Tub 85 and a Vietnam heavy set of 50......
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About 20-odd magazines in a 35 or 36 volume part works - no captions necessary! |
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3 magazines from another part-works! |
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Coffee table Vietnam book! |
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Tim Page - English Vietnam War photo-journalist! |
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Hardback book which is basically all the part works in one volume! |
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Another Tim Page book! |
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Adam Barrow (aka Tom Kakonis), John Le Carre, John Irving, |
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Randy Wayne White, Tom Kakonis, Dan Barden, Brooks Hansen/Nick Davis, Daniel Friedman, |
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Blog favourite - Tom Kakonis! |
Timothy Waverly, an ex-con and ambitious card shark, is up to his ears in trouble in Las Vegas as he becomes involved in an ingenious basketball point-shaving scam and matches wits with a calculating psychopath, with his sister's life at stake.
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Daniel Friedman |
The sequel to Don't Ever Get Old, which garnered four-starred reviews, a movie deal with a major Hollywood producer, and an Edgar Award nomination for Best First Novel
Twentysomething Daniel Friedman's debut hit novel, Don't Ever Get Old, was a huge critical and word-of-mouth success. Now his unforgettable protagonist BuckSchatz is back, and once again this 88-year-old retired Memphis cop refuses to go gently into that good night. Having sustained injuries in Don't Ever Get Old, Buck is living at a retirement home with his wife, and he's downright miserable being treated like the elderly person he is. But soon, Elijah, a man from his past, pays Buck a visit. Elijah offers Buck a tidy sum to do him a favor, and Buck is eager to close the book on a series of robberies that he could never solve. But things soon go downhill - way downhill.
Written in Buck's signature voice and featuring a mystery that will knock your socks off, Don't Ever Look Back is another home run by an author with a long and star-studded career ahead of him.
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Dan Barden |
Southern California home builder extraordinaire Randy Chalmers has to admit he'd be dead or in prison were it not for his best friend, lawyer, and Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Terry Elias. A former police officer, Randy narrowly escaped being an evening news highlight during years ravaged by anger and alcohol. Thanks to Terry's coaching and an endless stream of caffeine-fueled AA meetings, Randy's been off the booze for eight years, has a successful new career, and is thriving in a healthy relationship with his vegan yoga-instructor girlfriend. All is well . . . until sponsor Terry, himself supposedly sober for fifteen years, is found dead of a heroin overdose.
How could Terry, who had dragged so many others from the edge, jump off himself? Convinced that something (or someone) must have pushed him, Randy is soon off on a dry-drunk quest for answers - and possibly revenge. He discovers a trail of dirty secrets that lead to missing persons, shady real estate deals, hydroponic pot farms, and Internet pornography. When his suspicions ultimately connect Terry's death to the activities of a recently appointed Superior Court judge - who just happens to be dating Randy's ex-wife - Randy has to ask himself: Is he really on to something or just suffering from grief and paranoia? Will his increasingly frenzied behavior ruin his current relationship and his chances of regaining custody of his daughter? Will he destroy the life that he has worked so hard to achieve? Will he reach for a drink?
The Next Right Thing is a hilarious and harrowing combination of thriller and recovery tale, equal parts hard-earned wisdom and old-fashioned suspense.
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Dean Crawford, Martin Amis, William Boyd, Stan Jones, Fuminori Nakamura, |
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Another Japanese novel, I've yet to find a good one! |
The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn't even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no family, no friends, no connections.... But he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when Ishikawa, his first partner, reappears in his life, and offers him a job he can't refuse. It's an easy job: tie up an old rich man, steal the contents of the safe. No one gets hurt. Only the day after the job does he learn that the old man was a prominent politician, and that he was brutally killed after the robbery. And now the Thief is caught in a tangle even he might not be able to escape.
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Kevin Sampson, Daniel Woodrell, Joseph Finder, Randy Wayne White, Stella Rimington, |
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Daniel Woodrell - a few years since I've read him. |
"It's like dyin' old men all over the world will tell you - when you get aged and rackety and think back across your entire lifespan, why it ain't the ones you do, you regret, it's the ones you don't." Lunch Pumphrey is talking about sex, but he applies his philosophy to all aspects of life - which includes dealing with anyone who has the dim wit to double cross him and the bad luck to stick around for the consequences. And that's why old John X. Shade is on the lam, his nubile young wife having run off with $47,000 of Lunch Pumphrey's ill gotten gains, leaving John X. behind with an empty safe and a wise-ass daughter, the fruit of his middle age. Given a certified sociopath like Lunch on his tail, an empty bank account and hands too shaky to hold the pool cue that once made his fame and fortune, John X. has only one way to go: Home to the first wife and three sons - now grown - he abandoned years ago, back to the steamy bayou town of St Bruno.
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John Rector, Dean Koontz, John D. MacDonald, Doug Johnstone, Robert B. Parker, |
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Robert B. Parker - 1 of his 40-odd Spenser mysteries. |
When Susan's ex-husband, Brad, appears after a decades-long absence, nearly broke and the object of a sexual-harassment suit, Spenser reluctantly agrees to help. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding the suit, he discovers that fund-raiser Brad is swimming in very deep water: mobsters, who were using his fund-raising campaigns to launder money, have discovered he was cooking the already cooked books and aren't at all pleased. The deeper Spenser digs, the more bodies he uncovers and the more culpable Brad appears to be.
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Nick Johnstone |
'When I was fourteen, I got drunk for the first time. Champagne drunk. My mouth was stretched in a smile so wide, that my jaw hurt. The sky had the colours of a bruise' When Nick Johnstone got drunk for the first time at the age of fourteen he discovered a cure for the depression and anxiety that had been humming in his head since childhood. Over the next ten years he drank to overcome shyness, to make the world bearable, to get through the days and to get through the nights. He also began to cut himself and he began to lie. Intelligent, sensitive, from a loving family, neither he nor his countless doctors, psychiatrists, counsellors and therapists could understand where his disorders came from. Then, when he was twenty-four he was admitted into hospital. Stripped of his 'cure', Nick Johnstone painfully began the process of recovery. Although love proves to be the strongest 'cure' of all, this is a story with no tidy or happy endings .
Honest and gripping, by turns stark and lyrical, A HEAD FULL OF BLUE powerfully evokes the often unfathomable psychology and behaviour that drives addiction, examining self-harm as a coping mechanism rather than a taboo. It is an unusual, moving and thought-provoking memoir.
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Tub 85 put to bed! |
HIGHLIGHTS..... Daniel Woodrell, John D.MacDonald, John Irving, Tom Kakonis, plus I am actually looking forward to revisiting the
Vietnam War with some re-reading.
LOWLIGHTS..... Dean Koontz, hopefully
THE THIEF by
Nakamura is something I enjoy. I've not been too successful with the handful of
Japanese books I've read.
FULL LIST OF 50 AS FOLLOWS:
AUTHOR |
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TITLE |
YEAR |
SERIES |
(F-10) |
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FIREPOWER 10 SNIPER RIFLES |
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(F-11) |
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FIREPOWER 11 RIVERINE WARRIORS |
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(F-13) |
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FIREPOWER 13 GUNSHIPS |
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(NTVE-16) PARRISH |
JOHN |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 16 JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR |
1990 |
16 |
(NTVE-17) HUDSON |
CHRISTOPHER |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 17 THE KILLING FIELDS |
1990 |
17 |
(NTVE-18) |
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NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 18 PHANTOM OVER VIETNAM |
1990 |
18 |
(NTVE-19) MANGOLD |
TOM |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 19 THE TUNNELS OF CU CHI |
1990 |
19 |
(NTVE-20) SCHOLL-LSTOUR |
PETER |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 20 EYEWITNESS VIETNAM |
1990 |
20 |
(NTVE-21) BROYLES |
WILLIAM |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 21 BROTHERS IN ARMS |
1990 |
21 |
(NTVE-22) DOWNS |
FREDERICK |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 22 AFTERMATH |
1990 |
22 |
(NTVE-23) CAWTHORNE |
NIGEL |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 23 PRISONERS OF WAR |
1990 |
23 |
(NTVE-24) |
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NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 24 VIETNAM STYLE RIDERS ON THE STORM |
1990 |
24 |
(NTVE-25) |
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NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 25 IMAGES OF WAR |
1990 |
25 |
(NTVE-26) DOWNS |
FREDERICK |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 26 THE KILLING ZONE |
1990 |
26 |
(NTVE-27) DENGLER |
DIETER |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 27 ESCAPE FROM LAOS |
1990 |
27 |
(NTVE-28) PILGER |
JOHN |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 28 HEROES - JOHN PILGER'S VIETNAM |
1990 |
28 |
(NTVE-29) DONOVAN |
DAVID |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 29 ONCE A WARRIOR KING |
1990 |
29 |
(NTVE-30) MAY |
SOMETH |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 30 CAMBODIAN WITNESS |
1990 |
30 |
(NTVE-31) ZUMWALT/ZUMWALT III |
ELMO/ELMO |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 31 MY FATHER MY SON |
1990 |
31 |
(NTVE-32) EHRHART |
W. D. |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 32 VIETNAM PERKASIE |
1990 |
32 |
(NTVE-33) WALKER |
KEITH |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 33 A PIECE OF MY HEART |
1990 |
33 |
(NTVE-34) SNEPP |
FRANK |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 34 DECENT INTERVAL |
1990 |
34 |
(NTVE-35) FALL |
BERNARD |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 35 HELL IS A VERY SMALL PLACE |
1990 |
35 |
AMIS |
MARTIN |
THE INFORMATION |
1995 |
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BARDEN |
DAN |
THE NEXT RIGHT THING |
2012 |
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BARROW |
ADAM |
BLIND SPOT |
1997 |
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BOYD |
WILLIAM |
ANY HUMAN HEART |
2002 |
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CRAWFORD |
DEAN |
IMMORTAL |
2012 |
EW2 |
FINDER |
JOSEPH |
VANISHED |
2009 |
NH1 |
FRIEDMAN |
DANIEL |
DON'T EVER LOOK BACK |
2014 |
BS2 |
HANSEN/DAVIS |
BROOKS/NICK |
BOONE |
1990 |
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IRVING |
JOHN |
A SON OF THE CIRCUS |
1994 |
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JOHNSTONE |
NICK |
A HEAD FULL OF BLUE |
2002 |
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JONES |
STAN |
VILLAGE OF THE GHOST |
2009 |
NA4 |
KAKONIS |
TOM |
SHADOW COUNTER |
1993 |
TW4 |
KOONTZ |
DEAN |
FRANKENSTEIN: LOST SOULS |
2010 |
F4 |
LE CARRE |
JOHN |
A DELICATE TRUTH |
2013 |
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MACDONALD |
JOHN D. |
ENGLAND |
1973 |
TM14 |
NAKAMURA |
FUMINORI |
THE THIEF |
2012 |
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PAGE |
TIM |
TIM PAGE'S NAM |
1983 |
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PAGE |
TIM |
TEN YEARS AFTER - VIETNAM TODAY |
1987 |
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PAGE/PIMLOTT |
TIM/JOHN |
NAM: THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE 1965-75 |
1989 |
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PARKER |
ROBERT B. |
SUDDEN MISCHIEF |
1998 |
S25 |
RECTOR |
JOHN |
COLD KISS |
2010 |
|
RIMINGTON |
STELLA |
THE GENEVA TRAP |
2012 |
LC7 |
SAMPSON |
KEVIN |
FRESHERS |
2003 |
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WELSH |
DOUGLAS |
THE HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR |
1982 |
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WHITE |
RANDY WAYNE |
SHARK RIVER |
2001 |
DF8 |
WHITE |
RANDY WAYNE |
THE HEAT ISLANDS |
1992 |
DF2 |
WOODRELL |
DANIEL |
THE ONES YOU DO |
1992 |
RS3 |
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Col, the sight of "A Son of the Circus" by John Irving reminds me that I should finish reading the book. I read hundred-odd pages last year and left it at that. I liked the Mumbai setting and the main character, Farrokh Daruwalla, who incidentally belongs to the Zoroastrian faith. In the real world, they faced persecution in Persia (Iran) and fled to India 200 years ago, settling down in western India, mostly in Gujarat (where they first landed) and in Bombay. Known as Parsis, the Zoroastrians, named after their founder Lord Zarathustra, are one of the most highly-educated, progressive, and philanthropic communities. Although in a minority, numbering less than 50,000, the Parsis are spread all over the world. In fact, I'm married to one. Of course, none of this has anything to do with Tub 85!
ReplyDeletePrashant, thanks for the information. I've not been near an Irving novel for a few years now - too many in fact. I half tempted to re-read A Prayer for Owen Meany first though.
DeleteI have an unread paperback of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" that I need to push up my TBR list. I believe it's a very good book. I like John Irving's novels, the recurring characters and settings.
DeleteMeany followed by Garp are my two absolute favourites.
DeleteWith Jones, le Carré, and MacDonald to look forward to, Col, I think you have some good reads ahead of you. Hope you'll enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteToo many books and not enough time. I ought to raise the drawbridge soon - albeit somewhat reluctantly!
DeleteI got a copy of A Delicate Truth at the book sale last week. I still haven't read any Daniel Woodrell but I will someday. And you have lots of Vietnam war literature to read.
ReplyDeleteI think the Woodrell in this tub has been read, but I think it's my favourite book by him. Haunting. Yeah - I really went all in with the Vietnam stuff. I do want to get back to it though someday.
Delete