I recently discovered this meme hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavouriteandbest and thought that I would give it a go as a way of re-igniting my blog. The idea is that everyone has the same book as their starting point and go on from there.
This August we start with;
How To Do Nothing - Jenny Odell
This is one that I have seen popping up around the place lately and I had already added it to my wishlist on Audible. The idea of doing nothing is something that I am always aspiring to but rarely get around to. Last weekend however I did spend a lovely rainy Sunday sitting in my reading chair with;
Killer in the Rain - Raymond Chandler
I picked this up partly because of the rain outside and rain mentioned in the title and pictured on the cover, I thought that they made a nice connection. A collection of short stories, it is something to enjoy dipping into when the mood takes me. I have always enjoyed Raymond Chandler’s works and have slowly started revisiting them lately. This also led me to think about a recent read titled;
Rules For Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
This was a quick, easy to read book after having slogged through a few difficult and not so enjoyable novels recently. The premise involves a bookseller who had written a blog listing eight literary “perfect” murders which is then used as the basis of a series of murders that seem to be connected to him. The list includes a number of popular and often quoted titles, not the least of which is;
Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
This classic noir mystery is a stifling tale of two strangers agreeing to commit murder for each other, believing that they couldn’t be caught as there is no connection between them other than a short, chance meeting on a train. The book is dense and taught and was adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock and the screenplay, funnily enough, was worked on by Raymond Chandler! Thinking of the film leads me to thinking about my Masters’ thesis which looked at the works of the artist Edward Hopper and film noir. Leading me to the next book;
Edward Hopper and the American Hotel - Leo G. Mazow with Sarah G. Powers
This is a beautiful book I have been meaning to read for a few months now which looks at Edward Hopper’s paintings and their recurring motifs of hotels, gas stations and travel. His work always intrigues me as so many stories can be told on the basis of one image. Speaking of images, we move on to the final book;
Death Sentences - Edited by Otto Penzler
Another book on my To Be Read pile, this one is a collection of ’20 stories of deathly books, murderous booksellers and lethal literature from the world’s best crime writers’ including Ian Rankin and Joyce Carol Oates. I love the idea of this book and as covers are an important drawing card for me, this one has a work by Edward Hopper on it which pretty much made it an instant buy.
So there you have it we have moved from doing nothing, to art and murder mysteries - three of my favourite things!
Have you read any of these books? What connections can you make from the ones listed here?
I would love to hear your thoughts.