven't figured out yet what bingo spaces to cover.

• The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry (Edgar winner)
• The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie
• Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard
• The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block
• A Caribbean Mystery  by Agatha Christie
• The Charm School by Nelson DeMille
• Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
• In the Frame by Dick Francis

NOTE:

Updated December 24, 2015