I always look forward to Glen Davis’ postings for “What Are You Reading?” on Thursdays. His dry summaries of the books he read always make me laugh. He takes the Favorites post seriously, though, so I don’t expect quite the humor today. I am always eager to see what books rose to the top of his list. Thank you, Glen.

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This year I read about 200 fewer books than last, which was quite a relief, as I was able to get out of the house and do something else. Many of the authors I usually feature on my lists came back with a book after skipping 2020, but most of said books were a bit sub-par. In the middle of the year, most of the “cutting edge techno-thrillers” suddenly became historical fiction. Still, for the most part, this year was a better reading year than 2020.

COZIES

Hooked On A Feline by Sofie Kelly

This one reminded me of some ways of reading The Great Gatsby in high school. Nobody in the whole class liked the ending, but I still remember the book to this day. To me, the motive of the murder, and the unmasking of the villainy of the victim, were very powerful. I found it delicious that the sleuth didn’t seem to understand the irony of the whole situation. I still remember this book months later, and that’s why it’s on the list.

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivian Chien 

Amateur sleuth Lana Lee is manager of her family owned Chinese restaurant, but can’t cook herself. Determined to rectify this situation, she secretly takes a cooking class at a local college, only for her instructor to be killed, and she’s the primary suspect. So many of the characters of this series remind me of people I know, adding a little bit more enjoyment. Since I found this novel, I’ve read at least two others in the series, so that says something.

Notorious Noel Caper by Sally Carpenter

I’ve been enjoying the Sandy Hawkins series since I won the second book in a Goodreads drawing. This is a Christmas mystery as the former child star, still in the throes of his comeback, is emceeing a beauty contest for a theme park that is definitely NOT Disneyland. When a Little Person is murdered at the pre-event bowling party, Sandy starts poking around, and finds there is a definite dark side to the world of cheer. I’m hoping for a new book in the series soon.

MEN’S ADVENTURE

Dying to Win by Clint Hollingsworth

Some years ago at a library booksale, I picked up the first two books in Dave Edlund’s now finished Peter Savage series. One of them featured a combat tracking unit. That was interesting, so I searched Amazon for books about combat trackers…and found some.

In this one, Mac Crow and his girlfriend compete in a reality TV show that is a race through rugged wilderness. Of course, things aren’t on the up and up, and someone is trying to kill the contestants, and Mac has to figure out what’s going on while stranded in the woods with almost nothing but the clothes on his back. The reality show trope was tired a couple of years ago, but this one showed it still has a little bit of life.

Levon’s Hunt  by Chuck Dixon

In the previous book in the series, Levon uncovered a child trafficking ring. In this book, he hunts down every last member and he’s not in the mood for any legal niceties. The police eventually find the trail of burnt houses and dead bodies he is leaving behind him and try to track him down. I don’t think there’s a bad book in this series.

WESTERNS

Stagecoach to Purgatory by Peter Brandvold

This book is actually two novellas featuring bounty hunter Lou Prophet. He’s a hard riding, hard drinking, hard living son of a gun. To me, it read a lot like the old westerns of the pulp days, only without any of the patois the characters used to speak.

Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins

It’s the summer after The Big Freeze, a real event in the late nineteenth century. Cows are dead all over, many ranchers lost all of their stock. There’s very little grass or feed, and much of the water is poisoned by dead beeves. A lady rancher comes into the country and starts buying all the land in sight, with her eyes on the ranch of the paramour of Caleb York, law man. 

NON-FICTION

Four Lost Cities  by Annalee Newitz

Newitz travels to four cities in different parts of the world, and using the power of archaeology, tries to show us what life in those cities were like, and what caused their downfall. The downfall of Pompeii seemed obvious at first glance, but was more complicated than it seemed.

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World  by Riley Black

A book that shows a small part of the dinosaur world–a swamp in what is now Montana, and what happens to it, and its denizens when the asteroid hits. The massive destruction, and the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the creatures that took over from them, and are very different than life today. Very educational.

ESPIONAGE

Live Fast, Spy Hard by Max Allan Collins.

Collins released a trilogy of espionage novels featuring John Sand and his wife, Stacey. I feel that the second book in the series is the strongest of the bunch. The premise of the series is that Sand is the spy that Ian Fleming based James Bond, and that the novels made him too well known to continue as a secret agent. This books tells the story of his final mission, and how he met his wife. After the wedding, Sand thinks he sees an old enemy, and his wife disappears in Mexico. Quite a book with many references to all of the spy movies and TV Shows that were so popular in the 1960’s. I’m surprised no production company has picked this up.

Amira by Matthew Betley

Betley writes a book about a side character from his Logan West series–the secret agent girlfriend of West’s partner. Books of this kind tend to be very bad, but somehow, this one is very good, fleshing out an interesting character without turning the main character of the series into a goof to make the protagonist look good.

MARTIAL ARTS THRILLERS

Wet Work by Scott Harrington

I always try to put at least one book in this sub-genre on my list. I think I’ve probably read a majority of books the sub-genre contains. This one features a guy who is supposed to be an expert in ninjutsu. Most books in this sub-genre use a clueless White guy as a protagonist, in this one, the guy does have a clue or two. 

When an assassin kills the usual tech billionaire for the usual MacGuffin Device, Ninja Trace Connor is hired to beef up security, and find the device. Despite his best efforts, Connor is sucked into the games of deceit and death that are the bread and butter of these books. Like watching an 80’s ninja movie.

PARANORMAL

Where The Footprints End: High Strangeness and the Bigfoot Phenomenon, Volume 2, Evidence

I’ve been interested in Bigfoot since I was a small boy, watching the TV Show Bigfoot and Wild Boy, and the Bigfoot episode of Six Million Dollar Man. This book tries to study the Sasquatch in a scientific method, without making the author seem like some kind of nut. That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. It’s amazing how much we “know” about the Bigfoot without ever catching one.

MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

Once Upon a Time In Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino

While I’m the first to admit that Tarantino isn’t for everybody, this book is one of the best I read this year. Filled with Hollywood gossip from the era, Tarantino tells the stories of fictional characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, as well as the stories of Sharon Tate, Charles Manson, and Roman Polanski. It shows a Hollywood in the throes of change, and various attempts to adapt. It really reminds me of Alexandre Dumas, only more vulgar. Along the way, we also get an adaptation of the pilot episode of the old television Lancer, one of the last of the great TV westerns. I’d never seen an episode, but this book inspired me to hunt it up and watch a couple. I’m more of a Wild, Wild West guy, but it was a pretty good show.

COMIC STRIP COLLECTIONS

Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune Volume 1: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips, 1933-1935 by Roy Crane

Captain Easy is one of, if not the earliest adventure strips in the newspapers. At first, a minor character in the Wash Tubbs comic strip, he became popular enough to garner his own strip that lasted for many years. These are his first Sunday strips, back when a feature could garner a half page. Back in these days, most Sunday strips actually had a companion strip as a “topper.” You could see everything. Not like today’s tiny little strips that require a magnifying glass, if not a microscope. Captain Easy goes to Interior Asia, and finds all kinds of adventures and beautiful woman. Really fun.