Ginger

I'm enjoying a Gin-Gin hard candy, a gift from my Secret Pal giftee. (I've already blogged about how thoroughly we have upset the rules of SP.) She also sent me a lovely crochetted scarf and a crochetted pocket tissue holder, one of the wittiest crochetted items yet! Oh, did I mention the gourmet dark chocolate bar? It won't last long. Trust me.

This month's KTC book is The Life of Pi. I started it last night. Pi spent some of his childhood in a zoo (his father was the zookeeper). He has a soliloquy on the nature of freedom that concludes with the idea that animals in the zoo are more free than we are. Fascinating. I'm going to love this book. Now, what will I knit for it? Something that evokes India? Something that evokes the tiger or the sea?

We're also doing a Mystery Swap at KTC. Each of us gets to pick out a mystery (or two) for another member. Of course, we all embellish our packages with goodies. I went to Barnes and Noble this morning and found two perfect, perfect mysteries for my swap pal, and a couple of thematic embellishments. These swaps are so much fun!

Of course, the question of "what is a mystery?" can be debated (and was, on the KTC blog). I have tended (as a librarian/cataloger) to think in strict genre terms, but perhaps that's too narrow. For example, one member posted on her blog that she had chosen Donna Tartt's The Little Friend as the book she will send to her mystery partner. I read Donna Tartt's first book, The Secret History, and abosolutely loved it, but (at the time) didn't think of it as a mystery. Of course it was. With an expanded definition, the first three books (excellent, all!) of Carol Goodman are mysteries, although they do not feature the usual type of sleuth. When I read The Little Friend, I'll keep that alternate definition of "mystery" in mind.

And now, over to you. How would you define "mystery"?