The March, 2025 Reading List

 

Of the ten books read in the month of March, all but one fall into the crime/mystery/detective story genre. In February, only five of the ten books read that month fit into the same category. It would appear that my reading selections are heading in that direction.

Three of the books on the list are by Ed McBain from his "87th Precinct" series. I first learned of Ed McBain from my reading the work of Haruki Murakami. A character in one of Murakami's novels mentions reading something by McBain. I did a search of McBain and learned he wrote 55 books in the "87th Precinct" series. The three for this month are The Con Man,Killer's Choice and Killer's Payoff.

I had never heard of Scottish crime fiction novelist Denzil Meyrick until I read of his death recently. Going to the Wikipedia article on him, I learned of his DCI Jim Daley series, of which Whisky From Small Glasses is the first of eleven in the series.
I enjoyed the novel and I'm sure to go on to more. However, there are two reasons why I can't give this book five stars. The stories take place in Scotland, so naturally Meyrick gives most of the characters in the book Scottish accents. Yes, it gives an authenticity to the plot, but it makes it very difficult for me to follow along at times.
Also, without giving away anything, it became obvious to me who the killer was long before Meyrick let it be known in the story. Maybe I'm just too familiar with the crime fiction genre.
The Last Witness is the second in the same series. I'm really enjoying my discovery of Denzil Meyrick's DCI Daley series. The stories are exciting, suspenseful, and oddly enough, humorous at times.

Being a big fan of Donna Leon's novels (set in Venice) when I learned of a series, also set in Venice, by Philip Gwynne Jones, I thought I should look into them. I gave this first book in the series, The Venetian Game, only three stars.....I liked it but it doesn't compare to Donna Leon's writing. I'll eventually get around to finishing Jones' series, but all in good time.

Speaking of Donna Leon, I read two in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. One of my favorite crime/detective series.

Although I grew up watching the Perry Mason tv series starring Raymond Burr, I never thought of reading Erle Stanley Gardner's books until recently when I watched some of the Perry Mason films from the 1930s starring Warren William. I must say, the Perry Mason character in the first book, The Case of the Velvet Claws isn't at all like the character as portrayed by either William or Burr.I'm giving this book three stars....an interesting read. I'll go to more in the Perry Mason series.

Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work by Johann Nikolaus Forkel was a disappointment and the less said, the better.

The complete list:
The Con Man        by Ed McBain
Whisky from Small Glasses    by Denzil Meyrick
The Venetian Game       by Philip Gwynne Jones
Killer's Choice      by Ed McBain
Killer's Payoff       by Ed McBain
Unto Us a Son Is Given   by Donna Leon
Trace Elements        by Donna Leon
The Last Witness   by Denzil Meyrick
Johann Sebastian Bach:His Life, Art, and Work   by Johann Nikolaus Forkel
The Case of the Velvet Claws    by Erle Stanley Gardner

Reading List For February, 2025

 

Although there's still several hours left in February, it's unlikely that I'll finish another book today so I'll go ahead and post the list of books I read in February, 2025.

Fevor by Toby Lloyd was recommended by someone on the Commentary Magazine podcast - I think it might have been Seth, I can't remember exactly. I enjoyed the book, although I only rate it three stars out of five. I felt the story fell apart at the end.

Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse was mildly amusing. Eleven short stories featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster; not all the stories are up to par but a good read. Three stars.

I have two books this month by Donna Leon. I enjoy everything I read written by her.

Quest For Fire by J.H. Rosny was published in 1911. It's very different than the 1981 film. I was expecting the book to be better than the film (which I really enjoyed, by the way) but the book seems to be more Tarzanesque. Is there such a word? I can only give the book 2 stars - which translates to "it was OK".

Originally published in 1995, many of the cultural references in the late Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted:World Science as a Candle in the Dark ( such as the "crop circles" hoaxes from the 1980s ) are a bit dated. However, the main theme - that people need to be encouraged to learn critical and skeptical thinking - is relevant today. Still, I only gave it two stars on Goodreads.

I remember that as a child of the late 1950s, we were told that America was named for Amerigo Vespucci, but little else was mentioned of him. I recently saw an American TV personality go on a rant about how America was named for "some Italian white guy". I wanted to get a reasonably unbiased history of Vespucci, so I read his biography - written in 1907 by Frederick Ober. I was sure that being written when it was, it wouldn't contain "woke" propaganda. For anyone interested in history, this book is a must read.

I first learned of Ed McBain from reading Haruki Murakami. A character in one of Murakami's novels mentions reading something by McBain. I did a search of McBain and learned he wrote 55 books in the "87th precinct" series. I've read three in the series and find them entertaining. The books are like the "film noir" movie genre of the 40s and 50s.

Now, for the list:

Fervor                    by Toby Lloyd
Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Earthly Remains   by Donna Leon
Cop Hater             by Ed McBain
The Mugger          by Ed McBain
Quest for Fire       by J. H. Rosny
Amerigo Vespucci   by Frederick A Ober
The Demon-Haunted World:Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
The Temptation of Forgiveness   by Donna Leon
The Pusher   by Ed McBain

End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland by Haruki Murakami

As I write this post, I am approximately 65% finished with a re-read of Haruki Murakami's novel from 1985, Sekai no Owari to Hādo-Boirudo Wandārando. This past October, I read Alfred Birnbaum's 1991 translation, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. The novel was recently released with a new translation by Jay Rubin as End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland, reversing the order in the title.

I wanted to re-read the novel, mainly because I had just read Murakami's latest novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, which is a rewriting of the "End of the World" portion of the earlier book.

I'm hoping to have this re-read finished in time to make my December,2014 reading list. I'm writing this post now while the book is fresh in my mind.

Not being able to read the original Japanese, it's difficult for me to be totally objective as to which is the superior translation. I'm leaning toward the later Jay Rubin translation - after all, why would a newer translation be needed if Birnbaum's translation had been up to the job? Still, I do feel that Rubin's version flows better.

It's odd. I seem to have a good recollection of the "End of the World" section, although in many ways, the "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" section seems almost completely new to me. It's still difficult for me to connect the two sections. With luck, I'll be able to do that when I finish this re-read.

I follow a Haruki Murakami fan page on Facebook. Another follower asked if The City and Its Uncertain Walls was a stand alone novel, or if it was necessary to read End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland first? Of course, The City........ is certainly a stand alone novel, I answered that I thought it best to read Hard-Boiled..... (or the later translation) first, if for no other reason than because it was written first.

Reading Murakami is a good way for me to learn about musical recordings and writers that I'm not familiar with. In this book, the narrator of the Hard-Boiled Wonderland section reads Stendhal's The Red and the Black. I had a difficult time reading that particular book in 2021. I believe the problem may have been the translation. Murakami and Jordan Peterson both give the novel high marks. Perhaps I should consider reading a newer translation.

Another writer mentioned by the narrator of the Hard-Boiled Wonderland section is the author of 87th Precinct novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain. I've downloaded the entire series. I'll try to read a few of those next year.