Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?

Marsha

Aaaarrrrrgh NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!  Finished listening to Gone Girl yesterday. I get that the ending, while unsatisfactory as far as a "happy" ending goes, definitely has more impact and will keep me thinking about it for a long time.

GNTLGNT

....kinda like the much debated ending to The Dark Tower.....

Hedda Gabler

I finished Home Stretch.  Well done. I will find more from him.

now i am picking Finders Keepers back up. This is the one i made a bold claim about finishing in a day — about a month ago. 

I was 116 pages in when i put it down — i’ll ride it to the end this time. 

Kurben

Reading Cat among the Pigeons by Christie. About a murder in a high class girl school. Christie might not ne very modern today, dont really know, but i still think she outshines her competition. Also has been reading Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. Sayers style of english is supreme and her characters are better drawn but her plotting isn't really close to Christies. Essentially two very different way of writing a mystery. Christies is the top of the old school with names like Doyle, Carr, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Ellery Queen, Josephine Tey and Philip MacDonald. Sayers opened the doors for authors like P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Elisabeth George and several others. Then another school started in the 50,s, the so called Police Procedural. The first was probably Ed McBain. He got many folowers in sweden Sjöwall/Wahlöö, (The Beck novels) and Mankell foremost among them (the Wallander books). Here it was not the mystery at front it was the policework and the people who did it. Often their wasn't really a mystery about the crime, just the hard work in finding the criminal. One of todays leader in that area is the canadian author Peter Robinson but it is today a common way of writing a crimenovel. Then there are the masters of the very american hardboiled detective. The masters without a doubt are Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald and Ross MacDonald but there are others inspired by the masters. Many good books......

Hedda Gabler

So much information and experience in that head of yours kurben. I wish i had smidge of that! Such an interesting guy you are….

GNTLGNT

....be like a flume ride through smart stuff.....

Kurben

Finished The Clocks and The Moving Finger by Christie. 

GNTLGNT

...still wallowing in serial killer aberrations.....

...Albert Fish......

Kurben

I'm still on my Christie binge.... Read The Body at The Library, A Murder Is Announced and 4.50 From Paddington. The first two still hold up while i have some minor objections against the third.

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

I'm still on my Christie binge.... Read The Body at The Library, A Murder Is Announced and 4.50 From Paddington. The first two still hold up while i have some minor objections against the third.

Marsha

I'm trying the #FallonSummerReads book, The Plot. Only a chapter in so far. Steve gave it a "Remarkable" for his blurb.

Grant87

I finished Sphere by Michael Crichton. Now I'm reading the new Grady Hendrix book, The Final Girl Support Group.

GNTLGNT

GNTLGNT said:

...still wallowing in serial killer aberrations.....

...Albert Fish......

...now I understand why Steve and Peter used this SOB as "inspiration" for "The Fisherman"....

GNTLGNT

...here's another thing, and I know it's been mentioned before-but I still don't understand why Chizmar doesn't get his due as a writer....he equals or exceeds many "famous" scribblers I've read over the years....his books auction for next to nothing, even the signed ones!...I'm on an auction now for a signed chapbook, less than 10 bucks......

Hedda Gabler

GNTLGNT said:

...here's another thing, and I know it's been mentioned before-but I still don't understand why Chizmar doesn't get his due as a writer....he equals or exceeds many "famous" scribblers I've read over the years....his books auction for next to nothing, even the signed ones!...I'm on an auction now for a signed chapbook, less than 10 bucks......

I don’t get it either. His short stories are some of my favorites. And like said before —  i thought the second gwendy book minus stephen was better. Jmo

cat

Finished Outlander, then read the new Chet and Bernie story, Tender is the Bite. Now almost halfway thru Dragonfly in Amber, Outlander #2. Hope to be done with it by Tuesday so can start the new SK right away. 

GNTLGNT

cat said:

Finished Outlander, then read the new Chet and Bernie story, Tender is the Bite. Now almost halfway thru Dragonfly in Amber, Outlander #2. Hope to be done with it by Tuesday so can start the new SK right away. 

...keep reading at this pace, and I'm gonna start calling you "Kurben"....

Hedda Gabler

GNTLGNT said:

cat said:

Finished Outlander, then read the new Chet and Bernie story, Tender is the Bite. Now almost halfway thru Dragonfly in Amber, Outlander #2. Hope to be done with it by Tuesday so can start the new SK right away. 

...keep reading at this pace, and I'm gonna start calling you "Kurben"....

🤣😂🥰

Neesy

Hedda Gabler said:

Marsha said:

Hedda Gabler said:

I want to recommend an author so I'm going to post this in a couple of places.  And yes, this will be one of my rambling bullshit things, but I hope you'll stick with me.

Kobi Yamada writes children's books.  They are the most amazing things ever.  Their messages speak more to adults really, I think.  But you catch a kid early and you can instill in them these wonderful ideas.

Both my sons graduated from 4 year college.  My oldest moved to another state with a job and was doing well.  But, as a mom, I saw more potential in him.  I knew he wasn't living to his abilities.  He's wicked smart and quick witted, funny.  Anyway, I ran into a Kobi Yamada book titled:  What Do You Do With A Chance?   I read this and immediately purchased it to send to my son.  It's a children's picture book. But the message is huge.  Not delivered in a childish way, not talking down to children, but lifting them up with big ideas.

So, I write him a personal message in the front of this book and my last line to him was:
"Sometimes you just have to take a chance, baby boy."

He called me and started crying.  He said it was a message he needed to hear and it came to him at the perfect moment.  And guess what?  He took a chance.  And that chance?  Graduating with his Master's Degree in teaching. He just did it.  I'm so proud.

In one of his classes,  he had to write some big paper (he has not shared it with me) but he credited me for sending him this children's book and Kobi for the message it contains.    

The head professor of the Masters Program called him and let him know how moved she was by his paper and that she personally knew Kobi and his wife and asked if she could share his paper with Kobi.  Of course he said, "Hell yeah!"  

So you know what?  You never know what small thing you do at just the right time that is going to make a huge difference to someone's life.  I just purchased his new children's book "Trying" today.  I started crying in B & N just reading it.  And then I read it again sitting in my car in the parking lot and continued to blubber.  

Yes.  I'm a strange duck.  But I like the duck I am.

If you have anyone in your life who needs a message delivered in a simple, elegant, charming loving way, check out his books.  Buy one for this person and give them the gift of empowerment. 

Thank you for your time.  This has been a public service announcement from your local PBS channel and from viewers like you.

I'm going to check these out for my grandkids!

They are beautifully illustrated books with the best messages.  

Kurben

Still reading some Christie but i have branched out. I have read The Mirror Cracked From Side to Side, A Pocket Full Of Rye and They Do It With Mirrors by her but also The Secret Place and Broken Harbour by Tana French who is without much of a doubt Irelands best crimewriter but also one of the absolute top worldwide now writing IMO. Then i read The Number Of The Beast by Heinlein. Not really a really good story, far from his best but as usual very well told and rather amusing. I started a reread of The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye which is the best historic novel concerning India i have read. Great epic story with well sketched characters. Starts with the Sepoy mutiny in 1857 and ends with the second Anglo-afghan war in 1880 or thereabouts.

Hedda Gabler

Can someone tell me the shortest stephen king short story? Not one of his hard to find things — i’m talking readily available shortest story.  Not poetry. 

Guesses?

FlakeNoir

Hedda Gabler said:

Can someone tell me the shortest stephen king short story? Not one of his hard to find things — i’m talking readily available shortest story.  Not poetry. 

Guesses?

I've done some Googling and nothing is popping up as a definitive answer.  Only which collections are shortest and that's not helpful. Short of looking through each collection physically, I'm not sure how to find it. Unless Bev knows offhand, or Marsha, or Stephen? 

Why did you want to know?

Hedda Gabler

FlakeNoir said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Can someone tell me the shortest stephen king short story? Not one of his hard to find things — i’m talking readily available shortest story.  Not poetry. 

Guesses?

I've done some Googling and nothing is popping up as a definitive answer.  Only which collections are shortest and that's not helpful. Short of looking through each collection physically, I'm not sure how to find it. Unless Bev knows offhand, or Marsha, or Stephen? 

Why did you want to know?

Just curious.  I think he writes his best stuff the shorter it gets. I’m just curious if i would still think that about his very shortest piece. 

Notaro

Morning Deliveries is pretty short, and The Man Who Loved Flowers? 

spideyman

Hedda Gabler said:

Can someone tell me the shortest stephen king short story? Not one of his hard to find things — i’m talking readily available shortest story.  Not poetry. 

Guesses?

The Beggar and the Diamond- 1309 words- Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Here There Be Tygers- 1506 words-Skeleton Crew