WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Ted Kennedy: A Life by John A. Farrell. The brother with the greatest legislative record and the most complicated legacy. Since he was the only one who "lived to comb gray hair," it's fair to ask what he did with the gift of years Joe, Jack and Bobby did not receive.

John Farrell has written a well-received biography of Richard Nixon, so I have high hopes for this one.

2. What did you recently finish reading? Murder by the Book by Rex Stout. A law clerk begins the New Year floating face down in the East River. Weeks later, a book editor becomes the victim of a hit-and-run driver in the Bronx. Two completely unrelated homicides, right? Nero Wolfe doesn't think so. He immediately sees the connection New York's finest have missed. Of course he does. He's a genius.

 

But knowing the deaths are connected doesn't just automatically lead to the killer. That's where Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin comes in. He investigates, he rhumbas, he discovers corpses, he talks baseball, he flies to California, he crushes on at least three women, and he uncovers everything Wolfe needs to reveal the murderer.

An entertaining edition to the series.

PS It was written in 1951. In addition to hailing cabs and using phone booths, Archie does something else, something darker, that I hope is no longer in vogue. When sparring with Det. Rowcliff, Archie mocks Rowcliff's stutter. Not cool.

3. What will you read next? I don't know.