Sunday, June 10, 2007

Moon Rani's BTT

"Booking through Thursday
"Almost everyone can name at least one author that you would love just ONE more book from. Either because they’re dead, not being published any more, not writing more, not producing new work for whatever reason . . . or they’ve aged and aren’t writing to their old standards any more . . . For whatever reason, there just hasn’t been anything new (or worth reading) of theirs and isn’t likely to be.
"If you could have just ONE more book from an author you love . . . a book that would be as good any of their best (while we’re dreaming) . . . something that would round out a series, or finish their last work, or just be something NEW . . . Who would the author be, and why? Jane Austen? Shakespeare? Laurie Colwin? Kurt Vonnegut? "
What a difficult decision! Just one author? Oh, my...
Here are two choices; sorry, but I couldn't choose just one. Limiting myself to two was hard enough.
I would love to read another Roman history written by Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius and Claudius, the God: and His Wife Messalina. What a wonderfully fascinating look at ancient Rome they are, in stories that were expanded, in historically correct ways, and in riveting detail. I thought the television series from the 1970s was nearly as good as the books. This is saying a lot because I was, and am, a tremendous fan of the series.
The other author I choose is Heron Carvic, who wrote five "cozy" mysteries from 1969-1973. His "detective" was a dear, old lady named Miss Seeton, a retired art teach who moves to a village in her native England and finds herself up to her ladylike nose in intrigue and mayhem. Miss Seeton's artwork is influenced by her psychic visions which sometimes overtake her, and which - - interpreted properly- - prove invaluable to the authorities in solving crimes. Miss Seeton, her sketchpad and her trusty bumbershoot make an unlikely but successful detective team.
After Heron Carvic's death, two other writers continued Miss Seeton's adventures for seventeen more books, but I've not read them. Not matter how good they are, I doubt they would be the same as the first five. I used to have all five books in paperback, picked up at some secondhand shop or other. I miss Miss Seeton.
(submitted by Moon Rani)

2 comments:

Andrea -- Just One More Book!! Podcast said...

I would love another book from Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Pheobe Gilman or James Marshall -- kidlit masters swept away in their primes.

Carrie K said...

I haven't reread Miss Seeton in ages. Must. Darn, I forgot to do this BTT. I miss Sarah Caudwell's mysteries.