Writers Read: Claire Booth

Claire Booth spent more than a decade as a daily newspaper reporter, much of it covering crimes so convoluted and strange they seemed more like fiction than reality. Eventually, she had enough of the real world and decided to write novels instead. Her Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series takes place in Branson, Missouri, where small-town Ozark politics and big-city country music tourism clash in, yes, strange and convoluted ways. Her latest is the critically acclaimed Hidden Currents.

Recently I asked Booth about what she was reading. Her reply:

I usually have two books going at once--a novel and a non-fiction. Here are a few that I've enjoyed lately.

Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy. I just finished this and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s an absolutely beautiful book that manages to be haunting and exciting at the same time (an enormously difficult thing to pull off). The island of Shearwater, close to Antarctica, is disappearing into the ocean and with it the research station and seed bank that are located there. A woman washes up on the shore during a storm and is nursed back to health by the widower and his three children who are caretakers of the island. McConaghy brings everything to life—the island and its animal and plant inhabitants, as well as the mysterious woman and the caretaker’s family, all of whom are hiding secrets. It’s an examination of loss and love—how to survive the first and why to bother with the second. It’s also a dazzlingly entertaining read.

Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories, by Agatha Christie. I found this 1985 edition at a garage sale and I’ve dipping into it in between the novels I read. It’s been a real treat.

The Living and the Dead, by Christoffer Carlsson. I’ve recommended Carlsson’s books before, and he’s so good, I have to do it again. This is his latest, and the Swedish author keeps getting better. It’s a cold case in a small Swedish town, where twenty years of secrets are about to be uncovered. Carlsson’s characters are so rich and well-drawn, you feel like you’re living alongside them in rural Sweden. In his day job, he’s a criminologist, so he knows a thing or two about the human psyche. If you like this one (and you will), go back and read Blaze Me a Sun and Under the Storm.

The Electra McDonnell series, by Ashley Weaver. This is a five-book series that I desperately wanted to be longer. Living in London during the WWII Blitz, Electra earns her living as a thief and a safecracker. It’s the latter skill that brings her to the attention of British military intelligence, which needs her to break in and “liberate” things from Nazi sympathizers. These are darker than standard cozy mysteries (Weaver treats the Blitz with the solemnity and pain that it deserves), but there’s with and romance and danger and absolutely buckets of charm. I loved them. You’ll definitely want to read them in order. Then you can join my lobbying campaign to get her to write more of them.

1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West, by Roger Crowley. Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. This chronicles the history of the great Christian city that straddled Europe and Asia and was the ultimate prize for any conqueror. Crowley pulls off a major feat—the book is packed with history and facts and still manages to be fast-paced and smooth to the point of almost reading like a novel. It’s helped enormously by great use of primary sources that really let the voices of the eyewitnesses involved shine through. If you enjoy history, this is a great one for you.

A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, by Kevin Fedarko, with photos by Pete McBride. One day, in a spectacular feat of bad judgement, a writer and his photographer friend decide to hike the Grand Canyon. The whole Grand Canyon. With no preparation. (There’s a reason why only a few dozen people in history have accomplished this.) It takes a book to explain why they tried it, how they survived, and what they got out of it. Fedarko is a beautiful writer and paints a picture of the canyon with words so vivid, they’ll stay with you long after you’ve finished the book. He and McBride originally conceived the hike, which they did in sections, as an assignment for National Geographic. McBride’s gorgeous NatGeo-worthy photos are an added bonus to a phenomenal book.