What was the last book you read?

[Seaviewer]

The Saint by Burl Barer
This is the novelisation of the 1997 film starring Val Kilmer.
Barer has made an effort to include a lot of Easter eggs for readers of the original books, but there's no attempt to unify the continuity. Instead it's a new origin story for a new version of the character - but there was never any sequel .

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Brilliant. I was so moved by this novel and really invested in the protagonist.

 

[bmasters9]

The Society by Michael Palmer, from 2004

 

[Seaviewer]

Policewoman by Dorothy Uhnak
This is written in the form of a memoir, but Uhnak takes pains in the introduction to explain that although it is based on real events she has used a writer's prerogative to shape the narrative as she saw fit.
Bearing in mind that it was originally published in 1964 with experiences dating from the 50s, it recalls the Beverly Garland series Decoy rather than the near-namesake series starring Angie Dickinson, or the various productions based on Uhnak's own later works.

 

[Seaviewer]

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery (Anne series)
I've chosen to read these in publication order rather than the recommended "chronological order" and I'm aware that the large time jumps are filled in by books written later.
In this one Anne now has a slew of kids and in fact the stories are really more about them and their friends with Anne taking a background role, which explains why her name is not in the title.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

The Singularities- John Banville- Intriguing. I had read an article about the rock musician Chrissie Hynde's favorite author, and she named him. I decided to give him a try. If I ever meet her, I'll have something to discuss

 

[bmasters9]

A ninth of Michael Palmer's medical thrillers, Critical Judgment from 1996

 

[Seaviewer]

Double by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
Bill Pronzini is Marcia Muller's husband and a mystery author in his own right so this not only a collaboration between the two writers but between their two characters, Sharon McCone and the "nameless detective."
I've not read any of "nameless's" other adventures but it's not hard to pick up the idea. (Technically, he's not nameless, the name somehow just never gets mentioned.)

 

[bmasters9]

Fatal by Michael Palmer, from 2002

 

[Seaviewer]

The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
When I was a kid someone gave me "Go Ahead, Secret Seven" as a birthday present. In hindsight, giving someone book five of a series seems like an odd choice but I guess it was probably chosen by a parent who just grabbed the first thing they saw.
In any case, I always wanted to read the rest and it's taken me all these decades to get around to it.

 

[Claude Dallas]

I'm currently reading Behind the shoulder pads by Joan Collins. I read very slowly because it's in english and english is not my language, i'm french, but it's very interresting

 

[Seaviewer]

The Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper by George Martin
Pretty self-explanatory - an account of the making of the seminal Beatles album by the so-called Fifth Beatle himself.

 

[bmasters9]

The first of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, The Godwulf Manuscript from 1973

 

[Seaviewer]

Cagney & Lacey by Serita Deborah Stevens
I read in producer Barney Rosenzweig's book on the show that Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly insisted on vetting the tie-in novel to be sure their characters were portrayed correctly. If so, the effort paid off as this one of the better ones.
It begins with them living their separate lives before each joins the police and finally becoming partners, and then segues seamlessly into the plot of the original telemovie.
Oddly, I still hear Gless's voice in my head even though I can remember Loretta Swit playing the scenes.

 

[bmasters9]

Cagney & Lacey by Serita Deborah Stevens
I read in producer Barney Rosenzweig's book on the show that Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly insisted on vetting the tie-in novel to be sure their characters were portrayed correctly. If so, the effort paid off as this one of the better ones.
It begins with them living their separate lives before each joins the police and finally becoming partners, and then segues seamlessly into the plot of the original telemovie.
Oddly, I still hear Gless's voice in my head even though I can remember Loretta Swit playing the scenes.

Never knew that 80s CBS police action series had a tie-in! (Of course, a lot of series back in those days had one or more.)

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m currently reading Future Boy. It’s the story of the making of the film Back to the Future and narrated by Michael J. Fox himself. A lot of good behind the scenes stories about the cast and crew.

 

[bmasters9]

Another Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, The Judas Goat from 1978

 

[Seaviewer]

Capture the Saint by Burl Barer
Not a sequel to Barer's movie novelisation, but a sort of coda to the original book series, authorised by the Charteris estate.
Barer makes a fair fist of emulating Charteris's style but I think he goes to far with the in-jokes like working book titles into the dialogue and having Templar seem aware that the whole adventure is fictional.

 

[bmasters9]

Spenser, Looking For Rachel Wallace, by Robert B. Parker, from 1980

 

[Seaviewer]

Secret Seven Adventure (2)
Well Done Secret Seven (3)
Secret Seven on the Trail (4)

Getting through these fairly quickly.