What Are We Currently Reading?

[dubbel zout]

8 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

It's a bit stream of consciousness, which took a little getting used to

Definitely. I like that he admits he was a gigantic asshole a lot of the time.

[peacheslatour]

47 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

But not when the books were originally written.

The Vera Stanhope books are really good too.

The first Nancy Drew movie was made in 1939. The Hidden Staircase starring Bonita Granville.

[ursula]

On 7/29/2019 at 4:33 PM, peacheslatour said:

I read a Christie once *don't remember the title* Where the murderer is introduced in the last five pages of the book. 

No idea what book you read but that wasn't a Christie.

[Mindthinkr]

I just finished (I can’t bold print the title because every time I hit the button in the above options it takes me back to my homepage...argh) The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee. Although the story wasn’t so good, the information about Hong Kong and its areas were superb. She also explained through her characters the class distinctions and how foreigners are viewed by locals. 

[peacheslatour]

13 hours ago, ursula said:

No idea what book you read but that wasn't a Christie.

Yes, it was.

[ursula]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Yes, it was.

I've read every one. It wasn't. And anyone who's remotely familiar with Christie's mysteries would know this. 

[Black Knight]

Yeah, I haven't read every last one of Christie's mysteries, but I have read most and was confused because that would be wildly out of character for Christie. All I could come up with was maybe there was a book in which one character that'd been onstage throughout was revealed to have been conspiring with another character who didn't show up until late into the book.

[BlackberryJam]

Yeah...I've read all the Christie's and that is completely unfamiliar and not her style at all. Can you be more specific about the details?

[catlover79]

[Starleigh]

10 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Yes, it was.

Was it Curtain, the last Hercule Poirot? Or maybe The Man in the Brown Suit? I feel like there were a couple where she gave the murderer a voice in a sort of first person narration epilogue. Although I freely admit it's been some time since I read either of those books, so I could be totally off.

[ursula]

28 minutes ago, Starleigh said:

Was it Curtain, the last Hercule Poirot? Or maybe The Man in the Brown Suit? I feel like there were a couple where she gave the murderer a voice in a sort of first person narration epilogue. Although I freely admit it's been some time since I read either of those books, so I could be totally off.

That's not "introducing the murderer in the last 5 pages" though.

[GaT]

On 7/29/2019 at 3:33 PM, peacheslatour said:

I read a Christie once *don't remember the title* Where the murderer is introduced in the last five pages of the book. Total letdown.

Could it have been a "Christie" book written by someone other than Agatha Christie? 

[tribbles]

Has anyone else read the Black Stiletto series of five books by Raymond Benson?  I loved the series and have read all the books twice so far and think I'm due to re-read them again soon.

[Black Knight]

23 hours ago, Starleigh said:

Was it Curtain, the last Hercule Poirot? Or maybe The Man in the Brown Suit? I feel like there were a couple where she gave the murderer a voice in a sort of first person narration epilogue. Although I freely admit it's been some time since I read either of those books, so I could be totally off.

Yes, she did that in several books, including two of her most famous, And Then There Were None, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as a nice subversion of the classic trope of The Detective Explains All that she used most of the time. And, actually, yes, Curtain too

Spoiler

since Poirot, whose letter to Hastings closes the book, commits the final murder.

But in all those books, the murderer was onstage from the early pages. Christie's delight was in making readers realize that a known character or situation wasn't what they thought. (Speaking of, I'm impatient for the new adaptation of Death on the Nile to get made already.)

[Spartan Girl]

I just finished The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill, a very dark and feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid -- the HCA version, to be exact. It's really good albeit a bit gruesome, and for those that though the HCA mermaid deserved justice, you will like the ending.

[dubbel zout]

11 hours ago, Black Knight said:

(Speaking of, I'm impatient for the new adaptation of Death on the Nile to get made already.)

For my money, nothing will beat the 1978 version. Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith? I thought Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express was on the flabby side.

[Starleigh]

I didn't know there was a Death on the Nile in the works! It was the very first Agatha Christie I ever read, so I have a soft spot for it:)

My current read I just finished is Joshilyn Jackson's newest book, Never Have I Ever. It was different than her others, more of a psychological novel of suspense, but I really liked it! It had so many twisty turns in the plot that surprised me, and the ending came together in a way that made total sense. She is so good at writing multi- layered, damaged characters....

[HazelEyes4325]

While on vacation, I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn and The Cactus by Sarah Haywood.

The Huntress was my first book by Kate Quinn and I really enjoyed it!  I've had The Alice Network sitting on my kindle for ages, so I'll probably get to that one sooner rather than later.  The Cactus was ultimately good, but I spent the first half of the book thinking "This is just Sheldon Cooper, if Sheldon were female, British, and pregnant!"  Somewhere around the 50% mark it became less of a slog and I ended up liking it.

Right now I'm reading Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein.  I'm enjoying it and one thing that I really appreciate is that it has quite a bit about Germany right after WWII.  There are so many books about the war, but I haven't come across many about life in Germany after the war.

Also, I'll be starting Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane tonight.  I don't know much about it, but it came highly recommended, so we'll see.

[ursula]

On 8/3/2019 at 8:50 PM, HazelEyes4325 said:

While on vacation, I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn and The Cactus by Sarah Haywood.

The Huntress was my first book by Kate Quinn and I really enjoyed it!  I've had The Alice Network sitting on my kindle for ages, so I'll probably get to that one sooner rather than later.  

I am beyond envious. I've read The Alice Network and it was amazing. I've been on the waiting list for The Huntress since Spring. You know a book is good when you're the 400th person on the waiting list.

I just finished reading Fatherland by Robert Harris. I watched the movie a long time ago and I finally got round to finding and reading it. I can't believe it's a first novel. Before that I finished An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard.  I borrowed the book solely on the strength of its beautiful cover art and my experience gives lie to the "don't judge a book by its cover" adage. I've borrowed Roses and Rot by the same author.

Edited August 5, 2019 by ursula

[festivus]

On 8/3/2019 at 8:37 AM, Spartan Girl said:

I just finished The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill, a very dark and feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid -- the HCA version, to be exact. It's really good albeit a bit gruesome, and for those that though the HCA mermaid deserved justice, you will like the ending.

This sounds intriguing, I read the original story quite a few times when I was a child. I ordered a sample to my kindle.

I'm one of those people that likes to read the book before I see the movie so I got Call Me By Your Name on my kindle. It's still sitting there at 80% read almost a month later and I just don't feel like finishing it. I think the writing style just doesn't connect with me. I'm hoping I'll like the movie better.

OTOH I recently read a book by Joseph Hansen called A Smile In His Lifetime where the sentence structure was strange and it went back in forth in time which was a bit confusing but I ended up loving that one. Something I'll definitely re-read someday.

[GaT]

I'm reading Connection in Death by J.D. Robb, the 48th book in the In Death series. I have never read a series with this many books in it before.

[catlover79]

[Minneapple]

On 8/3/2019 at 9:37 AM, Spartan Girl said:

I just finished The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill, a very dark and feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid -- the HCA version, to be exact. It's really good albeit a bit gruesome, and for those that though the HCA mermaid deserved justice, you will like the ending.

This sounds right up my alley, I love fairy tale retellings. Thanks for this!

[dubbel zout]

I'm reading Genuine Fraud, by E.L. Lockhart. I thought We Were Liars wasn't her strongest (that's still The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, IMO), but I'm liking this one a lot so far.

[Black Knight]

On 8/4/2019 at 7:04 PM, GaT said:

I have never read a series with this many books in it before.

You just made me curious as to what is the longest series. After some googling, I came up with The Executioner. I'd never even heard of this, but it has 453 books according to Wikipedia.

[GaT]

31 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

You just made me curious as to what is the longest series. After some googling, I came up with The Executioner. I'd never even heard of this, but it has 453 books according to Wikipedia.

Yikes. It doesn't sound like these are full length books though, more like a magazine. Still a lot of chapters.

[Pachengala]

On 8/3/2019 at 6:37 AM, Spartan Girl said:

I just finished The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill, a very dark and feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid -- the HCA version, to be exact. It's really good albeit a bit gruesome, and for those that though the HCA mermaid deserved justice, you will like the ending.

Agree with @Minneapple; this is right up my alley! I listened to the Little Mermaid episode of the Myths and Legends podcast (highly recommend) and was surprised how much of the brutality of the story went over my head when I was younger. 

In other ‘modern retelling’ news, I need to thank whomever recommended the Mere Wife because it was so haunting that I’ve had a book hangover for weeks. 

[catlover79]

[truthaboutluv]

Just finished Like a Love Story and I really loved it. It's a YA story that includes a love triangle of a girl who falls for a guy who is secretly gay and so is secretly in love with her best friend who is openly gay. 

However the love story is secondary to the larger story of the AIDS crisis and how it affected the gay community, as the story is set in the late 80's. There's also A LOT of Madonna love which is great nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the late 80's and 90's when Madonna truly was the shit. 

[Bort]

22 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I'm reading Genuine Fraud, by E.L. Lockhart. I thought We Were Liars wasn't her strongest (that's still The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, IMO), but I'm liking this one a lot so far.

I hated We Were Liars and was a little wary of going for Genuine Fraud, but I ended up liking it.

The backwards narrative was a pretty neat storytelling perspective and it totally worked for this particular story.

[dubbel zout]

I liked how the book was written, too, @kariyaki. 

I think with We Were Liars she bit off more than she could chew—there was a lot going on—but I appreciate her trying something new.

[Bort]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I think with We Were Liars she bit off more than she could chew—there was a lot going on—but I appreciate her trying something new.

I think my issue with We Were Liars is that I figured out the twist really early in the book and got bored waiting for it.

[rove4]

I've just started book nine in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, Dust of Dreams.  I'm also listening to the audiobook for Moon Over Soho, book two in the Rivers of London series. 

[TheGreenKnight]

I re-read The Catcher in the Rye last week for the first time in a decade. That book still hurts. Now I'm re-reading the Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron because I'd heard it was being turned into a film series, while in the midst of reading Interview With a Vampire for the first time. I had the urge to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird at the same time as I finished TCitR, which means it'll probably be next.

[peacheslatour]

Just now, TheGreenKnight said:

I re-read The Catcher in the Rye last week for the first time in a decade. That book still hurts. Now I'm re-reading the Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron because I'd heard it was being turned into a film series, while in the midst of reading Interview With a Vampire for the first time. I had the urge to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird at the same time as I finished TCitR, which means it'll probably be next.

That's interesting, why does it hurt?

[helenamonster]

Just finished: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. Really enjoyed it. It's not often that you find a book that gets all the spooky beats of a haunted house story exactly right while also serving as a commentary on the history of wealth inequality in America. I did not see the final twist (aka what really goes on in The Bartholomew) coming, and was at first disappointed, but then when they went into further explanation I thought it was very well done and liked how Jules's abject poverty became more than just an exposition detail to explain why she was taking a job with so many red flags.

Next up: The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda. I've read two of Miranda's other books and liked them, so I'm looking forward to this one.

[bmasters9]

The Untouchables (classic 1957 book by Eliot Ness [this edition from 1987] that spawned a hit 1959-63 ABC series w/the late Robert Stack, a 1987 film w/Kevin Costner, and a 1993 series w/Tom Amandes [each one playing Ness])

[dubbel zout]

26 minutes ago, bmasters9 said:

Tom Amandes

Patch [Everwood reference] played Elliot Ness? Awesome!

[bmasters9]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Patch [Everwood reference] played Elliot Ness? Awesome!

Yep-- a release from VEI is on Amazon.

[AuntiePam]

Watched an interesting old movie on TCM awhile back -- About Mrs. Leslie, about a single woman who kept a boarding house in Beverly Hills.  Unanswered questions from the movie led me to the book, written by Vina Del Mar.  Good old-fashioned writing, character development, captivating story -- so that led me to more by Ms. Del Mar.  The Big Family, about the Slidell family of Louisiana; The Laughing Stranger, a "bad" woman's effect on a family; The Becker Scandal, partly auto-biographical, about the real-life killing of a crooked cop in NYC in the early 1900's; The Marcaboth Women, a day in the life of a matriarch and her family, after a son marries a loose woman,  I'll be getting more by Del Mar, but she's out of print, so it's taking awhile to run everything down.

The thing about movies based on novels -- especially movies from the 40's and 50's -- is that you needed the book to get the whole story.  The movies shied away from what society considered "seedy", illicit.  Sometimes that meant the movie didn't make sense, but the book is there if you want to find out what the characters did and why they did it. 

Currently re-reading The Silence of the Lambs, and just finished the new one by Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys.  Highly recommended, could have been longer. 

[Madding crowd]

Just finished Apple of My Eye and Her Name was Rose by Claire Allen. British thrillers a cut above the usual ones about weak women.

[Melgaypet]

I just finished Moon Dance, the first book in J.R. Rain's Vampire for Hire series. I won't be reading the second. It so clearly wants to be The Dresden Files with a female lead, but forgot all about the wit and fun. I mean, you have an unhappily married mother-of-two vampire PI, hired by a sexy (obviously) werewolf defense attorney to investigate his attempted murder, while also being stalked by a professional vampire hunter and struggling with her bloodlust. I don't know how you make all of that bland, but this author managed it. Not one character in this book has anything approaching a personality.

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

I just finished Moon Dance, the first book in J.R. Rain's Vampire for Hire series. I won't be reading the second. It so clearly wants to be The Dresden Files with a female lead, but forgot all about the wit and fun. I mean, you have an unhappily married mother-of-two vampire PI, hired by a sexy (obviously) werewolf defense attorney to investigate his attempted murder, while also being stalked by a professional vampire hunter and struggling with her bloodlust. I don't know how you make all of that bland, but this author managed it. Not one character in this book has anything approaching a personality.

I read this book years ago & actually liked it. It was supposed to be a trilogy, or 5 books, or something small, but I guess the author decided to milk it (he also publishes the books), & he made some story changes in order to continue it which were so stupid IMO, that I stopped reading the series.

[Calvada]

On 7/27/2019 at 9:52 PM, isalicat said:

Anyone out there into English modern detective/mysteries? I have read the entire Deborah Crombie series as well as the Elizabeth George (Lynley novels - my favorite) and am up for further recommendations. Thanks!

I recommend Jane Casey's DC Maeve Kerrigan series and Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider series.  I really enjoy both those.  Also Val McDermid.  As well, I second the recommendations for Kate Atkinson and Peter Robinson.

Currently reading - Kate Atkinson's  Big Sky and my nonfiction nightstand book (always have one going - try to read 20 to 25 pages each night) is A Good American Family by David Maraniss about his blacklisted father. 

I recently finished the third and final volume of Nigel Hamilton's books on FDR as commander in chief during WWII.  The last book was all about how ill Roosevelt was for the last year of his life, so much so that it was almost a relief when on the last page, he died.  Spoiler alert for anyone who doesn't know FDR died in office!  All I could think was how at last that tired man was able to rest.  

[ChuckWagon]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:52 PM, isalicat said:

Anyone out there into English modern detective/mysteries? I have read the entire Deborah Crombie series as well as the Elizabeth George (Lynley novels - my favorite) and am up for further recommendations. Thanks!

Christopher Fowler - The Bryant and May series

Nikki French - The Freida Klein series

Alan Bradley - The Flavia DeLuce series

and if you’re into supernatural, The Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch

[Crs97]

I just finished The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne.  It was one of the Amazon Prime first reads, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[isalicat]

Thank you so much everyone for your recommendations of modern English detective/mystery series! I am reading Peter Robinson from the very beginning and there are lots and lots in his series so that is a good thing!

Another big thank you for whomever mentioned the book "The Atrocity Archives" upthread - I also like sci fi and weirdness (huge fan of Neil Gaiman) so this book is perfect for me (I'm 2/3 way through and enjoying it tremendously).

[Mabinogia]

19 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I just finished The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne.  It was one of the Amazon Prime first reads, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Oh good. I think that's the one I picked. I'm so behind on my Prime First Reads I can't remember. Which one I left off on. 

I've been reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. A friend gave it to me several years ago and it's been sitting on my shelf (it's a real book, I mostly read Kindle now because of the light and ability to adjust the size of the font, real books tend to hurt my eyes these days lol) but I just moved and have been without my Kindle for a few days. 

It is a very strange and interesting story told by a dog. I'm about half way through and kind of know what is going on, but it's a good mix of giving you some info to work with but not enough to fully figure out what is happening but I'm pretty sure a bunch of literary horror figures are involved though none are actually named outright. 

[cherrypj]

I haven't seen anyone list Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (Miss Ali). It was a very quick read--great dialogue. I'm a fan of books where everything wraps up in everyone's favor, and this one fit the ticket. 

I also just finished Buttermilk Graffiti, by Edward Lee, which was amazing. It includes recipes, developed from his travels around the US, and at least a good quarter of them appeal to me, which is a great ratio for me. 

And Working by Robert Caro was a delight. Maybe I should pick up The Power Broker again--I just wish it was on the Kindle. 

[Calvada]

I too enjoyed Working but I wish Caro would finish the final LBJ volume.  I have 2 friends who also read Caro and our fear is that he (now in his 80s) will be unable to finish it.  We worry it will be another William Manchester situation.