What Fiction are you reading this week, July 9, 2023?

[hermetic]

Fiction is necessary because nobody is cut out to deal with the strain of our current reality every day.


I'm reading The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, the first Bosch novel from '92. I have the paperback rerelease from 2017 so it's in crispy new condition. "Joining with an enigmatic and seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance." There are tunnels involved, hence the title. Fun fact: a victim in this story was supposedly working on the tunnel for the Los Angeles subway and a few days ago someone in the Photo group posted a link to pics from there and they are just amazing. It really added to the story, too.

I'm not listening to anything right now because I just don't have time. I do, though, have Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston cued up for when things calm down a bit around here.

What fiction is helping you deal with reality this week?

[Srkdqltr]

1. My sis in law told me to read Margaret Maron, The Bootleggers Daughter. I have read the whole

Series, I remember the people but not the story. I guess ill have to reread all of them again.
I listened to a podcast called The Currently Reading Podcast about the Three Pines books by Louise Penny. So I suppose I'll have to reread that series too. There are 2 episodes of the podcast covering the first two books. The women are a little twee? But I agree with slot of their views.

[hermetic]

4. Sounds like

You have enough to keep you busy for a while. The Maron series, alone, has 43 titles. Just half of her total output.

[Srkdqltr]

6. Maybe not all. At least not all at once.

Rereading is tricky. I do have a problem reading several series books in a row.
I find I notice the outline after 2 books. That is annoying.

[Joinfortmill]

2. Journey to Munich. J. Winspear

[hermetic]

3. Sounds good

Working with the British Secret Service on an undercover mission, Maisie Dobbs is sent to Hitler's Germany in this thrilling tale of danger and intrigue.

[Srkdqltr]

5. Winspear's books are always great reads.

[hedda_foil]

14. Love Maisie Dobbs!

[Bayard]

7. Mr. Bayard bought a book for me yesterday

(Gotta love that!)
A Matter of Life and Death, by Phillip Margolin. Not familiar with him, but plan on starting it later.

[hermetic]

9. That is great! Lucky you

The master of the courtroom thriller returns with a classic mind-bending puzzle, as Attorney Robin Lockwood must face her most challenging case yet, with everything stacked against her client and death on the line.

[bahboo]

8. at long last, have finally started The Lincoln Highway...

by Amor Towles. Excited to dig in. Btw, love everything by Connelly. Started the Bosch series when we moved to LA 17 years ago. Great way to get familiar with the city. That and car chases on tv...

[hermetic]

10. That's for sure

I've read most of the Bosch books but this was the first time I've had access to the first one. It's quite long and in-depth.

Towles' books are great, too. And long.

[Midnight Writer]

11. Just starting S A Cosby Razorblade Tears.

Nice, stripped down writing style that says a lot with few words.

[hermetic]

12. A winner

"Provocative and fast-paced, a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption."

Lots if 5-star ratings.

[hedda_foil]

13. The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate.

One of the best books I've read this year.

[hermetic]

15. Excellent

Very popular.

Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away.

[mentalsolstice]

25. +1, added to my WTR list. nt

[mike_c]

16. I'm just finishing The Three Body Problem...

...by Cixin Liu. No spoilers, I'm about 30 or 40 pages from the end. Afterward I'll read The Dark Forest, the second novel in the Three Body series.

[hermetic]

17. Yeah, I remember

We talked about this one last week. Good stuff.

[japple]

18. Fair Land, Fair Land by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. I came over here this morning and

posted this, but my wifi must have gotten disconnected, because my post is nowhere to be found. Either that or I imagined it! Anyway, I've only read a few pages, but I like Guthrie's style and look forward to this book.

With his revered classics The Big Sky and The Way West, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., claimed his preeminent post as the father of the western epic. Fair Land, Fair Land, first published in 1982, marks the sequel to his two masterworks and rounds out a chronological gap, the mid-nineteenth century, in Guthrie's Big Sky series. Reappearing here is Dick Summers, of the earlier sagas, now a wizened conservationist who seeks retribution from his former compatriot Boone Caudill and renewed companionship with the self-reliant Teal Eye. Imbued with a rich sense for the impermanence of the idyllic plains, this tour de force offers a stirring commentary on a country's physical and spiritual erosion, as relevant today as it was a decade ago.

Thank you for the weekly thread, hermetic. Hope your week ahead gives you more time to read/listen.

[hermetic]

19. How odd

Well, computers and such always have their quirks. Glad you were able to post again, sounds like an amazing book.

Thanks for the good wishes. I always have time to read; it's after I've gone to bed and should be sleeping.

Listening, on the other hand, gets more difficult when I have to run off every few minutes to deal with something in another room. Never a dull moment around here, I tells ya.

[japple]

24. I understand. A nice group of folks is helping me try to trap Mama kitty and her 5

Last edited Mon Jul 10, 2023, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

babies at the recreation center where my sister & I do our daily walk. Mama is a sweetheart. I put her right in the crate, but we're having to trap the babies. So far, we have 3 of her kittens, but the last two are not cooperating. Pray that we will have success tonight. BTW, we trapped a BIG male siamese that (might be the Daddy cat) we had to release because we didn't have a place for him to go. He was not a "tame" cat.

[Jilly_in_VA]

20. Would you believe

I'm still reading Years of Rice and Salt? Not only is it a very long book, but it is a very deep one, delving into many topics that make you think--physics, chemistry, religion, philosophy (lots of that!), and various views on the (alternate) history being told. Reading too much of it at once makes my brain hurt, but it might be Kim Stanley Robinson's best book. I am totally loving it, but I am definitely going to need something pretty light when I am done with it. However, I'm going to be mulling it over for a long time and possibly going back to it later.

[hermetic]

21. Nothing wrong with that

"Living in a book." I've done that. Thanks for sharing your experience with it.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Stilll working on reading the Prime books in my Kindle

I tried Three Ordinary Girls, which is about the Dutch Resistance. It really should be classified as non fiction; it's not quite dull but as a novel it could have been very engaging, possibly an all nighter.

Then I started The Archers Story which is fiction and a massive work. There are 12 books and I have the first 6 as a set. This is very interesting, being set during the Crusades (specifically the on e led by Richard The Lionheart who got on everybody's shit list due to his war crimes and abandonment of his troops only to be captured on his way to rescue his wife and sister.) It begins with evacuations from Christian forts before the Saracens massacre them. The characters are engaging and the events are intriguing but it could use a little punch to keep you up. So I am going to work on it one book at a time and have put it aside for a bit.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. I ended up with my old dependable Fern Michaels

Hidden: An exciting novel of suspense (A Lost and Found Novel Book 1)

Yep all I need is a new Fern Michaels series, right?

So far, it has been just what I needed after my attempts at the two more arid books described above.

A page-turning new story from the bestselling author of No Way Out, perfect for fans of Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel! Meet a brother and sister who are drawn into a treacherous mystery through an antique with a dark past, as they race against time to help a single mother and take down a ruthless couple bent on taking control of their family’s legacy…

At first glance, few would guess that Luna and Cullen Bodman are siblings. Cullen is efficient and serious while his younger sister Luna is a free spirit. When the two launch their furniture restoration shop/café—an offshoot of the family’s longtime antique business—in an up-and-coming arts center, little do they know their unique talents may be their only defense against a dangerous betrayal.

When Luna gets a strange sense about a piece Cullen just acquired, the two find themselves uniting to solve a mystery that has far-reaching consequences—never knowing there are some who’ll stop at nothing to claim what they believe is theirs. No matter what, Luna and Cullen know they can rely on each other—and this time, their lives may depend on it…

Just getting into it but it's going to be a fun read.

Of COURSE I have replaced the Prime books I already cleaned out....I acquired another book by Erin Littiken, author of The Memory Keeper of Kiev. It will probably be my next read.

The brand new historical novel from Erin Litteken, bestselling author of The Memory Keeper of Kyiv, based on her family's heart-wrenching escape from war-torn Europe.
A story of the strength of the human spirit, the personal cost of conflict and how love can be found even in the darkest times.

Summer 1941. War rages in Europe. The Germans march towards Ukraine. Halya, Liliya and Vika are no strangers to sorrow. They lost family during the Holodomor, loved ones in Stalin's purges, and war looms once more on the horizon.

These daughters of Ukraine will face devastation and loss as they fight to survive and protect the ones they love.

A gripping page-turner of love, loss and resilience for fans of The Nightingale and The Rose Code

If you have not read Memory Keeper of Kiev I can't recommend it enough!!! Novels of Ukraine are surfacing all over the place, and not just those written after the beginning of the current war. I am learning a lot about Ukraine's complex history!!

[hermetic]

28. Thanks, again

For finding so many terrific books for us to look forward to.

[mentalsolstice]

26. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I finished the Lager Queen of Minnesota last week. It was a quick read and a fun palette cleanser after reading a serious book like Those Who Save Us.

I’m enjoying The Invention of Wings. It’s about a young woman who to her dismay is gifted with a slave by her parents for her birthday.

However, it may take me some time to finish it. We have to make a 3 day run to Gainesville next week. And I’m deep into a new project. I’m buying furniture for a reading nook out in our Florida Room/sunroom. Mostly glassed in. It overlooks our backyard with a small lake and old growth pines with low hanging branches. It’s great when it rains, watching a thick fog rolling in or enjoying hummingbirds at their feeders. The best thing is I can access it from our bedroom for the nights I can’t sleep. I’m really excited to have my own little area to relax, read and nap 💤.

[hermetic]

27. That sounds marvelous

Looking out over a lake and all.

And your book, too: "This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved."

[joshdawg]

29. Bitterroot

by James Lee Burke.

Just started it.
I liked Burke's other novels, so figured this one has to be as good as or better than the others.

[mentalsolstice]

30. I want to clarify my earlier post about reading The Invention of Wings.

I’m reading it now and I wrote that I was “enjoying it.” It’s not a book to be enjoyed, a really poor choice of words. It’s a book to make one learn, feel, be humbled, but not to be enjoyed. However, just 50+ pages in, I’m engrossed.