Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Excellent! I don’t remember much from Tularosa, it’s been too long since I read it. I know I liked it. I don’t think it blew me away; this one seems better, but it’s hard to judge. The plan was to read Mysteries that would be a break from Westerns now and then…but the Westerns I’ve picked have been so much fun, that I wanted a Western-ish Mystery. Plus, this will not be like the Weird West comics I just read.

This will be a re-read. Lots more Western graphic novels to read this month, but I need a few breaks every now and then.

I'm just not in the mood for Le Guin's Always Coming Home, as it turns out - sorry, book - so I've cued this up instead. Interested in anything I'll call 'Western adjacent', this month.

And...I love it already.

Not much left, but I’ll save it for tomorrow morning. This will be a tough one to rate. It’s an ambitious Western epic…but it’s not always gripping reading. I did like the Jonah Hex cameo; I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Anyway, if this is about 3.5 stars, then I’ll likely end up rounding up out of respect for the art. Not for sure, yet.

It functions mainly as an Historical Western, but in terms of the Kents, it will be interesting to see what happens to Nathaniel, and especially Jeb, who has turned into a lost sheep of sorts. Of course we have real-life characters moving in and out of events. Overall, the art is great.

Finished The Gents, now on to The Kents! The fact is, I’ve owned this for ages, and I did start it once, not long after I bought it. But for some reason I didn’t get into it. I’m stoked, this time. I’ve always felt bad that I let something by Ostrander and Truman sit around; they’re both favourites of mine.

I hate to say it…but so far I have not emerged as a fan of this author. I’ve unfortunately come out of her books underwhelmed…and I can’t even remember if I have read Lathe of Heaven, or not. So if I did read it, I guess it didn’t leave a mark, did it? Despite the track record, I have a good feeling about this one. As well, maybe she will be a better author for me, as an older reader…? We shall see!

I forgot that this might be good for June. I only just acquired it, having wanted to read it for ages. But sure…now that I have a copy, sooner rather than later. Never seen the film.

Yeah, I’m super-happy; the first few chapters were great at their own clever developments, and also setting up the broader storyline. And fun characters. Only thing is, if this really is a first book in some kind of trilogy, I hope I do get some kind of definite ending to what is on offer here. Full-blown cliffhanger ending will peeve me just a tad. We’ll see.

Loving it. Love the Welsh countryside. The corpses present a unique set of problems…

Just finished an entertaining Wilkie Collins story, and next is Freeman Wills Crofts…so, I’m happy, but these may not be ‘The Best Crime Stories Ever Told’. Number one, we need more murder! Secondly, it’s my impression that, later on, this book turns into a book of Horror tales. That’s weird. I can see why people don’t rate this strange book highly. Forgetting the overblown mis-titling, I’m having fun.

When it comes to Westerns…well of course I’m going to read The Gents, and The Kents (graphic novel) back to back! Was there any other way to do it? ;-)

I need a Golden Age, fair-play Mystery that fits into the “grand tradition”. If this one gets weird, goes off formula and subverts the whatever…that’s fine, as long as it’s good, cuz I can always continue the search, or go to a Poirot novel. But I’m going with this, for now.

Curious about this author - picked this title on a whim. It called to me.

It's funny how this Crime novel reminds me of Science Fiction novels - Time Out of Joint, or anything else where life as it is presented is possibly entirely illusory - or a Thriller dressed as Horror, like Koontz's House of Thunder. There will be no SF elements, I'm sure; so it feeling like a Cornell Woolrich book is probably closer to the mark. Or...it's like that section of Greene's Ministry of Fear, expanded...

I do want to read for Pride Month, and I’m going to read my two Patrick Quentin novels, my one Joseph Hansen novel, and hopefully the Patricia Highsmith biography I have. Meanwhile, though the amnesia trope is tired…this novel is from 1946, possibly when it wasn’t burnt out, and what is being done here is working for me.