Reading is something I do for fun. Ever since I was a kid I would devour books. My favorites are mysteries - 'who done-its' and detective stories. I read every Nancy Drew mystery up through #43 when, in my early teens my reading interests went elsewhere. I've come to favor certain authors but I'm always watchful for the "new to me" authors and stories. And I found a new-to-me one last weekend in a used book shop while visiting my daughter and her family.
First let me clarify that I haven't only read mysteries. Not by a long shot - in college I took both art and lit classes...I read LOTS of books in those years. Not all of them fun to get through either. So now that I'm out of school and I want to set my imagination loose, I do it with a mystery. Why mysteries? I find them fun to read. And I really like a good author. What constitutes "good?" Well, an auther who:
1. spins an interesting tale - one that grabs you, won't let you go - I really like the ones I have to keep reading until the last page...the lose-sleep stories
2. good vocabulary - give me some words not in everyday useage...in fact, be intelligent! Make me look up a word or two...but don't go out of character
3. which brings me to characters - complex and interesting; someone I can relate to on some level but who lets me have a vicarious adventure
4. I don't mind learning something along the way...I don't mind historical elements - I like authors who show me that they have actually done some research and invested in their own story
I have, once or twice, slogged through a story to find out how it ends...only because the premise was so engaging - but honestly the writing itself was just awful. Grammer people! How hard is it to use grammer! Well, don't go by me...does blogging count? ;)
Back to my new find: the 11 archaeological mysteries starring Lara McClintoch - co-owner of a Toronto antiques store. I just purchased three of these stories, just started the first on the little stack, and am already hooked. I looked up author Lyn Hamilton and was saddened to discover that she passed away in September of 2009. According to the article at CBC news [dot com - Candadian] she began writing these wonderful adventures at age 50. Cool! See, here's what I think about Life: age has nothing to do with following your dreams. Just do it.
I also have a life-long fascination with archaeology. When I was a youngster I had twin career desires for awhile: to be an FBI agent [don't laugh] or an archaeologist in Egypt. As a kid I loved the old movies where scientists stumbled upon mummies and curses and mayhem ensued. Lyn Hamilton's stories combine both my reading interests. [By the way, besides used book stores - where I found mine - Amazon dot com has them - not that this is a commercial for Amazon. This is not a sponsored blog post by any means...just me writing about a new find.]
The Moche Warrior is proving to be interesting. It interests me on a third level too - art. Center in this story is a 1500 year-old Moche artifact and the description of it is such that I can appreciate its artistic craftsmanship without ever having seen it - such is the magic of a skilled writer. From page 79 in my paperback copy of the book, as the heroine/narrator, Lara McClintoch says:
..."For a while I just sat there looking at him. He was really sweet, if it's possible to say such a thing about a little gold man on a pre-Columbian ear flare. His eyes bulged out of carefully cut eye sockets, and around his neck he had a necklace, ceremonial I would have thought, made up of tiny heads: owls most likely. Each of the beads had been made separately, then strung together, so they moved when you touched them..."
You'll have to get the book and read the rest yourself. Ms. Hamilton's description lets you actually visualize this art piece.
I looked at my copy and noticed that it was published by Berkley Prime Crime so went to their website and wow! So many cool mysteries! They have Burn Notice [a tv show I am loving, can't wait for the Sam Axe movie to come out] and Monk [who doesn't love Monk and is sad the tv series is over?] - and lots of authors new-to-me. A treasure trove...oh! this is going to be a fun reading summer!
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