What I'm reading

[Juleeming]

As a new member, I'm kind of sad that this section seems kind of dead. Anyway, I'll try to revive it a bit in case anyone cares. I'm currently going focusing on finishing Le Carre's Smiley's People so I can watch the TV adapation with Alec Guinness to compare.

I've currently got about 8 mysteries and thrillers sitting on my bookshelf. They include

Dead line by Stella Rimington
The middleman byOlen Steinhauer
The absent one by Jussi Adler-Olsen ; translated by K. E. Semmel
Buried secrets by Joseph Finder
Illegal action by Stella Rimington
Broken ground by Val McDermid
Blood of victory by Alan Furst

 

[Peder]

Hi Julee,

I'll gladly join you in your effort to see if anyone cares.
Here are the books I have read recently:

December
Leviathan Rises by James S.A. Corey
Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey
The Late Show by Michael Connelly
The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

January
Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connely
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali and Maureen Freely tr.

I have enjoyed them all, except for the Albom.
I had enjoyed his original Five People You Will Meet in Heaven very much.
It was nicely inspirational. But I would call the sequel Next Person totally forgettable.

Anyone else doing any reading?
Peder

 

[pontalba]

Ok, this is nice.....

NOVEMBER


Leviathan Wakes by James A. Corey 4/5

The Butcher of Anderson Station by James A. Corey 4/5

Caliban’s War by James A. Corey. 5/5

Snap by Belinda Bauer 4/5




DECEMBER


Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey 4/5

Star Trek: DS9:Avatar Bk 1 by S. D. Perry 4/5

The Splendor Before the Dark by Margaret George 5/5

All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage 3.5/5

SS/Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang 5/5+ (The movie “Arrival” was from this short story, both excellent)

SS/Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang 5/5

SS/Understand by Ted Chiang 3.75/5

Apologies for formatting above, I copied and pasted, too lazy to retype.

 

[readingomnivore]

I'm still pretty much alternating Jane Austen fan fiction titles with mysteries, including an occasional nonfiction title. Reviews are posted.

Am i the only one who enjoys some of the mid-20th century police procedural series?

 

[pontalba]

I'm still pretty much alternating Jane Austen fan fiction titles with mysteries, including an occasional nonfiction title. Reviews are posted.

Am i the only one who enjoys some of the mid-20th century police procedural series?

Do you mean something like Ed McBain, Chandler or Lawrence Block?
I have a large number of Block’s books, and particularly enjoyed his Keller series. Elmore Leonard goes in the “great” stack as well. I really liked Earl Stanley Gardner when I was a kid, but find them dated now. I still love Raymond Burr as Perry Mason though.

I would recommend Steven Dunne’s “The Unquiet Grave”. It was written in 2013, so not mid-20th century, but I’d rate it one of the best police procedural I’ve read.

 

[Peder]

I'm still pretty much alternating Jane Austen fan fiction titles with mysteries, including an occasional nonfiction title. Reviews are posted.

Am i the only one who enjoys some of the mid-20th century police procedural series?

Not necessarily, but I'm not quite sure who-all you have in mind.
So I'll key on Pontalba's response.

Chandler I have read, among others, when I was in a mood to read 'classics' in the genre.
A mood which ended when I went back to real classics, like Wilkie Collins' Woman in White.

Elmore Leonard I have really enjoyed. Earl Stanley Gardner not so much.

Do the MacDonalds fall in the time frame (Ross MacDonald and John D McDonald)?
Or Maj Sjowahl and Per Wahloo? I have happily devoured all works by all four, maybe missing only a couple.
Or Henning Mankell? Him too.
Or Joseph Wambaugh? Onion fields?

I would be glad to hear new names, because I think I have about run out.

Anyone?
Peder

 

[Matthew.P]

I'm just really exited for a new book that's supposed to be released this July , call Crimson Gears. A science fction punk type thing.

Would highly recommended it when it does come out.

 

[Juleeming]

Do you mean something like Ed McBain, Chandler or Lawrence Block?
I have a large number of Block’s books, and particularly enjoyed his Keller series. Elmore Leonard goes in the “great” stack as well. I really liked Earl Stanley Gardner when I was a kid, but find them dated now. I still love Raymond Burr as Perry Mason though.

I would recommend Steven Dunne’s “The Unquiet Grave”. It was written in 2013, so not mid-20th century, but I’d rate it one of the best police procedural I’ve read.

I've just started Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series. I started with a later one, and didn't quite get what was going on (endless number of AA meetings), but I did like it. I've now gone back to the beginning and have read three of the early ones (I can't find the third one in any library). I do like the series, even if it's kind OCD in a way. There's a lot of similarity between this style and what Robert Parker eventually morphed Spenser into. Day by day events, discussions of food and drink, most of the plot moves forward with conversation. The one thing I don't like about some of the books is how Scudder takes a gigantic leap to "solve a mystery" without any evidence to back it up. This is particularly true in the last one I read, 8 Million Ways to Die.

I love the Ed McBain, and read every single one except for one, the title I forget. One of the later ones, had to do with a rap star on a boat. I couldn't get into it. I really like his gritty style and his recreation of New York City as a fiction place. I've also read almost all of Elmore Leonard's books as well.