Sunday, April 15, 2007

Help Entertain a Fellow

I'm in one of those moods.

None of the books in my TBR stack looks good. Well, that's not true. "Good" has nothing to do with it. Rather, let's say I'm not in the right mood. I can't seem to get interested in anything. Same story at the video store. No films catch my interest. I find myself wandering through the house with a cup of coffee in my hands, trying to decide how to spend my very limited free time. Generally, I like to read in bed before drifting off to sleep. But I can't seem to make myself get past those first 8-10 pages of a novel.

Okay ... let's hear it. I'm open to suggestions.

11 comments:

Steve Allan said...

Judy Bloom? It's how I learned about the birds and the bees...well that and the porn.

Anonymous said...

Have you tried some short stories? Lots of good ones scattered around the internet.

Graham Powell said...

How about locked rooms? Mike Ashley's new MAMMOTH BOOK OF PERFECT CRIMES AND IMPOSSIBLE MYSTERIES is out.

Also, I'm reading GRAVE DESCEND by John Lange from Hard Case Crime. So far reads like a Charles Williams pastiche, which is a good thing, and a little unusual, since Williams was still alive when it was written.

Unknown said...

How about some older SF. Keith Laumer's Dinosaur Beach or A Trace of Memory or anything by Philip K. Dick. Jack Williamson's Darker than you Think, which is my favorite werewolf story.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Maybe if you don't find something to entertain yourself with, I'll come over and smack you with a 2x4.

Come on, that must be some incentive. ;)

I think Steve meant to say Judy Blume.

Have you read Guthrie's Hard Man?

Stephen Blackmoore said...

Coke. Lots of it. Maybe some meth. You'll get really focused and read anything. Out loud. While jogging.

Hey, it's exercise. Exercise is good for you.

Victor Gischler said...

Good suggestions, guys. The cystal meth might help me withstand the blow to the head.

Bill,

I've been hearing about Jack Williamson for years but have yet to read one. Maybe it's time.

VG

Anonymous said...

Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves. So awesome.

Also, my four yr old daughter highly recommends Have You Got My Purr?

Anonymous said...

Charlie Huston...

Anonymous said...

It is probably safe to assume you've read most of the work of your peers. BUT if you haven't gotten around to these specific ones...
Gone, Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane
Sweet Forever by George Pelecanos
American Skin by Ken Bruen
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston
Rain Dogs by Sean Doolittle
Nothing Personal by Jason Starr
The Prop by Pete Hautman

Two under-rated PI series from the nineties:

Big Town by Doug J. Swanson
Bird Dog by Philip Reed

Elmore Leonard has a follow-up to The Hot Kid coming out soon. Carl Hiaasen has one out right now too.

Anonymous said...

Well, all the comments so far I agree with!! I have had a very hard time reading in general since my mom suddenly passed away, it's as if I'm dyslexic or something, but I have tried to begin 'A Dirty Job', by Christopher Moore and on an off note, I'm thumbing through a Department Of the Army Manual on 'Unconventional Warfare Devices and Techniques'.....my husband brought it home from the gun show!!