BOOKS READ -- 2025 REPORT

 I am not the best at keeping records, but it appears that I have read at least 264 books in 2025.  The true number is higher because I know there were some books that for some reason I never recorded.  Not that we are having a contest, but I completely out-sku2nked the other members of my family:  Christina came in at 67 (six! seven!...which made thirteen-year-old Jack ecstatic); Erin came in at 124 (she reads thick, heavy books); and Jessamyn came in at 175.  No reports in yet from Kaylee or Amy, but both tend to read a lot and may have come close to reaching my number; Amy, however, will read a book three or four times if she really likes it and she is always concerned about whether she should count each reading.

So who did I read this year?  Just about everyone, but some authors deserve mention.

• Michael Crichton.  I read 18 of his books, finishing his complete published ouvre, including four he wrote as "John Lange" and one he co-authored as "Michael Douglas."  I prefer his thrillers but I was also impressed with his crime novel The Great Train Robbery.
• James Lee Burke, 11 books, finishing up all of his published books and collections (that is, until February, when the new Dave Robicheaux comes out).  For consistent excellence, it's hard to beat Burke.  I couldn't pick a favorite -- is it possible to have an 11-place tie for first?
• Joe R. Lansdale, 8 books.  I still have three or four of his titles on Mount TBR, and there are a gazillion of others out there -- the man is anything but not prolific.  I have long held there is something in the water in East Texas and Lansdale continues to prove me right.  Sentimental favorite:  In Waders from Mars, a sweet science fiction-y children's story about interplanetary ducks bent on conquering Earth, based on a story Lansdale's son Keith told when he was five.
• Terry Shames.  The first six books in her Samuel Craddock series.  I am late to the party on this.  Craddock and his central Texas small-town neighbors are addictive-forming.  These remind me a lot of Bill Crider's Dan Rhodes series, even though there are large differences.  Currently there are six more books in the series and I'll be getting to them post-haste.
• Stephen Spotswood.  The five books in the Pentecost-Parker series.  Once again, I was late to the party.  A fun, feminist tribute to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.  Although set in the 1940s, the two main characters reverberate in today's world.
• Christopher Golden.  5 books, including the mammoth Stephen King Tribute anthology.  I've been a fan of Golden since the beginning.  The man write exquisite horror, nail-biting suspense, readable tie-ins (something not that easy to do), and unusual fantasy.  Way back when, he wrote the YA Bodies of Evidence series that is still one of my favorites.  My top pick for this year would be Blood of the Four, a magnificent epic fantasy co-authored with Tim Lebbon
• Manly Wade Wellman.  Five books (kind of).  The gentleman from North Carolina could do it all -- science fiction, fantasy, mystery, western, historical, history (both Civil War and regional), biography,  comics (he wrote the very first Captain Marvel comic book story).  This year I finally got a copy of A Double Life, a very rare paper back adaptation of the Ronald Colman film.  I also managed to get five of the six volumes in the Winston-Salem in History series that Wellman either wrote or co-wrote.  I had ordered all six, but the dealer cancelled one of the volumes.  That book, Winston-Salem in History, Volume One:  The Founders now remains the only Wellman book I have not read.  (Maybe, there had been a rumor of a small-press publication of a heavily revised short story, but I have never been able to confirm if it, or the publisher, actually existed.)
• John Creasey.  Only four books this year.  I have at least fifteen others on Mount TBR.
• Fritz Leiber.  Four books, all collections.  Two more collections await me.
• Murray Leinster.  Four books.  There are still two of his westerns I have not read available on Internet Archive.  I am going to have to search for the ten or so older novels of his, some published in England and never reprinted (**sigh**).
• Budjette Tan.  Four graphic novels.  My find of the year.  Tan is a Filipino comics artist who draws on the legends of his country for his Treme, about a young woman who uses her contacts with supernatural creatures to solve murders.  Amazing artwork, fantastic storytelling, and a unique setting make this series an absolute winner.
• "Kenneth Robeson."  How is it I only read four Doc Savage novels this year?  Gotta do better in 2026.
• Lee Goldberg.  Four books.  A writer who can do no wrong.  I've read all his fiction and started in on his non-fiction, hoping to complete it next year before the new Eve Ronin comes out.
• Hard Case Crime.  I don't have a count on how many I read this past year, but I can report that I have read everything they have published except for two books I hope to finish this month; I had hoped to get them done before Max Allan Collins' Return of the Maltese Falcon comes out on January 6 (yes, it is pre-ordered), but that does not seem likely.  Also, I am catching up on the Hard Case Crime graphic novel line, having read eight of them this past hear.

Coming up for 2026:  many books by John Creasey, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake. Lee Goldberg, Christopher Golden.  Hoping to dig out my copy of Agatha Christie's "Mary Westmacott" novels.  I also have two books by John Dickson Carr and two by Shirley Jackson I want to get to.  There are a few Erle Stanley Gardner collections still on Mount TBR and, surprisingly, some Mickey Spillanes.  I'm currently on page 150 of Joe Hill's new doorstop novel, and that makes we want to get to his two early novels I have not read.  And I am getting an itching for more books by James Herbert and Charles L. Grant.  There are only four books by Rex Stout that I have not read, all early novels and all long out of print and very expensive, but I can hope, can't I?

And some time, dammit, I am going to read Sheridan Le Fanu's Uncle Silas, which I have started at least four times in the past and have had to put down for various reasons.  Maybe this year?

THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN: MURDER TO MUSIC (1951 LIVE KINESCOPE)

The Adventures of Ellery Queen ran on the Dumont Television Network from October 19, 1950 to December 6, 1951, and then on ABC from December 16, 1951 to November 26, 1952 for a total of 93 episodes.  Richard Hart originally played Ellery, but he died of a sudden heart attack in January 1951 and the role was taken over by Lee Bowman, who continued throughout the series.  Florenz Ames played Ellery's father, Inspector Richard Queen.

The program was shot in Kinescope before a live audience.  As such, a n umber of episodes are now lost and many are degraded."Murder to Music" was the eighth episode of Dumont's second season.

"An ambitious young pianist won't let anyone prevent her from making her debut, even if it means murdering the conductor's wife."  Also in the cast were Jerome Cowan and Rolfe Sedan.  Rex Marshall served as the announcer.

Directed by Don Richardson, one of 20 episodes he did for the show.  The script was by Helene Hanff, who penned eleven episodes of the show; she was best known for her book 84, Charing Cross Road.

It's time to match wits with Ellery.  Is there a better way to ring in the new year?

https://archive.org/details/theAdventuresOfElleryQueen-MurderToMusic1951

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE SEVEN-LOCKED ROOM

"The Seven-Locked Room"  by J. D. Kerruish  (first published in Keep on the Light, edited by Chrstoine Campbell Thomson, 1933; reprinted in The Not at Night Omnibus, 1937; and still later in the British paperback More Not at Night, 1961)

Selwyn & Blount's horror anthology series Not at Night, edited by Christine Campbell Thomson, ran for eleven volumes from 1925 to 1936 There was also one omnibus of collected stories and, in the early 60s, three paperback compilations   Its remarkable success inspired rival publisher Philip Allan to issue The Creeps Library, which included thirteen anonymously edited (by Charles Birkin) anthologies from 1934 to 1936, as well as a few independent collections and novels.  The Not at Night series contained a total of 170 stories, an even 100 of which were reprinted from America's Weird Tales magazine; H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard both had their first hardcover (as well as British) appearances in the series.

Keep on the Light was the ninth volume in the series and contained fifteen stories, seven from Weird Tales; authors represented included Henry S. Whitehead, Robert E. Howard, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Hugh B. Cave, and Clark Ashton Smith,

"The Seven-Locked Room" is an odd admixture of several types of stories.  It is a mystery about a locked room, but it is not a locked room mystery.  It is a horror story in which the conclusion may be more horrible than a horror story.  It is a story of love and cowardice and personal courage.  Readers may notice a striking similarity to Marjorie Allingham's Look to the Lady (a.p.a. The Gyrth Chalice Mystery) published two years previously.

Frank Crew has been living in fear for sixteen years, ever since he was ten years old.  His real name is Frank Crewkerne, member of a long-title family with a secret.  The Crewkerne family has owned Colfe Castle "since the Flood," and within the castle is the legendary Room of the Seven Locks.  "[E]very Baron Crewkerne, his heir when of age, the family priest and the estate steward are initiated into the secret of what's in the Room.  And that they must visit it at intervals; and the secret is so awful that nobody has betrayed it yet."  Some people who have entered the room have gone made, or had their hair turned snow white in an instant; the current baron, Frank's great uncle, "was the worst gentleman blackguard of the 'nineties; and after he was initiated when he was forty and fairly hardened, he turned right around and became almost a religious maniac.' -- such was the awful effect the room's secret had on anyone who learns it  Reportedly, no one who entered the room has died, but the horror of what they was affected them forever..   Luckily, there have been heirs in line for the barony ahead of Frank, but he lives in fear that he might one day have to enter the room.  Frank felt somewhat safe that, after five years of war, no one ahead of him line had perished.

Then, within the space of a week, the baron, his two sons, his grandson, the steward, and the family priest all died of the flu, leaving Frank the Baron Crewkerne.

Frank has spent years in anonymity, hiding from his family, who opposed his relationship with his cousin Rose, whom he intended to marry once he had made his own way into the world.   Now all of those obstacles are gone.  Still, he must go through the ordeal of the Seven-Locked Room.

Frank's fear of thee secret of the Room is overpowering.  Frank had been known for his bravery -- he won a D.S.O. and was considered for a V.C. for his actions during the war -- but his life-long terror of what might await him in the mysterious room has left him almost paralyzed.  In what he considered an act of cowardice, he persuaded his down-on-hi-luck friend Charlie Peto to become his steward.  According to legend, only the first uninitiated person to enter the room suffers whatever fate awaits; Frank planned for Peto to enter the Room first.  For his part, Charlie Peto was willing to risk anything because he sorely needed the money.  At the last  minute, however, Frank overcame his fear and was the first to enter the Room...

and faced something far more terrible than mere horror.

An interesting tale of an ancient legend and curse and the courage needed to face what cannot be avoided.

Jessie Douglas Kerruish (1884-1949) was a British writer whose first books were mid-eastern fantasies.  She is best known for the classic werewolf novel The Undyng Monster (1922; film 1942).  She had four stories printed in the Not at Night s99eries

OVERLOOKED FILM: MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941)

Back in those halcyon days of 1941, living ion sin was a  no-n o -- even if it was done accidently.  Imagine then the situation of Ann (Carole Lombard) and David (Robert Montgomery) Smith, who discover that, due to a jurisdictional mix-up, their three-year marriage was not legal.  To complicate things, the couple have been arguing of late,  but always reconciling.  Although he is in love with Ann, David still mourns the loss of his freedom and independence.

This has all the makings of a screwball comedy done right.

Helping to round out the cast are Gene Raymond and Jack Carson.  Because the film was directed  by Alfred Hitchcock, you can see him at 42:58 walking past Montgomery and smoking a cigar.  The film, written by Norman Krasna, was the last film to be released before Lombard's tragic death in a plane crash at age 33.  Lombard had been influential in getting Hitchcock to direct one of his most atypical films.

A fun movie, and a good one to help close out 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWIk4vqRYdA

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CELLO DAY!

[Hat tip to George Kelley, who has provided me with  more Yo Yo Ma recordings that can fit into a single day.]

"Concertino No. 3 in A Major" by Jean-Baptiste Breval   Seven-year-old Yo-Yo Ma's debut performance for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 29, 1962, accompanied by his eleven-year-old sister, Yeuog-Cheng Ma, on the piano.  The pair are introduced by Leonard Bernstein.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiwkBFR6rW0

"Carnival of the Animals: XIII.  The Swan"  by Camille Saint-Saens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afIIY1elpBM

"Libertango" by Astor Piazzolla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31C1Des-XuY

"Cello Suite No. 1 in G Minor, Prelude" by Bach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prweT95Mo0

"Ave Maria" by Charles Gounad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUMZr6wc8Rc

"Here Comes the Sun" (with James Taylor)  by George Harrison 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgO7BqAeeYk

"Amazing Grace/Going Home"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skqh_x9wsr0

"Build  a House"" (with Rhiannon Giddens)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uiUHvET_jg

NPR Tiny Desk Concert:  Bach's "Prelude for Suite No.1," Sarabande from Suite No. 5," and "Gigue from Suite No. 3"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uiUHvET_jg

"Over the Rainbow" (with Kathryn Stott)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03GpPfOsFkQ

"Peace and Quiet"  by Fred Rogers (yes, that Fred Rogers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf1P_AX0h2Q&list=PLa2Nqyzs2skkBQLO5B95e527SM_lNyHdp

"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv2NF6lxnuY

"The Wexford Carol" (with Allison Kraus)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc

"Everyday People"  Yo-Yo Ma joins a galaxy of talent for this Playing for Change recording.  Whenever the day's news get me down -- which is pretty often -- I tune into this.  You're welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4UWvcZn5U

HYMN TIME

 Let's close 2025 with a driving rock and roll gospel song.

https://account.live.com/proofs/marklost

KING WINTER (1859)

Thirty-six years after the publication of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" came this alternate take on the legend.  Th writer and the artist are unknown.  Take heed to King Winter, his Queen, and his assistant Jack Frost.  And be good, else you wind up with a rod on Christmas morning!

According to the inscription, this copy was a 9th birthday gift.  Whenever I see an old book inscribed to someone, I always wonder about that person, who he was, and whatever happened to him -- I hope this youngster had a long and fruitful life.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=97350&comicpage=&b=i