[josemas]

Well I've got a pretty good idea of the the various comics being read and the shows and movies being watched by some of you guys here on the message board but am also curious if anybody has been reading some interesting books.

I'll start this off with my summer reading and a few brief comments on each.

American Rebel: the Life of Clint Eastwood by Marc Eliot-The first Hollywood bio of Eliot's that I read (on Cary Grant) I found a bit too much on the gossipy side but he has gotten better and this was a decent look at one of Hollywood's current living legends.

How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove-my brother, knowing of my fondness for history and biography, recommended I try something from the "alternative history" genre.  This one was a quite enjoyable one where the south won the civil war and what the country could have like by the 1880s if that were the case.

Closed Circle by Robert Goddard-Like all of Goddard's books that I have read this one was an intricately plotted mystery with richly delineated characters.

The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant-an expanded edition of their earlier work.

It's Superman by Tom DeHaven-Interesting take on the Superman legend.  Set in the 1930s as Clark Kent comes to terms with his powers and what to do with them.  Left open for sequels.

Ariel by Lawrence Block-Most of Block's books that I have read have been of the mystery/crime genre.  This one is more of a character study.

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs-I watch the Bones TV series so I thought I'd give a try to  one of the novels on which the series is based.  Well it was okay but the TV character has little in common with that on which she is based other than name and occupation.  

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" by David Bianculli-I really liked this show when I was a kid.  Now I finally got the lowdown on why it was taken off the air.

Hollywood Buzz by Margit Liesche-mystery novel with a WWII/Hollywood background.  

A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring 20s- by Roger Kahn-The title makes the subject clear.  I found his research on Hollywood and the movies a bit sloppy when he got to that area of Dempsey's life but given that Kahn is a sports reporter I suspect he did better with the main aspect of the book.  

Columbine by Dave Cullen-a decade after the infamous school shooting reporter Cullen clears up many of the myths, half-truths and out right lies that sprang up in the days and weeks following the tragedy and provides a clear picture of what happened before, during and after the incident.

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt & the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan-the title is a bit of an exaggeration.  It should be subtitled Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved the Forestry Department.  Still its a very good, well researched read.

The Turnaround by George Pelecanos-a racial incident decades ago and its aftermath on the various youths involved as they enter middle age.

Turning Angels by Greg Iles-Another good mystery from Iles involving murder, a sex scandal and drugs in a small Southern town.

The Enemy by Lee Child-Jack Reacher is the protagonist in all of Child's books that I have read.  This one looks at his past when he was still an army M. P. trying to solve some murders during the time of the fall of communism around 1990.

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong by Mark Cotta Vaz-Cooper certainly did live a rich, exciting life.  A wartime flier, he was twice shot down and taken prisoner-first fighting for the Allies in WWI and later fighting with the Poles against the Russians in the aftermath of the Russian revolution. Later still he became both an important Hollywood producer and an early leader in the aviation industry.

Confessions, Romances, Secrets, and Temptations: Archer St. John and the St. John Romance Comics by John Benson-Benson's companion volume to his earlier collection of St. John romance stories.  Leaves me wanting to read more such writing on the company's output.  At least here at GAC I'll get a chance to read and look over many of the comics St. John published.

To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic chase to Justice in the Old West by Mark Lee Garner-Well researched and entertaining read on the just what the title sez.

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton-the latest Kinsey Milhone novel finds the P.I. solving a decades old kidnapping case while finding out more about her own past.

So any of the rest of you read something worth recommending (or worth telling us to avoid)?

Joe M

[narfstar]

I spend more time reading comics and things online than books anymore. Still trying to catch up on Alter Ego magazine. Last book I read was Otis Edelbert Kline's Planet of Peril John Carter imatation

[josemas]

I read a ton of Burroughs' (and a few of Kline's) books back in 1960s and 70s but only a few since then.

Alter Ego is one of my favorite magazines but I'm always backed up on it.   Currently working my way through the multi-issue George Kashdan interview.  Just picked up the newest issue cover featuring The Mighty Crusaders which has a Mel Lazarus interview in it that I'm looking forward to getting into.

Joe M

[JVJ]

Read in the last couple of months:
Stories by Neil Gaiman {+}
Night Soldiers {+} & The Foreign Correspondent {+} by Alan Furst
Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain [ ]
Paradise Screwed by Carl Hiaasen [ ]
Star Island by same {+}
The Thieves of Manhattan by Adam Langer [ ]
Instructions by Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess {+}
The Parisians by Graham Robb {+}
Murphy's Law [ ] & Tell Me, Pretty Maiden [-] by Rhys Bowen
Beat the Reaper [-] by Josh Bazell
The Windup Girl {+} By Paolo Bacigalupi
Wishful Drinking [ ] by Carrie Fisher
The Help {+} by Kathryn Stockett
Art & Max [ ] by David Wiesner

in the middle of:
The Terror [ ] by Dan Simmons (a HARD book to finish - been on my nightstand for nearly a year...)
The Girl who married a Lion [ ] by Alexander McCall Smith

In the To Be Read stack:
Zero History by William Gibson (he's giving a reading tomorrow at a local book store)
The Spies of Warsaw & The Polish Officer & The Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst
Three Stations by Martin Cruz Smith
The Whisperers by John Connolly
Fever Dream by Preston & Child

Regarding How Few Remain, Jose,
I recommend the extended series that Turtledove wrote following this book. There must be six or seven books that continue the alternate time line through the Second World War. They are worth the effort.

I'm anxiously awaiting Michael Connoly's new book. I also like almost anything by Ian Rankin (I didn't like his latest, Doors Open and couldn't get past the first few chapters), Steig Larsson, Robert Crais, and Christopher Moore (Lamb is a particular favorite).

Favorite book of the last 25 years:
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
and I also highly recommend his "Baroque Cycle" trilogy and his Snow Crash (any book with a lead character who is a half-Japanese futuristic pizza delivery guy for the Mafia named Hiro Protagonist just HAS to be great!)

Good stuff and, no, I don't own a television... Why do you ask?

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[josemas]

Thanks for the list of titles and authors, Jim. 

While I've read some of the authors you mentioned (Gaiman, Hiaasen, Simmons, Smith, Michael Connelly, Larsson, Crais, and Moore) you've definitely given me a good number of new names to check out.  Thanks!

Well I do have a TV (as you may have guessed by my postings on the "Watcha Watchin'" thread) but try to balance my passion for movies and shows with that of my love for books. 

I try to keep them balanced but occasionally things tip one way or the other.

About a decade ago I was watching about 500 feature films a year (and I don't know how many misc. shorts and shows) and my book reading was suffering as a result.   At some point I realized this so I backed off on the number of flicks being watched to where I'm down to less than a third that number and the number of books being read has gone back up.

I'm currently reading George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier and I see over in my "to be read" stack books by John Sandford and Boris Akunin plus a big bio on Huey Long and volume 5 of Dumas Malone's mega bio series on Thomas Jefferson.

Best,   Joe

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

Good stuff and, no, I don't own a television... Why do you ask?

Peace, Jim (|:{>

You know Jim, when I was down at your house I didn't even think about not seeing a TV, we were talking so much about books, both comics and the literary books.

Geo

[JVJ]

I am a firm believer in Groucho Marx's maxim. He said that he found TV to be very educational. Whenever someone turned one on, he went into anothre room and read a book. Sound advice, IMHO.

Jose, I want to read the Smothers Brothers book and I have just barely enough interest in Eastwood to tackle the book on him. So thanks for those suggestions, too.

Peace, JIm (|:{>

[Roygbiv666]

Does anyone use a Kindle and have a review of it from a practical "maybe I'd use it" point of view, and not from some book-fetishist perspective ("I need to smell my books, feel the pulpy goodness, the texture of the glue binding" etc.)?

I don't really travel much, but I don't have infinite shelf space and don't really like to get rid of my books - kind of a problem in the making, hence thinking about a Kindle.

[JVJ]

I have no experience with Kindles, Roy, sorry.

Other recent (last six months) recommendations {+}:
The Best Defense by Kate Wilhelm (actually all of her Barbara Holloway books)
The Redeemer and Nemesis by Jo Nesbo (and his first, The Red Breast, too. - Nesbo is another Scandinavian crime writer whose translator is pretty decent. He's not as good as Larsson, but up there.)
Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland - a Japanese detective Samurai at the time of the Shogun.
Finity's End by C.J. Cherryh - finishes the series begun with Down Below Station and Cyteen.
Drawing Down the Moon - art book on Charles Vess
Paris Underground - traces the signage and maps of the Paris Metro from 1900 to now.
And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer (part six of three of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy)
I have also enjoyed all of the Laurie King Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books - although it appears she's becoming one of those writers who is shunning any editing of her books as the last two should have been ONE.
Sunnyside by Glen David Gold - if you have any interest in Charlie Chaplin I recommend this and The Unknown Chaplin DVD.
The Little Book by Selden Edwards - great time-travel/paradox story that inhabits 1897 Vienna.
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - a novel told primarily in journals and letters that works pretty well and revolves around the modern day art scene and the time of the Impressionists. Lots of real people interacting with fictional characters back in the 1880s.
Black Hills by Dan Simmons - the title is both the main character's name and his heritage. He's the barely teen-aged "brave" who counted coup on George Custer just as he was killed at Little Big Horn. Then things get weird.
The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick - for the most comprehensive look that Custer's life and last stand and heritage.
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt - a British bohemian family, their extended family and friends (often the same people) and the nature of children's stories. From Victorian age to just past the end of WW1.
The Unincorporated Man by Dan & Eytan Kollin - man from the past awakes in the futures and owns himself. Social calamity and chaos ensues. I wish this wasn't the first of a series and it is a great concept but I fear it will drag on past the basic idea.

Also a big fan of Elizabeth Moon, Orson Scott Card and Charles de Lindt.

Stuff you might like that I finished [  ]:
Finch by Jeff Vandermeer (same venue as his Cities of Saints and Madmen, which I couldn't finish)
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon - interesting and complex, but ultimately barely satisfying for me.
Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust & Emma Bull - one of the modern genre of "told in correspondence and journals" which often stretches credulity of the reader.
The Paris Vendetta - fun, and has a lot of Parisian color, but ultimately pushes a little too hard to pull the plot together.


Stuff I couldn't finish [-]:
Firewall by Andy McNabb
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Bombay Ice by Leslie Forbes

[narfstar]

I have some friends who are big ORson Scott Card fans. They gave me a book to read but I could not get into it. He did not make me care about his characters and if I can not care about the characters then I can not care about the book.

[JVJ]

I have some friends who are big ORson Scott Card fans. They gave me a book to read but I could not get into it. He did not make me care about his characters and if I can not care about the characters then I can not care about the book.

I could pursue this with you, narf, if you knew the name of the book. Read Ender's Game and then get back to me.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

I will see the guy who loaned it to me tomorrow. I will ask him which book it was. He has suggested other books of Card's but it is hard to pick up an author after they turned me off. I was a Grisham fan until STREET LAWYER when I felt like I read it all before. I was a Koontz fan until STRANGERS which took way too long developing the characters and had very little story. I have not read any of theirs since. Since you are another to sing Card's praises I may have to give ENDER's a try.

[narfstar]

I was at my LCS today. Got my several Green Hornets and Phantoms as well as Widow Warriors and Doctor Solar. The only one I have read so far has been Solar. Story is OK but has not got me exited. Art was not so hot. I will review the others after reading. I did see that there is an Ender's Game comic series. Looks like a couple one shots and a mini. Given the recent book recommendation, I was wondering if anyone has a perspective on the comics?

[josemas]

Well Jim you certainly came back with another good list of suggestions which gives me even more new ideas for future reads.

I got over to the library this past Saturday and picked up Dan Simmons' Black Hills, Glen Davis Gold's Sunnyside and one of Alan Furst's books.  I also put in reserves on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (I read his Lost Boys last year and your recommendation comes most welcome as I was recently considering which one to try next). 

I have seen Kevin Brownlow's The Unknown Chaplin (two or three times), as well as most of Brownlow's other film documentaries.  All worth watching. 

Regarding the Smother Brothers book.  You may also want to watch the documentary Smothered:The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  I watched it after reading the book and found it added to the experience.

While I don't have a favorite book of the last decade or so to recommend I do have one that I recommend everyone stay away from. 
Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews   I can't believe that anyone found this good enough to recommend to me.  I found it clumsily written and distasteful.  You don't even get the satisfaction of seeing the antagonist get her comeuppance in the end after struggling through the whole mess.  I guess they expected you to come back for the sequel.  Not bloody likely in my case!

Well anyway here's my list of books read earlier this year, prior to summer, with some brief comments.


Voodoo River by Robert Crais-Always a pleasure to visit Elvis Cole's world.
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education by Craig M. Mullaney-Best parts are the author's retelling of his training period.
Blacklight Blue by Peter May-May was recommended to me by a friend who knows I like mystery/crime novels.  This one was good enough that I'll be trying out a second.
Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman & Elizabeth M. Norman-Well written look at the infamous Batann death march, the events preceding it and those that came after.  BTW, did you know that the Smothers brothers father survived the death march  (but not the war)?
Economic Facts and Falacies by Thomas Sowell-Easily accessible for the layman but I'm sure there would be other economists who would disagree with his conclusions.
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers-I've been having a fun time working my way through Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories by Richard Matheson-An enjoyable revisiting of Matheson's work.
Seal Warrior:Death In the  Dark: Vietnam 1968-1972 by Thomas H. Keith & J. Terry Riebling-This book is very good when the author tells of his little part of the war and not so good when he tries to grasp the bigger picture.
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories by Mark Twain-Since this is the centennial year of Clemen's death I thought I'd reread some of his works.
The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11 by John Farmer-Very detailed look at the events of that day.
Relentless by Dean Koontz-Koontz is a mixed bag for me.  Some of his books I have really enjoyed but others less so.  This one was over the top but did keep my interest.
Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Work of Robert E. Howard Volume One-First Howard book I've read in over twenty (maybe thirty) years.   A mixed bag.
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend by Steve Turner-Well balanced look at the man in black-Johnny Cash.
Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker-excellent little western from noted mystery writer Parker.   Was also made into a very faithfully adapted film.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming-Cold war flashback time with James Bond.  Kinda' fun.  Got me interested enough to try some of the Bond short stories soon after.
Starship Troopers  Robert A. Heinlein-I've been reading a Heinlein here and there the last two-three years.  This was one I had never read.  I didn't get into this one to the degree that others I know seemed to.  Different from the movie.
Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg-Quite likely the best researched look at this early American leader.  It certainly leaves you with a much better view of the man than he's given as a peripheral character in many other biographies and histories about the period.
Edge of Evil by J. A. Jance-Jance has several series.  This is the first in the Ali Reynolds books.  I didn't find it quite as good as her others series featuring either Joanna Brady or J.P. Beaumont.
Not Quite Dead Enough by Rex Stout-Like Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels I've also been working my way through Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books.  I found this collection of two novellas more interesting for its WWII backdrop than the actual stories themselves.  Maybe Stout was too busy with his wartime duties to put a full effort into them.
Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald Westlake-One of Westlake's comic Dortmunder novels.  I'm more into his hard-boiled books (written as Richard Stark) but these do make fun light reading too. 
The Canal Builders: Making America's Empire at the Panama Canal by Julie Greene-Rather than a book on how the canal was built this is an interesting, detailed look at the type of people who built the canal from those at the top down to the lowliest laborers.
City of Fire by Robert Ellis- My first Ellis novel.  Some interesting characters and atmosphere. I'll try another.
The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War by Fred Anderson-Makes the argument that the events of this earlier war paved the way for the American Revolution. 
For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming-The first of two James Bond short story collections I read earlier this year (and the better of the two).
Burn Marks by Sara Paretsky-I find that Paretsky's books about Chicago Private Eye V.I. Warshawski are always worth a read. 
High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly by Donald Spoto-Good bio on the actress/princess that discredits many of the more salacious stories of earlier bios.
Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis-Fairly suspenseful, if a bit overly complicated and long.  Could have used some editing.
Jefferson and His Time Volume IV: Jefferson the President: First Term 1801-1805 by Dumas Malone-This massive six volume bio series on the revolutionary war era  hero will probably be the definitive work on the man although some parts (such as his look at the Sally Hemmings controversy) have since been questioned.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde-All of Fforde's books that i have read are highly recommended.  Both his Thursday Next and his Jack Spratt series are wonderfully unique mysteries.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King-collection by the modern horror king.  Some pretty good ones among the mix.
Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party by Max Blumenthal-Examination of the American 2008 election.
Hollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh-I've really enjoyed this series from Wambaugh (this is the third).  An eclectic mix of characters.
Octopussy by Ian Fleming-The second of the James Bond short story collections I read.  Expanded from the original edition.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles-Excellent bio on the man who was one of the first of the "robber barons".  Worked his way up from next to nothing to be the richest man in America in the 19th century.
Bright Futures by Stuart M. Kaminsky-  I've been a fan of Kaminsky's various mystery series for three decades now.  While some are better than others I've never regretted reading one.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties by Jonathan Leaf-The title pretty much sez it all.
A Red Death by Walter Mosley- One of Mosley's earliest novels.  Not quite up to Devil in a Blue Dress but still pretty good.
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie-Fine collection of Poirot short mysteries.
And Four to Go-Rex Stout  Decent collection of four Nero Wolfe novelettes that have the common theme of being set around a holiday.
Able One by Ben Bova  All my previous Ben Bova reads have been in the science fiction genre.  This one is a pretty well done thriller instead (albeit one with a lot of cutting edge technology). 
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott-I found this a tough slog to get through. Took me over a year reading bits on and off.  Never really got into it.
Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend by Paul Schneider-Very well researched bio on the infamous outlaw pair.   Follows their descent into a life of crime and their increasing desperate life as they manage to stay one step ahead until the bloody end.
America, 1908 by Jim Rasenberger-Interesting look at some important events of that year.
The Golden Age of DC Comics-365 DAYS by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd & Geoff Spear-Short pieces written around selected illos taken from Golden Age DC Comics eventually paint a fairly decent look at a number of the comics, characters and creators of the period.
Road to Purgatory by Max Allan Collins  I like Collins' hard boiled novels especially the Nathan Heller series.  This one fits in that mold and is a sequel to his earlier Road to Perdition.
A Few Quick Ones by P. G. Wodehouse-I've been a fan of Wodehouse's comic stories since high school.  I don't think the man could write a bad book.  This is a a little short story collection. 
Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne-Well argued.
Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard-For me Leonard is all about the characters.  Always some good dialogue too.  Plots often take second place.  Still I always come back for more.
Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross-I couldn't ID a Kurt Cobain song for the life of me but I so enjoyed this author's earlier bio on Jimi Hendrix that I gave this one a shot.  It's a well done look at a talented but sad life.
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories by Mark Twain-My second Clemens book this year.  I haven't decided which one to read next.
The State of Jones by Sally Jenkins &  John Stauffer-The county of Jones, Mississippi and it's attempt to secede from the Confederacy during the American Civil War is examined.  An interesting little piece of American history that I had never heard about.
A Whisper to the Living by Stuart M. Kaminsky-See above comments on Kaminsky.

Best 

Joe

[narfstar]

If you like Civil War historical fiction my wife finished the first Volume of Al Lacy's Civil war battles series and rushed me to order the remaining three. She devours those things. She has almost all the books on the 54th and Robert Guold Shaw, and I had to pay a good bit to get LAY THIS LAUREL as it carried a high price used everywhere.

I would not consider 356 much of a read just pictures. I got a copy on ebay for a buck plus shipping.

You must be a Bond fan  I can read the book then watch the movie but once I have watched a movie I just can not bring myself to read the book, even though I know it is better. The only exception has been THE FIRM which I have read several times.

[JVJ]

Thanks for the recommendations, Jose,
I will take the list with me to Know Knew Books this afternoon as I try to dig up the two William Gibson books I seem to have somehow missed. I just finished Zero History and, as always, was stunned and delighted with his writing. The rich obscurity to it that draws one in and makes one work for an ultimate satisfaction. Never a "quick read."

Agree 100% with Crais and Elvis and, of course, Joe Pike.

Karen has every book and story Stout ever wrote and every couple of years she revisits them all in the order written. The last time I read them (all, again) was about five years ago, just after I retired from BPIB. What struck me most forcibly was the timelessness of them. Fer-de-Lance, the first Nero Wolfe novel was written in 1934 and just about the only thing that placed it outside of modern times was the running board on a car in one scene. Amazing. All recommended highly. My favorite: The Doorbell Rang.

She also has a complete P.G. Wodehouse (not an easy task). whom I've NEVER been able to endure (apparently I was born without a Plum gene), and Dorothy Sayers, who I can and do enjoy. The same with her sets of Chandler and Hammett, to which I have full and joyous access. She also has a set of Agatha Christie, whom I can take or leave.

Some Dean Koonz work for me. Recently tried him again with Your Heart Belongs to Me and Breathless. Former was adequate, latter was a bit better. My favorite of his remains The Watchers - about the dogs...

Walter Mosely - up and down, but a decent read, I agree.

Fleming - tres dated, IMHO. I occasionally re-read one just to remind myself of who I was. They are nothing like the films. The first two movies, Dr. No and From Russia With Love are the best adaptations still.

And I mis-spoke regarding C.J. Cherryh: the new book I read was Regenesis, though I also read the other three named.

Haven't tried May that I can recall, yet the name is familiar. No impression.

J.J. Vance - read a couple of the J.P. Beaumont and, I think, one of the Joanna Brady books. Okay, but the writing style is fairly pedestrian, I thought.

One of the modern "greats" that also escapes me is China Mi

[josemas]

If you like Civil War historical fiction my wife finished the first Volume of Al Lacy's Civil war battles series and rushed me to order the remaining three. She devours those things. She has almost all the books on the 54th and Robert Guold Shaw, and I had to pay a good bit to get LAY THIS LAUREL as it carried a high price used everywhere.

I would not consider 356 much of a read just pictures. I got a copy on ebay for a buck plus shipping.

You must be a Bond fan  I can read the book then watch the movie but once I have watched a movie I just can not bring myself to read the book, even though I know it is better. The only exception has been THE FIRM which I have read several times.

I wouldn't say I'm a big Civil War fiction fan.  I've read a couple of Bernard Cornwell's books and most of Owen Parry's books (which are basically mystery novels with the Civil War as background) but not much else.

I loved Bond and Man From Uncle and all that spy stuff as a kid but had not read any Bond books for many years until last year when I started re-sampling them.   
Only the earlier Bond films are close adaptations of the books.  By the 1970s the only thing the books had in common with the movies was the title.  You could safely read many of the Bond books after seeing the movie on which it is "based" and find no overlap in story.

Best

Joe   

[josemas]

Jim, 

Thanks again for yet even more suggestions of good reading material. 

Re: Stout.  I only started reading through his books a few years ago and like you have been struck by the timelessness in general found in them.  That recent one I read with the WWII background (Archie in uniform and all) was a real exception to the rule.  The Doorbell Rang was one of the very first ones I read, btw, and remains a favorite.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Let's go old school. Have any of you read the Hornblower series? I learned more history from reading Hornblower than I ever did in school. How about the pulps? I have read many of the Conan, Doc Savage and Avenger books and few Shadow and Spider. Best taken as occasional light reads not reading too many of the same character at one time. Allen E. Nourse remains one of my favorite SciFi writers. Raiders From the Rings and Star Surgeon are a couple my favorites of his. The first several Dragonriders of Pern books sucked me in to their world completely but eventually I lost interest. I still think the first several are great. Jim have you read THE BAD PLACE by Koontz? That was my favorite of his. It was actually his first book but was thought too bizarre to print until after he made a name for himself.

[JVJ]

Years and years and years ago I read the Hornblowers, Narf.
I know because my older (18 months) brother has repeatedly told me that I did, but I don't recall them. I was probably sub-teens when I read them. Same with Conan. My local bookmobile in PIttsburgh had the Gnome Press reprints in the mid-50s and I was graduating from ERB and Heinlien to more "sophisticated" stuff.

Like you, I thought the early Pern novels were great, but once the "mystery" was unveiled, they lost me, too. The first four (with Whelan dust-jackets) are the ones to get. No, I haven't read Koontz's The Bad Place, but will keep a look out for it.

I tried to find Dangerously Funny at three local independent book stores, Jose, and all three told me that they could order it for me. I'll wait until I get back from Paris. I did pick up several new items that I"ll list. Your Hate Mail Will be Graded by John Scalzi, whom I recommded last time. It's posts from his blog, Whatever and I'm half-way through and enjoying it muchly. YMMV, especially if you're sensitive to certain topics.

The Unincorporated War, the sequel to The Unincorporated Man, is out.

A slew of William Gibson books for the plane and Paris evenings:
Virtual Light
Pattern Recognition
Spook Country
Count Zero
(I'm surprised that I've missed so many. You turn your back for a few years and wham!)

Somebody at Kepler's recommended The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross. The hero is named Bob Howard, which intrigued me

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart.

John Fleskes came over and dropped off his latest publication, The Legend of Steel Bashaw by Petar Meseldzija, which I've also started. He borrowed my runs of My Greatest Adventures and Mystery in Space to read while I'm in Paris. He'll have fun. Me, too, I hope.

Keep reading.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

I passed my copy of Bad Place on to a guidance counselor Koontz fan over ten years ago and have not seen a copy since. It is one of the few books that I would like to read again. Just checked and Amazon has hardback for a penny with $3.99 shipping so I may order one. My wife just got her Al Lacy book today that was ordered off Amazon only two days standard shipping.

[CharlieRock]

The Blue Haired Bombshell by John Zakour

This book is a good reason to get down on your hands and knees at your local bookstores' sci-fi section (as the author's last name usually puts his books on the last shelf very bottom.) It is set a few hundred years into the future. A very slapstick, satirical future. And follows the fifth published adventure of Zachery Nixon Johnson, the Earth's last P.I. This time, Johnson, and his usual sidekick the holographic HARV along with a few new friends and whole lot of new enemies go to the Moon for a Lunar battle royale.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that appreciates a satirical take on sci-fi and detective conventions. The humor is very physical and picturing the events in my mind always gets me weird looks in the workplace breakroom where I do a lot of my reading as I never can keep from laughing out loud.

The first book of this series is called The Plutonium Blonde. All feature retro-looking cover art complete with printed on smudge marks and scuffs, giving it the "old style" face it pays humorous homage to.

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

Well lets see, I'll start with Andy McDermott's latest "The Sacred Vault", but if you want to read this before Mar. 2011 here you'll have to order it from England like I did in July. Good read by the way, I've read all of the series so far and wasn't disappointed so far except for the potty mouth Ms. Wilde which has been toned down with this book, (I don't care to much for a well educated person sounding like longshoreman all the time, just doesn't make a very believable character holding the position she has, as head of a archeology division of the United Nation).

Then I read "The Atlantis Code" by Charles Brokaw, a Da Vinci Code look-a-like, but was not a bad read, (I've never read or saw the Da Vinci Code book or movie, so maybe that's a good thing). It was a fast, exciting mover with a strong woman character which/who was believable.

Last one I just finished was "The Shimmer" by David Morrell, an interesting tale about a policeman who's wife takes off and stops in a small southern Texas town on the way to her mother's without telling him what's going on and then there's those mysterious lights too along with a government coverup that started from/in WWII.

I'm reading right now "The Hidden Oasis" by Paul Sussman, I've just started it, so I can't give a short synoptic of the book yet, but I read all his books and have enjoyed them all, if you like archaeology along with a murder mystery this book will hold your interest.


Read on...

Geo

[josemas]

Let's go old school. Have any of you read the Hornblower series? I learned more history from reading Hornblower than I ever did in school. How about the pulps? I have read many of the Conan, Doc Savage and Avenger books and few Shadow and Spider. Best taken as occasional light reads not reading too many of the same character at one time. Allen E. Nourse remains one of my favorite SciFi writers. Raiders From the Rings and Star Surgeon are a couple my favorites of his. The first several Dragonriders of Pern books sucked me in to their world completely but eventually I lost interest. I still think the first several are great.

I never read any of Forester's Hornblower novels but have read some of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey books, which are of a similar nature.

I first got into pulps one summer back in the mid 60s when we were vacationing back on my grandparent's farm in Pennsylvania.  I found an old copy of Tarzan of the Apes up in the attic and I read it and was hooked.  As soon as we returned home I was checking out and reading every Edgar Rice Burroughs book (and those of a similar vein-Kline, Carter) that I could find at the public library.  It wasn't long afterward that someone gave me one of the Doc Savage paperbacks that were then reprinting the old pulps.  This lead to reading the other pulp hero pulp characters that were being reprinted in the 1960s and 70s.  Somewhere around this period I also discovered Conan and Robert E. Howard and then other Weird Tales authors like H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith.  I read lots of these in the 60s and 70s

I discovered Heinlein via a copy of Have Spacesuit Will Travel that was in the school library when I was about 10 years old.  I actually got to meet Heinlein about a decade later at a Phoenix SciFi/Star Trek/Comics convention which was a thrill.

I got into fantasy novels via Tolkein (The Hobbit was an assigned book by one of my teachers at school) in the early 1970s.  I especially remember reading a bunch of Thomas Burnett Swann's novels during that decade.

Dashiell Hammett was the first of the Black Mask/hard boiled school of mystery writers I read (mid 1970s) and that was because I first saw John Huston's terrific film adaptation of The Maltese Falcon (quite possibly the most faithful film adaptation of a book ever made) and it made me want to check out the author.  That eventually lead to Raymond Chandler and then to James M. Cain and various other authors such as Ross MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, John D. MacDonald, etc...

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Many similarities to my early reading Joe. I too got into Swan about that time. Loved his easy but interesting reading. Books that can just be enjoyed are often under rated. I have not read any David Morrell in awhile Geo but devoured them at one time with Brotherhood and Fraternity and League of Night and Fog. Who was his re-accuring character and which books was he in?