Larousse 2015

J'ai pris cette photo chez mes beaux-parents, lors de notre dernière visite. Ma belle-mère, qui est francophile et parfaitement bilingue, a donc un Larousse, édition 2015. Je sais que le Larousse n'est pas aussi bon que le Robert, mais je l'ai toujours aimé comme ouvrage de référence. Je me rappelle mon premier Larousse, édition 1990 je crois. La couverture a changé, mais elle a toujours le fameux pissenlit. Quand je vois des pissenlits, je pense d'ailleurs toujours au Larousse.

Dracula (a memory)

Well, the solstice is done and dusted, so days are slowly getting shorter, hopefully the heatwave should be over soon and this is thus time to... get ready for Halloween. I'm not kidding: I start preparing round this time of year. Yes, because this. But it is nothing new to me, I've always started getting on a spooky mind and preparing for Halloween months before. More than 35 years ago, if I'm not mistaken, in the summer of 1990, I first read Dracula by Bram Stoker. Before I watched any adaptation of the famous novel. I had been wanting to read classics of horror for a while and found a copy of Dracula in the local library. I blogged about it in details in a post from 2018. The memory came back to my mind recently. The novel was a revelation to me and it truly started my love of horror. I was interest in the macabre and scary stories before, but as a child my mother wouldn't let me read such things. As a teenager, she couldn't stop me.

Heat in Isola

I know I'm blogging a lot about Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime novel series these days, as I am reading the books in order of publication (as much as possible). But it struck me that one novel would be very fitting for this summer, either this heatwave or the next. I blogged about Heat back in July 2024, more specifically about a grossly lying cover on its French translation. I hate heatwaves, but they are more bearable when I read seasonal crime fiction. It makes me hate the heat more, ironically enough. But hey, it's not the only novel of McBain set in summertime. He seemed to consider sunshine as evil as I do (see this post). But hey, if you are looking for summertime crime fiction, you can't go wrong with Ed McBain.

Introducing Cotton Hawes (87th Precinct)

As you know, this year I have been reading Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, as much as possible in order of publication. So I recently read Killer's Choice, the fifth entry of the series. The novel is significant in the series for a number of reasons: one of the detectives of the 87th gets murdered, for one, and it's also the debut of Detective Cotton Hawes in the series. Cotton Hawes was invented by McBain at the request of his publishers to provide the series with a ladies' man (the other cops are rather monogamous). Hawes is tall, muscular, redheaded except for a shock of white hair (caused by a knife wound) and of course handsome. I hadn't paid all that much attention to Hawes in the past. I'm not sure if it's because most of the series' entries I read often did not feature him prominently or just that others caught my attention. But now that I have read his debut, I will see the character in a new light.

Spy Secret Messages

I love Usborne books for children, and so does Wolfie, so I end up buying lots of them. And they have a handful of books of espionage games and activities. There is one we particularly like, especially when we travel, it's called Spy Secret Messages. It's a small pocket book, smaller than a pocket book actually, and it's all about deciphering spy codes and finding the meaning of messages. It's really great fun. The only drawback is that soon we will have finished every activity in the book. I guess I will need to find more gamebooks in the genre, from Usborne and others.

Man On Fire

 Well, here I am, plugging another spy thriller, and another Netflix series. This time it's Man on Fire. I started it very recently, so I'm not sure if the series will hold on, but so far so good. It's about a former CIA operative who has to protect the orphaned daughter of his assassinated mentor from terrorists. It's set in Brazil and, like I said, so far so good. Nothing terribly original, but nothing horrible either, the plot keeps me invested in it. I know it's freely adapted from a novel from A.J. Quinnell and that it was already adapted in a 2004 movie, which I haven't seen, so the story is all new to me. If I am still satisfied when I finish it, I might buy the novel. Anyway, if you read the source material, or watched any of its adaptations, let me know in the comments. Please no spoilers.

On parle des Bouquinistes

 Petite nouvelle à propos d'une nouvelle qui maintenant date un peu (très peu, mais quand même un peu). Je l'ai apprise par le biais de la page Facebook des Bouquinistes: on a écrit un article dans la grosse Presse sur eux. Plus précisément, sur leur transformation en librairie coopérative. Enfin bref, j'en recommande la lecture. Je suis un client assidu des Bouquinistes. Enfin, quand je vivais au Saguenay. Je me rappelle quand la librairie n'était guère plus grosse qu'un comptoir et deux pièces, l'une un espace plus petit pour la section jeunesse. Je suis heureux qu'ils aient encore pignon sur rue à Chicoutimi, même si je ne peux pas les visiter avec la même assiduité.

A book about volcanoes

 You might not know it, unless you have been reading this blog for a while. Anyway, a long, long time ago, my brothers and me, particularly PJ, were kind of obsessed about volcanoes. Well, it seems that Wolfie is following on our footsteps: this is the book he picked up at school to read this week. I will try to pick it up and give it a read before he has to hand it back.

Lecture sur le quai

 Bon, ce n'est pas parce que ça arrive une fois par année que le Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean, chôme le reste du temps. Il y a donc une soirée de lecture sur le quai à La Baie, sur le Quai Laurier-Simard. Le 18 juin, ou le 17 juin s i on prévoit de la pluie le 17.

Lying Book Cover (87th Precinct)

My year in crime fiction reading has been marked by the return of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct in my to be read list. It had been long overdue and I intend to read some more before the end of the year. And, as much as possible, in order of publication. Anyway, one funny little thing I noticed on the cover of The Con Man, is that the cover shows a man holding a gun, which is misleading: this man is definitely not the antagonist of the novel. Because the main villain does not use a gun: he's a swindler who murders his victims by poisoning them with arsenic. He may be one of the Detectives, but S&W revolvers were the service weapons at the time the story was written. So this cover is lying. Well, covers always lie, and it did not stop me for enjoying The Con Man. But I thought it was funny all the same.

"Shark Bites"

Well, what do you know. I blogged about sharks about two weeks ago, I blogged about a book of sharks two days ago, so what do I spot at Wolfie's school's latest books sale? Another book about sharks. It's titled Shark Bites, it even comes with a cool shark tooth necklace. But they got me with the cover. Wolfie was not too keen on it, but since he wanted two other books and it was three for two, we got the Shark Bites one too. I can't wait to read it together. I guess he will end up with the tooth necklace, but hey.

"Mad about... Sharks"

Last year, as I had suddenly turned unemployed and had plenty of time on my hands, I spent a fair deal of it in charity shops. I fumbled upon a children book about sharks, aptly titled Mad about... Sharks. As I explained to the cashier: "For £0.50, it's in my price range." Which I think deserves to be a great unknown line. Anyway, it's cheap, but it's educational, and of course it's a great opportunity for me to read it with Wolfie. We both love to learn about sharks. Especially at this price.

The Hunted (Elmore Leonard)

 Well, it's been long overdue: I am currently reading a crime novel by Elmore Leonard. I have been wanting to get back to Leonard since January 2025, it was one of my reading objectives that year: add one of his novels to my TBR list. Well, better late than never, I recently bought The Hunted, among a number of his books I was pondering on. I'm reading it now. The hunted of the novel is hero Al Rosen. I say "hero", but maybe it's more fitting to say protagonist, although he is as heroic as one can be in a Leonard story. He is hiding in Israel from Detroit mobsters, drifting in the Holy Land out of trouble, until he saves some tourists from a hotel fire, which gets him his picture in the press... and the attention from the mob. It's a neat thriller so far, with nasty criminals, a sleazy lawyer, great dialogues and plenty of atmosphere.

Looking for Devil's Peak

You may remember that I have been desperately looking for the TV series adaptation of Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak. I love his crime thrillers and of course I want to see all the adaptations of his work on the screen, whether they are movies or series. South Africa is such a great atmospheric setting for crime dramas and seeing it on screen adds a new perspective to the experience, like an extra layer. I thought it would screen on the BBC, eventually, but apparently it never did. I recently did a Google search and thought I could find it on Tubi, but again, no: it's available in the US and Canada, but not in the UK. I have started to wonder whether I should just subscribe to a streaming service that has it.

Glock (Signature Weapon)

This is a new post in my Signature Weapons series, about weapons that say something about the characters using them, especially but not exclusively in crime fiction. So today I am blogging about the Glock. This is the very first firearm of the series. And before I go further, a disclaimer: I know almost nothing of firearms, I'm not a gun enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, I don't have a gun fetish either, so I am writing this as a complete outsider, but as an aspiring crime fiction writer. Now, I find Glocks interesting for a number of reasons: thematically, symbolically and practically. First, it is the service weapon of many police forces in the world, including the SQ (Sûreté du Québec). So this is often the weapon of choice of my characters. According to the TV Tropes entry on handguns, it has the reputation of being the boring but practical gun of all boring, but practical guns. It's reliable without being flashy. Also, it's an Austrian weapon, and the name is very close to the German Glocke, which means bell. I find it ironic that a weapon is thus linked to something often seen as delicate and playful, used to produce music. And yes, I am working to use this double entendre in couple of stories.

A Spy at War

Back in 2024, I read A Spy Alone, debut novel of Charles Beaumont. He is a former MI6 operative, so he knows what he is talking about. I had decided to rediscover spy thrillers and read more of them. I quite enjoyed it, it was a neat suspense, set in our time and Beaumont's professional background gave the book authenticity and believability. I discovered recently that he wrote a sequel A Spy at War. I have a lot on my TBR list, so I might wait a bit to buy this one, but I am tempted to get my hands on it all the same. Besides, as I am blogging more and more about the world of espionage, it might be good to have this novel as a reference.

Brussels, city of espionage

 This post is another one from my city of espionage series, talking of cities in the world closely associated with espionage and intelligence services. And today I chose one who may be lesser known in that regard. I am talking of course of Brussels. The capital city of Belgium and the administrative centre of the European Union, it is a city of vital geopolitical importance. Therefore it makes sense that Brussels is also a centre of international espionage. Yet, we don't really see it in fiction. I am not (yet) a connoisseur of spy thrillers, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Brussels being featured in spy novels or movies. Or TV series. I don't even remember Brussels being mentioned, even in passing. I visited it once, years and years ago, and while I thought it looked like a nice enough city, I didn't see it as a paerticularly glamorous or exotic one, let alone a suitable place for gritty espionage dramas. But I think it deserves more recognition and it deserves to be featured more often in spy thrillers.

Crime and Cognac (87th Precinct)

So I am in a binge reading streak these days, more specifically reconnecting with Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. And you may remember, if this post's title looks familiar, that I blogged last year about one of The Mugger's characters' fondness of cognac. It was to be more specific the hero's romantic interest. Well, after reading The Con Man, fourth book of the series, it seems that criminals can be also fond of cognac. I will not spoil anything, but the main villain (a very sinister one, by the way) drinks Remy Martin. He even pronounces the name properly, except when he mocks the waiter who brought the drink to him. I'm not sure what to think of it, but I can say that, while I am curious about cognac, which as far as I can remember I never drank, I don't think I'm eager to try Remy Martin. It's probably out of my price range anyway.

Dracula Day

 Today is World Dracula Day, as it is the anniversary of the publication of Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is by far my favourite horror novel ever and also one of my favourite novels all labels aside. I have lost count on how many times I read it. So I find it important that I commemorate today. Also, in my long countdown to Halloween, or my countdown to the countdown, today is also a stepping stone. Stoker's novel is an essential read for any horror fan ans it remains to this day the greatest vampire story ever told.

Evil Milk

I have been wanting to share this meme for a while now and thought, why not today. Now, I have only watched one movie of thee four featured here. It is, of course, A Clockwork Orange, my favourite film and based on a novel by my favourite author, Anthony Burgess. In both book and movie, milk represents purity, innocence and a certain barbarism, if not downright bestial savagery. My reflection on milk in fiction can befound in this post from 2010. So this meme is not new to me, but it's still worth sharing.