Dec. 30th, 2005

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Once again, i'm finding that nothing I pick up is engaging me. Last night I started two mystery novels, Susan Dunlap's SUDDEN EXPOSURE and robert Barnard's SCHOOL FOR MURDER, but gave up after a few chapters of each because I just didn't care.

I had quite enjoyed the other Barnard I bought recently, DEATH BY SHEER TORTURE, which was full of arch, biting humor.

(Aside: it reminded me of one of my favorite sentences, from Katherine Raymond's essay "Why Gwyneth Paltrow Must Die": I suggested that they might be more comfortable at the end of the line where latecomers such as themselves could congregate and revel in their collective disregard for punctuality.)

So today I schlepped to this new English-language bookstore I'd never been to before and actually wound up spending cash for books instead of swapping already-read-things-I-no-longer-want for credit, not because I was desperate for any of these but in the hope springs eternal and for the sake of buying something in case I liked it. What I bought was:

1 euro ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE by Peter Dickinson. I still haven't read anything by him but many friends whose taste I like adore him, so I've been stockpiling as I come across them in case I do like them. (He seems to write such disparate things, though, so I'm not sure what I will like or not.)

2 euros SILVER PIGS by Lindsey Davis. I'm not particular fond of ancient Rome as a setting, but these are supposed to be fun, and this is the first in the series.

3 euros BANDIT QUEEN BOOGIE by Sparkle Hayter. I had never even heard of this book, which seems to have been published in the US last year (this is the UK paperback from July of this year). I enjoyed her Robyn Hudson novels, although I though her werewolf novel (NAKED BRUNCH) was a weak xerox of Kelley Armstrong's BITTEN, but readable enough so I splurged on this one.

At least there is a new Sue Grafton (SI IS FOR SILENCE) out to look forward to, and maybe I'll track down the new P.D. James one of these days. Not to mention the first Imogen Quy mystery... and I think I'm missing one of the recent Marica Mullers. And I'll give Nancy Pickard a try if I find one.

Has anyone read the new Charlaine Harris series (GRAVE SIGHT I think it was called)? Is it any good?

What about Evanovich's METRO GIRL?

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Lawrence Schimel

July 2009

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