What Fiction are you reading this week, October 14, 2018?

[hermetic]

Library in Japan

Interesting article about having too many books, or not. All Those Books You’ve Bought but Haven’t Read? There’s a Word for That. The word is tsundoku, at least according to the article. Also, "The (wo)man with an ever-expanding library understands the importance of remaining curious, open to new ideas and voices."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/books/review/personal-libraries.html

Right now Ready Player One is remaining tsundoku here because a library book I had on reserve became available. So I'm reading Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson wherein Walt Longmire faces his worst nightmare down in Mexico on the trail of a vicious drug dealer. I like Walt. If you want to check out this series I strongly suggest you read them in order.

I'm still listening to The President Is Missing. I am enjoying the feeling of having a president that I actually care about, even though he's fictional. Sure beats reality.

What are you reading this week?

[redstatebluegirl]

1. Memory Man by David Baldacci

[hermetic]

4. Sounds intense

Baldacci has written so many books, mostly thrillers, going back to 1996. I should one someday. I like thrillers.

[redstatebluegirl]

8. I love his books, I have read them all.

[Ohiogal]

2. Hi Hermetic,

Good article link there from the Times.... I've got plenty of tsundoku in my house. I wonder what the author would call reference books such as my guide to North American Birds, How to Plant an Organic Garden, or the large collection of cookbooks I seem to have collected over the years, many of which I've only used for one recipe! Time to try and thin them out.... I say this all the time and then I decide I can't part with them.

Anyway, today I just started "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).

[hermetic]

7. Hiyo, Ohio

I know, getting rid of books can be very difficult.

I just read a really interesting article, in Wikipedia, about Robert Galbraith and how that all came about. I now want to read "his" novels. Your first one there: "You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this." Oh yeah...

[Ohiogal]

9. My husband still has his college calculus book!

and he graduated from college 50 years ago!

"Math never changes" is his reasoning .....

[yonder]

11. I'll jump in to suggest

that one can't have too many field guides, reference books, etc. It's like money in the bank, even better.

[hermetic]

14. Truly

Books about birds and gardening and such can be useful throughout a lifetime.

[trixie2]

3. Winesburg, Ohio by Anderson

[hermetic]

10. Wonderful

A young man's life and character are examined through a series of interconnected stories about the residents of the small town of Winesburg, Ohio. Through his childhood, to his coming of age, to his decision to leave the town in which he was born, George Willard finds his life indelibly marked by the shared experiences of his friends and neighbours. Believed to be based on author Sherwood Anderson's own experiences growing up in a small town, Winesburg, Ohio is today recognized as one of the first works of modernist literature.

[trixie2]

20. I got this book but was actually looking for Spoon River Anthology

Same sort of thing. Except the stories are from the graveyard.

[northoftheborder]

5. The Paris Architect, by Charles Belfoure

I like it so far; a WWII novel about an architect in Paris who designs unique hiding spaces for Jewish people trying to escape the Nazi Gestapo. Full of suspense; what I have learned: there were more French people who were anti-Semitic than I thought.

[hermetic]

12. Wow

The Paris Architect asks us to consider what we owe each other, and just how far we'll go to make things right. Written by an architect whose knowledge imbues every page, this story becomes more gripping with every soul hidden and every life saved.

Sure hope we can keep this sort of thing from happening again.

[Srkdqltr]

6. Ragtime in Simla by Barbara Cleverly

[hermetic]

13. A police procedural/mystery

Simla 1922. Up in the pine-scented coolness of the Himalayan hills the English have recreated a vision of home. The summer capital of the British Raj is fizzing with the energy of the jazz age. It is toward this country that detective Joe Sandilands is heading as the guest of the governor of Bengal. But when Joe's travelling companion, a Russian opera singer, is shot dead at his side on the road to Simla, he finds himself plunged into a murder investigation. As Joe begins to unravel the mystery which has its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, he discovers that behind the sparkling facade of Simla lies a trail of murder, vice and blackmail.

Sounds good

[TexasProgresive]

15. "Let it Bleed" a John Rebus mystery by Ian Rankin, but thanks to niyad

I am reading a fascination non-fiction book, Women On The Move: The Forgotten Era Of Women's Bicycle Racing by Roger Gilles. niyad posted this in the Bicycling group Thursday. I read the article she linked and immediately order it. Got it yesterday and Mr. Rankin got set aside.

Edit: This book which is resurrecting the story of these great athletes at the turn of the 19th Century is just one of the many stories that are coming out about women doing great things and forgotten by history. I am thinking of the rocket women and the British code breakers. Sort of a "Them Too!" thing happening. Anyway it makes me proud to be the son of one of those "rocket women."

Link to niyad's post:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/12071125

[hermetic]

16. But of course

I would expect that of you. And I hope you enjoy it.

That Rankin book has been around since '95. I imagine it will keep for a while yet.

[TexasProgresive]

17. I actually read "Let it Bleed" sometime in the past.

I don't remember much, but I keep getting flashes of deja vu. It is still a great read, but the ladies on wheels are winning my heart.

[PennyK]

18. The Baker Street Brothers series

Again with the Sherlock-adjacent stories, I found this mystery series by Michael Robertson and they're quite enjoyable. The Heath brothers are lawyers and they rent offices at 221B Baker Street. It's stipulated in the lease that they must mail a response to any letters arriving addressed to Sherlock Holmes. Some of the letters lead to 'situations' that the brothers get involved in.
Quite droll and lots of fun.
I also discovered Colson Whitehead (The Intuitionist, The Underground Railroad), and these books are a bit more work. I've been into such light stuff for so long that it's almost an effort to read Literature. But worth it!
I'm going to treat myself to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse's Mycroft and Sherlock, which just came out, on my Kindle, for a trip I'm taking this week. Sequel to their Mycroft, which was a ball.

[hermetic]

19. Oh, cool

On all counts. Have a good trip.

[Jane Austin]

21. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

by Gail Honeyman

[hermetic]

22. Nice

That sounds really sweet. And kind of funny.

Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . . The only way to survive is to open your heart.

[violetpastille]

29. How are you liking it so far? (eom)

[Jane Austin]

30. I finished it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Although it's not a mystery, there was a twist at the end that caught me by surprise.

It's charming and well-written.

[murielm99]

23. Resurrection Men

by Ian Rankin. He seems to be quite popular here. I like his music references.

I, too, have a large pile of books to read. I neglect them all too often when something new comes into the library.

[hermetic]

24. That he is

You might enjoy this: https://www.ianrankin.net/a-vinyl-guy-in-a-digital-world/

[pscot]

25. You're really making a project

our of Ready Player One, Hermetic. I went through it like cotton candy. To be fair, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, which I'm reading now, has about the same specific gravity and I started it 2 weeks ago. Adding some substance to my literary diet I'm also reading Vincent Van Gogh's letters. Those are very rich and best consumed in small portions.

[hermetic]

32. Re: my project

When I first started hosting this weekly discussion I was living alone with 2 cats. I had LOTS of time for reading. Nowadays I share my home with a fellow and 7 cats! I never anticipated this and I tell ya, by the time I finish all my daily chores, I usually read about 10 pages of a book and I am out like the proverbial light.
I do anticipate more reading time soon, though, once winter sets in. Then, at least, I won't have to be tending a garden.

I have always had a thing about Vincent. Can't really explain it but am fascinated whenever I hear anything about him. So, I guess I will have to have a look at these.

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh refers to a collection of 903 surviving letters written or received by Vincent van Gogh. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo.

[Tikki]

26. East Beach: A Mystery Featuring Jake Sands...by Ron Ely

It is a pretty good read.

Set somewhat in Santa Barbara, CA.


Tikki

[hermetic]

33. Hot beach volleyball action

Sounds like an entertaining story from '95. Good mystery.

[The King of Prussia]

27. "Cop Hater" by Ed McBain

I've read a fair few of the 87th Precinct novels, but never this one - the first in the series. As expected I'm thoroughly enjoying it - I've only ever read one poor McBain.
Prior to that I was on a bit of a crime tour of England. I read the "Funeral Boat" by Kate Ellis - one of the Wesley Peterson novels set in South Devon. Nothing groundbreaking, but a really good yarn. Then up to the North East for "Murder in my Backyard" by the prolific Ann Cleves. The first of hers that I've read - won't be the last. Then back very close to home and "Streets of Darkness" by AA Dhand. This has been attracting rave reviews - but I thought it was poor - fairly well written - but with a hackneyed plot and cardboard cut-out characters.
Next up I'm going to go for something non-crime - but I don't know what yet.

[hermetic]

34. Going to be looking for

Ann Cleeves books. Wow. In 2006 she won the inaugural Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the richest crime-writing prize in the world, for her novel Raven Black. In addition to her crime novels, Cleeves has written a number of ghost stories to be read at Newcastle upon Tyne's Literary and Philosophical Society. One of these was issued as part of the anthology Phantoms at the Phil. – The Second Proceedings. What a fun thing to have for Halloween.

Speaking of awards:
Ed McBain was the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. He also holds the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award, and received an Edgar Award nomination for his novel Money, Money, Money. His books have sold more than one hundred million copies, ranging from the more than fifty titles in his outstanding 87th Precinct series to the bestselling novels The Blackboard Jungle and Criminal Conversation, written under his own name, Evan Hunter.

[Bleacher Creature]

28. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

[hermetic]

35. Epic fantasy

by N.K. Jemisin. Got lots of excellent reviews.

[pansypoo53219]

31. sense and sensibility. been pushing thru all.

[hermetic]

36. Timeless

Written in 1811. Jane Austen's sardonic humor lays bare the stratagems, the hypocrisy and the poignancy inherent in the struggles of two very different sisters to achieve respectability.

[pansypoo53219]

41. i rad about a near contemporary of austin in my 1903 encyclopedia britannica.

i am pushing thru several books. i read mostly non-fiction now. her name is somewhere. susan? ferrars? GOOGLE! susan ferriers.
saving pride & prejudice for last. then back to my 1908 great aurations & the EBs.

[japple]

37. Seeing this immense, gorgeous, spacious library while in the midst of setting up

our bi-annual Friends of the Library book sale. We have way too many books and too little space. Oh well, we will muddle through somehow.

Thanks, hermetic, for the weekly thread! I am still reading Charles Frazier's book, Varina and it is amazing. I am grateful for writers like Mr. Frazier who write so well and make me truly appreciate the beauty of language.

I am excited about upcoming works by such authors as Leif Enger, Kate Morton, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, Haruki Murakami. You can read about it here: https://bookpage.com/reviews?book_genre=fiction&page=1

[hermetic]

39. Isn't that amazing?

Thanks so much for that link. Sounds like some great literature coming our way. I like this one for Halloween:

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

The simple premise of a shadowy figure who stalks you and witnesses your sins, even if you’re not prepared to confront them, is the driving force of Melmoth, and Perry doesn’t waste a word of this lean, taut novel, effectively conveying an ever-encroaching sense of absolute dread. The story builds, unfolding layers of darkness without ever becoming garish or pretentious, until by the end you’re happily trapped in its eerie embrace.

[getting old in mke]

38. Deep Storm

By Lincoln Child

[hermetic]

40. Haven't read this one yet

Since it's Lincoln Child, I will eventually. Sounds quite intriguing: In this explosive thriller, one of the most incredible and frightening discoveries mankind has ever faced is about to surface.