What Fiction are you reading this week, July 3, 2022?

[hermetic]

I'm reading The Black Book by Ian Rankin, the 6th John Rebus Mystery, pub. 1993. I discovered my library has 2 old Rebus books I don't think I ever read. I always enjoy getting back together with Rebus. Kind of feels like family.

Listening to The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. In a peaceful retirement village, four septuagenarians meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. A local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body. As the bodies begin to pile up, can this brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late? Fun stuff.

Stay cool. Have a happy Independence (cough, cough) Day. I won't be doing any celebrating.

[murielm99]

1. Rebus!

I loved the Rebus books.

I am reading World Without End, by Ken Follett. Years ago I read The Pillars of the Earth. This book is the sequel. I reread Pillars of the Earth before reading this one, even though Pillars is more than nine hundred pages long. It was worth it.

[hermetic]

2. Big books!

The second one is over 1,000 pages.

Do you think someone could equally enjoy the second one without reading the first? Just curious.

[murielm99]

4. Yes.

You can read them in any order as well. There are three of them.

I will have to stay close to home for a while. This will give me plenty of time to read. They are gutting my kitchen and replacing it. Someone will have to be here when the (fully vaxxed) crew is here.

Also, my kitty hates loud noises. I will have to confine him and spend a lot of time comforting him.

[hermetic]

9. Thanks

Lucky you. I'd like to have a new kitchen. Hope kitty doesn't have a rough time over the next few days. My cats don't care for those big booms at night right now.

[murielm99]

11. I am getting ready to talk to someone

about painting a mural on my longest kitchen wall. He is supposed to be very good. If he is not vaxxed, he is not coming into my house.

We saved for about five years to get the kitchen. I will be glad when this is done.

Kitty may need to be tranquilized. I hate to do that to animals.

[cbabe]

3. Burning Questions

Essays by Margaret Atwood

Nonfiction but she talks about lots of fiction books in depth.

Interested in the creation of Handmaid’s Tale?

Plus she’s so smart and perceptive she makes the essays flow like fiction.

[hermetic]

7. Nice

I love Margaret and never tire of hearing what she has to say.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

5. Antonina by Wilkie Collins

Only recommended if you are trying to read every Wilkie Collins novel, LOL.

[hermetic]

10. Oh wow.

The Fall of Rome. Written in 1850. Most interesting.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

14. It has an interesting Pagan vs. Christian subplot that reminds me of religious extremism today.

But Antonina, the (Roman) heroine, is waaay underage and ridiculously portrayed so far. OTH, when I have trouble getting to sleep, I just fire up the next chapter on my Kindle!

[MontanaMama]

6. I just started Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead.

I read her historical novel The Great Circle and was so taken by Shipstead’s attention to detail and sense of place. Astonish Me came out before Great Circle and I just discovered it. I tried reading another Shipstead work, Seating Arrangements but didn’t finish it. So far, I am enjoying this story.

Glad to see you neighbor.

[hermetic]

12. Hi. Likewise

Your book sounds great. "..a gorgeously written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the demanding world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations." My granddaughter is a professional ballerina. I'll have to find this one.

[Number9Dream]

8. "Legacy of the Dead" by Charles Todd (Rutledge 4)(Spoiler Alert)

Thanks for the thread, hermetic.

This was my first Inspector Rutledge book, so I got the earliest one my library had (copyright 2000). I've read positive reviews on this DU thread and elsewhere, so I thought I'd give one a try. Set in 1919 Scotland and England, it was a unique setting which I enjoyed. The mystery was complicated and I couldn't begin to guess who-done-it. Rutledge hearing the voice in his head was interesting for the first 50 or so pages, but then became a distraction. The accused woman being Hamish's fiancée was a one-in-a-half-million shot. The father of the boy being Rutledge's childhood friend was a second one-in-a-half-million shot. The ending was like a TV cliffhanger ending: Rutledge is moments away from bleeding to death nowhere near a hospital (plus many unanswered questions). What happened to Fiona and the boy? Was it proven that Holden was responsible for everything? Etc. It may be awhile before I try another Rutledge book.

[hermetic]

13. Oh my

I guess it will be a while before I try a Rutledge book myself. Thanks for posting.



Hey, check out my post in the Pets Group to see what's been keeping me insanely busy this past week.

[SheltieLover]

15. Fern Michaels' Godmothers series

Abby, Toot's daughter has 3 godmothers. All of the elderly women are widows & very wealthy.

Abby is a Hollywood tabloid reporter.

Really great writing. Not as funny or quirky as DeLeon or many others, but good reads.

[hermetic]

16. She's amazing

Written over 150 books.

[SheltieLover]

17. Yes, very versatile & prolific

Are all of hers cozies?

[hermetic]

18. No

"In 1973, her husband told her to get a job. Because she had no idea how to get a job, Michaels decided to try to write a book. Her husband was not very supportive of her efforts, and consequently they separated."

Good move, Fern! Her first are romances and historical. She loves writing books about women who prevail under difficult circumstances, which she feels reflect her struggle for success early in her career.

[SheltieLover]

19. Good for her!

I love her theme! Even in Godmothers women are quite dynamic, facing & working through difficulties.

Ty!!!

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Definitely not: The Sisterhood novels are definitely not cozy

they are much more serious than Godmothers (even though there are definitely humorous moments). These women are definitely dynamic!

Great books, though. There are 34 going on 35 of them; if you decide to take them on start with Weekend Warriors

[SheltieLover]

24. Ty!

[yellowdogintexas]

23. I just read the first one and really enjoyed it.

definitely fun

[SheltieLover]

25. Found all of them in one e-book book through library

[japple]

20. Still reading Louise Erdrich's THE SENTENCE and loving it. I just can't make the time

to read much before I fall asleep. Trying to stay cool and comfortable in this miserable hot summer is a full time job. I feel so bad for people who have no AC or who have to work outside.

Your new little angel kitten is adorable.

[hermetic]

21. Thanks

I am so lucky to be where the weather is actually pleasant right now. Last year at this time it had been over 100 for days on end. Everyone's gardens had cooked to a crisp. Today it's just 80 and looks like it will remain for a while yet. And we keep getting little sprinkles of showers, which I just love.

You take care and remember to keep those fluids flowing.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. I finished The Marrying of Chani Kaufman

brief synopsis from Amazon: London, 2008. Nineteen-year-old Chani Kaufman is betrothed to Baruch Levy, a young man she’s seen only four times before their wedding day. All the cups of cold coffee and small talk with suitors have led up to this moment. But the happiness Chani and Baruch feel is outweighed by their anxiety about the realities of married life; about whether they will be able to have fewer children than Chani’s mother, who has eight daughters; and about the frightening, unspeakable secrets of the wedding night.

Through the story of Chani and Baruch’s unusual courtship, we meet a very different couple: Rabbi Chaim Zilberman and his wife, Rebbetzin Rivka Zilberman. As Chani and Baruch prepare to share a lifetime, Chaim and Rivka struggle to keep their marriage alive—and all four, together with the rest of the community, face difficult decisions about the place of faith and family in the contemporary world.

I learned a LOT about the rituals of strict Orthodox Judaism, and why the rituals developed. It was very interesting. However, the position of women is disturbing to say the least. The story is told well, but at the end I felt sort of dropped off. Somehow I think Chani and Rivka have more to tell us; I certainly hope so.

I finished up The Sea Turtle Did It, part of a fun cozy series set on an island on coastal Florida. In this one the murderer really sneaked up on me; I had no idea who it was. I am such a sucker for Florida fiction or New Orleans fiction; you wouldn't believe how many books I have that are set in one or the other of those places.

Currently: Working my way through The Seven by Sarah Cradit. I am up to 1974 . From the jacket notes of the first novel 1970:

1970. New Orleans. The seven Deschanel siblings live with their long-suffering mother in an historic Garden District mansion. Each of them unique. Each of them born with a gift. In some cases, a gift they wish they could give back.

When August Deschanel died, he left his wife, Irish Colleen, with more than seven children to raise. She inherited a job she was never prepared for: bringing up his heirs in a world she doesn't understand. She'd never seen true magic, not before marrying into the most prominent-and mysterious-family in New Orleans. Now, she can't escape it.

Irish Colleen knows a terrible secret. Her youngest, a prophet, has seen a future that is unavoidable: the Deschanels will not leave 1970 without losing one of the seven. She knows only that it will happen, but not when, how… or to whom.

Charles, the playboy heir apparent. Augustus, the family fixer. Colleen, the unfailing pragmatist. Madeline, the bleeding heart. Evangeline, the genius. Maureen, the dreamer. Elizabeth, the tortured one.

One of her children must die, and Irish Colleen can do nothing to stop it.
If you like paranormal fiction of any kind, grab one of these and give it a try.

I am currently in 1974, when these children are starting off into their adult lives.

These are some complex and riveting tales; there are a total of 23 books dealing with these characters and their huge family, plus their wide circle of friends and associates.

https://www.sarahmcradit.com/reading-order/
The author has two different reading order lists; one is publication order and the other is chronological. I sort of fell into these books totally unaware of the magnitude of the story, and I am tempted to follow her chronological list and just start over.

[CrispyQ]

27. I just finished a collection of short stories, Afro-Bougie Blues, by a fellow DUer.

https://democraticunderground.com/119319065

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B2TZD9H7

A variety of stories on different topics from different perspectives. Very enjoyable.

Off to peruse the library's offerings!

[hermetic]

28. Excellent, thank you!

So glad to hear you enjoyed those and hope others can do the same. We have to stand by our fellow DUers and I appreciate that you have shared your opinion here.