The Short Con Week 35 - The Year's Best Crime Writing 2009

Here it is, the last day of non-fiction month.  I'm surprised that I've enjoyed it as much as I have. 

Documentaries, while almost always good, have never been my thing, but I've learned a hell of a lot from them.  Same goes with the novels.  Thanks to interesting books like The Brothers Bulger, I've picked up other sources on the story, such as Kevin Weeks' book, Brutal.  Like so many others, it's been added to the shelf, just waiting to be read.  And Gamorrah, a book that just wowed me, was also made into a very good film, one the folks at Criterion were smart to jump on.  Excellent book, excellent movie.  And surfing the net for other newspapers, while frustrating a great deal of the time, has also had it's rewards.

The last thing I'm going to mention is something I haven't yet had the time to review, but based on it's pedigree, I'm sure it's got merit. 

It's The Best American Crime Reporting 2009 edition, and I'm not sure why I was so surprised by it's existence.  It's edited by Jeffrey Toobin this year, but the series editors are Thomas H. Cook, and the guy whose name always seems to pop up on these books, Otto Penzler.  It looks like a great read, and perhaps as soon as I am done reading for October's theme*  I plan on picking it up.

And speaking of theme months, September is going to be a bit different.  For just this month, all reviews of books, comics and such will be taking a break.  I've addressed this problem before, but I feel movies have been getting the shaft during this experiment.  Most of my time has been spent reading or writing (yes English teachers, I can hear your applause from here) that movies have taken a back seat.  So for the next 30 days, I'm diving into the deep, dark end of the pool.

September is Noir Month, and I hope you like it.

*Yes, that is a spoiler.  The whole month of October will be centered around one man. Start guessing now.