The best way to know what I’m reading is to follow me on Goodreads.

I love noir. Walter Mosley, James Ellroy, Dashiell Hammet. If you ask me to name my single favorite author, the one I admire the most, it’s Raymond Chandler.

But Ernest Hemingway, too (A Moveable Feast). Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond books that are better than even the best Bond movies, especially Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and You Only Live Twice. In that order, of course.

Also John Steinbeck (Cannery Row), Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina and War and Peace, both of which are quite long and very well worth your effort).

I try not to get stuck in a single genre. So, science fiction (anything by Issac Asimov). Historical fiction, Diana Gabaldon (wish she’d finish the 10th Outlander book) and Margaret Atwood (although I’ve never understood why her work gets labeled as sci-fi). Plus whatever Eric Maria Remarque gets labeled, (The Black Obelisk).

And whatever looks great when I walk into a local bookstore, wherever I happen to be, from Goshen’s Fables Books to Traverse City, San Francisco’s City Lights to Los Angeles, Paris to Barcelona. Asheville NC’s Malaprop’s is a great one, too. I recommend Forever Books in St. Joe MI. And Prairie Lights in Iowa City is a wonderful store, with a very cozy coffee bar. Powell’s Books in Portland OR is huge and confusing and serves a great coffee. Eureka Books in Eureka CA is cozy and friendly.