This book has been so popular that I thought I would try it. Unfortunately, I found it to be basically an “atmosphere” book, with the mysteries distinctly secondary and pretty unsatisfying (especially the main one, which was “solved” basically by coincidence). Worse, there was far too much domestic violence onstage for my taste. I do not recommend it and will not be reading further in the series.
As I think of them, here are some titles I could potentially lend Joshua, if he hasn’t read them already. It is entirely possible that some of these were originally his recommendations to me.
| Sorcery and Cecilia sequels, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer |
| Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson |
| Thus Was Adonis Murdered (and others in the Hilary Tamar series) by Sarah Caudwell |
| At Home with Books (coffee table book) |
| Asterix series |
I asked Joshua (via Facebook) to name some favorite titles, and he surprised me with the loan of many of them. This list is to keep track of which I have already read, and my ratings.
| Howl’s Moving Castle (Wynn-Jones) | 3 | Enjoyable, but probably discovered at wrong point in my life (like Neverending Story) | |
| Silver Pigs (Davis) | 3 | Lent by Eric. Interesting but did not resonate. | |
| Strong Poison (Sayers) | 4 | I have a separate post rating the Lord Peter series. | |
| Three Men in a Boat (Jerome) | 3- | Read this in college based on an excerpt from Oxford Book of Humorous Prose. Somehow just did not catch the glamour of their expedition. | |
| The Great Brain (Fitzgerald) | 3- | Lent earlier by Joshua. Made me question whether to actually become a parent. | |
| Gilded Fly (Crispin) | 2+ | Had already read based on a Wodehouse society recommendation. I need to create a posting of the Gervase Fen stories I’ve read so I can keep track of them. Borrowed Joshua’s copy so I can refresh my memory (I only own some). | (returned) |
| Hot Rock (Westlake) | 4 | Turns out I actually borrowed this one from Joshua in the past. Still enjoyed it the second time around. | (borrowed) |
| Ethan of Athos (Bujold) | I loved Curse of Chalion and bought my own autographed copy, but haven’t been brave enough to try any of her other titles. | (borrowed) | |
| Pictures of Perfection (Hill) | 4 | An enjoyable read. Feel like I’ve read this before but can’t remember any of it except the first chapter. | (borrowed) |
| Nightmare in Pink (MacDonald) | 1 | Wish I could unread it. Too explicit and too disturbing. | (borrowed) |
| Undead and Unwed (Davidson) | 1+ | A charismatic main character, but too explicit for me. | (borrowed) |
| Marvelous Misadventures (Alexander) | 3 | Like Howl’s Moving Castle — Enjoyable, but probably discovered at the wrong point in my life. | (returned) |
| Three Cheers for me (Jack) | 3 | An enjoyable read. Feel like I’ve read an extract of this somewhere else. | (returned) |
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
I couldn’t resist and bought this book at the airport for a recent trip. It was a silly, light read, in some ways more satisfying than the original. I enjoyed it, but honestly I felt it could have used more zombies.
After I ran out of Perry Mason books by Erle Stanley Gardner (there are still more but I have not found them in used bookstores yet), I started in on his Cool & Lam stories, written under the pseudonym A. A. Fair. The premise didn’t sound as good to me — partnership of a skinny little male detective and a big profane female detective – but I figured Gardner was a decent writer so why not give them a try. After the first book or two they started getting solid 5s from me, so now I am on the lookout for more. These seem more important to read in chronological order due to mild spoilers referencing past material.
Following is a list of books. The rated ones are the ones I’ve read.
| The Bigger They Come (1939) | |
| Turn on the Heat (1940) | 3 |
| Gold Comes in Bricks (1940) | 5 |
| Spill the Jackpot (1941) | 4 |
| Double or Quits (1941) | 4 |
| Owls Don’t Blink (1942) | |
| Bats Fly at Dusk (1942) | |
| Cats Prowl at Night (1943) | |
| Give ‘em the Ax (1944) | |
| Crows Can’t Count (1946) | 5 |
| Fools Die on Friday (1947) | |
| Bedrooms Have Windows (1949) | |
| Top of the Heap (1952) | |
| Some Women Won’t Wait (1953) | 5 |
| Beware the Curves (1956) | |
| You can Die Laughing (1957) | |
| Some Slips Don’t Show (1957) | |
| The Count of Nine (1958) | 5 |
| Pass the Gravy (1959) | |
| Kept Women Can’t Quit (1960) | |
| Bachelors Get Lonely (1961) | |
| Shills Can’t Cash Chips (1961) | 5 |
| Try Anything Once (1962) | |
| Fish or Cut Bait (1963) | |
| Up for Grabs (1964) | |
| Cut Thin to Win (1965) | 3 |
| Widows Wear Weeds (1966) | 3 |
| Traps Need Fresh Bait (1967) | 5 |
| All Grass isn’t Green (1970) |
This list has the Lord Peter stories in order, with my ratings. This list is just because I have a tendency to forget which ones I liked best. 5 is the most satisfying with 1 being I wish I hadn’t read it.
| 1923 | Whose Body? | 4 |
| 1926 | Clouds of Witness | 5 |
| 1927 | Unnatural Death | 4 |
| 1928 | The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club | 4 |
| 1931 | Strong Poison | 4 |
| 1931 | The Five Red Herrings | 5 |
| 1932 | Have His Carcase | 4 |
| 1933 | Murder Must Advertise | 4 |
| 1934 | The Nine Tailors | 4 |
| 1935 | Gaudy Night | 3- |
| 1937 | Busman’s Honeymoon | 4 |
| 1972 | Lord Peter (short stories) | 1-5 |
While on leave I read (and reread) quite a few Perry Mason stories by Erle Stanley Gardner. I did this during my last leave two years ago as well, and kept a list of how satisfying I found each, on a scale of 1 to 5. Here is the list. No number means I haven’t read it yet. 5 means I found it very satisfying with a good twist; 1 means it was a tedious read.
| 1933 The Case of the Velvet Claws | 5 |
| 1933 The Case of the Sulky Girl | 3 |
| 1934 The Case of the Lucky Legs | |
| 1934 The Case of the Howling Dog | |
| 1934 The Case of the Curious Bride | 4 |
| 1935 The Case of the Counterfeit Eye | 4 |
| 1935 The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat | |
| 1936 The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece | 3 |
| 1936 The Case of the Stuttering Bishop | |
| 1937 The Case of the Dangerous Dowager | 2 |
| 1937 The Case of the Lame Canary | |
| 1938 The Case of the Substitute Face | |
| 1938 The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe | |
| 1939 The Case of the Perjured Parrot | 5 |
| 1939 The Case of the Rolling Bones | 2 |
| 1940 The Case of the Baited Hook | |
| 1940 The Case of the Silent Partner | 2 |
| 1941 The Case of the Haunted Husband | |
| 1941 The Case of the Turning Tide | |
| 1941 The Case of the Empty Tin | 4 |
| 1942 The Case of the Drowning Duck | |
| 1942 The Case of the Careless Kitten | 4 |
| 1943 The Case of the Buried Clock | 3 |
| 1943 The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito | 1 |
| 1944 The Case of the Crooked Candle | 2 |
| 1944 The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde | |
| 1945 The Case of the Golddigger’s Purse | 3 |
| 1945 The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife | 4 |
| 1946 The Case of the Borrowed Brunette | 3 |
| 1947 The Case of the Fan-Dancer’s Horse | |
| 1947 The Case of the Lazy Lover | 3 |
| 1948 The Case of the Lonely Heiress | 4 |
| 1948 The Case of the Vagabond Virgin | 5 |
| 1949 The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom | 3 |
| 1949 The Case of the Cautious Coquette | 4 |
| 1950 The Case of the Negligent Nymph | 4 |
| 1950 The Case of the One-Eyed Witness | 5 |
| 1951 The Case of the Fiery Fingers | 4 |
| 1951 The Case of the Angry Mourner | |
| 1952 The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink | 2 |
| 1952 The Case of the Grinning Gorilla | |
| 1953 The Case of the Hesitant Hostess | 3 |
| 1954 The Case of the Fugitive Nurse | |
| 1954 The Case of the Runaway Corpse | 5 |
| 1954 The Case of the Restless Redhead | |
| 1955 The Case of the Glamorous Ghost | 5 |
| 1955 The Case of the Sun Bather’s Diary | 4 |
| 1955 The Case of the Nervous Accomplice | |
| 1956 The Case of the Terrified Typist | 5 |
| 1956 The Case of the Demure Defendant | 4 |
| 1956 The Case of the Gilded Lily | 2 |
| 1957 The Case of the Lucky Loser | 2 |
| 1957 The Case of the Screaming Woman | 4 |
| 1957 The Case of the Daring Decoy | 3 |
| 1958 The Case of the Long Legged Models | 3 |
| 1958 The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll | 5 |
| 1958 The Case of the Calendar Girl | 4 |
| 1959 The Case of the Deadly Toy | 4 |
| 1959 The Case of the Mythical Monkeys | 4 |
| 1959 The Case of the Singing Skirt | 2 |
| 1960 The Case of the Waylaid Wolf | 2 |
| 1960 The Case of the Duplicate Daughter | |
| 1960 The Case of the Shapely Shadow | 3 |
| 1961 The Case of the Spurious Spinster | |
| 1961 The Case of the Bigamous Spouse | 5 |
| 1962 The Case of the Reluctant Model | |
| 1962 The Case of the Blonde Bonanza | 3 |
| 1962 The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands | |
| 1963 The Case of the Mischievous Doll | 3 |
| 1963 The Case of the Stepdaughter’s Secret | 3 |
| 1963 The Case of the Amorous Aunt | 5 |
| 1964 The Case of the Daring Divorcee | |
| 1964 The Case of the Phantom Fortune | |
| 1964 The Case of the Horrified Heirs | 3 |
| 1965 The Case of the Troubled Trustee | 2 |
| 1965 The Case of the Beautiful Beggar | 3 |
| 1966 The Case of the Worried Waitress | 5 |
| 1967 The Case of the Queenly Contestant | 2 |
| 1968 The Case of the Careless Cupid | 4 |
| 1969 The Case of the Fabulous Fake | 3 |
| 1972 The Case of the Fenced-In Woman | 4 |
| 1973 The Case of the Postponed Murder | |
| 1947 Novelette: The Case of the Crying Swallow | 3 |
| 1948 Novelette: The Case of the Crimson Kiss | 4 |
| 1953 Short Stories: The Case of the Irate Witness | 2-4 |
protagonize: interactive fiction & collaborative story writing community
Welcome to Protagonize: your destiny awaits.
Protagonize is a creative writing community dedicated to the (nearly) lost art of the\naddventure, a type of collaborative\ninteractive fiction. One author writes a story, and others post branches to it in different directions. The result is\nan organic, evolving story where everyone can participate
via EFL Geek
Several people as well as Amazon.com have told me that if I like Terry Pratchett, I will like the time-travelling Thursday Next series that begins with The Eyre Affair.
So I read The Eyre Affair, and while it was enjoyable I had the impression it was trying too hard to jam in “subtle” (not) references to how different everyday life was in this alternate universe. Also, the pace was a bit too frenetic for my liking.
I may return to this series later, but for right now I am glad this was a library checkout rather than a purchase. If someone were to ask me for a time-travel book recommendation I would suggest Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog over this one.
Not a book, but a British TV series about a book-store, so close enough.
The funniest show I’ve seen in years, Black Books is about a small London bookshop run by the misanthropic drunkard Bernard Black, assisted by Manny Bianco…a former accountant who mistakenly thinks that working in a bookshop for Bernard would be, you know, mellow, and with frequent visits from Fran, the owner of the next-door shop (which sells “a lot of wank”). How much do I like this series? So much that if you’re reading this, I’ve probably already made you watch at least the first two episodes. I’ve seen them six or seven times now with various sets of my friends, and they’re funny every time. I even went to the trouble of buying the first two seasons, rather than having them block my Netflix queue permanently until I was sure that every friend I have has seen them. So if you haven’t seen them, tell me, so I can make you watch them.
A typical exchange runs along the following lines (Bernard has realized that he can postpone doing his taxes if he’s seriously injured):
(customer hands Bernard a book)
Bernard: Oh we’ve got a special offer on this one.
Customer: Really?
Bernard: Yes, it’s free if you break my legs.
Customer: Fair enough.
Bernard: Great! I’ll just get the hobbling post.
Customer: Wait. I’ve read this one. That’s the problem with Wodehouse.
Bernard: Yes it’s terrible now hurry up and break my legs.
Customer: But I’ve already read it! I’m sorry, I’ve got to go!
