Michael J. Ritchie's Blog, page 41
June 29, 2018
“The Saltmarsh Murders” by Gladys Mitchell (1932)
[image error]“There are all sorts of disadvantages in telling a story in the first person, especially a tale of murder.”
After reading a parody of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, it seemed fitting to dip back into a genuine one. I’ve long been ignorant of Gladys Mitchell, which seems odd given she was so prolific. Perhaps her profile is simply lower, or maybe even not all of her books are currently available. I can only make excuses for my ignorance. Nonetheless, I’m here now with the surprising The...
June 24, 2018
“A Murder To Die For” by Stevyn Colgan (2018)
[image error] “A warm drizzle began to fall just as the very last piece of festival bunting was being hung.”
As surely anyone who follows me on Twitter or is a regular reader here will know, I went through the crowdfunding publishers Unbound to produce my second novel, The Third Wheel, and thanks to the support of many of you, it will be out later this year (and there is still time to pre-order a copy!) While scratching around the website, however, I of course stumbled across many other works-in-progress,...
June 21, 2018
“The Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler (1939)
[image error] “It was about eleven o’clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills.”
Last week, I watched – for the first time – the 2012 comedy film Pitch Perfect, and I promise you there is a tangential link coming here in case you’re wondering why I’m starting a post about Raymond Chandler by talking about Anna Kendrick. Upon finishing the film, with my friend unimpressed at my unimpressed reaction, she said, “This is the troubl...
June 17, 2018
“Grinding It Out” by Ray Kroc (1977)
[image error] “I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems.”
Ray Kroc’s name is perhaps not one that comes immediately to mind when you’re thinking about the most influential people in history, but there’s no denying he belongs in the list. He may not have discovered gravity, or come up with the theory of evolution, or invented the aeroplane, but he changed the face of the planet in such a way that there is no doubt at all that you’ve come up against...
June 12, 2018
“Call Me By Your Name” by André Aciman (2007)
[image error]“‘Later!’ The word, the voice, the attitude.”
I’ve been away at a wedding this weekend, and a trip away always requires at least two books to be packed. As it was (and as I think I expected) I had hardly any time to read, so most of this was completed once I was back. It felt right to take a romance with me to a wedding, and this one ties into the fact it’s Pride Month, too. Where better to spend a few days at this time of year than the Italian Riviera. Come with me, let’s go.
It’s the late e...
June 7, 2018
“Mostly Harmless” by Douglas Adams (1992)
[image error] “The history of the Galaxy has got a little muddled, for a number of reasons: partly because those who are tyring to keep track of it have got a little muddled, but also because some very muddling things have been happening anyway.”
Every year I’ve been doing this blog, I’ve tried to have a specific series to be re-reading. In 2013, it was A Series of Unfortunate Events, and then in 2014, all of Douglas Coupland. 2015 was Harry Potter, 2016 went to Jasper Fforde, and 2017 didn’t actually have...
June 4, 2018
“Railsea” by China Miéville (2012)
[image error] “This is the story of a bloodstained boy.”
It’s almost a shame that I used up my introduction spiel about trains for a film last year, when it would’ve served me well here. Never mind. Most books that give a prominent role to trains feature just the one. Something magical and impressive that captures the imagination. China Miéville, however, goes a little further than that, and envisions a world entirely populated by trains. Welcome to the Railsea.
Sham Yes ap Soorap is an assistant doctor ab...
June 1, 2018
Book Chat: Damon L. Wakes
[image error]Damon L. Wakes is a fellow writer and crowdfunder of mine, who has recently used Unbound to fund his murder mystery novella Ten Little Astronauts. The story is said to give a science fiction twist to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, but it is far from Damon’s first foray into the world of writing.
Aged 27, he has already published seven other works, most of them collections of flash fiction with compelling titles like Robocopout and OCR Is Not The Only Font. He is also a a...
May 28, 2018
“The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047” by Lionel Shriver (2016)
[image error] “Don’t use clean water to wash your hands!”
Many people have long lived by the notion that money makes the world go round. I’m not sure that’s true, but there’s no denying that if you have money it makes for a more comfortable ride. During the credit crunch last decade, the general population wised up a little to economics and realised that things weren’t necessarily always going to be so rosy. Indeed, with Brexit looming here in the UK, the cost of it and how that money will be raised seems...
May 21, 2018
“How Not To Be A Boy” by Robert Webb (2017)
[image error] “If I get this right, Tess Rampling will definitely want to have sex with me.”
Over the last few years I’ve read a number of books with a “how to” premise. In theory, I now know how to find love in a bookshop, how to talk to girls at parties, and how to stop time. Before beginning this blog I even read a book called How To Bag a Jabberwock, just in case one ever reared its head across the hills of southern England. But now it’s time to turn the concept on it’s head. It’s time to learn how not...
