I don't know what the heck to call this thread!

[Expletive Deleted]

That's a lousy reason to read something.

No argument here. But it was too big a part of my life through junior high and high school not to finish it.

[berk]

No argument here. But it was too big a part of my life through junior high and high school not to finish it.

You could always just read the new ones without taking all that time to re-read the old ones.

I just finished reading a play by David Mamet, American Buffalo. I don't know if he was the first guy to do it, but you can see where a lot of the "naturalistic" dialogue in American writing (including writing for the large and small screens) comes from when you read Mamet's stuff. This is the 3rd piece of his I've read recently: they were all pretty good, but I think I've probably seen enough and doubt I'll go on to anything else of his. The Duck Variations was probably my favourite of the three, and if anyone wants to get a taste of his style that's the one I'd recommend, though really any of them would do.

[Moriarty]

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

[Deathstroke]

Jon Land's Pandora's Temple

[Slam_Bradley]

Djinn Rummy by Tom Holt

Middling book by Holt that finds a genie, Kiss, released from an aspirin bottle by Jane, possibly the most mundane woman ever born. Along with dealing with her he must attempt to deal with a mad genie bent on apocalypse. It's all generally Ok, but is never very cohesive.

[Slam_Bradley]

Playback by Raymond Chandler

Thus finishes my re-read of the Chandler oeuvre. This one I'd only read once...and it was at least twenty years ago.

Playback was Chandler's last finished novel to be published. And the only not to have yet been filmed. It was reworked from an unsold screenplay and has generally been viewed as Chandler's weakest novel. And I'm pretty sure that's not at all fair. It's easily Marlowe's most realistic reported case. It starts as a tail job. And while it gets more complicated, ultimately it remains a tail job. I don't find the resolution "pat" as has been complained. It's the reasonable, if not overly dramatic way, for the tale to end.

And it has a number of Chandler's hallmarks as a writer. The opening sentence of Chapter Two is pure brilliance. The description of the Mexican band could almost make you weep wishing you'd written it. No, it isn't The Long Goodbye or The Big Sleep, but it's a league or two better than The Lady in the Lake and features an older Marlowe that is well worth getting to know.

[Libaax]

Im reading No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase, apparently a famous, big pulp era crime writer and this is his debut novel from 1939.

The first half of the book was miles from the best noir,PI authors of the classic era and it was too pulpy writing like when mainstream critics use that word as insult for lesser fiction. After half it became much more crisper,better story.

[Slam_Bradley]

Im reading No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase, apparently a famous, big pulp era crime writer and this is his debut novel from 1939.

The first half of the book was miles from the best noir,PI authors of the classic era and it was too pulpy writing like when mainstream critics use that word as insult for lesser fiction. After half it became much more crisper,better story.

James Hadley Chase is one of those writers that I always mean to read. But most of his work is out of print and not terribly easy to track down for cheap.

[Moriarty]

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

[666MasterOfPuppets]

Civilization One: The World Is Not As You Thought It Was by Christopher Knight and Alan Butler. Fascinating reading. Although there is a thing that bugs me. Then again, I'm only 4 chapters in, so that might change.

[Libaax]

James Hadley Chase is one of those writers that I always mean to read. But most of his work is out of print and not terribly easy to track down for cheap.

Frankly you aren't missing much, it was pretty dated novel with one real interesting character. I have seen better B-film noirs than this. Chase sounds like one those pulp paperback era that sold millions and is less known today than when this novel sold most during WWII. I got my copy from some library in inter library loan. Im not willing to spend money on books in print of his or second hand.

There are many other 30s,40s noir authors worth more reading time. I enjoyed the novel but not more.

[Moriarty]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

[Donald M.]

Been a long while since I posted in this thread. Anyway, I treated myself and picked myself up a Kindle for my birthday back in September. Since then I've picked up a ton of eBooks on the cheap (some as cheap as free!) and so I've read:

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

For those not already aware, this is a Wold Newton-esque tale of what might have happened had Dracula won. Highly recommended, even if the cameos get to be a bit much at times.

A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis

An interesting little tale of murder and supernatural revenge set in the world of tattoo artistry. I quite enjoyed it.

Gleefully Macabre Tales by Jeff Strand

A well and accurately named collection of horror tales ranging from gross to hilarious to both. If you aren't familiar with Jeff Strand, he kind of is what Christopher Moore sort of almost was at the beginning of his career: The Terry Pratchett of horror. That is to say, he writes books that send up the genre while also being capable examples of the genre. If you're interested in his stuff, I particularly recommend the Andrew Mayhem series, The Sinister Mr. Corpse and Benjamin's Parasite.

The Dead Man Vol. 1 - 3 by Various Authors

Though some of the greatest novels ever written were originally published in serial form, occasional attempts to revive the form have been only marginally successful. However, technology has prevailed (kind of) where Stephen King and Tom Wolfe couldn't! There are plenty of serials available in digital format and The Dead Man is an interesting one. Its monthly installments are penned by a variety of authors and each is a self-contained tale. It all plays out a bit like a TV series in prose form. Inspired in part by the classic Men's Adventure novels of the 1970's, The Dead Man is the story of axe-wielding adventurer Matt Cahill, who after being mysteriously resurrected from the dead discovers he now has the ability to literally see the corruption of evil in others. He soon sets out on a cross-country quest to learn more about his strange new powers while battling the forces of evil and attempting to foil the machinations of his nemesis, the enigmatic grinning ghoul known as Mr. Dark.

Grundish and Askew by Lance Carbuncle

Kind of like Of Mice and Men if George and Lenny were petty criminals. Kind of, but not really.

Pillowface by Khristopher Rufty

A boy and his psycho slasher.

The Extra by Michael Shea

Dystopian sci-fi tale of a future where Hollywood's latest innovation is the "live action" genre, in which the desperately poor battle killer robots on camera for a chance at earning enough money to escape from the Zoo, the sprawling overpacked third-world slum once known as Los Angeles.

Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath

First in an entertaining if not exactly groundbreaking series about Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, a Chicago homicide detective with an odd circle of friends and acquaintances who finds herself pitted against a series of increasingly twisted and bizarre serial killers.

The Overwhelming Urge by Anderson Prunty

A collection of microfiction, each story between half a page and three pages in length. The stories are mostly just weird with no real point to them and I can't say I'd recommend the book, though I was never bored reading it.

Plus a ton of short stories in various anthologies and collections that I've been dipping into on a a la carte basis.

[Addams]

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.

The story is quite simple, a gal loves a dude who because of some weird curse turns into a wolf when he's too cold.

Yeah, i know. But what really surprised me here and that the writer is actually damn good. It's well written, the story is very well told and man, what a heartwarming story. I mean, really.

There is thread somewhere about things who can give some faith in humankind, i should post the whole book.

They should make a movie out of this stuff. With a good promotion and a decent casting they could really make a shitload of money.

[Moriarty]

Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara