The "I am currently reading" thread

[wearysmith]

A Giles annual from '72/'73.

 

One of life's finest observers.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Finished A Song For the Dark Times by Ian Rankin.  More intriguing that the last one, certainly, but it felt like Rankin took a pair of scissors to the plot entanglements rather than pulling gently on the strands.  Plus Rebus's daughter was thoroughly unlikeable.  Nice cliffhanger though.  And (possible small spoiler) ...

 

Spoiler

not entirely unrelated, I think, the title of the new one - A Heart Full Of Headstones - revealed today, is possibly rather ominous for a certain villain.

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Guest

[Guest]

Finished Chasing The Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar, co-author of the Gwendy series with Stephen King.  It's a fictional 'true crime' tale set in the eighties: young aspiring author - Chizmar; it's very meta - returns to his home town and winds up investigating the murders of local teenage girls. 

 

It's initially Stephen King It levels of small town eeriness, complete with spooky old house and some pleasantly creepy goings on.  Alas, it doesn't live up to its promise and fizzles out with barely a hint of a shiver.  Recommended, but ultimately a little disappointing.

 

Spoiler to say why it was so disappointing:

 

Spoiler

Not a whiff of the supernatural!  I think the marketing was a little misleading with this one. 

 

[Funky_Gibbon]

Halfway through James Ellroy's latest, 'Widespread Panic: Freddy Otash Confesses', in which the titular character recalls the prime of his life as an ex-cop, sleazy private eye, blackmailer, pimp and the number one source for celebrity scandal rags in Hollywood as he mixes with the biggest names of the 50s and 60s. Based (probably quite loosely) on a real-life man who was also the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in 'Chinatown'.

[MallyMon]

The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier. Prompted by the movie on one of the apps . . .  Really good! Movie and book. 

 

And also Not Dead Yet - by Peter James (again). I love the Roy Grace stories. And am happy that the series is coming to TV soon. 

 

I always like to have more than one book on the go, as you do.

 

Next, more Daphne because I didn't realise before that she wrote such intriguing stories and even though I've seen Rebecca several times I haven't read the book. Duh.

 

 

[Guest]

Read the short novella Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar last night.  It was... ok.  More of a riff on a snippet of an idea that popped into King's mind one morning after too much cheese the night before; even for the first of three it's neither fully-formed nor properly explored.  It's very King (but then I've only read one of Chizmar's other books and that was very King too), complete with intriguingly sinister stranger and Henry Bowers like young bad guy. 

 

I have the next one in the series (no King this time, other than a foreword) but I'm not really rushing to take it off the shelf.

[wearysmith]

Up next on the pile:

 

[metalman]

April's roundup.

 

Stephen Booth - Blood on the Tongue. A woman freezing to death on the moors, and a mystery surrounding a Dark Peak aircraft wreck come together as Cooper and Fry take 630 pages to join the dots. I do like these, but I wish he had the economy of Simenon or even John Wainwright.

Stephen Booth - Blind to the Bones. A man murdered near an air shaft of the Woodhead Tunnel and a girl student missing for two years come together as Cooper and Fry take 630 pages to join the dots etc. I might have to take a temporary hiatus on this series because I don't seem to be able to find my copy of the next one at the moment.

Ethel Lina White - The First Time He Died. Charlie Baxter fakes his own death in an insurance fraud, but things don't go according to plan afterwards. Very cleverly plotted 1930s story by White, who is mainly remembered today for writing a book called The Wheel Spins, which was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock as The Lady Vanishes. Fans of Francis Iles will like this one.

Donald E. Westlake - Pity Him Afterwards. Escaped homicidal maniac assumes the identity of an actor in a summer season at a lakeside theatre. Another good one.

Dell Shannon - Ace of Spades. Luis Mendoza's girlfriend's car is stolen but when she gets it back, it contains something which a gang of crooks are desperate to get back. An early (1961) Mendoza case.

Philip Purcer - Where is he now? The subject of this non-fiction book was Edward James, the rich eccentric who was the patron of surrealist artists such as Dali and Magritte. At the time it was written (1978) the answer was that James was in the jungles of Mexico designing and building his own bizarre city from scratch. He died in 1984 and the answer now is that he's buried at his family seat, West Dean in Sussex. 

S.S. van Dine - The Canary murder case. Party animal Margaret Odell, known as the Canary, is found strangled in her apartment. Philo Vance helps District Attorney Markham to solve the case, which is basically a locked room problem. Good if you can put up with Vance.

Harry Stephen Keeler - Sing Sing Nights. On the eve of their execution, three men on Death Row tell stories to their guard; the one he likes best will be pardoned. This being Keeler, the stories have plots of ridiculous complexity and coincidence, not to mention racial stereotyping of pretty much every ethnic group under the sun,  but you can't help admire his imagination. Every Keeler is a magical mystery tour of bonkersness; some love them, some can't stand them, I'm in the former group.

Ruth Rendell - To Fear a Painted Devil. Early (1965) Rendell that's one of her standalone novels (i.e. no Inspector Wexford). This one features possible murder by wasp sting in a posh housing development. Excellent.

 

Now reading: Colin Gale & Robert Howard - Presumed Curable. Absolutely fascinating book - about 60 case histories of people admitted to Bethlem Hospital, the Victorian lunatic asylum, illustrated by photographs of them taken on admission.

[Rockers rule]

The essential history of Rangers, 2002 Stephen Halliday.

For someone who don't do football.

Been to 4 matches in my life - last one 'was' to see Rangers (lose  ) against Chesterfield 28th Oct 1981 😢😢.

Party on Woodseats after was fun .

 

Excellent book, a well written history of how Rangers started in the late 1800's by a set of brothers deciding to start a football team. 

Interspersed with short run downs of their top players, managers and match repots from over the years.

OK, since the book was printed over 20 years ago a lot has happened since, still worth reading ✔️ fully recommend.

 

Keep safe and read well  .

Edited May 8, 2022 by Rockers rule
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[Rockers rule]

I Didn't Know You Cared; Peter Tinniswood 1973 pagination 298.

 

Well, after watching all 27 episodes of the TV series, researching (& finding) all the locations in and around Sheff where filming took place,

I'd no option but to read the book.

Right! where to start?

Most of the characters in the TV series are there in the book while others are missing, notably the Three great aunts from Glossop and uncle Staveley. Linda Preston doesn't get that much of a mention and Carters 'Aye, Well, Mm,' doesn't come in until page 112.

The writing for Pat's character keeps true to its origins, in the TV series, you can almost hear her speaking as you read.

While admittedly the TV series does say 'Loosely based on the book'  both should be considered separate entities.

So which is the best?

For me it has to be the TV series. I like the almost innocent'ness of characters in the series, while the book (for my way of thinking) is typical of 1970's pulp fiction. Having found publishers would print swear words, outright racism and graphic sexual encounters, authors took advantage, and I think this falls into that category.

Strange that the TV series goes for the almost innocent approach of it's characters and while racism is prevalent almost from the start in the book it doesn't rear its ugly head until Series 2.

There are major plot changes straight from the start. Carter and Pat are already married in the book, where as in the TV series it's their courtship that is the main focus of the story's.

 

No! I'm not a prude, but un-fortunately (or fortunately) like 1970's comedy, the book shows it's age. crude, embarrassing or pushing the boundary's of 1970's writing?  You decide.  £2.87 cheapest (including the postage) on Ebay.

 

Just starting Mog also by Tilliswood, let you know how I get on with that.

 

Keep save read well  .