Well for my 2nd post today, below is my November reading summary, some stats and then a summary of the books I completed in November and a look at those I'm currently reading to start December. So without further ado, here we go.
Nov 2019
General Info Nov Total
Books Read - 9 129
Pages Read - 2,700 37,100
Pages Breakdown
< 250 5 57
250 - 350 1 31
351 - 450 - 26
> 450 3 15
Ratings
5 - star - 6
4 - star 6 66
3 - star 3 53
2 - star - 4
Gender
Female 3 52
Male 6 77
Genres
Fiction 3 20
Mystery 2 77
SciFi 4 26
Non-Fic - 5
Classics - 1
Top 3 Books
"I first heard about In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes when I was exploring the site of a publisher, Femmes Fatale. They published books by authors such as Valerie Taylor, Vera Caspari and also another author, Dorothy Hughes. I tried one by Valerie Taylor and I've been looking for others since. I was surprised to discover that In a Lonely Place was also turned into a movie, starring Humphrey Bogart as the main character, Dix Steele. I don't think I've ever seen it before but I do know it shows on TCM once in awhile.
Anyway, to get on to the story. In a Lonely Place is a psychological noir thriller that explores the mind of a serial killer. Dix Steele, a WWII vet, has come to LA to discover himself. He moves around and finally meets up with an old Princeton chum, Mel Teriss, and while Mel heads to Rio, Dix takes over his apartment, clothes, car, etc. Dix is a loner and has a number of quirks, e.g. hates crowds, doesn't like the noise of his electric razor, etc. He survives on a monthly stipend from an uncle back in New York, who agreed that Dix could go out west for a year to write a novel. Dix doesn't sleep a lot and he spends his nights wandering about LA, and seems to stalk girls.
At the same time, the police are looking for an apparent serial killer, the Strangler. One of the cops on this team is Brub (yup, that his name) Nicolai, who meets with Dix one day. It turns out that he and Dix were best friends in the Air Force stationed in England. Dix's routine is thrown for a loop as he begins to take more of a part in Brub's life and meets with Brub's wife, Sylvia. Dix also meets a woman in his apartment complex, Lauren, a red haired fire brand. His life is changed drastically by these events and he falls hard for Lauren. He likes being with Brub, as he gets updates on the status of his investigation.
Dix's life slowly and then more quickly unravels as time goes on. He doesn't trust Lauren, finds people following him. An incident from his past crops up that also unsettles him. Lauren begins asking more and more about where Mel has gone. Everything unsettles Dix and you feel the turmoil in his mind.
It's a fascinating portrayal of Dix and how his mental issues grow and grow. The last half of the story moves along a quick pace and you can feel what Dix is feeling. I'm glad that I found and read this excellent story. Hughes lived from 1904 - 1993 and over the course of her life wrote 14 crime novels. I'll have to check out the others. (4.5 stars)"
"What an excellent story! Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in English author Susan Cooper's young adult The Dark is Rising fantasy series of 5 books. People of a certain age might remember those 60's TV shows featuring precocious kids involved in all sorts of adventures. Well, this is a reminder of those excellent shows.
Three young kids, Simon, Jane and Barnie Drew go on a summer vacation with their parents and Great Uncle Merry (or as they call him gumerry) to the Cornwall coast. Their parents have rented a house, the Grey House, from an old sailor and gumerry is staying with them.
What these three great kids don't know is that they will become involved in a search with their Great Uncle for the Grail of King Arthur. And this search will be contested by forces of the dark who also want the Grail for their own reasons. The kids find a secret room in their rental house and find a old map, which will guide them in their search. It's a dangerous search and they don't know who their enemies are and Merry isn't always about to help them. Of course they do have the sailor's dog, Rufus, faithful and with strange insights.
The story moves along at a nice clip and we get exposed to the kids' ingenuity, intelligence and bravery as the search for clues to guide them to the Grail. Their parents play very little role in this entertaining story, leaving the children free to wander about the area, deal with the 'bad guys' and have fun and adventure.
This was a completely entertaining story, lovely kids, interesting locale and lots of action. I can't wait to try the next installment, which currently resides on my bookshelves. (4.5 stars)"
"I had previously only read The Fog by James Herbert before I started Nobody True. The basic premise is that the narrator of Nobody True, one James True is a successful ad executive, a husband and father and is also able to perform OBE's (out of body experiences). While on an OBE one night, he returns to his body to find that he has been brutally murdered (this is quite graphically described).
My first thoughts on starting the story was, 'heck, this is a long 'un'. It takes a little while to get to the crux of the story. (It is told in the first person, if you are interested). We learn about True's childhood, his poor relationship with his mother, a bicycle accident in which he suffers a head injury and finds himself observing his body from the outside. This starts his exploration of OBE's (there are neat little footnotes throughout the story that elaborates on things that James discovers over the course of his life, about these experiences). True becomes a successful graphic designer and forms a small, successful advertising agency with two friends. Later in his life, one of his partners wants to sell their business to a bigger agency, there is an argument and at this point True, alone in their hotel room, has an OBE and as mentioned previously, returns to find his body desecrated.
True's partner is suspected as well as a serial killer who has been committing similar murders, with some key differences. True now without a body, finds himself wandering around London, visiting his wife and daughter, his mother, the police and also finds himself drawn to a basement apartment where he meets the person who might actually be the serial killer. From this point the story takes off. It's gruesome at times, as True describes the killer's actions, but at the same time also fascinating. True meets with other spirits at a seance and is told he must stop the killer. I had ideas about this, but will let you form your own as you delve into this story.
There are neat twists and turns that are unexpected (to me anyway) and also some very emotional moments that caught me up as well. I wasn't expecting much from this story and it too me awhile to get through it (I partially blame it on the fact that I have a few books on the go at once), but I'm glad that I stuck with it and spent a couple of hours this morning finishing it off. Excellent, well-paced, well-written and totally entertaining. (4.5 stars)"
12 + 4 Challenge (completed 16) (Challenge Complete)
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Papa Bear Challenge (Books I've had the longest on my Goodreads bookshelf)
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Mama Bear Challenge (Middle of my Goodreads bookshelf)
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Baby Bear Challenge (Books most recently added to my Goodreads bookshelf)
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Goldilocks Challenge (Random Number Generator)
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Break from Challenge Challenge (Freebees every time I complete 10 books)
1. Nobody True by James Herbert 4.5 stars
Challenges from Other Groups
2. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper 4.5 stars
3. In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes 4.5 stars
September Individual Genre Challenge - Women Authors
4. The Last Temptation by Val McDermid 3.5 stars
October Individual Genre Challenge - Horror
5. The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry 3.5 stars
6. The Mind Parasites by Colin Wilson 4 stars
November Individual Challenge - War
7. The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean 4 stars
8. The German Agent by J. Sydney Jones 3.5 stars
9. The Small Back Room by Nigel Balchin 4 stars
Dec 2019 Books Currently Reading
2. Middlemarch by George Eliot
3. Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert
4. Gently By the Shore by Alan Hunter
5. Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
6. A Firework for Oliver by John Sanders
Next Possibles in line
(Depending how I progress with The Passage and Middlemarch, I may not try any others but if I finish them early enough, I might try these books)
"For centuries, the small English village of Dunstonholme has been the scene of mysterious tragedies. Local lore traces these strange events back to the year 1300, when a sect of Christian heretics known as the Children of Paul were involved in a bloody massacre. Since that time, there have been railway disasters, mining accidents, shipwrecks, and other terrible happenings. Now a wave of suspicious deaths has the locals on edge and looking for explanations. Dr. Tom Allen and adventurer J. Moldon Mott think they know what is behind the killings: an ancient evil, dating back seven hundred years, lies hidden underground—and it is preparing to emerge to the surface..."
"The depression of the 1930s led people to desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was filled with a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms."
So there you go, December is set. Now to do some Christmas shopping... :0)
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