What are you reading?

[ConchRepublican]

I'm not reading at the pace I used to, but I knocked off the first two Travis McGee books and am almost done with Neil Peart's (Rush drummer and lyricist) autobiographical travelogue, Ghost Rider.

The McGee books were good, fun reads. I like the societal/philosophical comments John D. McDonald drops into Travis' thoughts. Good stuff and it seems things really haven't changed all that much from the early 60s.

The Neil Peart book intrigued me when I saw Rush Behind the Music. The poor man lost his 19 year old daughter to a car accident and then his wife to cancer (broken heart really) in a 10 month period. The book is about how he soothed, and saved, his "little baby soul" like one would any fussy child, movement. He motorcycled from the Toronto area of Canada north and west to Alaska, then south. Not along the coast but further inland in the eastern Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah areas, into Cali then the Mexican Baja and finishing in Belize.

The whole time he's describing the scenery he sees, how he feels, what and who he experiences along the way and how it slowly heals him. An amazing journey of both the body and the soul and the saving of both.

If you plan on reading more of the Travis McGee books I'd highly recommend reading them in order (or close to it anyway -- you can skip a few here and there). It's fascinating to follow Trav as he makes his way through life, from the end of the Kennedy years, to Nixon, Carter and then the Reagan years. From 60's counterculture, to the crazy 70's, and the new wave 80's... Trav is there, foiling villains and impressing the ladies all at the same time. The knight errant! And MacDonald does a great job of slowly adding in information about the character as the series progresses. It's one of the great book series of all-time if you ask me. Kurt Vonnegut famously said this about John D. -- "To diggers a thousand years from now . . . the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen."

I've read Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road also! A GREAT book! I'm also a big Rush fan. He's an inspirational person (and one hell of a good drummer).

I do plan on reading them in order. I love finding a new author, it's like a doorway to a new and exciting mansion, who knows what's inside!

Right now I plan to space JDM out and read a couple of other books then come back to home for a couple then go back to someone else. I don't want to burn out and get bored with Travis. There's something special about returning to familiar characters, it's why I reread some authors/books, it's like visiting with friends, the old stories are still fun to hear for a second, or third time.

Heck, I've read The Lord of the Rings and the Riverworld series at least 4 or 5 times each. It's comforting.

[J.J. Walters]

I have since gotten leather bound editions of LoTR, Hobbit and Silmarillion . . . I'm a book guy.

Do you have the Easton Press editions? I really, really want to get those someday (or any leather bound edition for that matter). I'm general a hardback guy, too. I usually strive to get first edition/first printing trade hardbacks for all my favorite books/authors when possible (i.e. if they are not too expensive). But sometimes the paperbacks are the way to go (for me anyway), or the only way to go in the case of the paperback originals (like the early Travis McGee books). Take Deliverance and Jaws for example. Yeah, there was a hardback edition of both of these books, but hardly anyone read them. Almost everybody read the mass market paperback versions! Those are the iconic editions in my mind. And besides, at this point, ain't no way I'm paying $100 to get the hardback editions. I still can't find a first printing of Jaws, though. I'll find it someday. Mine is like a 12th printing or something.

Right now I plan to space JDM out and read a couple of other books then come back to home for a couple then go back to someone else. I don't want to burn out and get bored with Travis. There's something special about returning to familiar characters, it's why I reread some authors/books, it's like visiting with friends, the old stories are still fun to here for a second, or third time.)

Sounds like a good plan, Conch! Trav and Meyer will be waiting for you when you come back. By the way, something fun to keep in mind as you read the books, Meyer is really a representation of John D. MacDonald himself, as before he started writing he got his MBA from Harvard. Meyer is John D., John D. is Meyer. Just keep that in mind. Anyway, here's some of my John D. collection.




So, Conch, we know you are in NYC and we know that you are a "book guy"... I take it you are a patron of The Strand? That place is a book lover's dream!

[ConchRepublican]

My mistake, it's the hardcover slipcase version of The Lord of the Rings.



The Strand . . . I haven't been there in a while. It's like an alcoholic, stay away from the bar!

Mrs. Conch and I went to London back in 2000 and I picked up a very cool edition of The Hobbit that included a recording of Tolkien reading Riddles in the Dark. It's fantastic to hear Tolkien's voice doing Gollum!

http://www.thelandofshadow.com/listen-t ... -the-dark/

As for MacDonald, that is one heck of a collection! Thanks for the heads up about the character insights, I like that stuff.

I have always wanted to have a place to display my books, I think it was Twain who said "Have and show good books. Even if you don't read them, people will think better of you." I just haven't gotten around to getting that bookcase setup. plus, Mrs. Conch is a clean freak and books and dust go hand in hand so . . .

[ConchRepublican]

Just finished Dan Simmons A Winter Haunting.



It was a real good, creepy read, nice followup to Summer of Night, although I think overall the first book was better. SoN is a coming of age story, like Stephen King's story The Body, but a lot creepier. Both are very well written though and make you feel like you were there.



Dan Simmons http://www.dansimmons.com/ is an author I've only recently discovered. I had read Darwin's Blade a few years ago but wasn't sure about his other works. Because he jumps around genres I wasn't sure if there were two authors of the same name. I have since read a few books, the two above and The Crook Factory which was excellent.



I am looking forward to further mining his works, along side John D. MacDonald.

Now I'm back to Nelson deMille's The Quest. I had misplaced it earlier in the summer so I'm finally getting around to it.

[J.J. Walters]

That's a great edition of LotR, Conch! I would love to have that myself.

You can't go wrong with Dan Simmons. He's one of the giants of SF/Fantasy/Horror. I've only read one of his books, Carrion Comfort, which I really enjoyed. I would love to tackle the Hyperion Cantos series someday (the series that he is arguably best known for), but it looks a little too hardcore Sci-Fi for me. I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fan in the world, although some I really like.

[ConchRepublican]

I feel the same way about Hyperion, I gotta try it but I also need to give it the time it deserves.

If you want another to read by him, Crook Factory was really good. Historical fiction(?) about Hemingway in WW II. Real good read.

[J.J. Walters]

Stephen King's latest novel arrived at my doorstep today. I'm super-excited about this one. The reviews have been great so far. I'll be diving into it shortly.

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life. In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.

[J.J. Walters]

Revival was good, not great, but good. The Lovecraftian ending was a little over the top, but I enjoyed the ride. Not a Top 20 King book. I'd probably put it somewhere in the 30-35 slot.

Scored some more John D. while making my used book store rounds recently. Found some better copies of Travis McGee #2 and #3, as well as several other non-McGee books I didn't have in my collection.

[BWheelz54]

Count me in as another fan of Dan Simmons. His "Hyperion' science-fiction books are among my favorites of the genre. And I also really liked his novel "Black Hills." I think Mr. Simmons spends just about every waking moment writing, because that guy really puts them out. I even forgot to mention his novels "Drood" and "The Terror," two more that I really liked. Amazing he writes so much across so many categories.

[J.J. Walters]

[ConchRepublican]

Currently finishing my Florida Keys vacation re-read of Tom Corcoran's Air Dance Iguana (following my "get in vacation mode" re-read of Randy Wayne White's The Man Who Invented Florida). I love his tour through Key West and it's characters with his protagonist Alex Rutledge. Did you know Tom served Jimmy Buffett his first beer in Key West at the Chart Room Bar in November of 1971?

On deck I have the following:

Philip Greene To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion
Stephen King Revival
Jim Harrison Wolf: A False Memoir
Thomas McGuane Panama
Jim Harrison After Ikkyu and Other Poems

I then maybe will circle back to a couple more McDonald books or Simmons.

[J.J. Walters]

Those look like great books, Conch!

Speaking of Florida, I scored some more Johnny Mac PBO's while making my used book store rounds recently. Murder for the Bride (1951, JDM's second book) is a first edition and really hard to find. $8. I have a friend who has been hunting JDM books at used book stores for 40 years and has never seen one on the shelf. Lucky beyond belief! The rest are early reprints, but are treasured additions to my collection.





You gotta love those covers! A time and a place gone, but not forgotten.

[ConchRepublican]

Nice score J.J.!

[J.J. Walters]

Found my first UK JDM book, a Pan Book no less. Also found a UK reprint of Night Shift that I've never seen before.



Also finally found a hardcover edition of Jaws. $6!

[ConchRepublican]

Found my first UK JDM book, a Pan Book no less. Also found a UK reprint of Night Shift that I've never seen before.



Also finally found a hardcover edition of Jaws. $6!

Jaws .... The only book I've ever read in one sitting (back in the late 80s, when I had time). I started it around 9:00 PM one night and put it down about 2:00 AM. Incredible book.

Looks like some good scores there!