[narfstar]

Jim have you ever read any of Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels? Pretty easy reads. Don't hold up in all areas but nice light stuff.

[JVJ]

Jim have you ever read any of Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels? Pretty easy reads. Don't hold up in all areas but nice light stuff.

I read probably the first seven or eight, narf, and I remember liking them a lot, but then the series really went south on us and we just gave up on it. I know that it's continued over the years, but never stuck a toe back into those waters. Sounds like what I remember they became - pretty light. Do you remember the TV series way back when?

We've been much happier with the Elvis Cole novels of Robert Crais. If you haven't tried them, they come highly recommended.

And both Michael Connelly series - Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) remain solid reads, especially now that he's conjoined the two.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[josemas]

Jim,

Once again you've given me a few more new authors (new to me anyway) to look for at the library.

I've got In the Garden of Beasts (I read Thunderstruck awhile back) and the two Rothfuss books on my coming up list (in other words the library has them but I need to work through the pile I already have first). 

Just finished rewatching the Campbell/Moyers Power of Myth series on DVD last month.   Good stuff but I doubt I'd want to read a transcription.

The Isaacson Steve Jobs book has tons of reserves on it at the library so I will either check out one of the other books on him or wait some time.

The Stephenson book also has a few people waiting on it but I expect it should be available in the first part of next year so should snag it then.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Jim have you ever read any of Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels? Pretty easy reads. Don't hold up in all areas but nice light stuff.

I read probably the first seven or eight, narf, and I remember liking them a lot, but then the series really went south on us and we just gave up on it. I know that it's continued over the years, but never stuck a toe back into those waters. Sounds like what I remember they became - pretty light. Do you remember the TV series way back when?

We've been much happier with the Elvis Cole novels of Robert Crais. If you haven't tried them, they come highly recommended.

And both Michael Connelly series - Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) remain solid reads, especially now that he's conjoined the two.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

I see that Parker's death hasn't stopped his characters books from coming out as apparently the estate has other authors continuing both the Spenser and Jesse Stone series.
For my money Parker's best work in his later years was his Cole & Hitch westerns.

I second Jim's recommendation of both Crais and Connelly, Narf.  Consistently good reads!   In fact I'm about due for another from both!

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

The Spenser books I have listened to (two of them) as audiobooks. My sister was a big fan of Spenser for Hire. Robert Urich was married to the beautiful Heather Menzies from the Logan's Run TV series. My wife and I recently watched and enjoyed the Lincloln Lawyer movie. I will read the second book after I finish C. S. Lewis scifi trilogy which I started today. Has anyone read it?

[josemas]

I will read the second book after I finish C. S. Lewis scifi trilogy which I started today. Has anyone read it?

Narf, I assume that you are referring to Out of the Silent Planet, Perlandra and That Hideous Strength.  I read the first about two years ago and the second early last year.  Found the first fairly interesting but the second something of a letdown.  I guess my disappointment with the second is why I still haven't got around to the third.  Maybe early next year.   I found them leaning a bit more toward the fantastic side of sci-fi with Lewis throwing in some of his religious and mythical allusions.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Thanks for the input Joe. I am enjoying the first one so far. The trilogy was listed in the top 100 scifi so I thought I would give them a try.

[paw broon]

I just want to add my endorsement of Robert Crais and I particularly like Joe Pike.  Who would you want at your back?  Pike or Reacher.
I enjoyed the first Martin Beck book, The Laughing Policeman, by Slowall and Wahloo.  These first appeared in the '60's and are now reprinted.  Interesting look at Stockholm, it's underworld and police force.  Bleak in places.   Once again, please have a go at the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.  Absolutely excellent and they've adapted some of them for t.v.  There is a new Bryant and May book by Christopher Fowler due soon.  Can't wait. Quirky, funny strange mysteries investigated by the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

[JVJ]

Joe Pike, ANY DAY, Paw.
I find all of the Scandinavian thrillers to be pretty bleak. Maybe it has something to do with the long winter nights...

I've read most of the Peculiar Crimes Unit books, but simply can't seem to embrace them. Karen gobbles them up (which is why I read them -  they're laying around the house). "The Laughing Policeman" sounds familiar - perhaps I've read it a long time ago. No recollection of it, though.

I started The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, but find myself putting it down and returning to Cleopatra. Time will tell.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[builderboy]

I will read the second book after I finish C. S. Lewis scifi trilogy which I started today. Has anyone read it?

Narf, I assume that you are referring to Out of the Silent Planet, Perlandra and That Hideous Strength.  I read the first about two years ago and the second early last year.  Found the first fairly interesting but the second something of a letdown.  I guess my disappointment with the second is why I still haven't got around to the third.  Maybe early next year.   I found them leaning a bit more toward the fantastic side of sci-fi with Lewis throwing in some of his religious and mythical allusions.

Best

Joe

Gentlemen,  these three books are among my favorite reads of ALL TIME. For me, each was more fantastic than the last.  Lewis does throw in some religious metaphors (nothing that gets in the way of the story), but the subtext for me was a highly interesting study of the nature of evil. Great stuff.

[paw broon]

"Joe Pike, ANY DAY, Paw"  JVJ.
Ah well now, I get quite involved in these adventures and I do wonder.  Neither of them are exactly subtle but  - no, I can't figure it out. I'm gibbering.  Happy with either.
The Laughing policeman is one of the few Scandinavian policiers I've enjoyed and, you're correct, most of the series are too bleak and a bit depressing.  A friend enjoys both the original Wallender t.v. series and the newer British version but I can't take either for long.
Linda doesn't enjoy Bryant and May and can't understand my fixation with them but I adore the stories and, as with Montalbano, I've read some more than once.
I'm about to start  My Friend Mr. Campion and Other Stories, by Margery Allingham and looking forward to it.

[JVJ]

I'm gibbering, too, Paw. Pay no attention.

Was The Laughing Policeman made into a TV/BBC series a couple of decades ago? I have a vague memory of some series with a man who's face was wrapped in bandages and something about policemen. Getting old and gibbering (again).

If I haven't mentioned her recently, I highly recommend the novels of Minette Walters. Thrillers, perhaps a little bleak, but extremely well-written and potent. Start with "The Ice House" and then decide whether to go on.

I neglected to mention it in my last summation,  but add "V is for Vengeance" on to my 'read' stack. Anybody else here read it? If so, what did you think of this one (#22 in the series).

(|:{>

[paw broon]

JVJ, while I don't remember this show, it must be the one you mentioned.  Took me a while to track it down but it is the same storyline as the book of the same name.  Well done us!
http://www.thetvlounge.co.uk/sweeney/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5826

[JVJ]

I must have the name wrong, paw.
The show I remember was more in the 80s, was a BBC production and very psychological and hard to follow. I'll ask Karen (my external memory) and see if she remembers what it was called.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

Thanks for trying.

[JVJ]

JVJ, while I don't remember this show, it must be the one you mentioned.  Took me a while to track it down but it is the same storyline as the book of the same name.  Well done us!
http://www.thetvlounge.co.uk/sweeney/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5826

Just to show you how terrible is my memory, paw,
What I was trying to recall was "The Singing Detective" from 1986. It was a British (min)series, so you must remember it. Bhob Stewart says:

Reworking material from his first novel, "Hide and Seek" (1973), and folding this into a prismatic blend of autobiographical details, popular music and 1940s film noir, Dennis Potter delivered a drama now regarded as a 20th-century masterwork. Detective novelist Philip Marlow (Michael Gambon) suffers from the crippling disease of psoriatic arthropathy. Confined to a hospital bed, Marlow mentally rewrites his early Chandleresque thriller, "The Singing Detective," with himself in the title role, drifting into a surreal 1945 fantasy of spies and criminals, along with vivid memories of a childhood in the Forest of Dean. As past events and 1940s songs surface in his subconscious, Marlow's voyage of self-discovery provides a key to conquering his illness, while his noir-styled hallucinations evoke the Philip Marlowe of Chandler's "Murder, My Sweet" (1944)... Written by Bhob Stewart <bhob2@aol.com>   

Sorry for the confusion.

(|:{>

[josemas]

Just to show you how terrible is my memory, paw,
What I was trying to recall was "The Singing Detective" from 1986. It was a British (min)series, so you must remember it.

\

The Singing Detective was one of the best shows to run on television in the 1980s.  Brilliant stuff!  It's out of DVD now and I'd love to have a rewatch.  There was also an American remake a few years ago which I have not seen (but can't imagine it being anywhere near as good as the original).
The writer of the mini-series, Dennis Potter, also wrote Pennies From Heaven which was another brilliant late 1970s mini-series (it also had a so-so American theatrical movie remake). 

Best

Joe

[josemas]

I'm gibbering, too, Paw. Pay no attention.

Was The Laughing Policeman made into a TV/BBC series a couple of decades ago? I have a vague memory of some series with a man who's face was wrapped in bandages and something about policemen. Getting old and gibbering (again).

If I haven't mentioned her recently, I highly recommend the novels of Minette Walters. Thrillers, perhaps a little bleak, but extremely well-written and potent. Start with "The Ice House" and then decide whether to go on.

I neglected to mention it in my last summation,  but add "V is for Vengeance" on to my 'read' stack. Anybody else here read it? If so, what did you think of this one (#22 in the series).

(|:{>

The Laughing Policeman was an early-mid 1970s crime thriller movie with Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern which I remember as being pretty good.  It was based on a book by a couple of Swedish authors, whose names escape me.  IIRC it was part of series featuring the same characters although I only ever saw (and read) The Laughing Policeman which I had as a movie tie-in paperback.

Is V is for Vengeance the title of the new Sue Grafton book?  I've read all of her books and know that the last one was a "U" book so know that "V" is due.

I'm not familiar with Minette Walters but will check to see if the library has copies of her books.

Best

Joe       

[josemas]

Mornings on Horseback- by David McCullough  While waiting for the holds on McCullough's new book about Americans in Paris to drop down I sampled this older book of his.  It's is a look at the formative years of Teddy Roosevelt (as well as a good look at his siblings and parents).  Eminently readable (as are all of McCullough's books).

1493: Uncovering The New World Columbus Created- by Charles C. Mann  Excellent follow-up to his 1491 (about the America's before Columbus) Mann expands his scope showing how Columbus' discovery of the Americas initiated a globalization that was totally unexpected in so many ways and which is still going on.  Highly recommended!

Sexton Blake and then Time-Killer- by Gwyn Evans  Paw's mentioning of Sexton Blake a few weeks back sent me looking for works of his at the library.  Well guess what?!?  As popular as he was in Britain he never made much of an impression here in America so they had zip!
Fortunately I found this Sexton Blake site-

http://www.sextonblake.co.uk/airwaves.html   

                     - which had an audio book of this 1924 Blake story so I gave it a listen.  Quality is a little iffy but it's listenable. Despite what it says about this being an old radio show at the site they're wrong- it's actually an "audiobooks for free" recording that was done within the last decade.
Anyway this audiobook was a bit of a hoot (and not just from the British reader's attempts at an American accent) but at how busy Blake is in the little tome where he solves the mystery of a phantom hound, a stolen microbe, a missing M. P. and also takes on the Mafia!  Pretty busy guy!   Oh, by the way, like a certain better known private detective, he also lives on Baker Street!
If you want to see just how popular Sexton Blake was  check out these sites for a list of his stories. 

http://www.sextonblake.co.uk/blakebibliography.html

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/blake.html

You could literally spend your whole life reading nothing but Sexton Blake.  I'm hard-pressed to think of an American character (maybe Nick Carter?) who has had so many stories written about him.

And finally here's a favorite author of Jim's (Patrick Rothfuss) going on a bit about Blake at his blog-

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2010/04/the-adventures-of-sexton-blake/

Best

Joe

     

[JVJ]

Is V is for Vengeance the title of the new Sue Grafton book?  I've read all of her books and know that the last one was a "U" book so know that "V" is due.

I'm not familiar with Minette Walters but will check to see if the library has copies of her books.

Best

Joe       

Yes, it's the Sue Grafton book. I read it and then gave it to Karen to read. A third of the way through, she asked "Do YOU know who wrote the Sue Grafton book?" Neither of us believe that Ms. Grafton soloed on this one. The writing style is more complex in the composition and in the execution. It's one of her better books in many years, but it ain't her alone.

In many ways, a series like this is similar to a long, thick book: she's getting close to the end (ONLY four books to go) and she really needs to wrap up an awful lot of subplots, emotional entanglements, and family issues for Kinsey. A 26 issue series demands a BIG payoff. At least, IMHO, she's bringing in some hired guns to make sure that the stage gets through and that she delivers the goods. Time (5 years) will tell. The first book was published in 1982. so she's been averaging about one book every 16 months. We keep buying them...

Finished The Boy in the Suitcase - okay thriller, filled with improbable characters only adequately realized. Making the characters with mental problems seem to act irrationally without making them act improbably is a real challenge. These two Danish ladies who wrote this, IMHO, didn't do it. Okay read, but nothing special.

Cleopatra is proving mixed as well. I'm learning a lot of Roman/Egyptian history of the last 50 years before Christ. There isn't a great amount of unbiased written record about her. Most of it comes from Roman historians who tend to paint her as a scheming seductress who destroyed two of their greatest leaders. This fleshes her our as a person and as a ruler, but the writing remains dry and somehow unengaging. Maybe the last part of the book will have a bit more energy.

Have a great stack to read and I bought Karen a Nook, so there'll be those to read as well. I'm set for the holidays. Maybe I'll get a Sexton Blake for the nook - if she'll let me borrow it now and then. And I really should put Minette Walters on my re-read list. I have fond recollections.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

I got bored with SILENT PLANET while they were on the ship. Too much detail about too little. It got got good again but I do find that Lewis gives more details about surroundings than I am interested in so I read over it. I am also enjoying Brass Verdict the second Lincoln Lawyer book. Two different books depending on what I am reading on. Silent Planet on my phone and Verdict on my laptop. We are leaving for a week on the beach. Not to swim but just to chill with the sound of the ocean. I hope to get a lot of reading done. We have at least one night planned to see skating and we may go to another show but not ordering in advance. I like that you do not even have to use will call anymore we just printed the skating tickets.

[josemas]

I got to the library yesterday and picked up Crais' Lullaby Town (already started it), Connelly's The Poet , Walter's The Ice House, The Laughing Policeman (still can't remember the author's names) and an Ellis Peters Cadfael mystery (the title escapes me at the moment) and added them to the "to be read" stack.  They have copies of V is for Vengeance but there are over two hundred holds on it so it will some time before I get my hands on that one.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

I have not read any of the other Grafton books so would not attempt to get into such a long story.

[josemas]

I have not read any of the other Grafton books so would not attempt to get into such a long story.

They're all individual mysteries Narf.  A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc...   The main character is PI Kinsey Milhone.  There are a number of other recurring characters and some underlying subplots going on and while the books work best if read in order each is a story onto itself.
One interesting thing about them is that while the series started in 1982 when the first one was published the events in the series have only taken the storyline into the later 1980s thus far.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

I read a lot of the Kinsey Milhone stories but ended up overdosing - too many, too quickly.  Perhaps time to dive back in.  They were very entertaining.
Another Sexton Blake story here:-
http://www.friardale.co.uk/Union%20Jack/Union%20Jack.htm
Scroll down to "Nelson Lee in Union Jack"  It's a team up.

[JVJ]

Yeah, paw,
she's best taken in yearly doses. I can't imagine rereading her all at once, thou I did do that with Rex Stout the year I retired. I re-read him, Hillerman, Dunning and Chandler in one massive mental "divorce" from responsibility.

(|:{>