Jerry Morris wrote:
I used to read Robert Parker's books, but I never collected them.

MInd you, I enjoy reading books about books, and books by or about
authors I collect, who no longer share a living presence with us;
however, I think I need to get back to reading modern mystery novels for
the pure pleasure of it.

My wife reads the Stephanie Plum series books written by Janet
Evanovitch. Every now and then, for seemingly no reason at all, she'll
start laughing as she turns a page. A few other friends of mine who
read the Evanovitch novels do the same thing. Yes, I think I need a
little laughter in my life again.


I can recommend one series where you can have it all: mystery, humor, &
a little bit about books: Lawrence Block's books featuring Bernie
Rhodenbarr, professional burglar & proprietor of a used bookstore in
Manhattan. And speaking of Parker, this is the opening paragraph of
Blcok's _The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza_ :

"Around five-thirty I put down the book I'd been reading and started
shooing customers out of the store. The book was by Robert B. Parker,
and its hero was a private detective named Spenser who who compensated
for his lack of a first name by being terribly physical. Every couple
of chapters would find him jogging around Boston or lifting weights or
finding some other way to court a heart attack or a hernia. I was
getting exhausted just reading about him."


the Stephanie Plum series. I started reading those, and I enjoyed
the first two. But the third & fourth books were much of a muchness,
and I lost interest.

--Jon Meyers


Willow wrote:

Does anyone else out there collect Robert B. Parker?
I have recently started with this writer. The recent works, back to the
late eighties are complete but one wonders about strange items such as
the "Spenserian Sonnet" and more. "Spenser's Boston" looks like an
interesting addition. Aside from the books listed, are there more
unusual Parker items? (The first three Spenser novels just went of over
$1000 on eBay).
It seems that with almost any modern mystery writer, most of the works
are easily found and for reasonable prices. Grisham, Cornwell, James and
more can be competed in days save for one, possibly two books - and
those priced over $1000.
I noticed a small trend, for a brief period writers from McCullough to
Cornwell to Nick Tosches ( a dear favourite of mine) and more all
produced... cookbooks. Must have been some publisher's bright idea.
Kid's books came up as a form for many - Follet and Cornwell for two.
With the exception of the first book, the worst books are often the
hardest to locate. C.S. forester's "Poo-Poo and the Dragons" was
terribly difficult to find in good condition.