Books: What have you been reading?

[The Darknight Detective]

New reads: The Saboteurs (2021), the twelfth Isaac Bell novel by Clive Cussler and Jack DuBrul...



... and on my Kindle, it's the short story The Treasure Box (1903) by Henry C. Rowland the play Life is a Dream (1636) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

[Deathstroke]

I went to a book event at a library today for one of my favorite authors (Edith Maxwell) and afterwards she and I (along with my friend Ann) went out for an early dinner.

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[Chubistian]

Mémories d'une jeanne fille rangée, by Simone de Beauvoir.

[Deathstroke]

This past Sunday, I attended the annual author's brunch held on a local college campus. One of the three authors in attendance was Sara Paretsky, whose V.I. Warshawski novels were one of the main reasons I got back into reading for enjoyment after that ability was destroyed by high school. After hearing her talk, I was able to finally meet her. Before she signed the four books I brought with me, I was able to thank her for what her work meant to me. It was a fantastic experience to say the least.

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And tonight, the Mystery Book Club I co-run through the local library had its monthly meeting. We were reading Craig Johnson's first Walt Longmire mystery THE COLD DISH and we were joined by the author himself via Zoom. It went exceedingly well and everyone seemed really happy with how it turned out.

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[MajorHoy]

Currently reading

The Complete Casebook of Cardigan, Volume 4: 1935-37
by Frederick Nebel
(© 2012 Altus Press)

and

The Complete Cases of Peter Kane
by Hugh B. Cave
<The Dime Detective Library>
(© 2018 Steeger Properties, LLC, under license to Altus Press)

[The Darknight Detective]

New reads: Tomorrow I start rereading The Bloody Sun (1964), the third Darkover novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley...



On my Kindle, it will be the short story The Tale of Brazos Dick (1907) by Morley Roberts and the play Shakuntala (4th century AD) by Kalidasa.

Kindle stories I read during the past week were the short stories The Pretenders (1909) by Josephine Daskam Bacon and Until the Last Shot (1908) by Stewart Edward White, as well as the novels The Rider on the White Horse (1888) by Theodor Storm and The Diary of a Nobody (1892) by George and Weedon Grossmith.

[Malvolio]

The Dark Half by Stephen King

[The Darknight Detective]

New reads: Small Favors (2008), the tenth Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher...



On the Kindle, it's the short story Two Gentlemen (1905) by Henry C. Rowland and also The Poison Tree: A Tale of Hindu Life (1873) by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

[Jim Kelly]

Today I got from the library MANDRAKE INCOMPARABLE (1998) by Sheldon O'Connell and Lon Mandrake. This is about the real life Mandrake the Magician, not the comic strip character. I've long known about this Mandrake, a local hero, but it was only the other day I decided to learn more about him.

Besides this book, there's supposed to be another called THE REAL MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN (2018) by Linda and Lon Mandrake, but the library doesn't have that one.

Born Leon Giglio in Washington state, 1911, he was brought to New Westminster, B.C., by his mother to live with his aunt Mildred. The "Royal City" was the big city back then before Vancouver overtook it. Leon Giglio studied circus performers at the P.N.E., and vaudeville acts in theatres such as those run by Alexander Pantages, developing his stage skills from an early age. He began doing his magic shows at the Edison Theatre, in New Westminster, at the age of eleven. And at sixteen, in 1927, Mandrake joined a company that toured North America.

He had been performing for over ten years before Lee Falk started his Mandrake comic strip, with a character who appeared exactly the same as the real life Mandrake. Yet Falk always denied that he had modelled his magician on the real one.

Mandrake continued to perform all his life, with his wives as his assistants, and their children sometimes on the road with them. Lon Mandrake is one of Leon's sons and Linda is Lon's wife.

[The Darknight Detective]

Started reading yesterday on my Kindle the short story At the Break of the Monsoon (1903) by Henry C. Rowland and the detective novel Trent's Last Case (1913) by E.C. Bentley.

Today I got from the library MANDRAKE INCOMPARABLE (1998) by Sheldon O'Connell and Lon Mandrake. This is about the real life Mandrake the Magician, not the comic strip character. I've long known about this Mandrake, a local hero, but it was only the other day I decided to learn more about him.

Besides this book, there's supposed to be another called THE REAL MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN (2018) by Linda and Lon Mandrake, but the library doesn't have that one.

Born Leon Giglio in Washington state, 1911, he was brought to New Westminster, B.C., by his mother to live with his aunt Mildred. The "Royal City" was the big city back then before Vancouver overtook it. Leon Giglio studied circus performers at the P.N.E., and vaudeville acts in theatres such as those run by Alexander Pantages, developing his stage skills from an early age. He began doing his magic shows at the Edison Theatre, in New Westminster, at the age of eleven. And at sixteen, in 1927, Mandrake joined a company that toured North America.

He had been performing for over ten years before Lee Falk started his Mandrake comic strip, with a character who appeared exactly the same as the real life Mandrake. Yet Falk always denied that he had modelled his magician on the real one.

Mandrake continued to perform all his life, with his wives as his assistants, and their children sometimes on the road with them. Lon Mandrake is one of Leon's sons and Linda is Lon's wife.

But is there a real Lothar? Seriously, I never heard of the real Mandrake, Jim, but I'm sure glad I know of him now.

[Deathstroke]

Here's an interview with author Danielle Arceneaux.

[Deathstroke]

Here's an interview with author Tess Gerritsen.

[MajorHoy]

Currently reading

The Complete Cases of the Marquis of Broadway, Volume 1
by John Lawrence
(© 2014 Altus Press)

[The Darknight Detective]

New reads: because I need to get myself hooked to yet another series , I started reading today A Game of Thrones (1996) - Book One of the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin...



Also on my Kindle, I'm reading the short story A Fisherman of Costla (1902) by James B. Connolly and the mystery novel The Red House Mystery (1922) by A.A. Milne.

[Chubistian]

Just starting Clive Barker's Books of Blood (1 to 3)