What are you reading now - and then

[broncofan]

Also many of his novels are set in the Miami Beach area which I know well because I grew up in the Miami area.

That always helps doesn't it. I grew up in Southern California and am easily pulled in by any book that does a good job of describing LA, the desert east of LA, the desert heading towards Calexico, and even going North from LA to central California. There's something about a setting you know very well that hits the nostalgia button or makes you relate to the material.

Edit: I should probably tell you since you recommended Michael Connelly that he had a book with a main character named Calexico Moore and the story dealt a lot with my geography and drives I've taken many times...loved it.

[broncofan]

As you Probably know Elmore Leonard was already famous for his "westerns" in the 1950's before he started writing his crime and suspense novels like "LaBrava" an excellent "spy" novel. I have not read any of his old westerns or "LaBrava" but I love all his more recent work. His characters are so interesting,real and unpredictably human. Also many of his novels are set in the Miami Beach area which I know well because I grew up in the Miami area.

I'm liking Labrava so far and it is veering into Boca Raton and Del Ray beach which I know a little bit. I'm a Jew whose parents stayed in Boca Raton for three winters about fifteen years ago (cliche alert haha). But he's doing an awesome job of describing the different directions Miami has taken through the years in terms of its architecture as well as the Cuban and Jewish populations of same. You're right that his characters are fun.

I forgot to mention I read a Patricia Highsmith book called Deep Water a while back that made an impression on me. It's being made into a movie with Ben Affleck. The book is not that well reviewed but I remembered finding it interesting. Basically a man who is in a "loveless marriage" where he and his wife have an agreement that she can take in lovers. He agrees to it but starts to seethe with jealousy that he disguises very well but well you can anticipate the rest. I was glad I read it.

[Stavros]

The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead 2016.

A novel about slavery that relies for its impact on description rather than interpretation, and thus in terms of style often reads like Cormac McCarthy out of Hemingway. Also, there are times when you wonder if the material is half research, half fiction, and while I understand the latter stage of the book with the Preacher and the philosophical characters, I was not sure the wicked Ridgeway would need or want to justify his trade. The lead character Cora to me came across as selfish, if strong, but the main strength of the book is in its ability to describe the diversity of slavery and its opponents rather than offer a simple either/or presentation, be it of plantation life, or the people who made the Underground Railroad succeed. One sentence sums up the predicament Black people found themselves in, whether they were slaves or free, or when like Anne Frank, Cora is hiding in the crawl space of a loft, nominally ‘free’

”Whether in the fields or underground or in an attic room, America remained her warden”.

I have not seen the tv dramatisation.

[sukumvit boy]

I'm liking Labrava so far and it is veering into Boca Raton and Del Ray beach which I know a little bit. I'm a Jew whose parents stayed in Boca Raton for three winters about fifteen years ago (cliche alert haha). But he's doing an awesome job of describing the different directions Miami has taken through the years in terms of its architecture as well as the Cuban and Jewish populations of same. You're right that his characters are fun.

I forgot to mention I read a Patricia Highsmith book called Deep Water a while back that made an impression on me. It's being made into a movie with Ben Affleck. The book is not that well reviewed but I remembered finding it interesting. Basically a man who is in a "loveless marriage" where he and his wife have an agreement that she can take in lovers. He agrees to it but starts to seethe with jealousy that he disguises very well but well you can anticipate the rest. I was glad I read it.

I read Patricia Highsmith's ,"The Talented Mr, Ripley" the First of her 5 book Ripley series last year on the recommendation of a friend and enjoyed it .I just don't get around to reading that much nonfiction with all the other books and magazines that I read so haven't read the rest of the series and because I was thinking about seeing one of the Ripley movies instead.

[broncofan]

I read Patricia Highsmith's ,"The Talented Mr, Ripley" the First of her 5 book Ripley series last year on the recommendation of a friend and enjoyed it .I just don't get around to reading that much nonfiction with all the other books and magazines that I read so haven't read the rest of the series and because I was thinking about seeing one of the Ripley movies instead.

I haven't read nonfiction in a while which is a shame but I think I prefer stories to anything true.

I read the Talented Mr. Ripley and that was the only Ripley book I read. I've tried to stay away from that series but I'm not sure why. When I'm done with Labrava not sure what I'm going to read. What are you reading now btw?

Might try books from spy novel genre, from authors like Ambler, Greene, or Le Carre. If not I'm going to read something from sci fi. Sci fi bumps up against my preference for relaxing when I read fiction...I get slightly stressed out trying to learn the rules of the world they're in but once in a while I really enjoy it. I've read Philip K Dick's A Scanner Darkly, Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity, and William Gibson's Neuromancer. These are the ones I've liked and gotten through but I've quit more highly acclaimed books from this genre than any other simply out of having trouble getting into it.

[sukumvit boy]

Just started the first of the now 27 book series of called" The Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James " mystery series . I am pleased and pleasantly surprised with the fidelity to the original Sherlock stories and the style of writing . Just finished 3 books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child in the "Nora Kelley " series. Always a reliably interesting and fast paced read by that pair of authors. This particular series dealing with crime and Southwest archaeology.
More later ,daily errands now calling me .

[sukumvit boy]

Sorry about that. I also wanted to mention the P G Wodehouse "Jeeves and Wooster" series . Great stuff.

[broncofan]

That's interesting Sukumvit! I haven't read many of the original Sherlock Holmes books so maybe that's where I should start. I think I just don't have the imagination for sci fi unless it's the rare book that really strikes an interest. I'm always told it's such a great story once I accept the premises of the world they're in. But then when I'm told the premises it's always like "Sam 11, is a mutant who was born on Mars with an arm growing out of his ass" and I have trouble getting into it. I'm going to read something from your last two posts or go old school Arthur Conan Doyle. Thanks.

[broncofan]

I haven't read many of the original Sherlock Holmes books so maybe that's where I should start.

BTW just in case I wasn't clear I do realize you're reading a newer series as I looked it up on amazon but was thinking out loud that maybe I should read the originals before jumping in. Or I'll just start with book one of sherlock holmes and lucy james being familiar enough having read hound of the baskervilles back in the day.

[sukumvit boy]

If you haven't yet read any of the original A C Doyle Holmes stories I would recommend you do . Lots excellent used collections available cheap on Amazon. What I meant about the Lucy James series being true to the original is that the time,characters and setting are the same (except the character Lucy James). Whereas many of the new Sherlock 'knock offs ' are set in the 21st century .