Sunday Salon: Where I Am Today & Where I Was Five Years ago

I am going through a crime fiction phase at the moment, my attention turned especially to crime fiction set in countries other than my own. I recently read a novel set in Laos during the 1970's and now am enjoying one set in Sweden, 1999. Neither are first in the series books, although this is my first time reading either author.

With Colin Cotterill's novel, Anarchy and Old Dogs, I was especially taken with how the author captured the political climate of the the times. The protagonist, Dr. Siri Paiboun is the national coroner, and, at 73, he is still at the top of his game. As a young man, he had been a political activist full of ideals. Reality does not always live up to our dreams.

Sun and Shadow by Åke Edwardson is the third book in the series, but the first to be published in the U.S. in English. While I like the book so far, it's obvious I have jumped into a series already underway. The crime stands up by itself in the novel, but I do feel I have missed out on knowing a bit of the characters' histories. With some series books it does not matter, but it seems to with this one, at least for me. It makes me wonder why books like this cannot be translated and published in order. Even if I wanted to go back and read the first two books in the series, I wouldn't be able to at this time unless I suddenly developed the ability to read Swedish. I'm sure there's a good marketing reason behind it all or maybe copyright laws, but I still don't have to like it.

I usually do start series from the beginning, and I prefer to do so. At one time I was a big stickler about it. I discovered, however, that sometimes it just does not work out that way, and I have learned to be flexible.

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It was about a month ago that I came across a post by Michelle titled Ratings Retrospective. I knew then that I wanted to follow suit. And I did. I like the idea so much, that I am making it a monthly event on my blog. Towards the end of each month, I will be reviewing my reading journal from five years past and reminiscing about the books I read during the month corresponding the one we're in. I am going back five years more for convenience sake than anything else. I began keeping a reading journal five years ago, and so it seems the fitting place to start.

I am a little behind, and so you might have to suffer through two memory sessions this month. Blame it on the Thanksgiving Holiday and visiting relatives.

November of 2003 was my introduction to two new book series that would begin a love affair that would continue for years. Although my reading has taken me in different directions over the last couple of years, I am in no way done with either series. I am sure I will find my way back to them in time. I also took a chance on yet another series, for which my relationship is still in the beginning stages. And then there was the token nonfiction book I wanted to fit in because I needed a break from crime fiction if only for a short while.

I had been wanting to read something by mystery author Anne Perry for some time and finally settled on Cater Street Hangman, the first in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series set in Victorian England. I was a bit surprised when I came across the following sentence in my review of the novel: "British novels have never been among my favorites." I had to laugh. Did I really feel that way five years ago? I don't remember that. I guess, a lot has changed since then. I did end up liking Cater Street Hangman. Quite a bit in fact. Enough for me to move on to other books in the series. I have not yet read them all, but that remains one of my reading goals.

Laurell K. Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures, the first book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series, would be the second big hit of the month. I had not really read anything like it before, but as a fan of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and after hearing so many rave reviews from friends in an online book group, I decided to give it a try. The idea of a novel combining mystery and the paranormal was especially alluring to me. I am quite a fan of mysteries and fantasy. I have seen the series change over the years as the protagonist is affected by everything she has had to endure. I may not be quite as enamored with the series as I once was, but I still enjoy visiting with the characters now and then.

I started another series that November: Sarah Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, P.I. mystery series. Indemnity Only did not captivate me quite as much as the other two series' firsts I'd read that month, but I did enjoy it and hoped to read the next book in the series. I haven't quite managed that yet, unfortunately. This is one of those cases where I throw in my oft used comment, "I hope to one day though."

The other book I read that month was a nonfiction book, A Rock and Hard Place, written by a boy who had been severely abused by his biological parents and battled AIDS. After finishing the book, I went online to see what I could find out the fate of the author, Anthony Godby Johnson. There evidently is a controversy about whether the book was actually true or not.

November of 2003 may not have been my most prolific reading month, but it was a memorable one. It is interesting to see where I was then as compared to now. I am still starting new series and enjoying old ones. I have branched out in new directions and am enjoying it every step of the way.

Week in Review:
Tuesday Randomness: Monday Mailbox & Tuesday Teaser
Review of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (Both the book and the Movie)
TGIF: Tuesday Thingers, Booking Through Thursday and Friday Fill-Ins

Happy Reading!