66: The Stabbing in the Stables from Simon Brett where amateur sleuths Carole and Jude investigate a brutal murder linked to Fethering’s elites and their infidelities, gossip, and need for even more stuff and status. Darker than previous books but very engaging. #books #crimefiction

65: To Die in June Alan Park’s gritty Scottish noir set in June 1975 where cop Harry McCoy grapples with religious extremism, murders of homeless men, including his da, and police corruption. It is the most tragic and moving books in the series so far. #books #scottishcrimefiction

64: So Much Blood Simon Brett’s entertaining novel where amateur sleuth and actor Charles Paris goes to Edinburgh to put on a one man show for a university theater series only to find himself investigating murders and trying to stay alive. #books #crimefiction

63: Liz Moore’s riveting The God of the Woods with its summer camp setting in 1975 is a perfect summertime read. Great exploration of how family secrets, grief, corruption and greed can harm everyone in the orbit of wealthy elites who care more for reputation than justice. #books #literaryfiction

62: Cinema ‘62 an outstanding example of film history and criticism that argues 1962 was as great as 1939 for American cinema in quality and variety of films that each spoke to changing nature of American society. Authors see these films as beginning of “NewHollywood.” #books #filmhistory #filmcriticism

61: Cast in Order of Disappearance, Simon’s 1975 crime novel about alcoholic actor Charles Paris who becomes an amateur sleuth investigating racy pictures, blackmail scheme and a possible murder. Not quite a cozy mystery but still intriguing. #books #ukcrimefiction

60: The Creak on the Stairs a dark and mysterious example of Icelandic crime fiction that is part police procedural and part psychological thriller. A great and unique use of crime fiction to illustrate the impact of trauma on shaping and reshaping people’s lives. #books #crimefiction #icelandic

59: The Possession of Alba Diaz a chilling Mexican Gothic tale set in 18th century that explores notions of misogyny, body horror, forbidden passions and the terrifying impacts of colonialism’s plundering and attacks on indigenous people. Canas is a master storyteller. #books #horror #historicalfiction

58th: The Cinema of Extractions combines film history with eco criticism. Jacobson’s book offers a fascinating model of scholarship blending methods from media industries with formalism/close reading to craft an important narrative about how film is an extractive process. #books #nonfiction #mediastudies

57: The Undiscovered Country an excellent new history of the American West from the Revolutionary period to the 1900s that strips away the myth using biographical sketches of Daniel Boone, Red Eagle, Kit Carson, and others to reveal the epoch of American expansion. Great read for 250th. #books #AmericanWest #history