The pile of books on my bedside table was getting dangerously high, so it is probably time to make a few notes here and move them to the bookshelf.
Travis McGee Novels by John MacDonald: The Long Lavender Look, The Quick Red Fox, Bright Orange for the Shroud, The Deep Blue Goodbye, Nightmare in Pink. – Travis McGee seems like he might have been the inspiration for Jim Rockford. A perpetually broke unlicensed “salvage consultant” (he recovers stolen property) who lives in interesting circumstances (a house boat) and always gets the girl. These books are classic hard-boiled detective stories that are extremely well written and loads of fun to read. I’ve got about 20 more to go in the series.
The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn – A re-read of a book from my baseball crazy youth. It’s the ultimate growing up in the shadow of Ebbets field book, and a must read for any baseball fan.
A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett – I didn’t enjoy this as much as I expected. The biographical first half was very interesting, but the 2nd half of the book is a detailed account of the South American vacation he took with his family for his 50th birthday. The extended text version of lifestyles of the rich and famous just wasn’t that interesting to me.
Where is Joe Merchant by Jimmy Buffett – A fiction adventure thriller that starts off really strong and entertaining but ultimately disappoints when it feels like it went about 100 pages too long. Also, I really didn’t get the inclusion of the mystical hocus pocus with Desdemona. It seemed to mostly detract from the plot.
