Just finished an old Perry Mason novel that I had read a few times, so decided to look at a Louis LAmour novel I haven’t read for awhile…which is a collection of short stories.

So, we are starting off with Caprock Rancher…yup, been awhile, so off we go. Wish I was camping tonight with my old friend, Tonka, so I could read to him. He was a good trail horse, who loved to walk along mountain ledges. He passed away a couple of decades ago, but you could trust him to get you home safely…unless there was a lake ahead. He got a kick out of dumping riders in the lake. That’s likely why we got along…first time he tried it with me, I pulled back on the reins so hard he nearly sat his butt down. Tonk was a good buddy. I miss him.

Mike S

Just finished Chancy, Flint and Rivers West and The Empty Land. Working on Comstock Lode now. The main character in TEL would have been a good star of other books. Matt Coburn. LL had him ranked up there with the best real gunmen. He killed seven (Seven!) bad guys. Been rereading these for 40 years. Never gets old. I also read some Luke Short and Max Brand recently. Both good. Not LL good, but worth a one time read.

Yup. I am kinda stuck. I never seem to tire of FLINT for some reason, but might go back to one of the short story collections. I seen to jump from ESGardner and back to LL. Maybe I will give Comstock Load another read.

Years ago a buddy and I started a novel. The object was to write each other into a corner that you had to write your way out of. He died and his daughter has the finished chapters. I told her to keep them since it was no fun without her Dad. It was actually a lot of fun. We could write as little as a word or as much as we dared. He had a sick sense of humor and whenever I think about it,I swear I can hear him laughing.

Mike S

I have several books going all at once. Fiction and NonFiction.

One of them is "Richard Lamb" by Richard S Wheeler. It is a good story.

My son is on a Louis L'Amour kick and has read about a book a day for the last few weeks. We have discussed them after he read them and it is bringing back memories. I'm ready to re-read them.

Interesting. No new readers?

Mike S

I discovered Cameron Judd a couple of years ago. Well worth the reading. The publisher makes a point of comparing him to LL. It’s some very good books.

But an old one pops up now and then :-)
Bouncing around my favourite authors at present, Bernard Cornwall with both Sharpe and Last Kingdom Stories, trying to clear my TBR shelves. Have a Neville Shute waiting in the wings.

Les
The English Language is weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought though.



:7

Les
The English Language is weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought though.



:7

I'm about to finish the Longmire series by Craig Johnson. That's about 16 novels. But, he's got another one coming out in Sep. He's got a pretty good sense of humor that pops up now and then. Unlike LL, Johnson's books move at a more leisurely pace. Some of LL's books I could read in a day. For me, that's pretty fast. Many of LL's can take longer. But, they all kept my attention and moved right along. I suspect that may be a result of his mastery of the short story. When I finish with Johnson, I may go back and read the Sherlock Holmes stories again. Somewhat sadly, I no longer have my LL collection to dip into. Long story short, I donated all of my LL books to the library at the Springfield Masonic Community in Springfield, Ohio about a year ago. At the same time, I gave them the first half of the Longmire series and will probably give them the second half. Another big difference between Johnson and LL is that I am not likely to read Longmire a second, let alone a third or fourth, time.

Justintime

Finished the most recent Longmire novel. Like many authors, he wanted to dip into a different genre. His novel "Hell and Back" was, I believe, intended to be a supernatural or ghost story. He's a good writer but I thought the story itself was a bit of a disappointment. I think it kind of spoils the Longmire image somewhat. I hope Johnson can recover with his next Longmire novel.

Justintime

Read Cameron Judd if you get a chance. Very good.