What Fiction are you reading this week, February 20, 2022?

[hermetic]

I'm reading The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. It was written circa 1940 but initially failed to find a publisher. O'Brien withdrew the manuscript from circulation and claimed he had lost it. The book was finally published a year after his death in 1966. This story of a botched robbery and brutal murder takes us into a reality quite unlike anything we've experienced before. It's pretty funny, and thought provoking. I bought this online as a used book since my library didn't have it but I think it was remaindered because it's in perfect condition, from 1999. I'm pretty sure I am the first person to have opened it.

Listening to Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. This was just published last month so it's a pretty current examination of political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream. It's also a smart romantic comedy that lures us in with laughter and keeps us hooked with a fantastically engaging story. It's really good.

What good books are you reading this week?

[LogicFirst]

1. Just finished Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (1939).

[hermetic]

3. There's an oldie

but a goodie. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications Philip Marlowe gets caught up in during his investigation of a blackmailer.

[SheltieLover]

2. Dream of Death by Connie Berry

And a bunch of Kate Carlisle works awaiting me.

[hermetic]

6. I really must read

that Berry book. Scotland, ghosts, old houses....these are a few of my favorite things.

[SheltieLover]

15. Lol

It's okish. I love those dynamics, too, but the story is a lot of reminiscing about protagonist's deceased husband.

Author is no Grisham, but few are.

[Polly Hennessey]

33. It was good.

I am also reading, The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry.

[The King of Prussia]

4. "Death at Dukes Halt" by Derek Farrell

A contemporary country house whodunnit, part of the haul from the literary event we attended last week.
Earlier on I read "Black Reed Bay" by Rod Reynolds, a police procedural set in the US, but written by a Londoner. Very good indeed.

We have had storm force winds, heavy snow and now heavy rain over the past few days. Little bit of flooding locally, but none in the village.

Johnson, we are told, is going to remove the remaining Covid restrictions. That should be interesting - but it's not nevessarily wrong.

Good reading everyone!

[hermetic]

7. Glad to see you

I was wondering about that storm and if it hit you. I've seen some devastating photos of big old trees taking out big old houses. So sad.

Your book sounds marvelous...."The dialogue is whip-sharp, the story-telling is hugely engaging, and the plotting is intricate & precise."

Cheers.

[The King of Prussia]

11. We were fine thanks

Pretty much ideally located this time. The south of England as well as Scotland got hit bad, but we are pretty much in the middle where it was less severe.

[SheltieLover]

16. I'd read about the wind storm!

Glad you are ok!

I'll give the books you mentioned a look! Ty for sharing!

[The King of Prussia]

21. I feel a bit of a fraud

Moaning about weather. We virtually never get truly severe weather here.

[SheltieLover]

22. But when it happens, it's a big event!

Feel free to vent!

[hippywife]

5. Currently, I'm reading Zorrie by Laird Hunt

on the recommendation of a couple of DUers (sorry can't remember who and can't find the posts.)

Finished my re-read of Lonesome Dove and had hoped to start the rest of the series, but can only find the last one, Comanche Moon, as an ebook, so added it to my TBR for now and requested The Streets of Laredo from my local library and Dead Man's Walk through the Mobius system in physical book form.

In the meantime, I ave a couple of non-fiction on their way to me, as well.

[hermetic]

9. We need bigger libraries

Books from before the 2000s are getting harder to find, in actual book form anyway.

Hope you enjoy Zorrie. A lot of us here did.

[hippywife]

18. I have to admit

that ours has always been very good about approving any purchases I've suggested. I'm really happy to support them.

I'm just halfway through, but enjoying Zorrie so far. Thanks!

[question everything]

8. Death of a Green-Eyed Monster - a Hamish Macbeth mystery, last one

M.C. Beaton wrote 34 Agatha Raisins mysteries and 34 Hamish Macbeth mysteries and several others.

This book was written when she was already sick and another writer: R.W. Green, co wrote and so far there is no difference. It was published last week posthumously.

The story continues with a local police sergeant in a small village in northern Scotland.

He has a unique way of solving murders while keeping his loving way of treating the villagers.

He has been unlucky in love but this one he may finally found the one.

Maybe. I sense trouble and disappointment and another, last heartbreaking.

[hermetic]

10. I'm a big Agatha Raisin fan

I plan to get into the Hamish Macbeth tales one of these days.

[The King of Prussia]

12. IMO the Hamish Macbeth stories are superior to Agatha Raisin

I read about a dozen when I was in hospital. Cheered me up mightily.

[hermetic]

13. Ah, thanks for that

I could use a bit of cheering up around here. Tomorrow we will be hit with an arctic blast which will keep temperatures well below freezing all week.

[question everything]

31. I liked the Agatha Raisin TV episodes but when I started reading the books

and I read only two, she appeared very insufferable so I did not continue.

[bif]

14. Still working on "My Year Abroad".

Almost done. It's a darn good read, but I have several other books waiting in the wings!

[hermetic]

17. Good for you!

[Paper Roses]

19. I'm a Baldacci fan and just picked up "Walk the Wire".

I'm supposed to be doing my taxes but I can't put the book down. If you are a Baldacci fan, you'll love this.
After this, I'm going back to read the 2nd(in the series) Reacher book. OK, I read all of them but I need a change of pace.
I survive on the "Little Free Libraries" in my town, such a good idea. I donate all the books I read back to them. There are several so I split it up.

Can you guess I don't watch TV?

[hermetic]

20. Good for you!

On all fronts. I don't watch TV either. Gave it up 15 yrs ago, no regrets. When there's some terrific new series, which is kind of rare, I just get it on DVD from the library or used book store.

LFLs are fabulous and donating back to them is important.

I am a Baldacci fan so have added that one to my TBR list. Thanks.

And taxes? Yuck. There's always next month.

[SheltieLover]

23. A new Baldacci?

🤩

Ty!

[Paper Roses]

26. Yes, US edition dated 2021 in paperback. 2020 hardbook or ebook.

Baldacci is one of my favorite writers, almost always a great read.

[SheltieLover]

27. Thx

I really like him, too!

[Number9Dream]

24. Finished "Ancients" by David Golemon. Started "Leviathan" by David Golemon.

"Ancients" was an interesting twist on the often written about Atlantis myth. A pretty good action, page-turner. The author chose to name a major character, Carl Everett. Unfortunately, I only remember the Carl Everett who was an ill-tempered, obnoxious baseball player, who said that dinosaurs didn't exist. Annoying whenever I read the name in the story. The author has another annoying habit. In scenes where there might be 3 or more characters, during dialogue, half the time he doesn't attribute who is speaking. I had to keep pausing to figure out who said what.

"Leviathan" is more creative and interesting then "Ancients", even if it acknowledges being an updated take-off of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

[hermetic]

25. That was funny

About Everett. I hate when that happens in a book. Plus that whole who is saying what stuff. Annoying.

Leviathan does sound interesting. Hope you enjoy it.

Glad to see you. Hope you are doing well.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. I have two Atlantis - themed books on my to read shelf

Actually, I have three archaeology/adventure series that I have been reading for a couple of years. Interestingly, the characters in all three series may hunt for the same artifacts at some point in their adventures but the storylines are all different enough that you don't feel like you are reading the same story over and over.

Echoes of Atlantis: Crones, Templars and the Lost Continent (Templars in America Series Book 6) another David S Brody. This series deals with settlers, explorers, artifacts and Templars - all in the pre Columbian period.


Atlantis Lost (A James Acton Thriller, #21) (James Acton Thrillers)
J. Robert Kennedy
Archaeology Professor James Acton has a knack for getting into trouble…

The mysteries of yesterday demand to be solved, but in the world of Archaeology Professor James Acton, sometimes it's safer to leave the past alone. Enter a world where the past and present confront each other, where friends and enemies aren’t always clear, where history invades the present with a vengeance, and where no one man can survive without the help of the woman he loves.

There are 32 of these so far. High Adventure. These two end up at the Vatican often enough that the Vatican security folks duck when they see them coming. They also have a Delta Force team at their beck and call.

The third series: the Sean Wyatt Archaeological Thrillers by Ernest Dempsey Each book deals with a race to find a particular artifact or treasure, very nasty enemies, secret societies, conspiracies. These are edge of the seat up all night books. There are 21 Sean Wyatt books plus two other series. I have several that I need to read.

A blurb from book one "The Secret of the Stones": (this is book one of a trilogy actually)
THE GREATEST WANT OF MAN ISN'T WEALTH OR POWER. IT'S IMMORTALITY.

After a historian is murdered while investigating an ancient text, a former government agent learns his best friend has also gone missing. He soon discovers his friend has been abducted in order to uncover a 4000 year old mystery buried deep in the southeastern United States.

If this secret is uncovered, it could bring about a pandemic unlike anything the world has ever seen.

And that's exactly what one man wants. So he can remake the human race in his image.

Welcome to the International Archaeological Agency.

[Number9Dream]

32. Thanks - I'll definitely look into those

[japple]

28. Thanks for the weekly thread, hermetic. I am finishing up Jane Smiley's

Some Luck tonight and starting on Early Warning. I love this family and Smiley's writing.

[yellowdogintexas]

29. The Oath of Nimrod

The Oath of Nimrod: Giants, MK-Ultra and the Smithsonian Coverup (Book #4 in Templars in America Series)

A mysterious race of North American giants.

An ancient Hebrew inscription in a Cherokee burial mound.

A blood oath made by blindfolded Freemasons.

Are these three historical oddities the reason the CIA is trying to brainwash historian Cameron Thorne and his fiancée Amanda Spencer-Gunn? The answer lies buried in the legends of the Knights Templar, within the rituals of the secretive Freemasons and, most significantly of all, inside the bowels of the Smithsonian Institution. The problem for Cam and Amanda? If they go rummaging around the Smithsonian, they may find themselves buried alongside the ancient giants.

Based on actual historical artifacts, and illustrated. I found myself totally immersed in the history and the legends addressed in each book.

Publishers Weekly says of the author, "BRODY DOES A TERRIFIC JOB OF WRAPPING HIS RESEARCH IN A FAST-PACED THRILL RIDE."

This is a stand-alone novel with recurring characters. These books can be read in any order. I recommend reading them in order if you can, so you can enjoy watching the characters evolve.

The first installment is "The Cabal of the Westford Knight"
I have read several of the books in this series, and have throughly enjoyed them. The author has created some engaging and likable characters. I have three more that I have not read so you will be seeing more of Mr Brody's work.