The Reading List for August 2024

 

In spite of being driven off course by a couple of books I couldn't finish, I still managed to read eight books this month. I had attempted to read books 3 & 4 in Octavia Butler's Patternists series but I found the two books unreadable. I wouldn't attempt book #5.

I've written blog posts on six of the eight I did read

 The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
The Little Sparrow Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
A Question of Belief  by Donna Leon
The Silkworm  by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)
Rogue Male  by Geoffrey Household
Patternmaster  by Octavia Butler.

Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler made the list - but no blog post

To get back on track, I finished the month with another by Donna Leon - Drawing Conclusions. Leon is my "go to" when I really need a good book.

The Little Sparrow Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

 

Although Seishi Yokomizo had written more that 75 mystery novels and was famous in his native Japan for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi, he is not as well known in the English speaking world. Only six of his mystery novels have been translated into English: The Honjin Murders,The Inugami Curse,The Village of Eight Graves, Death on Gokumon Island,The Devil's Flute Murders and the one I've just finished reading, The Little Sparrow Murders.

The mystery in The Little Sparrow Murders revolves around a Japanese folk tune - a children's tune - a Temari song - wherein the Little Sparrows are three young girls, murdered in line with the words of the song.

Like all the novels by Yokomizo, this one, written in 1957, is a top notch mystery. I was kept guessing until the very end.

Sadly, Seishi Yokomizo's novels aren't translated into English fast enough to suit me....a new one comes out about once a year. I haven't read when the next one is due to be released, but I suspect it will be in 2025.

The Reading List for January, 2024

 

The time has come to post another monthly reading list. With nine books on the list, January has been the most productive month since July of 2023.

I've already posted about the first four books on the list - "The Razor's Edge" by W. Somerset Maugham ,The Devils Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo and two novels by Femi Kayode .

Lost to the West by Lars Brownworth deals with the history of the "other Roman Empire" - Byzantium. (Thanks Dom).

Running a 1000 Miles for Freedom is the story of Ellen & William Craft, as told by themselves - Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo is an expanded telling of the Crafts' story.

Naturally, I couldn't end the month without catching up with Commissario Guido Brunetti.

January's reading list is as follows:

The Razor's Edge  by W. Somerset Maugham 

The Devils Flute Murders  by Seishi Yokomizo

Lightseekers  by Femi Kayode

Gaslight  by Femi Kayode 

Lost to the West  by Lars Brownworth 

Running a 1000 Miles for Freedom  by Ellen & William Craft 

Master Slave Husband Wife  by Ilyon Woo  

Through a Glass, Darkly  by Donna Leon  

Suffer the Little Children  by Donna Leon

The Devils Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

 

It was in December, 2022 that I first came upon the work of Japanese mystery writer, Seishi Yokomizo. Although the late Yokomizo (he died in 1981) had written more that 75 mystery novels and was famous in his native Japan, at the time I first learned of him only four of his novels had been translated into English.

After reading the first one - The Honjin Murders I set out to read everything of his that I could get my hands on.

Thankfully, a fifth book was translated and released in 2023 - The Devils Flute Murders. This one is my favorite, so far. Like Yokomizo's first novel, The Devils Flute Murders is a "locked room mystery", although it goes much further than that. Of course, I never give spoilers.

The only negative I can give is the difficulty I have keeping all the Japanese names straight - but that's me, not Yokomizo.

I've learned that a sixth mystery novel by Yokomizo (The Little Sparrow Murders) has been translated into English and will be available sometime this year. At the rate that his work is being translated, it's unlikely that I'll live long enough to read his 77 novels featuring Kosuke Kindaichi.

The January 2023 Reading List

Today is the last day of January and the time has come for another list of books read during the past month. I'm not likely to finish reading an eight book for January.

The first two books for January follow a theme from December - these books are the 3rd and 4th I've read that were written by the Japanese mystery writer, Seishi Yokomizo. It is my understanding that there are five novels by Yokomizo translated into English, although # five isn't scheduled to be published until later this year.

According to an article on wikipedia, Soji Shimada has more work translated into English than the two I read in January, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate copies.

In addition to Six Four, Hideo Yokoyama has two other novels translated into English - Seventeen and Prefecture D. Both of these novels have been placed into the queue.

The final two books for this month were not easy reading, to say the least. Both deal with serial killers who are also sexually perverse. To lighten the mood, my first two books for February will be by mystery writers mentioned in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Sue Grafton and Elizabeth George - who should fit in with the more tamer elements of the mystery/detective genre.

NOTE: It is now 10:00 PM  January 31. I had not expected to have finished another book for this month, but it seems that I have after all. An 8th book will be added to the list, although the cover of that book will not be added to the jpg. at the beginning of this post.

The Village of Eight Graves          by Seishi Yokomizo
The Inugami Curse                        by Seishi Yokomizo
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders            by Soji Shimada
Murder in the Crooked House       by Soji Shimada
Six Four                                         by Hideo Yokoyama
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo   by Stieg Larsson
The Mermaids Singing                  by Val McDermid
'A' Is For Alibi                               by Sue Grafton

December 2022 Reading List

As I write this post, it is Friday afternoon, December 30. I've just finished reading the 7th book for this month, and although there is still one more day left in the month, it is unlikely that I can finish an eighth book before the month comes to an end. Therefore, I'll write the post now and have it ready for tomorrow.

If it should happen that I'm able to finish another in the time remaining I will edit this post.

Unlike some other months, I haven't posted many reviews in December for the books I've read immediately following my having read them. I did, however manage to write something about A.J. Cronin as well as one book by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. 

I can't say enough about how much I admire the work of Dr.Cronin. His Hatter's Castle is one of the best books I've read this year. More of his novels will be going into the queue for 2023.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I enjoyed reading all three books in Kawaguchi's Café series, and I recommend the trilogy, although I'm looking forward to the day when Kawaguchi spreads out and writes a novel that is not part of the same series.

For the 4th book of December, I switched from fiction to non-fiction, reading Anna Reid's Leningrad : The Epic Siege of World War II.

I don't recall exactly how I discovered Seishi Yokomizo. Yokomizo was a popular Japanese mystery novelist during the immediate post WWII period. His mystery novels have only recently been translated into English. The first in 2019. So far, five of his mystery novels have been translated into English although #5 won't be available until sometime in 2023. I have read the first two - the third and fourth will be the first two I'll read in January.

The final book finished this month (and this year as well) is a mystery novel mentioned by Seishi Yokomizo in The Honjin Murders - The Red House Mystery by A.A.Milne.

Milne is best remembered as the creator of Winnie - the - Pooh. The Red House Mystery is his only mystery novel. He mentions in his dedication of the novel to his father that the elder Milne was a great fan of detective and mystery novels and the younger Milne wrote this novel especially for his father. I, for one, wish that Milne had written more in the genre. I enjoyed reading The Red House Mystery and would liked to have seen the amateur detective, Anthony Gillingham team up with his friend Bill Beverly in more novels.

So, now - here is the list of the books I read in December, 2022. I can recommend all seven.

The Stars Look Down                                         by A.J. Cronin 

Before Your Memory Fades                               by Toshikazu Kawaguchi  

Hatter's Castle                                                   by A.J. Cronin 

Leningrad The Epic Siege of World War II       by Anna Reid  

The Honjin Murders                                          by Seishi Yokomizo  

Death on Gokumon Island                                 by Seishi Yokomizo  

The Red House Mystery                                     by A. A. Milne