In between the two was this: Lost Souls by Michael Collins. This is normally the kind of book I like - characters who make one mis-step after another, their lives spinning out of control (the current king of this genre is Jason Starr). But unfortunately this book had a totally crappy ending, as though the author got bored with his own book and ended it. SPLAT! Loose-ends all over the damn place.
Without skipping a beat, I picked up Calibre by Ken Bruen. I think I stole this book from my friend, the Real Nurse (as in RN), but I'm not totally sure. Did I nab it from off one of her many book piles? Did I see it at her house and later buy it at Powell's? Did I take it with her permission? Damn, how do I not know the answer? (Answer: Too much fine Italian wine.) Anyway, I have the book and I have read the book and now I believe that I am destined to live happily ever after with Ken Bruen in Ireland. I am so convinced that today I checked air fares from Phoenix to London - a mere $700. I could live in Mexico for three months on the air fare alone. Still...
So, Calibre is about a serial killer who decides to kill rude people. This reminded me of a book the RN and I had read called Blackburn, one of the best books ever written, IMHO. Wouldn't you know, the Manners killer in Calibre references Blackburn in a letter he writes to the cops only he calls the book 'Blackstone'. I laughed out loud. I felt as though I was on the same wavelength as Mr. Bruen. Now you see where the soulmate idea comes in, right? Right? Okay, maybe that's a stretch; maybe I'm not the only female reader out there to have seen the connection. Maybe RN saw it too. But I bet you anything there aren't a lot of us - male or female - who picked up the Blackburn link. I think Mr. Bruen - Ken - may feel the same way. Shoot, I may just drop him a line, get me an airplane ticket, stop off to see Ian Rankin in Edinburgh while I'm at it, visit Irvine Welsh, say 'howdy' to Patrick McCabe (who I already met, with RN actually), Roddy Doyle, Niall Griffiths, Nuala O'Faolain, James Kelman, Nick Hornby....
*i know, i know, he's probably married and this is just another one of those hopeless crushes. oh, did you read that in a poll conducted in the U.K. the majority of Brits picked 'writer' as their dream job?
now this just in: One in four Americans did not read a book last year.
*i know, i know, he's probably married and this is just another one of those hopeless crushes. oh, did you read that in a poll conducted in the U.K. the majority of Brits picked 'writer' as their dream job?
now this just in: One in four Americans did not read a book last year.
2 comments:
I had read that article about 1 in 4 Americans not even reading ONE book last year..... how crazy is that????
p.s. I say "go to Ireland"!!
yo, kat! will you go to ireland with me? was that on your list of things to do or have you already done that?
i'm hoping i'm making up for those bozos who don't read. you seem to be doing your share, too. throw in some irish, welsh, english and scottish authors so you'll be prepared for our stalking - i mean literary - trip to the UK.
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