In an effort to bring order where currently only chaos reigns, I'm going to try and catalogue the ranks of the Criminal Library. With the exception of one smallish bookcase downstairs and the odd random book residing in the living room or the bedroom, my books all live in the attic in plastic tubs, which makes it impossible to find what I have, when I want to read it.
Whilst fully expecting to tire of this project, probably within weeks of starting, for now the intention is to list what I have and where it is at the rate of one tub or 50 books a week.
What treasures did we find on week 1?
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| A couple of non-fiction McClure books, a Fleming Bond, a Ross Thomas and a previously read Thomas Perry - The Butcher's Boy which I loved and want to re-read someday. |
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| A Jim Nisbet - noir, another Bond, a Gardner - probably my wife's, something from Hard Case Crime and a Seymour Shubin. |
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| Caputo - Vietnam tale, an early McKinty, Deaver, Lantigua and a Deighton series book. |
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| Fleming, Himes, Eisler, Ross Thomas and an amazing Kent Anderson - Vietnam book - another re-read hopefully. |
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| Ross Thomas again, Stephen Wright - Vietnam, a Harry Crews which will be a re-read, Denis Johnson and a non-fiction political commentary, current affairs type thingy on 9-11 which probably won't be very current by the time I get to it. |
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| More crime than espionage. |
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| 4 more by Ross Thomas - can you ever have too many? A one off Raymond Ring book. |
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| I have read the Steinbeck ,but I love it so maybe one more time, Frayn, Megan Abbott, an unread Elmore Leonard and something by Marcus Zusak (The Book Thief author) |
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| Only wrote two books, and died young - Eddie Little |
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| John Milne, Eddie Little, a volume of short stories, John Dale - which I'm fairly sure I read, and a Mafia memoir. |
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| Scratches head and wonders ....why did I buy this? |
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| Michael Marshall -Spares which I have read, but my wife wrote inside it, Don Winslow - also read, a police procedural from Bill James, non-fiction boxing book and a Jasper Fforde. |
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| More boxing, more Vietnam non-fiction, an autobiography of a British comedian, tv star, etc. Larry Brown's last novel and a Steve Hamilton standalone. |
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| 50 down, a fair few to go! |
Thoughts on the above.........I suppose there are a few there that if I was out browsing today and didn't have them I would walk on by; Jasper Fforde in particular - I read one by him previously and didn't get blown away by it, so I'm not in a rush to get back to him in all honesty. I think the McClure's have also lost their appeal.
At one time I enjoyed reading a lot of stuff from the Vietnam War period, both fiction and non-fiction memoirs. I don't but these type of books anymore but I still think I will enjoy reading them. I think my Vietnam flame is just dormant as opposed to having been totally extinguished.
I suppose this exercise will underline the fact that my tastes are continually evolving whilst remaining in the crime fiction genre, with the occasional alternate read. As a result of that, I maybe shouldn't actually buy anything I'm not going to get to read within the next three months! I ought to get that thought tattooed on my brain, or at least printed up on a card and kept in my wallet, next to the credit card.
The most recent book of the lot is Hamilton's Lock Artist which I bought new. It was published in 2009, so I have probably had all these for a minimum of 4 years, without bothering to crack any of them open.
This exercise if I stay the course and complete it, could turn out to be a humiliating experience, underlining that I am totally and completely barking mad and obsessive when it comes to books, unable to exercise any control when confronted by books for sale anywhere at any time.
FULL LIST!
| AUTHOR |
|
TITLE |
YEAR |
SERIES |
|
| ABBOTT |
MEGAN |
QUEENPIN |
2007 |
|
F |
| ANDERSON |
KENT |
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL |
1987 |
|
F |
| BROWN |
LARRY |
THE RABBIT FACTORY |
2003 |
|
F |
| CAPUTO |
PHILIP |
INDIAN COUNTRY |
1987 |
|
F |
| CREWS |
HARRY |
THE KNOCKOUT ARTIST |
1988 |
|
F |
| DALE |
JOHN |
THE DOGS ARE BARKING |
1998 |
|
F |
| DEAVER |
JEFFERY |
THE BLUE NOWHERE |
2001 |
|
F |
| DEIGHTON |
LEN |
SET |
1984 |
BS2 |
F |
| EISLER |
BARRY |
CHOKE POINT |
2004 |
JR3 |
F |
| FERRANTE |
LOUIS |
TOUGH GUY |
2009 |
|
N |
| FFORDE |
JASPER |
THE FOURTH BEAR |
2006 |
NC2 |
F |
| FLEMING |
IAN |
GOLDFINGER |
1959 |
JB7 |
F |
| FLEMING |
IAN |
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY |
1959 |
JB8 |
F |
| FLEMING |
IAN |
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE |
1964 |
JB12 |
F |
| FRAYN |
MICHAEL |
SPIES |
2002 |
|
F |
| GARDNER |
LISA |
THE SURVIVOR'S CLUB |
2001 |
|
F |
| HAMILTON |
STEVE |
THE LOCK ARTIST |
2009 |
|
F |
| HIMES |
CHESTER |
THE HEAT'S ON |
1966 |
CEJ7 |
F |
| HYNES |
SAMUEL |
THE SOLDIER'S TALE |
1998 |
|
N |
| JAKUBOWSKI/RIPLEY |
MAXIM/MIKE |
FRESH BLOOD 2 |
1997 |
FB2 |
F |
| JAMES |
BILL |
IN GOOD HANDS |
1994 |
H+I11 |
F |
| JOHNSON |
DENIS |
TREE OF SMOKE |
2007 |
|
F |
| KAY |
PETER |
THE SOUND OF LAUGHTER |
2006 |
|
N |
| LANTIGUA |
JOHN |
BURN SEASON |
1989 |
|
F |
| LEONARD |
ELMORE |
COMFORT TO THE ENEMY |
2009 |
CW3 |
F |
| LITTLE |
EDDIE |
ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE |
1997 |
BP1 |
F |
| MARSHALL |
MICHAEL |
SPARES |
1996 |
|
F |
| McCLURE |
JAMES |
KILLERS |
1976 |
|
N |
| McCLURE |
JAMES |
COP WORLD |
1984 |
|
N |
| McKINTY |
ADRIAN |
THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD |
2007 |
MF3 |
F |
| MILNE |
JOHN |
DADDY'S GIRL |
1982 |
JJ1 |
F |
| NISBET |
JIM |
THE DAMNED DON'T DIE |
1981 |
|
F |
| PERRY |
THOMAS |
THE BUTCHER'S BOY |
1982 |
BB1 |
F |
| PHILLIPS |
MAX |
FADE TO BLONDE |
2004 |
|
F |
| PROBERT |
IAN |
ROPE BURNS |
1999 |
|
N |
| RING |
RAYMOND |
ARIZONA KISS |
1993 |
|
F |
| SHUBIN |
SEYMOUR |
HOLY SECRETS |
1984 |
|
F |
| STEINBECK |
JOHN |
THE GRAPES OF WRATH |
1939 |
|
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
THE SINGAPORE WINK |
1967 |
|
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
YELLOW-DOG CONTRACT |
1976 |
|
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
CHINAMAN'S CHANCE |
1978 |
ACW1 |
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
THE MORDIDA MAN |
1981 |
|
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
BRIARPATCH |
1984 |
|
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
OUT ON THE RIM |
1987 |
ACW2 |
F |
| THOMAS |
ROSS |
THE FOURTH DURANGO |
1989 |
|
F |
| WILEY |
RALPH |
SERENITY |
2000 |
|
N |
| WINSLOW |
DON |
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z |
1997 |
|
F |
| WRIGHT |
STEPHEN |
MEDITATIONS IN GREEN |
1978 |
|
F |
| WRIGHT |
LAWRENCE |
THE LOOMING TOWER |
2007 |
|
N |
| ZUSAK |
MARKUS |
FIGHTING RUBEN WOLFE |
2001 |
WB2 |
F |
Col, that is impressive. I'd have picked quite a few books from your library on the condition that I can return them after two months without late fee! Among the authors, one name sticks out — Ross Thomas. I'd completely forgotten about him though I'm certain I have read something by him. I read about him just now and found that he wrote thrillers with political overtones. No wonder he sounded familiar.
ReplyDeletePrashant, I'm sure I've read a couple by Ross Thomas in my pre-blogging, pre-record keeping days. None of these have been read yet.
DeleteCol - Oh, I admire you for working to get your book collection in order. I think it's so easy to forget what you have and don't have without going through your books. I hope you come up with some real treasures that you didn't even remember you had.
ReplyDeleteMargot, thanks. I'm hoping for the same - forgotten treasures! I would like to complete this task as it would be handy to be able to put my hands on a particular book as and when it was wanted, but we will see how I go.
DeleteI really hope you keep this up, as I find this fascinating. Like Prashant, I haven't thought of Ross Thomas in years, though read a few in the past. The one that jumped out was the Don Winslow - I read that when it first came out, and remember loving it. I was a big fan of his, must look him up and do some re-reading.
ReplyDeleteHow many tubs are there?
Another Ross Thomas fan then! I remember previously you said you'd read and liked Winslow. I have more of his - unread of course.
DeleteMoira, asking how many tubs there are, is akin to me asking a lady her age - it just isn't the done thing, you know! Haha.........ok more than 60, plus still a load of books in boxes that I recently recovered from my mother-in-law's attic. Material for at least a year and a bit's weekly blog post.
Cataloging is worth the effort, although I don't think I had this many books when I started... or as many as I have now.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is very interesting and reminds of authors I want to read. (Like I don't already have enough in the queue.) The problem I have when I go through my boxes is I pull out some I want to read. I do get rid of a few at the same time.
Tracy, I'm kind of looking forward to uncovering some long forgotten books and authors, some of which as my tastes have evolved might be better left uncovered!
DeleteI think it might dent my reading time, because I'm going to compile a database of them so I can "easily" locate them in future.