All the Donald E. Westlake Books That I Have Read

1. High Adventure (1985).



A caper set in Belize that involves a plot concerning Indian relics and a would-be invasion. Contrary to what the cover may indicate, the protagonist of this novel is nothing at all like Indiana Jones but one can understand why an overoptimistic book publicist might want to see it that way. It's not a bad book but I have read better.

2. Humans (1992).



A demon and an angel compete in a contest in which the stakes include the end of the world and the game pieces include a motley crew of humans. Actually it's quite a good book. And yes, the plot does sound similar to Neil Gaiman and Tim Pratchett's Good Omens.

All the Classic Horror Novels That I Have Read, Part One

1. Frankenstein (1818) -- Mary Shelley.

The one that started it all -- at least, historically speaking. Ironically, I never read the whole thing until recently but I do remember reading the plot synopsis in my parent's Masterplots collection over and over again.

2. The Portrait of Dorian Gray (1890) -- Oscar Wilde.

Another book I've read recently. (I did read Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in high school, but unfortunately, it's technically a novella, not a novel, so I can't really put it on this list.)

3. Dracula (1897) -- Bram Stoker.

Another one that I've only recently read all the way through.

4. The Invisible Man (1897) -- H. G. Wells.

Horror novel or science fiction? You decide. One of the few classic horror novels I've read in high school.

5. The Werewolf of Paris (1933) -- Guy Endore.

Yes, I already mentioned it on another list, but it really is a good novel.

6. Conjure Wife (1943) -- Fritz Leiber.

One of the first novels of contemporary horror. Also the inspiration of at least two movies.

7. I Am Legend (1954) -- Richard Matheson.

Another co-mingling of science fiction and horror. This book has been ripped off so often it's a wonder Matheson gets any royalties at all.

8. Psycho (1959) -- Robert Bloch.

Yes, the novel that inspired the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. Definitely different -- and more realistic -- than the movie. Save for that decapitation scene.

9. Carrie (1974) -- Stephen King.

The first book from some obscure writer named Stephen King. Whatever happened to him?

10. Ghost Story (1979) -- Peter Straub.

One of the best -- and most artistically ambitious -- horror novels I've ever read. Also way better than its cinematic namesake.

Books That Scared the Hell Out of Me When I Was a Kid



For some reason, I encountered this book long before I discovered its prequel Tales to Tremble By. And I was always more impressed by this book than I was by its prequel. Perhaps because it was one of the first book of horror stories that I ever owned.

The first story in the book -- H. Russell Wakefield's "The Red Lodge" -- scared the hell out of me and even today there are times when I remember certain images from that story in my dreams. Especially the scene when the narrator keeps fighting this urge to get up and look out the window, an urge he dare not give in to lest he'd gaze upon something so hideous that my words can't really do it justice.

I was also scared by the book's other stories such as Percival Landon's "Thurnley Abbey", William Hope Hodgson's "A Voice in the Night" and August Derleth's "The Extra Passenger." For that matter, this book also marked my first exposure to champion ghost story writer M.R. James but alas, I was too young to appreciate it.



Another book I remember from my youth. It was not quite as scary as More Tales to Tremble By but it had its moments. Plus, it gave me my first exposure to the short stories of Robert Bloch -- the author of Psycho -- as well as my first look at William Hope Hodgson's character Carnacki the Ghost Finder.



For some reason, I was a sucker for anything associated with the actor Boris Karloff. I used to stay up late and watch monster movies -- a habit I inherited from my older cousins -- and of course, Boris Karloff often played a key part in such movies. It didn't hurt that he also narrated one of my favorite anthology series Thriller -- no, not the Michael Jackson version. Thriller wasn't always as scary as it should be -- but it had more than its share of genuinely scary episodes. And I like to think the series holds up better than more recent anthology shows like Tales from the Darkside. But then I'm biased.

Anyway, the book itself was very eerie. They eventually published a sequel called More Tales of the Frightened, but for some reason, I didn't care for that book as much as the first.

All the Books That I Have Read (More or Less)

1. All the Classic Books That I Have Read, Part One
2. All the Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Two
3. All the Classic Horror Novels That I Have Read, Part One
4. All the Fantasy Novels That I Have Read, Part One
5. All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part One
6. All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Two
7. All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Three
8. Books That Scared the Hell Out of Me When I Was a Kid

All the Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Two

Not to be confused, of course, with "All the Classic Books That I Have Read, Part One."

1. The Good Earth (1931) -- Pearl Buck
2. Chéri (1920) -- Colette
3. The Last of Chéri (1926) -- Colette
4. Spartacus (1951) -- Howard Fast
5. Madame Bovary (1857) -- Gustave Flaubert
6. I, Claudius (1934) -- Robert Graves
7. Claudius the God (1935) -- Robert Graves
8. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) -- D.H. Lawrence
9. It Can't Happen Here (1935) -- Sinclair Lewis
10. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) -- Mark Twain

All the Fantasy Novels That I Have Read

Once again, a not so complete list:

1. Bloodsucking Fiends (1995) -- Christopher Moore.

A rarity--a vampire novel that is actually both funny and scary. Better than the sequel, You Suck: A Love Story.

2. You Suck: A Love Story (2007) -- Christopher Moore.

An appropriately titled book. At least the first part of the title is appropriate.

3. A Dirty Job (2006) -- Christopher Moore.

One of the best novels Moore has written in quite a while. It's about a man who sees the Grim Reaper at the bedside of his dying wife and ends up “inheriting” the Reaper's position. It combines genuinely serious insights into life and death with not so serious insights about everyday life -- and makes it work. It even manages to include a guest appearance by the lead female character of a previous Moore novel, Bloodsucking Fiends, and make that bit work.

4. Definitely Dead (2006) -- Charlaine Harris.

The until-recently-latest novel in the Sookie Stackhouse Saga (a series about a young Southern barmaid who becomes involved with a vampire). It answers some questions raised by earlier books in the series and leaves yet other answers to the imagination. It could have made a good conclusion for the series if Ms. Harris had not gone on to write another book in the series.

5. Grave Sight (2005) -- Charlaine Harris.

A young woman in the modern South can find dead people. A better novel than that brief description makes it sound. Proof that Charlaine Harris can write about something other than vampires and barmaids.

6. Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (2006) -- Simon R. Green.

I had first supposed this book to be the concluding volume in Mr. Green's Nightside series. But apparently it is not. (Another book in the series has been published since this book came out.) An odd comic-book-style effort about a psychic detective who operates in a supernatural area of London known as the Nightside. The detective spends most of the series searching for clues to the mystery of his mother's disappearance, only to find out an unpleasant truth about his missing parent. In this book, he has a big confrontation with his missing mother; hence, the title.

7. Smoke and Ashes (2006) -- Tanya Huff.

Concluding book in a trilogy about a gay production assistant who is constantly running into the supernatural. (I hate it when that happens.) A spinoff from Ms. Huff's Henry Fitzroy series.

8. The Paper Grail (1991) -- James Blaylock.

So-so novel about a modern-day Holy Grail. Not to be confused with the Richard Ben Sapir novel Quest.

9. Quest (1987) -- Richard Ben Sapir.

A New York City police detective and an all-American girl try to track down an ancient artifact which might be the original Holy Grail. Sapir's last novel and one of his best.

10. The Werewolf of Paris (1933) -- Guy Endore.

Endore uses a fictional version of a real-life fiend (Sgt. Francis Bertrand) to explore the non-supernatural horrors of nineteenth-century French society. The novel is much, much better than the title makes it sound.

All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Three

1. Bad Monkeys (2007) -- Matt Ruff.

Conspiracy thriller for people who hate conspiracy thrillers.

2. Auntie Mame (1955) -- Patrick Dennis.

Inspiration for the classic movie of the same name. The story of an orphaned boy raised by an eccentric aunt. Oddly dated but in a good way.

3. Around the World with Auntie Mame (1958) -- Patrick Dennis.

A sequel -- and in some ways, a prequel -- to Auntie Mame.

4. I Capture the Castle (1948) -- Dodie Smith.

The daughter of an eccentric writer comes of age in an impoverished household. Better and more interesting evocation of the bohemian lifestyle than Auntie Mame.

5. The Town in Bloom (1965) -- Dodie Smith.

An onetime aspiring actress looks back upon her life after a brief reunion with friends.

6. The Hundred and One Dalmations (1956) -- Dodie Smith.

Not a novelization of the Disney movie of the same name but the original source for said movie.

7. The New Moon with the Old (1963) -- Dodie Smith.

A young woman starts work as a servant at a house filled with eccentric young people -- people who are forced to mature when their father unexpectedly leaves the household.

8. The House on Mango Street (1984) -- Sandra Cisneros.

A young Mexican-American woman grows up in a “transitional” neighborhood.

9. Blast from the Past (1998) -- Ben Elton.

A British woman gets an unexpected visit from a former lover that proves to be more complicated than she or he anticipates.

10. The First Casualty (2005) -- Ben Elton.

A confirmed pacifist finds himself drafted during World War I to investigate a murder case involving a British soldier.

All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part Two

1. Voltaire! Voltaire! (1961) -- Guy Endore.

Not quite a novel. Not quite a history book. An account of French philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire and the odd relationship between them. Very interesting.

2. King of Paris (1956) -- Guy Endore.

Endore does for Alexandre Dumas, Sr. and Jr., what Voltaire! Voltaire! did for Voltaire and Rousseau. A very entertaining book. However, it does bring up the question of why no movie maker in this country has ever tried to make a movie about either member of the Dumas family. It's certainly not because the two of them are uninteresting.

3. Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls (2003) -- Matt Ruff.

A young person with MPD discovers a kindred spirit.

4. The Gun Seller (1996) -- Hugh Laurie.

A comic novel that actually lives up to its rep. And yes, its author is the same Hugh Laurie who starred in Blackadder and House.

5. Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004) -- Jeff Lindsay.

A novel about a heroic serial killer--yes, you read that right. Inspiration for the current Showtime TV series Dexter.

6. Red Dragon (1981) -- Thomas Harris.

The first of the Hannibal Lecter novels.

7. State of Fear (2004) -- Michael Crichton.

Crichton's controversial take on global warming and the “true” menace to society--eco-terrorists.

8. Aztec (1980) -- Gary Jennings.

A long but interesting novel about an Aztec who lives through the Spanish Conquest of Mexico.

9. The Journeyer (1984) -- Gary Jennings.

The uncensored life of Marco Polo.

10. Spangle (1987) -- Gary Jennings.

A pair of Civil War veterans join a circus that goes on a tour of post-Civil War America and Europe.

All the Not So Classic Books That I Have Read, Part One

Again a not so complete list.

1. Emma Who Saved My Life (1989) -- Wilton Barnhardt.

A novel about New York City in the 1970s and '80s as seen through the eyes of a naive young man.

2. Gospel (1993) -- Wilton Barnhardt.

A pair of scholars wander the globe in pursuit of a possible new version of the Gospel. (Not to be confused with The Da Vinci Code.)

3. Show World: A Novel (1999) -- Wilton Barnhardt.

A young woman fights disillusionment in a variety of areas: family life, politics, business, etc.

4. Inside, Outside (1985) -- Herman Wouk.

An old Jewish man looks back upon his life and notes the many conflicts between his Jewish background and his life in the secular world -- including his love for a Gentile showgirl.

5. The Winds of War (1971) -- Herman Wouk.

The novel that inspired the TV mini-series of the same name.

6. War and Remembrance (1978) -- Herman Wouk.

Ditto.

7. Marjorie Morningstar (1955) -- Herman Wouk.

A young Jewish woman learns about life and love while in pursuit of an acting career.

8. The Egyptian (1945) -- Mika Waltari.

An Egyptian doctor becomes a royal insider during the reign of Akhenaten, Egypt's only monotheistic pharaoh.

9. The Adventurer (1948) -- Mika Waltari.

A Finnish bastard makes his way through Europe in the time of the Reformation.

10. The Wanderer (1949) -- Mika Waltari.

A sequel to The Adventurer.

All the Classic Books That I Have Read, Part One

I do not have time to compile a complete list but I'll add to this list from time to time.

1. 1984 (1949) -- George Orwell
2. Anna Karenina (1877) -- Leo Tolstoy.
3. East of Eden (1952) -- John Steinbeck
4. Brave New World (1932) -- Aldous Huxley
5. Gigi (1944) -- Colette
6. The Sun Also Rises (1926) -- Ernest Hemingway
7. This Side of Paradise (1920) -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
9. Animal Farm (1945) -- George Orwell
10. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) -- Mark Twain
11. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1884) -- Mark Twain
12. Dodsworth (1929) -- Sinclair Lewis
13. Crime and Punishment (1866) -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
14. Les Miserables (1862) -- Victor Hugo
15. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) -- Victor Hugo

More to come