Book Reviews: Confessions of a pulp fiction addict

I'm trying to augment my tastes in reading with more than just the stuff you buy at the grocery store.  I'm slowly making progress with the likes of Faulkner, Hemmingway, Joyce, and others.  But I have to shamefully admit, I generally prefer pulp to literature...

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Book Reviews

I read a lot.  As in a couple books a week.  Right now I'm in a long convolescence period from an illness (more about that later...I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and recovery can take anywhere from 6-24 months) so most days are spent on the sofa reading or at the computer composing, musing, blogging, e-mailing, etc.  The point here is that I'm currently on disability from my job and it gives me the chance to read tons of stuff that I'd otherwise never get around to. 

My interests run the gamut and I've read quite a bit of political stuff lately related to the US Supreme Court and the concept of judicial activism, along with various essays and opinions on conservative political thought and theory.  The Book "The Tempting of America" by Robert Bork is excellent along with "The Supremacists" by Phyllis Schlafly.  I'm sure they are available at the library if you don't feel like shelling out the cash for your own copy.  I'm basically a cheapskate and only buy books that I think I'll need for reference - or, if a new paperback comes out from somebody like Grisham, I'll just drop my $7.99 so I don't have to wait in line at the library for 3 months.  

I wish I could say that all my reading was highly cerebral.  It isn't.  Most of it is just that good old-fashioned Wonder Bread of American publishing: pulp fiction.  John Grisham, David Baldacci, Michael Crichton, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Archer, James Patterson, etc.  You know - the stuff you find on the bestseller rack at the grocery store.

But I'm also trying to expose myself to some of the classics like William Faulkner, James Joyce, Ernest Hemmingway, etc. 

I've tried to review most of what I've read recently on Amazon.com and we are currently at 67 book reviews and counting.  So, if you want to know what I've read and what I thought of it, check out my reviews and see if there are any books that interest you.

I have to admit I prefer the literary equivalent of junk food, but at least I'm a little bit selective in my junk food.  I've critiqued most of the pulp I've read if you follow the link above to my book reviews on amazon.com.  I've also reviewed the genuine "literature" I've read thus far, along with some of the heavier political reading I've done. 

Favorite "pulp" in the last 12 months: 

• The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
• Kane & Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
• As the Crow Flies (Jeffrey Archer)
• Hood (Stephen Lawhead)
• Lincoln Lawyer (Michael Connelly)

Books that made me think:

• Heaven (Randy Alcorn)
• Rise to Rebellion (Jeff Shaara)
• State of Fear (Michael Crichton)
• The Tempting of America (Robert Bork)
• The Supremacists (Phyllis Schlafly) 

I wish the pulp genre in general wasn't so full of vulgarity.  I think that's one reason I like Grisham.  He may not be the best writer in the world, but he never seems to resort to gratuitous sex and language, and he tells fun stories.  As I've read more this year, I've become a bit more of a "pulp connaisseur" (is that sort of like being an expert on wine that comes with a screw-top?).  I've learned to better distinguish between people who can tell good stories but are marginal writers, people who are marginal storytellers but good writers, people who are both, and people who are neither.

Authors I enjoy:

• John Grisham
• Jeff Shaara
• Michael Connelly
• Michael Crichton
• Stephen Lawhead
• Jeffery Archer
• David Baldacci
• Khaled Hosseini
• Nicholas Sparks
• Dan Brown (but DaVinci Code was a crock)
• Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston (they co-author a lot of thrillers like "Ice Limit" and "Riptide")
• Robert Ludlum
• Isaac Asimov (in small doses...don't like sci-fi all that much)

Authors / genres I avoid: 

• Horror
  Can't stand this genre.  Some people don't believe in the supernatural.  I do.  Angels and Demons isn't just the name of a pop-fiction thriller by Dan Brown, it describes the beings in an unseen but very real world where good and evil are battling constantly.  Not something to kid around with.  (It's also why I refuse to celebrate Halloween)As such, I avoid the genre entirely along with authors like Steven King.  I'm sure he's a fine writer.  The only thing of his I've ever been exposed to was the movie "The Green Mile" starring Tom Hanks, but it wasn't really in the horror genre and was actually enjoyable.  I also avoid Anne Rice.  Whether the writers achieve popularity or not, I simply won't read this stuff.  Period.
  
• Serial Killer Thrillers
  I like crime thrillers, but when it is about serial killers who kill strictly for the sport of it, I'm outta here. I avoid most of the newer stuff by Patricia Cornwall, Dean Koontz, and some books by Michael Connelly because they deal with this subject.  There are some places I refuse to go.  Inside the psyche of serial killers is one of them.
  
• Romance
  I don't know exactly how you would characterize the genre, but I've never read a Harlequin and never plan to.  It ranks up there with National Enquirer, fuzzy slippers, and hair curlers.  I have enjoyed some of the books written by Nicholas Sparks and two by James Patterson that were in the same genre as Sparks.
• James Patterson
  This guy is a former ad exec who turned his efforts to writing.  He's authored tons of books and nobody can argue with his success: his books have grossed over $1 billion (yes, that's with a B).  Trouble is, his books aren't very good writing in most cases. I've reviewed quite a few of them on Amazon but I've given up on this guy's thrillers.  He's cranking out something like 5-6 books a year and it is honestly like something you'd expect from a drive-thru window.  I particularly suggest avoiding the books he's written for teens (the Maximum Ride series) and I've reviewed these books with my extensive critiques on Amazon.com.  The only books from him I can honestly say I got much enjoyment from were the ones that were sort of in the genre of Nicholas Sparks: quasi-romance stories like "Message in a Bottle" of Kevin Costner fame.  I've reviewed both of Patterson's romance books on Amazon.  I found them moderately good.  Skip his thrillers, though.  Particularly the "Alex Cross" series.  They are beyond lame.
  
• Patricia Cornwell
  Some of her thrillers are fun, but many (particularly the recent ones) are obsessed with getting inside the heads of serial killers (see my comments on the serial killer crime/thriller genre above).  Her writing has also deteriorated over the years to the point where I'm almost wondering if she used a ghost writer.  The plots have become more and more implausible and her characters (Kay Scarpetta, Frank Marino) have become unlikable and boring.
  
• Catherine Coulter
  I actually recommend reading one of her thrillers just to expose yourself to what really bad writing looks like.  Lame characters, lame details, lame dialog, lame plots = lame books.  I've been as scathing as I can possibly be of her writing on Amazon.com in my reviews.  I read 3-4 of her books just to give her a fair chance, but she was consistently pathetic.  I think she made her name writing so-called "Bodice Rippers" (romance novels).  She'd be best sticking to that genre.  Her thrillers read like junior high kids telling scary stories around a campfire.
  
• Adrian McKinty
  A guy who write thrillers about Irish organized crime and gangs.  His books have been "critically acclaimed" for dialog that is witty and gritty.  Translation: the f-bomb is used at least twice in every sentence.  No thank you.  These book are noir all the way.  
  
• Dean Koontz
  I read a book by this guy years ago called "Intensity."  It is about a serial killer who poses as a cop and it still haunts me from time to time, particularly his torture of children.  Why do we want to crawl inside the head of the Son of Sams and Ted Bundys of the world? 
  
• John Sandford
  Don't like his writing for many of the same reasons I don't like McKinty.  Language is too over-the-top. Frankly, it is hard to find writers in the Mystery/Thriller/Crime genre that keep things reasonably clean.  I've found I have to put up with a certain amount of it, but some writers feel compelled to use more of it than others.