…was fun and interesting.  Because camping was very much not an option Saturday (a little before “happy hour” it was pouring rain that was cold enough to cause steam to billow off the heated pool of the Deerfield Hilton), I opted for a third day of mystery/thriller tomfoolery.

I still have a bit of an issue with mystery/thriller fiction in that it feels, oftentimes, too “entertainment” and not enough “literary.”  At the same time, if you read too much of it, a good deal of “literary” fiction starts to feel like a bunch of poor grad students trying to prove how clever they can be in a way that reminds me of the Dar Williams bit about not wanting to “be your Yoko Ono.”  I guess it’s why people started putting Red Bull in their vodka; one made them too sober and one made them too drunk.  (Although, I will not drink Red Bull, especially with vodka, so I can’t fully explain that phenomenon.)

I found this book in hopes of making mystery/thriller fiction less of a guilty pleasure and more another thing I read.  (My excuse for certain young adult fiction remains that I find it in my classroom or my co-teacher’s classroom, though sometimes it’s actually quite good and other times it’s just because a lot of the kids are reading it and they want me to join them.  I still cannot finish anything Stephanie Myers has churned out, sorry.)

I also met some very nice, interesting, warm, funny, etc. people over the weekend.  If you’re looking for something to read, might I take a moment to pimp their tomes: