Tag / Erle Stanley Gardner

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Book 20 (of 52) – Shills Can’t Cash Chips

Shills Can’t Cash Chips – Erle Stanley Gardner

Originally published in 1963, Shills Can’t Cash Chips was the 22nd installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the 5th republished by Hard Case Crime.  When Cool and Lam are hired for a seemingly legitimate job to help investigate an insurance claim, things take a turn and Lam finds himself wanted for murder.  In order to clear his name, Lam must figure out the secret of the car accident at the center of the insurance claim and how all of the different players tie together.

These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  Reprinting episodes from this series still appears to be a yearly event, so I look forward to the next installment sometime next year.

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Book 15 (of 52) – The Case Of The Velvet Claws

The Case Of The Velvet Claws – Erle Stanley Gardner

Following last week’s end of the first season of HBO’s Perry Mason reimagining, I decided to turn to the original source material for the first time.  The Case of the Velvet Claws is the first of 82 Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, first published in 1933.  In it, a woman hires Mason, wanting to keep a scandal rag owned by her husband from discovering she was out with another man.  When the husband turns up dead, she tries to keep the police away from here by pointing the finger at Perry, manages to avoid being double-crossed and still fights to free her from the charges.

The beginning of the series introduces us to mainstays Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake, but doesn’t do much in the way of giving them any sort of discernable character or background.  All you learn of them is the job that they hold, lawyer, secretary, and investigator, respectively.  If I wasn’t coming in to this with an existing knowledge of, and a certain fondness for, the property, I don’t know if that would have been more of a problem.  As it is, the Mason of the novel is a little rougher around the edges than the Raymond Burr version and a little more in line with the Matthew Rhys version.

If I manage to come across more of the Mason novels at a decent price, I’d be willing to go back for more.  To be honest, I’m somewhat surprised they aren’t being republished to capitalize on the publicity of the new series.

by jim

The Decade In Books

The 2010s have drawn to a close and its time to take a look back at the previous decade. Today, we move on to books, specifically the 229 books I read between 2010 and 2019. This decade coincides completely with my starting the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, which I have never really come close to completing.

2015 was my best year, with 31 books completed.  2010 was by far the worst year in terms of finished books, with only 7.  Over the course of 10 years, those 229 books totaled over 77,000 pages.


152 different authors contributed to the books I’ve read this decade, 35 of which I’ve read multiple times.  The ghost writer for Richard Castle leads the way and is the only author I read more than 10 offerings from over the last 10 years.  The most surprising entry is Erle Stanley Gardner, who passed away in 1970. Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2019

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013, 2015, and 2017), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 48 books from 50 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 70 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

 

Author Name Current Total 2017 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 16 15 1

Nancy Holder adds 1 new book over the past 2 years to maintain her lead.

Richard Castle 15 14 1

The writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle sees a slight increase, despite the show being off the air for well over 3 years now.

Stephen King 13 12 1
Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Brad Meltzer 12 11 1

Very little movement in the next tier the past 2 years.

Jeffery Deaver 11 8 3

We round out the double digits with Deaver, who will be going up again soon, as I’m currently reading one of his books. Continue reading →

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Book 21 (of 52) – The Count Of 9

The Count Of 9 – Erle Stanley Gardner

Originally published in 1958, The Count of 9 was the 18th installment of the Cool and Lam series Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, and the 4th republished by Hard Case Crime.  When Cool and Lam are hired to protect the treasures of a globe-trotting adventurer, they are forced to confront an impossible crime.  But that’s nothing compared to the crime they face next: the impossible murder of their client.

These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  It seems that reprinting episodes from this series is going to be a yearly event, so I look forward to the next installment sometime next year.

 

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2017: The Year In Books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 28 books I read over the past year, 3 less than last year.  Of those 28, 7 were non-fiction and, of the 21 novels, only 4 were TV show tie-ins.  For the first time, none of the books came out of my “to-read” drawer, and a record 16 were e-books.  I read over 80,000 pages, my lowest total since at least 2013.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 15 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Amy Schumer
Jessie Humphries
Gene Kim
Tod Goldberg
Matt Zoller Seitz
Philip K. Dick
Harland Sanders
Paul Levine
William J. Mann
Matthew V. Clemmons
Chris Smith
Riley Sager
Whitney Cummings
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tom Perrotta

There were 4 authors I read multiple titles from during 2016, the ghost writer for Richard Castle, Jeffery Deaver, David Mack, and Erle Stanley Gardner.

7 of the books I read were released this year, while 3 of them were released last century.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacation in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit.

Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2017

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013 and 2015), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 47 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 54 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2015 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 15 13 2

A new leader in the clubhouse, as Nancy Holder adds 2 new additions over the past 2 years to put her out front.

Richard Castle 14 9 5

The second largest increase (or largest for someone I had read before) goes to the writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle.  I’m guessing this total will stay pretty static, with the show off the air for over a year now.

Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Stephen King 12 12 0

These three round out the top 5 with absolutely no movement over the past 2 years.

Brad Meltzer 11 9 2
Jeffery Deaver 8 5 3

Slight increases for both of these authors, with more to come.  Meltzer’s next book is already pre-ordered, while there are a few unread Deaver works on my Kindle. Continue reading →

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Book 25 (of 52) – Turn On The Heat

Turn On The Heat – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

After the publishers of Erle Stanley Gardner’s Cool & Lam series rejected his second installment back in 1939, he came back with the manuscript for Turn On The Heat, originally published in January of 1940. Republished earlier this year by the fine folks at Hard Case Crime, the pulp novel tells the tale of a mystery surrounding a doctor, his missing socialite former wife, and a murder that may tie them back together again.  Cool and Lam try to untangle the mess and figure out what’s truly going on before they, and their client, take the fall.

That makes 3 of the 30 Cool and Lam offerings that Gardner wrote, under the name A.A. Fair, that have been republished by Hard Case Crime.  I don’t know if they have plans for more, but I’d be a willing participant if they do.

 

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Book 10 (of 52) – The Knife Slipped

The Knife Slipped – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

Intended to be the second installment of the Cool and Lam series in 1939, The Knife Slipped, by Erle Stanley Gardner writing under the pseudonym of A.A. Fair, was rejected by the publisher for being too crude.  Rather than rework the idea, Gardner moved on to others and the manuscript sat for more than 75 years until last year, where it finally saw print thanks to the folks at Hard Case Crime.

In this tale, the firm takes on a case of a woman who believes her daughter’s husband is cheating on her, which leads Lam on to police corruption, politics, and, of course, murder.  Blamed for the death of his target, Lam goes on the, well, lam to find out who was really behind the murder and how the corruption played in while Cool tries to work herself in to the corruption, getting herself a piece of the action.

My first experience with Gardner’s work, aside from watching Perry Mason on television, was a later book in this series which I read 2 years ago.  These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  Another installment is planned to be published later this year, and I look forward to getting my hands on it.

by jim

2015: The Year In Books

2015booksWith another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, an increase of 8 from last year and my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 11 were non-fiction and, of the 20 novels, only 3 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 11 were e-books.  I read a nearly 9200 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992 and my second straight year reaching the 9000 mark.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 19 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Kurt Vonnegut
Jim Bouton
Melissa Joan Hart
Patton Oswalt
Erle Stanley Gardner
Doug Sohn
Kate DeVivo
Paula Hawkins
Jayson Stark
Scott Reifert
Oscar Wilde
Jeff Katz
Felicia Day
George Carlin
Max Allan Collins
Ann Brashares
David Lagercrantz
Graham Greene
Mary Kubica
Martin Short

The ghost writer for Richard Castle was the only author I read multiple titles from during 2015.

Ten books I read were released this year, while 3 of them were released prior to 1980, with one, The Picture of Dorian Gray, dating back to 1890.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in March, November, and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit. Continue reading →