Tilfeldige bøker fra devenishs bibliotek
Pole to Pole av Michael Palin
The Bookshops of London av Martha Redding Pease
Once Upon Another Time: Ventures Behind the Iron Curtain av Jessica Douglas-Home
Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden: Return to Vietnam and Cambodia av Tim Page
Death in the Peerless Pool: (A John Rawlings Mystery) av Deryn Lake
Polemical Pulps : The Martin Beck Novels of Maj Sjouwall and Per Wahloo av J. Kenneth Van Dover
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venner: 64BakerStreet, aardvaarkcreative, Bengan, bookstothesky, callmejacx, cathyskye, EnriqueFBird, Hohenloh, HorusE, irkthepurist, jenrylee2004, MarthaHuntley, mmckay, robledo, Romanus, walshga, westher
interessante biblioteker: aluvalibri, Betelgeuse, Booksrme, bookstothesky, Caesia, CarlosMcRey, coffeezombie, DeputyHeadmistress, dorisdayrules, EnriqueFBird, Harry_Vincent, hinkley, HorusE, inkdrinker, irkthepurist, JaneAustenNut, jenrylee2004, laneet, lilithcat, Makifat, messpots, mmckay, mvo62, MyopicBookworm, nickhoonaloon, PandorasRequiem, Robertgreaves, Romanus, sws53, willoughby, zoliomastix
LibraryThing-forfattere: Andrew Gross (AndrewGross), J.F. Englert (JFEnglert), Hazel K. Bell (KayCliff), Masha Hamilton (MashaHamilton), Richard Marsh (RichardMarsh), Jonathon Green (abecedary), Jonathon Green (abecedary), Alan Furst (afurst), Aly Monroe (alymonroe), Ann Douglas (anndouglas), Bill Laws (billlaws), Brian Freeman (brianfreeman), Carl Zimmer (cwzimmer), David Liss (davidliss), David Mitchell (davidmitchell), Jane Adams (janeadams), John Hall (johnhall), Matthew Pearl (matthewpearl), David Shepherd (shepherddp), Stephan P. Clarke (spclarke), Vanessa Wagstaff (vanessajw), John Gosling (warworlder)
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Medlem: devenish
SamlingerDitt bibliotek (11,364), DVD (236), CD (330), Alle samlinger (11,364)
Anmeldelser288 anmeldelser
EmneordCrime & Mystery Fiction (2,923), British Crime Fiction (1,390), American Crime Fiction (669), Biography (566), Short Stories (456), Ghosts & Horror (421), WW2 (387), Conan Doyle Collection (375), Travel Writing (371), CD (331) — se alle emneord
Skyeremneordsky, forfattersky
GrupperBaker Street and Beyond, Bookcases: If You Build/Buy Them, They Will Fill, British & Irish Crime Fiction, Crime, Thriller & Mystery
FavorittforfatterePeter Ackroyd, John Aubrey, John Banville, H. E. Bates, George Bellairs, E. F. Benson, Anthony Berkeley, Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Leo Bruce, John Buchan, J.L. Carr, John Dickson Carr, Raymond Chandler, Bruce Chatwin, Peter Cheyney, V. C. Clinton-Baddeley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wilkie Collins, John Connolly, William Cowper, Edmund Crispin, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, C. S. Forester, Robert van Gulik, Cyril Hare, MacDonald Hastings, Michael Innes, M. R. James, James Lees-Milne, H. P. Lovecraft, R.H. Malden, Alberto Manguel, A. N. L. Munby, Frances Partridge, Mervyn Peake, Byron Rogers, Sax Rohmer, Saki, C. J. Sansom, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, Edgar Wallace, Colin Watson, Evelyn Waugh, H. G. Wells, Henry Williamson, P.G. Wodehouse (Delte favoritter)
FavorittbokhandlereBlackwell Oxford, Heffers Bookshop (Cambridge), Waterstone's Northampton
FavorittbibliotekerBritish Library, Kingsthorpe Library, Northampton Central Library
Andre favoritterThe British Museum, The Cowper and Newton Museum (Olney)
Om megMy wife and I live in the beautiful county of Northamptonshire in the English Midlands, which is known as the county of Squires & Spires.We are lucky enough to be near to many ideal places for obtaining the type of books that we collect. These include the cities of Oxford and Cambridge and of course London itself.
We also live a short distance from the little town of Market Harborough which is just over the border in Leicestershire and this Market Town has several bookshops and a number of charity shops specializing in books. This is a frequent source of new finds too.
"The Bookman appraises towns by the number of their bookshops:if they be few,the towns are dull,monotonous,ugly;to be shunned,disliked,or,at best endured.He that should be admitted on a sudden to the sight of such places as Charing Cross Road or Farringdon Road in London wherin all manner of books are displayed for sale in numerous shops and on many stalls,could not choose,though he were never so poor of purse,but be much recreated by the sight--"
From 'The Anatomy of Bibliomania' by Holbrook Jackson
"Isn't it strange what happens with old books? They choose you.They reach out to their buyer - Hello,here I am,take me with you.It's as if they were alive."
From 'The Nautical Chart' by Arture Perez-Reverte
"I often stand in the centre of the Library here and think despairingly how impossible it is ever to become possessed of all the wealth of facts and ideas contained in the books surrounding me on every hand. I pull out one volume from it's place and feel as if I were no more than giving one dig with a pick in an enormous quarry. The Porter spends his days in the Library keeping strict vigil over this catacomb of books,passing along between the shelves and yet never paying heed to the almost audible susurrus of desire- the desire every book has to be taken down and read,to live,to come into being in somebody's mind. He even hands the volumes over the counter,seeks them out in their proper places or returns them there without once realising that a Book is a Person and not a Thing."
From 'The Journal of a Disappointed Man' by W.N.P.Barbellion
"Thus gentle Reader my selfe am the ground-worke of my booke:It is then no reason thou shouldest employ thy time about so frivolous and vaine a subject.Therefore farewell.
From 'Essais,-The author to the reader' by Michel de Montaigne.
Om biblioteket mittOur Library now numbers over 11,000 items. The books are fairly evenly divided into Fiction and Non-Fiction.The CD's and Tapes are mostly of Classical Music and the Spoken Word. The ever-growing DVD collection,which can be seen in greater detail on the excellent Take11 site,is varied,but consists mostly of crime,war and thrillers. Bookwise our main interests are Crime Fiction,with particular emphasis on the life and works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Also Classic Ghost Stories.On the non-fiction side,books about Northamptonshire, Diaries ,Travel Writing,The French Resistance and SOE in WW2.I have also a great interest in John Aubrey the antiquary.(as you can see from the picture which heads this profile.)
All of the books ect, in addition to being entered here on Librarything,have two card index files under Title and Author.These tie in through a number,with an Acquisition book,which gives full (very full) details of each item.Publisher,Shop bought from,Place bought from,Price paid ect.
The ever present problem is storage! A few years ago we had an extension to our house built,and the idea was to move all our books into it,and clear the rest of the house.This has not worked I'm afraid.They have again spread to all rooms except the kitchen and bathroom! Just how long it will be before they get in there too is anybody's guess.As well as this I have had to resort to a certain amount of double-shelving and stacking.Oh well if you are a true book-lover you just accept it and go with the flow. I was reading recently about a compulsive book-collector from many years ago whose house was so full of books that he had to edge around stacks of them on his way round the house,and he finally accumulated so many volumes that the house collapsed! Oh help!!!
On the thorny question of whether to use LT to catalogue only owned items or otherwise.In my particular case I firmly belong in the former camp.. All the items to be seen here are physically part of my collection. Everything listed here is actually owned by me.
What I want here is a record of our Library in terms of what we actually own. Now that 'Collections' has finally arrived and I have had a chance to see the features I must admit to being rather disappointed with it.I had hoped that it would only count owned items,and thus put the library size lists right. This has clearly not happened and we are still left with inflated library sizes.
I have pondered long and hard wondering if I should use this for books only,or if I should use it for cataloguing other things too,such as CD's,Tapes and DVD's. I have finally decided to follow The British Library who have holdings of sound recordings as well as books in their collections,and what's good enough for them is certainly good enough for me. Also as lots of members seem to be going down the road of entering all sorts of things besides purely books, and as I need somewhere to enter my sound recordings (both on CD and on Tape) and keep a record of them,it seems a sensible idea to go ahead. I have also decided to enter my DVD collection as of July 2009.
MY FAVORITE BOOKS (In no particular order)
Collected Stories by Graham Greene
Aubrey's Brief Lives by John Aubrey
Complete Ghost Stories by M.R.James
The Nightmare by C.S.Forester
The Conan Doyle Stories by Conan Doyle
The Napoleonic Stories by Conan Doyle
The Sherlock Holmes Short Stories by Conan Doyle
The Complete Short Stories by H.G.Wells
The Father Brown Stories by G.K.Chesterton
Nine Ghosts by R.H.Malden
My Uncle Silas by H.E.Bates
The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
Sanders of the River by Edgar Wallace
The Flaxborough Crab by Colin Watson
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G.Wodehouse
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
In most cases with these authors,it is rather difficult to choose just one book out of their many excellent titles. Free Hit Counters
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StedNorthampton,UK
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biblio.eclipse.co.uk
Kontotypeoffentlig, livstid
KoblingsnyheterKoblingsnyheter
URL-er
http://www.librarything.com/profile/devenish (profil)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/devenish (bibliotek)
AllmennkunnskapSerier (972), Priser (452), Roller (14305), Steder (2208)
Medlem sidenMar 26, 2006
Siste aktivitet
 devenish anmeldt, vurdert, lagt til:Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye av Arthur Gray  (les anmeldelse) |  devenish vurdert, lagt til:The Golden Notebook (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) av Doris May Lessing  |
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Unfortunately I have not been in much shape to read recently. The operation to remove a tumor (melanoma) and a follow-up with radiation did not quite stop things, and we had to go back to bio-chemotherapy, a process that gave me 11-12 years of remission once—so back again. As a result I was much revived when I received your latest note and greatly appreciated it.
I had been noticing all the DVD’s you have been entering and thanks for mentioning the alternative method of entering them—but that will have to wait. I have been relying on Netflix recently for new DVD’s to watch.
Captain Bluebear was rather long, so I agree about the tediousness. I have yet to start any of the others by Moer.
I loaned out the Seventy-Seven Clocks to a friend who particularly likes the series. So I will put it on the top of my to-read list when it gets back.
Sorry to hear you weather is no better. The problems with the Channel train were awful to see. We expect better of trains. Unfortunately, the snow promised here came through with 19 inches in Shepherdstown. The local roads do not get good treatment, but they are passable now. Most of the local schools just gave up until after the Christmas break.
My favorite book reviewer from The Washington Post is Michael Dirda, who came out with a collection of reviews in Classics for Pleasure in 2007. He comes up with some very interesting books that are not generally reviewed elsewhere even when newly published. One of the old books he is particularly fond of is The Box of Delights, by John Masefield--apparently well known in England but rarely heard of here. I decided that I would get back into reading with this, quite appropriate to the season even though a children’s book. Dirda’s book also has a nice review of M. R. James’ Collected Ghost Stories and Uncle Silas by La Fanu.
I hope your weather improves, and I look forward to our new books. My best wishes to you and you family as well. You can see Horus under the Christmas tree under my profile.
postet av HorusE kl. 2:48 pm (EST) den Dec 22, 2009
I see you have given the DVD Amadeus 5 stars. It is one of my favorite movies; it really shows off a good sound system.
I just finished A Quiet Belief in Angels,. I got it some time ago on your suggestion and got inspired to read it after I saw the book show up a store, along with other heavily promoted books. It was certainly very well written--intense. I also just finished Black Dog--another of your excellent recommendations.
Everything has healed up fine.
Regards,
David
postet av HorusE kl. 4:23 pm (EST) den Oct 18, 2009
Velma
postet av Kirconnell kl. 8:39 pm (EST) den Oct 10, 2009
Thanks for the kind words. I would love some recomendation of classic and mystery authors. The Wycliffe series on tv is one I havent seen. I have bought the series 'Blue Murder" and 'The Last Detective" both of which I am enjoying.
There is a British author by the name of John Matthews who writes mystery/suspense who I enjoy. Have you read anything by him?
Take care of yourself,
bob
postet av bjbookman kl. 10:07 am (EST) den Oct 3, 2009
Over the years I have been checking out your library. When you started adding your W J Burley, I just needed to say HI. I have forgotten all the pleasure reading Burley when they were published here. Thanks for sharing your books with us librarythingers,
bob
postet av bjbookman kl. 1:15 pm (EST) den Oct 2, 2009
Thanks for your answer. I'll try Gutenberg, but I am too old fashioned for reading entire books online, I just want to smell and feel it ;). I usually use Gutenberg for the older books to see if I can live with the writing style, and then buy the book anyway...
Anyway, I'll put Humboldt's Personal Narrative on my wishlist.
Kind regards,
Sara
postet av divinenanny kl. 7:58 am (EST) den Oct 1, 2009
I saw on the works page of Penguin Great Journeys: Jaguars and Electric Eels that you own and have read a copy. I have a question about this release that I just can't seem to find an answer to so I hope you can help me.
I was wondering if you know if the text included in this book is the full account of Humboldt (as published in Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent). I like the Great Journeys series, but I'd rather have a complete text than a nice cover...
Thanks in advance for your answer!
Sara (divinenanny)
postet av divinenanny kl. 5:54 am (EST) den Oct 1, 2009
Thank you for the VC Clinton-Baddeley recommendation. I had not heard of his writings before you mentioned him. Reading a little about his books on-line, I'm not sure if his Professor Davis character will be to my taste, given my almost total lack of knowledge in areas operatic, theatrical and epicurean. However, I will view the books as an opportunity to learn something in those areas and, as such, I will search for them today as I will be stepping out to a couple of bookstores around Los Angeles.
I'm happy you had not yet run across the Sherlock Holmes Anthology. Given your opinion of Laurie King's works, I can't wait to get your reaction to the upcoming Robert Downey, Jr., movie :)
Take it easy,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 10:25 am (EST) den Sep 26, 2009
I forgot to mention that I had just read and enjoyed “The Osiris Ritual” by George Mann, a follow-up on “The Affinity Bridge” that you had recommended earlier. Naturally Horus highly recommends “The Osiris Ritual”. The Corsican spy story had been written by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and probably originally came from his “Napoleonic War Stories”.
david
postet av HorusE kl. 12:44 pm (EST) den Sep 25, 2009
I am sorry I am so later in responding, but after I returned I had to undertake some surgery (removing something undesirable from my right shoulder) and lost track of my profile messages.
Thanks for the author references. I had not red any of Stephen Booth or Suzette Hill, among others you mentioned. Is “The Perfume of the Woman in Black” by Margaret Scherf another name for “The Green Plaid Pants?”
The cruise was quite relaxing and enjoyable. The first stop was in Vigo, Spain, which we skipped to recover from jet lag. Then we went on to Lisbon, Barcelona, Cannes (where we to a tour to a village (St James) up in the hills, Majorca (where we missed an ETA attack by a few days), Corsica, Civitavecchia, and Gibraltar. I particularly enjoyed Corsica as we had a tour up into the mountains--having earlier read a short spy story where an English spy (in Napoleonic times) travels through the rather difficult terrain. We had been to Barcelona before, but it is always interesting to revisit Gaudi. We shared a dinner table with two other American couples and one couple from England (I think it was the latter’s 30th cruise).
After finishing the earlier Three Pines series by Louise Penny, I am reading an early reviewer copy of “The Brutal Killing”.
Congratulations to you and your wife on your 42nd.
David
postet av HorusE kl. 5:09 pm (EST) den Sep 24, 2009
It's been a while. I trust everything is going well for you? I'm currently sitting here in a very dry heat with the smell of smoke from a nearby (15 miles or so) wildfire wafting in through my windows. Ah, the southern California life.
I've looked back through the books I've read this year (depressingly few, I must say) for anything I can heartily recommend to you, and I've come up with three titles: The Yiddish Policemen's Union, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters and New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear (for a well done alternate history fantasy/vampire novel). I'm also eagerly awaiting Stieg Larsson's third book due out in a week or so in your neck of the woods, so I should also recommend book 2, The Girl who Played with Fire.
However, my main motivation for writing is to let you know about a science fiction/fantasy/mystery anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories that I just spotted in my local B&N store. See here: http://www.amazon.com/Improbable-Adventu...
Just in case you want to add it to your collection...
Also, I just picked up Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book of the World's Best Crime Stories which looks like it may be a nice introduction to some foreign authors I haven't read (or even heard of, in many cases). Plus, it's got Jo Nesbo and Boris Akunin short stories, which is enough to get me to lay down my hard-earned cash without even considering the added "bonus" of the other stories.
Again, I hope all is well with you. Please drop me a note at your convenience and let me know your latest reading and/or author signing adventures (or anything else you deem to be of interest).
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 10:57 pm (EST) den Sep 23, 2009
Librarything should include specific DVD and CD pages not just modified book entries as Libraries do contain these types of media.
postet av Stilestrider kl. 3:21 pm (EST) den Sep 7, 2009
postet av Stilestrider kl. 8:13 am (EST) den Sep 7, 2009
Hope everything is well your end! Are you still able to store your ever-growing library in your house or do you need another extension?
It seems to me that it is getting increasingly expensive to get hold of first editions by George Bellairs. You can consider yourself lucky if you find one for £ 50-60.
Have you found any recently?
I will send you a bibliography of Bellairs by email. Please let me know if you find any mistakes or missing books.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 10:48 am (EST) den Sep 2, 2009
postet av Romonko kl. 10:10 am (EST) den Sep 2, 2009
Thank you for such a prompt and delightful rely.
In relation to Catherine Shaw, I am sure that if I had read t'The Three Body Problem" form the perspective of an interest in 19thC Cambridge I would probably have got a lot more out of it ... I fear I read it with a more defined view of -'is this a good murder mystery" I confess to being entirely inconsistent in my approach to reading .. for some I thrive on the context..You have given me food for thought.
I too have a soft spot for the fens - I lived in a small village out of Cambridge for a year when I was 12 and developed an abiding love of Heffers as a result (despite only ever being taken there once or twice to buy books - I was a far more frequent visitor to the library) and have even carefully kept their blue paper bags with green circles as a momento ever since...(or at least one from a visit in the very early '80s)
I shall keep an eye out for Fine Feathers, as well as the ghost stories by E F Benson - thank you for pointing them out.
...after all, once the piles of books get big enough, the impetus to DO something about new bookshelves may actually happen!
Cheers
Caesia
postet av Caesia kl. 8:20 am (EST) den Jul 30, 2009
I recently bought the DVD of Mapp and Lucia (oh the joys of the Internet) because I enjoy Geraldine McEwan as an actor (the TV shows were never shown 'in the colonies'...) which I enjoyed enough to look for the books. One of my most favourite secondhand bookshops had all six which quickly found a home. I am really enjoying what I have had time to read so far - just a delight. I noticed that you have E F Benson as one of your favourite authors - I shall have to start lokking at favourite authors more often.
I see you have recently added a Catherine Shaw - I have read the Three Body Problem but it did not entice me in nor leave feeling that I wanted to read more by her.
The last book that I read that did make me look for the next book was Jim Kelly - I have read the Philip Dryden series from the beginning - and enjoyed them all, particularly as I think he has improved as a writer along the way, but could not put The Skeleton Man down before the end ... just when I think I am beginning to grow up and have stopped reading a book until it is finished, regardless of the time....for a while age and tiredness meant that I could not read into the wee small hours, but this one kept me going (or was it the coffee??)
I do hope all is well with you
Caesia
postet av Caesia kl. 8:00 am (EST) den Jul 27, 2009
postet av Harry_Vincent kl. 3:45 pm (EST) den Jul 17, 2009
When you have a wish list on Amazon (I guess the Amazon UK works the same way), on the left side of the screen (or on top) you should see a link that allows you to put a button, like the one I have on my profile page, where you want. Follow the directions and you should have no problems in posting it on your page.
Hey! If a total cyber-ignoramus such as myself managed to do it, I am sure you will do it in a jiffy!
Happy reading.
Paola :-))
postet av aluvalibri kl. 12:34 pm (EST) den Jul 16, 2009
Thanks for the reference to H. E. Bates. I got hold of a copy of Uncle Silas. We have been watching some of the Uncle Silas series through Netflix (Yorkshire productions).
Oscar and Horus are in great shape. The weather has been ideal and they have been enjoying the outdoors—listening, wistfully (?), to the birds. My wife and I are taking a two week cruise on the Queen Victoria in the western Mediterranean. However the cats will be in the capable hands of a cousin. Celebrating our 40th.
Guess I understand the collections now, but need to do some editing.
The I. J. Parker series do not appear in most bookstores here, but I can get them at a good price through the Strand Bookstore. I note that La’s Orchestra Saves the World is not available yet in the US, but will be interested in reading it—I enjoy most of Alexander McCall Smith’s books.
I have had an occasional bad book recommended to me, but I am grateful for your recommendations and have found the LT a good place for recommendations in general. I have started the Mystery of the Yellow Room at the moment—another of your recommendations.
I found that version of Aubrey's Brief Lives on Amazon, so I picked that up.
David
postet av HorusE kl. 7:36 pm (EST) den Jul 13, 2009
I was just getting around to replying when I go your message.
The Public Broadcasting System series The Secrets of the Inquisition had four parts
1) The arrests at the village of Montaillou
2) The Spanish Inquisition
3) The Counter-Reformation
4) The abduction of a Jewish boy by the Vatican (because he had been secretly baptized), Napoleon’s invasion of the papal states, and the fall of the papal states.
The local university library has a 1957 edition (University of Michigan) of
Aubrey’s Brief Lives which I signed out. It has a preface by Oliver Lawson Dick and forward by Edmund Wilson. This had been first published by Secker and Warburg, 1949. I have started reading samples (like the life of Frances Bacon) of it; it certainly provides an interesting sense of the times.
I seen John Connolly has a new Charlie Parker. I decided to read The White Road so I can catch up with this series. It helps reading that series in order as there it a lot of referral to past cases. I noted you had started with I. J. Parker. I have read the one you have; two others are waiting on the shelf.
Unfortunately the “collections” do not quite what I had hoped.
Yes, you expressed it very well, reading is a great balm. All kinds of problems just vanish.
I do not see much hope that the US Congress will pass much useful legislation that will adequately control banks and various investment schemes.
The rain here has been unusually plentiful and so all the flowers are doing great. Just wished the deer did not have such a desire for daylilies.
Best Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 11:09 am (EST) den Jun 19, 2009
Thank you very much for your offer. I really do appreciate it and I would very much like to buy the book. Please let me know the total including shipping to Sweden.
How do I pay you? Is PayPal an option?
We are celebrating midsummer in Sweden tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. It is a very festive holiday but unfortunately the forecast says it is going to rain. Hope the weather is better in England.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 5:25 pm (EST) den Jun 18, 2009
postet av callmejacx kl. 5:16 pm (EST) den Jun 14, 2009
http://www.librarything.com/topic/66785
postet av callmejacx kl. 10:32 pm (EST) den Jun 13, 2009
Well, it looks like no matter what collection one adds an item to (be it book, cd, dvd, comic book/magazine or even a non-existent wishlist thing), that item automatically ends up in the "xxxxx books cataloged" field at the top of the profile page, which means it registers on the Zeitgeist largest libraries list too. I've looked at the profile pages of a couple of big wishlisters who have subtracted their "Wishlist" collections from their "Your Library" collections and their "books cataloged" numbers still reflects their wishlist totals. Thus, the Zeitgeist largest library listing will be completely innacurate until such time as it's tied to the "Your Library" collection total rather than the "books cataloged" total. Of course, that would rely upon people truthfully/accurately not clicking on the "Your Library" box when adding to their wishlist collections, so I would recommend that Tim, et al., do some sort of programming wizardry to keep "Wishlist" and "Read but Unowned" from showing up on the largest libraries list and/or on "books cataloged;" it doesn't seem like it would be too hard, but I'm no programmer, that's for sure, so what do I know?
Approximately 3 years ago I sent an e-mail to Abby and Tim asking what would stop people from listing, for example, their sea shell collections on LT and having them show up on the Zeitgeist list as books. Now we have Collections where we can essentially create whatever collection we want but it still shows up as "books" cataloged so, really, I don't get what all the fuss is about. In the grand scheme of things, LT library statistics are pretty much just as innaccurate as they were before.
Since Collections appear to be here to stay, do you know what I'd actually like to see? A total overhaul of the largest library list where a limited number of other "largest library" lists are created from a set list of traditional/real world library collections. What do we have in a Library these days? Books, Music, Movies, Magazines, and that's about it, right? So, each of those categories gets a Zeitgeist largest library breakout listing and no other collection field (wishlist, read but unowned, sea shells, marbles, and whatever other collections people may designate that're outside the "library norm" as we all pretty much understand it) would count toward the totals of those lists. That way, people who are here for the traditional aspects of a library (just about everyone, yes?) can easily find out who's amassed the largest collections of books, music, movies, magazines by consulting the zeitgeist lists for those items. Everyone else with a non-traditional collection can still list it without it impinging upon the traditional library statistics that most people on LT are interested in. What do you think? Does that sound like an idea Tim would be interested in somewhere down the road (assuming LTer's are interested, of course)?
Until a few months ago, as you may recall, I had a "rant" on my profile about only having items with ISBN's and pages on my library, but I've deleted that message as I've come around to the "multimedia" concept of the modern library as set forth by you and others here on LT. I'd resisted putting things other than books on LT as I thought Collections was going to resolve the largest libraries conflict, but obviously it hasn't (at least, not yet). Since that's the case, and "Collections" is here in all its defective glory, I've decided to go ahead and enter CD's and DVD's and even my magazines and comic books with their own collection designations, as those items can be found in real world libraries (and, also as a reference tool to aid my faltering memory of what I own while out book shopping, usually with my iphone-wielding friend since I still don't own a cell phone, heh). However, I will not be entering any "wishlist" or "read but unowned" collections until such time as those "items" stop appearing in the "books cataloged" field and Zeitgeist list.
Well, enough of that (more than enough, no doubt, and you didn't even have to ask for it!:) What say we talk about some books next time, eh?
Take care and I'll talk with you soon,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 8:33 pm (EST) den Jun 12, 2009
Thanks for your fast reply. I have never heard of the Collections Feature but it sounds good, as I still believe that you should only register items that you own.
I am lucky enough to own signed, first editions of all books by C.J. Sansom. If you are interested in pre-ordering a signed edition of his forthcoming book “Reckoning” you can do so on www.postmortembooks.com The owner, Ralph Spurrier, is a very kind and trustworthy person and I have bought books from him for several years. You will find the book by clicking on April Additions.
Thank you for letting me know about Edward Martin, but are you sure you didn’t mean Andrew Martin. I found the title you recommended but it was written by Andrew.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 1:13 pm (EST) den Jun 2, 2009
Hope everything is well your end. Congratulations to having a library with over 11 000 books. My library contains 3472 books so far and that means I have to double-stack some of them so even if you have an extension to your house if must be crowded with books.
At the moment we have 543 books in common and that amount will probably increase as I’m still trying to add books by Bellairs.
What are you presently reading? I am reading the latest book by Stuart MacBride, which is called Blind Eye. I could not find any books by MacBride in your library, if you haven’t read his books they are well worth reading.
Have you noticed that books by one of our favourite author, C. J. Sansom have become quite valuable? A signed first edition of Dissolution is priced £ 500 on abebooks.
What is the weather like in England? In Sweden the summer has arrived. Today it is very sunny and +30° Celsius.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 12:44 pm (EST) den May 30, 2009
You might want to get in touch with Dr. Douglas Greene, the owner and everything of Crippen & Landru, at dgreene@odu.edu . Tell him I referred him to you. C & L offer 20% discounts on their books if you subscribe (free) to their upcoming releases. And the discount also applied to their back list.
Doug is, in addition, one of the world's greatest experts on the classic detective story and John Dickson Carr - and the author of "The Man Who Explained Miracles" a biography of JDC with criticism of all his books and stories. And one of the nicest and most modest persons you will ever get to know.
Best regards,
Enrique F. Bird
postet av EnriqueFBird kl. 12:33 pm (EST) den May 23, 2009
You sent me an email and invitation and I did not reply because of no Internet access for 10 days. I am catching up slowly.
Unfortunately, I could not answer you because both the invitation and note expired. I am sending ot now from my part.
Best regards,
Enrique F. Bird
postet av EnriqueFBird kl. 4:03 pm (EST) den May 22, 2009
Thanks for the information about the existence of the castle in Northampton at the time that Company of Liars was written. I see that Thomas Beckett spent some time at the castle. Maitland seems to give little detail of the towns the company stopped in; I suppose that Northampton is significantly larger than the others on the route to the Fens. I thought the description of the Fens was interesting. I was amused about how the use of the first-person narrative led me to an unjustified assumption regarding Camelot. A shocking ending.
I liked The Last Dickens very much but not quite as much as The Dante Club (also by Matthew Pearl). The references to the behavior of various publishing firms in New York and Boston were interesting. Having spent 7 years in the Boston vicinity, I always enjoy novels set in that city. The Washington Post reviewer preferred The Last Dickens to Drood by Simmons.
I was also bothered by the removal of the easy access to tags. It has been relatively easy to make my tags consistent.
Thanks for the reference to Jeff Lindsay. I just finished Darkly Dreaming Dexter, rather an igneous approach to the serial-killer genre. I picked it up at the local library, where the librarian raved about the TV series.
David
postet av HorusE kl. 9:28 pm (EST) den Apr 30, 2009
The Roth Trilogy was very clever, as you said. I happened to read them in reverse chronological order. The kidnapping (and worse) of the children made the start of the series rather horrifying, but I found the story very good.
I was perusing Symmetry, by Marcus du Satoy and came across one of your favorite bookstores: “That weekend my dad and I took a trip up to Oxford, the nearest academic city to our home. A little shopfront on the Broad bore the name Blackwell’s. It didn’t look terribly promising, but someone had told my dad that this was the Mecca of academic bookshops. Entering the shop you realized why. Like Doctor Who’s Tardis, the shop was huge once you had entered the tiny front door. … downstairs … It was an Aladdin’s cave of science books”
I note the remarks from Catgwinn regarding John Dunning. I have read all of his books and enjoyed them immensely. He stopped writing because of illness, but apparently the problem (a large benign brain tumor) has been addressed and he is planning to follow up on the Cliff Janeway (a bookseller and former policeman) series. Books can inspire murder.
I am currently reading Company of Liars by Karen Maitland which was recommended to me. It is about rather odd collection of travelers thrown together by a common need to escape the Plague of 1348. At this point they have just left Northhampton.
Summer has arrived with a vengeance, 94 degrees F.
David
postet av HorusE kl. 5:09 pm (EST) den Apr 25, 2009
After reading your profile, and the "bookman" quote, I recommend John Dunning's "Cliff Janeway" mystery series: "Booked To Die", "Bookman's Wake",
"The Bookman's Promise", "The Sign of the Book" and "The Bookwoman's Last Fling". The author, John Dunning, used to own The Old Algonquin Bookstore in Denver, Colorado (USA). For a short biography go to
www.oldalgonquin.com/authorPage.php.
postet av Catgwinn kl. 6:52 pm (EST) den Apr 21, 2009
BTW, have you read this book? If so, I'd like to hear your thoughts about it. I've picked it up several times and I can't get beyond the weirdness of the Pepys style combined with the Great War (or Warr) era. I wonder why the author thought this was a good idea. And I wonder who the author was, for that matter. Still, someday I hope to be in the right mood to read it, whatever sort of mood that might be.
Best,
Maggie
postet av MaggieO kl. 8:13 am (EST) den Apr 11, 2009
Thanks for your note about A Diary of the Great Warr, which is the title as it appears on my book. Your copy doesn't have the second r? Mine is the John Lane edition with a publication date of 1917 (well, MDCCCCXVII to be accurate) on the title page. I hope that you don't mind that I'd rather leave the second r, though it's perfectly fine with me if our two books were combined.
Best regards,
Maggie
postet av MaggieO kl. 6:48 pm (EST) den Apr 10, 2009
BTW, if you are interested in a Great program to catalog DVDs and CDs, might I recommend Readerware (www.readerware.com). I use it for all our 'stuff' and as a backup for LT. entries easily export to LT, and that way I can keep our 'collections' sorted better. RW has every kind of entry you'd ever want. It might be just the ticket for you.
postet av tututhefirst kl. 11:26 am (EST) den Apr 3, 2009
I am writing to you because you seem to be the most likely person to be able to answer a question for me.
A new store of a Used-Book chain opened up recently in my area. My wife and I are at each of its other stores at least once a month, so we jumped at the opportunity to explore yet a whole new set of reading/collecting opportunities.
My favorite genre is Books about Books, so imagine my utter delight when I came upon a 1951 edition of [I Love Books: A Guide through Bookland] by [[John D. Snider]], complete with marbled edges, a bookplate, and marginalia galore! All that for a mere 5 American dollars - which might be 4 Euros, depending on the exchange rate.
In the process of cataloging it on LibraryThing, and simultaneously in my spreadsheet where I also record the books dimensions and weight, I came to realize why it was such a bargain - there are 46 pages missing from it. Someone, probably not Mr. and Mrs. W. F. DuBose (who cared enough to affix their bookplate to the upper right corner of the Free Endpaper), but most likely Anthony D. Rozario who scrawled his name on the Half-Title page using a black felt-tipped Sharpie pen over the name of some intermediate owner who I can only determine was "Jane ~somebody~". The bleed-through of ink from the Sharpie obliterated the entire first line of the quotation of a John Wilson on the obverse side of the page. Clearly, this is not a Collection-worthy specimen of a book, other than perhaps, for the text. But you rated it as 3 stars, which I interpret as merely a nominal read -- okay, but not necessarily oooh or wow.
To the point (finally)... The Table of Content at the beginning of the book simply names each major section but doesn't tell you which page to go to. Each major section, however, does, for the topics it encompasses. Part IV, the last section, begins on Page 427 in my edition and covers 4 topics, the last of which is titled Any Time Is Reading Time, beginning on Page 479, and ending on Page 494. It is followed by a Bibliography and then an essay titled Invitation to Read, ending on Page 515, which was actually cut out of the book and carefully taped back into it. Its obverse is blank page.
What follows is the butchered remains of 23 leaves of paper and then the Index (intact). What I am trying to determine is this: What is it that (allegedly)Mr. Rosario found so compelling in those pages that he actually went through the trouble of using a razor blade (as best I can determine) to remove from the book?
Since you are the the sole person who has even bothered to rate the book, I figured you would be the most likely one to help me with my quest.
You must have an awful big house (or very few windows...) to hold almost 11,000 books! We're at near-capacity with almost 2,000.
postet av WholeHouseLibrary kl. 2:49 pm (EST) den Mar 28, 2009
I'm honored that you added me to your interesting libraries. I do hope you find something that might interest you.
I agree that books do furnish a room. I have found that I'm not very comfortable in a room without books.
I was fortunate enough to have lived in England for a year and really loved it. I have only been back once but I hope to be able to return someday.
Best wishes.
Debbie
postet av laneet kl. 2:19 pm (EST) den Mar 15, 2009
I hope you don't mind that I added you to my interesting libraries list. I could spend days just looking at your mystery tags. You have the kind of library I dream about.
Best wishes,
Debbie
postet av laneet kl. 10:16 pm (EST) den Mar 13, 2009
How very kind of you to reciprocate by adding my paltry 660-book library to your list of interesting libraries! Needless to say, my wife and I are Anglophiles, and I am envious of your vast library but also your location. To live in the English Midlands and be able to regularly visit the bookstores of Oxford, Cambridge, and London sounds wonderful! We have visited England a few times before and loved it, but with two young children it will now be some time before we can do so again. For now I must travel vicariously through the likes of Dickens, Wodehouse, and Conan Doyle. I am intrigued by your list of favorite books and I may pick up James' Complete Ghost Stories.
Thanks again. All the best!
Betelgeuse, from the Midlands of USA
postet av Betelgeuse kl. 6:53 am (EST) den Mar 10, 2009
The Strandbookstore is easier to shop online than by visiting the store directly. That way I do not have to do the searching (which is exhausting—there is so much to see), and the postage is only 50 cents/book after the first book. Typical residents of Manhattan and the other boroughs do not have room to store many books, so there are a lot of used books in excellent condition sold back to this store. Even many new books are discounted 50% and the used ones often 75%.
Glauser certainly did have a hard time of it. I have read only three of his so far, just having finished Thumbprint. The sergeant has a hard time of it too!
Just started Killing Kind by John Connolly. Great story so far and, as usual, I am enjoying his references to Maine. In particular “Don’t forget, Mr. Parker, we put Reich in jail to die for selling his sex boxes from Rangeley, in this very state.” Martin Gardner described Reich and orgonomy in Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. These boxes were supposed to cure arthritis along with much else. My mother found they did not help arthritis. Rangeley, a site of a large lake and a popular summer resort, is very close to where she grew up. Connolly also referred to the movie “The Night of the Hunter”; there is a new book The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film by Jeffrey Couchman that was just reviewed in The Washington Post.
I have not read the Zen book yet. I look forward to getting The City of Dreaming Books, thanks for the mention of Moer, I do like fantasy although I have not read too much recently. I enjoyed The Golden Compass, by Pullman, C. S. Lewis, and Tolkien.
My wife is tired of winter, so we are off to Florida for a week.
Best Regards,
David
postet av HorusE kl. 8:10 pm (EST) den Feb 26, 2009
Thank you for keeping in touch. It is always nice to hear from you and to browse through your ever-growing library.
I am also very pleased that you introduced me to George Bellairs, an author whom I like very much.
As for Fantasy, I must admit I am not very fond of that kind of books, I prefer Crime Fiction, Humour and History (especially the history of England). I also read a lot of non-fiction books about Nature and Animals.
But I agree with you that the more books we add to our libraries the more obvious it is that we like the same type of books. At the moment I see that we have 517 books in common.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 2:18 pm (EST) den Feb 26, 2009
I see that I came here once before because your visitor map is the only one that shows my real hometown, Lumberton, N.C., when I click. I just pulled my handy AA Illustrated Guide to look at Market Harborough. How I hope that you actually live in Willoughby Waterless or Kibworth Harcourt!
At any rate, my adding more mysteries has given us a more significant number of books in common from the standpoint of my collection which I just began to register last month. (I don't even show up on your list.) Since I'm looking around here, I thought it a matter of good manners to speak. "Hello!"
Peggy
postet av LizzieD kl. 11:35 am (EST) den Feb 21, 2009
I had to start The Last Detective, by Peter Lovesey since Bookstothesky metioned it. It is the second by Lovesey and I note in both cases he had an English professor as primary suspect and also involved the papers of a literary figure who had lived in Bath.
I see you liked Thumbprint by Glauser. I guess I will have to read that soon, I have a number by Glauser. Am reading Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas; she is an French archeologist and historian, as well as a good writer.
We are visiting a son in Brooklyn this weekend and hope to stop at the Strandbookstore in Manhattan, with its 18 miles of books, this afternoon. Fortunately the weather is not too bad.
We have a neighbor, who is quite a cat lover, looking after Horus and Oscar. Oscar was orginally part of a pair with
Felix (as in the Odd Couple). I will have to place a picture of Oscar on the Profile.
Hoping you weather improves!
postet av HorusE kl. 11:38 am (EST) den Feb 14, 2009
Scrolling idly through your profile I came upon The Cowper & Newton museum in Olney. I've passed through Olney a couple of times and wondered on each occasion whether I should stop and look in. Is it worth the visit?
Regards, etc.
postet av zenomax kl. 5:42 am (EST) den Feb 10, 2009
I was impressed by all the snow in London. You may have heard that President Obama had a bit of fun teasing the denizens of Washington, DC, for closing down schools for snow.
I have been reading some mysteries by the Swedish writer Arnaldur Indriðason: Jar City and Silence of the Grave, I thought both were quite good but definitely not cozy. Dewey, the library cat, was a Christmas present and quite interesting--sad at the end--starts off with a recession that affected the Midwest similar to what is happening so many places now.
I was able to borrow a copy of Brown on Resolution from inter-library loan and agree that is a great tale. I tried at first to find the island in the Galapagos, but of course it was fictitious. The Nightmare was a great set of stories--the atmosphere Forester created was well set.
One of my favorite writers of historical fiction is David Liss. His first two were set in England, but the last The Whiskey Rebels is set right after the revolution in the western Pennsylvania frontier. There was an affair called The Whiskey Rebellion.
Horus sends his best wishes.
postet av HorusE kl. 8:09 pm (EST) den Feb 8, 2009
How are you doing? I hope all is well with you and your family.
I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know I'm starting The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey; I'll let you know what I think when I'm done. I didn't finish that David Stone book I was reading--just too much emphasis on rather gross bodily decomposition(s) for me.
After many months of non-participation, I'm getting back to reading and posting a bit more on LT's groups/threads. I decided to check up on what is happening with the Largest Libraries list not updating (at least on the second page) and I found a mid-December message from the LT systems administrator living in Australia that said something like the update was turned off while LT awaits the delivery of more equipment to handle the load placed upon the system by the updates; so, it will be fixed eventually, I guess.
I've read a few mysteries in the last couple of weeks that may or may not interest you. If you want more information on them, please see the message I left on HorusE's page when next you visit him.
Happy reading,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:37 pm (EST) den Jan 22, 2009
I just added you to my interesting libraries group. WoW! over 10,000 books -- what a library! I am truly envious about both the size and the quality of your collections.
I'm from North Carolina, USA and really envy your location -- so close to Oxford, London etc. I became interested in England while watching our Masterpiece Theatre on PBS channel here in the USA. They run a lot of English programing on our PBS station. Also, I really like Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, and Colin Dexter, and the Sherlock Holmes series.
See ya,
JaneAustenNut
postet av JaneAustenNut kl. 8:15 pm (EST) den Jan 6, 2009
Thanks for your message. Iâm not entirely sure how I came across your library â just clinking (=clicking + links) around, I guess. We had an interesting selection of books in common, which caught my eye first, then I read your quotes. I was quite taken with the one from the Journal of a Disappointed Man. You might be interested in what I wrote about it in my blog at Reflections from Hog Hill.
I was also interested to see your book on the aesthetics and science of tying a tie. My older son wears ties to school and something like this might make it a bit less of chore. He enjoyed the physics class he took last term, perhaps this book could get him interested in ties from a different angle.
I got interested in genealogy about ten years ago when things were first starting to go online. I was able to track down quite a lot of information but havenât had much time to devote to it for the last several years. Thereâs so much more available and accessible now â I just wish I had the time to devote to it. My family came from Riseley, by way of a number of other villages in Beds. Iâve found a number of relations still there, a few of whom Iâve made contact with, which has been a lot of fun. My ex-husband is British and we visited with his family in Norfolk and Dorset a number of times. Theyâre both lovely areas of the country and, funnily enough, theyâre the two counties that the place names around this part of New Hampshire came from. I havenât been back on my own, but someday Iâd like to do so. Maybe Iâll have time to visit Bedfordshire, if I do.
It sounds like you might have cats yourself, from some of the titles in your library. We have two â Moo Shu Cat is the one pictured. I think heâs at least partly a breed known as Maine Coon. I say partly because heâs quite small (only about 8 pounds) and theyâre usually large cats. I think theyâre the only breed of domestic cats that was developed in North America. Heâs a wonderful cat in many ways except one â he drools when heâs happy! Purring is much more pleasant.
Wishing you and your household all the best for the coming year!
postet av muddy21 kl. 10:11 pm (EST) den Jan 4, 2009
I checked your expanded list of favorites and noted The Empty House, by Algernon Blackwood. I had just given The Haunted Looking Glass (New York Review Books Classics) by Edward Gorey, to one of my sons (the one that likes Stephen King) for Christmas. I dipped into this anthology, and the first story I read was The Empty House â a great horror setting.
I had not heard of Brown on Resolution by Forester. This book is not readily available, but I will check with interlibrary loan.
We went to Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico primarily to enjoy the warm weather, but did get to see an interesting dance show, Rhythms of the Night (with a Mayan theme), at a remote location, where I got a great look at the night sky with no light pollution. Most of the interesting archeological sights in Mexico are elsewhere. We were a good distance from Tijuanaâno money for ransoms. Came back to subzero (Celsius) weather.
postet av HorusE kl. 12:51 pm (EST) den Jan 2, 2009
I hadn't thought about getting a companion guide, but that does sound like a pretty good idea and might make the reading more enjoyable...
Lisa
postet av lisaisbusynerding kl. 4:17 pm (EST) den Dec 28, 2008
I am well, thank you for asking. I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year (with lots of great books, natch), too, and that you are also doing well in these trying economic times. Here's hoping 8 years of American political madness is on its way out. I am happy your armed forces will be going home soon.
My apologies for being remiss in responding to you (or anyone else) over the last month or two; not really sure why. I guess working lots of extra hours has led to tiredness/procrastination (I hate to write when I'm tired) which, combined with a general desire to read more and spend less time on the computer, has in turn led to rudeness with no really good excuse.
So, to answer your questions, I am fairly happy with the new largest libraries list, though they only took out the "public, non-profit" accounts and missed several non-personal libraries that are registed as something other than the afore-mentioned. Now, if the page would only update at least once a day like it used to... Tim was wondering recently what LT could do to compete with Shelfari (sp?) after Amazon gobbled it up and he was looking for ideas for improvement, and I would be pretty happy if current LT applications would function as promised; that's my idea, anyway.
Regarding Peter Lovesey, I have not yet read him. I recently went through my mass market paperback boxes looking for my Brian Freemantle "Charlie Muffin" spy thriller books (amongst others), and I pulled out all the Lovesey books while I was at it based upon your recommendation. It looks like I own the first 4 "Peter Diamond" novels (blind luck there) so I plan to give book 1 a read soon. I also bought a paperback copy of American Gods by Gaiman, since I couldn't locate the one I thought I owned (could have sworn I owned a copy but a search of LT didn't show one in my library, so I'm clearly losing my mind).
I'm currently reading your countryman Nick Stone's mystery novel, King of Swords (the prequel to the multiple award winning Mr. Clarinet, which I have not yet read) and I'm enjoying it so far. I've also recently discovered that western writer Loren D. Estleman is also the author of many, many mystery novels, mostly involving a character named Amos Walker. From what I've read of him so far, I think I'm really going to like his writing and I can't wait to hit some used bookstores to find more of his books (again, I've been working so much I haven't been energized enough to want to drive the 20-30 miles necessary to get to the various used bookstores I frequent).
By the way, if I haven't mentioned Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski to you, please add him to my list of highly recommended fantasy authors, and do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of his book The Last Wish; I think he's an exceptional writer.
Well, it's almost Christmas here (5 minutes to go), so I will bid you good night/morning and hope Santa/Father Christmas has delivered you many lovely books.
Be well,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 2:57 am (EST) den Dec 25, 2008
Thank you very much for your message. Yes, I have added about 300 items to my collection in the last three months. But that is because I decided to follow your example and catalogue my CD´s and DVD´s as well. Perhaps 50 of the 300 new items are books. Among them are three Belairs; The Cursing Stones Murder,
Murder Adrift, and Death Spins the Wheel.
I have never heard the term "Things in Books Clothing" before but I like it and it fits the books publishing houses are trying to sell us for Christmas.
Here, in the middle of Sweden, we have snow and a few degrees below zero so we are looking forward to a White Christmas.
Talking of ever growing libraries, your library is growing much faster than mine.
Thank you for the pleasent conversations during 2008 and I hope they will continue for the coming years.
My wife and I would like to wish you and your wife A MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Allt he best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 4:37 pm (EST) den Dec 21, 2008
Thanks for all the interesting books you have recommended over the past year. I am particularly interested in your recent addition of your ten favorites. I have just purchased one of them (by Forrester). My wife and I have been vacationing in Mexico-so you may have noted that country on your map. I brought along two that I caught on to from you-"A Question of Proof" by Nicholas Blake and "Affinity Bridge" by George Mann. Both very great to read.
Best Wishes of the holidays to you and your family.
Horus and David
postet av HorusE kl. 6:00 pm (EST) den Dec 19, 2008
Regards,
Maki
postet av Makifat kl. 8:13 pm (EST) den Dec 8, 2008
Thanks for recommending ‘The Circle’ and the Sergeant Cribbs books by Peter Lovesey. Did you get the email of the review?
Although West Virginia went for McCain, one precinct in Shepherdstown went 82% for Obama.
postet av HorusE kl. 6:50 pm (EST) den Nov 16, 2008
I had recently read "The Vault" by Peter Lovesey and had to find more books by Lovesey in the Peter Diamond series. My wife and two boys spent a couple of months in Bath in the late 80's and so stories set in Bath are particularly fun. I not that one book jacket mentions that Peter Diamond's "residence" was in Bear Flat, where we rented a flat. Our younger son attended a local school there that was on property that belonged to Anna Sewell.
If you have not caught it, there was a great review of "The Glass in Time", by Michael Cox, in today's issue of The Washington Post. You might find it at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
If you can not access it, I can email the article to you.
Best Regards,
David
postet av HorusE kl. 4:14 pm (EST) den Nov 3, 2008
Your reply makes me a bit disappointed that I missed a signed copy by P.D. James. You bet, I am going to put my bookseller right.
But life is full of missed opportunities so, on the bright side, I have just bought five first editions by George Bellairs. Death of a Tin God, Surfeit of Suspects, The Body in the dumb River, Death of a Shadow and a book from 1938 that contains an uncollected story by Bellairs.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 10:56 am (EST) den Oct 21, 2008
You mentioned Penelope Fitzgerald at a book signing. I just finished “The Bookshop.” It was good, just depressing.
With regard to the Map—I note that it put me recently in Shenandoah Junction, WV. This is closer to me than Harpers Ferry and definitely closer than Exeter is to you!
Libraries that are mostly a gigantic wish list seem sort of useless. I plead guilty to including books that I have recently borrowed, but they are small fraction and a useful reminder. I keep my wish list on Amazon or elsewhere. A few books included are loaned or missing, and a few I have recently donated to the local library, as a bit of proselytizing. Tags will help me clean up when I get inspired.
Best Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 7:04 pm (EST) den Oct 20, 2008
postet av pprothro kl. 12:01 pm (EST) den Oct 19, 2008
It is very nice to hear from you. The opportunities to take part in book signings are very rare when you live in the countryside in Sweden. That’s why I buy most of my signed books through the Internet.
You are very lucky to own a signed copy of “The Private Patient”. My favourite bookseller told me that P.D.James was to frail to sign her books so I bought an unsigned copy which I completed reading a couple of weeks ago. I do agree that “The Private Patient” is one of her best books and that she is the Queen of Crime, although I think that the title should be shared with Ruth Rendell.
Have you noticed that there are four books on LT that you and I are the only owners of: “Downhill Ride of Leeman Popple”, “The Tormentors”, “Murder makes mistakes” and “Inspector Proby's Weekend”.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 8:52 am (EST) den Oct 19, 2008
postet av muumi kl. 8:50 pm (EST) den Oct 4, 2008
There is a really good book fair in Stamford this Saturday (27th) which might be of interest to you. I've been before and it's really good with the added attraction of Stamford itself being a lovely town. (Un)fortunately, I won't be going as we are in London for a couple of days which will mean going round Charing Cross Road and Hatchards and trying not to spend too much money!
Best wishes
Zoe.
postet av TalulahBelle kl. 5:15 am (EST) den Sep 24, 2008
You and Bookstothesky put me onto to the Dover series and I will start the first book next week while in Maine--to see if anyone is left alive. Actually the moose are the biggest hazard--no driving at night through the forests.
Best Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 2:27 pm (EST) den Sep 18, 2008
I can't take all the credit for my list of where my friends are from. I have search and search this site and borrowed the idea from another LT user. I thought it was a great idea too.
I feel British Crime/Ghost/Horror is so different that what I am use to here in Canada. I often watch the British comedies and have read a few books that take place in Britain or written by a British author. If you have your list handy I would love take a look at it.
I really ought to check out the local library here. I have a wide variety of books waiting right here in my home to be read. Would like to read them and get them out of the way.
Ihaven't come across an electronic book yet. I don't really know if I would like it or not. I love reading while I am in bed about to end my day and sometimes read when I am not feeling well. I just can't see myself enjoying a book unless I am holding it in my hands.
Sorry that I hadn't replied any soomer. I find there is always something else that has to be done before I come on here.
Will keep in touch.
Jacqueline
postet av callmejacx kl. 9:41 pm (EST) den Sep 9, 2008
Janwillem van de Wetering did very well with “The Maine Massacre.” The references to Maine were, of course, appealing to me. The description of the flight of the small plane carrying the commissaris was reminiscent of my wife’s first flight into Owls Head, Maine, from Boston after a good snowstorm. One of the victim’s in van de Wetering’s story was “accidentally” shot by a deer hunter. This is recalls a case along the Maine coast where a woman was shot and killed wearing white mittens (mistaken for a white-tail deer). The hunter was acquitted.The reference of the bias against French-Canadians (we have no blacks but …) was rather interesting. You might be interested in the following old political skulduggery that I found on the Internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canuck_Lett.... It refers to Muskie, who was a son of a Polish immigrant and came from the same town in Maine that I did. I think he was the first Democrat elected governor of Maine. The Embargo Act, passed under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, had a lasting impression on Maine politics.
Being in the extreme eastern end of West Virginia, we got a bit of hurricane Hanna, a very nice 2 inches of steady rain.
Horus sends his best regards
postet av HorusE kl. 2:07 pm (EST) den Sep 7, 2008
Glad you noticed my photo explanation. And, thank you for your concern for me vs. hurricanes, but I live in sunny Los Angeles where we just have earthquakes, fires and floods:) If we had hurricanes too, I think I'd fulfill my wife's dream and move to jolly ol' England and hang out at your house reading books (that's not actually my wife's dream, just the moving to England part:)
I've made no further progress on "A Carrion Death." I've been thinking about the book and I've decided what's bothering me is Kubu's character. He's rather a bit of a spoiled whiner with too much interest in food and drink to suit me. I'm actually more interested in reading about some of the supporting characters/villains, which could be viewed as a postive testament to the writing duo's abilities, I suppose. I doubt I'm going to pick the book up again for a while; there are just too many other books that look more interesting right now.
Speaking of that, I went to a book signing last month for Scot SF/Fantasy writer Charles Stross. Amongst other things, he's written a couple of SF espionage novels that are homages to Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, and he said the next book will be a homage to a fellow named Anthony Price, here: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/anth... Have you ever read anything by that author? I just read the first book in the series, "The Labyrinth Makers" and thought it was quite well done. I'm also now officially intrigued by this George Bellairs fellow you and Bengan have been writing about, so I'll have to look around for some of his books.
Regarding the Joyce Porter "Dover" books, I'm glad to hear you like them. I'd never heard of them until a week ago when I spotted a couple at a used bookstore and thought I'd enjoy a character described as "fat, lazy, a scrounger and the worst detective at Scotland Yard," (per the Manchester Evening News). I have not yet read any of the books because I want to find "Dover One," which I believe is the first in the series. They had a copy at the used bookstore where I found the others, but it was in execrable condition, so I chose to hunt elsewhere for the book.
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print over here. Oh, yes, except for the political party nominations of Obama and McCain. About a week ago I heard on the radio that, according to some survey or other, McCain is now only one percentage point behind Obama in popularity, which is a considerable improvement over previous survey results. McCain's wife is very rich, and he admitted in a recent interview that he doesn't know how many homes he/they own(s), which is a nice position to be in, surely, but how much in common does McCain have with the common man in this time of economic hardship? His financial status, plus his age make me think he's going to be another out-of-touch President if he's elected. Obama's rich, thanks to his books, but it's pretty recent wealth and it's still not anywhere near McCain's ridiculous net worth, so on that basis and the youth factor, I'd have to say I favor Obama. Still, there are other considerations, so we'll see how it all turns out at the voting booth:)
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:08 pm (EST) den Sep 1, 2008
Regards, John
postet av jovike kl. 10:00 am (EST) den Aug 27, 2008
Now I have finished “An Old Man Dies” and I must say that I liked it very much. So much so that I have bought two more books by George Bellairs, “Murder Makes Mistakes” and “Downhill Ride of Leeman Popple”.
I bought the books trough actions on eBay. Have you bought any books there? I think it is a good way to buy books as long as you decide how much you want to pay in advance and read the sellers feed back carefully.
You are right that Bellairs´s books could be described as 'cosies' but they are still a very good read. What strikes me most is the language he uses, I suppose some people will find it old-fashioned but I think it is just wonderful.
However, I do not think you are right about Bellairs being an obscure author, at least not on eBay. First editions of his books are rather expensive.
Take care,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 4:23 pm (EST) den Aug 26, 2008
Just a short note to let you know that I have bougt my first book by George Bellairs.
You are probably already aware of the folowing web site, but in case you have not heard of it, here is the link:
http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/georg...
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 9:28 am (EST) den Aug 22, 2008
Well my friend, I'm sorry to report that while I've made progress on "A Carrion Death" I still haven't finished it off (around 190 pages to go; it's a pretty long book, or maybe it just seems that way:) Anyway, as I just wrote HorusE, I've been side-tracked by Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's Parker novels that are being re-released over here in groups of three. Hop on over to Horus's page for a bit more info on them, if you're so inclined, please. They're pretty dark books, so I'm not sure if they'll be your cup of tea, or not. I also recently read Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski's 1993 novel, "The Last Wish," which has finally been translated into English, and I can safely say I was very impressed. Mr. Sapkowski's apparently long been a star in Europe and I hope he'll get his due in our countries, as well; here's a link to his book if you're interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Wish-Andrze...
Now, besides the above, the other thing I wanted to tell you about was this link sent to me by my friend jackanaples here on LT: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entert... I don't know if you've seen the article already as I have no idea where The Independent is based and/or if you read it. I found several new authors on the list, so hopefully you will, too.
By the way, thanks for mentioning me to Bengen. It's always good to meet another "right-thinking" LT'er with a nice crime library. I'll be investigating a couple of recommendations he's made along with yours to him:)
Take care,
bookstothesky
P.S. I just broke across 6,000 books a couple of weeks ago, so watch your back (I have to be extra competative about this right now, what with having caught Olympics fever and all that:)
postet av bookstothesky kl. 9:24 pm (EST) den Aug 19, 2008
I look forward on Sundays to getting the book reviews from The Washington Post and The New York Times. A friend provides the latter; I just got the last two issues today and saw the review of Read the OED. I will have to work on my deipnophobia before the next dinner party. The same publication, at the end, had an interesting literary discussion of gout by Geoff Nicholson; in the August 10th issue there was was a nice article (Cover Stories) on connections between some authors and book cover designers--but no comment on British vs American book covers.
I noticed you had comments from "Bengan" regarding Swedish authors. I have just started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. I think "Bookstothesky" recommended it to me. It is starting out great.
postet av HorusE kl. 9:49 pm (EST) den Aug 14, 2008
Thank you very much for you message. Yes I have been in contact with Bookstothesky and I hope I will find the time to study booth his and yours libraries more in detail. So far I have been no fan of fantasy fiction but perhaps he can talk me into it.
You asked about other Scandinavian crime authors and, as I wrote to Bookstothesky, we have a lot of new Swedish female authors who are beginning to be well known, I can recommend Anna Jansson, Asa Larsson, Karin Alvtegen, Mari Jungstedt, Camilla Lackberg and Liza Marklund. A few male crime authors I have not mentioned before are Ake Edwardsson, Leif G.W. Persson, Mons Kallentoft and Bjorn Hellberg. Note that I am not sure if all of them have been translated to English.
Thank you for the useful information about Peter Cheyney, Edgar Wallace and George Bellairs. I have a few books by PC and I have read a few by EW but I have never heard of George Bellairs. The last author seems very interesting. I will try and find some of his books.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 9:03 am (EST) den Aug 14, 2008
thanks for your comment! There are so many interesting books in your library, looking through it I keep seeing ones I think I should get a copy of too. I don't have all my books on librarything yet -- I have about 1/4 or 1/3 of them on at the moment, and still more to go. But still nowhere near as many books as you have. I'll look through more of your library when I get a chance -- I'm sure I'll come across lots more interesting books
thanks
gavin,
postet av rockhopper_penguin kl. 8:30 am (EST) den Aug 12, 2008
Thank you for your message – I am absolutely in awe of your collection, and can only imagine the number of shelves you have in your house! For the past couple of years I have been reading mainly “Golden Age” mysteries and after reading a few reference books I realise I have a few more years of great reading ahead in that genre. I have just finished three books by Nicholas Blake and really enjoyed them. If his others are just as good I will add him to my favourite authors list. It is on my list of "things to do" to peruse your library in more detail.
Best regards,
Monica
postet av mvo62 kl. 3:47 am (EST) den Aug 10, 2008
I checked my profile page and I did find an author with no books listed in her library. She did have other information however, which doubled as a search for information related to her popular science books.
HorusE
postet av HorusE kl. 11:44 am (EST) den Aug 9, 2008
I particularly like the sense of place in Connolly’s works. This last one I read brings out locations in Maine, where I spent my first 18 years. Dover-Foxcroft, briefly referred to, I visited once since that is where one grandfather was born. Connolly also referred to the Sandy River narrow gauge railway. My other grandfather had come from Nova Scotia to help lay a connecting railway, the Rangeley & Phillips RR (Sandy River passes through Phillips, Maine).
Nicola Upson has a character refer to John Dickson Carr as a master of the locked-room mystery, which might be a slight anachronism. The story takes place in March 1934 but information on Carr’s books that have been characterized in Wikipedia indicate that his first locked-room mystery might be The Hollow Man, which was not published until 1935. A minor point, of course, in a enjoyable book. I thought the guilty parties were well concealed until the end.
I am currently reading Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, particularly because of the place. Since my younger son lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn I have become increasingly familiar with its highways and byways. Fortunately he lives next to a precinct headquarters. Connolly had some action in Brooklyn also.
Horus is doing just great, always finding some new chair or bed to claim as his throne. He and another cat, Oscar, get to go out during the daytime (we have seen a fox and coyote around so no overnight outside).
Best Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 1:05 pm (EST) den Aug 8, 2008
Just a quick update with more to follow when I finish the book. I'm about 150 pages into "A Carrion Death." I'm not loving it, but I'm not hating it, either, and it's just starting to pick-up, action-wise, so I'm hoping for a strong second half. I am determined to finish it despite many new acquisitions tempting me to stray, so that I can discuss it with you. I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. It's been a hectic work week and I kept hoping to have read the book so I could respond to you, but it just didn't happen. Anyway, I hope to have it read within the week and, thus, I will write more at that point.
We had a 5.4 "roller" earthquake (as opposed to the more serious "shaker" type, as I call them) here last week that livened up a meeting I was in, and which pulled one of my bookcase earthquake supports out of a wall (luckily, the bookcase didn't fall over). It's made me re-think the adequacy of my bookcase earthquake preparations, so I think I'll be visiting the local hardware store on my next day off to buy more wall attachments. Anyway, I hope everything's stable in your part of the world with pleasant weather and good reading all around:)
talk with you soon,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 12:33 am (EST) den Aug 5, 2008
Yes, that certainly was [The Fog] that I had read when I was in my teans. I believe it was the very first book that scared the wits out of me. I might be wrong it saying that it was the first but I can tell you this, I will always remember {The Fog].
I forgot that it took place in England. No futher investigation neccessary. It is the right book.
Many times when I search for something in my Whitby I get your Whitby. I even joined a book blub in your whitby where everyone meets at someones house. I can't possibly make it. LOL
Thanks so much for describing your Whitby. I enjoy hearing about other places that other people have been to. I didn't know about the 199 steps. Not my kind of trek. It would kill me. I bet it is fasinating to see all those stairs. I will take the elevator and meet you at the top. LOL
My Whitby doesn't have a tourest attraction. It in on Lake Ontario but it's water front needs much inprovement. I grew up in the next town, called Ajax. Now, their waterfront is very nice. What a difference a town makes.
I would very much like to keep in touch. Can't wait to hear from you again.
Jacqueline
postet av callmejacx kl. 11:34 am (EST) den Aug 4, 2008
After reading [The Fog] I had asked around to see if anyone I knew ever read it. For years and years no one has said they even heard of the book. I can't remember how I got my hands on it. I don't remember the story line. What I do remember is that I couldn't but it down and after all these years I could remember the name of the book. I am usually really bad at remembering the names of books, the author's name and even what the book was about.
I feel that I didn't have that much of a hard time but instead was blessed with being ill and later really feeling a connection with books. It was a re-awakening, a re-birth, another chance. I had always enjoyed reading but now I get so much more out of it. I read a variety books now where before I got ill I would usually only read thrillers and mystery. There is so much more out there. I want to read it all.
Wow...totally amazing that you have such a ledger of books that you have. Have you read the books that you have put on "Librarything"? I wish I had started something like that years ago. Good for you.
Ummm...I guess I should tell you something. I am based it Whitby but I highly doubt that you have been here. See, it is in Canada. lol I wish it was in your Whitby. Probably is a very nice place.
I am so thrilled that you accepted to be on my friends list. It may take me a long time but I would like to go through your list and see if there are any more books that you have that I might have read. I am sure I will enjoy seeing all the books that are in your library.
Thanks again for taking the time out to write to me. Bestest wishes to you and I sure hope that I hear from you again. Soon would be nice :)
Jacqueline
postet av callmejacx kl. 12:14 pm (EST) den Jul 31, 2008
Jaqueline
postet av callmejacx kl. 5:18 pm (EST) den Jul 28, 2008
Sorry about changing the photo on you. I'm trying to curb my narcissistic tendencies these days:) I've updated my profile page to reflect the reasoning behind the photo change, in case you haven't read through it lately (not sure why you would have unless you've been suffering from a massive case of ennui).
I'm just finishing up the first Moe Prager mystery novel from Reed Farrel Coleman, called "Walking the Perfect Square," and it's really good. He's an excellent writer, having won the Shamus, Barry and Anthony awards, and I believe he's been twice nominated for the Edgar. So, I recommend the book and author to you, highly.
I've had an ARC of "A Carrion Death" for several months now and actually read the first 20 pages, or so. I set it down, though, when something else "shinier" came along and, as often happens, it got buried in one of my many "to be read" stacks and was forgotten. Then, about a week ago, I ran across the book on Amazon and saw the reviews were pretty much uniformly positive, so I decided I'd like to own the true first edition (it's a very beautiful book with good quality paper and a nice heft, too). So, I think I'll get back to reading it in an hour or so when I'm done with the Coleman book and I'll let you know what I think when I'm done. I'm interested in what the authors had to say, as well.
Talk with you soon,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 4:55 pm (EST) den Jul 21, 2008
Yes,Library Thing appears to be excellent and it's been good to delve through my collection, and find some books I'd forgotten about - like Christmas all over again. My Library is very modest against yours. Maybe you have some surprises hidden there - Lord Lucan maybe?!
Regards,
Stilestrider
postet av Stilestrider kl. 11:32 am (EST) den Jul 18, 2008
I hope everything is well your end. I am very impressed by your huge library. Where do you house them? My approximately 2900 books take a lot of space in my house.
Let me say that I completely agree with you that LT should be used for books which you actually own. It is a great way to record them. My intention is also that all books should have a photo which shows the the right cover.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 2:43 pm (EST) den Jul 17, 2008
You asked a while ago if I was finding the crime/mystery/thrillers or the historical books best (or indeed both).
I enjoy them about the same, but read more crime/mystery/thrillers. I like historical fiction, even better if a mystery is thrown in, since it gives provides history in a less intense mode, with some human interest thrown in. Sometimes I get inspired to read some history in nonfiction form.
I have been reading Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon series, which gives me some feel of the battles between the Saxons and the Danes. Although Cornwell invents a number of things such as a fortress at Durham before the Norman Conquest, he did get me interested in the Durham Cathedral. Bryson mentioned the Cathedral in “Notes from a Small Island.” He suggested taking his car to go there, but the road from New Hampshire is not too good.
I just finished “Every Dead Thing” by John Connolly. It was a great thriller. I particularly enjoyed the geographical references ranging from Scarborough, Maine, Greenpoint (in Brooklyn, NY, where one son lives, to Rehoboth Beach (which we have visited occasionally) to New Orleans (and the beignets at Café du Monde). I note Connolly’s reference to Madam LeLaurie's old mansion where it was rumored that slaves were chained and tortured—John Dickson Carr referred to that tale in “Papa La Bas”. Connolly had a lot of characters to keep track of; it seemed like one or two were superfluous.
Will be in touch.
postet av HorusE kl. 7:45 pm (EST) den Jun 30, 2008
"Well, you can add books that you don't own. Many do, and LT will be making that more clear when we add a robust concept of "collectons" (ie., own, read but don't own, want, etc.)"
Should we laugh or cry?
postet av bookstothesky kl. 8:25 pm (EST) den Jun 23, 2008
You're too fast for me! I just added that Benjamin Black book and was going to let you know about it yesterday, but it slipped my mind. Here's some info on the book:
"Commissioned as a high profile serial by the 'New York Times Magazine', 'The Lemur' is a stylish new thriller from a rising star of literary crime. William ('Wild Bill') Mulholland is an Irish-American electronics billionaire. An ex-CIA operative, he now heads up the Mulholland Trust, with the help of his daughter Louise. When Mulholland gets wind of a hostile biography planned for him by the investigative journalist Wilson Cleaver, he commissions his daughter's husband, John Glass, to pen the official line. But Glass' young researcher tries to blackmail him, and Glass is horrified, fearing that his own secrets, as well as the Mulhollands', are at risk. He slings him off the project, only to hear from the NYPD that this man he has nicknamed 'The Lemur' has been found shot to death...Silence cannot be bought - even by one of New York's wealthiest families. Riddled with explosive secrets, 'The Lemur' is a brilliant contemporary thriller that sees Benjamin Black at the top of his game."
It's only 132 pages long in the U.S. trade paperback size, so it's really more of a novella than a novel, in my opinion. It appears to be on back-order on Amazon.co.uk, so maybe try your local bookstore(s) or, possibly, just read it on-line from the New York Times. I suspect it's probably still available to read, possibly for a nominal fee, but I don't really know.
I finished the first John Connelly novel and thought I would love it, but ended up just liking it; not sure why, exactly, but it just didn't do it for me. I have read the synopsis' of R.J. Ellory's books before, including "A Quiet Belief in Angels" but had forgotten about them until your reminder. Of all his books, I'm most attracted to this one: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/roge... It's good to know he's a talented writer, so I'll look around for his books over here.
Regarding the "Hindenburg" libraries (i.e., over-inflated and needing to come down to earth), I'll believe something will change when I see it. And, the whole home page thing doesn't do much for me, either. Still waiting for collections, the "next" thing they were going to work on a year or so ago:)
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 8:19 pm (EST) den Jun 23, 2008
I am afraid I have spent even more on John Connolly. I purchased three on your list on line at the Strand Bookstore, including “Every Dead Thing”. I looked at a local used bookstore, Wonderbooks, but they had nothing by John Connolly. The local public library has only “The Black Angel”. I look forward to reading the series. Thank for the list.
I just finished “Newton” by Peter Ackroyd. It was as a great, albeit “brief” biography. I followed that by “The Devil in Velvet” by John Dickson Carr, where Isaac Newton makes a brief appearance. The latter book was fun and had an interesting twist on a murder investigation, with time shift of some 350 years. The devil must check birth dates (i.e., December 25th) before he makes his deals.
Fortunately we have not had any tornadoes or flooding, but did have some very heavy winds last week. As I was heading home I saw many trees with large broken limbs and trees ripped up by their roots in the nearby Antietam Battlefield.
postet av HorusE kl. 6:49 pm (EST) den Jun 16, 2008
That library is growing as I write. Every time I refresh windsorpl's profile page, the count grows by 1 book; probably at 70,000 by now. Hey, it wouldn't be the Windsor Palace library would it:)
I'm about 200 pages into John Connolly's first book and really enjoying it (why do I always wait so long to start the good books/series?). And, even better, Connolly will be in Los Angeles signing next week, so I may well go to one of two possible events, though I mostly only have ARC's for him to sign. But, with gas prices now at $4.29/gallon, I may just skip the whole thing, though; we'll see.
Talk with you soon, when we find out where that monster library ends up,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 4:59 pm (EST) den Jun 3, 2008
There was something else about "The Reapers" that caught my attention: the nitrogen triiodide that was in the whistle that finished of Dever. When I was finishing up in secondary school, I did a skit with a chemical theme (something in a book published by Science Service). Part of the skit related a story about a chemistry teacher during the war (WW II) trying to create a substitute for butter. There was some accident and the product of his research was spattered around the school. Even today, so the story went, someone may step on a remnant and a small explosion will result. Prior to the skit, I had spread some nitrogen triiodide around the school, which represented the unstable butter. It went off as planned, as members of the audience left. Of course such a stunt would not get far today. As Oliver Sachs noted in "Uncle Tungsten", much has changed in the availability of chemicals in the last 50 years, as well increased sensitivity to explosives. I thought Connolly's use of NI3 very clever, based on my limited experience, I wonder if enough could be packed in a whistle to that kind of damage. there are some interesting comments on NI3 at http://www.bombshock.com/forumsarchive/e....
Watch out for Horus!
postet av HorusE kl. 8:07 pm (EST) den Jun 1, 2008
Just returned from South Carolina. The weather was perfect, relatively low humidity and in the high 70's F.
Since I had brought my laptop, I got your information about "The Reapers" by John Connolly, and while my wife went shopping elsewhere, I stopped at the local Barnes and Noble, "The Reapers" jumped out at me. It was a great read. A friend from the local university, who is very much into political science and civil rights in particular, had previously loaned me "Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism" that Connolly quoted from. I had not read the whole of book on sundown towns, as there was too much statistics-but enough to get the idea.
I would very much like to hear more from you regarding John Connolly. Thanks for the information regarding the "Silver Swan" by John Banville.
Good Reading!
postet av HorusE kl. 3:37 pm (EST) den Jun 1, 2008
Have you ever read anything by Phil Rickman? He does mystery on the Welsh and English border. In his first book of his Merrily Watkins' Series, "Wine of Angels", he has a character named Lucy Devenish :-)
This site has been a Godsend for me, as I needed to have an efficient system of cataloguing because I will have books at home and at my office. I haven't had a chance to use all the features yet because I am moving from one place to another, thus the perfect opportunity to do the cataloguing! However, hearing what was useful to you was helpful to me.
I looooove to read, so the best part of this for me so far is getting new ideas from other bibliophiles about good authors.
I lived in Aberdeen, Scotland for awhile because I attended the University of Aberdeen and my grandmother is from Edinburgh, so I have been around the UK quite a bit. I can't wait to go back!
Thanks for your kind welcome and I look forward to chatting in the future :-)
~BuffyAnne :-)
postet av BuffyAnne kl. 1:35 pm (EST) den Jun 1, 2008
Thanks for dropping me a note and for the positive comments regarding book ownership.
Oil (or, rather, gasoline/petrol) prices just crossed $4.00/gallon last week for regular unleaded in my neighborhood, so that's really waking up my normally somewhat apathetic countrymen. I heard on the radio a couple of days ago that some agency (the Dept. of Transportation, I think) reported Americans drove 11 billion miles less in March, 2008 compared to March, 2007, which is the sharpest decline since the agency began keeping records in the 1940's.
Thanks for the Benjamin Black recommendation. I came really close to ordering a signed UK copy of "Christine Falls" last year given the author's true identity and award win, but ultimately decided to wait for it to come out in paperback over here; I bought it in trade paper a month or so ago, but haven't yet read it (man, I get tired of saying that:) Same situation for John Connolly; I've been buying his books every year (unless I get an arc, which I've gotten the last few years) based on positive reviews but haven't yet read him (I agree he's a very jolly fellow, as I did get to meet and joke with him a bit 3-4 years ago at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. He told some story that I recall being very funny, but darned if I remember the details now).
Just a couple of weeks ago I bought 3 new book cases and I've now got all my trade paperbacks and hardcovers on shelves where I can see them, and I've been making a concerted effort to read some of the authors whose books I've been buying for a long time but not reading. Last week, I read Ken Bruen's "The White Trilogy" and "Blitz" which are the first four DS Brant books (not sure if they're your cup of tea given that the characters in the stories aren't always very sympathetic). I also read my first Peter James novel, "Dead Simple" which was pretty good but maybe not a character/series I want to continue with since it didn't really grab me hard. I read a first novel by Patrick Lennon called "Corn Dolls" and found it entertaining if not wholly believable insofar as how the Cambridge area police acted, but since I'm watching through American police-colored lenses, so to speak, maybe their actions (or, really, inactions) were appropriate. Then, today, I finished re-reading Deon Meyer's "Dead at Daybreak" as I'd recently sent him an e-mail telling him how I'd enjoyed his books, to which he very quickly and courteously replied. He--along with many translated foreign authors--has had trouble breaking into the American market and I wanted to give him a bit of encouragement. Luckily, he seems to be doing well in other markets, if quitting his job to write full-time is any indication of monetary success. Anyway, I started reading book one of Barry Eisler's John Rain assassin series today, called "Hard Rain" and once I'm done with those books, I think John Connolly's are next up in the on-deck circle. After those, I think it'll be a switch to science fiction as I just learned today that Charles Stross is coming to Los Angeles in July and I own 11 hardcover books of his, none of which I've read, so I need to read at least a couple before his book signing. And, somewhere in there, I need to finish off "Child 44" as both HorusE and another friend have given me the thumbs up on it (have you read it yet?).
That's all for now. Time to hit the hay over here so I'll talk with you later.
Take it easy,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:22 am (EST) den May 29, 2008
Oh how I wish I could learn to proof read properly before I submit a note to the ether!
Can I just confirm that yes, A L has been writing for years, but only in the 2othC - not since the 11thC!
The Award was actually in 1947..
C
postet av Caesia kl. 7:24 am (EST) den May 25, 2008
Thank you for such a quick response. I think your point about having a picture of the complete works of the author is spot on. Thank you for the perspective! It then brings up the question of how to identify the works that haven't been published in books.
Maxine McArthur (http://www.librarything.com/author/mcart...) is a good example of an author. There are a number of short stories that have been published in various journals (including those that are paper based as well as those that are online, or both. If you go to her website (www.maxinemcarthur.com), there are details on how to access the various short stories – where they are published, both on paper and electronically.
A number of these short stories have been added to the LT author page (ie Bakemono, Remembering Bathys, Breaking the Ice) but there is absolutely nothing on either the main page or the details page (ie no information on where or how the stories are published). I also noted that sometimes there is a link to the e-version is in a review, but not all the works have reviews.
It may be something to do with Journals being one of those maybe in, maybe out areas in LT, but on the other hand, if e-publishing is going to continue, perhaps there should be space for the links?
I don't know the answer, and am not sure if my irritation at not immediately being able to easily find a new story that is on the author list for an author I enjoy, is a personal idiosyncrasy, or potentially a more general issue.
A L Barker seems to have been writing for years (she is now dead, but won the first Somerset Maugham Award in 1047, and has been shortlisted for the Booker. She has written a number of novels and volumes of short stories. I think she fall into the class that can be thought of as “under-recognised excellent british female writers”. In her introduction to “Submerged” Jane Gardam states that A L Barker saw herself as “a writer’s writer – a kind way of saying that nobody reads me”. I enjoy her writing, not the least for the times when she is extremely funny.
Regards
Caesia
postet av Caesia kl. 7:18 am (EST) den May 25, 2008
I thought I would drop you a note, now that I have managed (much to my delight) to have got just about all of my books onto LT (I think I have finished finding the little ( or no so little) piles of books that seem to hide in dark corners and multiply all by themselves...). This means that I have been browsing LT more.
I have noticed, and thoroughly agree with your views on the issues of the differences in LT collections that are of actual books on an individual's shelf, and those that include a number, or a very, very large number of "wants" or "wish list".
However, I was wondering how you felt about entries which are not actually books, but, for example, a short story that ends up "online". This I find really challenging, as, when I look at the author's page, these very short, electronic items are listed in the same way a book, usually without reference to where they are exist in cyberspace, in the same way that publication details provide this information. It seems to occur more with speculative fiction. I find this frustrating with authors that I know - for example, one author I know well has three actual books published, but the author page shows another seven items that are not actually books (although at first glance it appears as though they are). I find this extremely misleading (and I am not sure what the author would feel...).
Anyway, I was wondering what you thought about this. I would appreciate another point of view on the matter.
I hope you are well and enjoying reading - I am catching up on some A L Barker who is just a delight - and makes a change from my usual diet of crime.
Regards
Caesia
postet av Caesia kl. 4:10 am (EST) den May 25, 2008
postet av xylophone kl. 6:07 pm (EST) den May 21, 2008
Thanks for the John Dickenson Carr references. I just received them, from Abe.
I understand that The Hungry Goblin was the last book that Carr wrote. I suppose the title was inspired by the old poem “Tom O’Bedlam.”
I just returned from New York City, where I had a chance to visit the Barnes & Noble on 5th Ave. It was a terrible temptation. I did find an Janwillem van de Wetering novel there; it is rare to find his books on the shelf in bookstores around here.
I just finished “Papa La-Bas” by John Dickson Carr. I was amused to read about Senator Benjamin hunting the devil-fish at Port Royal Sound in South Carolina. This area is where we are heading tomorrow for a week stay. I have never seen any devil-fish (rays) there however.
Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 7:49 pm (EST) den May 20, 2008
I forgot to mention that I had checked out one of your favorite authors, John Dickson Carr. One of the local libraries has about 12 of his mysteries. I picked out "The Hungry Goblin" at random. It stars Wilkie Collins as a detective of sorts. It was a pleasure to read. I got a laugh out of one short conversation:
“On every possible occasion, you know, this man insists on being there hours ahead of time.
hereas this woman, like most women,” retorted Nigel, “likes nothing better than to cut it so fine she almost misses the train …” My wife and I frequently have this conversation.
postet av HorusE kl. 8:17 am (EST) den Apr 11, 2008
Actually I have not yet obtained “100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century”, although I note that it shares a common author and Edgar award with “They Died in Vain”. The other book we discussed was “A Catalog in Crime.”
“Revelation” has not been published yet in the US, but is due out in May. I look forward to reading it. I am glad to hear that Shardlake has returned. I had an extra copy of “Dark Fire” that I gave to our local public library, and I note that it has been well received there.
I have been exploring the statistics and there was an odd thing about “You and none other.” It seems to mean: You and one other. There was an odd bug, but it appears to have been fixed. How do you interpret “book obscurity?” I also find Local useful and Legacy of no interest. I have not pursued Talk and am not sure I will, but think Series is a great feature.
I recently finished “Pelagia and the Black Monk” by Boris , which was full of surprises and well paced. A friend loaned me “The Worst Hard Time”, a National Book Award winner by Timothy Egan. It gives the history of the American Dust Bowl, which I am reading now. It covers some of the Depression stories as well.
One feature that someone suggested was to have the profile show book or books currently read. It would e useful. Actually I thought I saw it once on someone else’s profile, but it did not reappear--maybe it was a test.
Horus is fast asleep after spending most of the great day we had (about 75 F).
Best wishes to yours
postet av HorusE kl. 7:20 pm (EST) den Apr 10, 2008
postet av Caesia kl. 6:33 am (EST) den Mar 25, 2008
Thank you for the thoughts about english crime books - unfortunately at this stage I still have not yet popped all of my books into librarything - including crime fiction A-H .... However, you have managed to note a number of authors I enjoy - particularly the Matthew Shardlakes - I do have a number of the others - except Andrew Taylor - whose earlier works I read avidly, but then I lost interest. I don't know the Mathew Cox however, so shall look out for it. With regrads to the fourth Imogen Quy, living on this side of teh world often meands a longish wait for the books to appear here ( although not always)
Happy reading
postet av Caesia kl. 6:32 am (EST) den Mar 25, 2008
I am delighted that you think my library is "interesting"! I have had a look at your Books about Books and fear that it will result in an increase in books in my bookshelf...
I find it hard to recommend Australian Crime Fiction - partly because I am not sure what sort of crime you like reading, and partly because some of it I really like because it describes bits of Australia so it is a nice change to read about a place you actually know rather than one which has(generally) only been accessed through books - or TV. I don't know how well it will translate to another country. However, I can outline some of my favourites ...
I really like Shane Moloney - his protagonist is interersted in politics and it is set in Melbourne. I find him very funny - some of the scenes in the later books are really quite wicked. This is a series and although the books are possibly stand alone, i would recommend starting with Stiff.
Robert Wallace wrote four books in the late 80's/early 90's starring Essington Holt - (To Catch a Forger is the first)followed by a fifth in 2003 under his real name Robin Wallace-Crabbe. To me, Essington is a very Australian character.
Peter Temple writes well - Bad Debts is the first of the books that have Jack Irish as a protagonist, and he has written others.
Then there is Peter Corris - possibly the most prolific of current Austrailan crime writers - in general he is good.
Kerry Greenwood has written a number of novels set in the Twenties in Melbourne - of which I think the first couple are the best - Cocaine Blues and Flying Too High - the series then becomes much more formulaic and looses tightness of plot and detail.
I rather like Garry Disher who has written a series with Wyatt as the protagonist - perhaps more thriller than crime as Wyatt is a villain - Kickback is the first of these. He has written a second series with Detective Insector Hal Challis - as the protagonist - starting with the Dragon Man.
And of course there is Barry Maitland - with his Brock and Kolla series - although I am not sure if he is classifed as "Australian" he lives here - and his books are set in Britain - but he is good.
Happy hunting ...
By the way are there any BrRitish crime writers that you particularly like - whilst some of the more mainstream (ie big selling) authors get here, I think there are many that never grace our shores ... so any thoughts would be welcome ...
Regards
postet av Caesia kl. 8:14 am (EST) den Mar 24, 2008
Thought of you when I saw this travel section on Cathar territory:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
Horus
postet av HorusE kl. 2:18 pm (EST) den Mar 23, 2008
My library is now public if you were still interested. I note that we have (for me) a relatively high level of common interest) although your library is significantly larger and I am still trying to load existing books. ( And yes, like you, I am only putting in books that actually exist on my book shelf now / hence also providing a picture of actual book cover.) I too am considering CDs and DVDs but so far have no moved beyond books...
All the best
postet av Caesia kl. 8:46 am (EST) den Mar 23, 2008
Thanks for responding (and from the other side of the world, too. Isn't the Internet wonderful!)
Yes, I have several HP Lovecraft books. I started reading him many years ago, and as I remember had some sleepless nights as a result. As a matter of fact, I have only some of my collection here; you can find a full list (by shelf, not by author or topic, so it's a fun mixture) on my website.
Salley Vickers was kind enough to reply to the email I sent her about her books; that's a nice thing!
If you look at the fiction for adults page on my site, you should find some of the fan fiction I wrote about Blake's 7. As 'fanlit' goes, it's not too cringe-making.
Nice to chat with you,
Regards,
postet av ariom kl. 8:59 am (EST) den Mar 19, 2008
I figured out how to change the location under local. I had to click on the pencil.
I note that Bookstothesky referred to changing the library columns from ISBN to Google. I did not find ISBN under B, but under D. However I changed the cover under B to Google to get that Google.
As to the two books, I definitely recommend The Catalog of Crime.
Til later
postet av HorusE kl. 8:22 pm (EST) den Mar 18, 2008
I wrote up a "review" of the two books and you can find them under their titles.
"They Died in Vain" I should note does have rather through reviews of the 103 books selected by individuals who take their mysteries very seriously. Probably its "companion" book would be better as the books reviewed would be the favorites.
I am beginning to like the local material better as I get to understand it or as it improves. I was glad to find out how to remove a venue that I had duplicated. It is not clear exactly what is meant by "location"--it seems to refer to "state" only. in the US--but there is a limit to 100 miles. The zip (postal) code works well however. The zoom feature helps breaks up the clusters in Manhattan.
postet av HorusE kl. 4:35 pm (EST) den Mar 18, 2008
Manning Coles is actually the pseudonym of two people, a man and a woman - can't remeber their names but I believe they were neighbours. The series features Tommy Hambledon, ex-school master and intelligence officer. The first one Drink to yesterday is about the first World War and ends with Hambledon falling into the harbour in Germany. Pray silence starts with him being rescued and losing his memory. He believes he's German and builds a new life and becomes involved in the rise of fascism. The night of the Reichtag fire he gains his memory just after being made Chief of Police in Berlin. The rest of the book has him putting spokes in the Nazis plans. The rest of the books takes him through the war and the cold war. The humour is mostly in the writing and the dialogue not the situations. I would recommend Pray silence as a starting point - the later books are not as good but have their moments. It's like most authors and Tv series, they always go on too long. Agatha Christie is a case in point, she lost her grip on plots as she got older.
Harrogate's not far away, I need two trains (one into Leeds and one out to Harrogate). I hope you patronised Bettys both in Harrogate and in York. The York one has the best atmosphere with the big windows looking out on to St Helen's Square and the fascinating World War 2 RAF mirror with the signatures downstairs.
Cimorene
postet av cimorene kl. 9:15 am (EST) den Mar 17, 2008
Thanks for the Reginald Hill recommendation. Since I only "discovered" Hill six-ish months ago, and think his writing is great, I'm quite interested in finding the book.
I'm 124 pages into "Child 44" and it's definitely gripped me. If Smith's research is accurate, it really drives home how lucky we are to be living (or have lived) in Western society. More positive reviews have gone up on Amazon UK, so I'm moderately optimistic that a signed UK first/first would be worth tracking down and buying, either for later gain or just for the satisfaction of owning it. According to a photocopy of a Wall Street Journal article about the book/author, Smith is contracted for at least one more book, so maybe he'll turn into a big name thriller writer. I've ordered a signed copy for myself just for the speculative fun of it.
Last night I actually put to use one of the recent LT innovations, namely the ability to link to Google's Book information. I have my library set to the suggested "B" viewing type, so I took out the ISBN listing and substituted the Google book info in that column, because Google shows the ISBN of the book you enter and that information can also be found in the social info in the next column. What I like from Google is that a book's story synopsis usually comes up, plus there are sometimes links to book review sites. All in all, it will be a site improvement I will use frequently, I think, or others can use if they look at my library.
Speaking of my library, I haven't yet had the "pleasure" of a private library finding it of interest (at least, I don't recall any). The fact that you've had a couple of requests makes me laugh for the inequitable reason you set forth. I read on one of the talk threads of a private library that adds read, but not owned, books to its library, so that's one private library (ironically with "more" books than me, of course) I know is inflated; there are probably more.
That's all for now. Keep the faith:)
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 12:31 am (EST) den Mar 17, 2008
thanks for the lovely note you left on my profile. I have not actively sought out other LibraryThingers to chat with, but I noticed your library and was very interested in the comments you made on your page. I have heard a lot of talk about what can and cannot, should and shouldn't be catalogued on LibThing and I haven't come up with a definite opinion on it. I am torn between being repelled by the idea that people make their libraries look big by filling it with anything but the books they actually hold - much like Facebook and MySpace users fill their sites with 'Friends' they have never and will never talk to - and a resentment to yet more rules on what we can and cannot do. I like to leave everything up to the individual, with a hidden proviso that it may irritate me if it is done for the appearance of the thing rather than for its usefulness. After all, I cannot help it if something irritates me, but I'll try not to harp on about it.
If I had more (or any) time on my hands I would put my attention to creating a site that would hold all these extra things that we like to have listed - something especially for all us List people.
As it is, I agree that you should put your CDs on. You have the need to catalogue and so you shouldn't deny yourself. And if I look in any Library catalogue I can see CDs listed alongside books, and DVDs and videos and so on. Here I have contrived two arguments For, which makes me feel slightly better about the whole thing. Enjoy your Adding.
postet av bezzalina kl. 9:58 pm (EST) den Mar 15, 2008
What a wonderful collection you and your wife Vivien have. I also am envious and am adding you to my interetsing library list. I actually own a lot more than the slightly less than 200 I have listed; the full list can be found, if you are interested (along with other bits and pieces) on my own website (http://members.westnet.com.au/ariom ) Like you, I actually possess all my listed books, although I have probably slipped up on getting the exact edition for some of them. Aren't Sally Vickers' books a delight? And I see you also have Blake'7 - the books are pretty woeful compared to the series.
regards from Western Australia
postet av ariom kl. 9:05 pm (EST) den Mar 15, 2008
Glad you find some of my books interesting. I'm in the process of putting all my books on, which is taking so long. I shall have more Northants books on soon and some crime, particulaly art crime. I am so enjoying putting all my books on and I'm doing that when I should be working (I work from home).
Where do you store all your books? Mine are taking over the house; there's nowhere for any more bookcases. I did suggest to my husband that we could buy a bigger house but I didn't receive a positive response!
Best wishes
Zoe.
postet av TalulahBelle kl. 1:08 pm (EST) den Mar 15, 2008
Thank you for the kind words about my reviews. I think my inclusion of the first line dates back to a continuing game a penpal from Middleborough and I had when we were teenagers. We'd send a series of first lines of various books we'd read and see how badly we could stump each other. Some first lines are much more memorable than the rest!
Hope you and yours are well, and that you aren't being torn apart by the high winds in the UK. A friend in Durham had to catch the train to London today, but the train schedules were such a mess due to the weather that she wound up returning home and tele-conferencing instead!
--Cathy.
postet av cathyskye kl. 12:37 am (EST) den Mar 13, 2008
Glad to hear that the earthquake was not too severe. I do not recall any of note here in eastern WV. I recall being in a slight earthquake in souther Greece (Naplia) once, just thought is was someone very heavy walking around in the floor above.
I have picked up one book by van de Wetering as a remainder: Just a Corpse at Twilight. It particularly caught my eye at it is set along the coast of Maine. I grew up in that state, but way inland. Most of the relatives I have left there now live along the coast however. It is pretty depressing inland. Since you mentioned this author I decided to make it my next book to read. Just finished it and found it a pleasure, will have to pursue his mysteries further. The author has an amusing way of disposing of the bad guys (the bad sheriff and his deputy). Mentions marijuana growing along the coast. Had not hear that before, but had heard of some pretty good crops grown further inland.
I had not seen that poetry reference before, but I see that they have it at the local university library in the reference section. Will have to check it out.
I notice that one of your favorite authors is John Dickson Carr. Although most of his books are out-of-print, there is a public library in the next county, 8 miles away, that has a very large building and has kept his books. I picked out "The Hungry Goblin", at random, and it was fun, has Wilkie Collins as an assisting amateur detective in investigating an attempted murder at a home called Udolpho.
Talk to you later
postet av HorusE kl. 2:47 pm (EST) den Mar 12, 2008
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:25 am (EST) den Mar 12, 2008
Very nice to hear from you, amigo. I saw one of your posts yesterday on someone else's library and thought to myself that I hadn't checked to see what you're up to for a while, but you beat me to the punch.
I am fully recovered from the nasty sinus infection (I think. I'm turning into a bit of a hypochondriac now whenever I get any little headache-ish pain:), thank you for asking. I'd never had such an infection before and, natch, I got the less common type above the eye, so it felt like someone was drilling into my brain through my forehead; I don't recommend it, at all.
"Court of the Air" hasn't been released over here yet and it hadn't come up on my radar while doing one of my periodic UK website searches, so I wasn't familiar with it. Your review seems to mirror some of the reviews on Amazon UK regarding the confusing aspects of the story. Since 1/3 of the people reviewing it really disliked it, and you're review was only so so, I think I'll pass on it. I've got way too much stuff I'd rather read. Speaking of that, I'm about to embark on the reading of an advance copy of one of your countryman's books called "Child 44." It's a mystery/thriller set in Stalin-era Russia. The book has received all sorts of positive hype and Ridley Scott is supposedly making it into a movie and, so far, the book seems to be living up to the hype if the Amazon reviews are anything to go by. I've become increasingly fascinated with Russian set mysteries and thrillers over the last 5,6,7 years, though I'm not completely sure why; I'll let you know what I think of the book when I finish.
I hope your earthquake didn't do much harm. In the first few years that I lived in Southern California the only quakes I experienced were these kind of rolling ones where the clothes swing back and forth in the closet; kinda fun, I thought. Then the Northridge quake hit around 4:20 a.m., if I recall correctly, and I thought the world was ending. There was no chance to get out of bed for the first 20 seconds or so, the shaking was so ferocious. My antiquated computer monitor was thrown 6 feet off the desk and landed right next to my wife's head (I was still living like a college student with a mattress on the floor in those days). I thought for sure that my old apartment complex would collapse, but it came through relatively unscathed, while many of the newer buildings around me were seriously damaged. The condo complex next door fell completely off it's foundation and went from 20 feet away from our building to around 5 feet away. The very scariest thing for me though, where I really thought I was going to die, was one of the aftershocks. I was leaving work on a Sunday afternoon (back in my "corporate" days when weekend work was fairly common), and I was taking the elevator down from the 16th floor. Next thing I know, the elevator is shaking from side to side, the lights are blinking on and off, and I'm thinking I'm a dead man with a 12 floor drop about to happen. Luckily, those tiny signs that say there's little chance of an uncontrolled drop are correct. I was stuck in the elevator for a couple of minutes, then it went up a floor and let me out. I was down the emergency stairs in a flash and was quite shocked to find the world going on as usual when I hit daylight. It sure felt like a major quake had hit, but it was just another aftershock in the 5.3 range on the Richter scale. So, those are my scary earthquake stories, so I can definitely sympathize with being rudely awakened in the wee hours by Mother Nature.
With regard to our presidential race, I'm not following too closely, though I heard on the radio today that Obama won in Mississippi, with the votes seriously skewed along racial lines (91% of blacks for Obama, and 73% of whites for Clinton, I believe). I've been following the scandal erupting around Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York, much more closely. I just don't get how people in positions of power (and the former Attorney General of the State of New York, to boot) think that their sexual escapades are not going to get exposed to the world, sometime, somewhere. It seems to be a relatively minor legal violation, so far, in that he was "just" paying for sex, but the ethical violation bothers me a lot more. Everywhere I turn these days, it seems ethics are being freely disregarded. I sometimes wonder if having a sense of ethics and/or a conscience shouldn't be considered a handicap in today's world.
Sorry to hear about your lousy weather, too. It was just another boring day of 76 degree sunshine over here:) It's going to drop to a teeth-chattering 72 degrees tomorrow, so I'll have to bundle up, heh.
I haven't read that Philip Kerr book yet (big shock) but it's good to know you liked it; I'll get to it someday.
Don't get me started on the LT local pages. They're cool, no doubt, and will get even cooler, as you say (if I may paraphrase), as more content is added, but...didn't Tim say a few months ago that collections was next on the agenda?? Is my memory that defective? I'm just getting fed up with being passed on the Zeitgeist list by schools, actual lending libraries, businesses, private libraries (who cares how big these are, we can't admire their contents, so give 'em there own list, I say), and the usual inflated library suspects. I'm seriously thinking of joining you in the addition of music and movies to my library, and one of my friends is constantly encouraging me to enter my comic collection under the theory that comic books are a) called comic "books" and b) are sold in bookstores; I'm sorely tempted, let me tell you.
I'm also annoyed right now, because I just found out that what I thought was the third book in Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series (called "Nemesis") may actually be the second book, despite being published third; makes me want to give the publisher a collective smack upside the head.
On a brighter note, I've been reading books by Australian author Peter Temple, and I'm really enjoying his writing style. I highly recommend "The Broken Shore," as well as his Jack Irish series beginning with "Bad Debts." The Aussie slang is very entertaining to try and decipher, too; reminds me a bit of reading Ken Bruen and trying to figure out your UK slang.
Well, that's all for now. Keep yourself dry over there and I'll talk to you later,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:14 am (EST) den Mar 12, 2008
I'm always pleased to find people who own similar books. My collection is by no means as large as yours, but I have had to be ruthless recently as I don't think under the bed in boxes is a good place for books. Being a retired cataloguer I've been enjoying inputting books again, even though Librarything is nothing like the system I used at work.
I don't collect all of Edgar Wallace, merely the Sanders books and the Four Just Men. My father started me reading detective stories when I was a child, beginning with Margery Allingham and Naomi Marsh. I suppose that's why I've continued to like the "cosy" genre rather than the hardboiled - my father didn't like the Mickey Spillane school of writing so that genre didn't cross my horizon until I was old enough for the adult library. You'll remember the days when the librarian didn't allow you to take adult books on junior tickets.
I have recently completed my Manning Coles and Phoebe Atwood Taylor collections, but am still searching for hardbacks to replace collapsing paperbacks - perfect binding is the bane of book collectors! I find Skipton the best charity shop location but I think all charities know the value of old books and it's rare to find anything but modern fiction. Old children's books are a dying breed except at book fairs. Have you noticed the dearth of old books in your charity shops? I'm going to the big fair in Harrogate at the end of the month. It used to be in a hotel in the centre but it's moved to the Yorkshire Showground, so it'll be fun getting there on public transport.
Cimorene
postet av cimorene kl. 6:35 am (EST) den Mar 1, 2008
Thanks again for the reference to The Secret of Lost Things: A Novel. I enjoyed it but had to reread the final pages a couple of times to understand the ending. The store reminds me a bit of The Strand Bookstore in Manhattan. The store does sell review copies. Needless to say it has more than one cashier and has a bag storage on entry. I am somewhat puzzled as to what time frame is presented in which the protagonist could survive on $70/week in Manhattan.
Just finished Appleby and Honeybath, by Michael Innes. Fun reading. Enjoyed the literary references--my poetry background is limited--but Google came to the rescue. A few words beyond my American Dictionary.
HorusE
postet av HorusE kl. 8:02 pm (EST) den Feb 25, 2008
postet av arbjrm kl. 10:07 am (EST) den Feb 22, 2008
Hope you don't mind but I had to add you to my Interesting Libraries as most of the books we share are 4+ stars! Must admit to the green eyed monster at the size and scope of your library - one day, one day. I see you are adding your music collection, I haven't attempted that as yet but will be interested to see if we have a kindred taste in music, although my musical tastes are even more eclectic than my reading.
postet av dorisdayrules kl. 11:03 am (EST) den Feb 17, 2008
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 3:17 pm (EST) den Feb 15, 2008
Your collection is amazing, and I am actually a bit envious :-)
I see you like misteries, crime fiction, wich is also a passion of mine. I am uploading my books, a few at a time, I home to be finished before the spring. It will be interesting then to see how many books we share.
Also, your library gave me a lot of new titles-ideas!
Cheers from Canada
Caterina
postet av crnfva kl. 10:33 am (EST) den Feb 12, 2008
I have started The Yellow Cross, but it is requiring some considerable concentration. The first chapters deal with the geography of the area, the villages, the rivers and other essential elements of the topography. The third chapter lists all the families of Montaillou and where their houses are located, and it begins to outline the characters (religious affiliations in particular). There are some beautiful photographs of the area described. Interesting history.
I found the book by Emmaneul Le Roy in the university library in town under the title: Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error (American edition). In examining the surrounding stacks, I noticed that this libary has a large number of volumes related to inquisitions. Since the school has not recently taught courses related to religion, this is somewhat surprising. Probably some faculty member who had an interest had requested them to be ordered.
Thanks for the reference to Lynne Truss. I remember a review of some recent book related to punctuation, but can't remember the author.
Please that you enjoyed the article. I was surprised to find it outside the Book Review section.
Am also reading the Prodigal Spy, by Joseph Kanon--he writes good thrillers. The story relates to both the Joseph Mcarthy Senate hearings on communists infiltrating the State Department and the Vietnam War.
postet av HorusE kl. 8:30 pm (EST) den Feb 6, 2008
sara
postet av saraLlewellyn kl. 2:20 pm (EST) den Feb 6, 2008
It is very nice to hear from you and I am sorry I have not sent you any message for a while, but I have been rather busy fixing photos to my books on Librarything.
I do think that a lot of crime and mystery books by authors from Sweden have become very popular in the English-speaking world lately. There are Hakan Nesser, Henning Mankell and Steig Larsson to name a few. Sadly enough Steig Larsson died before his books became famous.
My favorites are Colin Dexter, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson so if you can recommend books by some other author who write that kind of books I will be very grateful.
As we have 416 books in common I feel that we must like the same kind of crime and mystery books.
It is supposed to be winter in Sweden but the climate is not what it used to be. Since the middle of December it has been snowing for two or three days and then it has been warm for a couple of days and the snow has disappeared. After that the snow has returned again only to vanish in a few days and so on.
All the best,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 4:05 pm (EST) den Feb 5, 2008
Thank very much for passing on the book references. I have not yet read the book about the Cathars, but will let you know my reactions when I do.
I came across and interesting essay about mysteries, thrillers, romances, and horror stories as great literature in the Week in Review of the Sunday edition of The New York Times. There are references to a suit by Joan Brady and some discussion concerning John Banville,Ian Rankin, and Stephen King. You might catch it at:
www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/weekinreview/...
There is a final comment on "The Turn of the Screw", where the writer notes that James talked about "trash", but his ghost story was one of his best.
My wife and I just returned from an Elderhostel class in Key West, Florida--the southernmost spot in the "48" states. An Episcopaleon priest gave a talk describing his congregation, which has two very different groups--a winter group from the North (snowbirds) and the full-timers. Part of the congregation is very high church (three services). I had just finished Sovereign by C. J. Sansom, where there was a reference to Henry VIII frowning on rosaries--so I was startled to see rosaries for sale in the Parish Hall.
postet av HorusE kl. 7:29 pm (EST) den Feb 3, 2008
I've added you to my "interesting libraries" list, if that's alright. I especially admire (and covet) your collection of books about espionage and the Special Operations Executive. I don't know if you watch "Foyle's War", but there's one episode where the fledgling SOE plays a key part in the mystery and most of the action takes place at one of their training facilities.
Cheers,
Erin
postet av wunderkind kl. 12:10 am (EST) den Jan 31, 2008
I was just looking to see who else had books by Celia Dale and you popped up !
Your catalogue of books is fantastic,I have about 1500 and am running out
of space !
I myself am a Midlands girl, (Nottingham) although have not been there for a few years now.
I love Celia Dale books and am always looking for them,but have not yet managed to find a photo of her anywhere to add to my catalogue.
I am reading an Edmund Crispin book at the moment "The Moving Toyshop" saw someone mention him so am assuming he is also in your library !
I love reading these vintage books possibly because I am also vintage !
Regards........Shirley
postet av shirley8 kl. 6:42 am (EST) den Jan 30, 2008
I appreciate your comments about having only catalogued the books (and only books) that you physically own. I have just about finished cataloging my library (count = 2433) excluding my wife's cookbooks which haven't been started, and am interested in seeing how our library stacks up against other libraries. One of us, if not both of us, have physically read or at least referred to every book in our catalog. Our catalog would be 3-4 times larger if we listed everything we had read, but not owned or been able to keep. I am distessed to find that many of the larger libraries are inflated by not-reads, like-to-haves, once-owned, etc..., so I really don't know where we stand overall.
And then there is the question of music recordings, video and the like. Library thing offers an attractive tool for cataloging this stuff as well - but they should not be confused with the genuine article - books! What I plan for our collection of CDs and vinyl records is to count these in a separate non-book catalog.
Regards,
Bill
postet av BillHall kl. 10:52 pm (EST) den Jan 28, 2008
Thank for getting in touch. I'm going to go back in in a minute to delete that bit about being very elderly. As I explained to another LTer, I was just feeling a bit elderly on the day I made the entry and was also suffering from recently having joined in with another forum (which shall remain nameless) and finding that everyone else there seemed to be about 15. I'm even beginning to suspect that I was subconsciously longing for people to write in and tell me I'm not really so elderly at all, as you have done, so it's starting to feel a bit self indulgent. You're right - I'm a mere spring chicken - thanks for that!
Couldn't agree with you more about this being addictive. I always thought I was a great lover of reading but I suddenly find I'm spending more time logging and talking about the books than I am reading them, so not sure what that says about me. Some self-discipline is going to be needed. I haven't actually got bad enough yet to start buying books just to bump up the numbers but I am falling victim to the syndrome where, every page I look at mentions some book or other that I start wishing I had, so my wish-list is getting longer and longer. I shudder to think how long it must have taken you to add all your books!
I'm definitely adding your list to my 'interestings' - there are so many there it would be a poor soul indeed who couldn't find something of interest.
Happy reading!
postet av Booksloth kl. 11:30 am (EST) den Jan 27, 2008
SanityDemolisher
postet av SanityDemolisher kl. 11:30 pm (EST) den Jan 24, 2008
We thank you for your good wishes and wish you the same.
I have The Templars, by Read, but have not had a chance to read it yet. I got interested in the subject after reading The Last Templar, by Michael Jecks.
I noticed that you recently added to your catalog: The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars: 1290-1329, by Rene Weis. I bought one after I saw your entry, as the subject is of particular interest.
I actually did not see the movie, The Golden Compass, since I did not think my wife would be interested--but did see The Atonement, which we both enjoyed. Maybe I will catch the DVD.
My introduction to Gorey was the Mystery series on our PBS system (mostly of
English origin). I just recently started collecting some of his books, but nothing on his life.
I will have to keep my eye open for The Fall of Troy, I don’t think it has been published here yet.
Among other I got a new book on World War I, by Meyers I recall.
postet av HorusE kl. 5:12 pm (EST) den Jan 22, 2008
I think you're right, everything does seem to be functioning correctly. I may have mixed up the functionality of LT (which I'm still learning!) with that of other services such as MySpace and FaceBook, which I use for music contacts.
Thanks for your help.
Don
postet av Hohenloh kl. 10:52 am (EST) den Jan 22, 2008
Well, Sandman is where Gaiman made his name, so you may want to try out a graphic novel and see if you like it. Though I do own some comics and the Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1, I've never read any of the stories, so I'll refer you to these reviewers: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandman-Library-...
It appears the graphic novel Preludes & Nocturnes reprints comic issues 1-8, but you may need to go to the next graphic novel, The Doll's House, before the storylines really begin to take off.
I went through about 20 of my mass market boxes, but no luck with American Gods. I'll continue next weekend when my back has recovered from throwing the boxes around (really, from bending over them searching, I think:)
Enjoy your wife's books. UK science fiction author Peter F. Hamilton wrote on his blog, after he brought Fletcher Christian back from the dead in a book, how he was surprised by how many people didn't know who he was, mostly Americans. Sadly, that kind of describes me when you start mentioning various 'shires and parliament vs. royalist, etc:)
Thanks for the recommendation for The Secret of Lost Things; I'll give it a look when it comes out in paperback over here in March. If you haven't done so already, you may want to recommend it to HorusE, what with his recent trip to the Strand bookstore, the apparent basis for the Arcade Bookshop.
Talk with you later,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 12:36 am (EST) den Jan 22, 2008
Happy New Year to you! Did Father Christmas bring you lots of books or were you a bad boy last year?
I just thought I drop you a note about a forthcoming Edward Marston book that I hope will live up to the lofty description, here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SOLDIER-FORTUNE-...
I figure you probably know about it, but just in case... I hope it's better than C.C. Humphreys' "Jack Absolute," the supposed revolutionary war 007.
I'm spending the day pawing through my paperback boxes to find Gaiman's American Gods since I figure it's high time I read something by him and that's the book that most interests me. If only I'd thought to tag and number the contents of each box while I was entering them on LT; Ah, well, it'll motivate me to get them out of boxes, I guess:)
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 3:42 pm (EST) den Jan 20, 2008
Cheers,
Karen
postet av kiwidoc kl. 4:16 pm (EST) den Jan 18, 2008
I did finish The Golden Compass, by Pullman. I enjoyed the fantasy. It was interesting how the author introduced the radiometer. I did get to New York City and while there one son, wife, and I went to see Atonement--which we enjoyed. I know my wife would not care for The Golden Compass, no interest in fantasy. Over Christmas my other son introduced me to Good Omens; which was the first Gaiman book I have read.
I was given Agent Zigzag, by Ben Macintyre, for Christmas. A true story and a great thriller. Alway fun to see how the Enigma machine was used. Zigzag was certainly one-of-a-kind.
I wallowed in the Strand Bookstore in NYC, but mainly picked up paperbacks, which are lighter to carry. Did get one hardback, Book Row, "anecdotal and pictorial history of the antiquarian book trade" in NYC as well as the history of the Strand. Most of the bookstores mentioned succumbed to rising rents, TV, and urban development.
Horus the cat and I
postet av HorusE kl. 8:01 pm (EST) den Jan 14, 2008
"The Anatomy of Bibliomania" was the book that conducted me to your library and made me decide to put you on my "interesting libraries"list. I visited your profile sometimes before, but now Holbrook Jackson gave me just that little push...
When you have a look at my catalog, please remember everything is still under construction and will be for some time to come for the reasons I enumerate in my profile, but also because there is a life outside LT. Actually I've done only some 10% of my whole library. The picture is therefore very incomplete as it is now. But some elements are emerging. This authorizes me to think we will have many more things in common once I have made some progress...
Happy reading,
Jan Willem (the Dutch version of John William)
postet av JanWillemNoldus kl. 4:08 pm (EST) den Jan 13, 2008
Today I added you to my "interesting libraries" list. Why? Well, because you have so many interesting books and also because you speak of your books in a way I recognise very well...
Greetings from Paris!
postet av JanWillemNoldus kl. 9:50 pm (EST) den Jan 12, 2008
The only author on your list that I'd read is Andrew Taylor - I especially loved 'The American Boy', but I've read anything I can find by him; his style of writing is easy and his plotting sound.
The others I'll look out for - McDermid sounds worth chasing down, so I've made a note of it, to look for sooner rather than later :)
Thanks again!
postet av trishtrash kl. 7:31 am (EST) den Jan 11, 2008
I would love any crime/sci-fi recommendations you could throw me - anything a little out of the norm or overlooked.
And yes - I spotted your Jackson quote and thought of the similarities to Gaiman's: both are meaningful to me, as I have moved to a town in the West Midlands with no bookshops at all, and - tho charity shops abound - none are particularly book-friendly. It's like living in a desert. Thank god for Amazon... but how I miss my second-hand rummaging!
postet av trishtrash kl. 5:57 am (EST) den Jan 10, 2008
postet av Larxol kl. 10:11 am (EST) den Jan 3, 2008
Delighted to hear that you have acquired the Two Antiquaries!
I thought you might also be interested in Michael Willaims as John Aubrey - Theatre Programme 1998. It was a great show - an experience I will never forget!
Kind regards, Zoliomastix
postet av zoliomastix kl. 9:58 am (EST) den Jan 3, 2008
Just back from a few days in Co.Wicklow and a Xmas Day swim in the Irish sea !!
There are a few copies of the Correspondence available on www.abe.co.uk
The ISBN is 1900838117. Hope this helps.
Wishing you and yours a Very Happy 2008, Zoliomastix.
postet av zoliomastix kl. 3:58 pm (EST) den Dec 29, 2007
I just ran across the author of one of my fantasy recommendations to you (Patrick Rothfuss/The Name of the Wind) recommending--on his blog--the "Russian setting fantasy novel with a positive Gaiman blurb on the cover" that I mentioned to you, and that novel is "The Secret History of Moscow" here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-History-M...
And, a very Merry Christmas with wishes for lots of books right back at you (though it's maybe a bit late by the time you read this:).
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 10:45 pm (EST) den Dec 25, 2007
I have not had a chance to read the Pullman books yet, but got them since I had read so much favorable about them as fantasy. I have not seen the movie either, but I have been following the movie reviews of the Golden Compass. The Week, a weekly news review, collected a few reviews.
San Francisco Chronicle: “children’s version of an adult book … the film retreats from its controversial source and settle for being a run-of-the-mill …”
Time: “To avoid controversy and attract holiday audiences, director … has purged his film of most religious allusions. What’s left is a ‘secularized and sanitized’ version …”
The Atlantic Monthly: “… it does present his actual story in an often-thrilling manner … proves The Golden Compass to be a myth with some meat.”
The review confirms that the book is considered an adult book in the US. It is interesting that it is viewed differently in the UK. I had thought of it as in the juvenile genre.
I look forward to seeing the movie as well as reading the book.
Probably the most interesting books I have read recently were The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth. I recently finished The Devil’s Doctor (Paracelsus) by Philip Ball, a London denizen. It was somewhat slow reading, but interesting history of science. The last books I’ve read were Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill. and Excursion to Tindari: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery by Andrea Camilleri. The latter were both good mysteries, the former involved a coroner in Laos.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
postet av HorusE kl. 9:09 pm (EST) den Dec 22, 2007
Merry Christmas
postet av whiteroseofyork kl. 9:08 am (EST) den Dec 21, 2007
I was intrigued when I discovered your catalogue - it is so impressive! I just HAD to add it to my interesting libraries. My little collection is a drop in the ocean compared with yours!
My username is the title of a 17th century work by an Irishman called Philip O'Sullivan Beare. I studied him once upon a time and each time I wrote about that particular work I persisted in misspelling it (much to the annoyance of my tutor)! It has always stuck in my mind and I thought it would be a fun and somewhat mysterious username to have! The correct spelling is actually Zoilomastix but I never have managed to get it right!
I notice you like John Aubrey. I have a couple of Folio Society editions of his work and also some letters. I first became interested in him when we saw Michael Williams do his one man show of Brief Lives.
I also like crime fiction, though almost all of mine is Scandinavian - I am addicted! I'm reading Henning Mankell's Depths at the moment.
Anyway - I was nice of you to send a message. I hope you and your wife have a lovely Christmas and that Santa brings you lots more books!!
Best Wishes,
Zoliomastix
postet av zoliomastix kl. 3:05 pm (EST) den Dec 20, 2007
If we`re fairly quiet over the Xmas period, I`m planning to spend a bit of time looking at people`s libraries/reading reviews etc. I had a look at a few of your reviews earlier today. I quite like them - succinct, but informative and helpful.
A lot more succinct than me anyway !
I think cataloguing of (some of) my sound recordings is on the horizon too !
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 6:17 am (EST) den Dec 20, 2007
postet av whiteroseofyork kl. 5:54 am (EST) den Dec 20, 2007
Thank you for contacting me regarding my list of Interesting Libraries. Your book collection is extremely interesting. I also appreciate Your thoughtful system of ratings and Your kind words on my country
Happy Christmas,
Voglioleggere
postet av Voglioleggere kl. 4:45 am (EST) den Dec 18, 2007
I'm glad you mentioned the books I have on architecture. I went to have a look and discovered that something rather dire has happened--duplicate entries and several covers have gone missing. If I ever find the time, I'll have to get everything sorted.
I have to admit that I've never been one for church architecture, so I'm not sure if churches here in the US are locked or open for business. The only two that I've visited in the UK are St. Nicholas Church in Letchworth and Durham Cathedral. Both are beautiful in their own ways. Most of the books I own on architecture are about homes--from the types of houses the commonfolk lived in all the way to the stately homes on both sides of the pond. My favorite house in the US is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. I could easily see myself moving in. Two of my favorite "homes" that I've visited in the UK are Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire and Bolling Hall in Bradford. The interest is personal in Bolling Hall--some of my ancestors lived there in the 16th century before they made their way to London and on to Virginia. Bolling Hall is a museum now, and I've been there twice to wander around and take photos.
Well, time to rejoin Jasper Fforde and The Fourth Bear.
All the best!
postet av cathyskye kl. 6:10 pm (EST) den Dec 14, 2007
thank you for your reply. The author whose picture appears on my profile is Theodor Mommsen.
A few more works by John Buchan will appear in my library, but none very interesting. Several of the works tagged 'John Buchan' are anthologies with a single contribution by John Buchan (in some cases, the first appearance of a work).
yours
Messpots
postet av messpots kl. 7:49 am (EST) den Dec 9, 2007
I hope you don't mind: I've added my Nelson's History of the War by individual volumes, and I split up (and paired) our respective volumes on the John Buchan page. Some of these volumes are more sought after than others, and I expect certain individual volumes will turn up on LT from time to time.
Yours,
Messpots
postet av messpots kl. 5:18 pm (EST) den Dec 8, 2007
postet av bookstothesky kl. 4:58 am (EST) den Nov 27, 2007
Judging from the authors you've read, it seems to me you're not interested (yet?) so much in the Tolkeinesque Wizard, Elf, Dwarf, Human, "endless trek to recover the magic weapon to stop the all-powerful dark lord/bad-guy" type of fantasy novel, so I'm going to mostly skip those books/authors. I'm also going to stick to authors I've read myself and look for works I hope will match up with this statement from you some time back: "in any book I must have sympathy (empathy) with the main character." So, onward, in no particular order:
Steven Brust's "To Reign in Hell" and "Brokedown Palace." Two stand-alone novels I enjoyed reading very much. I've been meaning to re-read both of them for a while now.
Naomi Novik is one of the hottest rising stars in the historical fantasy realm. She has four novels out in a planned 6 book series in an alternate Napoleonic War setting with intelligent dragons used as an air force by various nations. There's more to it than that, of course. For what it's worth, the entire series has been optioned by Peter Jackson (director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy films). The first novel is "Temeraire" in the UK and "His Majesty's Dragon" in the USA. Just as a[nother] side note, Ms. Novik is married to Charles Ardai, publisher of the Hard Case Crime line of noir mystery novels.
If you ever read any Doc Savage pulp novels, you may enjoy Aaron Allston's "Doc Sidhe" and "Sidhe-Devil."
Kim Newman has written, amongst many other things, an alternate history, vampire-filled trilogy that I enjoyed:
1. Anno Dracula (1992)
2. The Bloody Red Baron (1995)
3. Judgment of Tears (1998)
aka Dracula Cha Cha Cha
Virtually anything by Roger Zelazny, though there's still some of his stuff I need to get to, including, oddly enough, his bestselling 10 book Amber series. I especially like "Jack of Shadows," "Lord of Light" and "Isle of the Dead."
I enjoyed the first 3 of Orson Scott Card's "Alvin Maker" series, with the first book being "Seventh Son." I don't remember much about book 4, thought book 5 was just filler and haven't read book 6 yet. If you feel like dipping your toes into Science Fiction, Card's "Ender's Game" is a great place to start.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman's "The Thread that Binds the Bones" was excellent and different. I think it won the Bram Stoker Award, though it's not all that horror-filled, in my opinion.
Ellen Kushner's "Swordspoint" was excellent. It's been quite a few years since I read it and it may not fit in with the sympathetic character idea; I honestly don't remember the character well enough to say. Also, to be blunt, if you harbor any anti-homosexual feelings, then this book's not for you.
Sergei Lukyanenko is huge in Russia with his books being made into hit movies, too. I've read the first two of his bestselling trilogy, "The Day Watch," "The Night Watch," and "The Twilight Watch." I found them to be superior and different.
I've been going back and forth about whether to mention George R.R. Martin. For my money, he's maybe the best author writing epic fantasy today when it comes to characterization (though Kay's right there, too, and I haven't read everybody, of course). His Song of Fire and Ice series, starting with "A Game of Thrones" is flat-out excellent. But, it's years in-between each book and he's only through book 4 of 7. He has lots and lots of characters, with some you root for, some you hate, some you start out hating then begin to see some grey areas and vice versa.
Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind." Very, very strong debut, with lots of critical and reader acclaim. Still selling comfortably in the Amazon top 500 at any given moment after a March release, which is darn good. First in a trilogy that's already completely written so there shouldn't be any extreme delays in the usual yearly release schedule. Amazon.com shows book 2 coming out in April 2009, but it should be 2008 per the author's blog. I've e-mailed him to let him know Amazon has it wrong so we'll see if it changes. If you go to the page for "The Name of the Wind" on Amazon, then scroll all the way down, there are excerpts from his blog, with pictures. He's quite an amusing guy, in my opinion, and his favorite author is Neil Gaiman.
I enjoyed Caroline Severmere's "A College of Magics" when it came out 12 years ago. In the wake of that Boy Wizard by your country's richest woman, the book has been marketed to the teen set of late, along with her follow-up writings, but it was originally put out for adults and I liked it. This retro-marketing to teens of books that were written for adults originally is a bit of an irritation to me:)
Mary Stewart's King Arthur/Merlin books are excellent, too, if you're not tired of that story (I confess I am, but I read these 20 years ago or more). The first book is "The Crystal Cave."
Along the same lines as Stewart, there's always T.H. White's "The Once and Future King," another Arthurian classic.
I'm going to throw Karl Edward Wagner's Kane character out for consideration here. Definitely not always a sypathetic character (to say the least), but sometimes he his. Immortal swordsman, wizard, etc., I much prefer Wagner's short stories about Kane to the novels. "Death Angel's Shadow" is one of the short story collections (I think there's another, but I could be wrong; I'll have to research it). The books aren't always easy to come by, but they're worth the effort to find.
I've talked to a friend who's a big Gaiman fan and she recommended Elizabeth Hand, Charles de Lint and a friend of her's who just published a Russian settting fantasy novel with a postitive Gaiman blurb on the cover. The name of the book escapes me at the moment, but I'll get it to you.
To see what I've been reading lately, take a peek at HorusE's page.
I'll get back to you on the author "friending" thing as it's fairly late over here, now, and I need some shuteye.
Take care, and I hope I haven't led you too far astray,
bookstothesky
P.S. www.fantasticfiction.co.uk is a pretty good resource to look up my recommendations and learn more about the authors/books/short stories/series order, etc.
postet av bookstothesky kl. 4:46 am (EST) den Nov 27, 2007
Just a quick, but hopefully varied, response with a more comprehensive one to follow tomorrow on my day off. Track down Guy Gavriel Kay's books "Tigana" or "A Song for Arbonne." Virtually anything Kay writes is really good, but those are two of his best. For a really well-done kind of alternate feudal Japan, try out Sean Russell's "Initiate Brother" and "Gatherer of Clouds." Finally, to tie-in some magic and mystery, you might seek out the Baen books compilation of Randall Garrett novels/stories called "Lord Darcy," which are set in an alternate world where Richard the Lion-Hearted didn't die in 1199, "but went on to found the mightiest and most stable empire in history."
Until tomorrow,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 2:59 pm (EST) den Nov 25, 2007
P.S. Uh, that should be "harassment" not "harrasment."
postet av bookstothesky kl. 10:23 pm (EST) den Nov 23, 2007
How's everything going in your part of the world? Well, I hope. It's rather disgustingly sunny--though with a bit of wind chill--over here. Living where you do it's probably hard to imagine one could wish for a bit of rain now and again, but it would be nice once in a while.
So, I just finished reading "The Railway Detective" about 5 minutes ago. I have to say I was quite tempted to not finish it after about 30 pages because I found the dialogue to be very wooden and stilted, but as I went along it improved quite a bit (though the conversations still don't always seem to flow quite naturally, in my opinion). However, I was soon caught up in the various mystery permutations and I ended the book quite satisfied and willing to read the follow-ups without a problem. Prior to reading the Marston book, I read the latest John Lawton offering, "Second Violin." I really like Lawton's writing style and characterizations, and I greatly enjoyed the book until the ending, which was a bit of a letdown. Still, the book is well worth a read for it's historical take on the rounding up and harrasment of Jews in Vienna, as well as the rounding up of foreigners in the UK at the start of WWII.
Couple of things Sherlockian I wanted to alert you about, though you probably are aware of them already. Coming out on your side of the pond November 30th is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Dr-Watson-I...
Also, there's a new Arthur Conan Doyle biography that's received at least one good review from a source who would seem to be a bit of an authority on the man, here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-Conan-Doy...
That's all for now. Be well, my friend.
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 5:24 pm (EST) den Nov 23, 2007
Have you seen the library of an LT member called Hansemann ? He has some very interesting stuff, you might like to have a look.
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 7:02 am (EST) den Nov 22, 2007
I am physically surrounded by stacks of books and I feel like I am in heaven. So much pleasure and knowledge surrounds me (OK, well that book on how to pick up women doesn't count!).
Thanks for getting back in touch and I will certainly be keeping an eye on your collection. You have inspired me to buy more and collect more! :-)
postet av obsessedwithbooks kl. 1:29 pm (EST) den Nov 20, 2007
I shall continue to return to your library for inspiration while I work away on cataloguing the first thousand volumes from our collection.
Yours
Christian Kaatmann
postet av kaatmann kl. 4:48 pm (EST) den Nov 19, 2007
I've now added a little more about 'Slightly Foxed' and hope to add more through the next week or two.
Thank you for leaving a note about your confusion.
You have quite an impressive library, I shall have a surf around once I have a little spare time.
Caroline
postet av Caroline_McElwee kl. 12:06 pm (EST) den Nov 13, 2007
Thank you for you fast reply. I very glad to have someone to talk to about
books. My library is very small compered to yours, I only have about 2700
books and I am trying to register a few every day. You are very lucky to
have met some of my favorite authors. Living in Sweden makes it very
difficult to experience such meetings. I buy my signed,first editions from
book sellers in England and USA mostly by way of the Internet. So far, about
200 of my books are signed.
All the best from a cold and snowy Sweden,
Bengt
postet av Bengan kl. 10:53 am (EST) den Nov 11, 2007
Thanks very much for your thoughts regarding the fires over here. Your concern was not misplaced as, at one point, I had fires 1 mile west of my home, 3 miles north of me and about 6 miles east, all at roughly the same time. There was a voluntary evacuation of my neighborhood and I had 3 bags of my most irreplacable books by the garage door ready to go should the winds shift my way; luckily, they never did.
I am quite familiar with "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell." The book was, I think, my first venture into book collecting speculation. I remember reading that due to some sort of publishing glitch in the UK, the US version would be the true first edition. Then I read on-line that the white covers would be more scarce than the black covers due also to some sort of production glitch (looking back, I think that was just some sort of dealer inspired rumor designed to drive up the price of the white covers), so I bought 3 copies of the book, 2 with white covers and 1 with the black cover. I also picked up the ARC of the book along with the faux newspaper, "The Raven." So, Susanna Clarke was doing a signing in Hollywood at a store called Book Soup about a month after the release and it was stated by the store that she would only sign 2 books per person so, being a rookie, I only took one white copy and one black copy. Next thing I know, there's a "dealer" line full of people with bags of her books (a friend of mine who's a much more serious book collector/dealer, but whom I hadn't seen in a while, had no fewer than 4 ARC's of her book to be signed, along with multiples of the finished product). The dealers merely had to wait until all us non-dealer types got our books signed and then Ms. Clarke signed all of their stuff. Thus, while I own 4 copies of the book only two are signed. The lesson I learned that night was to bring all of one's books to a signing no matter what the stated limitations may be.
I completely understand the somewhat daunting task that is the actual reading of "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell." I have read 200+ pages of the book and thought it was truly excellent. However, at the time I was working 50-55 hour weeks (when my commute time was thrown in) and I found myself just too tired to give the book the attention it deserved (it's an even longer book when you throw in all the footnotes), so I set it down and have not yet gone back. However, it is on my list of started books that I have to finish, and I've been making a concerted effort to read at least one unfinshed book for every new book I read. So, I just finished "The Blade Itself," a fantasy novel by your countryman, Joe Abercrombie, and I have now gone back to read Jonathan Lethem's "Gun, With Occasional Music," a book I partially read in 1994. I have a greater interest in/appreciation for hardboiled stories now than I did then, so I figured it's time to finish that book off. Regarding "The Blade Itself," while the writing/dialogue wasn't always the best, the characterization and story were such that I finished the book quickly and I am eager to start the second book to see what happens next, which is pretty much all an author can hope for in a first novel, right?
Now, despite impassioned pleas by several people I know, I have not yet read a single book written by Neil Gaiman, which is tantamount to heresy for a confirmed SF/Fantasy geek such as myself. It gets even worse if you consider I've had his first few Sandman comics since they came out (early 90's, I think), and I bought "The Absolute Sandman" last year; have I read any of them? No, of course not!:)
Anyway, it's rather humorous/ironic to me that you find yourself stretching your wings into the fantasy genre, whereas for the last few years I've been doing the opposite of you, i.e., reading more and more crime fiction. Thus, I do certainly agree with you that it's great to read a new genre, but I draw the line at Romance titles:)
I'm going to sign off now and wish you many great books for Christmas (we'll probably correspond before that, but just in case...). I'm going to spend a couple of hours now compiling a list of old books I want/need as my friend Jack (jackanaples on LT) and I are going to explore some used bookstores we've never been to on Monday; it should be a good time.
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:41 pm (EST) den Nov 10, 2007
Regarding Oliver Sacks: www.barnesandnoble.com has him on a 44-minute video discussing Musicophilia. I have not read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat yet but did enjoy Uncle Tungsten (having had some similar experiences with chemistry before college) and also The Island of the Colorblind.
I can see what you mean my clustering of interests on LT.
Regards
postet av HorusE kl. 7:00 pm (EST) den Nov 8, 2007
Thanks for the information concerning Peter Ackroyd and Stephen King. A impressive amount to explore there.
That was some price for The Colorado Kid, which sells for about £2.5 here. It is possible to get a used copy from abebooks.com for £1 (plus about £3.5 postage in the UK). I note that the postage costs are somewhat higher in the UK than in the US for used books.
HorusE
postet av HorusE kl. 8:16 pm (EST) den Nov 6, 2007
postet av MyopicBookworm kl. 4:28 pm (EST) den Nov 4, 2007
I did get a chance to visit a bookstore in Melbourne. There were a number of used bookstores, although the prices were higher than in the U.S. (even after converting). Picked up Dickens by Peter Ackroyd, There was a museum near the train station that had a plaza given over to book sales too. Picked up a Russian novel there. This sales had obviously attraced a number of bibliophies and someone who noticed my purchase noted that there was another book by the same author on another table. Instead of hardbacks, books were typically softcover.
In New Zealand, I was not close to a regular bookstore, but did come across a "general" store that had a new book on New Zealand geology and paleontology, with great photographs, that was in the Penguin popular science category (for $50 New Zealand). I picked that up and since found it had to be entered manually, even with a ISBN number. The Australian catalogs did not have it and LT does not have a New Zealand catalog.
Thanks for the discussion on Stephen King's books. I will have to get started.
I had been thinking about entering my CD's as well, but wondered if there was an altenative to manual entry, like there is with the iPod. I found I could bring a CD title in from Amazon, but only with effort and more time.
With a bit more leisure, I did figure where the tags went to.
postet av HorusE kl. 8:33 pm (EST) den Oct 31, 2007
I've just noticed that Nancy Mitford's bio of Louis XIV is one of the random books on your page today. That's another one we have in common. It's buried in the boxes at my parents, but I found it very interesting reading.
postet av Robertgreaves kl. 11:24 am (EST) den Oct 22, 2007
thanks for adding my library - quite modest compared to yours - to the list of the ones you find interesting.
Yes, I have a great love for English literature and fiction, and my collection keeps increasing, to my great delight.
You might have noticed that I have many books written by women, well, that is my main interest.
I will definitely enjoy browsing through your catalogue, and send you warm regards from a rainy New York.
Paola :-))
postet av aluvalibri kl. 9:13 am (EST) den Oct 20, 2007
I'd be delighted to share "Friends" status with you, although I'm sorry to say that I don't really know what that means in LT terms. Certainly our common interest in Conan Doyle warrants a certain heightened degree of familiarity. I'm taking a Shakespeare seminar this semester and am getting more interested in Elizabethan history/theatre/acting -- so much to read, so little time!
postet av mmckay kl. 2:00 pm (EST) den Oct 14, 2007
I have not yet listed this book in my catalogue:
British Diaries, An Annotated Bibiliography of British Diaries Written between 1442 and 1942, compiled by William Matthews. University of California Press, Berkely and Los Angeles, 1950. (also listed is Cambridge University Press, London, no date given. The earliest diary listed is Anonymous, 1442 (one of the suite of Thomas Beckington, 1390?-1465), public diary. The last diary listed is John Charles Sharp (b.1912) of Birmingham, prisoner's diary, Japanese POW, building of Burma-Siam railway.
As to my two other books, would you like a listing of the specific names and years of the diaries excerpted, or just a general idea?
November
postet av november kl. 10:12 am (EST) den Oct 14, 2007
Oh, the Horror!! To go home empty handed from a bookstore and be forced to read something you already own. Be strong, my friend:)
Thanks for the tip on the Reginald Hill books. I've actually owned one or two of the Dalziel & Pascoe books (LT is down for 1-5 minutes right now, so I'm unsure of the exact number) but haven't read them and didn't realize they were part of such a large series; I'll have to see if those ones are part of the last few far-out, supernatural stories, but I wouldn't get to them anytime soon anyway, as I like to go in order with my series reading.
I've never read a Val McDermid book but I know she's popular among mystery readers "in the know." She's another author I've been meaning to get to eventually; some day...
The photo on my profile page is of me a few years ago at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. My hirsute friend is the children's character, Curious George. See here for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_Geo... Apparently Curious George was originally named Zozo when published in the UK so as not to be seen as an insult to King George VI. I don't know if he's now known as Curious George in your part of the world, or if he's still Zozo. Anyway, about once a month, or so, some Barnes & Noble bookstores have a storytime for the kids with a particular themed children's character showing up for pictures, etc., and I decided to have a picture taken since my wife was born in the year of the Monkey (Chinese calendar) and has always liked Curious George, so I thought she'd get a laugh out of it; plus, I'm just such a kid at heart. *cough* I put the picture up on LT as kind of an in-joke since my friends know I don't have much interest in having children of my own.
Well, the sun is out and my wife will soon be done slumbering, then we'll be off to Beverly Hills for brunch and shopping (window, mostly). Can I get you an autograph if I run into any movie stars?
Talk with you later,
bookstothesky
P.S. Yes, wishlists. Do you think that would be part of "collections" or something completely different? I'm hoping it would just be part of it, like Sheet Music, DVD's, Wishlists, etc., but I don't really know. Honestly, I don't really know what LT plans for collections. Any ideas?
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:30 pm (EST) den Oct 13, 2007
Thanks for dropping me a note.
Life in general is good out here in sunny California. I just started 10 days of vacation today, so life is even better than normal, actually:) I hope all is well with you and yours out in--maybe--not-so-sunny England.
Regarding news and slanted viewpoints over here, I think I can sadly say there's such a lack of integrity everytime one turns around, from the President on down, that very few people I know have any trust left in our news outlets. Hard work, honor and ethics often seem a thing of the past and I just don't know what to do about it other than to try and work hard, and live honorably and ethically, and hopefully instill those values in those around me via example.
Life could have been better tonight, though, as I planned to go to a special "behind closed doors" sale for a select few customers at my favorite independent mystery bookstore but, unfortunately, I left my car lights on yesterday morning and it looks like my battery's not holding a charge any longer. Since the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood is 30 miles away from me, I can't risk the battery failing on me. I had planned to buy, amongst other things tonight, UK paperback editions of Edward Marston's Railway Viaduct and Iron Horse, along with 4 of Ken Bruen's Brant procedurals, all at 35% off, so I'm a bit bummed out about that I couldn't go. Thanks much for your opinions of Marston's books versus Andrew Martin's. I've definitely been in a 19th century reading mood lately, so I'm going to start on Marston's books and, I think, Steve Hockensmith's Holmes "pastiches" very soon.
I have an author to recommend to you in addition to cathyskye's quite comprehensive list (lots of good stuff there; quite a few I haven't heard of). Craig Johnson has a very good trilogy (so far) starring Sheriff Walt Longmire and his best friend Henry Standing Bear. The Cold Dish is the first book and it's set in Wyoming, where the author also lives (see his website www.craigallenjohnson.com where he's got some nice "country" photos on his various pages). I met Craig at our local book fair this year and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Anyway, books 1 & 2 were good and I'm half way through book 3 and liking it, though The Cold Dish remains my favorite, so far.
Regarding the recent LT improvements, the new book/author pages do seem to be mostly cosmetic improvements, but I don't have any real problem with them. I like the "book descriptions" feature and I'm interested to find out what "Connections: Who has it?" will be. I'm hoping it's a way to search all libraries for a specific edition of a book (e.g., one would be able to find out who else has a first edition hardcover of a particular book without having to search one-by-one through all the libraries containing various editions of that book). On the other hand, they did not fix a couple of problems that have been in existence for more than a year such as accurate counts of books on author pages, as mentioned by a poster, and there's a weird glitch that happens when one clicks on "show all members," that causes it to say "loading..." if it's used twice in rapid succession (e.g., click show all members, then click on a member name, then hit the back button and click on show all members again, and you get loading, or at least I do using Internet Explorer). I'm not sure if anybody's posted the latter problem on bug collectors; I'll have to search and post it if I don't find anything. This new "Common Knowledge" thing is interesting, I guess, and I suppose I'll correct glaring errors as I see them, but it holds no real fascination for me. I'm more interested in Tim's comment that "Collections is next on our list, with nothing new in between." Well, we'll see, right?
Let's see...who else have I been reading? I just finished the first Dalziel & Pascoe novel by Reginald Hill. I'd never heard of the series before and had no idea there was a UK television show that's apparently in it's 11th season. Anyway, I liked A Clubbable Woman quite a lot, so now I'm hunting for that series and anything else by Hill.
I started reading Phillip Kerr's new book a few months back but thought the hard-boiled edge to Bernie Gunther's comments seemed a bit forced. Then I read a review of the book in the LA Times book review section and the reviewer's opinion matched mine, so I ended up setting the book down unfinished. However, I'll give it another look based on your opinion, and as you've found Kerr's other books to be somewhat lacking, as have I.
Well, time for me to sign off. No tea or scones, though, darn it! Just lemonade and Tostitos potato chips:) Hmm, it's started raining, too, which will make my wife happy. So much for sunny California:)
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 12:56 am (EST) den Oct 13, 2007
I found working on that list very therapeutic and quite a welcome change from what I've been doing lately, so I hope you can indeed put it to good use. Sometime in the future when Denis and I are making plans for our next UK trip, I might ask you for a list of book shops you recommend in certain areas!
--Cathy.
postet av cathyskye kl. 6:35 pm (EST) den Oct 12, 2007
We (minus Horus) are on our way to Australia and New Zealand for two weeks, but I did just read The Colorado Kid, by Stephen King. I also I think I noted that you have quite a few of King's book.
Thought you might like my comment on the book:
The Colorado Kid, by Stephen King, is part of the Hard Case Crime series. I read it more because of the author and have no notion as to what to expect of a hard-case-crime story. I gather this book may not match the hard case crime genre. However, with a pun intended, King notes that the case is very hard.
I have not read any other Stephen King works, as the horror genre does not appeal. One of my sons has most if not all of King’s books, and I saw this one lying around his home and since it was a mystery …
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, particularly since it had the temerity to fail to arrive at a resolution—somewhat like life itself, as King notes in an Afterword. The characterizations were particularly appealing as they are situated around a small island off the coast of Maine (my home state as well as the part-time residence of King). There are lots of “ayuhs”, properly spoken while inhaling, and of course there were ever dropped “r’s”. Instead of incompetent detectives from Scotland Yard, King describes a couple of bumbling state police detectives—any connection to the investigation of the car accident that caused King such distress?
There are three characters, two old Maine islanders who run a small newspaper and a young intern. A discussion arises as what kind of local stories a Boston Globe reporter might find publishable. One such case involves a mass arsenic poisoning that occurred during a church picnic in northern Maine (a true crime). Then the old timers go on to describe the case of the Colorado Kid, which they felt would have not met the standard—because it was too weird and had no resolution (not that King could not have provided one). Being from Maine gave the story more of a personal appeal.
I note the new forms in Librarything, I have not found in these new forms how others have tagged books--have you?
postet av HorusE kl. 10:43 pm (EST) den Oct 11, 2007
As far as new-to-you American mystery authors, I had a look through your library to see what you had, then had a look through mine. Here are several that I can recommend (in no particular order):
James Sallis--Lew Griffin PI series set in and around New Orleans in the 1970s and 80s. He's also written another excellent book titled Drive.
Barbara Seranella wrote an excellent series centering around a female auto mechanic named Munch Mancini.
Jon Talton writes a series centered around Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy David Mapstone. The series is set here in Phoenix.
Betty Webb writes a PI series about Lena Jones. It's also set in Phoenix.
I noticed that you own some Janet Evanovich. Three other American writers also write/wrote humorous mysteries that I enjoy: Kathleen Taylor's Tory Bauer series (which can be hard to find, but worth the effort)set in small town South Dakota; Sparkle Hayter's Robin Hudson series about a cable news reporter in New York City; and Rett MacPherson's Tory O'Shea series centering on a genealogist living in a small river town in Missouri.
Sharyn McCrumb writes very atmospheric mysteries called "the Ballad Series" set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Carol O'Connell writes a series about a very edgy police officer, Kathleen Mallory in New York City.
Another edgy character is police officer Filomena Buscarsela in K.J.A. Wishnia's series, also set in NYC.
Mary Willis Walker is a favorite writer of mine who has written far too few books.
Nevada Barr writes a series about National Park law enforcement officer Anna Pigeon. Anna works in various national parks throughout the country, so it's definitely armchair traveling and sleuthing.
Peter Bowen writes a marvelous series about brand inspector Gabriel DuPré in Montana. This series is all about character, and if you enjoy Gabriel, you'll enjoy the series.
J.A. Jance writes two excellent series. One features PI J.P. Beaumont who lives in Seattle, Washington. The other features Joanna Brady, the Cochise County Sheriff who lives in Bisbee, Arizona. (The Brady series is my favorite.Denis and I spent our honeymoon at the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee.)
A few of my favorite historical mystery series are Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries featuring a female doctor in New York City set in the Victorian era; Edward Wright's John Lee Hooker series, featuring a former B-movie cowboy star set in post-WWII Los Angeles; and Barbara Hambly's series about Benjamin January, a free man of color set in the deep South before our Civil War. (How can a war be civil? she asks, tongue in cheek.)
I also like mysteries with a Native American angle. Some of my favorites are Kirk Mitchell's Parker & Turnipseed mysteries; Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield series; and Stan Jones' short series about Nathan Active, a Native American police officer in Alaska. Sherman Alexie is a Native American author. I recently read and greatly enjoyed his novel, Indian Killer.
I hope this list helps. Believe it or not, I did pare it down a bit!
postet av cathyskye kl. 8:57 pm (EST) den Oct 9, 2007
Thank you for your comment. Yes, evidently we share interests in women's diaries and the writings of Patrick Leigh Fermor.
A Day At a Time (ISBN 0-935312-50-1 and ISBN 0-935312-51-X (pbbk) is edited by Margo Culley and copyrighted 1985 by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York. If you would like a list of the women's diaries excerpted in this book, I will happy to provide that. Also, I cannot access information from my catalogue on this book. I have no idea why, but I will see if I can fix that in the next few days. I have a volume or two of listings of American and British diaries, but I haven't added them to my catalog yet. I am fairly certain they do not have ISBNs, but I will at least try and list them.
Today, I have also added Private Pages, edited by Penelope Franklin, to my catalgue. Like One Day At a Time, it contains excerpts of diaries of American women (from 1830-1970).
I am currently reading A Time to Keep Silence. I read a little at a time. There is no hurry, and I find it very satisfying. I noticed at the bookstore this past week several new (to me) paperback editions of Fermor's earlier works. I do need a copy of Roumeli--have you read it? Did you read that Fermor has begun writing the 3rd volume of A Time of Gifts/Between the Woods and the Water, on his manual typewriter? Good luck finding typewriter ribbons, Mr. Fermor!
I look forward to exploring your library. Thank you for sharing.
November
postet av november kl. 9:38 am (EST) den Oct 8, 2007
A Month at the Front is a painfully poignant book published in Australia this year (I live Down Under) but I would have thought it has already been published in the UK. Here's the publisher's note (Melb. Uni. Press):
Discovered at the bottom of a box of books recently donated to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, this war journal vividly tells the story of a young World War I soldier and his experiences at the Front in the summer of 1917 in his own words.
The anonymous author candidly describes his daily life: dodging shells to fetch meals from the rations cart; his regiment lost on a march, straying perilously near enemy lines; the daily distribution of rum; the soar of shells ('whiz bangs') above his head; communicating by sign with a captured German soldier living in his trench; sleeping in snatches of ten or fifteen minutes; and always, the endless mud.
The introduction traces the author's progress across the battlefields of Flanders as he and his regiment, the 12th East Surreys, move deeper into enemy territory, suffering heavy casualties and fighting against remarkable odds. One by one, the author's comrades fall away until he, one of the last survivors of his group, narrowly avoids death, only to be captured.
Hope you can find it to add to your collection. I'm sure you would appreciate it.
Faradaydon
postet av Faradaydon kl. 11:48 pm (EST) den Oct 6, 2007
I loved Eagle Bookshop and was most gratified that when I last went in there last year, after a leave of absence of some four years or so, not only did he remember my name but he also asked after my best friend with whom we'd spend all our afternoons on the way to sports by the River Ouse browsing for anything vaguely related to Punch or Sherlock Holmes (very much what we were reading as schoolboys, I'm afraid). I remember the opening day and can tell you that I bought two early editions of the first two Molesworth books in their dustjackets, which I still treasure. I was at Bedford School and the shop was nicely on my route home on a Saturday and I'd always dawdle past it.
Wildman's was a different kettle of fish entirely. My main memories of it were his insistence that his mother, who worked as a shop assistant for him, call him sir in front of the customers and his disastrous appearance on the Radio 4 quiz show "Counterpoint". Not his finest moment. Wasn't his shop closed down for health and safety reasons? Certainly that was the story I'd heard.
The best bookshop in Bedford is actually in Kempston. You may know about it, but nestled in a tiny shopping arcade just behind Sainsbury is a charity shop which entirely stocks books. It's something like 50p for all paperbacks and £1 for all hardbacks - if not less. I'd not been for about five or six years when I went last summer when back in Bedfordshire for my belated wedding reception and it was *still* crammed with bargains and oddities the likes of which I'd never seen before. A lot of it is rubbish, but I came away with a lovely copy of Henry S Whitehead's "Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales" in it's dustjacket for a tiny amount. Well worth a dig around if you have the time or inclination and haven't been there before.
Todmorden has one wonderful bookshop, Border books, which mainly specialises in Children's books but occasionally delivers incredibly odd little finds which the owner himself has forgotten about. And accordingly are usually priced at their value twenty years ago when the shop first opened. He's usually more than happy to accept that price because he's so pleased someone is willing to spend so much time digging around all his rooms.
Highly recommend if ever up in this part of the country!
Chris
postet av irkthepurist kl. 4:31 am (EST) den Oct 4, 2007
famous for [Dark Passage] and [Shoot the Piano Player]. Black Lizard
reprinted several in the '80's. A few more reprints have come out since.
Highly recommended.
postet av tros kl. 1:31 pm (EST) den Oct 1, 2007
It`s great fun, in a macabre sort of way.
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 4:55 am (EST) den Oct 1, 2007
Thanks for adding me to your interesting libraries list. You`re only the second person to have done so !
At present I`m re-reading my Sexton Blake collection and entering them on LT with an accompanying review. Of course, sometimes I decide to have a break from the SBLs and read something else.
I notice you`re a bit of a vintage detection buff too. One perk of our work is (obviously) acquiring the odd extra item for our own collections - I found a rather shabby copy of a collection of the `Dick Donovan` Tyler Tatlock stories recently. They`re more like period pieces than something you`d read as detective fiction today. Very interesting though.
I have a couple of Conan Doyle 1st eds of my own - obscure titles not really worth much but I like them. I buy a lot of Conan Doyle for my father as he`s been ill and can`t get about much now.
Anyway, better get on.
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 4:50 am (EST) den Oct 1, 2007
Thanks for your note. I’ve always rated Aubrey very highly and I’m naturally glad to find that someone else does too.
Like you, I’m not cataloguing recordings, but as well as Aubrey’s works I also treasure my old LP of Roy Dotrice’s one-man Aubrey show at the Mayfair Theatre in the mid-70s.
Regards,
TabbyTom
postet av TabbyTom kl. 3:20 pm (EST) den Sep 30, 2007
Whittington. Also just bought some Francis Carco. Another highly
recommended.
postet av tros kl. 3:51 am (EST) den Sep 29, 2007
postet av irkthepurist kl. 4:20 am (EST) den Sep 27, 2007
postet av willoughby kl. 4:54 pm (EST) den Sep 15, 2007
That's a very nice addition, those Encyclopedia Brittannica's. My Father had a whole set and he would get a one volume update every year, and I would take great pleasure in reading it on my summer vacations. Morbid as it sounds, I especially enjoyed reading the obituaries of people who'd died in the previous year.
My ongoing quest to go broke buying every book that interests me continues unabated:) I recently learned of a hardboiled mystery writer named Jerome Doolittle (recommended by Ross Thomas at the bottom of his fantasticfiction.co.uk webpage) and managed to obtain 5 of his 6 mystery novels while on my way to a signing for a new mystery author named Michael Harvey. Harvey's book, The Chicago Way, got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and seems to be generally well received judging from Amazon's reviews. Since I was one of only two people to show up for the signing, I now have a standing invitation for a free pint or two at the pub Harvey owns in Chicago, so that's pretty swell if/when I ever get back to the Windy City. Of course, he knows the likelihood of anyone from Los Angeles showing up at his pub is pretty slim, but the gesture was still nice.
Getting back to Doolittle, I went to his website here: http://www.badattitudes.com/Doolittle.ht... where he has the first chapters of each of his Tom Bethany mysteries available and I was hooked after reading the first chapter of Body Scissors, though my memory of some of the written-about politics of the time is somewhat sketchy.
At The Mystery Bookstore (the name of the store where Harvey signed, located in Westwood just below the UCLA campus, www.mystery-bookstore.com), I bought a bunch of other books, including a couple of other UK railway mysteries by Andrew Martin, which seemed likely to be interesting. The books are set in London circa 1903. Have you heard of this author or read his books, The Necropolis Railway and The Blackpool Highflyer? If so, what did you think?
Finally, before this novella becomes any longer, thank you for your appreciation and acknowledgement of my Zeitgeist improvement efforts:) I simply asked Abby and Tim not to forget about the "tried and true" features of LT in their "stampede" to create new and--mostly--fun features for the site, and that seemed to do the trick.
Take care. I hope the weather is still pleasant for you. I spoke with a customer of mine last week who lived in the UK for the last 5 years and she was mighty happy to be away from the rain, whereas my wife loves rain and would love for us to move to London. Personally, I'd put up with the rain to get access to the books, so maybe one day...:)
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 9:33 pm (EST) den Sep 14, 2007
Quite some time after your original recommendation, I`ve finally encountered Slim Callaghan (The short story `Ace High` in a detective story anthology edited by Ellery Queen). the story is so-so, though I was intrigued by his observation that he doesn`t look for clues, he studies people. Had potential, I thought.
I also have a copy of Cheyney`s Dark Wanton put on one side for a convenient moment.
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 12:43 pm (EST) den Sep 12, 2007
At the end of March, my wife and I joined a English class ("British Expatriates") on a tour of Switzerland and Italy to visit spots that were shared by such expatriates as Lord Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley, and other places that had been referenced by other English literature that we had read, such as the stories of Sherlock Holmes.
We stopped in Switzerland to visit the Castle Chillon (having read the Prisoner of Chillon, by Byron) and also took a short boat tour of part of Lake Geneva--to pass by the villa where Mary Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein.
We traveled on to Interloken to observe the Reichenbach Falls as well, but it was too early in the year to see it. Most of the group spent the day up in the mountains. From there, we traveled on to Florence, Pisa, La Rici, and Rome.
Happened to stop today in a branch of "the largest used bookstore in the Mid-Atlantic Region" (Wonder Book and Video), where all the books are $1. Came across what appears to be a first US edition of The Ampersand Papers by Michael Innes, originally marked at $15.75.
postet av HorusE kl. 8:41 pm (EST) den Sep 10, 2007
Thanks for adding me to your "interesting libraries" list -- you've inspired me to get on to adding covers to my Sherlockian (or in British, Holmesian) collection. Some of the old ones aren't very interesting (no pictures or writing on the cover), but it's always a bit of a thrill to see a first-edition HOUN. (Wish I had more of those!) I've done the Conan Doyle stuff and the foreign editions of stories, but haven't gotten on to pastiches etc yet.
postet av mmckay kl. 5:29 pm (EST) den Sep 8, 2007
postet av MarthaHuntley kl. 7:34 pm (EST) den Sep 7, 2007
How are you? I hope all is well?
Regarding the Bug Collectors thread about the Zeitgeist list not updating, please see my recent post to "myshelves" on his profile page. It will hopefully make things a bit clearer about why the top 50 and top 1,000 libraries don't always match up.
Take care,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 4:34 am (EST) den Sep 7, 2007
I was interested in your comment about reading something related to travels. My wife and I had planned to join a tour of Spain, including Seville. I checked out fiction related to Seville on the Internet (pre-Google) and found The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte. That lead me to read everything else (in English) by that author.
I note that you have recently added a number of books by Jasper FForde, another favorite author of mine. I see that in his latest book, Sherlock Holmes meets his end, yet again. I liked FForde's books so much (perhaps because they are so crazy) I had to give most of them to the local public library (a bit of proselytizing). The author inspired me to read Jane Eyre. My technical background did not leave much time to absorb the classics. Retirement is great for catching up on all I have wanted to read.
On the matter of bookstores, I did get to Hay-on-Wye once, some years ago. Hope to get back sometime.
HorusE
postet av HorusE kl. 8:27 pm (EST) den Sep 6, 2007
Did you enjoy the Balkan Trilogy? I love Olivia Manning's writing. I am going to read the Levant Trilogy soon.
John Halifax, Gentleman was a book I read several times in my teens and again quite recently. I have never met anyone who has even heard of it. It always made me cry!
Best regards,
Rosiezbanks (I wanted to call myself Rosie M. Banks but someone beat me to it).
postet av rosiezbanks kl. 1:44 pm (EST) den Sep 5, 2007
Glad you liked the picture of Horus, our cat. The number of "mystery" (my tag) books you have is quite impressive. A friend got me particularly hooked on British mysteries. A favorite of ours is one of your favorites, Michael Innis.
Am currently on a trip up along the coast of Maine from Portland up to Bar Harbor. I was impressed by the number of used bookstores, along the route, as well as the number of independent bookstores dealing primarily in new books.
postet av HorusE kl. 7:07 pm (EST) den Aug 29, 2007
We spent a week outside Bedford this last holiday. Perhaps on our next trip (my husband is a British ex-pat) you could give me suggestions on good book shops in the area? Being an American, I'm probably willing to travel a bit more in search of them. Having ancestors from the Isle of Skye and elsewhere in the Highlands and family in Lancashire and Hertfordshire means that we travel about 2,000 per trip when we go over there.
postet av cathyskye kl. 11:14 pm (EST) den Aug 22, 2007
What a wonderful collection of Doyle you have! You're English, I suppose. I am an Anglophile, dispite of my German name and my American citizenship. I collect Sherlock Holmes but I am also a very serious collector of illustrated editions of Dickens' Christmas Carol. I am just now trying to add them to my librarything list. Many titles are not in the database. Or not easily found at any case. I just had to use the National Library of Scotland to find one of my titles. "Afterwards. Being a Somewhat Unexpected Sequel to 'A Christmas Carol'"I have about 300 editions. I may have to retire (in one year, nine days, one hours, and two minutes)to get them all done. And I will have to figure out how to scan covers for them.
It is also fascinating to see what titles we share. I need to check out what editions of Christmas Carol you have!
Steve
postet av sws53 kl. 2:52 pm (EST) den Aug 20, 2007
I thought my ghost story collection was big, and then it got swamped by the Mystery titles! I just read in the Rough Guide to Noir that noir/horror films have many connections, so mystery fiction and ghost stories can't be that dissimilar either.
postet av Ann_Louise kl. 9:11 pm (EST) den Aug 19, 2007
Thanks so much for the recommendations - I was right, my knowledge of classics in this area isn't just lacking, it's virtually non-existant, so thanks for putting me on the right road. I shall add these titles to my wanted list and keep my eager eyes out for them!
postet av bibliobeck kl. 11:35 am (EST) den Aug 12, 2007
postet av MyopicBookworm kl. 5:11 pm (EST) den Aug 11, 2007
Thank you for visiting my library. It is still very modest compared to yours but it is expanding.
You really do have some interesting crime fiction and true crime books. It is not very easy to obtain good quality true crime books in Finland but every now and then I get lucky. We do have an excellent bookshop "Akateeminen", that stocks lots of English language books (along with Finnish and Swedish), maybe you had time to visit it during your time in Helsinki?
I might have a chance to visit London next month and am definitely going to visit every major bookshop when there. I wonder how many books I can carry back home with me! I might "spy" your library to get hints what to look for. I hope you don't mind!
Best wishes, Erja
postet av erhirvo kl. 8:53 am (EST) den Aug 5, 2007
Well, you do have an interesting library and I'm jealous of not only your books but also your shelves. :)
postet av Boudleaux kl. 4:31 pm (EST) den Aug 4, 2007
Well, I hadn't actually gone to (or known of) any of the threads about wishlists, etc., but now that I've tracked them down under the Recommend Site Improvements group, I will undoubtedly make my opinion known:) Not that it will really change anything, or matter, as you say. I've only looked through one thread (largest librays [sic]) that died out in November of last year, but of interest was a post by Tim, as follows:
"LibraryThing's requirement is that you have a real connection to the works--owning them, having read them, etc. Wish lists are also fine. Once we have "real" wish lists* (not just tags), we'll remove these books from totals. Until then, I beg everyone to understand the situation. I do not think anyone is trying to inflate these or other numbers.
*For those following the saga of these features, the guy who was doing them—Christopher—got overwhelmed and had to transfer the work to Chris and me.We have not yet been able to "take over" that code and bring it to a finish."
So, it looks like Tim doesn't plan to give LT users a choice about voluntarily transitioning to the LT wishlist system. He'll just remove all wishlist tags from the total size list (hopefully, he'll do the same to "have read" lists). Hmm, a thought just occurred to me. It's all about library size inflation, so why can't Tim just program it so anything tagged wishlist (and variations) will not be counted toward total library size? Seems like a fairly easy bit of coding, but I'm no programmer, so what do I know? Anyway, I think it will happen, eventually.
Another concern for me is the proliferation of actual libraries/bookstores on the top 50/500 lists (proliferation may be a bit strong, but there are a growing number). I warned Tim/Abby more than a year ago that institutions on LT would become a problem once they discoved they could essentially advertise themselves to thousands of people for a mere $25.00. They assured me it wouldn't be a problem. I think I'll have to dig up there e-mail response and remind them to be vigilant.
Regarding Edward Marston, I haven't actually read anything by him (color me chagrined). I really like Victorian era settings though, so I bought the first two railway detective novels based on fairly positive reviews and an assumption that I will like them. I haven't bought the third book (I think there's now a third, if memory serves) because I'm trying to cut-back on non-essential UK book purchases given the exchange rate and shipping costs these days. I'm trying to focus on signed first novels that look promising (and interesting to me) from a collector's standpoint, as well as "must have" books by favorite UK authors which, given I read mysteries and science fiction/fantasy, tends to get expensive.
I'll let you know what response I get from Tim/Abby re the above.
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:05 pm (EST) den Aug 1, 2007
Thanks for the compliment on my review, I appreciate it. I can see where it would be hard to connect to the protagonist. I know you undoubtedly have a lot of books to read, but you might try Meyer's next book, Heart of the Hunter, for a more sympathetic character. The book is more of a spy thriller--where the protagonist has broken from his violent past but, of course, circumstances refuse to allow him to live peacefully--rather than the P.I. variation of Dead at Daybreak.
Talk with you later,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 10:05 am (EST) den Jul 26, 2007
No worries about speed of response to these comments. Everyone is entitled to a life and the continual demands of immediacy stemming from cell phones and e-mail, amongst other things, goes a long way toward sapping the quality of one's life, sometimes; it can enhance it too, but I'm not always sure the trade-off is worth it.
Glad you had a good time at the multi-author fest; those kind of gatherings are always fun when the authors are good writers who haven't hit the really, really big time, so they can spend time talking with you. I would be, perhaps, "forrest" green with envy except we have a yearly bookfair every April on the UCLA campus where I can mingle with all sorts of mystery authors, too; thus, I'm only "emerald" green with envy;)
Thanks for the positive endorsement of the Mike Ripley books. I only discovered him about a month ago by following links on the fantasticfiction.co.uk website. I believe he was recommended by another author, but darned if I can remember who. Anyway, his books got lots of good reviews on Amazon, so I've rounded up all the paperbacks currently available for ordering in the U.S., and I'll be scouting for more at used bookstores around Los Angeles. I'd also been eyeing Ghostwalk, so it's good to know you positively endorse it.
This was blogged by Tim a couple of days ago, so I'm mildly hopeful cataloging alternatives will come about soon. Tim wrote "http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.ph..." and "****We should have some good announcements here soon.
Did you ever read that Deon Meyer book you own; I'm interested in your opionion of it, if so.
Take care,
Bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 8:08 pm (EST) den Jul 21, 2007
what fantastic taste! Ngaio Marsh, Terry Pratchett, Ellis Peters, Jasper Fforde, Bill Bryson and Malcom Pryce!
At least if my house burns down I now know where to find all my treasures again ...
;-)
Have you read the new Aberystwyth yet? I'm trying to hold out until the paperback comes out. Books cost a lot more over here, and there's no Hay-on-Wye to go mad in.
Much respect,
Joanna
postet av joannasephine kl. 1:46 am (EST) den Jul 19, 2007
Thank you for adding me as an "interesting library." For the sake of my vanity, it's nice to know someone out there is occasionally glancing at my books and finding things of interest:-) Ever since I was knocked out of the top 50 libraries on Zeitgeist, the number of unsolicited communications I've received from other LT members has dropped to almost nothing, so I'd begun to wonder if anyone ever looked at any of my books. After all, if I didn't want some sort of validation of my library (pathetic as that sounds), I would simply make it private. Strangely, the same day I got a message saying you'd added me as an interesting library, I was also added by a young lady who goes by the handle of ArmyAngel1986, so I got a double dosage of the old ego-stroke that day:-)
I would also like to thank you for adding me as an interesting library because, up until that point, I was unaware the function even existed. While I'm on LT almost daily, I'd been mostly hanging out on various talk threads and not looking much at individual libraries. So, I'm going to start "spreading the love" to other libraries I find of interest (starting with yours, natch, after one of my local friends, jackanaples).
I've been looking through your Conan Doyle Collection and it appears I may have just purchased a book you don't have that contains the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans." The book is "The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels" edited by Bill Ponzini and Martin H. Greenberg. I don't know if you want to add a book to the collection just for one story, but if you do and you have any trouble getting it in the UK, just let me know and I'll get it for you. It also looks as though you may be missing the recent son of Sherlock Holmes novels done by Brian Freemantle (probably best known for the Charlie Muffin series), "The Holmes Inheritance" and "The Holmes Factor." I don't know if those are intentional exclusions from your collection, but I figured I'd let you know about them just in case.
I was going to recommend a South African mystery/thriller writer to you that I finally got around to reading and really enjoyed when it occurred to me to search your library. It looks like you already own "Dead at Daybreak" by Deon Meyer, but none of his other books, so I'm wondering if you've yet to read it or, alternatively, if you've read it but didn't like it enough to buy his other books? "Dead at Daybreak" is the second of Meyer's four novels and it is my favorite, so far (I've yet to read the fourth book, "Devil's Peak"). Anyway, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.
Cheers,
bookstothesky
postet av bookstothesky kl. 6:37 pm (EST) den Jul 18, 2007
Thanks for letting me know.
Janet
postet av sisaruus kl. 8:58 pm (EST) den Jul 13, 2007
postet av Romanus kl. 2:28 pm (EST) den May 16, 2007
Just the sort of thing I was looking for! I'm in your debt.
Btw, you are #1 on my raw shared books list, with 527. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you came up with the perfect recommendation. :-)
postet av myshelves kl. 9:50 pm (EST) den May 15, 2007
postet av leafkin kl. 2:45 pm (EST) den Apr 15, 2007
postet av InigoMontoya kl. 1:10 pm (EST) den Apr 11, 2007
postet av InigoMontoya kl. 7:24 am (EST) den Apr 11, 2007
postet av inkdrinker kl. 11:08 am (EST) den Mar 16, 2007
postet av inkdrinker kl. 12:47 pm (EST) den Mar 15, 2007
I don`t remember, but probably got the info on Cheyney from the web site Blakiana, which is temporarily not available, but should be back eventually.
From memory, The sexton Blake vehicle Union Jack had two centre pages called Tinker`s Diary (written as if by Blake`s assistant Edward `Tinker` Carter. union Jack became Detective Weekly, which was aimed at a more adult audience, and the two centre pages remained, but concentrated on true crime, largely anecdotal. These were unsigned, but I believe Cheyney wrote some or all of them.
When I get the chance, I`ll look through the few Detective weekly`s I own, and see if I can glean more info for you.
Best,
Nick
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 1:28 pm (EST) den Nov 23, 2006
I presume you were already aware of his connections with Sexton blake/Detective Weekly ?
postet av nickhoonaloon kl. 3:13 pm (EST) den Nov 22, 2006
My four favorite mystery authors are, in this order; Dorothy Sayers, Rex Stout, Ellis Peters and Laurie King (mostly her Mary Russell works), I have all their works so far as I am aware. I also have all the Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown stories. I enjoy Agatha Christie, but do not collect her works. They are too prolific for my space and I don't feel the need to read her as I do the others.
postet av MrsLee kl. 2:53 pm (EST) den Nov 16, 2006
The books I've listed on this site are those I've read in the last two years. Question. Did you not care for Rex Stout? I notice you've only one of his books in your library. You listed the other three authors who are my favorite mystery authors, so I was curious.
postet av MrsLee kl. 5:23 am (EST) den Nov 16, 2006
Re Prince Jan St. Bernard, I have no personal story to tell about how I acquired it, and in fact I can't remember how it came into my hands...except that probably my mother, who volunteers in a thrift store, bought it for me, because I collect good children's books.
postet av SaintSunniva kl. 11:12 am (EST) den Nov 9, 2006
postet av Booksrme kl. 6:42 pm (EST) den Oct 24, 2006
My apologies for the delayed response. I've been a bit under the weather and, thus, not in the mood to post much on LT. Thanks for checking out my profile/library and leaving a response.
Since I just managed to erase my entire multi-paragraph response to you by clicking on a book we have in common (aargh!), I'm going to make this a bit more brief than it was going to be (update-it didn't turn out to be much more brief).
The LT definition of "books" continues to bug me especially, as you rightly pointed out, those ridiculous "wish/want" lists; I didn't even know they existed when I wrote my profile or I would have definitely ranted about them :) However, I've read that Tim/Abby have plans to make changes in the categorization eventually, so I'm trying to be patient and let LT grow and mature. It is frustrating, though, as I too could be Number One if I spent a month or so putting in my comic collection (that would get me to around 14,000 "books").
Since I live quite near Los Angeles and, thus, many new and used bookstores, Edgar Rice Burroughs' books aren't that hard to find. I just re-purchased the first couple of John Carter books to re-read about 6 months ago (too lazy to dig through my boxes to find the copies I already owned). I haven't read anything else by ERB even though I own some Tarzan books, and maybe other things (loading books onto LT, I've realized I don't have the books purchased during my high school, and maybe, early college years, which would include ERB's books; I think they must be in boxes at my mother's, so a road trip will be happening soon. I have to solidify my precarious hold on the Top 50 library listing, heh).
I buy most of my U.S. books at local bookstores, foregoing the internet's lower prices for immediate gratification and, more importantly to me, the ability to choose the book with the best condition before buying. I mostly use the internet to buy UK signed editions (since I'm not quite independently wealthy enough to hop across the pond for each book signing, although I'm sure "today's" book investments will allow me to do so in 10 years, or so *cough*). Through trial and error I've found a few online booksellers from whom I don't have to worry about books arriving in a condition other than is advertised (mostly Andy Richards at coldtonnage.com for sf/fantasy and Alan White of alanwhitefinebooks.com for a more general selection, with a couple of others for back-up). If you buy from the USA, I recommend to you clarkesworldbooks.com for sf/fantasy/horror and mysterymikes.com for, you guessed it, mysteries. I've had between 5 and 10 transactions with each and been completely satisfied every time; their prices are reasonable, too (disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of the above stores, in any way, other than as a customer). To answer your question specifically, yes, I have become much more interested in signed books in the last two years or so. I favor UK authors because the first/first print runs are usually much smaller than USA print runs, so if the author makes it big with a USA edition later on, the UK true first increases in value rapidly (whether it stays there is another question). Plus, there's a whole lot of good writing coming out of the UK these days, especially in the sf/fantasy fields, and non-english writing authors (Russians, Germans, etc.) often are translated first in UK editions (Akunin, Funke, just to name a couple).
The book I clicked on that erased my last post was The Discreet Charm of Charlie Monk; I was looking for the most esoteric of the books we both own, and I think it is the one. I'm pretty much in agreement with your 2.5 star rating, mainly because I was greatly dissatisfied with the ending; I seem to recall enjoying the book up to that point but it's been a few years so the specifics have become a blur. I also note you have several Philip Kerr novels, but I don't see that you have what I believe is his masterwork, Berlin Noir (really an omnibus of three novels). I highly recommend it if you like noir P.I. stories.
I'm going now before I erase this post.
postet av bookstothesky kl. 1:55 pm (EST) den Aug 31, 2006
I've got most of Michael Innes' books sitting in a box at my parents'. Perhaps I'll dig them out and bring them here one day. Of course, that will take all my weight allowance on the plane, which means no cheap (well, cheaper) new books.
I used to get Edmund Crispin out of the library as a teenager but I haven't seen any of his for ages.
Yes, we've got three good bookshops that sell books in English, plus a few other ones that have some surprising finds. There was a rumour that Borders was going to open a branch here, but nothing seems to have come of it.
postet av Robertgreaves kl. 10:17 pm (EST) den Jul 21, 2006
postet av Robertgreaves kl. 10:37 am (EST) den Jul 21, 2006
postet av Robertgreaves kl. 8:56 am (EST) den Jul 18, 2006
I do love Wodehouse, probably more than any other writer in English these days, but I've never moved beyond the Jeeves/Wooster books. There is a practical reason for this though: I buy mostly used books, and the Jeeves/Wooster's are the easiest to find used, since they were the most popular. I do plan on branching out though. It's just a matter of finding and buying the books.
Have a good one.
postet av coffeezombie kl. 9:44 am (EST) den Jul 16, 2006
postet av coffeezombie kl. 9:49 am (EST) den Jul 15, 2006
Paola :-))
postet av aluvalibri kl. 1:38 pm (EST) den Jun 6, 2006
postet av Aerulan kl. 7:23 pm (EST) den May 30, 2006
What a surprise to see that someone else owns A Handbook on Hanging. It just may be one of the strangest books I own.
postet av lilithcat kl. 4:24 pm (EST) den May 18, 2006