BOOK LIST 2013

                                BOOK LIST 2013

1.  Edson, el mudo.  (Edson the mute.)    Meadow Castle    Read in Spanish   Western novella about a quiet gunfighter who saves the town he grew up in from a ruthless gang and in the process finds love.

2.  The Jewels of Paradise   Donna Leon  No Inspector Brunetti in this one.  The book could have used him.

3.  In One Person    John Irving    Bisexual man lives his life.   Interesting, but not among Irving’s best.

4.  The River Swimmer   Jim Harrison   Two novellas.   Harrison never fails to deliver good stuff.

5.  Fobbit   David Abrams   Behind the scenes look at Army Press Corp in Iraq.  Muscular prose, believable dialog, interesting fast read.

6.  JFK and the Unspeakable   James Douglas   My highest recommendation!  Read this book!

7.  The Tenth of December   George Saunders   Often odd, but always intriguing short stories.

8.  The Extra Large Medium   Helen Slavin    Entertaining tale of a woman who sees, hears, and speaks to the dead.

9.   Tortuado por el Deseo  (Tortured by Desire)  Amanda McIntyre  Read in Spanish  Bodice ripper set in pre history Britain.  Sex, violence, true love and revenge all happen along the way to restoring the rightful king to the throne. 

10.  The Golden Egg  Donna Leon  Inspector Brunetti unravels the mystery surrounding the death of a seemingly deaf and retarded man. The conclusions reached are chilling.

11.  Mortality   Christopher Hitchens   Chris writes about dying of cancer and makes it interesting and readable.  Helluva writer!

12.  Lucky Jim    Kingsley Amis   Great self deprecating British character at work in love and academia.

13.  Dominion    Matthew Scully   The most comprehensive argument for the ethical treatment of  animals most likely ever written.  And beautifully done at that.  My highest recommendation.

14.  La Espuela De Plata (The Silver Spur)  Marcial Lafuente  Read in Spanish  A not very good western novella with a difficult to follow plot – if there was one at all – that featured a six foot six fast draw gunfighter who does in a lot of people on his way to revenge…something. 

15.   The Color of Magic   Terry Pratchett   An imaginative fantasy world, well done, but not my cup of tea.

16.  A Visit from the Goon Squad.  Two and a half, maybe three stars.

17.  Moist    Mark Haskell Smith   Entertaining romp with the Mexican Mafia in California.  Sex and violence craftily told.

18.  The Shanghai Factor   Charles Mccarry   Entertaining espionage tale lacking only a more boffo ending from being great. 

19.  Navides Tragicas   Agatha Christie  Read in Spanish  Hercule Poirot does his thing after a holiday murder.

20.  Las tias Buenas   Silver Kane   Read in Spanish.  Women and gun play.  Good stuff.

21.   Flight Behavior    Barbara Kingsolver   Nice character study of a bright woman in a not very bright circumstance.

22.  Man Upstairs and Other Stories  P.G. Wodehouse   Fun short stories.  A couple of them real gems.

23.  The Dinner   Herman Koch   A complex scenario plays out over a long dinner.  Well told.

24.  Beautiful Ruins   Jess Walter   Beautiful book, beautifully written. 4 stars.

25.  Pacific    Tom Drury   Quirky characters doing quirky things.  Fun.

26.  The Plague of Days   Robert Chazz  Surprisingly compelling apocalypse story.  First book of a series.  (This book just appeared on my Kindle from I know not where or when.)

27.  The Winds of Change    Martha Grimes   Inspector Drury and Melrose Plant wrap up a couple of mysteries.  Good.. Stuff.