Collective Joy

My family has heard me say this for years.

I’m easily bored.

Some days I need a book that’s going to keep my attention when I’m that “I’m bored” state of mind. I need lots of shining objects in my reading. The kind of reading that, just when my attention may begin to wander, offers up something new and exciting for me to examine. So there are times when I will look for an interesting collection.

It could be a collection of the works of a single author (short story collections!). I did the Complete Ray Bradbury a year or so ago. One of my favorite authors and role models. I knew I’d read a lot of his work, but this was the whole shebang of his short works. It was a literary pilgrimage for me. (Review)

But sometimes I really want many different shiny objects in my reading. That’s where genre collections fit in my reading repertoire. If you’ve ever had someone recommend a book outside of your normal reading, you probably stopped at “Yeah, I don’t know if I’d enjoy that”. The collection can give you a buffet of tasty morsels to try. And if after a few, it’s just not working for you, you can quit. I just finished a great collection that allowed me to do some exploring.

A Century of Great Suspense – edited by Jeffrey Deaver (various authors, 2001) gave me a chance to work my way through some great stories by the great names of the genre. Listed among the authors were Erle Stanley Gardner, Patricia Highsmith, John D. MacDonald, Stephen King, Sara Paretsky, Bill Pronzini, Ellery Queen, Mickey Spillane, Rex Stout, Donald E. Westlake, Tony Hillerman, Harlan Ellison, Jeffery Deaver, and others. Just a wonderland of great writing.

Some of the authors I knew. Donald E. Westlake is my first binge author (once I’d graduated from the Hardy Boys). His characters were all from the scruffy side of the tracks with moral compasses that functioned only intermittently. As a kid in my early teens, I was caught by them. Harlan Ellison came into my life for his science fiction, but anything he wrote is worth reading. Rex Stout, creator of the iconic Nero Wolfe, an author who cranked out classic American detective stories for decades. I’ve read them all. ALL OF THEM. Stephen King needs no introduction here. Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries are favorites as well. But here was the chance to really dig in. It was worth the reading investment.

A couple years ago, I did the same thing with British mysteries. Sure, I’d done Holmes and read a smattering of Agatha Christie, but when a boxed set crosses your path with 350+ thriller classics and detective novels, how can you resist? British Mysteries Boxed Set (seriously, that’s its name) is a whole $0.99 investment as an ebook. And the depth of the lineup is impressive. Now I can say I’ve read Holmes, Poirot, Marple, Bulldog Drummond, Father Brown, P.C. Lee, Raffles, plus works by authors who were unknown to me. Wilkie Collins was a popular writer in his time but I’d never read him. The same for Edgar Wallace. Collections like this make a nice “filler” read if you’re between regular reading. You can pick it up for a long time working your way through a collections this big.

So the next time you’re bored with what you’re reading, if a restless feeling comes over you, wander through your library or favorite bookstore looking for a juicy collection to spark your interest.

The books review here were either purchased or checked out of my local library.

So I can say what I want.

Which is what I do anyway.

Rating – **** Recommended (both)