My latest ramblings

I was feeling a bit poorly a couple of weeks ago so spent some time curled up in my bed with kindle.  I seem to have gone through a lot of Crime fiction in a few days.  It made me think that I actually read a lot of crime novels. I think in order of preference I prefer Fantsy then Sci-Fi then Crime. It's weird because I seem to have read a lot of crime this year.  I think I find it's a bit of a comfort thing reading Crime Novels.  I end up thinking well at least i'm not as badly off as the characters in these books.

So what have i been reading this year in Crime.

Girl 4 by Will Carver

His first book, and a nice chap to say hello to on twitter.  A slightly different book, which I really rather enjoyed.  It needs a second reading to hunt for clues that you might have missed the first time around.

Ruth Rendell

I've read quite a few of her books on and off but I just had a bit of a urge for some Ruth.  so I read.  End in Tears, which I enjoyed, Shake hands for ever.  struggled a bit with this.  The Vault.  OK, quite fun seeing Wexford as an ex cop. I then got stuck on The Speaker of Mandarin, and will go back to it some day i'm just not in the mood for it at the moment.

Stuart Pawson

I found a writer that has been around for a while who i've never read and found that his detective books are rather fun!! He is Stuart Pawson, His main character is DI Charlie Priest.  I was slightly frustrated as I wanted to read all of his books but there were only 4 on kindle.  So I read all of these which were. The Picasso Scam , A very Private Murder , Deadly Friends , The Judas Sheep .  They were all a really enjoyable read, not the worlds most modern author but I found them really enjoyable.  If there were more of his novels on Kindle I guarantee I would buy them.

Other Crime that i've been reading this year includes a lot of Scandinavian authors.  Karin Fossum , Anne Holt , Camilla Lackberg , Liza Marklund, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo , Hakan Nesser , Gunnar Staalesen , and Per Wahloo / Maj Sjowall

Also the latest Mark Millingham.

I'm trying to work out if I have actually read more crime novels than fantasy / Sci-Fi Novels.  I think the answer is no but I read a lot higher percentage of Crime novels on my kindle then I do Fantasy and Sci-Fi. 

I think some of this is that I am coming to these authors fresh without having a large library of their books.  for instance I buy Agatha Christie books, because I have all the Miss Marple and a few Poirot in Hardback, so i've only got one Christie on my kindle.  The same with a lot of fantasy.  I enjoy having the hardback copies of the books.  It's weird but I don't want hardback books to disappear.  I could do away with paperbacks and replace them all with books on a kindle but I just love the feel of a hardback book!! daft I know.  For example somehow I have ended up with first edition copies of all the Terry Brooks books.  I don't know how, but it's happened, so now it seems a shame even if I actually struggle to read them as they are all a bit samey, but it seems a shame to spoil the collection by not having the latest!!  [EDIT: The struggling to read it bit applies to Brooks but not the other authors mentioned] The same with Peter F Hamilton Alistair Reynolds , and various other authors, I just enjoy having a nice shiny hardback copy of their books.

It probably sounds daft, but there is a very small extra pleasure snuggling down with a decent hardback and a nice Whisky that just isn't quite there when I settle down with a Kindle.

Yes, I am a sad completist... (if such a word exists).