Whilst I am waiting for the last few blogger nomination posts to go up for the Reprint of the Year awards, I thought I would share with you some of the books which have recently been added to my TBR pile, (or at least are winging their way to my pile). Have you read any of them? Are they any good? (I hope so!) And to make me feel less guilty about my own book purchases, please tell me about the books you have bought recently!
To begin with I got very lucky and managed to bag a number of Conyth Little which were very reasonably priced…
I already have another Little title on my TBR pile, so I best get cracking with reading some of them!
I have also acquired some new-to-me-author titles…
I also picked up a couple of titles by Charlotte Armstrong, someone whose work have largely enjoyed and I managed to get them in the American Mystery Classics editions, (I think), so that will be nice to experience this imprint in the flesh so to speak, for the first time.
Finally, in keeping with my interest in books about crime fiction, I got myself a copy of some of Boucher’s reviews…
Eeek! That is a lot of books! So yes please let me know about your latest book purchases. Hopefully mine can just slide into the background so no one sees them…
I’m afraid my purchases have been rather boring. Finally reading “Murders Near Mapleton” and have another Flynn on the way. Have I gotten hesitant about ordering for fear I will buy something that will show up in my Coffee and Crime box? Perhaps. But I’ve also been picking up non-mysteries, mostly books about writing (and reading) like “25 Great Sentences” by Geraldine Woods. Except for the Littles, most of what you’ve gotten are authors I haven’t read, so do keep us posted on your opinion of them.
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I am looking forward to reading them all. Just need to figure out a way of reading while sleeping lol
Sure I will get there eventually.
What did you make of the Littles? I am a big fan of theirs and it has not been easy collecting them, as some titles are much less available than others and/or cost the earth to buy.
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I like them when I’m in the right mood—rather like I am with the Lockridges. I ended up with three that I purchased all at the same time so didn’t know they were hard to come by: The Black-headed Pins (my favorite so far), The Grey Coat and, oy, another with Black in the title I can’t think of right now. But it’s hard to resist books written sitting in bed next to each other as they did. I picture them—wrongly, I’m sure—with those little white bed caps on their heads!
And I obviously need to get buying because I think my TBR must be only about 10 if you don’t count half read books (of which there are a fair few. I’m having trouble getting into the Judge Dee books.)
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Which Judge Dee title are you reading? I would say the earlier books are the best ones. The Chinese Nail Murders and The Chinese Gold Murders spring to mind. But I tried reading later ones and they really didn’t appeal.
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The Judge Dee book I have is the translations of the originals by Van Gulik so maybe that’s the problem. I do read translated works from old Chinese for my QiGong practice but maybe I shouldn’t try to cross over with mysteries! I’ll look for the two you mentioned you like.
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Oh I’ve not read that one, but you might be right in there being a difference between the translated stuff and his own stories. I think TCN has a particularly poignant solution/ending.
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I was hoping to get my TBR pile under 100 by the end of the year but bought 9 Inspector Montalbano’s today! I know nothing about them but they were as good as new and £10 in a charity shop – what is a boy to do?
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Buy one and see if you like them? Very bold move buying all 9. I have read one and I didn’t find much to write home about, but since you seem to enjoy Maigret, you are more likely to enjoy them than me. But yes you have achieved the objective of making me feel better about my TBR pile, which is around the 30-40 mark.
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My pile has grown spectacularly this year. I even picked up a book I have looked for since before you were born! The mid 70s. Build My Gallows High by Daniel Mainwaring under the name Geoffrey Homes. The basis for Out Of The Past. Plus a bunch of things I have been looking for. I even got some Crofts! (Even Homer nods.) and a Little, the Christmas one.
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Have you tried any of the Littles before? Interesting to see what you make of them.
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Well, you already know that my TBR pile is close to 1000, so that should make you feel better. And I have been buying so much this year. Partly motivated by helping my independent bookseller out, but still.
I am truly envious of all the books by the Little sisters. I have not read The Red Right Hand yet but I do have a copy, the Pyramid Green Door edition.
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Yes I was very excited to find all of those Little books so reasonably priced as normally they can be quite expensive, some titles more than others.
And yes my TBR pile feels less lofty in comparison to 1000 ish books.
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