Now that I have a handy new iPod I've started choosing podcasts to download to listen to on my walks along with my music (which I need to learn how to tidy up into neat playlists). Along with West Cork, which is really riveting, Buried in Print recommended a few true crime shows, the first of which is Serial that I started listening to last night. It's amazing how quickly my walks to the bus stop pass when I have something interesting to listen to. I also am a fan of Beaks & Geeks which are shorter interviews with authors about new releases. I already have added to my wishlist of 'want to reads'. If you have a favorite podcast please do share. Anything bookish is good, but I also like investigative shows (like the true crime podcasts) or movies (of which I have yet to find one that I like).
Oh, (and in my meanderings) I just came across this episode of Read or Dead and have added it to my list for this weekend!
I don't tend to pick up books in the science fiction/fantasy genre, but I want to try and expand my reading horizons a little this year. Maybe I should start with something from the Hugo Award list? Happily we even have a number of these in my library's popular fiction collection.
I also want to read a book about Autism as it is Autism Awareness Month. I have brought home a copy of The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and might start it this weekend. The books in the link I shared all look interesting, so I might see what else I can get my hands on.
I've already got Laura Lippman's newest novel on my bedside book pile, here is an interview with her to complement it (and likely prod me into picking it up right now) . . .
If you are looking for a good crime drama to watch, I highly recommend Collateral which is streaming on Netflix right now. It is really well done and I think Carey Mulligan is pretty amazing. Sadly there won't be a second season, so savor those four episodes! Killing Eve also sounds great, but I don't have BBC America . . . Maybe I could be tempted to subscribe?
Here's something a little different and for my friend Kathy: Top Ten Books about Horses!
Litlove has recommended Eva Dolan's crime novels to me and they do sound good. On her recommendation I bought Long Way Home some time ago but have yet to read it. This interview with the author (about a newer book) makes me want to pull it out this weekend, though, and start reading it now.
Philip Kerr recently passe away. Why is it when an author dies you suddenly feel the need to start reading their books? (At least I do). I have a few of his Bernie Gunther novels, which now I think I might go in search of. I have always meant to read them . . .
I didn't set out to make this an 'all crime' novels reading notes, but it seems to be what I am most focused on at the moment. As a matter of fact I've given into temptation and bought three ebooks this week, all inexpensive digital deals. This time it is vintage crime: Patricia Wentworth's Anne Belinda, Charlotte Armstrong's The Chocolate Cobweb (kind of crazy title!), and Geoffrey Household's Arabesque. They are all pre-1950s works, and sound like great fun.
This weekend, however, I want to try and make some progress on a few nightstand books. I seem to be moving at a snail's pace these days. How many times in this post did I say . . . maybe I'll pull 'this' new book out to read? And, admittedly, I have written down those titles. While there 'might' just be a new addition to the reading pile, I plan on spending time with some old friends (do you think of books as friends, too?). And there might just possibly be a bookstore visit this weekend, too. Since it is going to be cold and snowy (still), books will have to be my escape.