I have skimmed THE NOIR THRILLER, which was fun. I have tried to read ADELE by Slimani and found it too dark. I just bought the Pochoda book. Phil always said COME CLOSER by Sara Gran was too scary for me. I loved DOPE by Gran but haven't read any of the Claire DeWitt books.
I still might try it. The Nesbo I picked up in Florida just a few months ago but it seems more like years now. And DEEP WATER by Highsmith has been recommended by Megan and Phil but I don't seem to get to it. DODGERS I picked up free at Bouchercon. Phil liked it but I haven't gotten to it. Let's face it, Phil was the better reader, especially after he retired and before he was too sick. Who is the better reader in your house?
11 comments:
I read more than Diane. I'm up to about 100 books read for 2020 so far. Diane has finished 16. Diane loves to read, but cleaning, mowing the lawn, and cooking takes up a lot of her time. Diane likes to "putter" around the house and has several projects going on. She usually reads in the evening. Diane's friends usually call her during the evening and her sister's calls last for hours! That really cuts into Diane's reading time!
I read in the morning and afternoon when my mind is sharpest. After dinner, I'd rather watch a TV program or a movie.
Reading the newspaper takes me an hour now. I read while I eat lunch, late afternoon and before bed for anywhere from 1/2-1 hour. I probably read 75 books a year. I used to read 150, then 35 and now 75.
Back in April when it became obvious that the plague wasn't going away any time soon I assumed that I'd get a lot more reading done, but it just hasn't happened. Instead I'm watching a hell of a lot more television and reading a lot less. I average around 70-80 books a year, and I'm not going to come close to that this year. Part of it is the loss of my library. One thing library books have that purchased books don't is due dates. My library books were mostly new, popular, and not renewable. So if I was going to read them there was no time to dawdle. Now, dawdling is the name of the game. It'll be interesting to see if my reading picks up significantly IF my library reopens. I no longer even think in terms of "when".
I still read more than Jackie, though a lot less than I used to. We have online subscriptions to the NY Times, Daily News, and Washington Post. The News is "delivered" at 5:30 am, so no matter how early I wake up, it is there. Then there are still some blogs and several other sites I check and it can kill most of the morning.
I always manage to read at least one short story a day, though less of them this year than in the past. Partly that is because I have read most of what I own and have to look outside for more. I haven't been finding most books are holding my attention this year, so I don't know how much is them and how much is me. Occasionally, still, I find something that really grabs me and I race through it in a day or so, so it is probably whatever I am reading that just isn't grabbing me.
Jackie reads at night when I am sleeping, on the Kindle or her phone. She never reads while watching television, but plays games on the tablet while watching. I can't read and watch either, for the most part.
Of the current picture, STRAIGHT MAN was my first Russo, and I really liked it. Of course, I'm on the record about the Martin Beck series, and I bought all ten books to reread, only I haven't gotten started. I read Sara Gran's first Claire DeWitt book and really liked it a lot, but I found the second one a terrible letdown and haven't read her since. I mentioned Pochoda's VISITATION STREET, set in Red Hook (Brooklyn), but haven't read any of her other books.
Our library is open for curbside pickup. They notify you that the books are in, you call and say you are ready to pickup. It worked today and I got three books, one which I had put on hold before Covid and already read. I have bought more books during COvid than anytime recently, mostly to help out the book stores because I could read forever from my shelves if need be.
They put them outside in a bag with your name on it.
How do you define better reader? If by number of books read, I am the better reader. I have read 64 books so far this year, Glen has read 17 books. But that means he is reading more this year than last year (21 for 2019), and he is still working (at home).
But if you go by quality, I have always considered Glen the better reader, because he reads more different types of book. Over the years it has changed, but a lot of nonfiction (social history, art, photography, the movie industry and history) plus fiction and in the last couple of years, graphic novels.
We both have plenty of books on our shelves to keep us busy, but we also have been buying from the local bookstore for curbside pickup.
There are several books (or authors) on your shelf that I would like to read: Dodgers, something by Sara Gran (Glen has her Claire DeWitt books and has read all but the last one), more in the Martin Beck series, something by Ivy Pochoda. Noir Thrillers by Lee Horsley sounds interesting.
A different Lee Horsley played Archie Goodwin in the Nero Wolfe TV series starring William Conrad, and I really liked him in that role.
I think we are all envious of books we wish we had right now.
Both Phil and I had eclectic reading tastes. But Phil rarely read mysteries except spy thrillers, which he loved. He could read scholarly books much faster than fiction. I always found that funny. And he read them from back to front to middle.
Jackie reads almost exclusively on the Kindle or the phone (or tablet), unless I can't get a book in that format for her. In recent months, most of my reading has been ebooks too. In Florida, I took a few books but read mostly library books I downloaded. Since we're back and the library has been closed, this trend has continued, though I've thrown in a few of my own books too.
I used to read a lot more non-fiction. I'd get on a streak of certain books - books about the movies, baseball books, literary biography, the Civil War - and read a bunch of books in a row. I never do that now.
I'd like to read that Highsmith, too, Patti; thanks fro the reminder. And Rosanna made me think of just how good that series is. It's one of the few that are really worth a careful re-reading, in my opinion.
This is the only one I have reread, Margot, but it was not a disappointment.
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