Chapter One

This is the first of what I hope will be an ongoing, though irregular, series of reviews dealing with the books I've read. These, I believe, date back to the beginning of September. I will try, when possible, to include some detail as to where I bought them and how much I spent, but that will not always be possible.

SHERLOCK HOLMES
I have always been a big fan of Arthur Conan Doyle and the imitators that have followed him, so You will find one of these volumes appearing every so often.

"New Sherlock Holmes Adventures" Mike Ashley, editor. (Hardcover, $1 at the library.)
"Murder in Baker Street" Martin Greenberg, editor. (Hardcover, about $5 in the reduced section at Barnes & Noble in Edison.)

Both of these volumes include about 12 stories involving my favorite sleuth and his trusty companion. If you like Holmes, you'll like these.Nuff said. Enjoyed them both.

SERIES
Whoever said you can't judge a book by it's cover was wrong. All you have to do is recognize the name of the author, and you know what you're in for.

"Survival of the Fittest" Jonathan Kellerman. (Paperback, $.50 at a library). Alex Delaware at his finest. Includes his cop friend Milo, and an interesting couple of problems. Enjoyed it.

"Voodoo River" Robert Crais. (Paperback, $.50 at the library.) Elvis Cole leaves California on an identity case and opens up all kinds of worm cans. Enjoyed it.

"Street Dreams" Faye Kellerman. (Paperback, $.50 at the library.) Faye is Jonathan's wife (see above) and she has her own cast of characters. Usually Peter and Rina Decker, but they play a small part here. This one revolves around the daughter Cynthia and her experiences as a cop. There's also a mystery involving Rina's mother's background that relies too much on coincidences. Pretty good.

"Heartwood" James Lee Burke. (Paperback, $.50 at the library.) One of the Billy Bob Holland series, and the first I've read. Involves old money and what it can and cannot buy, and old love. Burke's usually high degree of writing, but not impressed with the main character and his haunted background. Not bad.

"Cadillac Jukebox" James Lee Burke (Paperback, $.50 at the library.) This is one of Burke's Dave Robicheaux books, and I'm more familiar with these. Same great writing, same reformed drunk character and his rusty knight approach to law and order. Politics and strange bedfellows. Enjoyed it.

Miscellaneous
Here's where variety comes in, sort of.

"The Shroud of the Thwacker" Chris Elliott. (Hardcover, $4 with a coupon in the reduced section at Borders.) Yes, it's that Chris (Cabin Boy) Elliott. If you've ever seen him in anything, you'll know how this book goes. Sort of a mashup of Jack the Ripper in turn of the century New York. Got better as it went along, but not by much.

"Motherless Brooklyn" Jonathan Letham. (Trade Paperback, $1 at the library.) This was great! The main character has to find out who killed his mentor. Oh, by the way, did I mention he has Tourette's Syndrome? The voice of the main character reads almost real. I enjoyed it.

"Old Man's War" John Scalzi. (Trade Paperback, $1 at the library.) Great premise. When you turn 70, you sign up to fight the interstellar war that's going on. Then it turned into a Robert Heinlein adventure. Interesting, but disappointing.

"The Woods" Harlan Corben. (Paperback, $1 at the library.) I've always like Corben's work and this is no exception. What happened in that camp all those years ago. Is the main character's sister missing, dead, what? Enjoyed it.

"The Book of Fate" Brad Meltzer.(Paperback, $.50 at the library.) This was the first Melzer book I've read. Fast paced, holds your interest. Involves an assassination that wasn't and an ex-president. Enjoyed it.

"The Chinese Death Cloud Peril" Paul Malmount. (Hardcover, $4 at the reduced section at Barnes & Nobles.) WOW! The writers of Doc Savage and the Shadow against oriental menaces! Cameos by L. Ron Hubbard, Robert Heinlein, and even Stan Lee, all during the Pulp Era. Not as exciting as it could've been, but enjoyed it anyway.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" Mark Haddon. (Paperback, $1 at the library.) Fascinating. The main character has "problems" and yet is the voice and view point for this slight volume. He's smart enough but to try to solve a mystery, but he has no clue about how things work in the real world. Enjoyed it.

That's all I can remember. Maybe there'll be less items in the future, with more detail. It all depends on when I have access to a computer.

If you can't turn a page, it ain't a book!

PROLOG

Like Burgess Meredith's character in that great Twilight Zone episode, I find that I now have "Time Enough at Last" to read as many books as I want - and anyone who knows me knows I enjoy reading. Also like that character, I get my books from the library. However, I buy them from the sales tables, usually 50 cents for paperbacks, and $1 to $3 bucks for hardcovers. Most of my current collection of "To Be Read" books are paperbacks. Purchasing them seems to be a better choice then waiting for a nuclear holocaust.

Having a car allows me to expand my range of local libraries and I'm currently up to 9 different branch offices in 2 different counties that encompass 5 different cities. Sounds like a lot, but they're really not that far apart, and I usually limit my search to 5 really close ones. Currently, my backlog runs to about 100 books.

What I intend to do here, is review these books as I read them and give you an idea of how they are so you can make up your own mind as to whether to read them or not. These reviews will be posted randomly, and include whatever books have been read since the last posting. Since this is my blog, it will also include my thoughts on TV shows and/or movies I've seen, recent news events I have a comment about, and any other thing I wish to get off my chest. In these instances, the comments do reflect the views of the management.

Stay tuned for the first chapter, which should include every book I've read since the beginning of September. Hopefully, it will be posted next week.