Shaved Meats, Piled High: April 2019
Happy Anniversary!
This month, the Mystery Box celebrates its second anniversary. That's 288 books, a dozen at a time, sent to locations throughout the world. Remember, these are good books from my own shelves -- and, yes, from the pile of galleys I'm sent every month. Are supplies running low? Yes, but I'm not done, not yet.
However, to celebrate the anniversary, the Mystery Box will be a open secret this month -- eleven of the books will be life-long favorites that I would never give away. The winner will receive a letter explaining each choice. I confess, I was sad that the eleven books skewed white, but I was honest about my influences. And to the extent that it was possible, I procured used copies that were the same as the ones I own.
As for the twelfth book? That's a galley of Lady in the Lake.
There was one bump in the road when I was assembling the Not-So Dirty Dozen. (Darn, I should have put Jacqueline Susann or Grace Metalious in the mix.) A beloved comic novel from the 1980s had to be jettisoned because I realized upon re-reading it that its use of racist language, while meant to demonstrate certain characters' moral failings, was jarringly anachronistic. Oh, yes, people still talk this way, but I hope we all agree that it's a bad fit for an otherwise good-hearted novel. There's just nothing funny about those words.
The winner of this month's Mystery Box will receive a letter explaining each choice and be encouraged, for the first time, to share the contents on social media. (But not obligated.) And for the next three months, leading up to the publication of Lady in the Lake (available for pre-order now), the Mystery Box will not be a mystery at all, nor will it feature books, but "vintage" items central to the book and its story.
I do feel the Mystery Box may be near its end, but I have one possible solution -- buy more books, read them more swiftly!
READ/READING: The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai; The Better Sister, Alafair Burke; Very Nice, Marcy Dermansky; How Could She, Lauren Mechling; Normal People, Sally Rooney; Eat Up, Ruby Tandoh; Duped, Abby Ellin.
REREADING: [Title Redacted], the beloved comic novel mentioned above; Marjorie Morningstar, Herman Wouk.
ME, ME, ME: Lady in the Lake received a starred review from Kirkus and is the Bookseller's editor's choice for July's crime/thriller in the UK. Feel free to pre-order using these links:
Indiebound
BN.com
Books-A-Million
Amazon Laura Lippman
April 2019