Yes it’s been 2 weeks since I posted on a Sunday but life seems to have been frantic of late
I have more Aussie crime fiction to give away. Enter here. Your chances of winning are fairly high so give it a go.
Books Then and Now
My leisure reading time is still being curtailed heavily so I have only posted a couple of reviews in the past two weeks: Out by Natsuo Kirino and Bones by Jonathan Kellerman, neither of which were terribly good reads for me. As part of my early entry into a new weekly meme (Crime Fiction Alphabet) I also posted a mini review of a book I read BB (Before Blog) called Absolution. I have finished another book, a romp of a tale called Go to Helena Handbasket but a friend pinched my copy before I could even scribble some review notes but I hope to recapture the book this week for long enough to write a review.
My 4-day weekend was supposed to be devoted to reading the third and final installment of Stieg Larsson’s millennium trilogy: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. Sadly real life has been annoyingly intrusive and I’ve not finished the book yet but I hope to get back to it soon. I shall make no more comment about the book yet.
I have no other books on the go just now although the next audio book on my play list is Ann Cleeves’ White Nights.
Arrivals and Departures
I posted earlier in the week about my three wickedly expensive new release purchases. But what the heck, a girl’s gotta read right?
I need some more ideas about how to rid myself of books. Book swapping sites are becoming a bit awkward to use as I end up giving many more books than I receive as lots of people won’t send to Australia which means I am seriously out of pocket. I don’t mind giving books away but paying to have them taken off my hands is going a bit far. Any other suggestions much appreciated though (local charity shops are not that interested I’ve found).
Link Fest
Not much of a fest this week but this article about the greatest fictional detectives has some holes in my opinion. Even if I assume they’re only talking about the UK and only about TV detectives they’ve missed, for a start, Andy Dalziel from Dalziel and Pascoe (one of the few transitions from book to TV that depicted the protagonist pretty much as I’d imagined him). And surely George Baker’s portrayal of Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Reg Wexford deserves a look in. Have they missed one of your favourite English fictional detectives seen on TV?
…and one more thing
To all the people who catch public transport (especially the 105 bus) and, for the duration of the trip, carry on your personal telephone calls in which you shout at the top of your lungs about what Cheryl said about Wendy at last Friday’s booze-up and refuse to turn your volume down to a dull roar even when I plead, know this: there is a hell and you’re going straight there.
Now, back to Hornets’ Nest
October 4, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I don’t know what to think about that article Bernadette. As you say George Baker as Wexford is a strange omission and I think Conan Doyle is a strange inclusion, let alone the best.
October 4, 2009 at 6:51 pm
The charity shops round here are always grateful for books, so they certainly receive plenty from me – also the local hospital is always very grateful for them for their “patients’ reading trolley and library”. I am happy to send books to fellow-blogger/online people if they want them – I don’t mind paying the postage even though it is usually more than the cost of the book (especially if the book is a reviewer’s copy;-) ) so long as I know the person wants to read the book and if the person is someone with whom I occasionally interact with online in one way or another. I have stopped offering free blogs on my blog because I found that people would swoop in and ask for them (usually in the USA), I’d send them off, then never hear from them again, not even a thank you. Why bother, when postage costs are not that cheap? Sometimes I post in the Friend Feed group that I have a book available, I’ll try to do that more often, Bernadette.
I haven’t done Sunday Salon for a while – I think I’ve gradually got to the point when the only blogs in it that I read are the blogs I read anyway!
October 4, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Sorry – meant to write, stopped offering free “books” on my blog! Free blogs- no problems there!
October 4, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I agree that Andy Dalziel on TV was exactly as I had imagined him from the books. I had always imagined fat Andy as the double of my old professor at dental school, and when I saw him on TV it was him!
Edward Pertheridge and Harriet Walter as Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, and delicious Diana Rigg as Mrs Bradley were superb.
I rely on my blogging pals for a lot of my books either buying a book after reading their reviews, dropping their influential names to publishers, or frequently being sent books by them. Thanks Maxine, Karen and Rhian.
October 4, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Oh, so I am not the only reader who has noticed how difficult it is to hold on to Helena Handbasket? Mine is just gone with the wind – from my own shelves at home. (But at least I have a review you can borrow if you like
)
Enjoy Hornet´s Nest. I re-read and reviewed it the other day, and though there were sections I skimmed, I really enjoyed encountering Lisbeth Salander again.