Your Current Reading: The Good Parts And The Bad

[Daniel Hatadi]

We seem to have a monthly resurgence of this topic so I thought I'd take a crack at starting it this time round. Except I'd like to put a little spin on this "Me, Me, Me" game by putting forth a three part question.

What book are you reading right now, what do you like about it, and what do you not like?

I'll start it off myself with John Connolly's DARK HOLLOW.

Likes: The language, the sentence structure, the mood and atmosphere. The slow, creeping buildup of tension.

Dislikes: The history lesson on every single location, the page long descriptions of minor characters, the length (I generally prefer books under 300 pages).

All this being said, I'd consider myself a newly minted fan of Connolly's work, and look forward to reading not only the Charlie Parker series, but everything else as well.

Anyone else want to play?

[Donna Moore]

Oooooh nice set of questions Daniel. I think this ought to be a regular feature.

I'm reading (and very nearly finished) Gil Brewer's A TASTE FOR SIN wihich was written around about 1960. Jim Phalen has a dead end job,lives in a dead end rooming house,and has a dead end life. And he's in lust with Felice, the dangerous young wife of the local bank manager. She's one of the most dangerous femmes fatales I've ever read.

Likes: This is a nasty nasty book, filled with nasty nasty people. Here's one of my favourite lines so far:
'She was beating his head in with a hammer. It was a ball and peen. She was using the peen.'
I love it, but after each reading session I want to have a bath and hug a kitten (I like books that make me feel that way by the way!). It's short and to the point and there are no wasted words.

Dislikes: Hmmmm, well, if I am forced to say something it would be that a couple of the plot elements are a stretch, but I really don't care, it's a cracking read.

[Don Anderson]

Thanks for the recommendation. I need more baths, so I plan to pick this one up.

[Donna Moore]

Don - I think I know your tastes well enough to know you'll love it. It's from Stark House Press (a small publisher who I hope do really really well) - a double with WILD TO POSESS which I haven't yet read. Stark House have brought out some great old stuff - including Day Keene, Harry Whittington and Peter Rabe (how can you resist a book about a man whose boss stuffs him into a box and ships him around the world?).

[Don Anderson]

I've got a birthday later this week, and I think I know one of the gifts I'll give myself, now.

[Jeff Markowitz]

Okay, I'll play. Right now I'm reading an Advance Copy of Noogie's Time to Shine by Jim Knipfel. I love the character and the premise of the book. Noogie's job is to refill the twenties in privately-owned ATM machines found in convenience stores. Noogie decides that no one will notice if he occasionally steals a twenty. By the time the company realizes what he's doing, Noogie's got 350 pounds of twenties, nearly five million dollars, stuffed into laundry bags and he's on the lam with his cat Dillinger. My only dislike is a nagging feeling that Knipfel is going to run our of story before he runs out of book. I hope not, because this book could be a keeper. Noogie's Time to Shine has an October publication date.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Margot, I have a horrible compulsion to read series in order, starting from the first.

[Daniel Hatadi]

I'm only 1.6 books into the series, but it seems to go that way, and I'm all for it. Pretty keen to catch up with the rest of the world on the whole series.

[Christa M. Miller]

I do too! A couple of years ago I bought every one of Dennis Lehane's and Julia Spencer-Fleming's books so I could do just that. I was not disappointed! Besides, it was fun to binge-read. ;)

[Julie Morrigan]

I'm reading KING OF THE ROAD by Charlie Williams.

I love the feel of it, the language, the Capris, the sheer lunacy of Mangel, the chill of realising just how close to home some of the attitudes and people seem... Then there's the wonderful Royston Blake, nutter of the first order, pisshead, mentalist, the kind of guy who'd cure your headache for you by cutting your head off and then get pissed off because you weren't speaking to him any more.

I don't like the fact that I'm almost finished and it's the last one in the trilogy. Doing my swede in, that is. Proper wossname.

[Donna Moore]

I love those books. I agree with your Likes and Dislikes. It's a bugger there won't be any more. There is one other bad point about the books for me which is that I'm a little bit in love with Royston Blake. Now, THAT'S scary.

[Julie Morrigan]

I forgot to mention how wonderfully funny the Blakey books are, too. And poignant.

But Donna... a little bit in love with RB? Well scary, m'dear. Bath and kitten time for you! (I've put your one on my book list, by the way - it sounds brilliant. Cheers!)

[Donna Moore]

What can I say? It's Mangel - once you're hooked, you can never leave. And I've had a few down the Paul Pry - beer goggles you know. At least I didn't say I was a little bit in love with one of the Muntons.

I bought the Gil Brewer in the US, if you want I'll bring it to Harrogate with me.