The Moving Target, by Ross MacDonald

• Title:  The Moving Target
• Author:  Ross MacDonald
• Borrowed from Fairfax, VA Public Library (Audiobook)
• Started: 7/22/2016
• Finished:  7/26/2016

I've decided to listen to all (available through the library) audiobooks of the Lew Archer series.  This one, The Moving Target, was the first book to feature Archer.  It's pretty good, glad I finally have access to these.  I'm skipping books 2 & 3 (Drowning Pool, The Way Some People Die) because I've read them many times (drowning pool) or recently (the way some people die -- this time last year, LOVED IT).  So the next book up is #4, The Ivory Grin.

Really enjoy these.  Probably my favorite detective series.

The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson

• Title:  The Amityville Horror
  
• Author:  Jay Anson
  
• Borrowed from Fairfax, VA Public Library (audiobook)
  
• Started:  7/19/2016
  
• Finished: 7/22/2016
  

I had this one on my list for a long time, and now that I've finally read it (thanks to the reciprocal borrowing agreements between the public libraries in the DC Metro Region) -- I was pretty disappointed.

Having read back-to-back two blockbuster books from the 1970s, it is easy to see why one of them was huge (Deliverance) and much harder to understand the other (this on, Amityville Horror).

The story was written out so much like a dragnet episode (on December 21st, so & so did such & such) that I really found it not scary of moving. 

Anyway, glad to have it behind me, even if I did not love it.

Deliverance, by James Dickey

• Title:  Deliverance
• Author:  James Dickey
• AudioBook via Audible (free trial)
• Started: 7/10/2016
• Finished: 7/13/2016

Much like "We Have to Talk About Kevin," I have been putting off reading this book for a while. Just like "Kevin," I was an idiot.  Deliverance was an amazing book.  I worried it would be dated, but it wasn't dated at all. Really liked one.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder

Title:  The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Author:  Thornton Wilder
Purchased from Amazon (Kindle edition)
Started: 7/8/2016
Finished: 7/10/2016

My selection for book club, love this book.

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

• Title:  The Haunting of Hill House
• Author:  Shirley Jackson
• Borrowed from DC Public (AudioBook)
• Started:  7/6/2016
• Finished: 7/10/2016

Probably the third time I've read this, first time as an audiobook.  I love this work.  I think Shirley Jackson might be my favorite, actually IS my favorite, spooky/haunted/literature author.

I love the 1963 film as well.  Watching the 1999 version right now.  This movie is terrible.

Dictator, by Robert Harris

• Title:  Dictator
• Author:  Robert Harris
• Borrowed from DC Public Library (Kindle Edition)
• Started:  6/12/2016
• Finished: 7/5/2016

Not a particularly long novel, but I read it slowly.  This was the third and final book in the Cicero/Tiro trilogy, very enjoyable overall though this may be been my least favorite of books.  Still, that's not a knock, this was a good book.  Very happy to have stumbled upon this trilogy.

The Bell Witch, by Brent Monahan

• Title:  The Bell Witch
  
• Author:  Brent Monahan
  
• Borrowed from DC Public Library
  
• Started 7/2/2016
  
• Finished: 7/6/2016
  

My summer of horror continues -- I don't know why but I love reading haunting/ghost stories in the summer.  Anyway, I didn't hold out much hope for this one and it exceeded (if slightly) my assumption.  Started off pretty good, really fell apart in the middle, and then finished somewhat strong if somewhat obvious.  I wasn't positive of the psychological reason for the haunting, but I was pretty certain about which character was causing it.

Anyway, interesting enough if not scary at all.  The audiobook was read a way, way too slow of a pace.  This is only the second time I have used the function that speeds up the reading.  The last time I was at just 1.2 times normal speed.  This time I was at 1.6, and probably could have gone to 2 times the normal rate and still understood everything.

Blue-Eyed Devil, by Robert Parker

• Title:  Blue-Eyed Devil
  
• Author:  Robert Parker
  
• Borrowed from DC Public Library (AudioBook)
  
• Started:  6/29/2016
  
• Finished: 7/1/2016
  

Yes another Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch book.  This was pretty terrible, from a literature perspective, but having read the others it at least continued the stories of characters you got to know over the other books.