Books, Books, Books by Susan Van Kirk

 From the time I began reading in first grade to the present, I’ve surrounded myself with books. Besides the thousands of books I’ve read, I also taught high school English and suggested book titles to high school students for thirty-five years. Now I write them.

 Books, books, books.

 

In my current semi-retired life, I read books or listen to them in varying formats and for various purposes. Right now, I’m reading or listening to four books. They’re all quite different. Why four?

 

Here’s why…

 

When I’m reading in bed at night, I want a mystery on my Kindle that is snappy, interesting, and funny. My Kindle allows me to read without my glasses on since I can adjust the text size. Right now, I’m reading Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property, the 52^nd Spenser book written by Mike Lupica. Lupica took over from Ace Atkins, and he now is the author of multiple Parker mystery series. I’ve read every Spenser mystery.

 

This newest book features all the old Boston gang, characters that are familiar to Spenser fans. Martin Quirk and Detective Frank Belson from the Boston police department are here, along with Hawk, Susan Silverman, and various politicians and underworld types. When the story opens, Rita Fiore, complex and controversial lawyer, has just been shot and is hanging between life and death in the hospital. Since she is a close friend and always flirts with Spenser, he must find out who pulled the trigger.

 This leads into the underworld of Boston. Boston itself is a character in the Spenser books from the Boston Globe to the Boston Red Sox and all the familiar streets in between. I love the short scenes and crisp dialogue of these books. Especially clever is the repartee between Spenser and Hawk, often hilariously politically incorrect. Great reading before I turn out the light.

 

I’m also in a mystery book club of two people, the local college librarian and me. We’ve been reading A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton. It’s a Mr. Quayle Mystery, Book 1, and I’m reading it in paperback. This format allows me to stick pieces of paper in and write comments and questions in the margins. This is an English castle mystery with many of the British golden age classic features but a modern writing style.

 

There is a party at Lord Unsworth’s castle in 1925, and a body is found in the garden of the castle. Before long, it’s obvious that family secrets abound in this plot, and Mr. Quayle, Lord Unsworth’s secretary, is asked by his lordship to run an investigation alongside the police. Even Quayle has secrets. Perhaps Quayle can keep the family secrets intact while finding the murderer. He’s efficient, but is he that efficient?

 

During the daytime, I like to read a chapter or two between jobs I need to finish. So, I’m reading the hardcover version of Erik Larson’s Demon of Unrest. I was a history major in college, and I love reading nonfiction historical books. This one concerns the period between Lincoln’s election and the

firing on Fort Sumter. It’s a country strongly divided. Larson writes history in the form of stories about people, and he narrows in on several real people to tell varying viewpoints about a country strongly divided.

 

Major Robert Anderson is the commander of Fort Sumter, a former slave owner but loyal to the Union. Edmund Ruffin is a Southern radical who stirs up the reading public with secession ideas. I’m sure today he’d be a podcaster. Mary Bodkin Chestnut, the wife of a southern planter, is known for her diaries, so the reader hears her point of view. And of course there is Lincoln, overwhelmed, dealing with errors, out-sized personalities, and betrayal. Larson used diaries, secret messages, slave ledgers, plantation records, and recorded conversations of the time. He weaves them into a seamless narrative. I read a few chapters during the day with this nonfiction book. It’s a nice getaway from whatever I’m doing.

 

Finally, I’m listening to an audiobook of Nora Roberts’ Hideaway. I like to listen to audiobooks while

I’m walking on my treadmill. They must be page-turners. The more interesting they are, the longer I manage to stay on the treadmill. Caitlyn Sullivan is the 10-year-old daughter of a huge Irish family that is Hollywood royalty. Early in the story, someone she loves betrays her, and she is abducted for ransom. Through intelligence, common sense, and nerve, she manages to escape her captors and turn the tables. But putting the kidnappers behind bars is only the beginning of the effect this event has on her life. The story moves from Los Angeles to Ireland to New York City to Los Angeles again. I’m not done with it yet, but I’m putting in a lot of miles.

 

Four different books, four different formats. Each has a different place in my life.

 

 

Susan Van Kirk is the author of two mystery series, the Endurance Mysteries and the Art Center Mysteries. You can read about them at www.susanvankirk.com