With the last post, I’m calling an end to this year’s enumeration of reading. 2006ish stands at 89 books, which is probably far less than I bought at book fairs.
These books include:
- The Empty Trap by John D. MacDonald
- The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
- Mine the Harvest by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Johnny Mnemonic by Terry Bisson
- The Museum of Hoaxes by Alex Boese
- Suspects by William J. Cannitz
- Wild Pitch by Mike Lupica
- The Olympics’ Most Wanted by Floyd Conner
- Peking Duck by Roger L. Simon
- 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America by Bernard Goldberg
- The American Private Eye: The Image in Fiction by David Geherin
- Sea Change by Robert B. Parker
- Pet Sematary by Stephen King
- Collected Stories by Franz Kafka
- Under the Grammar Hammer by Douglas Cazort
- The Wealthy Writer by Michael Meanwell
- Planning and Remodeling Family Rooms, Dens & Studios by Sunset Books
- The Brass Cupcake by John D. MacDonald
- The Substance of Style by Virginia Postrel
- Blood Relatives by Ed McBain
- The Hanged Man’s Song by John Sandford
- Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore
- Gerald’s Game by Stephen King
- How to Break Software by James A. Whittaker
- Slightly Chipped by Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone
- Warmly Inscribed by Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone
- The Case Against Hillary Clinton by Peggy Noonan
- The Stainless Steel Rat for President by Harry Harrison
- Bosstrology by Adele Lang and Andrew Masterson
- Bump & Run by Mike Lupica
- Blowback by Bill Pronzini
- Everybody’s Guide to Book Collecting by Charlie Lovett
- His Affair by Jo Fleming
- Sharky’s Machine by William Diehl
- The Baby in the Icebox by James M. Cain
- Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe
- Aftermath by LeVar Burton
- Expecting by Gordon Churchwell
- Poison by Ed McBain
- The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard
- Escape from Reason by Francis A Schaeffer
- California Roll by Roger L. Simon
- Ice by Ed McBain
- You Might Be A Redneck If by Jeff Foxworthy
- Existentialism and Human Emotions by Jean-Paul Sartre
- Vespers by Ed McBain
- Blue Screen by Robert B. Parker
- Lloyd What Happened by Stanley Bing
- Sinbad’s Guide To Life (Because I Know Everything) by Sinbad with David Ritz
- Big Trouble by Dave Barry
- In Someone’s Shadow by Rod McKuen
- Stars and Stripes Triumphant by Harry Harrison
- And Then She Was Gone by Susan McBride
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes
- I Ought To Be In Pictures by Neil Simon
- The World’s Most Infamous Crimes and Criminals
- RPG World Wolume One by Ian Jones-Quartey
- How to Break Software Security by James A. Whittaker and Herbert H. Thompson
- Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald
- The Golden Gate by Alistair MacLean
- Shopgirl by Steve Martin
- Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America by G.P. Meyer
- Small Felonies by Bill Pronzini
- TV Now: Stars and Shows by Dorothy Scheuer
- The Priest-Kings of Gor by John Norman
- The Nomads of Gor by John Norman
- An Alien Heat by Michael Moorcock
- Unsolved Mysteries of the Past Reader’s Digest
- Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain by Eric R. Delderfield
- The Way to Dusty Death by Alistair MacLean
- The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
- The Night Crew by John Sandford
- Hundred Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker
- Whodunits
- Assassin of Gor by John Norman
- The Spy Who Never Was & Other True Spy Stories by David C. Knight
- The Mystery Reader’s Quiz Book by Aneta Corsaut, Muff Singer, Robert Wagner
- Nice Girls Do And Now You Can, Too by Dr. Irene Kassorla
- Emma by Jane Austen
- Sons of Sam Spade by David Geherin
- Ballroom of the Skies by John D. MacDonald
- Thunderball by Ian Fleming
- As Long As You Both Shall Live by Ed McBain
- Twice in Time by Manly Wade Wellman
- Word for Word by Andrew A. Rooney
- Selections from Stars! by Daphne Davis
- Ancient, My Enemy by Gordon R. Dickson
- The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction Fourteenth Series by Avram Davidson (ed)
- Nature Noir by Jordan Fisher Smith
I’ll not trouble you with hyperlinks, gentle reader, but if you want any of the reviews, you can do a Google search using site:stlbrianj.blogspot.com and get what you want.
In review, this year’s total includes:
- 5 John D. MacDonald books
- 5 Ed McBain books
- 3 Robert B. Parker (the new ones this year)
- 3 John Norman Gor books
- 2 Roger L. Simon Moses Wine novels
- 2 Alistair MacLean novels from the 1970s
- 2 Bill Pronzini novels featuring the Nameless Detective
- 2 David Geherin nonfiction books about crime fiction
- 2 Harry Harrison novels of science fiction
- 2 James Whitaker books about software testing
- 2 John Sandford novels, neither of which featured Lucas Davenport
- 2 Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone books about book collecting
- 2 Mike Lupica books
- 2 Stephen King books
So I guess I trend toward crime fiction, or at least I hover around crime fiction books I like. I read two bits of classical fiction (Emma and the works of Kafka) and some smart nonfiction (Existentialism and Human Emotions and The Life of Charlemagne).
This year, I can break my books down in my memory into several comfortable reading locatons:
- In my blue recliner in the old Casinoport house, with a cat on my lap and a gas fire roaring.
- In that blue recliner in the lower level of the new Old Trees home, listening to jazz with a cat on my lap.
- On the sofa on the main level of the Old Trees home, in the early months of Ferris Drooler’s life amid his frequent feedings.
- In the living room of the upper level of the Old Trees home, after Dr. Fussamongstus has gone to bed for the evening.
Many of these books prompts a distinct memory that books in 2005 and 2007 will not.
Still, my collection of unread books is large and varied. I don’t know what to tell you about 2007, D, but I’ll probably read a bunch of John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport novels and some Søren Kierkegaard.
As for my other 2006 goals, suffice to say I didn’t do as well as I did on reading. But there’s always tomorrow.
