What Are We Currently Reading?

[blackwing]

I finished The Temple of Skulls, book #16 in the long-running Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase adventure series by Andy McDermott.

From Goodreads:

Quote

World-renowned archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, former SAS soldier Eddie Chase, now lead a quiet life - the only real danger posed by their rebellious teenage daughter. Until, on a visit to a newly discovered temple, they're suddenly engulfed in a deadly hunt for an ancient weapon which threatens the entire globe.

From the bustling streets of Mexico City to the mountainous jungles of Guatemala, Nina and Eddie - with daughter Gracie in tow - are the only ones who can prevent an apocalyptic evil seizing control of an unstoppable power.

Battling special operations soldiers and blood-thirsty cults, Nina and Eddie must once again risk their lives to save the world. . .

There's plenty of action and humour in these books.  What I like most about this series is that the characters actually age.  It's been a while since the last book, and the characters remark it's been five years since their last adventure.  Eddie is now 55 and Nina is now 50 and their daughter Macy is 15.

The plot of this book, as with the previous books, involves an artifact and a megalomaniac and Nina and Eddie's efforts to stop him.

[DearEvette]

Just Finished Ilona Andrews' latest book in their Innkeeper series Sweep of the Heart.

It was flipping excellent.  This is an urban fantasy series where on earth there are magical Inns that house galactic visitors as they travel.  There are all sorts of rules that govern how the inns work.  The series is a lot o fun.

In this one, Dina and Sean (our innkeepers) host an intergalactic 'The Bachelor' type reality show where an emperor that rules an entire planetary system must choose a bride.  The whole thing is being televised across all the participating planets and systems (minus earth).  The stakes are high, all sorts of political maneuvering.  The contestants are all different and have agendas.  It is pure fun with some really stand out 'Hell Yeah!' moments. 

I have been in a massive reading slump and this was such a welcome lift from it. 

[Anduin]

I know Orson Scott Card is on the naughty list, but I still own a couple of his books. I recently dug up my copy of the Worthing Saga, only to realise that I've been reading it for the wrong reason this whole time! Way back when I was a kid, I saw a review in Dragon Magazine, and the picture was from the Worthing Chronicle edition. Awesome cover! Wikipedia backup if needed.

Thing is, the story involves Jason Worthing going into suspended animation periodically, for longer spans of time. I always interpreted that cover as he's down for so long, humanity evolved into shark people. And while it's a good book, that never actually happened. They stay the regular old homo sapiens we know and love. That cover is from when his cryotube is at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for the fallen remains of humanity to reach a tech level where they'll find him again. I have been puzzled by that for over 30 years, and now I see I just misunderstood what was going on.

Still, at least it's a good book. If you find it at the library or second hand, it's worth picking up. Card is more than just Ender's Game.

[Spartan Girl]

Got Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes even though it doesn’t technically come out in the US until February. It’s a very interesting take on the Perseus/Medusa myth. 

Spoiler

Look, I’m fine with retellings that call out heroes that already were assholes to begin with like Jason and Odysseus, but vilifying heroes that were generally good is something I’m not too keen on. Perseus starts out as average, but by the end of the book he’s turned into an asshole so fast I couldn’t understand why or how. Haynes’ writing was great and all, but she could have done a better job of fleshing out Perseus to show why the power of Medusa’s head changes him.

 

[Rushmoras]

Well, finally completed Dune. Overall, I found the book dreadfully boring from beginning to about the point when Pole became one of the nomads (so, about 250 pages till the end of the book). Bunch of space sci-fi mumbo-jambo jargon without any substance (i.e., the author did not bother to provide much descriptions or, if he had, I missed them, about what the hell he is babbling about; and what I would call descriptions were only towards the end of the book).

[OtterMommy]

After two pretty blah reading experiences to start of 2023 (The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver and Ghost 19 by Simone St. James), I finally had a hit with my 3rd book.

I read Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee for one of my book clubs.  This is a heartbreaking story exploring the toll of mental illness (schizophrenia, or something like it) on a family, as well as the immigrant experience.  It is beautifully written and really hit me.  My nephew suffers from schizophrenia.  While he had his family (parents and two sisters) are doing well now, there was a time when that was not a case.  Not only was he suffering, but his family was going through some very serious conflict about how to best help him.  Reading this book helped me to put that experience in some sort of context.

One of my book club members did make an observation which I missed, but I feel is worth mentioning.  Lee makes a point in this book about how mental illness are treated differently from other diseases, like cancer.  With mental illness, there is a stigma that isn't there with  physical disabilities.  Then, at the same time, she makes sort of "jokes" about other mental illnesses.  The example this person brought up was a passage about how, in the mental hospital, obviously one of the OCD'ers set the tables because everything was perfect.  (There were other examples, but that was the one that shocked her the most.  She has personal experience with OCD.  As she said, OCD at best is manageable.  At worst, it is devastating).

Yes, that happens in this book.  However, her comment and this book made me realize that I can also be thoughtlessly flippant.  I've been known to say, "I'm being very OCD" when I want something a certain way--which is not OCD.  It's just me wanting something a certain way.  So, there was an uncomfortable truth I found with myself and an opportunity for me to do better in the future.

Anyway, I recently started 2 other books: Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher, which is a collection of delightfully passive aggressive letters of recommendation, and There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura.  I was worried about the latter--I sometimes have trouble with Asian literature and this has had a mixed reception from other readers I follow.  However, so far, I'm enjoying it.  It's about a Japanese woman who just wants a brainless, easy job and keeps finding herself in stranger and stranger circumstances.

I'm listening to The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama, which I quite like.  However, I really feel that you need to have read Becoming first as she refers back to a lot of events that were detailed in that book.  And, as my "year-long, slow and steady" read, I'm finally tackling Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

[stewedsquash]

@OtterMommy My brother has schizophrenia and while I can read and research all thing medical about it, I can't bear to read any personal stories about it. I found that I have to be stoic and fact based, not emotional with it in order to help him. Regarding the humor, I am amazed that my brother's personality seeps through and he comes up with the funniest things to say about everything, including his illness. I never make fun of him, but we do have funny moments. 

Your post of There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job (not available at e-inc, bummer, will recommend if you say it is worth it when you finish) led me to Foreign Gods, Inc. when the try these books popped up from the above title and I just downloaded it. I hope you come back with a review of TNSTAAEJ so I can check it out also.

I started Dear Committee Members twice and put it aside when other books came up. I still have intentions on finishing it, will have to start at the beginning again, ha.

I have also had Finlay Donovan Is Killing It on my shelf for a while and started it for a couple pages, stopped and then just started it again after @BlackberryJam posted about it. I liked how it started, then I thought this is going to just be self published author blah (not sure if that is the case), then I wanted to pm BlackberryJam and ask her a spoiler question before I decided if I would keep going and then a semi-bam thing happened that made it interesting so I have decided to go ahead and finish it. I have the second book on hold just in case this works out as a good series. 

I had 6:20 Man by Baldacci downloaded and read about five chapters before my brain just started melting from boredom so I immediately returned it so the other 98 people on the wait list could have their chance. It was just so flat/monotone/cut&pastebooksRus when I was reading it. It felt like a male author's version of a male Woman On The Train book. It was tediously boring and after three creepy male fantasy descriptions of a woman's body I just said eff it, I'm done. 

eta I forgot I also have Danielle Steele Complications downloaded for some old school 80's style romance/intrigue/fluff. The setting is a Paris hotel so how bad can it be, lol

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by stewedsquash

[OtterMommy]

37 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I started Dear Committee Members twice and put it aside when other books came up. I still have intentions on finishing it, will have to start at the beginning again, ha.

The good or bad thing, depending on your point of view, about Dear Committee Members is that it is incredibly put-downable.  I'm reading it in bed before I turn out the lights for the night, so I appreciate that I never feel like I have to read one more chapter (even though the chapters are very short).  But, on the other hand, it is really easy to put down when there are other things to read!

[Zella]

I'm new to this thread but have been meaning to wander over here for a while.

I'm currently reading James Tabor's Forever on the Mountain (about the infamous Wilcox climbing disaster on Denali in the 60s.) It's the second book I've read on it, and honestly, I'm pretty unimpressed with this one. Tabor is very defensive about Wilcox--the leader of the expedition--and the more he argues in his favor, the more incompetent Wilcox seems. I was more sympathetic to Wilcox when I was reading the other book--Denali's Howl, which is really quite good and quite fair in distributing the blame. At this point, I'm just reading FOTM to keep arguing with Tabor. Send help.

I'm also reading the seventh Armand Gamache book by Louise Penny--A Trick of the Light. I started reading the books last fall, and overall, I do enjoy them, particularly Penny's writing style and the characters. I will admit that I am not super entranced with many of the Three Pines regulars (what I think is intended as quirky and charming often just seems annoying to me) or the overarching conspiracies and police corruption plotlines, but I really do like Gamache and I often find the supporting characters who pop up related to the mysteries (including suspects, witnesses, and victims) quite interesting. My goal is to get to Book 10 in the series before taking a break. 

[sugarbaker design]

21 hours ago, Zella said:

I'm also reading the seventh Armand Gamache book by Louise Penny--A Trick of the Light.

I loved A Trick of The Light!

 

21 hours ago, Zella said:

but I really do like Gamache and I often find the supporting characters who pop up related to the mysteries (including suspects, witnesses, and victims) quite interesting.

That's especially true of this one.  The mystery is solid, the characters germane to the mystery were interesting, and resolution of the mystery made sense.

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I loved A Trick of The Light!

 

That's especially true of this one.  The mystery is solid, the characters germane to the mystery were interesting, and resolution of the mystery made sense.

Yeah I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it! I have liked Penny's slow burn on unraveling

Spoiler

Peter and Clara's marriage. Clara, incidentally, is the Three Pines resident whom I find the most intriguing. 

My favorite individual mystery so far as been the one set in the library--I work in a library and am on a volunteer board, so many of those scenes rang so true to me--but I wasn't a big fan of the overarching PTSD storyline in that one. It was well done on its own, but it seemed forced and honestly a bit repetitive as part of the series as a whole. I have no clue why Penny can't just introduce a new cop character and let them remain on the team. LOL 

[PRgal]

I'm supposed to get Spare in a day or two, but first, I need to finish Better Boys, Better Men.  It deals with the dangers of toxic masculinity and bullying which starts as young as childhood (and how things need to be changed...there isn't enough focus on boys/men compared to girls/women.  This doesn't just come from a boy's peers, but from parents (mostly dads) themselves.  In many cultures, men must not show emotion - doing so is seen as weak - so boys/men often hide how they really feel, causing more mental health issues.

Why did I pick this book?  I have a boy.  He's four and I want to find out what it's like and see what kind of solutions I can do as a mother to encourage him to talk about feelings.  Schools still aren't doing enough for boys, IMHO versus changing the narrative for girls.  Worse yet, boys are often not allowed to voice their opinion on this (it's detailed in the book) because, well, they're male, and they have male privilege.

[isalicat]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

Worse yet, boys are often not allowed to voice their opinion on this (it's detailed in the book) because, well, they're male, and they have male privilege.

This sentence doesn't make any sense to me; would you be willing to explain? If boys have male privilege then they would have that much more opportunity to "voice their opinion", no?

After having raised a marvelous boy child to full adult success (he is 31, self aware, established in a good career and life and about to publish his first graphic novel), I would caution you against veering too far into the path of seeking to feminize your son in the cause of fighting "toxic masculinity". We need the qualities often encouraged in boys (appropriate aggressiveness, stoicism, protectiveness of those weaker than themselves) too, and the elimination of those virtues leaves our society fraught with victimhood and passive-aggressiveness, in my opinion. (To veer back to the subject, case in point: Prince Harry of Montecito)

Edited January 10, 2023 by isalicat
needed to add an example

[PRgal]

Just now, isalicat said:

This sentence doesn't make any sense to me; would you be willing to explain? If boys have male privilege then they would have that much more opportunity to "voice their opinion", no?

After having raised a marvelous boy child to full adult success (he is 31, self aware, established in a good career and life and about to publish his first graphic novel), I would caution you against veering too far into the path of seeking to feminize your son in the cause of fighting "toxic masculinity". We need the qualities often encouraged in boys (appropriate aggressiveness, stoicism, protectiveness of those weaker than themselves) too, and the elimination of those virtues leaves our society fraught with victimhood and passive-aggressiveness, in my opinion.

They’re told by facilitators, teachers and female classmates that their voice do not matter if they are giving their opinion on feminism, etc.  Essentially, they’re told they can’t say anything because they haven’t experienced it themselves.  At least that’s how they feel.  And the author thinks the aggression grows as a result of them not being allowed to talk (at least that’s the vibe I’m getting).  I can sort of empathize with that because I’ve been told similar.  Usually in diversity seminars when I try to talk about my experiences growing up a child of immigrants.  If it doesn’t fit their narrative, then one isn’t allowed to speak or is told that they’re being self-centred. 

[isalicat]

1 minute ago, PRgal said:

They’re told by facilitators, teachers and female classmates that their voice do not matter if they are giving their opinion on feminism, etc.  Essentially, they’re told they can’t say anything because they haven’t experienced it themselves.  At least that’s how they feel.  And the author thinks the aggression grows as a result of them not being allowed to talk (at least that’s the vibe I’m getting).  I can sort of empathize with that because I’ve been told similar.  Usually in diversity seminars when I try to talk about my experiences growing up a child of immigrants.  If it doesn’t fit their narrative, then one isn’t allowed to speak or is told that they’re being self-centred. 

Thank you for the clarification. Essentially, then these "facilitators, et al" are having it both ways: They want boys to be more expressive but shut them down if they aren't expressing only their own experience. But females are encouraged to share continually about their own experience and what "men have done that wronged them...." without any response from the male perspective.

In my opinion, male aggressiveness is problematic when it is not properly channeled and this starts very, very early. I noticed immediately when my son started pre-school that all the children were expected to sit still for long periods of time, which is much easier for most little girls (my son had so much energy he used to quite literally run circles in our living room when it was too snowy out for him to run around outside), and if the boys could not sit still they were labelled "hyper active" or "attention deficit disordered" and in many school districts, put on drugs. Our educational system is "one size fits all" and outside of the enlightened Montessori or other similar schools, we have done our male children a great disservice over the last many decades.

Clearly I am not of the cohort that thinks that males and females are identical, except for their genitalia! There is a spectrum of maleness and femaleness and that needs to be recognized and be okay, again, in my opinion. That might solve some of our current issues around gender dysmorphia, too, but that is a subject probably way too fraught for a book discussion thread!

[Razzberry]

I'm not reading Harry's book, but this was a free download in Oct. so what the hell.  It's all about Prince Andrew's scandal, and not that well-written, but it does have some poll results and stats that are borderline interesting, if they can be believed.

Royal Family - Royal Scandal

• Since 2018, support for the monarchy has dropped from about 75% to around 60%.
• 45% of Scots back the institution, while 36% back a republic.
• Just 8% of 18 to 24-year-olds told YouGov they were “very proud” of the monarchy, in contrast to 40% of those aged 65+

Popularity poll from May 2022
Source: U-Polls  Sample: 928 UK citizens

•  RF Member  Approve  Disapprove
  Queen E.       85%         5%
  Charles         29%        52%
  Camilla          19%        59%

  William           73%        11%
  Kate               72%         8%
  Harry             35%        40%
  Meghan         38%        36%

  Anne             48%        21%
  Edward         39%        32%
  Andrew          3%        87%
  Eugenie        21%        56%
  Beatrice       20%        49%

About half are in the minus column.  William and Kate are very well liked, as was the Queen.  

[grommit2]

I cast all my votes for Kate and Meghan.  The rest can take a long vacation. 😍

[Bethany]

I never want to meet the 3% who support Andrew!

[Zella]

9 minutes ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

I never want to meet the 3% who support Andrew!

I was thinking the same thing. Who the hell are the 27.84 people who were like "yeah I support Andrew!"? 

[Razzberry]

According to the author, there's a Prince Andrew Fan Club on Facebook who felt the need to post the following at the top in big bold letters:

"This is a fan page for the Duke of York.  We will not tolerate any negativity here.  He denied the allegations so let's all just move on and appreciate the wonderful man he is."

😲

[Angeltoes]

Is Fergie the administrator of that group?

[OtterMommy]

I finished There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura and my main takeaway is that I am very ignorant about Japanese (or, really, all Asian) culture.  Now, I don't mean that I don't know anything about Japan.  What I'm saying is that there are things about are fundamental to their culture that I am either not familiar with or am still working to understand

I tend not to have success with Asian novels for that reason.  And, as far as Asian novels go, I had better luck with this one than most.  That being said, I didn't understand half of what was going on.  It's about a 36 year old woman who, after suffering from burn out from the job she was at for over a decade, spends a year in a series of temp jobs, just looking for something that is just easy and, for lack of a better word, brainless.

The actual plot was interesting.  I was always surprised by what she would encounter; I'm not sure that is because of my ignorance about Japanese culture or if the weirdness of these things is universal.  But, once I got to the end, I knew there was a message I should get from it, but I had no clue what it was.

I finished this yesterday, and today I think I get the gist of the message:

Spoiler

You need to welcome meaningful relationships with your co-workers, or else your career life will just grind you down.

Now, I could be completely wrong with that, but there you go.

The other thing that I got from this book is that I need to try more Asian literature.  If anything, this book showed me how ignorant I was and I'm not willing to just accept that.  Instead of avoiding Asian literature, I'm going to try to read more of it.

Phew...now, after that, I needed something comforting and familiar, so I'm reading The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie.  I was actually a little trepidatious about this one as it is the 2nd in the Superintendent Battle books, and I really didn't like the first one (The Secret of Chimneys).  So far, though, I'm enjoying this one much, much more.

[sugarbaker design]

16 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

So far, though, I'm enjoying this one much, much more.

I liked TSDM much better than TSOC also.  I wish there were more Bundle Brent books.

[OtterMommy]

I had been slowly reading Marple: Twelve New Mysteries since the beginning of the year and just finished it today.  I actually quite enjoyed it.  With any short story collection, especially one with multiple authors, some stories are better than others, but on the whole this a fun collection.  There were a few authors I didn't know, a few I knew of but hadn't read, and a few I've read so it was a nice variety of voices and it introduced me to some new authors to check out.

The authors: Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, and Ruth Ware.

[BlackberryJam]

Just finished Killers of a Certain Age. Women assassins about to retire. Loved it. So much fun. I highly recommend.

I also read The Club by Ellery Lloyd. It’s …fine. Just as is One by One by Ruth Ware. They aren’t reinventing the mystery wheel, and they definitely aren’t And Then There Were None but readable. 

Have I recommended Finlay Donovan Knock ‘Em Dead? And the second in the series? Implausible, but completely fun. 

[Rushmoras]

Finally got my hands on almost all essential S. King works; in Lithuania (1995-2005), there was a book series published by book-store 'Eridanas' of almost all S. King works translated in local language; unfortunately, I only acquired back than just a small handful of his books (maybe 30 out of 54). But now, since I managed to acquire digital books, began reading that, which I have yet to read - started with Pet Cematary. So far, interesting.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Rushmoras

[truthaboutluv]

Been WAY too long since I've posted in this thread. I just completed The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. It was okay, an enjoyable enough read. And the ending twist was less nonsensical than Michaelides' previous novel, The Silent Patient. 

Spoiler

I thought it was interesting that he brought Theo back into this one, with the events of The Maidens preceding those of The Silent Patient. Because I read The Silent Patient so long ago, I couldn't remember if Zoe was mentioned in it as a patient of Theo's and if she was, if other readers caught it. 

Even though I couldn't remember if Zoe had been in The Silent Patient or not, I knew almost immediately she was involved in the murders. I also knew early that Fosca was just a pervy pretentious douchebag sleeping with his students but not the ones killing them. 

Henry was the red herring. I knew Zoe was involved but figured she wasn't doing it alone and so I assumed it was with Henry. I did have a sneaking suspicion of Sebastian possibly being the killer, early on in the story, when Mariana first spoke about his death and I suspected maybe he'd faked it. But when she described seeing his body after it washed up onshore, I dismissed that idea. So kudos to the author for that curveball of still making the husband guilty in a way, even in death.

I am currently reading A House in the Pines by Ana Reyes and honestly, I'm not really loving it so far. The mystery doesn't really have much bite to it. The author is trying to create a mood and an intensity that's just not not delivering on the page. It's all sort of meh so far. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by truthaboutluv

[oliviabenson]

18 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Just finished Killers of a Certain Age. Women assassins about to retire. Loved it. So much fun. I highly recommend.

I also read The Club by Ellery Lloyd. It’s …fine. Just as is One by One by Ruth Ware. They aren’t reinventing the mystery wheel, and they definitely aren’t And Then There Were None but readable. 

Have I recommended Finlay Donovan Knock ‘Em Dead? And the second in the series? Implausible, but completely fun. 

I’m reading the first Finley book. 

[OtterMommy]

57 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

I am currently reading A House in the Pines by Ana Reyes and honestly, I'm not really loving it so far. The mystery doesn't really have much bite to it. The author is trying to create a mood and an intensity that's just not not delivering on the page. It's all sort of meh so far. 

Thank you for sharing this.  I've been kind of circling this title, but the only things I've heard--which have all been positive--have been marketing.  It's nice to hear from an actual human.  I think I'll leave this one off my TBR.

[truthaboutluv]

1 minute ago, OtterMommy said:

Thank you for sharing this.  I've been kind of circling this title, but the only things I've heard--which have all been positive--have been marketing.  It's nice to hear from an actual human.  I think I'll leave this one off my TBR.

To be fair, I'm only 42% into it. So my opinion might change when I'm done. 

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Been WAY too long since I've posted in this thread. I just completed The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. It was okay, an enjoyable enough read. And the ending twist was less nonsensical than Michaelides' previous novel, The Silent Patient. 

Ugh, I hated The Maidens.  The main character was so annoying!

[grommit2]

Just finished Dark Money by Jane Mayer.  Excellent accompaniment (and some overlap) to Kochland by Christopher Leonard. Amazing how the right-leaning uber-rich played the long game to achieve their goals. 

[Bethany]

I'm reading Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America's Leading Lady of Comedy by Madelyn Pugh.  If you're looking for a gossipy tell all then this isn't the book for you but if you're interested in the early days of television, especially from the POV of one of the first women writing for TV this might be what you're looking for.  One thing I found interesting was that even when this book was published in 2005 it was already common that when a sitcom was in reruns the first minute or two of the show was often cut for syndication so the writers, while understandably annoyed at this practice, also tried to make sure it wouldn't affect the rest of the show when that happened.  I really thought this was a more recent thing.

[Starleigh]

On 1/15/2023 at 7:36 PM, truthaboutluv said:

 

I am currently reading A House in the Pines by Ana Reyes and honestly, I'm not really loving it so far. The mystery doesn't really have much bite to it. The author is trying to create a mood and an intensity that's just not not delivering on the page. It's all sort of meh so far. 

I have that on hold from the library...I will give it a try, but if it doesn't grab me within the first chapter or two, I'll put it down.

I haven't started it yet, but have Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourne. It's gotten really good reviews and word of mouth, so I am hoping it lives up to the hype. I read a couple of her historical fiction books years back when she was a new author, but I never really got into them. I'm willing to give her another try, though.

[EtheltoTillie]

I am listening to the new Elinor Lipman book, Ms. Demeanor.  As usual for EL, it's an enjoyable hoot.  She's not a deep writer, but she really does get characters so that you want to see how their story turns out.

I tried the new Louise Penny book after trying one of her books many years ago.  Just too draggy/dull for me, and I gave up about 10 percent through it.  I don't understand her popularity. 

[OtterMommy]

I finished two books this week that surprised me, in good ways.

The first was Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley.  It was published in 1917 and is about a woman who has spent her adult life either as a governess or keeping house and farm for her brother, a writer who frequently goes off on little journeys.  She gets fed up and, when a traveling book salesman stops by to sell not books, but rather his business, she ends up buying his book cart on a whim and goes off on her own adventure.  I just had a huge grin on my face for this entire book.  I realized that I really love books about middle aged women just getting fed up to the point that they make some drastic change.

The second was The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal.  I was a little apprehensive about this because science fiction is a hard genre for me.  However, this actually reads more like (slightly alternative) historical fiction, which is one of my preferred genres.  I really enjoyed this one and I was completely sucked in by the first chapter.  Kowal does get a little "mathy" now and then, but not nearly to the point of, say, Andy Weir.  You can easily skim those parts and not miss anything with the plot.  My only issue with this one were a couple of sex scenes.  I have nothing against on page sex scenes and these weren't even terribly explicit, but they did nothing to push the plot along and ended up just being annoying to read.  But, other than that, excellent.  I realize the rest of the books in the series are going to be more squarely in the SF world, but I'm now invested enough in the characters to continue on.

[Starleigh]

I could not get into Killers of a Certain Age, which was a bummer. It's going to go back to the library mostly unread.

However, I did enjoy The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. It was a quick, enjoyable suspenseful read. 

[truthaboutluv]

So I completed The House in the Pines and sadly, no, my feelings did not change. There was nothing remotely twisty or shocking about the novel. Like who didn't figure out almost immediately 

Spoiler

that Frank was using some type of hypnosis. And the ending was so anticlimactic. The main character has her big showdown with the guy in a bar that ends with her mom showing up and her fighting against the hypnosis. She goes to the police, goes on with her life, all the while Frank is still around, not yet fully charged with anything. The backstory of his father is even less surprising or impressive. It wasn't an awful book per se, just not a particularly interesting mystery/thriller. 

 

[GaT]

I'm currently re-reading my Catherine Aird mysteries, in no particular order.

[Crs97]

I am finishing up Lucy Worley’s biography of Agatha Christie and really enjoying it.  After that I am starting The Appeal with high hopes.

[OtterMommy]

46 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I am finishing up Lucy Worley’s biography of Agatha Christie and really enjoying it.  After that I am starting The Appeal with high hopes.

I loved both The Appeal and The Twyford Codeb!  I ordered Jancie Hallet's 3rd book from Blackwells and it should be here soon!

I also really enjoyed that Christie Biography.  I had heard and seen Lucy Worley a lot of places, but that was the first time I read anything by her.

[Browncoat]

Haven, by Emma Donoghue.  Historical fiction about the monastery on Skellig Michael.  Not action-packed, and mostly horrifying in a "how can people do that" kind of way.  Interesting possibilities of how that monastery began.

The Birdcage, by Eve Chase.  Riveting story of three half-sisters called back to their father's home in Cornwall after a 20-year absence.  They spent summers there when they were children, but the last summer there included an eclipse and a catastrophe.  It really held my interest -- I didn't want to stop reading.  I recommend it.

Next up, How to be Eaten, by Maria Adelmann.  According to the book jacket blurb, it's "A darkly funny and provocative debut novel that reimagines classic fairy-tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma."  I hope it's funny -- The Birdcage was decidedly not.

[Zella]

4 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Haven, by Emma Donoghue.  Historical fiction about the monastery on Skellig Michael.  Not action-packed, and mostly horrifying in a "how can people do that" kind of way.  Interesting possibilities of how that monastery began.

This has been on my to-read list for a while! 

[realityplease]

Just read The Shards by Brett Easton Ellis (writer of Less Than Zero & others, some made into movies.)  At 1200+ pages, it's a fictional tale of Ellis & his friends during their 1981 senior year at Buckley School.  A handsome new student with a troubled past enrolls in their class, there's a serial killer called "The Trawler" loose in the city, one of their senior class is murdered, cars are being followed, and students are being murdered elsewhere in The Valley. 

The book would probably be only 800 pages instead of 1200+ but Ellis in in his car a great deal - and there are many, many, many paragraphs devoted to the route Ellis takes each & every time he gets into that damn car - and he's in it multiple times a day.  He describes in detail his route driving from his home on Mullholland to school, from school to home, to the Mall, to the Valley home of a friend ("I drove down Mullholland to Benedict Canyon down to Ventura Blvd., turned left onto Ventura, turned right on Haskell, etc. etc.), to Century City, to the Beverly Hills Hotel, to his girlfriend's home in Bel Air ("I drove down Benedict Canyon, turned down Sunset, crossed over the 405 freeway, turned at the Bel Air Hotel. . ." )  If you live in L.A., you know what he's talking about.  If you don't, it's just a word salad.  Either way, WHO CARES???

The guy can write - but the filler is ridiculous - and unnecessary.  Was he getting paid by the word??

[blackwing]

On 11/30/2022 at 10:26 AM, OtterMommy said:

I finished A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny first thing this morning (I probably would have read it one day if it weren't for the pesky fact that I have a family who need my attention now and then!).  I know Louise Penny isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm a huge fan.  I had very high expectations for this book, but it blew those expecations out of the water.  

I read a lot of mysteries and this is the best plotted mystery I have ever read.  It's also, by far, the darkest of the Gamache novels.  TW for child sexual abuse.  It's not on the page but it is written in a way that you know exactly what happens (it is also early in the book, so not a spoiler).  The strangest thing is the SA isn't even the most disturbing part of this book.

What an amazing read!

I just finished A World of Curiosities as well and agree that this is a fantastic book.  The initial portion of the book includes flashbacks (including a fictionalised account of the 1989 Montreal Massacre at the Ecole Polytechnique as well as one of Gamache and Beauvoir's first cases together) that set the stage for the central plot.  A mysterious painting is discovered in a hidden room attached to Myrna's loft in the bookstore.  Who put it there, why was it put there, and what does it mean?

This book was great at combining suspense with the warmth and coziness of the familiar village residents.  I guessed the identity of the killer early on, and I was quite proud of myself for catching the clue that the killer tells Gamache he missed!  I found the villain and accomplices in this one to be truly despicable, I don't remember actively hating the villain in previous Penny books as much as hated the one here.

This is perhaps her best ever novel in the series.

On 1/18/2023 at 5:06 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

I tried the new Louise Penny book after trying one of her books many years ago.  Just too draggy/dull for me, and I gave up about 10 percent through it.  I don't understand her popularity. 

I do agree that the beginning drags a little, but once it gets to the central mystery of the painting, it really picks up steam.  I do think it helps if you have read all of the previous books in order.  The beauty of Louise Penny's writing is that her characters are rich and layered, and knowing them fully does help to give insight on them.  If you want to give her another shot, I would start from the beginning with "Still Life".  There's a reason why she's been nominated for and won so many Agatha Awards for best mystery novel of the year.  

[Rushmoras]

Still on S. King's Pet Semetary (1983). Today started Book Two,

Spoiler

wherein the family buries their son

and that chapter is kinda depressing and hard to read for obvious reasons. What I don't like about the book, though, is the foreshadowing -

Spoiler

foreshadowing that Martha dies, foreshadowing that Gage dies

it kinda seems too much.

[EtheltoTillie]

12 hours ago, realityplease said:

Just read The Shards by Brett Easton Ellis (writer of Less Than Zero & others, some made into movies.)  At 1200+ pages, it's a fictional tale of Ellis & his friends during their 1981 senior year at Buckley School.  A handsome new student with a troubled past enrolls in their class, there's a serial killer called "The Trawler" loose in the city, one of their senior class is murdered, cars are being followed, and students are being murdered elsewhere in The Valley. 

The book would probably be only 800 pages instead of 1200+ but Ellis in in his car a great deal - and there are many, many, many paragraphs devoted to the route Ellis takes each & every time he gets into that damn car - and he's in it multiple times a day.  He describes in detail his route driving from his home on Mullholland to school, from school to home, to the Mall, to the Valley home of a friend ("I drove down Mullholland to Benedict Canyon down to Ventura Blvd., turned left onto Ventura, turned right on Haskell, etc. etc.), to Century City, to the Beverly Hills Hotel, to his girlfriend's home in Bel Air ("I drove down Benedict Canyon, turned down Sunset, crossed over the 405 freeway, turned at the Bel Air Hotel. . ." )  If you live in L.A., you know what he's talking about.  If you don't, it's just a word salad.  Either way, WHO CARES???

The guy can write - but the filler is ridiculous - and unnecessary.  Was he getting paid by the word??

I was tempted to read this, but now I'll probably avoid.  They used to do an SNL skit on that same idea:  the vapid Angelenos who arrived at a party saying "I took the 10, then I switched to the 405," and someone else would chime in with another route.   I'm from NYC so I don't know the routes, but it was a funny premise. 

[Zella]

1 minute ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I was tempted to read this, but now I'll probably avoid.  They used to do an SNL skit on that same idea:  the vapid Angelenos who arrived at a party saying "I took the 10, then I switched to the 405," and someone else would chime in with another route.   I'm from NYC so I don't know the routes, but it was a funny premise. 

I also thought of that skit when I read that description. 😂😂😂😂

[realityplease]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I was tempted to read this, but now I'll probably avoid.  They used to do an SNL skit on that same idea:  the vapid Angelenos who arrived at a party saying "I took the 10, then I switched to the 405," and someone else would chime in with another route.   I'm from NYC so I don't know the routes, but it was a funny premise. 

EXACTLY that!  Ellis MUST have seen/heard of those skits - or will hear of them now - as the duplication can't be denied, several versions of the skit appeared over time on SNL, & mostly pretty funny - therefore memorable to many. 

In this book, by the time you factor in the incessant driving directions & multiple multi-paragraph descriptions of gay & straight sex acts & longing or fantasies, the 1200+ page book can be whittled down by more than half. Pure filler to what otherwise might be a compelling story. Why the story needed to be bulked out in this way is puzzling.  it doesn't set a mood - it's a distraction. WHERE WAS THE EDITOR??

Edited January 24, 2023 by realityplease

[isalicat]

I just finished the most remarkable, amazing book! If you like very rich (but dark! and adult!) fantasy/sci fi and have not yet read this, please try Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It is actually from about 20 years ago but I had not heard of it or the author previously. It is hard to describe without spoiling, but let me say that it is set on a world that is distinctly not Earth, yet there are humans, and it is so inventive and dense that I took pauses between sections to ruminate and digest before reading on. Prepare to be amazed!!