I finished Burglars Can’t be Choosersby Lawrence Block yesterday, the first in his “gentleman burglar” series about Bernie Rhodenbarr. It was written in the late 70s but was enjoyable and the main motivation for the set up would hardly blink an eye now, it was still readable and the characters likeable.
Unfortunately, I may not be able to say the same for Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman. I hate this narrative, it’s all tell and ponderings and no action or any semblance of showing. I loved the movie but I fear I will hate the book.
:eek: Well, dang! I have no idea where I got this incorrect factoid. I’ve been telling folks for years that it was rated G, and mocking the ratings system for that!
Both The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man have a narrative framework that make them like novels (particularly the first book), but they really are short-story collections. Both highly recommended, in any event.
I’m enjoying Robert Parker’s second Spenser novel, God Save the Child (1974). The Boston private eye is hired by a small-town Massachusetts couple with a troubled marriage to find their missing teenage son. It looks like a kidnapping, but Spenser - whose wit and irreverence are very funny - isn’t convinced.
I’m currently midway through When I Am Through With You, a YA novel about teenagers on a hiking trip, and a bad thing happening to them. It’s okay. I don’t much like any of the characters, but I do want to know what happens next.
Continuing my nascent suspense kick, I finished Watch the Wall, My Darling, by Jane Aiken Hodge last night. It was okay. The protagonist was pretty good, but the love interest was icky.
Okay, I gave up on “Call Me by Your Name”. The movie was fabulous but the book was one long wank session of “See this? See how clever I am? Ohhh, I’m so deep!” from the author. That and the introspection narrative meant very little dialogue becausethe author told you everything that happened. Anyway, my full snark filled review is up at Goodreads
Finished it and liked it. The descriptions of Seventies decor and clothes haven’t dated well, but the plot was interesting and Spenser’s smart-assed approach to detective work carries you along nicely.
Just began David Sedaris’s multiyear collection of diary excerpts, Theft By Finding, which is quirky but enjoyable so far. His introduction is almost worth the price of admission. Of course I’m listening to it as an audiobook, because I’ve always thought his delivery is half the fun.
I just finished Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and was prepared to be unenthusiastic. With the word "lovely"in the title, gotta be a chick lit book, right? No self-respecting dude would be caught dead reading such a thing. Well, the ghosts of John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and Steve McQueen are welcome to pay me a visit and tear up my “GUY” card, because I really enjoyed it. So there.
(Scratches his crotch, burps and opens a can of beer)
Finished the latest Spenser novel, officially titled Robert B. Parker’s Little White Lies, by Ace Atkins. Meh. He’s written some pretty good Spenser books, actually, but this wasn’t one.
Just started Medical Catastrophe: Confessions of an Anesthesiologist, by Ronald W. Dworkin. It’s his memoir.
Yeah, it’s Jeff, and it is a good book. I have always preferred reading about the Revolutionary War over the Civil War. His previous book, Rise to Rebellion, was good, too.
On Friday night I finished The Extraditionist. I’ll definitely read the next Benn Bluestone book eventually, but not immediately: I decided to start Laura Marshall’s Friend Request (thanks to Dung Beetle!). I breezed through the free Kindle sample; the decision to pay $2.99 for the rest of the book was a no-brainer. I’m still in the early chapters, but so far so good!
I finished reading The Ordeal of Richard Feverel by George Meredith. An aristocratic single dad develops a scientific System for the moral education of his teenage son, but his son ends up making some bad decisions anyway. I liked the writing and the sympathetic characters and the mildly ironic tone. The ending was several shades darker than I expected, but I suppose it wasn’t out of place.
I liked it better than Meredith’s The Egoist which I found kind of plodding.
I’ve abandoned Magicians Impossible, Brad Abraham’s first novel. I’m trying to get better about using GoodReads, and this book inspired me to write a longer than usual review.
