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[alankin]

Graham Greene - This Gun For Hire (aka A Gun For Sale)

Edited March 14, 2017 by alankin

[jlhoots]

Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Refugees

[ejp626]

10 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Refugees

How is this?  It looks promising, and I have it in my library queue.

[jlhoots]

2 hours ago, ejp626 said:

How is this?  It looks promising, and I have it in my library queue.

It's excellent as was The Sympathizer (which was much longer & won the Pulitzer prize).

[EKE BBB]

Dolores Redondo - Todo Esto Te Daré (Planeta 2016)

[Matthew]

The Stories of J. F. Powers

[paul secor]

Michael Ondaatje: In the Skin of a Lion

[Chuck Nessa]

I stopped reading when I discovered anyone can write. 

My chances for something good are slim.

[jlhoots]

Atticus Lish: Preparation For The Next Life

[ejp626]

For all the praise they got, I am finding the stories in Malamud's The Magic Barrel to be incredibly sour and often disappointing.  I suppose the focus on people whose lives were circumscribed by poverty and prejudice (particularly against Jews) was a necessary corrective during the self-congratulatory Eisenhower years, but I am finding them depressing.

Minstry's Family Matters is also depressing, though I was expecting that.

I seem to be on a bit of a short story kick at the moment.  I'm going to be working my way through Juan Rulfo's The Plain in Flames, Natasha by David Bezmozgis and Guy Vanderhaeghe's Daddy Lenin.  I probably ought to read at least a few William Trevor and T.C. Boyle stories, but I'll hold off on them for a bit longer.

[BillF]

On 3/14/2017 at 0:05 PM, alankin said:

Graham Greene - This Gun For Hire (aka A Gun For Sale)

A favourite. 

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, rostasi said:

Recently published - what's your take?

[paul secor]

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

[ghost of miles]

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I just finished Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch book last night, "The Other Side Of Goodbye". It was one of his better efforts. It was not easy to figure out who the criminal was this time. One complaint is his continuing pushing of Grace Kelly as some great Jazz musician, especially since he continues to push her as a saxophonist. She's really become a singer who occasionally plays a sax solo.

[Brad]

Lincoln in the Bardo. To say it's different would be an understatement. 

[Larry Kart]

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I just finished Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch book last night, "The Other Side Of Goodbye". It was one of his better efforts. It was not easy to figure out who the criminal was this time. One complaint is his continuing pushing of Grace Kelly as some great Jazz musician, especially since he continues to push her as a saxophonist. She's really become a singer who occasionally plays a sax solo.

A good Bosch. Agree about Grace Kelly. Before that Bosch was pushing Frank Morgan, who often struck me as something of a con man both on and off the stand.

My Frank Morgan story, which I think I've told before. He was at the Jazz Showcase when he made his comeback, playing with one of the usual high-level Chicago rhythm sections of the time, Willie Pickens, maybe Dan Shapera on bass, and Wilbur Campbell. After the first set Frank starts to berate the rhythm section for not playing some of the tunes properly, in terms of following certain routines, which was a bit bewildering because the set consisted of familiar jazz lines and standards which are played in much the same ay by virtually everyone, and the group, as usual for the venue when there was a visiting soloist, did not rehearse beforehand and thus could not be expected to handle them in special, Morgan-preferred ways, in case there were any such. Morgan was both irate and insulting, especially toward Campbell, which kind of stunned me a) because Wilbur was a great drummer and a great guy who played with everybody who came into the Showcase under just those conditions and b) because I could hear no particular glitches between Frank and the rhythm section during the set. Audible to all, this tirade went on for a while, much to Wilber's displeasure, until the normally mild-mannered  Pickens intervened and told Frank to sit down and shut up, which he did. Don't recall if I then asked Willie what that was all about, but in any case he volunteered that he grew up with Frank in Milwaukee, and that this is what he always was like -- mostly, he thought, because Frank was so damn insecure about his own abilities. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

20 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

A good Bosch. Agree about Grace Kelly. Before that Bosch was pushing Frank Morgan, who often struck me as something of a con man both on and off the stand.

My Frank Morgan story, which I think I've told before. He was at the Jazz Showcase when he made his comeback, playing with one of the usual high-level Chicago rhythm sections of the time, Willie Pickens, maybe Dan Shapera on bass, and Wilbur Campbell. After the first set Frank starts to berate the rhythm section for not playing some of the tunes properly, in terms of following certain routines, which was a bit bewildering because the set consisted of familiar jazz lines and standards which are played in much the same ay by virtually everyone, and the group, as usual for the venue when there was a visiting soloist, did not rehearse beforehand and thus could not be expected to handle them in special, Morgan-preferred ways, in case there were any such. Morgan was both irate and insulting, especially toward Campbell, which kind of stunned me a) because Wilbur was a great drummer and a great guy who played with everybody who came into the Showcase under just those conditions and b) because I could hear no particular glitches between Frank and the rhythm section during the set. Audible to all, this tirade went on for a while, much to Wilber's displeasure, until the normally mild-mannered  Pickens intervened and told Frank to sit down and shut up, which he did. Don't recall if I then asked Willie what that was all about, but in any case he volunteered that he grew up with Frank in Milwaukee, and that this is what he always was like -- mostly, he thought, because Frank was so damn insecure about his own abilities. 

Connelly/Bosch did turn me onto one of Art Pepper's recent Widow's Taste releases in one of his last books, so he does have some good recommendations.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Ted O'Reilly]

I'm about a third of the way through the latest in Mick Herron's 'Slough House' books...  A rare thing:  the series improves with each volume!  There's also his Oxford series -- almost as good.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/101326-slough-house

[GA Russell]

1 hour ago, Ted O'Reilly said:

I'm about a third of the way through the latest in Mick Herron's 'Slough House' books...  A rare thing:  the series improves with each volume!  There's also his Oxford series -- almost as good.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/101326-slough-house

Ted, I picked up Slow Horses a while back.  I suppose I should read it before the football season starts!

[Ted O'Reilly]

On ‎22‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 2:54 PM, GA Russell said:

Ted, I picked up Slow Horses a while back.  I suppose I should read it before the football season starts!

You should, and I'd suggest reading them sequentially, and don't leave a lot of time between books...

Jackson Lamb is one of the great current characters in mystery books.  When the film (or even better, a HBO-type series), turns up I hope they cast Timothy Spall in the role.

[T.D.]

On 3/22/2017 at 2:32 PM, Ted O'Reilly said:

I'm about a third of the way through the latest in Mick Herron's 'Slough House' books...  A rare thing:  the series improves with each volume!  There's also his Oxford series -- almost as good.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/101326-slough-house

My brother strongly recommended Herron's "Slough House" books a couple of years ago. I instead read Down Cemetery Road (because it was available @ local bookshop), wasn't overwhelmed, and left it at that. Will have to look for Slow Horses.

[BillF]

A lesser Le Carré, but he's always worth reading IMHO.

[Simon8]

[erwbol]

Daniel C. Dennett From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds

Edited March 24, 2017 by erwbol