The Maltese Falcon. Dashiell Hammett. good yarn. 'What else can I buy you with' she said. Is that a loaded question or what.

Dirty Snow by Georges Simenon. Without really meaning to I have read several books by Simenon. I haven't kept track of all the Maigret books I have read and now I have read 2 non Maigret books. I would like to read one of the biographies of Simenon.

Finished this morning. The criminal mind at work in a situation where foreign troops occupy the country and influence the resident populace in strange ways.

just started The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck  I just saw the movie of this about 2 to 3 years ago. I have wanted to read it since then. I found an old cheap edition of a book with 5 novel by Steinbeck all in one book. The book has brown pages but it's okay to read. I have read some comment about the book that indicates it was very popular during the war in Europe. translated into several languages. I'm only about 20pp in.

reading now The Sleeping Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot. was published in 1963 so it just barely passes the 50 year test. police procedural. This is the 3rd book I have read by Japrisot. This book was originally published as 10:30 From Marseilles. It was made into a movie in France and the title of the movie was The Sleeping Car Murders. Now the book has that title too.

I've just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Wonderful, wonderful book, the best classic I've read this year.

interesting that you are reading Hurston. I just requested Dust Tracks in the Road by Hurston. an autobiography. It was a wish list book. The post office has delayed the book but it is on its way.

When I was in school we read Native Son by Richard Wright. He apparently hated Hurston's writing. He felt the fractured English and colloquial style was damaging to white perceptions of black people.

I have been reading Not so Wild a Dream by Eric Sevareid. I have been reading it for what seems like months. I started the auto bio by Hurston when it arrived in the mail but I put it on hold while I continue with the Sevareid book. The Sevareid book is an auto bio. interesting events and great prose.

Techniquely this book may not be a classic. published in 1978 so it is not quite 40 years old.

I just recently discovered that this book was originally published in 1946. The book I have with the 1978 date is a reprint and I didn't know it.

Dust Tracks sounds very good.  I'll put it on my TBR.  Just beginning The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier.

Maigret and the Apparition by Georges Simenon. I took a break from the other stuff I have been reading and read this. The Maigret books are always entertaining for me. Whatever they are I know I'll like them. At first I wasn't sure if this would be a classic but I found a copyright in 1964 so It just makes the 50 year test.

Trap for Cinderella by Sebastien Japrisot. I just recently discovered that Japrisot was a pseudonym. This is the 4th book of his I have read. mystery.

Just finished Wuthering Heights. Holy cats, that was good! Not what I expected, I'm glad to say. I'm pleased with the way Emily wrapped things up.  I was sort of expecting a whirling pool of despair like The Sound and the Fury, but nope!

I think I read Wuthering Heights but it has been many many years ago. I think I remember the movie was very different from the book. The movie is probably more memorable to me than the book. I know when I was younger I often saw a movie and then got interested in reading the book.

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. re read. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this book.

Papillon by Henri Charriere. this book is only 48 years old so it doesn't quite make the 50 year test for a classic. According to wikipedia the truth of much of the book has been disputed. There are plans to make a remake of the movie.

Just finished The Turn of the Screw by James.  It was very good and I have a couple more by him so I think I'll take time to read those as well.

The High Window by Raymond Chandler. This is another Philip Marlowe story. I think I like Dashiell Hammett a little better than Chandler.

Well. I have to say this was the best Chandler I have read so far.

About to start Daisy Miller by Henry James.  It is always a delight to find an author I enjoy, even more so when it's a classics writer that I have not previously read.

I think I have only read one Henry James that I enjoyed. That was The Bostonians. I think I was supposed to read The Portrait of a Lady in school but I don't think I read the whole thing.

Well, I quite enjoyed the first book I read but I couldn't see the point of Daisy Miller which I just finished.  Supposedly it was one of his most popular books but after reading it I couldn't understand why.  I did like The Turn of the Screw.  Just received my copy of Evelina by Burney.  Has anyone read it and, if so, what did you think?  

The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby. story of his experience as crew on a four masted cargo ship. Trip to Australia to pick up a load of grain and back to England. Made the voyage 1938-39. With the war starting the ship became inactive. I'm not positive but I think this may have been Newby's first book.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Stark and sad.

Idle Days in Patagonia by W H Hudson. I think this book was written very early in the 20th century. language a little hard to follow. flowery.

Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon. According to this edition this book is the first Inspector Maigret mystery.

I'm a little passed the half way point of this book. I have to say this is the weakest Maigret I have read so far. I can see why it was not translated until recently.

Down and out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I'm not sure of the original pub date but I'm pretty sure this must be a classic. Interesting read. Lots of incident. It is a little like a travel book.

copyright page in book shows 1933. That would have been in the early years of the Depression.

Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston. autobio. She had terrific economic disadvantages all her life. Apparently Alice Walker is primarily responsible for rehabilitating Hurston's reputation.