What Fiction are you reading this week, January 30, 2022?

[hermetic]

A message from your local library/book store.


Seriously, though, hope everyone is doing okay after that storm.

Almost done with State of Terror. It is a true, edge of your seat thriller. Next up: Zorrie, by Laird Hunt, a short book. Then Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves, a Vera Stanhope novel. "With pitch-perfect writing, a finely tuned mystery, and a protagonist with a complex past of her own, Silent Voices is a stand out, penned by one of Britain's most successful mystery writers."

Listening to Sweet Vengeance by Fern Michaels, a deeply satisfying and uplifting story of one woman's journey from heartbreak to triumph.

Hoping everyone is able to read something this week.

[bif]

1. "Sweetland" by Michael Crummy

I'm only about 30 pages in. It seems promising.

[hermetic]

2. Read that one some time ago

Really enjoyed it. Hope you do, too.

[bif]

7. Thanks I was going to give it my usual 50 pages

But if you liked it I'll stick with it!

[The King of Prussia]

3. Ann Cleeves is great isn't she?

We're going to see her at an event in Whitley Bay - where much of "Vera" is set. Unless the Covid rules change again.

Still reading "Murder-on-Sea" by Julie Wassmer. It's very good, bit I've been distracted/busy this week. Even went to see a football match (just the second in 2 years).

Stay well.

[hermetic]

5. Oh nice

I'll bet she's a lovely person. She's certainly had an interesting life.

Enjoy!

[bottomofthehill]

4. A drink before the war

A Dennis Lahane book.

[hermetic]

6. This is...

the original--the gripping, utterly addictive book that gained an instant audience for its brilliant young author and his unforgettable heroes.

Hadn't heard his name in quite some time. Looks like he's busy these days writing screenplays.

[bottomofthehill]

15. It was bought before we had kids, put in a box and forgotten about.

My children are both out of the house. We bought 2 new book cases and started organizing books and donating others. I came across about a dozen books I either did not read or forgot about as we had new born children. Thus, I have a dozen actual books ( non kindle) to read.

[hermetic]

18. That's really nice

Kind of like a surprise gift.

[bottomofthehill]

19. One of the other books I found was "Worth It All"

Last edited Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Written by Speaker Jim Wright. He was the Speaker when Charlie Wilson was trying to make war/peace in Afghanistan.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. I need to find a copy of that one! Speaker Wright was a very dear friend

I had not heard of this book; I have copies of several others though.

Miss him terribly

[Number9Dream]

8. "The Cat Who Could Read Backwards" by Lilian Jackson Braun

Thanks for the thread, hermetic. You're the best.

After all the violence in the last book I read, I needed a lighter read. This is the first book in the series (copyright 1966). It was recently hardcover reprinted by Putnam. I've read a few of the other books in the series, but the first time I've read the first book. It explains how the main character, Qwilleran, came to live with Koko the Siamese cat. I needed a lighter read, and this was just right.

[hermetic]

11. That is so cool!

I love those stories. They are delightful and, as you said, a lighter read after some violence. I tell ya, that Clinton/Penny book I'm reading has become a real jaw-dropper.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. I think I will investigate the ebooks at our library

hopefully they will have it

[Irish_Dem]

9. Someone just gave me a copy of PROJECT HAIL MARY

By Andy Weir.

[hermetic]

12. Lucky you!

I really want to read that one as I hear it is quite funny..

[Irish_Dem]

14. My friend said it was a bit boring.

A lot of technical information.

But I have not started it yet so I cannot comment.

[hermetic]

16. Interesting

Then I really look forward to hearing your take on it. No rush...

[Irish_Dem]

17. Ok I will let you know....

[Jeebo]

37. "Project Hail Mary" is the best book I read last year.

And one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read. So much science fiction is about conflict between humans and extraterrestrials, and I get so tired of it, as much as I love science fiction. Oh, are they going to start getting suspicious about each other, again, and scheming against each other, shooting at each other, trying to hurt each other and kill each other? Why can't humans and extraterrestrials ever be each other's friends, help each other out, scratch each other's back, give each other a helping hand? Those kinds of positive, uplifting stories about the noble elements of each species' character is rare. Robert L. Forward wrote science fiction with that optimistic theme, and Andy Weir's "Project Hail Mary" also is that kind of novel. It is wonderful, and it is staying with me several months after I read it, and already I am thinking about reading it again. I always know, when I read one that I keep thinking about for weeks and even months after I finish it, that I have read a true gem.

-- Ron

[Irish_Dem]

38. Sounds wonderful.

Snow storm hitting tonight, will dive into the book!

[bif]

41. Stick with it

He's very scientific and spends a lot of time explaining everything. But it's well worth it! Best book I've read in a long time.

[murielm99]

10. I am reading

The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye.

It is a retelling of Hamlet. A few other characters, like Robin Goodfellow, are thrown in for good measure. The only fun part is discovering which characters match the originals in Hamlet.

This book is pretentious. The dialogue is ridiculous. No one speaks that way, and I know already that they will all die before the end of the book.

I promised myself that I would finish it. I am nearly done. I am done with this author as well.

You people know already that I am picky. I read everything, but I do not love everything.

If you want something good, try the book I read prior to this one: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. Some time ago, I read A Tale for the Time Being by the same author. Both of them were wonderful.

[hermetic]

13. Oh, my

I usually like Shakespeare retellings but I guess I'll give this one a miss.

The Ozeki books, though, sound terrific. Will def be putting her on my list.

[murielm99]

28. I reread Hamlet before reading this book.

That was worthwhile, too.

[Polly Hennessey]

20. Two new ones.

The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry. I am back with Kate Hamilton, antiques dealer and solver of crimes. This time we have a valuable Chinese pottery jar and murder once again complicates life.

Next: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter by Blaize Clement -the first Daisy Hemingway mystery. It is all about a homicide detective turned pet-sitter. Don’t ask. It is my bedtime reading, loving it, and it is funny. Smiling face as I drift off to sleep. 💤

[hermetic]

21. All right, new ones

I'd never heard of the Cat Sitters series before, but there are 12 of them and I will be reading them myself at some point. Love me some kitty stories. Thanks.

[hippywife]

22. Early Warning.

The second installment of Jane Smiley's triliogy:The Last Hundred Years Trilogy: A Family Saga

I should have finished by now but have been so busy, not enough time to read until bed time, then just a couple pages and out like a light.

[hermetic]

23. I can relate

I frequently find myself doing the same. But, a little is better than none, I do believe.

[hippywife]

24. Agreed.

I can't go to bed without a book.

[murielm99]

29. I purchased that trilogy some time ago,

but I have not read it yet. I don't usually buy fiction. I get it from the library. Someone gave me a gift certificate to our local bookstore, so I bought these.

Also, this is an independent bookstore. We have to keep them in business.

[hippywife]

30. I'm really liking it right now.

It's very day in the life and the story of this family is told in a calm manner, even when things are bad. There's not a lot of overly dwelling on things. It's really been what I need right now, as I'm trying to avoid things to sad and deep, to keep my current mood from tanking.

[japple]

32. That is very much like ZORRIE by Laird Hunt that I just finished last week.

I will check out Jane Smiley's latest. I have liked what I read of hers in the past

[hippywife]

33. And I'll check out that one! Thanks! n/t

[yellowdogintexas]

27. Finished Crash and Burn which was good

and read Safe and Sound Sisterhood #29

Isabelle Flanders Tookus isn’t expecting to involve the Sisterhood in a new mission when she strikes up a friendship with a curly-haired boy in her local park. Ben Ryan is an eight-year-old child genius, the grandson of millionaire Eleanor Lymen, who hired Izzy years ago to design an institute for gifted children. Ben’s mother passed away and Ben now lives with his stepfather and his wife. They’ve been using Ben’s trust fund to support their lavish lifestyle while shamefully neglecting Ben. And with the wife getting greedy, Ben’s safety is now in jeopardy.

Izzy’s first step: call in the Sisterhood. The second: track down Eleanor, who has mysteriously vanished on a secret mission of her own. Izzy, Annie, Myra, and the rest of the Sisters come together at Pinewood, thrilled to be united once more. Together they’ll lay a trap, one that will protect Eleanor’s beloved grandson, get him into the happy home he deserves, and provide the kind of creative, satisfying payback the Sisters dish out so well . . .

Started #30 Cut and Run
It’s been three months since Countess Annie de Silva slipped away from her home before dawn, leaving a cryptic note and no clue as to her destination. That’s an eternity for friends as devoted as the Sisterhood. Now they’re desperate to ensure that their founding member is alive and well, and that means tracking her down—wherever in the world she might be.

Myra Rutledge, Annie’s closest confidante, knows the secrets of Annie’s past, including the remote mountain in Spain where Annie spent some of the best—and worst—days of her life. Annie vowed that she’d never return to the mountain or the stunning monastery there. But the memories of the past have called her back. Now, she needs allies who are fearless, loyal, and willing to do whatever it takes to see justice done. And with the safety of one of their own on the line, the Sisterhood won’t let her down . . .

I only have a couple of these left, plus 3 of the Men of the Sisterhood collection. Then I am going to need to find something new.

[AngryOldDem]

31. "Crossroads," by Jonathan Franzen.

First of a promised family trilogy, IIRC.

For a largish-book (580 pages) with characters who by and large aren’t particularly sympathetic, I can’t put this book down. The writing is excellent, and the way he is weaving the family’s stories together is amazing. His insights, too, are thought-provoking. Reading a chapter now that is looking at joy in the context of religious belief. (This is a tension that runs throughout, since the father is a messed-up associate pastor.)

This is set in 1971.

I read “The Corrections” several years ago and was unimpressed. May have to reread, since this book has changed my opinion of Franzen.

[hermetic]

34. Ahh, 1971

That was a good year. I should read this; it sounds a lot like my story. I was rapidly becoming a member of the counterculture. My younger brother was selling drugs to his classmates. From the book description: "With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, Franzen conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own. (Truly) His novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America."

Published in 2021, in case anyone is wondering.

[AngryOldDem]

35. It ends in 1974.

And yes, Franzen has set up sequels. While “Crossroads” has a “tidy” ending, there are a lot of loose ends hanging.

[Jeebo]

36. "We Must Be Brave" by Frances Liardet

A historical novel set in World War II England that starts during the Blitz in 1940. A group of English people are fleeing Nazi bombs by escaping into small villages in the English countryside. A little girl, not quite six years old, is found sleeping on the back bench of a bus without anybody on the bus who claims her. A young married woman takes her home, and after it is discovered that her mother was killed in the bombing of the hotel the mother and the child had been staying in, the young married woman and her husband take the child in and start caring for her. They end up raising the child for the next several years ... until, unexpectedly, the girl's father, who had been thought to be completely out of the picture, shows up and claims her. That's where I am now, 248 pages in, with a little more than 200 pages left. The little girl and the young married woman have pretty thoroughly bonded at this point, but the just-surfaced father seems to expect to be able to send the little girl away to live with his sister and her family. It's an emotionally devastating situation that is sure to break somebody's heart -- including the reader's. I'm looking forward to being able to sit down with it and read some more.

-- Ron

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. I can't imagine only having three days worth of books

on hand.

Three months, probably more like three years is what I have.

[lounge_jam]

40. TC Boyle and French 101

For the last couple of months, I've mostly been reading TC Boyle. This month I picked up Outside Looking In, which focuses on the ways in which the question of consciousness has been addressed. Of course, people are going to say this is a novel about LSD, but it's more than that. In Boyle's own words, the book aims to address how in the span of a decade people went from "the therapist's couch to mind expansion." Indeed, the book focuses on the many overlaps and incompatibilities between these two approaches. Raises good questions in the process, what with the active elimination of the "I" or "first-person accounts" from science, we don't think we need a first-person account of consciousness, a pervasive aspect of existence we have no objective account of.

Other than that, I'm coaxing my lazy self into learning some French. I'm no good, but I do at least know the difference between bonsoir and bonne soiree. I will probably just brag about this for the rest of the year without actually learning anymore French.

[CrispyQ]

42. I was about half way through "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss,

when I had to return it to the library because another patron wanted it. Up until that point, I liked the story & was really engaged, but then the supposed smart, gifted main character did something colossally stupid, & that's when the library wanted the book back. Now I have to decide if I want to check it out again.

In the meantime, I picked up "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michele Richardson. It's historical fiction about the blue people of Kentucky & the Pack Horse Library Project, both of which I'd never heard of before. The first half was really good & focused on social justice issues, but the second half was rushed & a romance, which I thought just sort of bloomed out of nowhere, became a big part of the story. The end was mostly satisfying. I'd give it 3 stars.

"Silent Voices" sounds interesting. Going to check it out.

We got 8" of snow, but that's not much for us & we need the moisture. It did dip below zero two nights in a row & probably again tonight, but we're CO, not TX. Stay warm, hermetic!


https://historyofyesterday.com/the-blue-people-of-kentucky-2c0fcfea4fd7