Monthly Summary (August 2014)

What I Read in August 2014

August was another excellent month as far as my readings is concerned. I read seven books, all of them have sufficient merits to stand out as my pick of the month.

• Monsieur Monde Vanishes (The New York Review of Books, 2004) Paperback edition. Translated from the French by Jean Stewart, 1967. Original title: La Fuite de Monsieur Monde, 1945 by Georges Simenon (A)
• The Big Sleep (Penguin, 2011) Paperback edition. First published in 1939 by Raymond Chandler (A+)
• Farewell, My Lovely (Penguin, 2010) Paperback edition. First published in 1940 by Raymond Chandler (A+) Revisited
• The Killer Inside Me (Orion, 2010) Kindle edition. First published in 1952 by Jim Thompson (A+)
• The High Window (Penguin, 2011) Paperback edition. First published in 1942 by Raymond Chandler (A)
• The Lady in the Lake (Penguin, 2011) Paperback edition. First published in 1943 by Raymond Chandler (A+)
• The Little Sister (Penguin, 2010) Paperback edition. First published in 1949 by Raymond Chandler (A)

Pick of the Month

The Big Sleep. Although it’s a solely matter of personal taste.

Opening line: It was about eleven o’clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved, and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.

Check out at Mysteries in Paradise here to see other suggestions.  

Books Bought Last Month

• Grind Joint: A Penns River Novel by Dana King

• The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

• Long Way Home by Eva Dolan

• The Widow by Georges Simenon

• Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

• Nineteen Seventy Four by David Peace

• The Comedy Is Finished by Donald E. Westlake

Currently Reading

• The Long Good-Bye by Raymond Chandler