Lassie reading.
Going on my first trip to Vegas next week. It's a conference for my husband, but I will be footloose. Anything to recommend? I don't gamble, don't like BIG SHOWS, don't like buffets. Is there anything else besides Hoover Dam?
Also what is the most absorbing book you've read lately--in paperback. I need something compelling for 2 four+ hour flights in 3 days. Something to make me forget a woman of 5'2" has no room for her knees. THANKS.
24 comments:
Well, I was gonna say have fun in Vegas. But....looks like you'll be reading.
I don't care for gambling or big shows but I love buffets.
Most of the compelling reads I've had lately have been short. You'd finish James Reasoner's Texas Wind and Dust Devils pretty quickly, but they were compelling.
Loved Dust Devils, but I will try to round up Texas Wind. Great idea.
IF YOU'RE UP FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT, YET MAJORLY COMPELLING GIVE DAVID GEMMEL A TRY ~ START WITH SWORD IN THE STORM, MIDNIGHT FALCON,LORD OF THE SILVER BOW -- FANTASY / HITORICAL FICTION AT ITS BEST!
Thanks, Bish. This is a genre I know nothing about. I should try one.
I heartily recommend LAST CALL by Tim Powers. It's contemporary fantasy of the best kind, although to my mind, it reads very much like a crime novel. The reason I recommend it is because most of the action takes place around Vegas; it recasts Bugsy Seigel as a former Fisher King, and the Flamingo as his castle. The story centers around a man who lost his soul in a game of poker played with Tarot cards, and his desire to get it back. Great fun, and very much rooted in the town you'll be in.
If you are looking for something light, fun, and fast... with a Vegas tie in, try Richard Stark's Lemons Never Lie fom Hard Case Crime. Have a good time.
Well, it there's nothing to do, at least I'll have lots to read. I've been on those sorts of vacations before.
I’m going to bring some Brits to the table, as I’m feeling like we can (increasingly) go toe-to-toe on the crime fiction front!
Natasha Cooper’s pretty good, but her latest ‘A Poisoned Mind’ is my favorite thus far. (Cooper writes legal thrillers about a barrister called Trish Maguire, and the books tend to be issue based but also about how personal relationships within legal fraternities shape a case.)
Laura Wilson’s ‘The Lover’ is amazing, but her last book ‘Stratton’s War’/‘An Innocent Spy’ (US) is the start of the series. The former concerns a Jack the Ripper styled killer working in the wartime blackout and the latter has a working class cop teaming up with an aristocratic spy, only to find that the establishment which they serve is ultimately corrupt. (I’m worried that I’m making both these books sound cheap, they’re not. I’m just trying to sell you on them and not spoil them.) of the two, I’d pump for ’The Lover’, which features perhaps my favorite prologue ever.
I’m also, I’m very, very fond of Charles Cumming’s ‘The Hidden Man’ (a contemporary spy thriller, but it’s really about the relationships of a character called Ben to both his brother and wife and how the re-emergence of his cold warrior father affects his life. But no where near as soft as that makes it sound.)
By the way, Patti -- Have a good time!
Gordon.
So far my local Borders (and my local library) has had none of these. I'll have to find a used bookstore pronto.
Thanks, Gordon.
How about a Westren, something by Louis L'Amour; Down the Long Hills, Flint, Bendigo Shafter are all good reads. Then there is The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont which I always seem to be pushing.
I love Vegas and, like you, am not into gambling. Just walking around the various casinos is fun. There are a couple of shopping malls on the Strip. For compelling reading, you might enjoy Geraldine Brooks' PEOPLE OF THE BOOK and any of Jacqueline Winspeare's "Maisie Dobbs" mysteries: PARDONABLE LIES, MESSENGER OF TRUTH, or BIRDS OF A FEATHER. They're all in paperback.
Maisie Dobbs and I are old friends. But I will try the Brooks book. Thanks.
And maybe Penn and Teller.
you can't go wrong with either 'Red Harvest' or 'The Glass Key' either.
Go to Paris and the Venetian and New York New York and check out the sites: the eateries, the shops, the outlandish Disney like environments. It's fun just to wander and people watch.
At the Palazzo shops, there's a great noodle place called Mainland. It's not a buffet.
Red Rock Canyon is stunning. Go there. Wear sturdy shoes and do a little hike. You won't regret it.
As for a book, I just finished Arnaldur Indridason's Silence of the Grave. So compelling. Trade paper.
If you like mysteries, how about Les Roberts. It's not paperback, but I am
reading Learning to Breathe by Alison Wright. It's a pretty amazing story.
If you're looking for something serious and maybe alittle too literary, you could try Charles Bock's Beautiful Children about a kid who disappears in Vegas. A very different take on the place. As one of the teenage girls in the book says, "It's hard to be an environmentalist growing up in a city you can see from the moon."
Oh, I was just wondering about Red Rock Canyon. Thanks.
And the book ideas, thanks much.
I loved Silence of the Grave. He's very fine.
I'm sure there will be sights for you to see in Vegas, Patti. As for compelling reading, I like to read any of the Wilbur Smith books set in Africa. A good bet is "River God".
I must still be asleep. Don't gamble? Vegas? Wha---?
John-I woke up thinking of that line.
Kieran-Can't bear to lose a nickel-especially now.
Barbara-That's a new author for me. Why don't you write about him for forgotten books some week?
I finally got around to reading Scott Phillips's THE ICE HARVEST last week. Great book.
I come to you for book recommendations!
By now I'm sure you're already on your trip, so I'm very interested to hear what you think about Vegas. The first few times I was there it was the early 80's and I was stationed at an Air Force base three hours away in California. It was the "old" Vegas. Since then, I've been several times on business. I'll exercise restraint and for now simply say that Vegas is not my favorite city. ;)
Patti, two of the most engrossing books I've read lately are THE REINCARNATIONIST & THE MEMORIST by M. J. Rose. I also enjoyed Baldacci's first two Camel Club books: THE CAMEL CLUB & THE COLLECTORS. All are full-length thrillers available in pbk. Also enjoyed THE APOCALYPSE DIRECTIVE by Doug MacKinnon (I think that's right.) Here's a link to attractions in Vegas: http://www.vegas.com/attractions/
I enjoyed the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, possibly the world's most beautiful shopping mall (modeled after Venice). The show by the living statues is fun.
And someone I know in Vegas recommended a play called MENOPAUSE. It's supposed to be really funny.
Hope you have a good time.
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