Current reading list

Terry presented me with four books for Fathers' Day. Two were westerns by Robert B. Parker (Appaloosa and Resolution) and two were books one and two in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (Storm Front and Fool Moon).

I read both of the Butcher books two days ago and found them to be real page turners. My initial plan was to keep them by the bedside and read a couple of chapters each night before going to sleep. That plan lasted but one night. I brought Storm Front down stairs the next morning and finished it that afternoon. Immediately I picked up Fool Moon and finished that the next day.

Today I ordered books 3-10 in the series from Amazon. It will be a week or so before they arrive.

Meanwhile I picked up Parker's Resolution (not realizing it was not the first in the series) and started reading. I was familiar with Parker's work in the mystery genre from his Spencer series and knew I would find his characters engaging and that they are. Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole are men--or should I say "gunmen"--of complexity and honor. They may buck the system from time to time (or at least Hitch does, Cole is more "by-the-book") but they live by the Code, if you know what I mean.

The "series" with Cole and Hitch is a short one with only three novels listed to date. (The third book, Brimstone, is listed for release in 2009 and I'm sure it is not yet available in paperback.) Here's hoping that Mr. Parker finds these gentlemen as engaging as I do and see fit to share many more of their adventures with the public.

So there you have it. Terry fed me four books in two series and like a drug addict I am hooked. This is going to end up costing me a bundle. Authors who write series, be they fantasy like Terry Prachett's Discworld, historical mysteries like Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco, or some silly fluff like Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures (alas there will be no more of these) that get under my skin have at least one sure sale. (And, believe me, this is NOT a complete list of serial authors on my shelves!)

And, yes, I tend to buy rather than borrow. The public library just doesn't have the same intense need that I do. Nor do they seem able to maintain the entire series on their shelves. Although, the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell
was pretty well intact. And they had all three books of Cornwell's The Grail Quest and the first three books of The Saxon Stories.

BTW Terry is in the other room reading an Andre Norton book (Year of the Rat) a sequel to a story she really enjoyed. She could have bought it used for around $60 but, instead, asked a friend in NJ to check it out of the library and send it here. As soon as she finishes, she'll send it back. I wasn't aware that Terry had any more of Ms. Norton's books to read.