I thoroughly enjoyed every page of “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.” I recommend that you not read any reviews before you read the book, as it might spoil the story - but it won’t spoil the writing.
Has anyone read “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein or “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri? I checked them out of the library today.
scout59, I think someone mentioned The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter way back. I’m not a mystery reader, but I really enjoyed the writing.
More on William Maxwell (previously mentioned at #267 and #329):
[Imperishable</a> Maxwell: A Critic at Large: The New Yorker](<a href=“Imperishable Maxwell | The New Yorker”>Imperishable Maxwell | The New Yorker)
[A</a> Master Is Given His Due - WSJ.com](<a href=“A Master Is Given His Due - WSJ”>A Master Is Given His Due - WSJ)
Owlice–definitely the one with!!!
scout59, you might like “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. It’s a non-fiction book that reads like a novel. It was a National Book Award finalist in the nonfiction category and won an Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. I really liked it.
I don’t know if I also mentioned William Maxwell earlier (I know I have in other threads), but if not, let me agree with the reviewers epistrophy linked: So Long, See You Tomorrow is a sensational masterpiece you can read in two or three hours. It belongs on the short list of greatest novels in the English language, as far as I am concerned.
Scout59: I’m a mystery fan too and love them all, even the fluff. Some of the authors you mentioned are ones I like as well. Here are a few other authors that are similar to the ones you mentioned: Lee Child, C.J. Box, Ridley Pearson, Harlan Coben, Archer Mayer, Linda Barnes, Katherine Hall Page, and Sara Paretsky. I’d second the vote for Devil in the White City. Another that’s similar (historic fiction) is Matthew Pearl–The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow.
I just finished reading (for my book club) Richard Russo–Bridge of Sighs. Excellent work–not a mystery and not a page turner, but a great story by a very good writer. It’s long–547 pages. Books that long often don’t hold my attention and I’ll skip pages to get to the end. With this one, I didn’t. I wanted to digest it all.
Scout, you might want to check out the Inspetctor Linley series by Elizabeth George.
Yes Yes to Elizabeth George.
I think my favorite mystery, though, is Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey. Loved it even though I frequently had to refer back to the geneology table to keep names straight.
Changing it up some from the mystery discussion – just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Written in letters style (i,e., letters between various characters) it’s very interesting and entertaining. About the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the English Channel Islands. Mind bending/life changing? No – but thoroughly enjoyable.
My daughter suggested that I read the young adult series “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer since I have always been a fan of Ann Rice novels. If you like preternatural fiction, this book/series is addictive. The movie, based on the book, is coming out November 21, 2008.
I also enjoyed Bridge of Sighs. Russo is a master.
One recent good book for me has been Dancing with Rose, by Lauren Kessler. It’s a surprisingly uplifting memoir of dealing with Alzheimer’s. Kessler got a job in a care facility to get an inside look at the disease. Anyone who plans to get old should read this one.
Also, Chosen by a Horse, by Susan Richards. My neighbor brought it over singing its praises, but I put it aside because I’m not much interested in horses. Well, when I finally picked it up, I was quite impressed. It’s another memoir.
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway.
I loved it.
scout59 – Try Laura Lippman! Love her.
Okay - changing the topic BACK to mysteries (sorry, CBBBlinker!)
Thanks for the suggestions, Bromfield. I have read Lee Child, too, and how could I forget Harlan Coben (liked the Myron Bolitar novels more than the “stand alone”, though) and Archer Mayer? I used to read Paretsky but admit I’ve missed the last few. I also read all the John Sadnford novels and the Sue Grafton ones, too, even if both authors can be a little uneven.
Have you read any Kate Atkinson? She’s only written two mysteries - “Case Histories” and “One Good Turn” - but they’re amazing. Really. And I don’t normally read much British mystery fiction.
2blue - I did read Devil in the White City. Great book!
OMG - Laura Lippman! I loved “What the Dead Know” and “Every Secret Thing”!!! For some reason, I don’t like her Tess Monaghan series nearly as much, but her other novels are some of the few that I’ll buy in hardcover.
Scout59–Haven’t read Kate Atkinson or Laura Lippman–I’ll have to take a look.
There’s a mystery book store in my area and the owner is big on women myster writers and she’s always got books for me. Some of my favorite women mystery writers are: Margaret Maron, Ruth Rendel, PD James, Ngaio Marsh, and Carolyn Heilbrun aka Amanda Cross (Heilbrun was an English professor at Columbia). I liked Patricia Cornwell’s early Scarpetta books but the most recent ones strike me as if she’s simply run out of ideas.
I’m not sure how I’d classify them, but some of my favorite mysteries are ones that take place in out-of-the ordinary settings that allow the author to educate the reader on that particular setting as well as create the mystery, e.g, Tony Hillerman’s novels about the Navajo policemen–Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. I read a mystery earlier this year that took place in Haiti. I knew it was a poor country, but the novel, which provides great descriptions, opened my eyes. It was Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone. I read another series that took place in Iceland: Jar City and Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason. Both about a police inspector in Reykjavik. Any mysteries in that genre that you’d recommend.
Following up on Richard Yates and *Revolutionary Road<a href=“#434-35”>/i</a>:
–My older son, who goes to H (per CC argot), just called, following his first day of classes, and said that RR is among the novels they’ll be reading this fall in his post-war fiction class (taught, incidentally, by James Wood [#422, 427]).
–A movie adaptation of *RR<a href=“published%20in%201961”>/i</a>, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (hmmm. . . that sounds familiar), is scheduled to be released later this year.
[Revolutionary</a> Road (film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Road_(film]Revolutionary">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Road_(film))
I will second the motion for “The Grapes of Wrath”. Funny, I thought I had read it before, but it soon became clear to me that I had not. I guess the movie left that impression on me. I loved the book, and more than once was struck by how events tend to repeat themselves. The predatory business practices that were described might just have easily been written today.
I just read A Tale of Two Cities–I could say re-read, but after 30+ years, it’s like a new book to me. I was working on it here and there in my spare time, but with the power outage, I just finished it over the past 24 hours, by candlelight! That made for nice atmosphere. 
Nice thing about the classics, you always get something new out of them on re-reading.
Bromfield, you might check out David Hewson’s Nic Costa detective series set in Rome - they can be gory, but I think they’re pretty good.
I re-read “The Grapes of Wrath” this summer, Silverweed, but like you, I am not positive I had actually read it before. “The Worst Hard Time” was a good companion piece.