Books Lead To Books

     I've been reading Lawrence Block's Telling Lies For Fun And Profit, a collection of his Writer's Digest columns that Sue Grafton is said to have re-read before starting each new "Kinsey Millhone" novel.

     It's all good stuff.  He's an excellent teacher.  He uses his own work for examples -- which saves anguished conversations with authors who don't agree with your assessment of their work -- and that has led me to his "Evan Tanner" books.  Tanner is a kind of inadvertent spy, who happens to have a rare condition that keeps him from needing sleep.  He speaks dozens of languages and is fascinated by political "lost causes" of all types.  Fun reading, perhaps a bit light, but for anyone who's been around conspiracy theories, it's pure candy.