Thursday, March 30, 2017

Mr. American, by George MacDonald Fraser

  • Title:  Mr. American
  • Author:  George MacDonald Fraser
  • Borrowed from Fairfax County Public Library (AudioBook)
  • Started: 3/17/2017
  • Finished: 3/30/2017
A book by the author of the Flashman Papers (which I've read most of and loved), Mr. American was a long, wonderful story.  This book has a much more serious tone, somber even, than any of the Flashman books, although Flashy does make a couple of appearances in this one.  

I won't bother to recount the plot, plenty of sites and reviews do just that.  But I really enjoyed this one, as I have most of Fraser's work.  Fraser as an author was a big find for me in 2016, I suspect by the end of 2017 I'll have finished everything he has written that is available to me.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Death on Deadline, by Robert Goldsborough

  • Title: Death on Deadline
  • Author:  Robert Goldsborough
  • Borrowed from Fairfax County Public Library (Kindle Edition)
  • Started: 3/18/2017
  • Finished: 3/21/2017
Another Nero Wolfe mystery by someone other than Rex Stout -- very enjoyable.

The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston

Book club selection, mine, liked the first half but the second half was a bit too heavy handed.  I suspect it will be popular in the book club though.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Make Me, by Lee Child

  • Title:  Make Me
  • Author:  Lee Child
  • Borrowed from DC Public Library
  • Started: 3/12/2017
  • Finished: 3/16/2017
Another Jack Reacher novel, really terrible, but of course I'll keep with this stupid series because I'm strangely addicted.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Closer Casket, Sophie Hannah

Title: Closed Casket
Author: Sophie Hannah
Borrowed from Worcester, MD Public Library Audiobook
Started 3/8/2017
Finished 3/11/2017

A non-Christie Poirot novel.  I liked it, but Amazon reviews were not kind.  The performer of the audiobook was outstanding. 

Friday, March 10, 2017

Murder in E Minor, by Robert Goldsborough

  • Title:  Murder in E Minor
  • Author:  Robert Goldsborough
  • Borrowed from Fairfax, VA Public Library (Kindle Edition)
  • Started:  3/7/2017
  • Finished: 3/10/2017
A continuation of the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe series, Goldsborough does a great job of getting just close enough to Stout's prose, without completely copying or mimicking.  

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead*, by James Lee Burke

Was really enjoying this one, had been wanting to get the whole Robicheaux series read by my favorite reader Will Patton, starting with book 1.  But none of my libraries had the first 5 books, so I started with this one, book 6.

I enjoyed it from the start, but could not get over how short it was at just 3.5 hours (most audiobooks are 8 hours minimum).  Then I got to the end, and heard "we hope you've enjoyed this ABRIDGED..."

God Dammit.  This is the first time this has happened to me, I usually screen out abridged version but I was so excited to see Will Patton reading I skipped right over that abridged nonsense.  I hesitate to add this as a book I've read when I'm getting the readers digest version.

So I've added an asterisks to the title to note that it was abridged.  Oh well.

* -- Abridged, probably shouldn't count

Sunday, March 5, 2017

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, by Kate Summerscale

Title: The Suspicions of Mr. Witcher
Author: Kate Summerscale
Borrowed from DC Public Library (Audiobook)
Started: 3/1/2017
Finished: 3/5/2017

This was one of three books I suggested for my book club.  This one wasn't chosen so I listened to it on my own.  Very enjoyable, but wouldn't have been good for book club so I'm glad it worked out the way it did. 

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Personal, by Lee Child

  • Title:  Personal
  • Author:  Lee Child
  • Borrowed from DC Public Library (AudioBook)
  • Started: 2/27/2017
  • Finished: 3/1/2017
Yup, another damn Reacher book.