What Are We Currently Reading?

[blackwing]

I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir on audiobook.  I never read his "The Martian" but I did listen to Rosario Dawson's narration of "Artemis" and enjoyed it.  

I enjoyed this book overall.  The plot is about some kind of phenomenon that is diminishing the sun, threatening to plunge Earth into an uninhabitable permafrozen planet.  So the scientists of the world join together to send a ship into space to discover the problem and solution.

I liked the way things unfolded in the beginning, and how we saw flashbacks to what was happening on Earth.  My only complaint is that I thought there was too much physics/engineering/science.  A lot of the details or the "why" of what was happening was a little over my head.  But now I understand how some people feel when reading a book and confronted with pages and pages of historical exposition.

I was a little disappointed with the ending.  

Spoiler

 

I wanted him to return home.  He would have aged only about 8 years even though 27 years would have passed on Earth.  I wanted to see him get the hero's welcome.  I wanted to see Ryland Grace Day being celebrated annually around the world.  I wanted him to give knowledge about the Eridians and extraterrestrial life to the world.  Above all, I wanted to see what became of Stratt.  Would he confront her about sending on this mission against his will?  Would she be in prison like she had said she would?  

I guess it's great that he can survive on Erid in his own little bubble, and the scientist in him loves the new world and teaching the young Eridians.  But part of me still felt sad that he seemed to have no desire to go home.

 

 

On 9/27/2021 at 7:15 PM, Browncoat said:

I finally got Project Hail Mary from my library, and finished it yesterday.  I mostly enjoyed it, but wondered

Spoiler

 if Grace sent info back to earth about Rocky and his people.  I almost hope not!  And did he send xenonite back?  Or would it not fit in the beetles?

 

 

Spoiler

I would hope he did, his whole mission was to gain knowledge so I hope he told the world about this race of intelligent life

 

On 7/8/2021 at 6:31 PM, Luckylyn said:

The narrator on audible Project Hail Mary is doing a great job.  Sometimes the narration is flat or struggles with different voices in other books.   The narration for Project Hail Mary has been very engaging.

I agree, the narrator was fantastic.  He really brought the story to life.  He also did a fantastic job with the Eridian language (I get that a computer made the musical notes but his voice for the English translation of Rocky's voice was good).  He was great with all of the accents - Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Canadian, etc.

[Haleth]

19 hours ago, blackwing said:

My only complaint is that I thought there was too much physics/engineering/science.  A lot of the details or the "why" of what was happening was a little over my head. 

That's how I felt about The Martian too.  I just let it go like waa-waa-waa (Charlie Brown's teacher) and enjoyed everything else.

[Spartan Girl]

I got Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez because it was mentioned in a banned books article. Be warned: the ending is BRUTAL.

[BlackberryJam]

I thought I got the recommendation of Mango, Mambo and Murder from here, but I can't find the post. If it was here, thank you.

This was a delightful book, which hopefully will continue soon. The culture, the food, the appropriate use of Spanish. I definitely want more of the family relationships developed. The mystery was solid. The involvement of the protagonist was organic and not forced, as was her interaction with the police detective.

This was the kind of cozy I love.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I've got a few new books in my queue to read, yet...I'm in a "I need a good comfort read filled with romance!" mood, so I just started my umpteenth re-read of Nora Roberts' Dream Trilogy. I was in the mood for some Michael Fury, so of course I'm reading the last one first! Finding the Dream.

Edited February 15, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Danny Franks]

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Okay. Read this book. Just do it. It's such a lovely story. Yes there's lots of hard sci-fi and scientific gubbins and a world-ending threat, but the core of it is a really heart-warming tale of two very unlikely friends coming together and saving the day.

Spoiler

The protagonist is fired off into space, with two other crewmembers who die in transit, to figure out why an anomaly that is causing the Sun and a lot of other stars to die isn't killing Tau Ceti.

When he gets there, he comes across another spaceship, from an alien race, which has been sent to do the same thing. That ship only has one survivor, and these two survivors learn how to communicate, how to cooperate and become friends, united by their need to save their respective worlds.

It's so much fun and the alien, named Rocky by the protagonist, because he has a rocky carapace, is absolutely loveable.

The best buddy novel I've read in a long time.

[dubbel zout]

I'm reading Clean Hands, by Patrick Hoffman. It's a political/legal/financial thriller that I had high hopes for, but I'm finding the writing a little cold. The author is a practicing PI, so he knows what he's writing about. I'm just not feeling a connection, though I'll finish it because the story is good enough to see to the end.

[Luckylyn]

I have been enjoying Jasmine Guillory’s Wedding Date series.  I have been reading While We Were Dating where ad exec Ben is paired with movie star Anna.  Ben is the brother of Theo from book 3 The Wedding Party.  Ben and Anna start as a fling while they are working together on smartphone campaign.  Anna has had some personal setbacks but strives to get  further ahead in her career.  Would a romance with Ben raise her profile?  Would a temporary public romance become something real and lasting?  This one is one of my favorites in the series.

[Luckylyn]

So I have begun Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.  I am 28% through according to my Kindle, and I am frustrated.  I am not liking Wade.  I sympathize with him at points but he does inappropriate creepy things.  He uses his godlike abilities in the Oasis to do stuff like look for people’s personal information,  cyberstalk people, and destroy avatars just because they criticize him/his friends. I can’t get past it.  He’s the narrator so I don’t get a break from him.  Sam’s accusation that they are drug dealers getting high on their own supply nails the situation pretty perfectly.  I hate the way Wade treats her concerns about people being addicted to the tech and that at least children shouldn’t have access because they aren’t certain about the long term Neurological effects as eye-roll worthy while he’s well aware he’s very much addicted.  Anyway,  I really hope it gets better.  I wanted to be optimistic despite the poor reviews because I did like the first book.

[GaT]

7 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

So I have begun Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.  I am 28% through according to my Kindle, and I am frustrated.  I am not liking Wade.  I sympathize with him at points but he does inappropriate creepy things.  He uses his godlike abilities in the Oasis to do stuff like look for people’s personal information,  cyberstalk people, and destroy avatars just because they criticize him/his friends. I can’t get past it.  He’s the narrator so I don’t get a break from him.  Sam’s accusation that they are drug dealers getting high on their own supply nails the situation pretty perfectly.  I hate the way Wade treats her concerns about people being addicted to the tech and that at least children shouldn’t have access because they aren’t certain about the long term Neurological effects as eye-roll worthy while he’s well aware he’s very much addicted.  Anyway,  I really hope it gets better.  I wanted to be optimistic despite the poor reviews because I did like the first book.

Really liked book one, really didn't like book two. I kept book one & put book two in the "get rid of" pile, I don't even want to keep it in the house.

[Bort]

Same. I like One, did not like Two at all. I couldn’t return it to the library fast enough. Also, the pop culture quests were stupid.

[blackwing]

I didn't care for his personality, he got a little too big for his britches after winning the competition in the first book.  But I loved the quests and puzzles in Two, it was like a video game brought to life.  

[lasu]

So I've finally started reading Ken Follett, and just finished The Pillars of the Earth.  I really liked it!  Except...the graphic depictions of violence, especially detailed rapes on very young girls.  There were also come scenes with cockfighting and bear bating.  I ended up just skipping through these bits, because I'm just not at all interested in hearing...I started to spoiler and describe, and then, nope.  I'm just going to say I don't want to read details that graphic, and IMO, completely gratuitous. 

But I had decided to start the second book, not realizing it's not a direct sequel - it takes place 200 years later, so I'm going to go ahead and assume the characters I got to know in the first book are dead now.  And that makes me wonder...do I want I want to go another round with these books?  (Also, just like that, I turned into Carrie Bradshaw, wtf?) 

I've always heard such great things about these books...does anyone here have thoughts on them? I'm mostly fine just skipping the super graphic parts (which this is the first time I've ever done that, but I suspect it's not going to be the last.  I've always been a purist, but I just don't want to read that shit anymore), but wondered if anyone else had the same squeamishness I do.

 

[Mindthinkr]

21 minutes ago, lasu said:

I've always heard such great things about these books...does anyone here have thoughts on them? I'm mostly fine just skipping the super graphic parts (which this is the first time I've ever done that, but I suspect it's not going to be the last.  I've always been a purist, but I just don't want to read that shit anymore), but wondered if anyone else had the same squeamishness I do.

Yes. Another person here who isn’t interested in those things spelled out in detail. Especially when they involve animals (cock fighting). Child roe is another subject I’d prefer not to see spelled out. I’m ok if you tell me it happened. I just don’t want the nitty gritty of exactly how it happened. 

[Ohiopirate02]

13 minutes ago, lasu said:

I've always heard such great things about these books...does anyone here have thoughts on them? I'm mostly fine just skipping the super graphic parts (which this is the first time I've ever done that, but I suspect it's not going to be the last.  I've always been a purist, but I just don't want to read that shit anymore), but wondered if anyone else had the same squeamishness I do.

 

I have not read those books for this very reason.  Yes, I am able to skip graphic rape scenes, but I find them to be a hallmark of lazy writing.  I stopped reading the Outlander books for the same reason.  One of my historical pet peeves is graphic scenes of sexual assault done under the guise of "it was a different time, a more violent time."  I will agree that we as a people have come a long way these last 50 years with regards to defining sexual assault, but there is no evidence that women of the past were subjected to more capital R rapes.  And that's these graphic rape scenes are.  Historical accurate rape scenes would be scenes of dubious consent within a marriage like what happens in Gone with the Wind.

It's a shortcut used by author to show us readers who the villians are.  

[Haleth]

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

It's a shortcut used by author to show us readers who the villians are.  

Yeah, Follett is not subtle at all when it comes to his villains. His female leads are always plucky and very modern in their thinking and his male leads are always honorable but down on their luck. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the whole Kingsbridge series. It’s like literary junk food.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just started JD Robb’s Abandoned in Death, and this a new twist. I really like the Before and Now… walking us through how the killer got to become the killer. It sort of like Remember When merged into one story. 

One of the things that is starting to annoy me is having characters tell Eve that they know who she is because they “saw the vid” as if movies NEVER take creative license.

[GaT]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Just started JD Robb’s Abandoned in Death, and this a new twist. I really like the Before and Now… walking us through how the killer got to become the killer. It sort of like Remember When merged into one story. 

One of the things that is starting to annoy me is having characters tell Eve that they know who she is because they “saw the vid” as if movies NEVER take creative license.

I'm waiting for the PB, so I won't be reading it until July 😪

[lasu]

19 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yeah, Follett is not subtle at all when it comes to his villains. His female leads are always plucky and very modern in their thinking and his male leads are always honorable but down on their luck. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the whole Kingsbridge series. It’s like literary junk food.

OK, good to know!  I'd been presented Follett more like he was an Amazing Literary Writer, and I didn't feel like he was living up to that.  I did decide to go ahead and read the next one since I already downloaded it and lowered my expectations.  10% in and rape free so far!

[blackwing]

On 2/22/2022 at 8:02 AM, lasu said:

So I've finally started reading Ken Follett, and just finished The Pillars of the Earth.  I really liked it!  Except...the graphic depictions of violence, especially detailed rapes on very young girls.  There were also come scenes with cockfighting and bear bating.  I ended up just skipping through these bits, because I'm just not at all interested in hearing...I started to spoiler and describe, and then, nope.  I'm just going to say I don't want to read details that graphic, and IMO, completely gratuitous. 

But I had decided to start the second book, not realizing it's not a direct sequel - it takes place 200 years later, so I'm going to go ahead and assume the characters I got to know in the first book are dead now.  And that makes me wonder...do I want I want to go another round with these books?  (Also, just like that, I turned into Carrie Bradshaw, wtf?) 

I've always heard such great things about these books...does anyone here have thoughts on them? I'm mostly fine just skipping the super graphic parts (which this is the first time I've ever done that, but I suspect it's not going to be the last.  I've always been a purist, but I just don't want to read that shit anymore), but wondered if anyone else had the same squeamishness I do.

 

 

23 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yeah, Follett is not subtle at all when it comes to his villains. His female leads are always plucky and very modern in their thinking and his male leads are always honorable but down on their luck. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the whole Kingsbridge series. It’s like literary junk food.

Pillars is my favorite book ever.  One of these days I will get around to re-reading it.  I do remember there were parts that were a bit graphic, I can understand how it bothers some.  His characters do tend to be on the extreme, almost verging on the cartoon in terms of goodness or evilness.  

There are four books in the series, each set at a different period in time.  So they feature the descendants or ancestors of the characters in Pillars.  After "World Without End" there is "A Column of Fire", set during Elizabethan times.  And there is a prequel called "The Evening and the Morning".

Ken Follett is probably my favourite writer.  He is probably best known for his historical fiction (the Kingsbridge series, the Century trilogy set around World War 1, and various standalone books set during World War 2) but he also writes some contemporary thrillers.

[blackwing]

I finished Hawke, the first book in Ted Bell's long running series about a British secret agent who is an English lord and a descendant of a legendary pirate.  I have heard a lot of things about this series, and I imagined it to be James Bond-like and a better version of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt.

I was actually really bored with it until about the last third of the book, and then the action (a hidden bomb, a secret underwater lair, a daring rescue etc) really picked up.  Hopefully the writer was just finding his voice and the next books are consistent and better!

[Spartan Girl]

Just finished what What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris. It was good but the part in which 

Spoiler

the 11 year old narrator is sexually assaulted felt like it was just there for shock value. It didn’t really contribute anything to the plot except to be horrible. Just my opinion.

And I also got Daughters of A Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O’Neil…maybe it was unfortunate timing to read a Russian historical fiction novel about the Romanovs considering everything going on right now, but I still couldn’t put it down.

[isalicat]

Just finished The Searcher by Tana French - not as great as the Dublin Murder Squad books IMO but still amazing writing. I highly recommend. Really excellent twist about half way through as well...

[Mabinogia]

8 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Just finished what What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris. It was good but the part in which 

I agree about the part you mention. I really liked the book except for that part which seemed unnecessary. 

[Prairie Rose]

Currently, The Carpenters: The Musical Legacy. It's a coffee table book of the albums, singles, rare photos of the famous brother/sister musical act. So far, so good!!!

[MaggieG]

I started reading The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. So far so good, I've liked her other mysteries. 

Anyone ever read The Poisonwood Bible? It's one of those I've always wanted to read it but never got around to it books. I started reading it as well but it's a bit of a slog so far. Does it get better? I don't want to give up on it just yet.

[sugarbaker design]

19 minutes ago, MaggieG said:

Anyone ever read The Poisonwood Bible? It's one of those I've always wanted to read it but never got around to it books. I started reading it as well but it's a bit of a slog so far. Does it get better? I don't want to give up on it just yet.

The Poisonwood Bible is definitely not a quick read, but it's so worth reading.  If you don't like a slow moving, expansive novel that's huge in scope it's definitely not for you.  I read it 15 years ago and I can still remember characters, plot points and themes.  It stays with me.

[Crs97]

2 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Anyone ever read The Poisonwood Bible?

I hated it.  I could appreciate the craft, but hated it.  I am known as the curmudgeon so take it with a grain of salt.

I’m finally getting to The Lincoln Highway.  I love it so far.

[Snow Apple]

2 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Anyone ever read The Poisonwood Bible? It's one of those I've always wanted to read it but never got around to it books. I started reading it as well but it's a bit of a slog so far. Does it get better? I don't want to give up on it just yet.

I haven't read The Poisonwood Bible, but read Barbara Kingsolver's book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I thought it was interesting. It's a true account of her family's year on a farm and only eating food they grow. 

[dubbel zout]

Kingsolver can be a little preachy, I find, but I liked The Poisonwood Bible.

[partofme]

7 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I started reading The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. So far so good, I've liked her other mysteries. 

Thank you for posting this, it reminded me to check on the nypl's website and they finally had a waiting list for the e-book.  I also like Lucy Foley's other mysteries.

I read the Poisonwood Bible years ago, I know I liked it and don't remember having difficulty reading it but I also don't remember anything about it so it had no impact on me.

Edited March 1, 2022 by partofme

[MaggieG]

Thank you for everyone's insight on The Poisonwood Bible! I'll stick with it and see how it goes.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Kingsolver can be a little preachy, I find, but I liked The Poisonwood Bible.

Trivia here, or not trivia, but, oh hell, what would you call this?

I work with Kingsolver's nephew, who is an attorney at my firm. And he's super kewl; super nice; and just AWESOME. One who I love to work with because he actually appreciates the work I do and lets everyone know it. 

Ahem.

I think it's cool.

[babyhouseman]

8 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I started reading The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.

I'm reading that now.

8 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Anyone ever read The Poisonwood Bible?

I did years ago. I had to google to jog my memory.  I remember liking it for the writing and the history of Africa.

[blackwing]

9 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I started reading The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. So far so good, I've liked her other mysteries. 

I read The Hunting Party and The Guest List and I found those two books extremely similar.  Does her new book have a similar Agatha Christie locked room / isolated location type theme?

I thought her previous two books were merely OK.  Very predictable and I just don't think she is a particularly good writer.  I'll give this new one a chance though.

[MaggieG]

14 hours ago, blackwing said:

I read The Hunting Party and The Guest List and I found those two books extremely similar.  Does her new book have a similar Agatha Christie locked room / isolated location type theme?

I thought her previous two books were merely OK.  Very predictable and I just don't think she is a particularly good writer.  I'll give this new one a chance though.

This one takes place at a Paris apartment building and you get the POV of several residents. Not really an isolated location because they aren't on an island like the other two books but it does give the locked room vibe.

[Luckylyn]

I’m reading If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy .  It’s the start of a “Meant to Be Series” where authors take a fairytale and twist it into a contemporary romance.  I saw that Jasmine Guillory whose books I love was writing one so decided to read book one since I wasn’t sure if they were supposed read in order of if they are all stand alones.  I started out enjoying If the Shoe Fits but am starting to lose interest.  This take on Cinderella has Cindy the aspiring shoe designer compete on her producer/step mother’s bachelor type of dating show.  I feel  like I was liking it until the book got deep  into the dating competition.   I really like that the step mom and sisters aren’t villains.   I like Cindy’s opinions on the fashion industry needing to be inclusive about sizing and really felt felt for her when the show’s costume designer had tons of cute options for clothes for the other contestants but just a tent for Cindy.  Also I find I don’t care much about the love interest.  He’s alternates between being blah or being shady.  I’m going to keep going with it.  I’m disappointed that after finishing the terrible Ready Player Two that my follow up book isn’t as fun as I was hoping.
 

 The conclusion of Ready Player Two was horrifying to me.  

Spoiler

The idea that everyone who ever used the tech had their consciousness saved without their permission was such a violation.   Sam thinking this was good instead of horrible and using it to bring her grandmother back to life in the Oasis seemed like a betrayal of the character.  What if grandma didn’t want to live forever in a digital world?  They have Halliday realize stealing Kira’s consciousness and making a secret digital copy was wrong and followed it up by making sure the tech would steal more giving people the option of digital immortality that they didn’t even ask for.  And they don’t even get to decide what happens to the digital version of themselves.  Wade decides whose immortal in the Oasis or not.  I hated it so much.   Also what happens of your loved ones live forever in the Oasis but are dead I reality?  If your husband dies are you still married to the digital copy?  How can you ever grieve or move on in the world?

 

[grommit2]

Are there any suggestions for something in the post-apocalyptic genre?  
Contemporary events has me pining for some PA fiction.

[blackwing]

47 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Are there any suggestions for something in the post-apocalyptic genre?  
Contemporary events has me pining for some PA fiction.

The ones I can think of instantly off the top of my head have all been adapted into TV shows or movies haha.

The Stand

The Road

The Passage

World War Z

The Handmaid's Tale

Bird Box

Station 11

The Children of Men

[Spartan Girl]

Just got Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama by Bob Odenkirk—he has some great SNL stories, especially about the great and tragic Chris Farley. He also apparently claimed that while shooting Fargo, Marin Freeman bit his head off he made a harmless suggestion about adding to their characters backstories: “Never tell me how to act again.”

Yikes.

[Prairie Rose]

Right now, I'm reading Young Pioneers* by Rose Wilder Lane. The story was based on the early married life of her maternal grandparents, Charles and Caroline Ingalls, and in the late 1970s became a couple of TV movies and a short-lived series with Linda Purl as the female lead. The book, so far so good.

*The book was originally published under the title Let the Hurricane Roar. I wonder why Young Pioneers was chosen as a new title, it sounds too similar to Willa Cather's O Pioneers! to me.

[Darian]

18 hours ago, grommit2 said:

Are there any suggestions for something in the post-apocalyptic genre?  
Contemporary events has me pining for some PA fiction.

I don't love post-apocalyptic novels and sure haven't had the stomach for them for a few years, but here are a couple that don't get mentioned much, but that I liked. That may mean someone who likes the genre more wouldn't like them, but you can read the descriptions. And for reference, I did like Station 11 a lot. There are two more I'm trying to remember since I read at least one back to back with another and thought, "Maybe I do like post-apocalyptic lit." But I'm still selective. If I think about them, will post again. 

California by Edan Lepucki

The Girl with All the Gifts by M R Carey That one takes place in a post-apocalyptic time. That's not always mentioned in the description, but I consider it one.  

I just started Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I've enjoyed several of her books so hoping this is a good one. 

[Prairie Rose]

I did finish Young Pioneers and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't anything that Laura Ingalls Wilder hadn't done better. Now, I am beginning an extensive (over 600 pages!) biography of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

[Starleigh]

2 hours ago, Prairie Rose said:

I did finish Young Pioneers and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't anything that Laura Ingalls Wilder hadn't done better. Now, I am beginning an extensive (over 600 pages!) biography of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

This was probably the most fascinating bio I've read. Especially fascinating was that the author had interviewed people who personally knew LMM decades before this was published, only decided to hold off on the bio because she was working on getting the private journals published and felt those should come out first and be judged on their merits before readers could read the bio. If you've read LMM's private journals, it fills in a lot of gaps and puts a lot of it into perspective.

[grommit2]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:19 PM, blackwing said:

The ones I can think of instantly off the top of my head have all been adapted into TV shows or movies haha.

The Stand

The Road

The Passage

World War Z

The Handmaid's Tale

Bird Box

Station 11

The Children of Men

Hi Blackwing...interesting...I actually read most of these.  
The Road was worthwhile (both the book and movie). 
WWZ was super (again, both the book and movie)
Station 11 was excellent
I found The Stand to be just a bit way too long, thus could not appreciate the story line.
I will try the others...Thanks

[Prairie Rose]

18 hours ago, Starleigh said:

This was probably the most fascinating bio I've read. Especially fascinating was that the author had interviewed people who personally knew LMM decades before this was published, only decided to hold off on the bio because she was working on getting the private journals published and felt those should come out first and be judged on their merits before readers could read the bio. If you've read LMM's private journals, it fills in a lot of gaps and puts a lot of it into perspective.

Thank you, @Starleigh! I'm still on Chapter 1, so I still have a long way to go! I will let you know what I think. 😊

[OtterMommy]

I'm about to start The Hidden by Melanie Golding, which sounds like a mermaid thriller?  I guess it goes with Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, which I read earlier this year and was mermaid horror (thought not really that scary).  Anyway, I have no expectations about this one, so we'll see how it goes.

[SusanM]

I'm reading through my Nero Wolfe collection and have reached The Silent Speaker.  Why did I know that one of the main female characters was doomed??  Reading the books in sequence may have been a mistake.

[BlackberryJam]

I finished SJ Bennett All the Queen's Men, UK title A Three Dog Problem. I listen to it on Audible and the narrator does a great job. It was delightful. Fluffy, meaningless, Queen Elizabeth at 90 solving crimes. It was just what I needed to escape from watching the world implode. 

I've started listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole and wow does he sound like a douche. He narrates a particularly snotty interaction with a waiter wherein 

Spoiler

Neil has ordered his nightcap of hot cocoa (I swear that's what he said) with whipped cream and when it came, it didn't have whipped cream. The waiter said it must have sunk to the bottom and Neil had to point out how that was a scientific impossibility and had the waiter bring the whipped cream over to put in a dollop to prove it to the guy. I am never a fan of people who are jackasses to waitstaff. More likely they made the stuff, put a bit of whipped cream on, then forgot or let it sit to long, reheated and it melted in. But OoOooO, Neil had to make the guy feel like an idiot. 

This annoyed me because I really enjoyed Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.

I really wish Alexia Gordon would put out a new Gethsemane Brown novel or a Raquel V. Reyes Miriam Quiñones-Smith mystery.

I read the latest Stewart Hoag by David Handler. It was nice, but he'd previously ended the series and has now gone back to it, so I feel like the timeline is wonky. I want another Berger and Mitry book by him. I loved Mitch Berger and Des Mitry. 

The problem is I can read a book in a day or two and it takes authors months, sometimes years to write them. 

 

[OtterMommy]

I finished The Hidden and it was a solid thriller, but more than a little infuriating. 

First of all, I was mistaken--it is not a mermaid thriller, but a selkie thriller.  No worries, I'm here just as much for selkies as I am for mermaids.

It is a pretty standard thriller and it did keep me interested until the end, but there were few things that just didn't work.

The first is non-spoilery: The main character, a police officer, is named Joanna Harper.  The author sometimes refers to her as Joanna and sometimes as Harper and there doesn't seem to be a pattern to this.  For example, she isn't referred to as Harper when she's working a case and Joanna in a more personal setting.  It's just random.  I spent half the book thinking Harper was Joanna's partner because it seemed like they were two different people who were always in the same place at the same time.

My other two issues are spoilery:

Issue 1:
 

Spoiler

I hate when police procedurals, which this kind of is, depends on police officers acting in extralegal ways.  The main character does a lot of very obviously "not to code" things in this book!

 

Issue 2:

Spoiler

Obviously selkies are fantastical, but the rest of this book is realistic and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief in a major plot point:  The big bad is nearly clobbered to death/drugged to death/drowned to death and ends up in a coma.  At some point he comes out of the coma but continues to fake being a coma and no one notices.  He also has a pretty major head wound.  He then beats up an orderly and passes the orderly off as himself and no one notices then travels the length of Britain, at one point engaging in a physical fight with another man, and is still able to make it to the Outer Hebrides in time to do his villain thing.  Sorry, but now.  I can buy selkies, but I can't buy that.

Anyway, now I'm onto The Book of Cold Cases.  I've really enoyed Simone St. James past books and she's a writer who seems to improve with every book, so I have high hopes for this one.