MY READS
"She stood there facing him in her magnificence. She had curves that would have made a monk tumescent."
- Harry's World (p.6)
- Harry's World (p.6)
I generally aim to read 40-50 books a year, and if I get close to that target then I'm happy. It is that constant battle against TIME, that most evil of enemies!
I've always loved reading, it is one of the very greatest pleasures in life. And it is definitely an essential feature of any writer's life, that's for sure. There is so much inspiration out there.
I read all sorts of genres and styles, often depending on how the mood takes me. If you ask me what my favourite book is, I couldn't possibly tell you. There are simply far too many to choose from. However, I have below tried to come up with a list of all-time favourites.
And I've added lots of others in various lists. I'll add to the lists as time goes on, as well as adding further comments on the chosen books and/or authors.
I've always loved reading, it is one of the very greatest pleasures in life. And it is definitely an essential feature of any writer's life, that's for sure. There is so much inspiration out there.
I read all sorts of genres and styles, often depending on how the mood takes me. If you ask me what my favourite book is, I couldn't possibly tell you. There are simply far too many to choose from. However, I have below tried to come up with a list of all-time favourites.
And I've added lots of others in various lists. I'll add to the lists as time goes on, as well as adding further comments on the chosen books and/or authors.
The A.B.Patterson Crime Library!
Romy Schneider keeping a naked eye over it all!
Shelf # 1
Shelf # 2
Shelf # 3
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MY CRIME LIBRARY!
I got around to tidying up my crime bookshelves the other day, so thought I'd share what my collection looks like. I haven't actually counted, but there's probably around 300 books or so, and they range widely across the genre. Needless to say, the hard-boiled and noir are the dominant group. And many different countries are represented as well. And sitting above them is one of my favourite movie posters I found in Paris years ago - my favourite actress, Romy Schneider, baring all for the poster of Les Innocents aux Mains Sales (The Innocents with Dirty Hands), from the book by Richard Neely (which is also on my shelf and is a great crime read, with a love triangle - Romy did seem to do several films with love triangles!). Oh, and to answer the obvious question... Have I read all these books? Well, no, but I'm going hard at it. I have read the majority, certainly, but I do have a penchant for buying books on impulse, or when I hear about another crime title/author that interests me, so I think I'll always have a large TBR pile!!! But there are worse ways to live one's life. So, Shelf # 1: Shelf # 1 - and it's all American. Here's the line up, starting with my two favourites. And it was Chandler who got me started in the hard-boiled school, both reading and writing! Raymond Chandler - Ross Macdonald - Dashiell Hammett - Jim Thompson Joseph Wambaugh - William Ard - James M. Cain - Chester Himes - Mickey Spillane Michael Collins - Kinky Friedman - Richard Neely - Richard Stark - Charles Willeford Lawrence Block - Max Allan Collins - Stephen King - Meyer Levin - Stephen Lewis Carl Hiaasen - Michael Avallone (aka Troy Conway) - James Lee Burke James Ellroy - William F. Nolan And there are some anthologies as well. Oh, and it you look closely, you'll spot a certain non-American nestling comfortably next to Chandler. Yes, my two original copies of Harry's World live there! (The first copy from each print run). And Shelf # 2: Shelf # 2 certainly has more Americans, plus Canadians, Irish, English and Scottish. Here's the line up: James Crumley - Christa Faust - Frank De Blase - Ken Bruen - Jason Starr Elliot Chaze - Preston Lang - Derek Raymond - Gordon DeMarco - Elissa Wald David Goodis - Max Phillips - Travis Richardson - Horace McCoy - Carroll John Daly Rob Reuland - George V. Higgins - Rob Errera - Howard Engel - Jill Edmondson Matthew Stokoe - Stuart MacBride - Martin Walker - David Schow - Lawrence Kelter Ray Bradbury - Bill Cameron - Jonathan Ames - George Pelecanos - L.S. Hilton Jake Arnott - L.L. Thrasher - Paul Cain And some more anthologies. Also, here live my magazine anthologies: The wonderful Switchblade, along with Pulp Modern and Thug Lit. And Shelf # 3: Shelf # 3 is completely non-American, with a lot of French, Australian, English, and various others from Europe. Okay so here is the French and European line up: Georges Simenon - Jean-Patrick Manchette - Léo Malet - Fred Vargas Laurent Guillaume - Jean-Claude Izzo - Sébastien Japrisot - Frédéric Dard Pierre Lemaitre - Didier Daeninckx - Chantal Pelletier - Virginie Despentes Gérard de Villiers - Wolf Haas - Julian Symons - Agatha Christie - Donna Leon Tim Krabbé - Imre Kertész - Edgar Allan Poe - Arthur Conan Doyle - Cara Black Louise Doughty - Luke Delaney - Maj Sjowall - Per Wahlöö - Giorgio Scerbanenco E.C. Bentley - Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noël Balen - Boileau-Narcejac And some more anthologies. And here are my fellow Aussies in the line up: Peter Corris - Peter Temple - Carter Brown - Marele Day - Tara Moss - C.S. Boag L.A. Larkin - P.M. Newton - Michael Robotham - Tanya Chandler - Candice Fox Nigel Bartlett - Robert G. Barrett - Gabrielle Lord - Zane Lovitt - Leigh Redhead John Dale - A.C. Efverman - Bruce McCabe And some more anthologies. And, of course, this collection is going to GROW! Just have to be very, very lovely to my partner so she lets me have another couple of bookcases!!! I hope you might enjoy some suggestions from my collection! |
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Enjoyable and notable reads in the last few months:
Yes, that is me, re-reading Camus' The Outsider, whilst sitting in a lovely garden in France. Despite the serious face, I can assure you a couple of wines were consumed! So this list is a selection of my favourite reads from the last 12 months or so. 1. Ben Elton - Time and Time Again. See more below. 2. Peter Hartcher - The Adolescent Country. I generally stay away from political works, so disillusioned am I with Australia and its politics. However, I read Hartcher regularly in the Sydney Morning Herald, and I both admire and respect the quality of his journalism. He is a rare breed in this day and age, and well worth reading. This essay in book form deals with the lack of national maturity in Australia, a subject I can regularly rant about! 3. Martin Walker - several of the Bruno series. See the Francophile list below. And from the crime writers listed below in my crime favourites ... 4. Raymond Chandler - The Long Goodbye. 5. Ross Macdonald - The Ivory Grin and The Wycherly Woman. 6. Dashiell Hammett - The Thin Man. Other really enjoyable crime reads ... 6. Michael Robotham - Life or Death. A fellow Aussie to join the list and he does suspense so well. 7. Charles Willeford - Miami Blues. Excellent crime writing. 8. Nigel Bartlett - King of the Road. Another Aussie and a personal friend from the small writing group I'm in. This is Nigels' first novel, and let's hope there are plenty more. This is a great crime mystery read. And non-crime ... 9. Carl Hiaasen - Basket Case. See more below. 10. Howard Jacobson - J. Love story meets dystopia. This list will expand and refresh ... |
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My all-time highlights:
These authors are not in any particular order of preference, and I would never be able to single out one of them or a single book above the rest. They're on my all-time list for a whole variety of reasons. More thoughts to come. 1. Albert Camus - The Outsider. I studied both Camus and Sartre in A-level French at school, and I have been an avowed existentialist ever since (I was already an atheist). I love the novella format, for its succinctness, and this is one of the books I would never want to be without. 2. George Orwell - (1) Nineteen Eighty-Four & (2) Burmese Days. The first, of course, is one of the classics of English literature, and so prescient. And I'm sure there's yet worse to come true from Orwell's vision, alas. The second was one of the novels I covered in my MA dissertation - it is an outstanding account of the brutal reality of English colonialism. 3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Memories of my Melancholy Whores. My favourite of the Latin American writers, and such a beautiful way with words. 4. Philip Roth - The Dying Animal. In this era of slavish, vomit-inducing political correctness, Roth brings a vivid and brave voice to the subject of male-female relationships. This is also a book I would never want to be missing. 5. Graham Greene - (1) The Quiet American & (2) The Heart of the Matter. A master story-teller and observer of human nature, Greene is always a great read. 6. W. Somerset Maugham - (1) Any of his short stories & (2) Up at the Villa. In my opinion, at least, Maugham is the master of human observation. His stories always enthral me with their candid depictions of human nature, in all its frailty and weakness. 7. F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Beautiful and Damned. Yes, I do love The Great Gatsby, too, but this novel just epitomises FSF for me. 8. Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending. Barnes writes so beautifully; many of his works have wowed my reading time with their brilliance. But this book left me awestruck, there is no other way to put it. |
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Crime favourites:
So much to choose from, although the hard-boiled style is my reading pleasure, along with some good noir. And I've tried to capture both styles in Harry's World, my first novel. I'm going to be blogging about the genre, so commentary below will be short. 1. Raymond Chandler - THE MASTER of the hard-boiled genre, in my view. I've read all of his, but if I had to single any out above the others I'd go for The Lady in the Lake and Farewell My Lovely. 2. Ross Macdonald - my number two. More prolific than Chandler and a worthy successor. Still hard-boiled, but with added psychological elements to the characters. I haven't read all, as yet, but two to mention thus far, The Drowning Pool and The Goodbye Look. 3. Dashiell Hammett - Yes, I know many purists will say he has to be number one, but I disagree. Even at number three on my list, though, clearly a trend setter in the genre. The Maltese Falcon and The Continental Op would be my picks, from those I've read. 4. William Ard - largely forgotten now, but a good hard-boiled read. Try Deadly Beloved and The Diary. 5. Jim Thompson - getting right into American noir here. He's a great read, and you don't get much grittier. Try A Hell of a Woman, A Swell-looking Babe and After Dark, My Sweet. 6. Kinky Friedman - Greenwich Killing Time has some simply great lines. Away from the Americans now ... 7. Peter Corris - some Aussie hard-boiled PI action. Try The Dying Trade to start with. 8. Derek Raymond - I've just discovered his work, British noir. I've only read He Died with His Eyes Open so far, and it's very noir. 9. Tim Krabbé - The Vanishing is one of the most chilling books I've ever read. And on to the French … 10. Virginie Despentes - frank and brutal, in true noir style. I started with Baise-Moi, which was made into the film which was banned by Australian censors. Recently read Apocalypse Baby which is great, too. 11. Jean-Patrick Manchette - another very recent discovery, with Fatale, and noir at its best. 12. Didier Daeninckx - he manages to combine noirish detective stories with episodes of French history. It's fascinating. Try A Very Profitable War and Murder in Memoriam. 13. Georges Simenon - well, Belgian actually, but set in France with the numerous Maigret stories. And to celebrate some pure pulp in all its hilarity … 14. Carter Brown - if you want to escape into some non-cerebral pure pulp entertainment from that era, this man excels. He published literally hundreds of novels, or novellas more accurately. And the titles say it all … Blonde on a Broomstick, Nymph to the Slaughter, The Spanking Girls … you get the idea. |
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Dystopian (& Sci-Fi) favourites:
Dystopian writing has always been a favourite genre of mine, ever since reading Nineteen Eighty-Four for the first time. I think the appeal for me is to see vivid imaginations used to envisage the future, a subject obviously relevant to us all, especially when a level of prescience is there, drawing on social aspects and human traits. We have, of course, seen elements of Orwell's dystopia come true already. Aside from nightmarish future societies, I do love to see brilliant imaginations at work in a good sci-fi yarn. Here are my favourites in this combined genre. 1. George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four. So incisive, hence a timeless classic with its incredible prescience. 2. Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale. A stark reminder about the dangers of fundamentalist religion, in this case American christianity. 3. Cormac McCarthy - The Road. Whilst I utterly admire the brilliance of this novel, it is, without exception, the most bleak read I have ever had. 4. Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go. A beautiful writing style brought to bear on a most disturbing future vision. 5. Ray Bradbury - (1) Fahrenheit 451 & (2) The Martian Chronicles. Bradbury's imagination is wonderful. 6. Aldous Huxley - Brave New World. Another classic with its own brand of prescience. 7. H. G. Wells - (1) The Time Machine & (2) The First Men in the Moon. If any author can really claim to be the master of being ahead of time, Wells gets my vote. |
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The Francophile in moi:
The happiest memories of my childhood are almost all from the years we spent living in the southwest of France in the Lot-et-Garonne département. So naturally I have been an avowed Francophile ever since, and some of my reading habits have followed. 1. Ruth Silvestre - A House in the Sunflowers. This is the first of a trilogy set in the Lot-et-Garonne, and evokes so many memories of childhood there. I have yet to enjoy the two sequels. 2. Martin Walker - The whole Bruno series, starting with Bruno Chief of Police. Set in the Dordogne, where Bruno is the town policeman, these are crime novels on one level, but their depiction of French life is a must for any Francophile. 3. Jean Echenoz - 1914. I read this novella recently and it is a poignant story of French young men heading off to their deaths in the trenches of the Western Front. 4. Georges Simenon - The Train. Not a Maigret detective story, this novel is set in the second world war as Nazi Germany takes over France. It was made into a wonderful film with my favourite actress of all-time, Romy Schneider, and the great French actor, Jean-Louis Trintignant. And see some of my crime favourites above ... |
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And some other mentions…
This section is for everything that doesn't fit in the above groups. Some of the authors are already mentioned, but below are other works I have enjoyed. And the list is a real melting pot … GENERAL FICTION: 1. Alain Mabanckou - Broken Glass. An African writer and the different style is fresh and honest. 2. Ben Elton - Blind Faith. I love Ben Elton's writing - he can always weave a great story and still hit so many social nails on the head. Also try High Society and Time and Time Again (the latter in my recent reads list). 3. David Brooks - The Conversation. Simply beautiful and elegant writing. 4. Chuck Palahniuk - Choke. Blunt, witty and entertaining. 5. Michel Houellebecq - Platform, to pick one. Always thought-provoking and controversial. More to come ... PURE COMEDY & COMEDIC SATIRE: 1. Tom Sharpe - absolutely everything. I discovered Sharpe when I was 17, reading Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure, his two hilarious satirical farces about South Africa under the apartheid regime. He wrote farce and satire so brilliantly that it is impossible not to laugh out loud. I've read all of his others as well. Sharpe passed away in 2013, so sadly no more to join the collection. 2. Alan Coren - again, everything. Coren was editor of Punch magazine for many years and wrote various humorous newspaper columns. His various books collect his columns and short pieces and are very amusing in that wonderful British style. 3. Carl Hiaasen - all that I've read so far, including Star Island, Strip Tease and Nature Girl. Another writer who does satire brilliantly, albeit from an American perspective this time. POETRY: On the way ... NON-FICTION: 1. Nick Duffell - The Making of Them. This is a very personal choice. As someone who suffered the evils of English boarding schools as a young boy, this book was a watershed in my life. Duffell has made a huge contribution to so many lives. 2. Christopher Hitchens - Mortality. The honesty and clarity of Hitchens has always impressed me, and this was his last work, written as he was dying. 3. A. C. Grayling - Against All Gods. My favourite contemporary philosopher - I just love the clarity of his thought and expression, not to mention his atheism. More to come ... |
"Carmen gave head like an angel, of the fallen variety. By the time I had assuaged my desperate base desires an hour later, she'd fallen a lot further."
- From the Harry short story, "Wankers", in Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service (p.131)
- From the Harry short story, "Wankers", in Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service (p.131)
