Tag Archives: winners

The Edgars–Mystery Awards

Last night, May 1, The Edgar Awards were announced in New York City. Named for the guy who started the whole genre, Edgar Alan Poe, the Edgars honor all types of mystery and crime writing by American authors. A Traveler’s Library, as usual, is looking for those with a strong sense of place that might interest travelers.  Here are the big winners and some nominees that fit the bill.

BEST NOVEL

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger.  [Setting: Minnesota]Here Krueger departs from his popular Cork O’Connor mystery series with a coming of age novel about a boy facing multiple deaths and searching for reason. In 2009, when we were on a virtual road trip around the United States, we featured an interview with Krueger about his book, Vermillion Drift. Now that he’s won the big Edgar, you might want to see how this author’s mind works, by reading that interview.

You might also be interested in the nominated How the Light Gets In [Setting: Quebec] by Louise Penny. Part of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, it follows one we reviewed here in 2011, A Trick of the Light. Penny does an excellent job of setting the scene, lus developing very interesting characters, although I was disappointed that I listened to an audio book rather than reading it in print.

Standing in Another Man’s Grave [Setting Edinburgh] features the a return of a retired character in a popular series by Ian Rankin.

Until She Comes Home [Setting Detroit] by Lori Roy.  Former Edgar award winner for Bent Road.


Best New Novel by an American Writer

Red Sparrow, by John Matthews [Setting: Russia] The cold war spy games between Russia and America (will they never end?) have been mined practically into extinction, but Matthews has a new angle–the spies who were specifically trained to use sexual wiles to get information.   Red Sparrow intrigued me when I heard about it and sounds like a very good read.

Others travelers who read might like:

I have to admit that I was pulling for Tucsonan Becky Masterman in this category for her excellent first crime novel, Rage Against the Dying [Setting: Tucson/Oro Valley] . We reviewed it after seeing her at the 2013 Tucson Festival of Books.

Ghostman [setting: Atlantic City] by Roger Hobbs. A casino robbery gone wrong and a mysterious “fixer.”

You can see the entire list of nominees and award winners at the Edgars website.  Please let me know if there are others I should have included here.

Note: Some titles and book covers here are linked to Amazon, in case you’d like to purchase a copy of a book. When you use these links, it costs you no more, but A Traveler’s Library gets a few cents to keep us in business. Thanks.

SW Travel and Book Winners

WINNERS of drawings for recent excellent books

Susan Reiners wins the new book Blood Work by Holly Tucker.

Sheryl Kraft wins the much coveted Revolution by Deb Olin Unferth. (The rest of you are just going to have to go buy a copy. Support our authors!)

Click a Link if You Love Me

Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo ArtistOkay, so that’s a bit melodramatic, but I’m busy in a lot of places this month, and just in case I forget to show up here some day, I want to be sure you have something to read. This is my month for a blog tour (a virtual book tour) to talk about Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist.  Here are some suggestions for your viewing pleasure, and a little travel planning information.

Pictures of my real (as opposed to virtual) Tahoma book tour last week in Albuquerque NM and Yuma AZ appear on Tahoma Blog.

Book signing at BookWorks
Book signing at BookWorks in Albuquerque

At Bookworks in Albuquerque, I met friends of Tahoma and had dinner with David Brugge, retired anthropologist who wrote the foreword for the book. Bookworks is my favorite kind of bookstore. Waaay too many books crammed in every which way, staff that knows their stuff, a little space with folding chairs for people to meet with authors.

There’s a cool little cafe called The Flying Star Café right next to the bookstore, and I wish they’d open one just like it in Tucson! From the eclectic menu, I chose a Greek Salad with a different treatment for the feta cheese–they made it into cheese balls and deep fried them. (How to make a salad evil.)  From the totally tempting desert case, I chose a chocolate cupcake smothered in creamy chocolate frosting.

I spent the night at the Best Western Rio Grande Inn. The room was quiet despite the hotel’s location right next to the I-40/ Rio Grande Exit.  Their shuttle bus not only picks guests up at the airport, but also will make runs into nearby Old Town (definitely walking distance if you’re in the mood), or to the newly spruced up downtown area along Central. For some unfathomable reason, the shuttle refused to go in the other direction–north to the bookstore about 21/2 miles away. That was my ONLY complaint about this pretty and comfortable motel with cheerful, helpful staff.

Wyn Bundy of Singing Winds Bookstore at Arizona History Convention
Win Bundy of Singing Winds Bookstore at Arizona History Convention

After my quick stop in Albuquerque, I took off for Yuma to attend the Arizona History Convention. There I signed books at the table of Singing Winds bookstore, possibly the most unique bookstore in the U.S.  Sorry, no link to a web site, since they are not on the Internet, don’t use e-mail and don’t take credit cards.

They DO however answer their telephone, so when you are in Southern Arizona, call 520-586-2425 and get directions out to the ranch where you can meet Win Bundy, who stopped working as a librarian, but accumulated enough books to start a bookstore which quickly took over the house on the ranch. For many years her time has been divided between raising cattle and advising people on books. Some day I should write a post just about Win and Singing Winds.

Hilton Garden Inn, Yuma, AZ
Hilton Garden Inn, Yuma, AZ

In Yuma, Ken and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, a fairly new property in a town that is crowded with hotels and motels. We enjoyed the Hilton Garden Inn, although it is a bit pricey for the Yuma area. The hotel’s location could not be more perfect for sightseeing. It is adjacent to the well–preserved historic military installation called the Quartermaster’s Depot. In the park-like setting that showcases the old adobe buildings, the visitor’s center has moved into former barracks and we had a cowboy cookout on the lawn one evening. The Colorado River runs just beyond the hotel and Yuma Crossing, the historic raison d’etre for this desert city which attracted Spanish friars and soldiers, mountain men, American soldiers, farmers and finally R.V. tourists.  Nearby the Territorial Prison stands atop a hill and you can tour the former home of western desperadoes.

Main Street, Yuma AZ
Main Street, Yuma AZ

A block away from the hotel, Main Street holds more old buildings, new shops and fun restaurants.

Memorabilia Wall at Luke's Restaurant, Yuma, AZ
Luke's Restaurant
Luke's Restaurant meal
Luke's Restaurant meal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madison, the street the hotel is on, leads to the town’s museum set in historic Sanguinetti House, and many other 1800’s buildings.  The museum’s backyard has somewhat ramshackle gardens, a la early Arizona days, but all that green and the shade of trees are welcome here in the desert. Exotic birds, include a peacock and peahen, inhabit wire cages scattered throughout the garden.

On our way out of town on Sunday morning, we stopped for Sunday brunch at the Garden Cafe behind the museum. Out-of-this world Oatmeal pancakes served with ligonberries kept us fueled for the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Tucson.

Disclaimer: There is NO disclaimer. I paid for the whole *** thing myself! Ken took the pictures in Yuma and Mark Rosacker took the ones in Albuquerque.

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