What was the last book you read?

[Seaviewer]

On Borrowed Time: How World War II Began by Leonard Mosley
Very readable account of what could have been a very tedious subject. Some of the passages based on diaries and interviews of people who were actually in the room are almost like a spy novel.

 

[bmasters9]

This Perry Mason book compilation, called A Perry Mason Omnibus, published by William Morrow and Company, comprising the books listed (albeit presented in a different order inside than listed on the cover)...

 

[Karin]

David Beckham's autobiography from 2004 "My Side."

 

[Seaviewer]

Impressions of Theophrastus Such by George Eliot
I didn't know this one existed until coming across it at Project Gutenberg. This was evidently Eliot's last work, an experimental collection of essays written by the title character. It is considered fiction because it refers to imaginary characters but at times it seems indistinguishable from essays that Eliot wrote as herself.

 

[bmasters9]

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lucky Legs (originally published in 1934; this reprint from 1967)

 

[Seaviewer]

The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
Authorised sequel to H.G. Wells's Time Machine and about three times as long. Baxter weaves in just about all the permutations you can think of - traveling not only forward but backward as well, along with alternate histories and the concept of parallel time streams - but still manages to retain the voice of the original.

 

[Seaviewer]

Starting a new series ...
Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller (Sharon McCone #1)
Sharon McCone is reputably the first of the hard-boiled female private eyes, predating both Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. Was Honey West not hard-boiled enough? She debuted in the 50s before starring in the eponymous TV series in the 60s.
In any event, Sharon is likeable enough and with more than 30 books and counting, it looks like I'll be kept occupied for a while.

 

[Emelee]

I keep seeing and thinking of this thread and shaking my head at myself for not being able to post more. I buy more and more books, but I read too little. I want to want to read more!!!!

 

[bmasters9]

Without Mercy by Gary Provost: an apparent more contemporary, 1980s version of the Truman Capote 60s classic In Cold Blood, this one taking place in South Florida, specifically Dade County, before it became Miami-Dade County (in 1983, a woman named Dee Casteel, who worked in an IHOP in South Florida, was involved in the killings of her boss and her boss's mother; she and several others were tried and convicted of those murders, and she and all of them got death sentences in the electric chair in Florida [all appealed, and were retried and resentenced, this time to life; her three accomplices are still there, while she died in 2002]).

 

[Seaviewer]

Catch the Saint (The Saint #44)
Finally over the TV adaptations, this is an original novel, though not by Charteris. In a forward, he explains that by this time (1975) it's no longer plausible that the same character that began in 1928 would still be active, so this is an experiment at writing a new story but set in the thirties.

 

[bmasters9]

Another Michael Palmer medical thriller, Silent Treatment

 

[Seaviewer]

Angler: The Shadow Presidency of Dick Cheney by Barton Gellman.
Chronicles the machinations of the Vice President during the George W. Bush administration.
Doesn't quite live up to the "shadow presidency" tag as it's made clear that the final decisions were always Bush's.

 

[bmasters9]

Hey, Wait A Minute (I Wrote a Book!) from 1984, by late, great Oakland Raider coach, and CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC NFL color man John Madden

 

[Seaviewer]

A Cellarful of Noise by Brian Epstein
Sixtieth anniversary for this book - the 1964 memoir of the Beatles' manager.
Nothing I didn't already know but it's interesting to read the view from inside the bubble at the height of Beatlemania.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Hey, Wait A Minute (I Wrote a Book!) from 1984, by late, great Oakland Raider coach, and CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC NFL color man John Madden

To most of the younger people now he was just the face of a popular video game but of course we know differently. Great book but ironically at that point he wasn’t even close to being the legendary figure he is now.

 

[Seaviewer]

The Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace (The Saint #45)
I misstated the last one as a novel; it was actually two stories in the same format as the preceding TV adaptations, but new stories.
This one is a full-length novel, also new, also set in the 1930s. To be specific, Austria after the Nazi takeover, a setting familiar to devotees of The Sound of Music.

 

[Seaviewer]

Two Stories & A Memory by Giuseppe di Lampedusa
A collection of oddments, a sort of companion to The Leopard by the same author, including a memoir of his early life which was a clear inspiration for his famous novel.

 

[kenneth]

Montana Sky by Nora Roberts.

The book wasn't quite what I anticipated from the back cover, but it quickly drew me in. While it was a bit lengthy and some characters could have used more development, I found myself engrossed. After finishing the book, I watched the movie adaptation. Interestingly, the main character didn't captivate me as much as the other women we encountered along the way.

 

[KayLloyd]

Started reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" again because I will be visiting the house in the spring. I haven't read it since school.

 

[kenneth]

Pomp and Circumstance by Fred Mustard Stewart.

It took me half the book to realize I had read it before, but that didn't deter me from continuing. The story moves at such a fast pace that it kept me hooked. The narrative is split into two concurrent storylines, with alternating chapters. Each storyline is compelling in its own right, but I found myself wanting to rush through one just to get back to the other, which was even more captivating. When the two storylines finally converge, the book reaches a new level of excitement.

The characters are vividly portrayed, with the men embodying the very essence of handsome and dashing heroes, while the women are depicted as paragons of feminine perfection. This idealization gives the impression the author belives it makes them more interesting, but it just ends up feeling somewhat superficial. The villains, on the other hand, are one-dimensionally evil. But, honestly, these are minor gripes in an otherwise engaging narrative.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the book is the relationship between the two destined lovers. Unlike many stories where such characters inevitably end up together, this book takes a different route, adding a layer of realism and unpredictability to the plot.