The Hungry Detective

The Hungry Detective wants to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. I'll have my best of 2009 post up on Saturday. Unfortunately, the holiday has meant that I will not be posting The Very Best of Robert Crais. I just did not have the time to invest while I was back in Janesville. I have rescheduled it for March 31. Stay safe everyone. See you in a couple days, and Happy New Year!!!

As The Hungry Detective begins to look forward to the end of year I have planned a somewhat busy slate of offerings. I will have a small handful of reviews, and  the Winter '09-'10 book preview to deliver. I am also working on another 'The Very Best of' list this time featuring Robert Crais. But the biggest news is that December means it is a time to readdress the year. I will provide not only a 'Best of 2009' list but a 'Best of the Decade' list. And yes, I realize the decade ends next year, but last time I checked this was a Crime Fiction blog, not a calendar blog. The 'Best of the Decade' list will be 10 books delivered in two posts. Six through ten and then One through five a few days after that. I am 99% sure of what number one is going to be and if you have paid attention at all to this blog I really don't think it is that hard to figure out . In fact, I may have referred to this book as the best book of decade already. Maybe I should...

The editorial staff here at THD has met with our web design team. We played Wii for about six hours and then decided that we would track the books we have read in our 'Read along with THD' side bar. We've added back the Billingham book, and we think there might be one more to include. We will figure it out.

I have added The Rap Sheet to The Bible(s) link section of my blog. At least the (s) will make a little more sense now. I started with Confessions of and Idiosyncratic Mind because it was the one blog that I checked daily for crime fiction news. I knew of the existence of The Rap Sheet , but until recently I was an infrequent visitor. I might be added a few other blog links to the side panel soon. My recent purchases of Sean Chercover's and Marcus Sakey's books have steered me over to a blog, The Outfit , where they are frequent contributors. Maybe a few other author links. Connelly , Crais , etc. Who knows the possibilities are total endless.... cue inspiring music.... like that Walking on Sunshine Song.

I need to fancy the blog up a bit. I need a proper masthead. KM is in charge of that. Although I’m sure she sees it as a burden. She has a publishing company with a friend of ours, Tate Shaw. It is called Preacher's Biscuit Books. She is very busy work on things related to that. It fulfills her in very necessary ways. New masthead. Check I would like to bring a bit of color into the site. Some of that depends on the above. Color. Check There are all sorts of plug-ins I could add to the site, but most are rather ridiculous. Plug-ins. Judicious check I could also change the overall template. Blogger has about 6 to choose from and they are all rather dull. There many more stylish ones to choose from on various sites, but is it worth the trouble. Although if I am going to that, I should do it now while the site is rather un-developed. If it all goes to hell I will be able to recreate the site w/o much trouble. New Template. Check. I have all of next week off. This might give me some ...