Mystery Books Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

Hi everyone,

I'm excited about this review. This is Robert Baty's first novel and it is written in the modern noir style. An engaging thriller, it truly is difficult to put down. If you get the chance, I hope you enjoy the fast-paced read!

Here's the latest article from the Mystery Books site at BellaOnline.com.

Vintage Connor: The Blond in the Lotus Elite Review
Classic cars and an old flame pull a former cop into a murder investigation that could be his last.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art173153.asp/zzz

Please visit mysterybooks.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Mystery Books.

***

Quote:

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones. ~Benjamin Franklin

***

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Mystery Books located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=245

Feel free to join us and let us know what you think about the mystery books you have read. We would love to hear your take on your favorites!

***

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message!

Take care,

Edie Dykeman, Mystery Books Editor
http://mysterybooks.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com

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Literary Fiction Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

"Birds sang, and the sun, for the first time since last autumn, brought a real warmth with it."

- Rosamunde Pilcher, September (1990)

***

LATEST ARTICLES ON THE SITE

Quiz - Before They Were Writers
You know Samuel Clemens got his pen name, Mark Twain, from his job as a riverboat pilot. What were the former occupations of the writers in this quiz?

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art41084.asp

Judging 5 Books by Their Trailers
Love 'em or snub 'em, preview trailers are now integrated into many authors' promotional routines. Here are five of the latest.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10543.asp

***

BOOKS ON MY NIGHT STAND

Agatha Christie's Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a graphic novel by Bruno Lachard

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/284810175X/mewo-20

First published in France in 2004, this is one of only eight comic-book adaptations of Christie printed by Harper so far. It's like reading Poirot in the world of Tintin - and it works. It works far better than the BBC TV production released in 2000, in which Christie's narrative sleight-of-hand was all but abandoned and the story reworked beyond recognition. The only good thing about it was David Suchet's Poirot.

The graphic-novel format allows Dr. Sheppard to narrate, as he does in Christie's novel. The first panel shows the village of King's Abbot just before dawn, train tracks on one side, church spire in the distance. Sheppard's opening words frame the rest of the story: "Almost five in the morning. I reread my manuscript for the last time. It all started with the death of Mrs. Ferrars on the night of 16 September ... " Muted colors create a noir-ish atmosphere and suggest - wordlessly, subtly - that what we're seeing may not be what we should believe.

Given the mystery's solution, I can see how the novel might be impossible to render word for word in images. Yet, as illustrated brilliantly in this book, Lachard succeeds where BBC screenwriter Clive Exton miserably, utterly failed.

***

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Booker Prize 2011 shortlist

The always anticipated Booker shortlist was announced on September 6. The six contenders are:

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (third time on the shortlist)
Jamrach's Menagerie - Carol Birch (longlisted in 2003)
The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt
Half Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
Pigeon English (debut novel) - Stephen Kelman
Snowdrops (debut novel) - A. D. Miller

I have Kelman on my bookshelf, and I'll be dipping into it soon between work reads. I've also heard good things about the Barnes.

Have you read any of the shortlisted books? If so, what did you think of it? Please share your thoughts, or - if you dare - predict which one will win! The prize will be awarded on October 18.

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/713331/Booker_Prize_2011_shortlist#Post713331

***

Happy reading!

Lane Graciano
Literary Fiction Editor, BellaOnline
http://LiteraryFiction.bellaonline.com

BellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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Mystery Books Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

Hi everyone,

Edie here featuring a top-notch debut racing mystery by Tammy Kaehler. If this book is any indication, Tammy has a great future as a mystery writer ahead of her.

Here is the latest article from the Mystery Books site at BellaOnline.com.

Dead Man's Switch Review
When novice racer Kate Reilly arrived at the track looking for a permanent ride, little did she know it would be over a dead body and she would be at the top of the suspect list.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art173028.asp/zzz

Please visit mysterybooks.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Mystery Books.

***

Quote:

"My first big break in auto racing came at the expense of someone's life. But I took it." ~ Kate Reilly, Dead Man's Switch

***

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Mystery Books located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=245

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message.

Edie Dykeman, Mystery Books Editor
http://mysterybooks.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com

BellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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Literary Fiction Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

"The golden September sun warmed the earth with one last sigh of summer, the air crisp and brash and bright."

- Rosalind Noonan, One September Morning (2009)

***

LATEST ARTICLES ON THE SITE

September Author Birthdays
Each of the author birthday lists on the site will be updated every month. New authors added to the September lists include Jennifer Egan and Téa Obreht.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10953.asp

Quiz - Novels Set in Schools
School is one of the most amusing, exciting and dangerous places in fiction. Test your knowledge of stories set on literature's campuses.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42422.asp

***

BOOKS ON MY NIGHT STAND

Twitterature by Alexander Aciman & Emmett Rensin

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0143117327/mewo-20

By no means is this 2009 book a new or recent phenomenon, and it spoofs literary fiction rather than adds to its ranks. But it's fun. And for a reader whose attention span is shrinking, what could be shorter than a classic work in 20 tweets or fewer?

"Twitterature," as described on the book's cover, summarizes the classics "for the twenty-first-century intellect." It works because classic fiction is mostly about tragedy, which should ultimately be spoof-proof. A classic should stand up to not only the test of time, but also the modern habit of viewing things through an ironic lens.

So here's Hamlet (username: OedipusGothplex), my favorite tragic prince: "My royal father gone and nobody seems to care. Mom says to stop wearing black. STOP TRYING TO CONTROL ME! I wish my skin would just ... melt."

Here's Crime and Punishment's Raskonikov, the most morose character I've ever had to read: "It's hard being a poor student - lots of work, crappy room, and I have the ugliest hat this side of the Urals." Later: "I've got it. Rather than accept financial aid from my friend, I'll murder an elderly money-lender in cold blood. Why? I'm not telling." Oh, sure he's not. After a dozen tweets: "I think the coppers are starting to get suspicious on account of my acting LIKE A CRAZY PERSON WHO KILLED AN OLD WOMAN." Later still: "Another day in the old jail cell. Everything seems pretty bleak. Other prisoners hate me, and there's nothing much to do." And finally: "Oh hey, it's the New Testament. I'd like to suggest that this book is going to change my life, but that's really a story for another time ... "

This book will certainly save me from feeling like I have to actually spend time on Candide or Swann's Way, Eugene Onegin or The Sorrows of Young Werther. Don Quixote is hilarious: "People say that sleep deprivation, isolation, and too much reading have made me loopy. But I say nay! Nay!!!" And Heathcliff sounds much livelier than he does in Wuthering Heights: "A family has found me, and they keep calling me gypsy. Have I stolen their wallets yet? NO."

True to contemporary language use, the tweets are rife with swear words, so this is not a book for the sweet-natured. But it's all in good fun. Besides, it's totally in character for Sir Gawain and Huck Finn to exclaim, "WTF?" :-)

***

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

LitFic Challenge: 140 characters in 140 characters

Inspired by reading Twitterature, I came up with this "140 characters" game. Here it is in brief (of course):

Think of a character from a novel or short story. It doesn't have to be a classic, but the more serious and tragic the story, the more fun you can probably have with it.

Give the character a username. Writing as this character, summarize his/her story or persona or conflict in as few tweets as possible. How many tweets you'll need to post depends on how easy or hard it is for others to guess the character.

So the object for players is obviously to guess the character based on your tweets. When we reach a total of 140 characters (characters as in fictional persons, not the elements of sentences), I'll tally up and announce the winner.

Sound like fun? I hope so. I'll start with the first character. As soon as you can guess who it is, post your answer to the forum, and send in your own character tweets!

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/712086/LitFic_Challenge_140_character#Post712086

***

Happy reading!

Lane Graciano
Literary Fiction Editor, BellaOnline
http://LiteraryFiction.bellaonline.comBellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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Mystery Books Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

Hi everyone,

As we begin to move into the fall season, we have a number of interesting and fun mysteries coming up for review.

In this particular novel, shooter Lillie Hawkins continues her hard-driving ways as she tries to grab the best shots for her TV producer while pursuing leads in the latest murder.

Despite the growing danger around her, she doggedly pursues her goals as she hunts down the murderer of a childhood friend.

Here's the latest article from the Mystery Books site at BellaOnline.com.

Hot, Shot, and Bothered Review
Lilly Hawkins, a TV news photographer out of Bakersfield, decides to follow a coroner's van up the mountain rather than head for safety from a raging forest fire, with shocking results.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172721.asp/zzz

Please visit mysterybooks.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Mystery Books.

***

Quote:
"Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of somebody else." ~~Judy Garland

***

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Mystery Books located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=245

Join us in the forum and let us know what you like, or dislike, about your current mystery read.

***

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message.

Edie Dykeman, Mystery Books Editor
http://mysterybooks.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com

BellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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Mystery Books Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

Hi, Everyone,

Imagine the excitement of your upcoming wedding and then the horrific news that your fiance committed suicide. Toni handled the news much differently than I probably would have - but she refused to give up until she found out the truth in this fast-moving thriller.

Deed to Death Review
Just days before their wedding, Scott Chadwick plunges to his death in what authorities are calling a suicide. Fiance Toni Matthews believes otherwise and sets out to prove it.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172709.asp/zzz

Please visit mysterybooks.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Mystery Books.

***

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Mystery Books located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=245

Don't see your favorite topic on the forum? Feel free to begin your own thread with a mystery-related topic!

***

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message!

Take care,

Edie Dykeman, Mystery Books Editor
http://mysterybooks.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com

BellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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Literary Fiction Newsletter from BellaOnline.com

"The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus ticket, on the wall of a cell."

- David Nicholls, One Day (2010)

***

LATEST ARTICLES ON THE SITE

'Ginger Rogers Played Tennis in North Vancouver'
Paul and Anne Marie's neighbor, Peggy, seems a melancholy soul until a trip south revives her interest in tennis. After her return, Paul finds himself becoming her partner in a social pas de deux - a sort of Ginger and Fred number - in this original story by John Joyce.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46611.asp

Mary Shelley - A Writing Life
August 30 marks the birthday of Frankenstein's creator, who wrote tirelessly and traveled extensively, but lived a solitary life.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53138.asp

***

BOOKS ON MY NIGHT STAND

Perfect Lives by Polly Samson

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1860499929/mewo-20

As the summer winds down, my attention span starts to fragment, and I turn to short fiction and magazine articles for my reading material. Polly Samson's collection of 11 short stories is perfect. Published in the UK in 2010, it was the Sunday Times Fiction Choice of the Year and was released in the U.S. in February.

As seems the norm these days, the stories are each complete on its own but are linked by character to create an overarching narrative. (Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge is another example, and even Téa Obreht's novel, The Tiger's Wife, reads like interwoven separate stories.) So far I've only read the first story, "The Egg," which centers on the author's favorite character. Celia Idlewild is preparing breakfast-in-bed for her husband Graham when a disturbing parcel is pushed through the letter box on the door: a raw egg. Its yolk spreading slimily on the floor, its broken shell bears a message that shatters Celia's morning.

Samson writes lyrically, which is not surprising once you know that she co-wrote lyrics to The Division Bell with her husband, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. I'm looking forward to the rest of the book, and the best thing is, I can read it one story at a time.

***

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

What is the most boring classic novel of all time?

At last, here is our official Top Five Most Boring Classic Novels of All Time:

Silmarillion - J. R. R. Tolkien (1977)
Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1934)
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (1869)
Iliad - Homer (7th or 8th century BC)
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (1939)

What a wide-ranging selection! Luckily, for every book that puts you to sleep, there are dozens that will thrill you. Read the whole conversation over at the forum.

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/706237/The_most_boring_classic_novel#Post706237

Who is the most original, complex, interesting female character in literature?

The voting for the most soporific classic brought up some thought-provoking side topics. A remark about Twilight led to a discussion of Bella Swan and Nabokov's Lolita, and ended with my asking: Where are all the Harry Potters for the girls?

Actually, psychologist and literary critic Lucy Pollard-Gott has compiled a list of the most influential characters in literature and legend worldwide. They are ranked in her 2010 book, The Fictional 100. Only one woman made the top 10: Eve. Not exactly a character in literary fiction! Although the list certainly has international appeal, the most modern women in it are Scarlett O'Hara and Toni Morrison's Beloved.

So I'm curious: what fictional girl or woman gives Hamlet, Huck, Harry, and Holden Caulfield a run for their money? Please share your thoughts on the forum!

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/710588/Most_original_female_character#Post710588

***

Happy reading!

Lane Graciano
Literary Fiction Editor, BellaOnline
http://LiteraryFiction.bellaonline.com

BellaOnline is looking for writers! Here are a few of the topics that are available for you to write for : Appalachia | ASP | Atheist / Agnostic | Attachment Parenting | Basketball | Brazil | Cajun & Creole | California | Canadian Culture | Candlemaking | Card Games | Caribbean Culture | and more! http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/joinus/

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