October is National Book Month! Hmm…what to read?

Well considering you’ve landed here, I really must put in a pitch (to those who never read them) for the six original Charlie Chan novels. We’ll get to that later. However, first let me share four destinations to visit when picking out your next mystery read! Watch for the “Hint” following each destination.

1. JANET RUDOLPH’s, Holiday Reading List. When I finally cross that River Jordan–presumably heading upstairs–I imagine this is how it might look: A library with rich wood-paneling, stained glass windows and a wood-fire beneath the mantle. There’s plush armchairs, ottomans and a tuxedoed butler walking about with a tray of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Oh yes! And the prime ingredient; bookshelves lined with selections from Janet’s Rudolph’s Holiday mystery lists! Here you’ll find row-upon-row of titles to choose from (like that warehouse at the end of an Indiana Jones movie.):

If you’ve never visited it’s overwhelming! Rest assured these are not flippant “my favorites” lists you might find in your Sunday newsfeed or an online article. It’s obvious the numerous titles within each holiday have been passionately collected by Janet and added-to by her mystery reader savants around the world. I’m sure it would take a couple of lifetimes to read through them all. Looking at her website, it appears Janet has been posting and expanding her lists at least since 2008. However, I imagine behind the scene it all started far earlier than that. So if you love a good holiday mystery (who doesn’t) you need look no further because you’re set for life–and the afterlife! Check them out at: https://mysteryreaders.org/holiday-mystery-lists/. (Hint: this is my favorite place for Christmas Mysteries.)

2. STOP YOUR KILLING ME, Annual Award Winners & Authors List. Every pick up a book then after a ways through it realize it’s not quite what you expected? Well, it’s doubtful that could happen here. There are many annual mystery book awards and you will find their winners listed on each of their respective sites (Anthony’s, Agatha’s, Derringers, Edgar’s, Lefty’s, Macavity, Petrona, Shamus and more!) And while they might not list every award, Stop Your Killing Me website does offer a significant number of prime annual awards listed in one place.

• The Agatha Awards list reaches back to 1988: Best Novel, Something Wicked by Carolyn Hart; Best First Novel, A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George; and Best Short Story, More Final Than Divorce by Robert Barnard!
• And the Dagger Awards list reach all the way back to 1955 with the Crossed Red Herrings Award going to The Little Walls by Winston Graham.

Another feature of this site is the authors list. Here you can find all books published by a particular author and the list of authors is quite extensive. Within their A-to-Z listing beneath the letter “M” alone you will find over 550 authors! Find both of these listings” here: http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Awards/index.html. (Hint: a fabulous place to pick out a book for those older grandkids or teens!)

3. The RAP Sheet, New Release List. If you are someone who waits with anticipation for those forthcoming new releases, go no further than J. Kingston Pierce’s Rap Sheet website. Four times a year, Mr. Pierce posts a blog to announce new mysteries due out the next few months–both in the U.S. and across the Atlantic! The most current list will be posted to his website down the right-hand column: http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/. For example his latest post reveals over 400 new titles released September – December 2023. Remarkably, each title is linked to a page (usually Amazon,) where you can read the book description, order, or pre-order a copy. If you are looking to add to your TBR list this is definitely for you: Fall-Winter Reading Picks. (Hint: Great place to find new emerging authors, especially if you like to vote in annual award!)

4. LARGE PRINT books. If you’re lucky like me you have someone like my Aunt Annie. Aunt Annie is 93, still drives and goes to every party or function she receives an invite to (pity the fool who misses sending an invite!) Both Geminis we celebrate our birthdays together at some popular local restaurant. I like to buy her a book each year, but with her eyesight waning a large print book is best. While online giants (Amazon, Penguin Random House, Barnes & Noble) all have large print books, here are some destinations I visit to pick one up. All offer new and used editions:

• Better World Books: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/. Click the “Categories” down arrow and select LARGE PRINT. Left side tabs allow you to further define your search. (I actually found a LARGE PRINT, The Agony Columns, by Earl Derr Biggers!)
• AbeBooks: https://www.abebooks.com/books/LargePrint/. Like the above click the highlighted link “large print books” to further specify your search (new, used, hardcover, softcover, magazines, first editions, etc.)
• Thriftbooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/b/large-print/. Like those above, search options can be tweaked based on their subcategories in the left margin.
• Stop Your Killing Me: Just want the most recent large print mystery releases? you’ll find them on the Stop Your Killing Me website. Monthly archives reach back to 2009: http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/new_archives.html.
• (Hint: Allows one to table those pince-nez, and wake up without nose marks.)

EPILOG (I loved seeing that on those old TV shows like The Fugitive.) OK, now back to the beginning and the six original Charlie Chan novels. The last printing of all six novels I am aware of was by Chicago Review Press, 2008 & 2009: Chicago Review Press Charlie Chan. That’s pretty recent if you consider the books were originally published 85 yrs earlier (1925 to 1932!). And yes, you can find used copies or earlier editions online at thrift books, amazon and other places, for $5 to $13. Or, read them online at Project Gutenburg, Australia, via Rush Glick’s Charlie Chan Family Home, Bulleting Board page. (Hint: The books are 10-fold better than the movies!)

P.S. Only the first few Chan books are now in the U.S. public domain. However, Australia’s Project Gutenburg offers FREE eBook downloads of all six novels in either: TEXT, HTML, EBOOK, or MOBI file formats, at: http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got some reading to catch up on. Alfred, another Luigi cocktail please. Happy Reading!

“Learning which does not daily advance, daily decreases”

Keeper of The Keys, 1932, Chapter 11