Q: Are there crime fiction books so good you hold on to them and re-read them? Name a few classics and inspirations.
- from Susan
There are a lot of crime fiction books I hold on to even though I’m not likely to read them again. Why? Because writers I admire, writers I’m in awe of, writers who are justly loved by everyone, or writers who - gasp - became my friends wrote them and signed them to me. I look at their spines and smile. Being in the same community has been an ongoing thrill for me. A line of books signed by Sara Paretsky, a fellow member of Sisters in Crime. A growing shelf of personally autographed novels by the prolific and creative Rhys Bowen. All of Terry Shames’ and Jim Ziskin’s signed books. Cara Black’s long-running Aimee Leduc novels….And there are more, more, more!
There are books I keep because they or their authors made me wonder if I could write something as enjoyable when I first dared to dream: Marcia Muller, Lia Matera, Laurie King, Sue Grafton, Gillian Roberts- note they’re all women, their protagonists are female, they’re all from the same recent writing generation, and they were all accessible to new writers in northern California. Just having those books on the shelves reminds me of the early days when I tiptoed into the world of possibility. These authors and a few others genuinely and specifically inspired me.
There are classics in the genre that I just enjoy and re-read when I want the guarantee of a cozy, familiar experience. Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series have a permanent place, the tattered mass paperbacks lined up waiting for those moments. Some of Agatha Christies mysteries do that for me, although not all. I have the collected John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey stories and re-reading a handful at one time makes me smile. Sarah Caudwell’s sadly short series does the same and I have re-read all of them. Ditto Josephine Tey. Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder series stay fresh and funny for me.
Current writers I have gone back to include Tim Hallinan and his Poke Rafferty series set in Bangkok, Laurie King’sMary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories, especially the ones set in exotic non-Western places, and Colin Cotterill’scompletely unpredictable Dr. Siri mysteries set in broken down communist Laos, which seems to be hospitable to ghosts. The settings are so deeply part of the stories that I always pick up something new in the re-readings.
I could go on. I am a book addict. Recently, I brought 250 paperback mysteries to Goodwill, and another 50 or so hard back crime fiction novels to Friends of the Library. It hardly made a difference, in part because most of my shelves had double rows of books and the more I removed, the more I exposed!
I do use Kindle, but somehow those books don’t count. Why is that? Do you feel the same way about e-books that you do about paper versions?
My own latest:
As I embark on the one-in-one-out period of my life (unless I ever move to a house with an actual library) I started to read this post with great interest, for tips. It did not help. All I thought was "Ooh, I bet I'm behind on Dr Siri"!
ReplyDeleteI totally get it. When we downsized two years ago, I found I had 2250 books in my library! (And I don't even want to see how many I've got on my kindle!) I donated about 100 to our local library, before they threatened a restraining order... then Goodwill told me they'd take 10 or so... What to do? I couldn't bear to throw any out--sacrilege! I have the entire Elizabeth Peters, Rex Stout, oh, I could go on and on.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely in the one-in-one-out though Bouchercon put a serious dent in that plan!
I now have 1800 books in my storage unit, half of them crime novels, and about 400 in my new little house, I'm threatening to open a used book store!
In fact, I've looked into the business permitting issues...
Yeah, one-in-one-out not working for me either somehow. But I am getting slightly better, although when that means I don't buy a book by an author I meet at a con, I feel so guilty that, "Okay, okay, just this once..."
ReplyDeleteCatriona, I love Colin's Dr. Siri stories even when they take me to the outer edges of what I expect. If you ever want to borrow and lend, we could do that maybe semi-annually and keep strict tabs on the Return to Owner or Be Banished From My Life rule.