Thursday Thirteen #54

This week I am featuring  some more books that I have read at least three times.

“19 Purchase Street”  by GERALD A. BROWNE.  The address in the title refers to a building outside New York City where the mafia sends its ill gotten cash, at the start of a complex, international money laundering operation. Motivated by revenge for the death of his sister, a young man and his lover decide to steal a billion dollars from them. A very exciting book.   Buy it here

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“Forty Years Of Murder”  by PROF. KEITH SIMPSON.   For four decades Professor Simpson was the chief Home Office pathologist, which means that he was the one called in to murder scenes to collect and evaluate forensic evidence.  This was long before the days of DNA, but it is amazing what evidence he was able to find from almost nothing. And also amazing how murderers left their calling card, no matter how careful they had tried to be. For true crime buffs, this is a fascinating and very entertaining book.   Buy it here

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“TV Babylon”  by JEFF ROVIN.  I’m not sure whether this counts as voyeurism, celebrity gossip or simply interesting things about famous people.  Basing his title on Kenneth Anger’s book “Hollywood Babylon”, Rovin treats us to a catalogue of disaster and misfortune, both accidental and self-inflicted, that has befallen celebrities in the TV industry.  We find out about murder (Bob Crane), suicide (Freddie Prinze), drugs (John Belushi), greed, child stars, accidents, scandals, corruption and lots more.  Sometimes it’s rather like seeing a road accident – you just can’t look away.  And to be fair, this is a riveting book.  Not the sort of thing you would imagine buying from a street vendor in Singapore, but that’s where I got it!   Buy it here

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“Danse Macabre”  by STEPHEN KING.  At about the time he wrote “The Stand” Stephen King was teaching a course in supernatural literature at the University of Maine, and this book is based on that course.  It is wide ranging and deals with not only books but also mentions film and television treatment of the genre.  What is so delightful is that this book is almost conversational in tone.  As you read it, you could almost be having a late night chat with King about this subject he knows so well.   Buy it here

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“The Freedom Trap”  by DESMOND BAGLEY.  I have mentioned the late Desmond Bagley before in these lists.  I have every one of his published novels, and since he left us many years ago there will be no more.  This one is the one I have enjoyed the best, about a criminal organization in London that helps convicts escape from prison, Russian spies, a beautiful undercover police officer and a hero who tells the story in a laconic first person.   Buy it here

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“My Kind Of Jazz”  by BRIAN RUST.   My friend and mentor, Brian Rust, very kindly autographed this copy of his book when he gave it to me. It was through him and his broadcasts that I first became interested in, and then a fanatic about, vintage jazz and hot dance music.  Since jazz has broken into so may sub-genres over the years, some of them not sounding like jazz at all really, Brian sets out here what sort of jazz he enjoys and his favourite musicians, and his opinions coincide exactly with mine.   Buy it here

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“The Rainmaker”  by JOHN GRISHAM.  This is easily my favourite Grisham book.  I have read it several times.  A young, newly qualified lawyer is retained, more or less by accident, to represent a plaintiff suing a huge insurance company over a refusal to honour a policy.   There is also a romantic interest sub-plot involving an abused woman. I won’t give more away, but it’s interesting to note here, and in his other novels, that Grisham, the ex-attorney, has a very low opinion of lawyers in general!   Buy it here

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“The Anderson Tapes”  by LAWRENCE SANDERS.  This is a  novel, about a gang of thieves who rob every apartment in a Manhattan brownstone on Labor Day afternoon one year.  They are led by an ex-con called Duke Anderson.  Where this is so different from other caper stories is that the whole thing consists of transcripts of taped recordings.   The thieves were  overheard every step of the way because every place they went, and everyone they spoke to, was being bugged for one reason or another, legally and illegally, by various government and law enforcement agencies, but since none of the agencies talked to each other, the actual robbery was not stopped.  A very exciting book and the film made of it, starring Sean Connery, was just as good.   Buy it here

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“The Kenneth Williams Diaries”  edited by RUSSELL DAVIES.  I wonder how many of you out there have heard of Kenneth Williams.  Not too many, I bet.  But time was, he was one of Britain’s best loved performers.  He was a regular in the Carry On films, and was mainly associated with low comedy, though he longed to do more serious work.  He was a self-taught intellectual, could speak on any number of subjects, an almost celibate homosexual, tormented with guilt about his feelings, he was capable of great kindness to his friends, and also of stupefying rudeness.  From his early teens he was a constant diarist and Russell Davies has edited over forty years’ worth of entries down to a single volume. We read of his successes an failures and his meeting and working with other well known members of the entertainment industry, ending with the last despairing entry, written in his beautiful handwriting with a fountain pen, a few hours before he took his own life.   Buy it here

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“The Great Train Robbery”  by MICHAEL CRICHTON.   This is a departure from Crichton’s usual futurist writing, and he gives us a crime novel set in England in the 1850s.  It’s a lot of fun, and I enjoy it, but I do wonder what reference works he used when he wanted to know what slang terms the British criminal classes used back then.  It is nothing like anything else I have ever seen in any other novel set in those times. For general descriptions of London in those days I suspect he made copious use of the writings of Mayhew and Chesney.  The British version of this book, and the film based on it, had the word “First” inserted into the title, so as not to confuse it with the real Great Train Robbery of 1963.   Buy it here

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“Adolf Hitler”  by JOHN TOLAND.  The history of the 20th Century fascinates me, and this is an exhaustive, but very readable, biography of the person who had the greatest influence (not influence for good – just influence) on it. After all, the tuning fork he struck is still vibrating today.  There have been dozens of biographies of the monster, but Toland’s is the most in-depth I have read.  It’s odd to think that if the admissions committee of the Vienna architectural college had accepted the young man from Braunau as a student in 1910, the history of the entire world would be different.   Buy it here

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“Battle Cry”  by LEON URIS.  I have a few books by Leon Uris, and this is the shortest, and most enjoyable.  Written in the early 1950s, it’s about a platoon of US Marines in basic training, then after they are thrown into combat, in the war in the Pacific. Uris himself took part in that war, and his experience, underpinned by his own pride at having been a marine, comes through.  One suspects that he actually knew these characters, or at least some of them.  Incidentally, I checked this out on Amazon and if you want to buy a first edition of the 1953 hardback it will cost you $780.00.  If you simply want a copy of the latest paperback reissue you can  buy it here

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“Breaking The Code”  by GYLES BRANDRETH.  I shouldn’t imagine this will be of much interest to anyone who isn’t interested in British politics.  Brandreth is an author, publisher, after dinner speaker and TV personality who was a Member of Parliament from 1992 to 1997. He was a very junior member of the Conservative government. This is his diary written during the time he campaigned, was elected, served in Parliament and lost his seat at the next election.  It’s a fascinating, witty and very readable account of those years, and it shows what a total bloody shambles the government of Prime Minster John Major was.   Buy it here

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Comments

[Hill]

I can't even listen to what you're saying...

...get totally distracted by your voice and accent.

Hola, British!

:)

[AnthonyNorth]

A most varied collection this week. Good taste.

[Chelle Y.]

I read my favorite books over and over again. I am definitely going to reread all the Harry Potter books someday. There is always something new that you missed, just like if you were watching a favorite movie again.

Oh, and I could see you liking "Hell's Kitchen" better than "Top Chef." You British guys are mean! Haha, just kidding!

I do like the "Amazing Race," but it stresses me because I always get nervous watching it. :)

[HOOTIN' ANNI]

I've only read ONE this week...The Rainmaker. Hubby read Hitler.

Hope you can drop by to view my T 13....I love visitors y'know. :o)

[Kay]

I've only read one, Rainmaker, but I think you talked me into the Purchase Street one. Happy TT.

[On a Limb with Claudia]

Pfft.... Silly boy. ahahahahaha.

So Tony Robbins says that people who read books and/or watch movies over and over again have a need for certainty in their lives. So there..... ahahaha silly boy....

Did forty years of murder help you when you were a copper??

Have read ANY of these this time.... guess I best get busy.

[Sue]

Got to admit I'm a sucker for books like TV Babylon. I remember running out to buy I Was A Teenage Greg written by one of the Brady Bunch kids lol. Happy TT

[PJ]

I think I may have read Rainmaker, but I can't be sure as I read several Grisham novels during a phase I went through years ago.

[The Gal Herself]

The only ones I read are "The Rainmaker" and ... "TV Babylon." I feel sooo low brow! But hey! A guy with a British accent read it so that elevates it somewhat, huh? (Thanks for visiting my TT)

[Holly]

Ah, again I haven't read any of them. But I do like some of Stephen King's works, Since he is from Maine, he'd often mention places un the NH/Maine area I knew well - so made it more interesting.

I might have to read TV Babylon though...

Smiles,

Holly
http://theabundanceplace.com

[Holly]

Ah, again I haven't read any of them. But I do like some of Stephen King's works, Since he is from Maine, he'd often mention places un the NH/Maine area I knew well - so made it more interesting.

I might have to read TV Babylon though...

Smiles,

Holly
http://theabundanceplace.com

[Adelle Laudan]

Sniff, I want to hear your voice too! lol Sadly, I've never read any of these books. Happy T13!

[Janet]

Loved Danse Macabre, of course :-)

[TeaMouse]

I've only read the Rainmaker and it was quite good.

[TeaMouse]

I just listened to your podcast - luv luv the accent, somehow I didn't realize you were British...duh!

I can totally relate to reading the same book more than once, I have a few books that I will read many times over.

What I like about reading a book again is the details you pick up that somehow you missed the first time. I always get something new out of it, a good book is like a pair of comfy shoes - you never tire of it.

[Judi]

I'll have to add these to books to read in the future. These days, it's sad to say, I have trouble finding the time to read the mail. Thanks for the list.

[Lori]

Man, I love the sound of your voice..that is so cool. You made me giggle because you ARE such a silly boy, with an awesome accent to boot! So, out of all these books that you have read multiple times, which one did you like the best?? Happy TT and thanks for stopping by. Its always great to see you:)

[Hazelnut]

Forty Years of Murder - now that sounds like my kind of book. I'm not sure why that topic fascinates me so much - perhaps it has something to do with watching Perry Mason every Saturday with my grandmother and reading her castoff Agatha Christie novels. Yes, I can blame it on my childhood!

[pussreboots]

I haven't read any of them but many of them look interesting to me. I shall jot some titles down. Happy TT.

[SJ]

The Rainmaker is my mother's favorite Grisham. I liked Runaway Jury.

I've read many books more than once. They are like old friends. Sometimes you just need their comfort.

It just dawned on me that my Peter Whimsy books are in my parents' storage unit. I keep telling myself I'm going to take a break and re-read (yet again) a few of them.

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

[Shaunesay]

Oh cool with the voice intro, if you ever do an audiobook let us know! ;)

I have to admit that I don't read too many books more than once, though I know many people who do, and think it's more an issue with my own attention span and constantly wanting to read new and more, rather than re-read something I already have. Often some of my favorite books were some of the most poignant, and I think I tend to shy away from things that I know will be emotional and painful, even if I do know how they end!

[cajunvegan]

You really should do more audio posts. Your voice is hypnotic.

[grace]

Oh, I wish I could play the podcast but I am still in the office! Will definitely do that at home to hear the voice behind the blog! Cool!

[Gattina]

I don't know if I have read one of these books because the books here are translated in french. I enjoyed to hear your talking at least it's clear and I learned English and not American, lol !

[Gattina]

About Amsterdam, if you go there as often as I do (my son lives there) it becomes boring ! I prefered when he lived in London at least there I got never bored, lol !