Sunday, July 21, 2013

To Please A Yankee Palate

July 21, 2013

Dear Readers,
I’m always surprised at how many people around the world read my blog postings. Very few readers take the time to write a comment or contact me, but a few do and those smaller numbers inspire me to keep on tapping at my keyboard.
I have noticed a trend, more Russian readers log on to read about the racehorses than most of the other countries put together, other than the United States. Lately I’ve seen a huge upswing in the numbers of readers from other countries. So I looked a little closer at the figures. It seems, on the days I write about the racehorses, Russians dominate. But on the days when I post book reviews, there’s a decided uptick of readers in other countries, and far fewer Russians.
“You can’t please all the people all the time,” a variation on famous quote. But I’ll try, so I will continue to post both. To that end I've posted a review on the newest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book. I thought you might like to see the review I did on the first Lee Child book I ever read, and as it was, it happened to be the first book he’d written.
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” – Voltaire
                         
Wandering around a WHSmith bookstore in Central Milton Keynes in England, I was an American looking for a book to read, something familiar that would please my Yankee palate. I picked up Killing Floor by Lee Child, and I was prepared to put it down just as casually as I had picked it up.
Debut novel it said on the jacket. I bought the book and took it home to Wavendon House where I was living at the time. I didn't put the book down until I'd turned the last page. Loved it! I told my husband you have to read this book, it's amazing. He loved it! I couldn't wait for Mr. Child's next novel to come out.
I've been a fan of Mr. Child from the time I read the opening chapter of that book I'd been so fortunate to stumble upon, on that rainy afternoon in Milton Keynes. Lee Child can't write them fast enough for me...then or now.
Tomorrow…racehorses, I promise.
Take care,
Shelley Riley

PS: I am struggling through the third book in the Game of Thrones series; I keep putting it down to read other things. What does that tell you?

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