Patricia Highsmith – Cannonball Read 17

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

October 15, 2025 by Classic 2 Comments

It’s weird. I thought I read this book years ago and just realized as I was reading, nope. I think I got the movie mixed up in my head. This is going to be a short review, this was very good. Tom Ripley is a hot mess and you keep waiting for him to get caught, but he does not. I also felt a strange pity for this character because he seems hell-bent on not being thought of as queer, but one wonders if he […]

Holiday Reads, a.k.a. I get more reading done in a tent

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Other People's Houses (DC Ffion Morgan #3) by Clare Mackintosh

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Whiteout by R.S. Burnett

August 4, 2025 by Zirza Leave a Comment

I don’t know why, but I do. Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton) *** I’ve always loved the movie, so I wanted to read the book too. I was struck by how different it was both in plot and in tone; some characters that make it out in the film don’t survive the book and vice versa, and some of the characters have been conflated or split up. Lex and Tim, as characters, are incredibly irritating and flat in the book (Lex’ entire personality is ‘annoying child’. […]

April 2024 Leftovers

X = : Poems by Stephen Berg

Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

The Hurricane Blonde by Halley Sutton

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais

Watch It Burn by Kristen Bird

Sleep With Strangers by Dolores Hitchens

The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn by Josh Young

One of Us Is Wrong by Sam Holt

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

Blackmailer by George Axelrod

The Darkest Glare: A Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles by Chip Jacobs

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

May 6, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Happy April, y’all! X = : Poems**** This is why library book bingos are necessary. I only checked this one out because I needed to read a book of poems and I wanted to check the nettlesome “X” off the A-Z reading list. A convoluted reason to begin with and this wasn’t even the book I thought I was getting! I thought I’d get a different X by a different author. I’m glad I got this one. Some of these really spoke to me, including […]

The Ripliad….no wait, the Lord of the Rips…..The Rippit.

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Ripley Under Water by Patricia Highsmith

October 15, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Ripley’s Game – 3/5 This is a reread of this one (I am rereading the whole series) and I liked it better the second time through. Two things happen early on in the book that are very important. First, Tom Ripley is asked to considered doing a murder for hire against two mafia enforcers, and next, Tom is annoyed at a party guest who kind of shows him up one evening. Tom does not want to do the murder, finding murder distasteful, even when necessary. […]

Good lord almighty, this book was depressing. #CBRBINGO – Adapt

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

October 11, 2022 by narfna 2 Comments

I was really looking forward to this one, but was unfortunately thwarted in my enjoyment by my own delicate little flower feelings. As it turns out, this is one of those books I like thinking about, writing about, and talking about more than I do the actual experience of reading of it. It put me in a terrible mood, and made me very unhappy. Wait, I take back the delicate flower thing. I’m more like a sponge, soaking up the atmosphere around me. And the […]

Shorts and Re-reads

Ripley Underground by Patricia Highsmith

Disgrace by Ayad Akhtar

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

Agnes of God by John Pielmeier

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman

August 29, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Ripley Underground – 4/5 The second Tom Ripley novel begins with the revelation that we’re about ten or so years on from the first novel, that Tom is now married and living off his “inheritance” from Dickie’s forged will. He’s in London and he’s become involved in an art forgery scheme. Recently an artist whom Tom had been connected with became a lucrative commodity and Tom was able to facilitate the sale of the artist’s work after he died. No one really knew for sure […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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