Thursday Thirteen #57

I missed the theme last week so let me have a go at it this week.  I didn’t want to do a list of 13 things about me all starting with the same letter; I suspect you read enough of those last week. So I decided to do a book list based on a letter chosen at random.  I picked a book off my shelves and decided to look at page 83, line 8, third word, second letter.  The third word in question was “she” which gave me H.  I have used many H books in previous lists, so I can’t use them again, but even so I was able to find just enough.  Quite a mixed bag.  Here they are…..

      13 Books With Titles Starting With The Letter H

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“Hostile Witness”  by WILLIAM LASHNER.  Set in Philadelphia, this is about a lawyer down on his luck, with massive bills to pay, who suddenly gets the chance to work for a rich client – a corrupt and venal city Councilman with mafia connections.  So what will win out?  Integrity or the need to eat and pay the rent?  Told in a laconic, amusing style, this is an entertaining read.   Buy it here

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“Honor Bound”  by  RICHARD HARRIS.  I seem to have a lot of thrillers concerning lawyers.  Here’s another one.  A successful, respected attorney gets caught up in a web of deception when his  friend and mentor is found dead. Everyone says it is suicide but he doesn’t believe it and sets out to prove he is right.   Buy it here

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“How To Be An Alien”  by GEORGE MIKES.  A very slim volume indeed. Less than 100 pages in fact, including illustrations.  Mikes was a writer who emigrated from Hungary to Britain after the war and settled in London.  This book is a light-hearted look at aspects of British life that confuse foreigners, or at least did back in the days when he arrived, and at how he eventually managed to fit in, most of the time.   Buy it here

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“Hearts In Atlantis”  by STEPHEN KING.  I was very disappointed by this book, and even more so by the dreadful film based on one of the stories in it, which completely wasted a star of the magnitude of Anthony Hopkins.  The blurb says that all the stories make one think of the Vietnam War, but they didn't have that effect on me.  I have only read this book once.  I may reread it one day but I am not in a hurry.   Buy it here

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“The Hangman’s Tale”  by SYD DERNLEY.   An interesting book if you like this sort of thing.  Dernley was an assistant executioner for a few years in the early 1950s but for reasons not explained his name was removed from the list of qualified executioners after he had officiated as an assistant at about only 20 hangings.  He was definitely B-list as far as executioners go, but he was the last one to survive after Albert Pierrepoint, Steve Wade, Harry Allen and the rest had died, and he wrote this book.  A fascinating account of the nature of capital punishment in Britain: about as humane as one could make it – far more so that gassing or electrocuting or injecting – but thankfully something that was consigned to the garbage heap of history way back in the early 1960s.   Buy it here

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“His Way”  by KITTY KELLEY.  People tend not to be very happy when they hear that Kitty Kelley is writing their biography.  She has a reputation for uncovering facts, or alleged facts if you prefer, about people that they would much rather no one knew about.  In this biography of Old Blue Eyes she acknowledges his position in popular music and films of the second half of the twentieth century, but she also goes into great detail about his mafia connections, proved or suspected.  The man apparently wasn't too pleased.  It's a fascinating read.   Buy it here 

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“Hunt Royal”  by DAVID SCOTT DANIELL.  One left over from my childhood.  After the English Civil War 1642-49, King Charles I was tried before a kangaroo court of venal members of parliament and murdered.  His son, Prince Charles, tried to organise a rebellion against the rebel government but in 1651 he had to flee the country while government forces were looking for him.  The manhunt lasted six weeks and eventually he made it to safety in France, where he lived until 1660 when the British people decided they had had enough of Cromwell’s puritan republic and they restored the Stuart monarchy..  This is a novelization, if I may use that very ugly word, of his escape in 1651; based on fact but a lot of the detail no doubt somewhat fanciful.  It’s fun.   Buy it here

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“H.M.S.Ulysses”  by ALISTAIR MACLEAN.   This was Maclean’s first novel, which turned out to be extremely successful – after he had eventually found a publisher for it.  As the name suggests it was about a warship and its crew, taking part in the Murmansk convoys in WW2.  Maclean himself served in the navy during that war, and the ring of accuracy can be heard all through this story. I haven’t read this for ages.  Time to do so again.   Buy it here

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“The House Of War”  by CATHERINE GAVIN.  I bought this to read on holiday, when books in English would be in short supply locally.  At first I thought it was just going to be another story in the prim-Englishwoman-falls-for-a-desert-sheik genre, designed to appeal to middle aged ladies.  In fact there is far more to it than that.  The time is 1919-20, the woman is a reporter battling against male prejudice in her profession and the sheik is Mustapha Kemal, founder of the modern Turkish state.  He was a real person of course, but this story is fiction. And quite good it is too. It’s more of an adventure than a romantic shagathon.   Buy it here

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"The Holocaust”  by MARTIN GILBERT.  As one can imagine from the title alone, this is a grim, sobering account of a disgraceful chapter of human history.  This book is not just a volume of maps, names and statistics – it gives an overview of the so-called final solution, but it also contains many individual accounts which make everything so personal.  Stalin, another monster, said that one man’s death is a tragedy but a million deaths are a statistic.  This book tells us of the millions of tragedies that made up the holocaust, and of the men who caused them.   Buy it here

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“Her Privates We”  by  FREDERIC MANNING.  This novel of WW1 was privately published in 1926 and then reprinted many decades later.  It thought to be one of the finest of its genre, but so far I have not read it, because my own WIP is a novel of WW1 and I don’t want to be influenced.  Truth to tell, I don’t want to read something that will make me feel envious either.   Buy it here

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“How To Complain”  by CHRISTOPHER WARD.  This book, written in the 1980s,  is now pretty much obsolete, but still has the ability to amuse.  It is a tongue in cheek handbook  of how to complain about bad service, overcharging, faulty goods etc in Britain.  I have never used any of the advice but I enjoy the book anyway.  One thing I have always kept in mind is how to bring an executive to the phone when faced with an obstructive secretary.   “Has he heard what has happened to his car?  Oh dear.”    Buy it here

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“The Hook”  by DONALD E. WESTLAKE.  I have mentioned Westlake before in book lists. I always enjoy his books and I wonder why he isn’t better known.  This one is about two authors, one very successful, one less so, one of whom has writer’s block and one who is steadily writing novels but has a hard time getting them published.  They decide to come to an arrangement.  You can probably guess what.  Oh, and there is a murder involved too.   Buy it here

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Comments

[Sue]

I read His Way quite awhile ago, but the rest are all new to me. Happy TT and have a great rest of the week!

[Robin]

Very clever idea for a list! I've never read any on this week's list, but I do have The Handmaid's Tale on my shelf - that's an H ;-).

[Hootin' Anni]

I am not sure now if I know I'm doing my complaining correctly. Hmmmmmmm.

Come on over and view my 13 this week. We both have a Heinz mixture --we're both on #57

[AnthonyNorth]

Glad to see King on the list. Although this one isn't a horror collection, he's the best horror writer since the master, Poe.

[SJ]

I've not read one of them!

I had a friend email a piece of historical trivia that might make an excellent horror story - as in H is for Horror?

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

[SandyCarlson]

How to be an alien is calling my name. How to get a spaceship is the sequel, I hope.

[Ann Bruce]

I adore Westlake! His Dortmunder series is so comedic.

[On a Limb with Claudia]

I think there should be an O level for 'how to complain' - don't you?

[Chelle Y.]

I am curious. How many books do you read a week?

I am not linked yet because it won't "accept" me any more. It has not the last three weeks. I do not know what is wrong.

http://www.chelleyoung.com/index.php/archive/thursday-thirteen-108-thirteen-gross-things/

[Janet]

“How To Be An Alien” sounds like a funny little book...I'd like to read that!

[The Gal Herself]

I read His Way (I hadn't known much about Dolly Sinatra before that book) and am happy to see you included Donald Westlake (again). Loved The Hot Rock ("Afghanistan bananastand") also wonder why he hasn't had more commercial success. (Thanks for visiting my TT)

[Adelle Laudan]

I haven't read any of these. You must have quite the book collection. Happy T13!

[pussreboots]

Hearts in Atlantis is on my TBR pile. Happy TT.

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I read the Hook last fall and loved it. Westlake's wonderful.

The others... many are new to me. *sigh* So much for getting my wishlist under control...

[Linda R. Moore]

I've read Hearts in Atlantis, but didn't think much to it. The others...nope.

I have three TTs this week:

http://www.ravensrides.com (scroll back a bit)
what to do when your battery explodes

http://www.ravensroads.com
13 favorite pics from April-- pick one!

http://www.markeroni.com/blog/
13 favorite historic landmarks in April

[Di]

I don't know any of them! I'm too lazy to go look downstairs to see if I have any starting with H. Oh...but over here on my nightstand is "How to Make Money in Stocks." I should probably read that.

[Lori]

Well, I havent read any of those books either. At least we had one book in common that we both loved:) Happy TT my friend. I hope all is wonderful in your world.

[Alice Audrey]

Yep, that's a mixed bag.

[Lisa]

I have never read a single one of those, but imagine I would enjoy His Way. How to Complain looks interesting by the cover art alone!

Happy TT - I am tiring of the alphabet theme, but I vowed to make it through, I'm up to N

[Wylie Kinson]

Oh my... I believe this is the first time I've not read one book on your list! **hangs head in shame**

[Amy Shipp]

Great list! I need to read the one called "How to Complain"
Is your WIP on WWI your first book? Way to go! I want to write a book.... :D

[Winter]

I need to get the Alien one. It strikes me as a book that would make me chuckle. I'll have to give the Holocaust title to my daughter who reads anything about it that she can get her hands on.

Once again, you've got a great list, Nicholas! Have a great time on vacation!

[Em Dy]

My favorite books that start with the letter H are the Harry Potter series.

http://intentiontotreat.blogspot.com/2008/01/jk-rowlings-best-chef.html

[Tina]

That's alot of books Nicholas!
You should take a few on the plane with you lol

I love Stephen King Books, and Dean Koontz as well.

It was my great blogging friend Tammy at Mom Knows Everything that hopped over from my place. Shes such a sweetie.

Happy Thursday!

[Mo]

I just LUV Donald Westlake, and "The Hook" is prob'ly one of my favorite titles by him! (I prefer the stand-alones to his Mortimer series, actually)

Great list, as always!
Happy Reading,
~Mo