Today was an adventure in bookbinding as I made a little journal using a new technique, secret Belgian binding. My little journal has wood covers, a bit of leather and marbled paper end covers. It is darling and I wish I could show it to you but I don’t have my camera with me. I will try and get a shot of it this weekend for a bit of show & tell.

After class I was still on a bit of a book high and decided to head over to Barnes & Noble to spend more time with books. I’m so glad I did because I took a peek at the New in Paperback table and found a bunch of books I’ve now added to my wish list.

Here’s what I found:

• Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens. Lansens first novel, The Girls, was one of my favorite reads last year. It had me smiling and crying at the end so needless to say I want to see what the author comes up with this time. It sounds like it will be another winner.
• Closer to Fine by Meri Weiss. I admit I picked up this book because Closer to Fine happens to be one of my favorite Indigo Girls songs. Heh. But, the book does sound like something I’d like to read.
• The Concubine by Norah Lofts. Another Anne Boleyn book but this one happens to have been published quite a while back, 1963, so it’s interesting that it’s being re-issued. I wonder how many fiction novels based on Anne Boleyn there are. I’m guessing a lot.
• The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall. A tale of friendship and Soviet Russia.
• Out Backward by Ross Raisin. A chilling and terrifying story. Ok, the cover does not convey that at all. I’m even more interested now.
• Wish I Could be There by Allen Shawn. A memoir of agoraphobia. That title is perfect isn’t it?

I have to take in my car for service tomorrow morning and I’ve got my book bag packed.

Edit: Forgot to mention, the latest Estella’s Revenge is out!

I had a good time visiting with my former mystery book group in Dallas tonight. Got to say hi to a lot of the members and of course talk about a good mystery. We discussed Billy Boyle by James Benn and it got pretty good reviews from most of the members.

I also enjoyed the story, mainly for the characters. The mystery didn’t captivate me as much but I’d still give the second book in the series a try.

On the subject of mysteries, I’ve got some others to tell you about. If you’ve read some of these I’d love to hear your thoughts.

First, The Last Enemy by Grace Brophy. I found this one on the new shelves at the library several weeks ago and was really taken in by the setting (Umbria) and the way in which the story starts. If you are in the mood for some crime fiction with an international setting, I recommend it.

This is the first in what promises to be a good series. Here is my full review.

I’m also counting this book as one of my First in a Series Challenge reads.

Next up is the fourth in the Barker & Llewelyn series, The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas. This is becoming one of those series I know I can count on for a good read. Here is my full review.

I’m pretty excited because I actually have the latest book, The Black Hand, waiting for me. This time the inquiry agents are going to be dealing with the mafia.

While I don’t think you need to read the series in order I would recommend it because I think you can really see how the characters are developing and how the partnership is growing.

Finally, I read the latest Victoria Thompson book, Murder on Bank Street almost in one sitting over the weekend. I have been following this series and have been eagerly awaiting each new installment, this is the 10th entry. I love the setting, turn of the century New York, and I really like the two main characters.

But, the last couple of books I was feeling a bit letdown because basically I just felt like we were not getting any resolution with the two main characters. If you read the books I think you’ll understand what I mean. In this latest installment at least some things are finally resolved so once again I’m looking forward to what’s next. Here is my full review.

So that’s the latest on some of the mysteries I’ve been reading. I have a list of mysteries I want to read next which I also want to share with you in case you’ve read them and can recommend them, but I’ll tell you about that another day. It’s back to my Heyer book for now.