I found a bunch of Star Wars picture books like this for only $1.99. I couldn't resist. 
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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
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I, the Jury (1947) by Mickey Spillane.
This is the book that propelled Spillane to become one of the most recognized names in pulp and hard-boiled fiction. At one point he had 7 bestsellers and was the most read writer in America. It’s not difficult to understand why.
This book is the first in the Mike Hammer series; a vengeance story that is also action packed. It doesn’t shy away from setting a dark, disturbing mood:
“How could Jack tell a jury what it was like to have his insides ripped out by a dumdum? Nobody in the box would know how it felt to be dying or have your own killer laugh in your face. One arm. Hell, what does that mean? So he has the Purple Heart. But did they ever try dragging themselves across a floor to a gun with that one arm, their insides filling up with blood, so goddamn mad to be shot they’d do anything to reach the killer. No, damn it. A jury is cold and impartial like they’re supposed to be, while some snotty lawyer makes them pour tears as he tells how his client was insane at the moment or had to shoot in self-defense. Swell. The law is fine. But this time I’m the law and I’m not going to be cold and impartial. I’m going to remember all those things.”
I loved it.
The edition I have is exactly the one I posted about a few days ago, with the cast of Happy Days.
This is the book that propelled Spillane to become one of the most recognized names in pulp and hard-boiled fiction. At one point he had 7 bestsellers and was the most read writer in America. It’s not difficult to understand why.
This book is the first in the Mike Hammer series; a vengeance story that is also action packed. It doesn’t shy away from setting a dark, disturbing mood:
“How could Jack tell a jury what it was like to have his insides ripped out by a dumdum? Nobody in the box would know how it felt to be dying or have your own killer laugh in your face. One arm. Hell, what does that mean? So he has the Purple Heart. But did they ever try dragging themselves across a floor to a gun with that one arm, their insides filling up with blood, so goddamn mad to be shot they’d do anything to reach the killer. No, damn it. A jury is cold and impartial like they’re supposed to be, while some snotty lawyer makes them pour tears as he tells how his client was insane at the moment or had to shoot in self-defense. Swell. The law is fine. But this time I’m the law and I’m not going to be cold and impartial. I’m going to remember all those things.”
I loved it.
The edition I have is exactly the one I posted about a few days ago, with the cast of Happy Days.
Fancy Bear goes Phishing. A great book on some of the most innovative security hacks in the history of the internet including the Dark Avenger
You have piqued my interest. A long time ago I read The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll.
Another book to look at is Underground by Sulette Dreyfus.
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Ran into it by chance. After viewing My Octopus Teacher on Netflix a while back I had to buy this one!
It's been very entertaining and informative. A great beach read!
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
I read this back in high school, but I never finished the series. I've decided to start over, and I'm liking it even more than I did back then.
I read this back in high school, but I never finished the series. I've decided to start over, and I'm liking it even more than I did back then.
The Case of the Velvet Claws (1947) by Erle Stanley Gardner.
This is the first book in the Perry Mason series, which spawned over 80 books and a few short stories. The Mason we encounter here is quite different than the one we became familiar with during the TV series run with Raymond Burr and is closer to the current series by HBO.
Mason is a rude, hard boiled lawyer/detective. He gets his hands dirty, doesn’t treat Della Street very well, and he just gets things done. I can picture in my mind people in the 1940’s purchasing this book for some relax and end up thrilled. This is a page turner.
As Mason is investigating a case of a botched robbery, he becomes involved as a suspect in a murder scheme. Death and corruption are friends here. There is no room for kindness while the clock is ticking. Of note, the first novel contains no courtroom scene.
I plan to read all the Mason books.
Two excerpts to show the difference between the novel and the series. This is how Mason presents himself:
"All right," he said, "I'm different. I get my business because I fight for it, and because I fight for my clients. Nobody ever called on me to organize a corporation, and I've never yet probated an estate. I haven't drawn up over a dozen contracts in my life, and I wouldn't know how to go about foreclosing a mortgage. People that come to me don't come to me because they like the looks of my eyes, or the way my office is furnished, or because they've known me at a club. They come to me because they need me. They come to me because they want to hire me for what I can do."
She looked up at him then. "Just what is it that you do, Mr Mason?" she asked.
He snapped out two words at her. "I fight!"
And this is how he recommends his clients to behave:
“The newspaper reporters are going to ask you questions. They'll get in touch with you somewhere along the line. You're going to use all of your sex appeal and be shocked and crushed by the terrible misfortune you've suffered. You're going to be unable to give out any kind of a coherent interview, and you're going to sell them on your grief. Every time they stick a camera your way, show lots of leg and turn on the water works. Do you understand?"
"You're coarse," she said coldly.
"I'm effective," he told her. "What the hell's the use of you trying to slip a lot of stuff over on me when you know it doesn't go?" She put on her hat and coat with dignity and marched to the door.
I have not watched the 1963 movie based on the novel.
This is the first book in the Perry Mason series, which spawned over 80 books and a few short stories. The Mason we encounter here is quite different than the one we became familiar with during the TV series run with Raymond Burr and is closer to the current series by HBO.
Mason is a rude, hard boiled lawyer/detective. He gets his hands dirty, doesn’t treat Della Street very well, and he just gets things done. I can picture in my mind people in the 1940’s purchasing this book for some relax and end up thrilled. This is a page turner.
As Mason is investigating a case of a botched robbery, he becomes involved as a suspect in a murder scheme. Death and corruption are friends here. There is no room for kindness while the clock is ticking. Of note, the first novel contains no courtroom scene.
I plan to read all the Mason books.
Two excerpts to show the difference between the novel and the series. This is how Mason presents himself:
"All right," he said, "I'm different. I get my business because I fight for it, and because I fight for my clients. Nobody ever called on me to organize a corporation, and I've never yet probated an estate. I haven't drawn up over a dozen contracts in my life, and I wouldn't know how to go about foreclosing a mortgage. People that come to me don't come to me because they like the looks of my eyes, or the way my office is furnished, or because they've known me at a club. They come to me because they need me. They come to me because they want to hire me for what I can do."
She looked up at him then. "Just what is it that you do, Mr Mason?" she asked.
He snapped out two words at her. "I fight!"
And this is how he recommends his clients to behave:
“The newspaper reporters are going to ask you questions. They'll get in touch with you somewhere along the line. You're going to use all of your sex appeal and be shocked and crushed by the terrible misfortune you've suffered. You're going to be unable to give out any kind of a coherent interview, and you're going to sell them on your grief. Every time they stick a camera your way, show lots of leg and turn on the water works. Do you understand?"
"You're coarse," she said coldly.
"I'm effective," he told her. "What the hell's the use of you trying to slip a lot of stuff over on me when you know it doesn't go?" She put on her hat and coat with dignity and marched to the door.
I have not watched the 1963 movie based on the novel.
I found this true with almost every classic I read in school. Sad how English classes in school turn great works of literature into incredibly dry reading. Reading books in school is like going to a 3 Michelin Star restaurant and not enjoying the food.😬
It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I got an English teacher who understood that Shakespeare isn't meant to be read.🤨 His plays were meant to be acted out. She had us draw lots and acted out the scene.🤗 I remember getting the role of John Falstaff (Henry IV). Now the character is a pleasantly plump fellow (fat), whereas I was a 98lb bean pole at the time.😐 I got into character by stuff my coat under my shirt to look more like the jolly knight.🤭
If only the teachers had stopped trying to find hidden metaphors and understood the author's true intent (entertain the reader), then English classes would have been a lot more fun. My senior year English teacher understood the assignment.😎
I'm reading 'Die with Zero' by Bill Perkins - only a couple of chapters in, but it looks promising. The purpose is to explain ways to emphasize experiences over simply having more money, and suggests experiences yield dividends like stocks and other traditional investments do.
July 1910: The grisly remains of Cora Crippen, music hall singer and wife of Dr Hawley Crippen, are discovered in the cellar of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden. But the Doctor and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, have vanished, much to the frustration of Scotland Yard and the outrage of a horrified London.
Across the Channel in Antwerp, the SS Montrose sets sail on its two week voyage to Canada. Amongst its passengers are the overbearing Antonia Drake and her daughter Victoria, who is hell-bent on romance, the enigmatic Mathieu Zela and the modest Martha Hayes. Also on board are the unassuming Mr John Robinson and his seventeen-year-old son Edmund. But all is not as it seems...
Okay, yes, that Dr Crippen.
If memory serves, the development of modern means of communication - and the fact that the ship carried them - was one of the things that made this case something of historic importance.
Yes, it's a pity none of my English teachers were able to
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Just finished reading TJ Newman's Drowning, a fast-moving tale which happens to have been released in a very timely manner, given that some aspects of it definitely touch on elements of a recent tragedy, except that in this case the submerged vehicle was an airplane rather than a tourist submarine.....
