Mike's Updates en-US Tue, 06 May 2025 07:02:36 -0700 60 Mike's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg GiveawayRequest709793279 Tue, 06 May 2025 07:02:36 -0700 <![CDATA[<a href="/user/show/11686671-mike">Mike</a> entered a giveaway]]> /giveaway/show/411637-nightshade Nightshade by Michael Connelly
10 copies available, ends on May 27, 2025
Enter to win ]]> GiveawayRequest709539450 Mon, 05 May 2025 16:54:57 -0700 <![CDATA[<a href="/user/show/11686671-mike">Mike</a> entered a giveaway]]> /giveaway/show/409237-while-the-getting-is-good While the Getting Is Good by Matt Riordan
50 copies available, ends on May 17, 2025
Enter to win ]]> ReadStatus9389649634 Mon, 05 May 2025 06:41:40 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike is currently reading 'A Pale Moon Was Rising']]> /review/show/7544733117 A Pale Moon Was Rising by Brendan Gerad O'Brien Mike is currently reading A Pale Moon Was Rising by Brendan Gerad O'Brien
]]> ReadStatus9389647425 Mon, 05 May 2025 06:39:46 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike finished reading 'Blacktip Island: a novel']]> /review/show/6919797327 Blacktip Island by Tim W. Jackson Mike finished reading Blacktip Island: a novel by Tim W. Jackson
]]> Review7447834283 Mon, 05 May 2025 06:39:11 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard—A Biography of the Master of American Crime Writing']]> /review/show/7447834283 Cooler Than Cool by C. M. Kushins Mike gave 5 stars to Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard—A Biography of the Master of American Crime Writing (Kindle Edition) by C. M. Kushins
bookshelves: netgalley, nonfiction, memoir-biography
]]> Review7415251723 Fri, 02 May 2025 09:56:13 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Rum Punch']]> /review/show/7415251723 Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Mike gave 5 stars to Rum Punch (Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara, #2) by Elmore Leonard
bookshelves: crime-fiction, netgalley
Elmore Leonard at the top of his game. I am a longtime fan of Elmore "Dutch" Leonard going way back to a battered paperback copy of Cat Chaser that I bought for fifty cents back in the mid-1980s; long before the appearance of Raylan Givens, who would arguably become Leonard's best-known character, but well after Leonard's classic Western novels. So, needless to say, I am not exactly an unbiased critic when it comes to the Dickens of Detroit. In my opinion he's one of the best there ever was or ever will be.

I read Rum Punch many years ago, not too long after it was first published in the early 1990s. As far as I can recall this was my third time reading the novel although I've seen Jackie Brown (1997), Quentin Tarantino's film adaptation of the book, many times. I found that this time around my memory of the film meshed somewhat with my memory of the book... It gave me a better understanding of the plot and the characters and helped me appreciate some of the nuances I had missed (or forgotten) in previous readings and viewings. Everything just seemed to click. I loved it as much or more than the first time I ever picked it up.

BOTTOM LINE: Great stuff. If you're only familiar with the film, which Leonard himself praised as one of the best adaptations of his work, then you should definitely read the book. Because this is where it all started and you've been missing out. ]]> Review396620774 Fri, 02 May 2025 09:50:29 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Rum Punch']]> /review/show/396620774 Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Mike gave 5 stars to Rum Punch (Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara #2) by Elmore Leonard
bookshelves: netgalley, crime-fiction
Elmore Leonard at the top of his game. I am a longtime fan of Elmore "Dutch" Leonard going way back to a battered paperback copy of Cat Chaser that I bought for fifty cents back in the mid-1980s; long before the appearance of Raylan Givens, who would arguably become Leonard's best-known character, but well after Leonard's classic Western novels. So, needless to say, I am not exactly an unbiased critic when it comes to the Dickens of Detroit. In my opinion he's one of the best there ever was or ever will be.

I read Rum Punch many years ago, not too long after it was first published in the early 1990s. As far as I can recall this was my third time reading the novel although I've seen Jackie Brown (1997), Quentin Tarantino's film adaptation of the book, many times. I found that this time around my memory of the film meshed somewhat with my memory of the book... It gave me a better understanding of the plot and the characters and helped me appreciate some of the nuances I had missed (or forgotten) in previous readings and viewings. Everything just seemed to click. I loved it as much or more than the first time I ever picked it up.

BOTTOM LINE: Great stuff. If you're only familiar with the film, which Leonard himself praised as one of the best adaptations of his work, then you should definitely read the book. Because this is where it all started and you've been missing out. ]]> Review7415251723 Fri, 02 May 2025 09:47:26 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Rum Punch']]> /review/show/7415251723 Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Mike gave 5 stars to Rum Punch (Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara, #2) by Elmore Leonard
bookshelves: crime-fiction, netgalley
Elmore Leonard at the top of his game. I am a longtime fan of Elmore "Dutch" Leonard going way back to a battered paperback copy of Cat Chaser that I bought for fifty cents back in the mid-1980s; long before the appearance of Raylan Givens, who would arguably become Leonard's best-known character, but well after Leonard's classic Western novels. So, needless to say, I am not exactly an unbiased critic when it comes to the Dickens of Detroit. In my opinion he's one of the best there ever was or ever will be.

I read Rum Punch many years ago, not too long after it was first published in the early 1990s. As far as I can recall this was my third time reading the novel although I've seen Jackie Brown (1997), Quentin Tarantino's film adaptation of the book, many times. I found that this time around my memory of the film meshed somewhat with my memory of the book... It gave me a better understanding of the plot and the characters and helped me appreciate some of the nuances I had missed (or forgotten) in previous readings and viewings. Everything just seemed to click. I loved it as much or more than the first time I ever picked it up.

BOTTOM LINE: Great stuff. If you're only familiar with the film, which Leonard himself praised as one of the best adaptations of his work, then you should definitely read the book. Because this is where it all started and you've been missing out. ]]> Review396620774 Fri, 02 May 2025 09:46:00 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Rum Punch']]> /review/show/396620774 Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Mike gave 5 stars to Rum Punch (Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara #2) by Elmore Leonard
bookshelves: netgalley, crime-fiction
Elmore Leonard at the top of his game. I am a longtime fan of Elmore "Dutch" Leonard going way back to a battered paperback copy of Cat Chaser that I bought for fifty cents back in the mid-1980s; long before the appearance of Raylan Givens, who would arguably become Leonard's best-known character, but well after Leonard's classic Western novels. So, needless to say, I am not exactly an unbiased critic when it comes to the Dickens of Detroit. In my opinion he's one of the best there ever was or ever will be.

I read Rum Punch many years ago, not too long after it was first published in the early 1990s. As far as I can recall this was my third time reading the novel although I've seen Jackie Brown (1997), Quentin Tarantino's film adaptation of the book, many times. I found that this time around my memory of the film meshed somewhat with my memory of the book... It gave me a better understanding of the plot and the characters and helped me appreciate some of the nuances I had missed (or forgotten) in previous readings and viewings. Everything just seemed to click. I loved it as much or more than the first time I ever picked it up.

BOTTOM LINE: Great stuff. If you're only familiar with the film, which Leonard himself praised as one of the best adaptations of his work, then you should definitely read the book. Because this is where it all started and you've been missing out. ]]> Review4374286124 Tue, 08 Apr 2025 10:42:59 -0700 <![CDATA[Mike added 'Tropic of Stupid']]> /review/show/4374286124 Tropic of Stupid by Tim Dorsey Mike gave 1 star to Tropic of Stupid (Serge Storms #24) by Tim Dorsey
bookshelves: did-not-finish-abandoned, crime-fiction, goodreads-giveaways
I just couldn't get into this one at all. Very stream of consciousness-type of storyline. It's the first in this series I've read so maybe that's the issue. Regardless, not for me. ]]>