I DNFed The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. I know it’s a classic in LGBT lit, and was pretty radical for it’s time, but Lord have mercy it’s also BORING as watching paint dry. The characters are colorless and passive, the narrative is passive and I just can’t get interested in either woman. I’m ready to marathon KJ Charles’ books once more just to have plot, bright, interesting characters and exciting action.
I just finished The Pot Thief Who Studied Edward Abbey, by J. Michael Orenduff. It’s the latest in the occasionally amusing Pot Thief murder mystery series (I have to admit that 50% of my enjoyment in reading these is the story; the other 50% is making fun of the author’s many self indulgences).
If someone else here has read this book, I hope you can answer a question: What the hell was the murderer’s motive? It appears to me that the author got so preoccupied with faking readers out over who the murderer was that he forgot to come up with a reason why he committed the crime.
Or maybe I’m just not as good at speed reading as I thought.
I finished The Ripper of Storyville by Ed Hoch. It’s a collection of mystery shorts feature his gun fighter Ben Snow, who is often mistaken for Billy the Kid. The stories were well crafted and didn’t stretch my disbelief like some of his earlier work.
Finished Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells. The second volume of her “Murderbot” series, and it’s just as good as the excellent first one.
Started* Stick a Fork in Me*, by Dan Jenkins.
I’m reading Bruce Catton’s Terrible Swift Sword, the second volume of his Civil War centennial trilogy. Before that, I read The Coming Fury, the first volume, and Liddle-Hart’s history of WW2.
I’m also working my way through the old “Tomb of Dracula” comic book. It’s a pretty good series, especially when Marv Wolfman gets into his groove. Gene Colan’s artwork is wonderful.
Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti series was my next read, or at least the last two (Homecoming and The Night Masquerade). Not my favorite stuff by her.
Okorafor has amazing ideas and does great set pieces and brings to life an Afrocentric fantasy milieu that few other writers have touched, and fewer still have done so much with. But her prose is often clunky, and character motives hard to follow or just implausible. The Binti series showed off her flaws more than her virtues, IMO.
Next, 84K, Claire North’s latest. I’ve really enjoyed everything else I’ve read by her and am looking forward to this one. And I have some frothylookin superhero nonsense by Steven Brust in the wings. Yay summer reading!
Salinger - A book of critical essays about J.D. Salinger and his writings, introduced and edited by Henry Anatole Grimwald.
This book came out in 1962, meaning that all the essays are prior to the years when society changed so much. No mention of anyone associated with “The 1960’s.” Even writers like Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsburgh are not treated seriously. And to see the word “hipster” being used is hilarious.
A very interesting find off my library’s free book shelf.
New thread: Fireworks!? Already?