That's right, folks. It's been 2 years since I started this blog, and I'm still having fun doing it. This year, I spent some time doing other things so my totals aren't as high but that's the way things go. So here are the books I've read since the last post, and I'll throw in some stuff at the end.
Miscellaneous
The Manhattan Hunt Club - John Saul ($7.99/$.25, 365 pages, copyright 2001, Paperback)
When I started this book, I was expecting a sort of urbanized " The Most Dangerous Game" plot. You know, rich guys hunting humans. In a way, it is, but there's much more here. The terrain is the underground tunnels in New York, populated by the homeless - the forgotten. The hunted is a man wrongly convicted of a violent crime. The characters are well thought out, and there were several surprises towards the end. I enjoyed it.
Series
Jolie Blon's Bounce - James Lee Burke ($7.99/$.50, 449 pages, copyright 2002, Paperback)
I've mentioned Burke's books before, and in particular those centering on Dave Robicheaux. This is one of those. Burke presents him as a flawed cop trying to do the right thing against the odds. Here, he tries to prevent a young, black man from being convicted of the murder of a young, white woman in a part of the South that really hasn't changed all that much since the Civil War. Burke always delivers. I enjoyed it.
Heat Wave - Richard Castle ($7.99/$0, 198 pages, no copyright, Paperback)
Yes, this is a book written by that Richard Castle - from the TV show of the same name. In fact, it's the first in his new series based on his "partnership" with a police woman. I was mildly surprised to see that the Castle-like character - called Rook here - comes off as a bit needy and incompetent, while the female cop - Nikki Heat - is the efficient crime solver. It does read like an episode of the show, but there is decent police work shown. I enjoyed it. (There's no copyright, because they couldn't put the real author's name on it.)
Totals
For those of you keeping score, Here are this years numbers. 1 Sherlock Holmes book, cover price total $9.99, cost to me $0. 22 Series books, cover price total $202.19, cost to me $17.99. 23 Miscellaneous books, cover price total $210.53, cost to me $16.74. My Grand Total is 46 books, total cover price $422.71, cost to me $34.73. That comes out to be 6 books less then last year. My average cost this year is about $.85 per book. Not too bad. (Although I have spent a lot of time playing PC games that I download off of GameHouse which took up a lot of time.)
Stuff At The End
I spent some time this year in paying attention to what goes on around me. Not just the family stuff - a wedding, a christening, etc. - which I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here. But the stuff that impacts our lives - or, at least, my life. What effects us all, we need to pay attention to. If you think Washington is screwing with us, or is no longer representative of us, vote them out. Next year is a big one - politically - so please pay attention.
What effects me - now - is that this is also my 3rd Anniversary as a heart transplant recipient. It was a tough one on my donor's family, and I've been thinking a lot about them and the need for donors, and decided that it was time for me to do something about it. I have volunteered to help out with The Sharing Network and their Donate Life Chapter here in Middlesex County. I'll let you know how that goes.
Here's looking to many more years of doing this so.....
Keep reading.
