Bibliofile - November

It was a return to police and detective novels this month as I read number five in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke, number two in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Canadian author Louise Penny and the nineteenth in the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. All excellent reads.

I also read A Dark and Broken Heart by R.J. Ellory, one of my favourite authors. His series is not an ongoing series of the same characters but an ongoing series of dark novels. I think he's almost - and I may have said this before - the Stephen King of police procedurals.

I began the month reading the fourth book in The Maze series by James Dashner. I say fourth but it's actually the first because it's the prequel which helps set the other three books - which I read in October - of this dark and dystopian world into context

My monthly visit to the world of music consisted of two fascinating books. Star Making Machinery, written in 1975, follows Captain Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen through the rigamaroles of making an album, from start to finish. Including agents, lawyers, record companies and of course the band this book provided a real eye opener to the music business. The second book, Sound Man, by Glyn Johns provided a different look of the music business through the eyes of a respected engineer and producer. If you look at album credits from the 60s and 70s especially more than likely Glyn Johns' name is there either as an engineer or a producer.

So it was a bit of an eclectic, yet enjoyable month of reading. Seven books in November brings my yearly total to 91 books over 11 months. Here are the books I read this month, and how I rated them on a scale of 1 to 5...

The Kill Order (Maze Runner Prequel) - James Dashner ****
Star Making Machinery - Geoffrey Stokes ****
A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux #5) - James Lee Burke ****
Dead Cold (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #2) - Louise Penny *****
A Dark and Broken Heart - R.J. Ellory *****
The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19) - Michael Connelly ****
Sound Man - Glyn Johns ****

What have you been reading?

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! You know what happens on Imagination D

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

nonamedufus

Search This Blog