What Fiction are you reading this week, May 21, 2023?

[hermetic]

America's oldest bookstore, in PA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Book_Shop

Reading The Promise by Robert Crais, the 18th Cole and Pike thriller. Along with murderers and terrorists we also get to spend time with Maggie, a German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing out explosives. She finds plenty to do in this "masterpiece of suspense." I always enjoy Crais' stories. He does good "dog."

Still listening to A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. This is quite a tale.

What tales will you be reading this week?

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Stuck on the same vein

Some Kind of Peace, by the Swedish sisters Camilla Grebe and Asa Traff. I read another by Grebe and it was a great book, I don't think this one will be as good, but is it the first in a series of novels entirely written by her so I want to bag this one first.

Also have The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz, who was also born in Pennsylvania and against all odds became a highly successful novelist. I've been to Moravian Book Shop, not lately tho.

[hermetic]

4. Cool!

Amazing that it's lasted that long.

That Koontz book sounds good and creepy. From 2018, "Jane Hawk may be all that stands between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society's terrifying mind-control technology." Non-fiction?

[hippywife]

2. Finished The Night Ship by Jess Kidd.

It was just okay. I mostly kept reading to find out how it ended.

Last night, I started Sula, by Toni Morrison. Not very far into yet to have an opinion.

[hermetic]

5. Morrison

From 1973, that one is still pretty popular. I suspect you will like it.

[hippywife]

9. Most of them seem to be in demand at the moment...

probably because of the book bans. But, so far, I've liked most of her work that I've read.

[japple]

10. I read that one several years ago, but many years later, when I was

going thru a series of eye surgeries, I listened to Toni Morrison read it on audiotape. It was amazing and wonderful. I should see if my library still has it.

[hippywife]

11. Audio books make me fall asleep. nt

[hippywife]

15. But I don't want to fall asleep while "reading". nt

[hippywife]

17. No.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. me too! I had to make my mom turn off her book tape

when we were driving because I was going to run off the road if she didn't.

[Polly Hennessey]

26. Same for me. Maybe because it reminds me

of mom/dad reading bedtime stories. So comforting, so soothing ☺️😴

[cbabe]

3. Two books on my library hold list just came in.

Two degrees/Alan Graft

Four kids, three climate change disaster scenarios.

Not the ones dead/Dana Stabenow

Latest in her Kate Shugak series

Flipping a coin to decide which one to start.

Yum yum.

[hermetic]

7. Tasty treats, indeed.

Two Degrees: tackles the urgent topic of climate change in this breathtaking, action-packed novel that will keep readers turning pages while making their own plans to better the world.

Not The Ones: A mid-air collision in the Alaskan wilderness between two small aircraft leaves ten people dead. Was it a bird strike, pilot error... or premeditated murder?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Just finished Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway

and getting ready to start Someone You Know also by McGilloway. Those are the first two in his Lucy Black series. They take place in Northern Ireland.

I've read all of his Inspector Ben Devlin novels, and one of his two stand-alone novels.

Lately, when I come across a new author whose books I like, I tend to binge read everything by that person.

[hermetic]

8. That can be fun

I'm kind of doing that with the Crais books right now but so many others keep calling out to me.

[japple]

12. Just a few chapters into Jamie Ford's book

Love and Other Consolation Prizes. I like the writing very much. The story is compelling and has opened up a period in US history that is not very familiar to me. I've enjoyed 2 other works by Jamie Ford, so I have high hopes for this one.

Loved reading about the Moravian Book Shop in your op.

Many thanks for the weekly thread, hermetic.

[hermetic]

13. For my 7,700th post

I'll just say Thanks.


Oh, and Love and Other Consolation Prizes is "an evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history." Jamie Ford is the great grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from China to San Francisco in 1865.

[japple]

19. We both joined DU in 2004. You got here about 2 months before me, so

I guess we're from the Class of 2004!!!

Congratulations on your 7700th post!

[mike_c]

18. currently reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Yep, I bought a copy the day she won the Pulitzer Prize.

/fanboy,

[hermetic]

20. Good for you!

I'll likely buy it myself pretty soon since the waiting list at the library is about a year long.

[Number9Dream]

21. Have been in the Moravian Bookshop a few times - interesting place.

As a resident of the Lehigh Valley, I have been in the Moravian Bookshop a few times. They also serve good food and drink. It's also just around the corner from the Bethlehem Public Library, in center city.

[hermetic]

22. Nice!

Sorry to be so long to reply. Three kittens climbed onto my keyboard about and hour ago and logged me out. And I didn't realize it until just now. Little buggers...

Now I gotta go feed the troops. Wishing you all a great week. Feel free to party on without me.

[yellowdogintexas]

24. Where Horizons End A Sean Wyatt Archaelogical Thriller

another Ernest Dempsey. This is #21 in the Sean Wyatt series.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE SOMETHING... DOESN'T MEAN IT ISN'T THERE.
Throughout history, kings, presidents, prime ministers, and treasure hunters have sought the fabled lost city of Shangri La. For centuries, this utopia has been relegated to fiction and lore, believed to be nothing more than a legend in the eyes of every historical expert in the world.

Until an archaeologist discovers an ancient map carved into a sacred mountain in China, and is murdered because of it.

Now, Sean Wyatt and his team from the International Archaeological Agency must trace his work and solve a series of clues that wind through China, and relearn this fascinating country's history that could lead to the key to opening Shambala's gates.

But they aren't the only ones who seek the door to Shangri La. An old rival is chasing down the clues as well, financed by one of the Far East's most powerful underworld leaders.

I am about 1/3 of the way through it and it is a fun read, as I expected.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. Last week's book: The Secret of Linden Court

by Thomas Stinson

I decided to post this on its own thread, instead of at the bottom of another one.

Andre Kosowicz has a secret.

In a quaint European city so old that Roman coins are still unearthed in the back gardens of trim little houses, the single, thirty-seven-year-old junior file clerk of the City Tax Department thought he knew every street, lane, boulevard, alley, thoroughfare, highway and byway within the city limits…until now.

Stuck in the back corner of an ancient file cabinet, Andre finds an old, faded street record and discovers evidence of a neighborhood he has never heard of: Linden Court. With no taxes paid by residents since before the Nazi invasion, he believes Linden Court has long since been paved over or bombed out of existence. To satisfy his curiosity, Andre heads to Olde Towne where, with a little snooping & a lot of luck, he finds a bustling cul-de-sac of homes and shops in the shadow of an ancient linden tree.

Rather than reporting his discovery to the city for recognition and rewards, Andre befriends a variety of colorful Linden Court residents as diverse as Madame Ra’Coone and her House of Fashion, gay gallery owner and art historian Szymon, the neighborhood’s barkeep Franz, a former member of the Resistance known as The Alley Sniper and his hot-to-trot niece Sophie.

How long can Andre keep his discovery a secret from the tax department, his bitter boss and the aloof college graduate who has suddenly taken a liking to him? And how has Linden Court been able to hide in plain sight for over twenty years?

A page-turning mystery with twists and turns, clever dialogue, danger, and a dash of romance set in 1960’s Eastern Europe.

I really did like this one. I sort of hopped in and out of it then read a couple of others; finally went back to it a couple of days ago. Loved the twists and dialogue and the main characters.