Happy New Year! As I write this, a blue, sulferous haze hangs over the neighborhood, and scraps of charred paper litter driveways–the aftermath of New Year’s Eve fireworks. But the most explosive show in Hawaii is up on Kilauea, where red lava is fountaining from Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The live feed is here:
https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live
Some brave souls will go up there to try to get a better look. Me, I’m happy to watch it on video.
Some of my favorite reads from last year
- Molten Death, Book One of a new series and Leslie Karst’s first book set in Hawaii!
- Bones of Banyan Drive, the second installment of Jane Laswell Hoff’s Big Island Mystery series. The story is fictional, but built around real Hilo historical events.
- Leap Year, a quasi-autobiographical account of an aspiring gymnast. It’s not cozy, but if you’re up for a read that’s emotionally wrenching at times, author Jill Steele’s writing brings you into the world of elite gymnastics on 1970s Southern California.
- Allison Montclair’s Sparks & Bainbridge Mysteries, set in post-WWII London. Former spy Iris Sparks and socialite Gwendolyn Bainbridge run a marriage bureau, which naturally leads to entanglement in, and solving of, murders. The next in the series, An Excellent Thing in a Woman, comes out in February.
- Michael Connolly’s Resurrection Walk, the latest in the Lincoln Lawyer series.
- The Cliff’s Edge, the latest in Charles Todd’s superb historical mystery series set in post WWI Britain.
- Leigh Perry’s lighthearted Family Skeleton mysteries. Protagonist Georgia Thakery is an adjunct professor whose life hasn’t quite turned out as she hoped. This could have gone to a really dark place: Georgia’s best friend and confidante, Sid the living skeleton, is only a crumbling skull she keeps in her backpack. I wonder whether an editor or early reader had the same thought, as it’s quite clear that everyone can see and hear Sid.
What’s ahead in the coming year?
- Finishing up writing the as-yet-untitled Book 11 of the Mary-Alice Files, written under license in Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune universe. Watch for it in spring 2025! (There, now I’ve committed, I have to follow through.)
- Continuing to watch Vera on Britbox. Having read the books only adds to the enjoyment. I never quite remember who the murderer was, and it’s fun to see how the show’s visuals are different from what I imagined.
- Rereading the Murderbot Diaries before the TV series comes out. Alexander Skarsgård will star as the genderless, misanthropic protagonist.
- Organizing my wardrobe. I am an enthusiastic frequenter of estate sales and thrift stores, which has led to a clothing collection that can best be described as “unruly.” I finally downloaded one of those clothes-organizing apps. Unfortunately the first step is to photograph and catalog every item. I’m already up to 70 items and that’s just jackets and blazers…
Happy reading in 2025, and may you get exactly as organized as you want to!
Hau`oli Makahiki Hou,
Frankie
Banner image: Fireworks over Las Vegas, Hawaii’s Ninth Island.