What are you reading?

[Styles Bitchley]

Those look like great books, Conch!

Speaking of Florida, I scored some more Johnny Mac PBO's while making my used book store rounds recently. Murder for the Bride (1951, JDM's second book) is a first edition and really hard to find. $8. I have a friend who has been hunting JDM books at used book stores for 40 years and has never seen one on the shelf. Lucky beyond belief! The rest are early reprints, but are treasured additions to my collection.

Is MacDonald anything like Spillane? I've real all the Mike Hammer novels. Would love to delve into something similar.

[J.J. Walters]

Hey there, Styles! Good to see you again.

There are certainly some similarities between Spillane and MacDonald. They both wrote in the same time period (late 40's to the 80's), both wrote for the pulp magazines early in their careers, and both wrote predominantly crime and suspense stories. I would say that's where the similarities end. I havn't read a whole lot of Spillane, but from what I have read MacDonald is a much better writer and much more diverse in his writings. I'm not knocking Spillane. I like him a lot. A legend! But MacDonald is on a whole nother level (despite what his paperback original covers looked like). JDM has often been compared to John O'Hara and John P. Marquand. His writing is that good. MacDonald didn't write a lot of detective/P.I. stories (although the Travis McGee books are somewhat "P.I.-ish", but he's a "salvage consultant"... heh), but he wrote just about every other kind of genre: corporate business novels, morality novels, adultery novels, whodunit's, howdonit's, sports stories, westerns, environmental tales, disaster stories, non-fiction, even sci-fi. But his bread-n-butter is definitely crime/suspense/thrillers. Nobody did it better than JDM, IMHO. A master storyteller and craftsman.

If you are into ebooks, most of his novels have been released in ebook form. Since you are a Spillane fan I'd highly recommend the following:

Dead Low Tide (1953)
Cry Hard, Cry Fast (1955)
Murder in the Wind (1956)
Border Town Girl, for "Linda" (1956)
The Empty Trap (1957)
The Executioners, aka "Cape Fear" (1958)
Slam the Big Door (1960)
The End of the Night (1960)
One Monday We Killed Them All (1961)
...and any of the Travis McGee books (21 in all, from 1964 to 1985)

In addition to novels, he also published nearly 400 short stories in both pulps and slicks from the late 1940's to the 1980's.

[Styles Bitchley]

Hey there, Styles! Good to see you again.

There are certainly some similarities between Spillane and MacDonald. They both wrote in the same time period (late 40's to the 80's), both wrote for the pulp magazines early in their careers, and both wrote predominantly crime and suspense stories. I would say that's where the similarities end. I havn't read a whole lot of Spillane, but from what I have read MacDonald is a much better writer and much more diverse in his writings. I'm not knocking Spillane. I like him a lot. A legend! But MacDonald is on a whole nother level (despite what his paperback original covers looked like). JDM has often been compared to John O'Hara and John P. Marquand. His writing is that good. MacDonald didn't write a lot of detective/P.I. stories (although the Travis McGee books are somewhat "P.I.-ish", but he's a "salvage consultant"... heh), but he wrote just about every other kind of genre: corporate business novels, morality novels, adultery novels, whodunit's, howdonit's, sports stories, westerns, environmental tales, disaster stories, non-fiction, even sci-fi. But his bread-n-butter is definitely crime/suspense/thrillers. Nobody did it better than JDM, IMHO. A master storyteller and craftsman.

If you are into ebooks, most of his novels have been released in ebook form. Since you are a Spillane fan I'd highly recommend the following:

Dead Low Tide (1953)
Cry Hard, Cry Fast (1955)
Murder in the Wind (1956)
Border Town Girl, for "Linda" (1956)
The Empty Trap (1957)
The Executioners, aka "Cape Fear" (1958)
Slam the Big Door (1960)
The End of the Night (1960)
One Monday We Killed Them All (1961)
...and any of the Travis McGee books (21 in all, from 1964 to 1985)

In addition to novels, he also published nearly 400 short stories in both pulps and slicks from the late 1940's to the 1980's.

Thanks James! I'll delve into one of those asap.

[ConchRepublican]

Well, I finished Jim Harrison's Wolf: A False Memoir . . . Strange book.

Right now I'm strolling through Philip Greene's To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion before moving onto the next book.

The wonderful Mrs. Conch got me two books for Valentine's Day - Gracie: A Love Story and I Love Her, That's That's Why!: An Autobiography both by George Burns so one of them may slide ahead of the others on the list.

With new Nelson deMille and Randy Wayne White on the horizon, I have to get down to brass tacks!

[ConchRepublican]

Been a while since I last updated . . . been through a slew (for me at least) of books the last few months.

Finished up Gracie: A Love Story, which was cute. It took a little while to get used to George Burns' style, he writes a book almost like a vaudeville act . . . some things felt like he was trying too hard to be funny. His character also took a little hit in my book . . . maybe it's just me, but I don't think he came across the best. Then again, since he's writing it, maybe that's not totally a bad thing

Stephen King's Revival was next up followed by the book of shorts, Everything's Eventual. I enjoyed both. In Revival King got me once again. He writes in such an engaging and descriptive way that you get sucked into the story and the characters, you almost forget that it's a King book then, BLAM, there it is.

Soooo . . . after those rides it was over to Nelson deMille's latest, Radiant Angel. The story I thought was very interesting, scary and something I have feared for 14 years. It's also something that I think is inevitable. The book itself felt a little rushed to me, not up to his usual standards, especially for a John Corey book, but it was good nonetheless.

After that was a trip to South Florida and the Caribbean with Randy Wayne White for his latest Doc Ford adventure Cuba Straits. Another entertaining, back on track, chapter in the Doc Ford/Tomlinson story. There were a couple of recent entries that weren't up to speed, perhaps because RRW was busy building his restaurant empire and a little distracted. If so, it was for good reason, the Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill (http://www.docfordssanibel.com/) I visited on Sanibel this past December was very good, both food and drinks. Not a writers vanity or cash-in place, I really liked it. There are locations in Ft. Myers and on Captiva as well if anyone happens to down that way.

Now I'm between new releases and rereading an earlier RRW Doc Ford book, The Heat Islands. I like to revisit old friends.

[ConchRepublican]

Now I'm between new releases and rereading an earlier RRW Doc Ford book, The Heat Islands. I like to revisit old friends.

The Heat Islands are behind me, onto Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

[BWheelz54]

I so hope you enjoy, Hyperion, Conch. The Hyperion books sit with the Dune books as my favorite works of science fiction, and they were the books that introduced me to Dan Simmons.

[ConchRepublican]

I so hope you enjoy, Hyperion, Conch. The Hyperion books sit with the Dune books as my favorite works of science fiction, and they were the books that introduced me to Dan Simmons.

Thanks! I haven't read pure sci-fi in a while, Ender's Game a couple of years ago was probably the last one but I've heard great things about this book.

I enjoy Dan Simmons writing. I got introduced to him with Darwin's Blade and for years was confused in the bookstores (what are they? ) because that book was more of a mystery/thriller novel but I kept seeing a Dan Simmons in horror and Sci-Fi . . . little did I know the genre jumper he is.

I have now read Crook Factory, Summer of Night and A Winter Haunting as well. I figure it's time to find out about Hyperion. I only usually read in 15 minute snippets on the train, so I hope that works with the book.

[J.J. Walters]

The last few books I've read. Oldies but goodies. Look Homeward is a 1957 reprint, Catch-22 is a 1961 reprint, Under the Volcano is a 1964 reprint, and The Executioners is a book club edition. 1st editions for these are just a little out of my price range. Under the Volcano is an absolute masterpiece!

[ConchRepublican]

You'll dig the Hyperion Cantos, Conch. Love me some Dan Simmons, especially his historical fiction.

The last few books I've read. Oldies but goodies. Look Homeward is a 1957 reprint, Catch-22 is a 1961 reprint, Under the Volcano is a 1964 reprint, and The Executioners is a book club edition. 1st editions for these are just a little out of my price range. Under the Volcano is an absolute masterpiece!

Hey JJ, are you getting all literary high-brow on us now?

[J.J. Walters]

Hey now, there's some non-highbrow stuff there; You Kill Me and Soft Touch are definitely not highbrow (nor low-brow). Plus, I just finished Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280, which is way removed from intellectual haughtiness. I like all forms of literature. Well, almost all anyway.

[ConchRepublican]

Hey now, there's some non-highbrow stuff there; You Kill Me and Soft Touch are definitely not highbrow (nor low-brow). Plus, I just finished Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280, which is way removed from intellectual haughtiness. I like all forms of literature. Well, almost all anyway.

You inspired me J.J.!

First of all, Hyperion was quite good but I didn't realize it wasn't a stand alone novel initially so . . . next up on the reading list is:

The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons


Due to Simmons' writing I also felt the need to have this on the shelf for perusal.

John Keats - The Complete Poems


Next up, stepping away from Simmons' sci-fi should be
Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank


Rounding out the Amazon "free shipping" cart is:
Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle


Once these guys are done I may swing back around to some Travis McGee. I'm thinking I'll need the Florida warmth come Fall.

[Danno]

Hi guys,

Long time no post for me! Hope you're all well!

I've just read the 1980s nostalgia filled, sci-fi novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's a lot of fun.
I'm about to read his second novel Armada..

[BWheelz54]

Hey Danno

A thumbs up from me too on Ready Player One. What a fun nostalgia trip. Post what you think of Armada!

[J.J. Walters]

Cool. I've been looking for a first edition copy of Ready Player One for quite a while. I've never seen a copy on my book hunting expeditions (except for new Stephen King, I don't buy books online or special order them). It's a hot book for sure. Lots of people talking about it. And the first edition is quite collectable now.

Glad you're enjoying the Cantos, Conch! After The Fall it's on to Endymion!

I'm currently reading Joe R. Lansdale's Mucho Mojo (1994), featuring best friends Hap Collins (a white working class laborer) and Leonard Pine (a gay, black Vietnam vet), the lovable crime fighting duo from LaBorde East Texas! Can't get enough of these two, or Lansdale. Great gritty stuff!