Kinsey and Me

Never too many!
Registered by wingearthcaroleannewing of Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on 8/13/2021
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
8 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingearthcaroleannewing from Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, August 13, 2021
Welcome to BookCrossing!

Thank you for picking up this book. If you’re new to BookCrossing and find this book and this site (www.bookcrossing.com), please make a journal entry to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join.

I hope you'll join BookCrossing (doesn't cost anything to join!) and if you do, please consider using me, earthcaroleanne, as your referring member. When you’ve finished reading this book and are ready to send it on its way again, make a journal entry if you are giving or sending this book to a known person, or a release note if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e mail each time someone makes another journal entry. And it’s confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.

Enjoy the site, the book and hopefully the BookCrossing community. If you’re already a BookCrossing member, thank you for picking up this book.

Happy BookCrossings!

Journal Entry 2 by wingearthcaroleannewing at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Thirty-one years since A is for Alibi was first published, Sue Grafton presents Kinsey and Me, her first compendium of of short stories. It features nine Kinsey short stories, each a gem of detection, as well as autobiographical pieces written in the decade after Grafton's mother died. Together, they show just how much Kinsey Millhone is a distillation of her creator's past, even as they reveal a child who, free of parental discipline, read everything and roamed everywhere. But the dark side of such freedom was that very parental distance...

Journal Entry 3 by wingearthcaroleannewing at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 17, 2021
I collected these books to read in order but didn't get around to doing so until guilt kicked in when Sue Graton's death was announced. Since then I have become a huge fan of the Kinsey Millhone ABC murder series and have shared them with other bookcrossers.

I thought this was an autobiography and in some ways it is but we have much more information about Sue Grafton in the short stories with Kit Blue.

Journal Entry 4 by wingearthcaroleannewing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Sunday, September 5, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (9/6/2021 UTC) at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending out as the last book in the spiral.

diane_fraser (UK)
greenbadger (UK)
penelopewanders (Switzerland/France)
lamelemon (Romania)
Icila (France)
jonniboi (UK)
Maranlin (Canada)
Ollie1976 (US)

Journal Entry 5 by wingDiane-Fraserwing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Saturday, September 11, 2021
With me now. Thank you very much. I’m currently reading LJ Ross but will try and read in tandem with this so as not to keep it too long 😊

Journal Entry 6 by wingDiane-Fraserwing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Saturday, October 9, 2021
I enjoyed the short stories in this book and a bit of insight into the life of Sue Grafton. I took this on holiday with me and finally finished it travelling to a Bookcrossing event in Leeds. I’m hoping to meet the next bookcrosser on the list this week so it will be a well travelled book by then 😉

Journal Entry 7 by wingDiane-Fraserwing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Thursday, October 14, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (10/14/2021 UTC) at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Welcome to Bookcrossing!

You have found a travelling book. Why not join in the fun? Read, release and pass on but don't forget to write a Journal Entry telling us where you found the book, if you read it what you thought about it and where you are going to leave it. If you join bookcrossing before you do the entry you will get an alert when the next person writes up about it and can track its travels. If you prefer to just leave an Anonymous Journal Entry, it will brighten up my day either way. Oh and if you like the book sooooo much you just don't want to let it go that is fine too, maybe one day eh ☺

Enjoy!!


Journal Entry 8 by winggreenbadgerwing at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, October 14, 2021
Handed to me in person by Diane-Fraser - it's been a long time!

Journal Entry 9 by winggreenbadgerwing at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, November 1, 2021
A collection of short stories, the first half of which star Kinsey Millhone PI and the second half are about Kit Blue. Sue Grafton calls Kinsey her alter-ego, who she would have been if she hadn't married young and had children, whereas the Kit Blue stories are autobiographical. It's great to revisit Kinsey having recently finished the series - lovely to get a few extra glimpses into her life. The Kit Blue part is unbearably sad, Grafton trying to process the death of her mother. Glad I got to read this.

Journal Entry 10 by winggreenbadgerwing at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (11/3/2021 UTC) at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to penelopewanders.

Journal Entry 11 by wingpenelopewanderswing at Saint-Loup-des Vignes, Centre France on Sunday, November 28, 2021
How embarrassing, this arrived safely a few weeks ago but the prevailing chaos at home (visit from daughter, our being unexpectedly adopted by a (then) very small kitten close to drowned in the trap below our rain gutter (it was a dark and stormy night...) led to it going to the correct TBR shelf but not being journalled. Wrong now righted. I hope to get to it in the next day or so. Apologies all round for any concerns regarding its fate. Hope you're all well and enjoying the start of the holiday season.

Journal Entry 12 by wingpenelopewanderswing at Saint-Loup-des Vignes, Centre France on Tuesday, December 14, 2021
I don't know if the second half of this is really non-fiction, but Grafton writes about her family - her mother and her mother's death, her father and her relationship with him, and it rings pretty authentic to me. This is not an easy background to come from.
The first part is composed of various Kinsey Milhone short stories.
I'm usually not very big on anthologies, but I ended up getting into the stories and enjoying them as additional treats which continue the Kinsey Milhone universe.
I wonder if anyone knows what the title (or plot!?) of Z would have been.
I have enjoyed this bookcrossing spiral no end, and was able to reread and put into context the books from the series that I had read years ago, out of order.
A big thanks to earthcaroleanne for launching this as a way of honoring Grafton after her death. Also a big thanks to all the spiral participants who kept this moving smoothly.
Happy, healthy, peaceful holidays (and soon!) new year to everyone.

I await confirmation of lamelemon's address, and will try to send this on soon. (I know, I have it, but having moved myself recently, I always prefer to confirm addresses).

Journal Entry 13 by wingpenelopewanderswing at Beaune-la-Rolande, Centre France on Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (12/28/2021 UTC) at Beaune-la-Rolande, Centre France

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

There are terrible rumors that the wonderful international book rate we have enjoyed so much here in France will be abolished very soon... and our (relatively) local post office has halved their opening hours. Because of this I was anxious to get this in the post before the new year, but hope it will dawdle a bit as I gather before New Year's the postal service in Romania might be off duty...
Thanks so much for making all these books available, and for the whole group which was marvelously responsive and well organized!
I wish everyone in this wonderful spiral a happy, safe and healthy 2022, with fabulous stories, both on and off the page.

Journal Entry 14 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Monday, January 10, 2022
Safely received with thanks :)

Journal Entry 15 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Friday, January 21, 2022
The short mysteries were entertaining, but for me the real gem were the stories about Kit. So much trauma, love and forgiveness. How can you go through that and still work as a functional human being?

Thank you for sharing, the book will travel again asap.

Journal Entry 16 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Friday, January 28, 2022

Released 2 yrs ago (1/26/2022 UTC) at București, Wallachia Romania

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to Icila in France. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 17 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Monday, February 7, 2022
The book arrived safely with beautiful Romanian stamps. Thank you lamelemon !

Journal Entry 18 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, June 1, 2022
I took my sweet time to read it and somehow forgot to pass it along. I'm sorry.

Journal Entry 19 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (6/2/2022 UTC) at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to jonniboy. Please excuse-me for the delay.

Journal Entry 20 by JonniC at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, June 13, 2022
This arrived today, either I forgot that I was asked my address or Icila completely surprised me, haha. I've just finished a book so I'll be starting this one today and hopefully send it on its way as soon as I've finished it. So sad that this is the last Sue Grafton book I'll possibly ever read :(

Journal Entry 21 by JonniC at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Friday, July 8, 2022
Well that's it for Kinsey Millhone and I'm unbelievably sad to know that these short stories are the last stories I'll read from Sue Grafton - she was an amazing author and I loved reading and completing the ABC novels.

I loved reading Sue Grafton's preface which gave insight into the creation of short stories and her perspective when creating them, and then reading the introduction to Kinsey Millhone really struck a chord with me, knowing that Kinsey Millhone is pretty much her alter-ego - someone she would've been had she not married young and had kids. It was the perfect intro to the amazing Kinsey Millhone stories.

The short stories were fascinating. I loved trying to imagine where in the ABC books each of the stories fit, and I mostly placed them due to the car that the PI is driving, which is actually pretty hilarious since I know absolutely zero about cars just that they normally have four wheels, are different makes and colours, and get you from A to B, but Sue Grafton described Kinsey Millhone's cars so well in her books that I imagined the time period where each of the short stories lay. My favourite was definitely "Between the Sheets" as it was written so well and gripped me to no end, I was hooked completely and could easily imagine what was happening. Having said that, the short story that is not-to-be-missed is totally "Falling Off the Roof" as it had me laughing at the ending scene that was certainly comical.

Kit Blue, on the other hand, was quite auto-biographical from Sue Grafton. She really went through it, and those stories certainly give us insight into the dark sides we glimpse in Kinsey Millhone - and also kind of explain the direction of Kinsey not wanting to be a part of the family she discovers that she has, there are glimpses but I always felt that her extended family got erased towards the last few books as if the author forgot all about this side-stories but learning about Sue Grafton's difficulty with both her parents in her late teens made me realise why Kinsey Millhone pushes away her family. Kit Blue explores different concepts and it's clear that Sue Grafton was struggling with life when she was writing these stories. The narrative changes, there's some first-person, second-person, and third-person throughout. I do have an issue with some particular word choices used that could've been edited before publication, but at the same time, these are clearly written-as-is from back then so editing would lose its original integrity. It's a tricky one and I hope her editor battled with the decision - I like to think so. Regardless, it was an interesting insight into Sue Grafton, although I found it difficult to follow now and again.

Loved this, and I would definitely read the Kinsey Millhone short stories again, given the chance. I want to say this is the end of this PI in my life, but I guess that's not true as her family has sold the rights for a TV series, which means Sue Grafton has some haunting to do as she said she would haunt her family from the grave if they sold the rights - the TV series better do it justice! I also do wonder how Z would've finished off the series, I like to think everything would get wrapped up and Kinsey would find a place in her family on both sides and build some sort of relationship with them - a friendship similar to what she has with Henry.

I'm sorry this is absolutely massive! I can't help but express gratitude to earthcaroleanne for the spiral and sending me the books after the spiral ended, you truly are AMAZING! I cannot thank you enough.

Will send this to Maranlin as soon as I can.

Journal Entry 22 by JonniC at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Friday, July 8, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (7/8/2022 UTC) at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent this book off, it's now in the post! I've sent it via International Economy to Canada, so it can take up to 42 days to arrive, but hopefully, it'll get there sooner.

Thanks again earthcaroleanne for the book spiral, you've been so generous and I really am beyond grateful.

Journal Entry 23 by wingMaranlinwing at Burlington, Ontario Canada on Thursday, July 21, 2022
This book arrived today, so it has made it to Canada much quicker than expected! Thanks so much Jonniboi for sending it to me. I look forward to reading this.

Journal Entry 24 by wingMaranlinwing at Burlington, Ontario Canada on Thursday, July 28, 2022
Now that I have read A to Y, I have missed Kinsey, so it was nice to enjoy the short stories in the first section. The second section was very sad, but also honest. In many ways I think Sue Grafton was brave to publish those stories, really baring her soul to the reader.

I am sad to see the end of this spiral, and have truly enjoyed it. Thank you so much, earthcaroleanne for organizing it and to all who participated.

I have been in touch with Ollie1976 who has advised that she has already read this one, so it will stay with me.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.