I really like these books, but yes, most of the plots do follow essentially this outline. He’s not always framed for murder—sometimes it’s a matter of simply being in the wrong place when the murder takes place (like, under the victim’s bed)—but yeah, same basic idea. And the “I haven’t told you everything” deal is a sort of homage to the Golden Age (so to speak) of detective stories where it was common to end with the detective addressing everyone and fingering the murderer. I can see why you might find it tiresome.
But I have read and enjoyed them all, because
1–Bernie is a very likeable guy despite his issues
2–it’s fun to see how he gets out of difficult situations
3–there is a very nice “all the characters get what they deserve” thing going on at the end of most of the novels (and in a world like the one we live in I’ll take it)
4–Block is such a wonderful writer.
They’re definitely frothier than the Matt Scudder series or the Keller books, but I enjoy the burglar almost as much.
Plus which, Block does not see fit to title any of these books The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of Bernie Rhodenbarr the Bookseller and Burglar of Manhattan (Which He Always Meant to Publish on Every Account).
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
On another note, I did finish the CJ Box novel Cold Wind that I started a while back. The parts dealing with Joe-the-game-warden were okay. The parts dealing with Nate-the-amazingly-tough-guy were fairly dull and pointless to the plot. I’m sure there’s a larger “story arc” that the author was developing over a period of several novels, and I suspect that what was going on with Nate would be more understandable in that context, but it didn’t make sense or belong within the context of what was actually happening in this book.
Plus which, I don’t really like reading about fictional characters who are indestructible.
I finished reading Tales of Old Japan, a book written in 1871 by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Lord Redesdale, the British diplomat and grandfather of the famous Mitford sisters.
It’s a collection of Japanese legends (such at the story of the 47 ronin), folk tales and general observations on Japanese culture. Some of the stories were fairly interesting, although there was a certain prurient focus on the details of prostitution and seppuku in Japan. I admit that I only skimmed the section on Japanese sermons.
I just finished A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles (he of the *Rules Of Civility *fame).
The book is very engrossing with interestingly woven character details, the beginning setting of a Tsarist Count shortly after the Bolshevik revolution, life under house arrest in a fancy hotel and a lot of other subplots and charming narrative.
I really enjoyed this book, and I think everyone else will here too.
I also am slogging valiantly through James Corey’s (a pen name for two other authors) most recent entry in the Expanse series, which is excellent, EXCELLENT space opera called Nemesis Games.
This style of sci fi is my favorite, and Peter F Hamilton is probably my favorite space opera author, followed closely by these two guys. All these books in the series (there’s seven now, I read 6 and 7 out of order) are wonderfully played out, with sci fi tech that’s not overly verbose on the technical details nor is it some unbelievable amount of sci fi tech that’s over the top, and no deus ex machina BS. The characters are engaging, the details of the spacecraft are really cool, as are the space stations and colonized worlds that make up this book’s galaxy. Highly recommended.
Finally I am reading Kim S Robinson’s Red Mars, the first book in the Mars trilogy. Man that guy is an excellent and thoughtful sci fi author. I have now read many of Robinson’s books, a few of which are uneven due to a kinda preachy environmentalist streak, but Red Mars is just brilliant. Review: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
Next up: Kim S Robinson’s Green Mars, the next novel in the trilogy.
Just finished On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder. A short book with information that everyone should have.
Now reading An Indigenous People’s History of The United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, which claims to be “the first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples”. Too early to comment yet.
A few nights ago I finished Mercy Dogs. Another solid novel from Tyler Dilts. Dude is now firmly on my “let me know when he releases new stuff” list.
I had some trouble picking what to read next. I perused my Kindle’s downloaded free samples (I have 25 or so), and eventually settled on music critic Steven Hyden’s Your Favorite Band is Killing Me. I feel like someone here might have mentioned/recommended it, a long time ago. I’m a music fan, and the description sounded promising: “Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually–what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us?” But by the end of the sample I found that I wasn’t interested enough to pay $12 to keep reading. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t grab me.
Ultimately, I decided to finally start Joe Hill’s 6-month-old collection of short stories, Strange Weather. I’ve read everything else Hill has published so far (I think!), and I really like his style. And yes, I’m a fan of his dad, too. This time I had no trouble paying for the book when I got to the end of the free sample, and last night I finished the first story. Good stuff.
I finished In the Wood by Tana French FINALLY. God, I thought it was never going to end. The pretentious writing and navel gazing drove me up a wall. And I have either read waaaaaaaaaaaaay to much Jonathon Kellerman or am something of a psychopath myself but I spent 3/4 of the book screaming at the characters to pull their heads out of their asses and go after XYZ.
On a happier note, I started Stormhaven by Jordan L. Hawk. This looks to be an emotional read… oh dear.
I just finished The Ruined House by Ruby Namdar. Namdar is an Israeli living in New York, and the book was written in Hebrew–I read the English translation. It’s a literary novel about a secular Jewish academic at NYU going through a midlife crisis. Familiar territory, yes, but it veers off into mystical, magic-realism territory, some of it agonizingly disturbing.
I’m now starting on Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, which is starting off pretty light, with echoes of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
Tomorrow, I get two books I preordered, Futureface by Alex Wagner, and Noir by Christoper Moore. The former is about Wagner’s research into her family history–her father is from a small, very European/White town in Iowa, and her mother’s family is from Burma–and it’s relation to the history and future of the US. The latter looks to be Moore’s take on the hard-boiled detective genre. His stuff usually provides me with much amusement, so I’m looking forward to it.
I was sorry that the count and his daughter were separated, perhaps forever, and I couldn’t quite buy that he’d be able to remain incognito even in the rural USSR of the Fifties for long. The KGB sooner or later would figure out who he was and arrest him, I’m afraid.
Finished Dictator, by Robert Harris. The final installment in his Cicero trilogy details the Roman statesman’s final 15 years, the rise and assassination of Julius Caesar the centerpiece. (According to this book, Caesar says, “Even you?” to someone named Decimus rather than to Brutus like we’ve been taught. Told from the point of view of Cicero’s real-life slave-cum-assistant (he manumitted him) Tiro, whom I understand to have invented the first system of shorthand. Very good. I was worried I would not have remembered much of the previous books, they came out so long ago, but the book stands on its own pretty well.
Have already started Robert Harris’ Conclave, about the election of a new pope.
I finished Educated by Tara Westover, a memoir about her childhood in a fundamentalist Mormon family that eschewed modern medicine and education. There are a lot of harrowing accounts of horrific accidents that the family treats with home remedies and prayer. I could have done without the gruesome descriptions, to be honest. Westover eventually decided to go to college and ultimately earned a Ph.D at Cambridge. Her memoir is interesting but oddly lacking in insight. Why did she and a couple of her brothers pursue formal education while the rest of the siblings did not? Why do her parents refuse to accept that one of their sons is cruel and violent, even though they witness his behavior themselves? Westover doesn’t adequately address these things. Also, I really dislike memoirs that seem designed to prove how brilliant the writer is. Westover is obviously very bright but she should have allowed her accomplishments to speak for themselves. There was no need to reproduce dialogues with her professors extravagantly praising her work.
I just finished Charlotte by David Foenkinos, a novel based on the life of the artist Charlotte Salomon. I have recently become slightly obsessed with Salomon, a truly gifted and innovative artist who was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of 26. She was five months pregnant at the time of her death. The novel is O.K., written in an odd style with each short sentence beginning a new line, rather than arranged as conventional paragraphs. Some of the most interesting passages of the book are about Foenkinos’ own journeys to various places Salomon lived. I sort of wish he had written an essay about that rather than trying to transform her into a fictional character.
Finished The Cartoon History of the Universe, Volumes 1-7: From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great, by Larry Gonick, and* Pyramids*, by Terry Pratchett. Enjoyed them both a lot.
Now I’m reading Hello, Universe, by Erin Entrada Kelly.
I read Five Children on the Western Front, which is a sequel to Five Children and It, if you can call it that. It takes the same characters and setting, but places them in the time period World War I, and it’s also written by a different author. It was charming but also grappled with some serious issues, and I adored the book.
Other book I read was The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, which – ehh, wouldn’t really recommend it. I thought there were too many different characters and storylines going on for me to settle in and properly enjoy it.
I finished Unmasked by the Marquess Cat Sebastian’s gasp first straight romance. More or less straight as the female character is nonbinary and passing herself off as a male in Regency England. It was a good read, my only complaint is I LOATHE the “you will grow to hate me so it’s better that we break up” trope. It just makes me grind my teeth but thankfully there was a lot of other stuff going on so no one got much chance to wallow in their misery.
This time I had no trouble paying for the book when I got to the end of the free sample, and last night I finished the first story. Good stuff.