Tuesday, April 1, 2025

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones

Title: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Purchase from Audible 
Started: 3/28/2025
Finished: 4/1/2025

I like SGJ generally, but this was on another level.  A fantastic book that I was hooked into right at the start.  Also really enjoy his acknowledgements (read by the author) as the end.  Maybe ridiculous, but it is very fun to hear your (my) own book and movie preferences validated by someone you like/respect.

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Found2, edited by Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias

Title: Found2
Editors: Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias 
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition 
Started: late 2024
Finished: 3/27/2025


I didn't enjoy the first Found volume but I love Found Footage so I have the sequel a shot.  I liked this one more than the first.  Still not amazing, but these were decent stories.  

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

American Assassin, by Vince Flynn

Title: American Assassin
Author: Vince Flynn
Borrowed from Fairfax County Public Library Audiobook
Started: 3/24/2025
Finished: 3/26/2025

I wasn't sure about this one at first, but I kept at it and soon was all in.  Pretty entertaining assassin/espionage novel.

Monday, March 24, 2025

Midnight Black, by Mark Greaney

Title: Midnight Black 
Author: Mark Greaney 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 3/18/2025
Finished: 3/24/2025

Newest Grey Man novel. Entertaining. 

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

This Inevitable Ruin, by Matt Dinniman

Title: This Inevitable Ruin 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook on Audible 
Started: 3/13/2025
Finished: 3/18/2025

This completes my re-read of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series to-date.  Crazy enjoyable. 

Monday, March 17, 2025

Hush Money, by Robert Parker

Title: Hush Money
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 2/1/2025
Finished: 3/17/2025

Started this one a long time ago and then let it sit for weeks.  Not my favorite Spenser book.  

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride, by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Author: Matt Dinniman
Audiobook on Audible
Started: 3/8/2025
Finished: 3/12/2025

Book 6 in the DCC series, this one is good and has some really great (and funny) scenes, but tough to follow Butcher's Masquerade.  

Saturday, March 8, 2025

The Butcher's Masquerade, by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Butcher's Masquerade 
Author; Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook on Audible 
Started: 3/5/2025
Finished: 3/7/2025

I think this is my favorite book in the DCC series.   I think I could just restart this one having just finished.  

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The Gate of the Feral Gods, by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Gate of the Feral Gods 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook on Audible 
Started: 3/1/2025
Finished: 3/5/2025

Book 4 of DCC, good stuff.  

Friday, February 28, 2025

The Dungeon Anarchists Cookbook, by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Dungeon Anarchists Cookbook 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook on Audible 
Started: 2/25/2025
Finished: 2/28/2025

The worst floor of the dungeon in this series, but one of the best books otherwise.   The awakening of NPCs, the death of some big crawlers, and so e hilarious dialogue.  

The after credit on the audiobook on this one are also outstanding and laugh out loud funny.  

Carl's Doomsday Scenario, by Matt Dinniman

Title: Carl's Doomsday Scenario 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook on Audible 
Started 2/23/2025
Finished: 2/25/2025

Continuing with book 2 in DC. Good stuff.  

Monday, February 24, 2025

Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman

Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Audiobook in my Audible library 
Started: 2/20/2025
Finished: 2/23/2025

Well after finishing the lasted book in the series I couldn't help myself and listened to book 1 again.  This is just an outstanding book, so much fun.  

Thursday, February 20, 2025

The Old Man in the Corner, by Baroness Orczy

Title: The Old Man in the Corner
Author: Baroness Orczy
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library
Started: 2/3/2025
Finished: 2/24/2025

Enjoyable set of stories.

This Inevitable Ruin, by Matt Dinniman

Title: This Inevitable Ruin
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Purchased from Amazon Audiobook 
Started: 2/11/2025
Finished: 2/19/2025

Book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and id already read the Kindle version when it came out.  But as masses of folks will tell you the audiobooks are just incredible -- narrator Jeff Hays takes these to another level.  

Happy to see both Dinniman and Hays get rich (I assume) off of this endeavor.  

Thursday, February 6, 2025

A Drink before the War, Dennis Lehane

Title: A Drink before the War
Author: Dennis Lehane
Borrowed from Fairfax County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started:  2/1/2025
Finished: 2/6/2025

This was a surprise.  A darker than Spenser but still smart assed Boston focused PI series.  Pretty good.  

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Sudden Mischief, by Robert Parker

Title: Sudden Mischief 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/26/2025
Finished: 1/29/2025

Another Susan focused Spenser book and the plot of this one is just insane. 

Monday, January 27, 2025

Bone White, by Ronald Malfi

Title: Bone White
Author: Ronald Malfi
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook
Started: 1/202025
Finished: 1/27/2025

I liked the opening of this one a lot, and there were some solid moments, but overall this one wasn't for me.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Small Vices, by Robert Parker

Title: Small Vices 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/22/2025
Finished: 1/26/2025

Ive always like this one for the description of rehab from severe injury, but otherwise the plot of this one is pretty terrible.  I am curious if the Grey Man bad guy in this wlone was any inspiration for the series of that name.  

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Chance, by Robert Parker

Title: Chance 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/20/2025
Finished: 1/22/2025

This was a decent Spenser book but we are firmly in the phoning it in phase of his writing these novels.   They're easy to read, comfortable characters, and still very enjoyable dialogue.   But the grit is gone.  

Friday, January 17, 2025

Thin Air, by Robert Parker

Title,: Thin Air 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/15/2025
Finished: 1/17/2025

Pretty good mid-series Spenser.  This one includes two first person perspectives. The usual Spenser narrating, and then the kidnapping victim perspective.  Pretty enjoyable.  


Thursday, January 16, 2025

Snow, by Ronald Malfi

Title: Snow
Author: Ronald Malfi
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook
Started: 1/12/2025
Finished: 1/16/2025

When I first discovered Malfi last year I blew through a bunch of books in a row, some were great, others so-so, but eventually needed a break.  

This has been an unusually cold winter in MD/DC and with a lot of snow still on the ground and temps in the teens, I thought it was a good time to give this book a shot.  Turned out to be a great idea.

The book was good -- maybe not amazing.  But if you like King novels you'd probably love this one.  But it was good, and the winter atmosphere in Maryland elevated my reading experience.  

Sunday, January 12, 2025

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E Howard

Title: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian 
Author: Robert E Howard 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 1/1/2025
Finished: 1/11/2025

When I was sla kid in the late 70s/early 80s I loved Conan or at least the idea of him.  There used to be crap paperback Conan stories all over the place (drug stores, supermarkets, etc.) and I would get one now and then.  Lots of scantily clad women, big bad Conan, etc.   

Turns out all or most of those were not really Howards stories but crap written by others about Conan, so I wanted to see what the real stories were like.  

This is the first of a three volume set.  Stories are decent but not amazing, but still a fun read for nostalgias sake.  

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Walking Shadow, by Robert Parker

Title: Walking Shadow 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/9/2025
Finished: 1/11/2025

Not the best plot but this book has some great dialogue.  

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Crypt of the Moon Spider, by Nathan Ballingrud

Title: Crypt of the Moon Spider 
Author; Nathan Ballingrud 
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition 
Started: 1/3/2025
Finished: 1/8/2025

Great novela, first entry in a trilogy.  Ballingrud is a very enjoyable writer.  

Thursday, January 2, 2025

Pastime, by Robert Parker

Title: Pastime
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 1/1/2025
Finished: 1/2/2025

First book of the new year and continuing with the Spenser re-read.  This is a good one since you get a lot of great Spenser one liners, a lot of dog activity (if like me you love dogs and have one with a similar personality to Pearl), and you get some background into Spenser's life.  Enjoyable easy read. 

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Valediction, by Robert Parker

Title: Valediction 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/30/2024
Finished: 12/31/2024

This is one of my favorites from the Susan dumps Spenser timeline that I generally don't like.  But this is a good one,with Spenser dating someone else, still semi-suicidal, and completely missing the real villain in the overall mystery.  A rare miss for Spenser makes this an entertaining and different read.  

Saturday, December 28, 2024

All These Worlds, by Dennis E Taylor

Title: All These Worlds 
Author: Dennis E Taylor 
Borrowed from Audible via Amazon Music 
Started: 12/22/2024
Finished: 12/28/2024

Third in the Bobiverse series, decent.  

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

A Catskill Eagle, by Robert Parker

Title: A Catskill Eagle 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/21/2024
Finished: 12/25/2024

Backtracking a bit in the Spenser series reread.  Not a huge fan of the Susan focused books. 

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Created, the Destroyer, by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy

Title: Created, the Destroyer 
Author: Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy 
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition 
Started: 12/18/2024
Finished: 12/21/2024

First in the Remo Williams series, pulpy and fun, but probably not enough to carry on with the rest.  

Friday, December 20, 2024

The Decagon House Murders, by Yuki to Ayatsuji

Title: The Decagon House Murders 
Author: Yuki Ayatsuji 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 11/1/2024
Finished: 12/20/2024

A twist/turn murder mystery in the "And then there were none" tradition.  Wanted to like it more than I did.  

Monday, December 16, 2024

Paper Doll, by Robert Parker

Title: Paper Doll
Author: Robert Parker 
Paperback from Free Library 
Started: 12/15/2024
Finished: 12/16/2024

Decent mid-series Spenser novel.  

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Pale Kings and Princes, by Robert Parker

Title: Pale Kings and Princes 
Author: Robert Parker 
Paperback from Free Library 
Started: 12/15/2024
Finished: 12/15/2024

Decent mid-series Spense  novel.  

Taming a Sea-Horse, by Robert Parker

Title: Taming a Sea-Horse 
Author: Robert Parker 
Pap ER back from Free Library 
Started: 12/13/2024
Finished: 15/15/2024

Jumper ahead several books in the Spenser series because I happened upon three of them at a take one leave one library last week.   In some ways that's good, I skipped the books where Susan runs off, Spenser is down, the. The the rescue.  I probably will read those again because I may like them more than I remember. 

Anyway, this one isn't one of my favorites.  I've never enjoyed the April storyline and this is one of those.  But there are two great sections. The "toughest guys in [rural city] Maine" part is a standout chapter.  And the very end with April's release is legit touching (look Im not a monster, even if I don't like the April storyline this ending is uplifting).  

Friday, December 13, 2024

A Savage Place, by Robert Parker

Title: A Savage Place 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/9/2024
Finished: 12/12/2024

One of the worst of the earlier Spenser books.  The LA setting isn't bad, but the mystery is terrible and Spenser's banter isn't up to usual standards.  

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Cold Moon Over Babylon, by Michael McDowell

Title: Cold Moon Over Babylon
Author: Michael McDowell
Borrowed from Audible
Started: 12/6/2024
Finished: 12/10/2024

Bought a new Chromebook which for some reason gave me three months free of Amazon Music, and that service recently added a "one Audible book a month" loan so I was finally able to read this one by McDowell that I'd had on my list for a while.

It was decent, but not great.  Bad guy gets his comeuppance, but only after he has murdered an entire family (three generations of family) over a 20 year period.  

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Early Autumn, by Robert Parker

Title: Early Autumn 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/6/2024
Finished: 12/8/2024

This is one of the best Spensers.  The mystery is t amazing, but the life lessons for the 15 year old kid -- I never tire of reading this one.  

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Gunman's Rhapsody, by Robert Parker

Title: Gunman's Rhapsody 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 12/3/2024
Finished: 12/4/2024

I think I would have loved this book in print, butt he Audiobook narrated by Ed Begley Jr wasnt for me.  If I ever find a print version I'll try it again.  

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Mortal Stakes, by Robert Parker

Title: Mortal Stakes 
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from DC Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/2/2024
Finished: 12/3/2024

Well I'm giving up all pretense and just admitting to myself that I'll be re-reading much of the Spenser series.  This is a decent early Spenser.  

Monday, December 2, 2024

The More the Terrier, by David Rosenfelt

Title: The More the Terrier 
Author: David Rosenfelt 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 12/1/2024
Finished: 12/2/2024

Another Andy Carpenter book, not a great plot but still funny and enjoyable. 

The Promised Land, by Robert Parker

Title: The Promised Land
Author: Robert Parker 
Borrowed from DC Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 12/1/2024
Finished; 12/2/2024

An early Spenser, but not a great one.  The next few in the series though are some of the best, including The Judas Goat that I just read a day ago.  

Sunday, December 1, 2024

The Judas Goat, by Robert Parker

Title: The Judas Goat
Author: Robert Parker 
Picked up paperback from Free Library 
Started: 11/30/2024
Finished: 11/30/2024

These early Parker books are the best.  This one is great.  Could reread it regularly. 

Monday, November 18, 2024

The Inevitable Ruin, by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Inevitable Ruin 
Author: Matt Dinniman 
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition 
Started: 11/11/2024
Finished: 11/18/2024

The newest book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.  Not a great stand alone novel, but if you're invested in the series like I am, a great continuation of the over arching story.  

Friday, November 8, 2024

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson

Title: Everyone on this Train is a Suspect 
Author: Benjamin Stevenson 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 11/1/2024
Finished: 11/8/2024

Second in this series and I liked it, very charming books.  

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The Only One Left, by Riley Sager

Title: The Only One Left
Author: Riley Sager
Borrowed in paperback from my wife
Started: 10/15/2024
Finished: 10/30/2024

A pretty terrible whodunit.

Monday, October 28, 2024

The Murder at the Vicarage, by Agatha Christie

Title: The Murder at the Vicarage 
Author: Agatha Christie 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 10/26/2024
Finished: 10/27/2024

The first Miss Marple book, not my favorite, I'm a bigger Poirot fan.  

Friday, October 25, 2024

The Iron Hand of Mars, by Lindsey Davis

Title: The Iron Hand of Mars 
Author: Lindsey Davis 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 10/19/2024
Finished: 10/25/2024

I've read too many of these Falco books back to back. They're good, but I need a break.  

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Venus in Copper, by Lindsey Davis

Title: Venus in Copper 
Author: Lindsey Davis 
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook 
Started: 10/17/2024
Finished: 10/18/2024

Another Falco book. Not bad, a bit melodramatic.  Also meant to note how much this author HATES landlords.  Not an unpopular position, but it is prevalent throughout the books so far. 

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Shadows in Bronze, by Lindsey Davis

TItle: Shadows in Bronze
Author: Lindsey Davis
Borrowed from Queen Anne County Public Library Audiobook
Started: 10/13/2024
FInished: 10/15/2024

Second in the Falco mystery series set in ancient Rome.  Pretty good.

Monday, October 14, 2024

The Footage, by Stuart James

Title: The Footage 
Author: Stuart James 
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition 
Started: 10/13/2024
Finished: 10/14/2024

I'm a sucker for found footage movies and books which has led me to buy and read some pretty terrible stuff.  This is up there with the worst of them.  

Sunday, October 13, 2024

The Hollows, by Daniel Church

Title: The Hollows
Author: Daniel Church 
Borrowed from DC Public Library Kindle edition 
Started: 10/1/2024
Finished: 10/13/2024

Decent but not amazing old gods-ish horror novel.