So let’s all go ….down to Dumas Walker!
Ok so when I looked back at the actual dates in my Book Journal, I see that the first book listed IS actually Motor City Blue by Loren Estleman. The book was first released in 1980, and by that time Estleman was already up to book 6, but I went back and started at the beginning. It appears, I was underwhelmed!
Since 1987 I have kept track of the books that I read. From 1987 through 2004 I kept hand written notes about the books, name, title, date read and a little blurb about the book. Between 2004 and 2010, I kept track of the books at Goodreads.com. From 2010, I ‘ve kept my bookshelf at Goodreads and also posted at this site. Since this site is about the books I read and have read, I thought that I’d go back and start posting about the older books I’ve read. This will allow me to make more complete profiles of the various authors that I read. This post is the start of posts about older books.
S
o in keeping with the thought that one should write short I will give you my review of Gregg Hurwitz’s book Tell No Lies using the words of Anne Rice……“Simply Brilliant!”
So yes, as listed under Currently Reading on my webpage, I am still reading Subversives! I am now more than 65% of the way through the book, Reagan just became governor of California, so the battles rages more fiercely! But while reading that, I am still reading mysteries, and just finished Book 14 for 2014, Kings of Midnight from Wallace Stroby.
Through the years one of my favorite mystery series has been Parnell Hall's Stanley Hasting mysteries. Looking at my Goodreads bookshelf I see, that there are 18 books in the series. and I have read all but one of them!! (Note to self read Caper- damn I thought I did??) That is not the case with Hall's Puzzle Lady series, there are 15 books in that series, of which I have read 3.(1,8,&15) No. 15 is NYPD Puzzle and it is book 11 for 2014....
Some writers take many pages to hook you and reel you into the story. In the latest Joe Pickett novel, C.J. Box does it in the first paragraph of the book!! When Nate Romanowski pushes a drift boat in to the Bighorn River and sets sail down river toward the mansion of the man he is going to kill!! Now if this is the first book of the series, you may just like Box's descriptive prose, but if you've read a few of the books or in my case all but one of the fourteen books in the series, you said to yourself "Nate is going to murder someone!" Whoa, this is not going to end well! See Nate is the shadowy friend of Joe and his family, and always seems to arrive on the scene when Joe needs him the most, but he is also on the run from the Feds. Can this be why?? So starts Book 10 for 2014, Stone Cold from C J Box....
Oh Boy! I finally read a book quickly and increased this years book's read total all the way to eight!! (He says with a sarcastic sneer on his face and tone in his voice). The book was Cold Shot to the Heart and is book #1 in the Crissa Stone series from Long Branch, New Jersey native Wallace Stroby. They always say that you should write about what you know and what would a former writer for the Newark Star-Ledger know better mob related crime! (typed with Jon Stewart's mob voice ringing in my ears!)
Ok so I have visited the Ranker site before, but today and yesterday I spent some time on the site looking at various list that would pertain to this blog. The following list is one of them. I am in total agreement that Agatha Christie is the greatest mystery writer of all time, but many of the writers that I have read over the years are not even on the list!! and if they are they are well below where they would be on my personal list of the best mystery writers of all time. So I will break this post down into two posts, this is the first, duh! and in it I am presenting the Ranker listing and would ask for your thoughts or comments! The second list will be the Me, Myself and Mysteries list. But you will have to wait until after my 6 and 1/2 hour break! So for now the question is What Do You Think??? No James Lee Burke??
Next Read?
This year so far has been a slow year for reading. I have spent much more time over the last several months listening to music than reading. I think that I will make it a goal to read at least two books, that are part of a series that I read, per month for the rest of the year. Maybe one can be new one from a series that I am current with, and the other an older book in a series that I am trying t catch up on!
