What do "Claws of the Cat," "The Asphalt Warrior," and "Folsom's 93" Have in Common?

Not too much, actually.

Except I'm reading them at the same time. I plan to review all three, but I sure didn't get much reading done during my recent flurry of trips. In addition, my Kindle kept losing its charge way too soon and at times or places not convenient for plugging in.

For your information and anticipation, here's a little bit about these books and their authors.

The Asphalt Warrior and its sequels Ticket to Hollywood and The Heart of Darkness Club (both of which I'll be reading soon) feature Denver taxi driver Brendon Murphy. Murph has two rules to live by: (1) make no more money than it takes to live his minimalist lifestyle and (2) do not get involved in the lives of his passengers. You can imagine how that works out.

This series is the brainchild of author Gary Reilly and the novels are being published posthumously by Running Meter Press thanks to his writerly friends, including Mark Stevens, the current president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. It's a good series and I'm very sad Gary did not live to see his fine work in print.

Claws of the Cat is California attorney Susan Spann's debut novel in her Shinobi series set in Japan in the mid 1500s. I first met Susan at the RMFW Colorado Gold Conference where she taught a master class on contracts and copyright. She even makes the hard stuff sound interesting.

The novel is now available for pre-order at online booksellers. I have the review copy on my Kindle, so you can imagine my annoyance when I'd sit down to read and find the e-reader deader than the victim who was murdered in a Kyoto teahouse. I'm nearing the end of the book, finally, and finding it very hard set aside so I can do my writerly, bloggerly chores.

Folsom's 93: The Lives and Crimes of Folsom Prison's Executed Men is the nonfiction book telling the stories of the men executed at Folsom Prison between 1897 and 1935. Meticulously researched by author April Moore after discovering a wealth of background material in a relative's attic, this book is not only a report of the men, their families, and their victims, but is also a fascinating lesson in the California policies, practices, and politics of the time.

This one is going to be a must read for California historians as well as authors and readers of crime fiction and nonfiction. Folsom's 93 is also available for pre-order at online booksellers. I've known April since 2004 when our critique group was first formed. She's now an active part of another writers' organization I love, Northern Colorado Writers.

What are you reading these days? Have you had any trouble with an e-reader that made you long for a print copy of the book you're reading?

And don't forget, if you leave a comment on either one of Tim Northburg's Writing Itch posts (Part One or Part Two) before midnight Mountain Time Friday, May 31st, you'll be eligible to win a copy of one of the Bacon Finnegan books.