Sue Grafton's NEXT Kinsey Millhone Books, "Y is for..." (Apparently NOTHING!)

It's finally been announced!  The next-to-final Kinsey Millhone Alphabetta series installment, Y is for... will be released on August 22, 2017!  Who else is dying to get it, while apprehensive of the fact that this decades running series is slowly coming to an end?

I have no idea what it's about yet (no synopsis up on Amazon or Goodreads), but what the hell does it matter?  Give it to us!

No 2017 Reading Goals | Reading Announcements, Though

Coffee With Cornwell?

More Tess Gerritsen in 2017!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, 2017 is finally upon us.  It’s always exciting when a new year starts, because you never know what’s in store for the next 12 months and 365 days given.  You never know what’s in store at all.  Despite that unknown, and many set-ups already in place to usher in the new year either on a bright foot or dark, it’s a time to be optimistic.  To forge on with hope.

SO… HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Let’s see what 2017 have in store for us all!

Random Thought: Why Murder Mysteries Never Talk About This...?

So listen (err, read). I finished reading Chaos by Patricia Cornwell a couple of weeks ago. Now, for those familiar with the series, it follows the narrative of a medical examiner using her profession of forensics and pathology to out-craft a crafty criminal or two. Good deal, right? Sure. But here’s what bits of illumination crawled across my mind during my reading of the book. Given that the series follows the theme of death and autopsies, why do authors skip details related to one particular ickier part of death? What's that I have in mind? Well...shit...
Sure many of us don’t need that piece of detail, but let’s talk about it all the same.
Writers setting up a crime or autopsy scene are quick to dish details such as the body’s temperature (algor mortis). Then there’s the examination of the body’s state/condition–as an observation of this can help relay the time of death.
Authors will relay to the reader if the victim is in a state of rigor mortis (where the body's muscles stiffen shortly after death). Rigor mortis can last for about a day or two–give or take. Which, once observed, helps the reader and protagonist unfold the crime with an invaluable clue. But what if the body is found after its been through rigor? The author will, of course, then relay how the body is in a relaxed state of livor mortis (where gravity pools blood in the body).

So with those many relaxed muscles–including the body’s sphincter–why do authors never describe a pile of shit stuck underneath the victim? Okay, okay. Sure this doesn’t always happen–given all your muscles are too relaxed to push anything from your gut. But because it does happen, why have I yet to read a fictional crime scene where the author describes a corpse’s having released his or her bowels or bladder? Though a murder victim can hardly be described with pleasantries, I would like to read an author just once take it a step grosser. That’s right. Gross me all the way out!

Just a thought.

Next I’ll talk about SEX in romance…

Goodreads Year in Books Sum Up

I think I'm all booked out for the rest of the year; petering my way through a couple of reads, but basically done with reading.  Anyway, I started off the year setting a Goodreads goal of ten books.  Unlike last year, I wanted the comfort of increasing the goal as I paced my way along.  When I finally put a stamp on 65, I quickly realized it was best to pull that down to 60 and go from there.  I was losing steam as "life" interjected and my reading rhythm fell into a struggle.  

Nonetheless, I did one simple, easy little trick to close this year's challenge.  I ordered a 15 page Kindle singlet (from Nevada Barr of course) and read it at work.  BOOM.  Challenge done.  Hey, it is what it is...

No, for real.  With all the reading I've done this year–especially with those back-to-back Anna Pigeon books over the summer–I'm kind of good.  At least for a little while.