Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

And of course, this also represents me sneak-previewing GarbAugust, chiefly in the 'Would Not Read This On The Bus' section. I must say, that was not the first chapter I was expecting - I'm not sure how we get from where we begin, to cannibals! GarbAugust Bonus Features of Book: I'm thrilled that it is running a 2-star rating at GoodReads, from one single rating. Perfect credentials!

Doing just a little bit of GarbAugust a day early, by reading the first tale in this book, which was very entertaining: ' The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw' by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Caveman, thawed out, alive after 50,000 years. SF concept, done with humour and some social commentary on 'modern' 1930s life. This was followed by a comic-panel style pimple-cream ad from 1936. Reading this for 'Weirdly Specific Sub-Genre'.

Reading for GarbAugust, and applying it to the following prompts: Green on the Cover, Anything Goes, 1970s. So, really, I’m going to be leading off GarbAugust with the crème de la crème, Kidnapped By Cannibals, probably the stinkiest piece of crap lying around the house that isn’t something I forgot to flush or failed to aim properly. Then this, the Punisher, and The Pulps will swiftly dribble along behind.

Good start. Westerns aren't a constant for me - but I did have fun reading a lot of them in June. My favourite Western film is from the same year as this book - McCabe & Mrs. Miller --although I doubt the two will have much in common.

GarbAugust Pick. I'm reading this to cover the following prompts: Anything Goes, 1920s (and various years), and Weirdly Specific Sub-Genre. If 'pulps' is, for you, not a proper 'Weirdly Specific Sub-Genre', then be aware that the contents of this book include Boys' Adventure Pulp, and Pulp Poems (which I have encountered before, as by Fredric Brown, and James M. Cain). Pulpy Poems should do it, or one weird tale...

GarbAugust pick. Not normally something I would read, but bought a few weeks ago, specifically for GarbAugust. Likely to be flooded with Not Aged Well. I’m applying this to the following prompts: Anything Goes, 1890s, and Would Not Read It on the Bus. Later on, I will know if it covers any other prompts, which could affect my book choices later in the month. Will not start until around Aug. 1st. Louis L’Amour first.

It’s a lot of fun. Not possessing quite the stylish panache of a John Dickson Carr gem, but basically this is like reading that author.

Re-read. GarbAugust pick. Main GarbAugust prompts covered: More Than 2 Guns on Cover, Anything Goes, 1980s. Prompts also covered (if I do not get to other applicable books): Killer Kids, Vigilantes, possibly Ninja/Martial Arts (I forget if hand-to-hand combat is featured much, or what type, but I'll soon know...). Not likely to start this until August 1st...or, I'll start a teeny bit early.

As I read this for the My Novel Life challenge, I don't feel the need to reflect on so recent a year as 2022 - this book's debut year - but of course this book represents my long interest in Locked Room whodunits. I was dazzled by John Dickson Carr's The Three Coffins (aka The Hollow Man) years ago; my favourite short story of this type is 'Whistler's Murder' by Fredric Brown. The two premises are like opposites!

Thanks to CriminOlly, for putting me on to this book. If I don’t manage to get to a ‘Recommended by Host’ pick for GarbAugust, at least I will have gotten to a book enjoyed by the creator of GarbAugust, just before the trashiness begins! This also represents an ‘anything’ pick, from my My Novel Life TBR list, where I go off reading them all in chronological order. 2022 was too recent for me to wax nostalgic, though.

This is the 1971 entry for the My Novel Life challenge. 1971 is a special year for me, even though I was only three. A llot of people feel that the best year of movies was 1939. There’s a good case to be made for that, but I would be more inclined to say 1971 was, pound for pound, the best single year of movie releases. If you binge-watched famous films, and hidden gems, from 1971 only, you would do alright!

Going well. I’ve read one other book in the series. As soon as I got a bit into this one, I did start thinking of that real-life 1950s case, where a guy made sure a bomb was on a plane in his mother’s luggage - him ok with killing a whole plane pull of people to murder her and get some insurance. And that got referenced in this novel! - such a heinous case probably led the author to start cooking up this novel.

Books like this are making me wreck the rules of the My Novel Life reading challenge. I’ve made a TBR list specific to that challenge; if I own a book for a certain year, I want to read it instead of buying something else. BUT: certain recently published novels would be way up in my future, if I leave them on the challenge list, and only read in chronological order. So: 1 in order, 1 ‘anything from the list’ pick!

I’ve got only three stories left in this, and less than fifty pages - I’ll wrap the whole thing up tomorrow morning, instead of continuing to read one story between each novel. The last tale is by Michael Gilbert, and that needs getting to sooner rather than later!

Okay! Probably time for one or two more Mysteries this month, as the end of Giallo July looms. I’ve tried to pick books hyping their suspense level, or just lookin’ extra odd or creepy. Cozy Mysteries have not factored in all that much…but assuming time for one more after this Kendrick pick, I may pick a Cozy - either Golden Age, or modern homage…

The prose is lush and absolutely fabulous. It's like rocking in the most comfortable easy-chair of words. Now, on the other hand - the story os not likely to end up my favourite by this author. I do like it, but it's steeped in old school legalities and serpentine money matters. It stems from something legal called a 'reversion'. I'm not lost; but I don't get all the intricacies of the laws in play.

Gothic to the max.

This will be my last Rocket Summer entry (I didn't do them in chronological order). I was going to read something from the 1920s called Insatiability, but having acquired this while on vacation and making the bookstore rounds, I'm going to read this, and rely on Wylder's Hand for teeny tiny print in a long novel (there is no escape). Burroughs has generally gone alright when I've gone to him.

This will slow me down. I've been rocketing through short novels lately - but this one is 387 pages long, and the print qualifies as teeny. So, no moe book-a-day stuff at the end of July. That said, the opening has got me intrigued. And some people flee from these old 19th century writing styles, but I love the words and rhythm.