What BOOK are you reading right now?

No doubt you're right. What amazes me is the fact that even with all the books under his belt, Lee Child remained in relative obscurity. But lately someone in the PR business discovered him, and he's suddenly ubiquitous.

Have you seen the new (2012) book Jack Reacher's Rules? I haven't read it myself. Saw a copy in our library, but it holds little appeal for me.

This is from an Amazon blurb:

"Jack Reacher’s Rules is the ultimate fan’s guide to the World of Reacher! Featuring selections from all seventeen electrifying Jack Reacher novels and
an introduction from Lee Child himself, this one-of-a-kind book compiles timeless advice from maverick former army cop Jack Reacher, the hero of Lee Child’s blockbuster thrillers and now the star of a major motion picture."

My name is Jack Reacher.
No middle name, no address.
I’ve got a rule: People mess with me at their own risk.

"You don’t have to break the rules if you make the rules."

Rule 1. When in doubt, drink coffee.
Rule 2. Never volunteer for anything.
Rule 3. Don’t break the furniture.
Rule 4. Only one woman at a time.
Rule 5. Show them what they’re messing with.

"Please note: Jack Reacher’s Rules is a compilation of advice, wisdom, and facts from the Jack Reacher series of novels by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child. It features an introduction by Lee Child, but is not a Jack Reacher novel."

I have a Conspiracy of Paper, but haven't read it yet.

Have you read the The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters?" by Gordon Dahlquist?

Highly recommended.

No, I haven't. I'll check it out? Thanks!

I've read two and a half pages of a novel by an Edgar winning author that I thought I'd recognized from a previous read - but no, I mis-recognized, or I think I did.

The Likeness, by Tana French.
Cuddling up with my book, I read the prologue. And glanced at the blurbs on the back cover (something about beautiful writing). Uh oh.
It looks from the start of the book post prologue that it won't all be self consciously beautiful. I'll hang in for a while. Maybe a perfect antidote to Le Carre.

Part of my love of reading is liking the sounds of the words, the tenor of the word choices, and so on, the pictures in my mind - but I don't cotton much to word show offs as such.. We'll see.

Oh, on Reacher, I've read a few. Roll eyes at the protagonist, but I don't remember completely hating the books.

I tried to read Tana French's book, Faithful Place (?), and couldn't stand how stupid the lead character was, a police detective and utter idiot. I gave up after 100 pages or so. The writing wasn't that great either. Wasn't bad but it wasn't beautiful either.

Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb, I forget who it's by, but she's written a lot of them. Little boys of a certain age love them, and we picked up a load second hand. That's bedtime reading sorted for the next few weeks.

HORRID HENRY IS AT IT AGAIN!
Reader reviewed by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, The Original H.I.R. (Historical Investigative Reporter)

In Horrid Henrys StinkBomb, by Francesca Simon, Horrid Henry dishes up enough trouble to keep readers laughing for days.

First, Henry tries to win a school book-reading contest without actually reading any books. He concocts a fake list of books and tries to convince his teacher that he has been reading up a storm. His list includes ridiculous titles like, A Boy and His Pig; A Pig and His Boy; A Boyish Pig, and A Piggish Boy.

Next, Henry uses some stinky concoctions from his Stinky StinkBomb Kit to bomb Moody Margarets secret club house. In no time, Henry has her club house smelling like dog poo, rotten eggs, dead fish and sewer stench. YUCK!

At school, Henry borrows some supplies from the other students finished art projects while they are out playing. When they return, Henry tries to look innocent, even though their projects have collapsed all over the place.

Later, Henry goes to a sleepover at a new boys house. Of course, only a new boy would invite Henry to his house; the other children know him too well to let him come to their houses. But Henry doesnt care; he plans to make noises, raid the refrigerator, jump on the beds and cause all sorts of trouble at the new boys house. The problem is, his hosts are even rowdier than Henry is, so Henry ends up pleading with his parents to take him home so he can get a good nights sleep.

Horrid Henry books are always full of fun, and this one is no exception. From Henrys funny antics to artist Tony Ross hilarious drawings, this book will have you laughing out loud and wanting to read more.

I read another bunch of pages, was almost engaged, and then came the untenable storyline. I was about to slam it down but kept reading, and the storyline made a tad more sense than it did at first, which was not at all, but I think this one is going right back to the Goodwill. In the mean time, the encomiums on the first bunch of pages are way up there.

I'm probably going back to where I left of in Herodotus.

Just finished "The Man who loved Dogs", by Leonardo Padura.

A novel about 3 men who loved dogs. Leon Trotsky; Ramón Mercader, his assasin, and Iván Cárdenas a frustrated writer in Cuba.

It is a novel about shattered dreams, cynicism and hatred. It is a novel about gullibility, History stepping over individuals and fear. It is, mostly, a novel about sympathy. You end up feeling sorry for everyone.

Besides all that, it is, to my knowledge, the first anti-communist novel written by a Cuban who stills lives in Cuba.

Should I add that I found it compelling and read the 700 + pages in less than 3 days?

Sounds good. Thanx for the heads-up.

That's the one Bill. When I've finished it I'll le you know what the next one is. Four short stories a book, a story a night.

inspiration

I am enjoying this much more than I'd expected. I missed my streetcar stop this morning

I mostly can't look at youtube, so it is lost on me. (has to do with a mac that can't be upgraded).

I don't quite hate this book except that it is very annoying and even if I suspend belief it doesn't work.

I'll probably read until I figure out what I think.

I've always enjoyed P.G. Wodehouse (at least since I learned to read) and the world he described, though it's doubtful such a world actually existed, whichever side of the Atlantic he chose for the given setting. But as a stylist and plot producer he was in a class of his own. And I like to think that I think as he thunk, though I have serious misgivings about that. It's somewhat easier to like what he liked.

This is all a rather roundabout way of saying that I immensely enjoy the Nero Wolfe tales of Rex Stout. ( So did Wodehouse, very much.) I've read the majority of the 70-some books in the Wolfe opus, most of them several times, and I can't think of one that I didn't enjoy reading and re-reading and re-re-reading.

The fans of Rex Stout and his hero are legion; they have their own website, the Wolfpack, which is packed solid with Wolfe and with Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's general dogsbody, chief critic, and, though Archie seldom owns up to it, his principal admirer.

I'll only add that, in actual fact, despite his great intellect Wolfe is not the real hero of these books. That honor goes to Archie. Those who have read any of the Nero Wolfe books will know the verity of what I've stated.

Sounds very interesting

I read many cheapo books with yellow covers and I am now sorry I didn't just write them down - snort, they were throw aways.

Yellow wraps. Pretty good writing. Probably something going on with a publisher.

I bought these at a place in Santa Monica, fairly questionable. If you wanted to go to the questionable rest room, you needed to pass all the porn.

But those throw away books were good.

Asso, osso. I stopped reading books with yellow covers when they came out with the "for Dummies" series. You know, stuff like "Field Stripping Cigarettes for Dummies", "Chicken Soup for Soulful Dummies", "How to Win Friends and Influence Dummies", etc., etc., ad infinitum. Not to be left in the shade, the Idiots brought out their Guide books, though surreptitiously with orange covers. I likewise eschew them.

All citrus colored books should fuel the next bonfire of the vanities. Habeas corpora. Non si deve sopravvivere.

With one exception, Cliff's Notes are pretty good yellow books for saving time; they generally cut to the chase, eliminating all the claptrap and bull hockey. You can read War and Peace in about 45 minutes, avoiding the 250 or more unpronounceable names of superfluous characters.

Wrong, these were short thrillers in the forties (I think). Good writers, though I don't know how they worked that as I take it they obscured writer names. I paid 50 cents each for them and am sorry I didn't collect them.