I am into Halloween bingo big time and reading three four books all at once!

I'm still working my way through Speaks the Nightbird - it is a doorstopper for sure. Very much a mystery, as well as having the witchy elements. I am reading for Spellbound.

In preparation for the release of The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, which I have already pre-ordered and will be reading for New Release, I am re-reading The Handmaid's Tale. Margaret Atwoods distant, unemotional rendering of what is truly a horror story is so compelling. This takes care of Film at 11 for me.

Finally, I have dipped my toe into Nikki Galena by Joy Ellis. It's not Jackman and Evans, and the first book had some significant issues, but I can hear the echoes of all of the things that I loved about Jackman and Evans and the setting on the Fens remains as wonderfully brooding and isolating as ever. I am reading these books, because they aren't narrated by Richard Armitage. Joy Ellis is British, and lives in Lincolnshire, so I am using this for International Woman of Mystery.

Oh, and I almost forgot - since I've finished all of my Jackman and Evans audiobooks (sad face), I'm listening to an autumnal favorite, The Moor by Laurie R. King, the 5th in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. That one doesn't really fit into any of my categories, so I will either use it for the Free space, or I'll just reserve it for the full list of categories that I've created. 

I do want to blackout my card, so I'm inclined not to embark on reading for categories that aren't on my card until I'm finished with my actual card. There are just so many fantastic squares that this is hard!

...Not-so-patiently waiting on my

print ARC of

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King!

I'm soooo ecstatic!! : )

I absolutely LOVE this series!

Thanks Laurie and LibraryThing!  

As most of you are aware, I absolutely love the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. I haven't really dipped into her other books. I do think that I previously read A Grave Talent because the story is familiar, but I can't remember the plot well enough for that to be a problem for me here.

I am totally loving this book, and am even more convinced that Laurie King is herself a rare talent. While the books are quite different, there is a commonality with the Inspector Gamache series (besides just the coincidence that both authors are named Laurie) in that they both use the mystery novel as a springboard for deeper concerns.

I am liking it so much that I've agreed to drive my daughter's cat back to school today, just so that I can have 4 hours in the car alone with Kate Martinelli.

I'm not very far into this one - I've been looking for a new audible series to dive into because I have a bunch of credits that I need to use. I love the Mary Russell series, especially in audio format, so I decided to give Kate Martinelli a try.

I initially wasn't crazy about the narrator, because her delivery was extremely slow. Once I increased the speed to 1.25%, I found it much better. I am enjoying the story so far.

Don't get me wrong, I owe a lot to Laurie R. King. Her Mary Russell series is what really got me into Sherlock Holmes in the first place. (It also gave me a healthy, if often unfulfilled, love of Sherlockian romance--but that's a conversation for another day.)

That being said, I have never read a Sherlock Holmes collection edited by Laurie R King that I liked. I don't know what it is.

And I'm gunna be straight with you, I didn't finish this. I got about halfway through (just to the point of the adorable comic) and started skipping stories and looking ahead to see how many of the stories that actually involve Holmes and Watson. Hint: 6/15.

RATING

STORIES - 2/5

PROSE - 3/5

CHARACTERS - 1/5

OVERALL - 3/5