{"id":3018,"date":"2015-07-09T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T17:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?p=3018"},"modified":"2015-07-09T12:50:22","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T17:50:22","slug":"reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It took Sherry at Semicolon<\/a> to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.<\/p>\n

Yes! It\u2019s funny how having a label often brings focus to life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been drifting lately, with plenty of good books to read for upcoming podcasts but with nothing that really grabbed me, nothing that made it hard to turn out the light because I had to read just one more paragraph.<\/em> I must have had this happen before but well into the third week I felt life had lost its savor. I never realized just how much I depend on books to invigorate me.<\/p>\n

It was so bad that I went through several days without really reading for more than a few minutes at a time.<\/i>
\n
\n<\/i>I know, right? I can\u2019t express how startled I was when I realized this.<\/p>\n

The Long Goodbye \u2013 Raymond Chandler<\/h3>\n

The solution came from an unlikely combination. It went down like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

They laid it out right up front. \u201cTwo days to do the layout for a 400 page book. Over 4th of July weekend,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

I drained the coffee cup. There were grounds in the bottom. The staff was getting sloppy. Maybe there was too much overtime all around. Or maybe they were just sloppy.<\/p>\n

I crushed my cigarette in the ashtray.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd revisions,\u201d they said, eyes glinting in the car light reflected from the big front window. \u201cThat\u2019ll be another couple of tough days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I can handle it!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When basically tied to the computer for two to four days, what do you do? Load up an audiobook that packs maximum enjoyment and lets your brain glide over the action without having to pay too much attention. Luckily Audible recently put The Long Goodbye on sale and I\u2019d bitten.<\/p>\n

Ray Porter is a bit too straight-forward and forceful as Philip Marlowe. I always felt there was more of a laid-back sophistication underlying the dialogue. And I\u2019m used to Porter laying it on thick when he reads Jonathan Maberry\u2019s Joe Ledger novels. But you can\u2019t beat him for doing the secondary characters. And, who knows? Maybe Marlowe was more of a straight-forward simple guy than I\u2019m giving him credit for.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m about a third of the way into it and surprised at how modern the action, attitudes, and dialogue seem. This must have been like dynamite back in the days when it was brand-spanking new.<\/p>\n

This began to wake me up but it wasn\u2019t something for the eyes, something to pick up and dive into when you couldn\u2019t devote time to listening. I needed more.<\/p>\n

It was when looking over the Philip Marlowe books that I remembered Raymond Chandler\u2019s unfinished novel Poodle Springs was completed by Robert B. Parker. (Did you know there were seven? I had no idea.)<\/p>\n

And I remembered it had been a heckuva long time since I\u2019d read a Spenser novel. Even better, the library had the ebook available to download directly to my Kindle. (Sometimes I love living in the future with instant books.) I began instantly and found myself reading every spare moment right up to the time I was falling asleep with the book in my hand.<\/p>\n

The Godwulf Manuscript \u2013 Robert B. Parker<\/h3>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cA pig is a pig,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether he\u2019s public or private, he works for the same people.\u201d<\/i>
\n
\n<\/i> \u201cNext time you\u2019re in trouble,\u201d I said, \u201ccall a hippie.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh yeah, that\u2019s the stuff.<\/p>\n

I encountered the Spenser novels in the early 1980s and became enamored. I\u2019d never read anything like them.<\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019d never read Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. I knew of them from movies but hard-boiled didn\u2019t appeal as reading material or even, at the time, as viewing material. It took a smart mouth like Robert B. Parker\u2019s detective, Spenser, to delight me and pull me into that world.<\/p>\n

Now, decades later, I realize the legacy Parker was carrying on. Rereading this book while listening to The Long Goodbye, I really appreciate just how well Parker pulled it off.<\/p>\n

For this particular book, the first of the series, it\u2019s interesting to me that I recall the solution to the big problem but I have absolutely no memory at all of most of the book. Terry Orchard and her string of problems are completely new to me.<\/p>\n

So I am in the unique position of reconnecting with a well-loved literary friend and of reading a \u201cnew\u201d book by him. What slump wouldn\u2019t<\/i> that cure?<\/p>\n

Next Rediscovery \u2013 Lieutenant Luis Mendoza mysteries by Dell Shannon<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

All these trips down memory lane made me remember a series that my parents loved. It was long running string of police procedurals set in Los Angeles featuring Lieutenant Luis Mendoza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has to have been unusual for a Hispanic homicide lieutenant to be the main character of these books but it never struck me at the time. I also never realized that Dell Shannon as a nom de plum.<\/p>\n

Amazon says:<\/p>\n

Debonair LAPD Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, broke new ground in being one of the first Latino police officers in the procedural genre, and Linington herself was a pioneer in a male-dominated industry, earning the moniker \u201cQueen of the Procedurals.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Kindle sample made me go right to the library to request the first in the series. No one really remembers them any more but they were really good.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump. Yes! It\u2019s funny how having a label often brings focus to life. I\u2019d been drifting lately, with plenty of good books to read for upcoming podcasts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nReading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Happy Catholic Bookshelf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-09T17:38:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-09T17:50:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-01H_Zw_oaHg\/VZ6lIWslUsI\/AAAAAAAAM3I\/1TOA8qF9Iv4\/s200\/Long%2BGoodbye%2Baudible.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julie Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julie Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/\",\"name\":\"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-09T17:38:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-09T17:50:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d\"},\"description\":\"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/\",\"name\":\"Happy Catholic Bookshelf\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d\",\"name\":\"Julie Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Julie Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/author\/juliedavis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives","description":"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives","og_description":"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/","og_site_name":"Happy Catholic Bookshelf","article_published_time":"2015-07-09T17:38:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-09T17:50:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-01H_Zw_oaHg\/VZ6lIWslUsI\/AAAAAAAAM3I\/1TOA8qF9Iv4\/s200\/Long%2BGoodbye%2Baudible.jpg"}],"author":"Julie Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julie Davis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/","name":"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-07-09T17:38:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-09T17:50:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d"},"description":"It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2015\/07\/reading-slump-solution-hard-boiled-detectives\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/","name":"Happy Catholic Bookshelf","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d","name":"Julie Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Julie Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/author\/juliedavis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}