What Fiction are you reading this week, July 29, 2018?

[hermetic]

So, libraries or Amazon? Yeah, I think we can all agree on that.


Just goes to show, not all professors are smart.

Finally into a new book, When the Music's Over by Peter Robinson.

Inspector Alan Banks must face the music when he becomes embroiled in one of his most perplexing and distressing cases in this haunting page-turner. So far, so good.

Still listening to Michael Connelly's audio book, The Wrong Side of Goodbye. Good story; getting to the brutal end.

What are you into this week, be it library or Amazon procured?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

1. I'm reading "Universal Harvester" by John Darnielle.

Picked it up on the Kindle store awhile back. It started out real good. Weird, but good. Halfway through it does this long backstory deal that messes with the pace, but I've been sick and unable to concentrate the last couple days, so hopefully I can get back into it soon.

My family reads a LOT. So we do a lot of Kindle books, and order physical books through Amazon, plus we use the Libby app for our local public library, as well as driving to the library and doing it the old fashioned way.

[hermetic]

5. Sounds like a really good book

Life in a small town takes a dark turn when mysterious footage begins appearing on VHS cassettes at the local Video Hut. In UNIVERSAL HARVESTER, the once placid Iowa fields and farmhouses now sinister and imbued with loss and instability and profound foreboding. The novel will take Jeremy and those around him deeper into this landscape than they have ever expected to go. They will become part of a story that unfolds years into the past and years into the future, part of an impossible search for something someone once lost that they would do anything to regain.

Certainly hope you are feeling better every day. It's great to have good reading on hand while recuperating.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

7. Just a sinus infection...I get them a couple times a year (deviated septum).

Can't concentrate on ANYTHING while I have one. But the first day I feel better I've got GOBS of energy and can't bother to sit down and do anything (just keep moving, just keep moving). Hopefully try to start reading again this evening.

[exboyfil]

2. In honor of Trump's Mars statement

The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke . Just kidding - it is the next book up in my Kindle Unlimited audiobook selection. 3 months for $5. I have already listened to 17 books and read 7 books with a little over a week to go.

[hermetic]

6. Excellent

[Ohiogal]

3. Love the library cat!

I'm not reading fiction this week .... decided on a memoir of sorts, does that still count?

[hermetic]

8. Oh sure

It all counts. Besides, whose memoirs don't have a little fiction in them?

[Ohiogal]

12. Okay..

I'm reading "I'd Like To Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had" by Tony Danza.

Now, before you see "Tony Danza" and roll your eyes ....

He does a very brave thing here, teaching English for one year in an inner city Philadelphia high school. I didn't know he graduated with a degree in History and always intended to become a teacher before he was sidetracked into professional boxing and acting. Very eye opening account of what it's like to be a public school teacher these days. So far every enjoyable. There's more to Tony than I realized.

[hermetic]

13. That's great

We've got a few teachers around here. Some might want to read this one. Thanks.

[matt819]

4. Do detectives read police procedurals?

White River Burning by John Verdon, fifth in the Dave Gurney series. Very good writer. Well developed characters, complex plots, etc.

Stay Hidden by Paul Doiron, latest in the Mike Bowditch Maine game warden series. Listening to this one. I think I might have missed the last one. No matter. I’ve like all of these books. Like John sandfords characters, Doiron’s characters change as they get older and more mature. Secondary characters move on without being forgotten. Characters encounter major life problems. They’re multi dimensional.

Finished Dead Girl Running by Christina Dodd. Give it a miss. It was okay enough until the last 75 pages, when it became a hodgepodge of mystery, thriller, romance, and too far-fetched plot developments.

[hermetic]

10. I don't know.

Do they?

That Verdon novel sure sounds worth reading. Provocative and timely.

Hadn't heard of Paul Doiron but I looked and my library has several of his books so I will have to give them a look.

And thanks for the tip on that last one. These things are good to know.

[Squinch]

9. Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent which I learned about in a reply

to one of your past "What are you reading?" threads.

Its great! Thanks to the poster who mentioned it!

[hermetic]

11. Cool!

My job here is done then. (Oh, not really. There's always plenty more to look forward to. )

[dameatball]

14. "Practical Demonkeeping" by Christopher Moore. Finished it about 30 minutes ago.

Enjoyed it, but not on a par with "Noir" or "Lamb."

[hermetic]

18. Not surprising I guess

After all, they can't all be the greatest. He manages a good percentage, though.

[dameatball]

22. Yes he does. It was an enjoyable read, just not,well, you know..:) I enjoy your weekly post.

Interesting to see what others may be reading. Thanks.

[TexasProgresive]

15. The Wheel of Time finale A Memory of Light

I can't remember if Robert Jordan did this much jumping around between characters, locations and action as does Brandon Sanderson. Maybe I'm older and half brain dead or maybe Jordan did it better.

Anyway I'm grad Sanderson finished the series and it's not too bad just seems choppy. I haven't read any of Sanderson's other works to be a good judge of his writing.

[hermetic]

19. It can't be easy

to replicate another author's works. Do have to admire those who try, though.

[TexasProgresive]

23. Sanderson is a fan of WOT

And has all of Jordan's extensive notes to write.

[cyclonefence]

16. Macbeth, aloud,

to my husband.

Yes, I do voices and trumpet flourishes.

[hermetic]

20. That's lovely

And must be quite fun, too.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Just started "The President is Missing" last night.

[hermetic]

21. Do let us know

how you liked it.

[northoftheborder]

24. Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue

This is a beautifully written story - of a family of African Camaroon immigrants and their quest to begin a new life in America; an Oprah recommended book; listening on Audible: the narrator is wonderful, elegant. Highly recommend this one.

[Momgonepostal]

28. I liked that one, too! Nt

[hermetic]

36. Ooh, nice

[dweller]

25. rereading Michael Cruz Smith

started with ROSE, want to pass it to my daughter as her mother's family ties back to Wigan and she says she has didtant cousins there... then just finished RED SQUARE, I figured I may as well look at the Russian perspective, as presented by Smith, and Arkady Renko's exploits... not sure if I will read POLAR STAR, or HAVANA BAY next... depends on what I uncover in the stacks...
and yes, I mean that literally as I have stacks of books abound 😜😳

✌🏼️

[hermetic]

37. Yeah, me too

Piles, even. Do stop back by and share your discoveries. All readers welcome here.

[doc03]

26. The various right wing editorials in the Sunday paper nt

[Momgonepostal]

27. I just finished There There, by Tommy Orange

It’s about the urban Native American experience, takes place in Oakland, CA.

[hermetic]

38. That one is definitely

on my list now.

[Bluepinky]

29. I'm reading The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian.

This book is good so far, somewhat of a mystery, which I like. He has written some really great books, my favorite was Midwives.
Another book I recently read was She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb, and that was good too.

[hermetic]

39. I've been wanting to read

some Wally Lamb. Sounds like a really good writer with very compelling stories.

[murielm99]

30. Blackout

by Connie Willis.

Historians do their work and research by time traveling.

[hermetic]

40. Connie is great

She sure "knows" her time travel.

[argyl]

31. "A Column of Fire" by Ken Follett. Little over halfway through it.

[pansypoo53219]

32. lady susan-jane austin. just finished norhanger abbey.

reading her 'other' books.

[Number9Dream]

33. Finished "The Third Gate" by Lincoln Child

Thanks for the thread, hermetic. An interesting variation on the Pharaoh's tomb / curse story. I enjoyed this action page-turner.

[hermetic]

41. Neat!

Will have to get that one. Happy to see my library has it. Did you hear about that ancient sarcophagus that was just found and bunches of people wrote saying they wanted to volunteer to drink the fluid inside? Cray cray!

[PennyK]

34. The Vinyl Detective - Written in Dead Wax

Author is Andrew Cartmel. Fun mystery story! Our hero is a guy obsessed with records and collecting them. In this book he gets tangled up in a search for an extremely rare jazz record. I bought the book, but found the sequel at my library (got it DLed to my iPad already)!
I haven't posted for a few weeks, because I've been roaming hither and yon for things to read that I really enjoy.

[hermetic]

35. That's cool

Always glad to see you, whenever you stop by. I see Ready Player 9 is out on DVD now. I don't think you ever said how you liked the movie compared to the book. Or maybe I just forgot.

[PennyK]

42. The movie was pretty good!

Hubby and I both enjoyed it. Of course things move more quickly onscreen than they do when you're reading -- I always forget who's who in the action scenes, and they seemed to emphasize special effects, but overall, casting was good and we had fun.

Forgot...I also started Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery series with Murder on Astor Place. Each book references a NYC neighborhood and our protagonists are an "odd couple" who start out at odds but quickly coalesce into a great team. Could use a tad more humor but otherwise pretty good.

I'm really looking forward to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which debuts on Netflix August 10th (same night as
Amazon Prime's Ordeal by Innocence!), but I may have to wait a few days as I'm having eyelid surgery that day. On the bright side, I should be seeing a lot more once it's healed!

[PoorMonger]

43. The Spirit Photographer by Michael Varese

For fans of Cold Mountain and The Alienist, the stunning debut novel of historical suspense about a charismatic conman haunted―perhaps literally―by a ghost from his past

Boston, 1870. Photographer Edward Moody runs a booming business capturing the images of the spirits of the departed in his portraits. He lures grieving widows and mourning mothers into his studio with promises of catching the ghosts of their deceased loved ones with his camera. Despite the whispers around town that Moody is a fraud of the basest kind, no one has been able to expose him, and word of his gift has spread, earning him money, fame, and a growing list of illustrious clients.

One day, while developing the negative from a sitting to capture the spirit of the young son of an abolitionist senator, Moody is shocked to see a different spectral figure develop before his eyes. Instead of the staged image of the boy he was expecting, the camera has seemingly captured the spirit of a beautiful young woman. Is it possible that the spirit photographer caught a real ghost? When Moody recognizes the woman in the photograph as the daughter of an escaped slave he knew long ago, he is compelled to travel from Boston to the Louisiana bayous to resolve their unfinished business―and perhaps save his soul. But more than one person is out to stop him . . .

With dramatic twists and redolent of the mood of the Southern Gothic, The Spirit Photographer conjures the Reconstruction era South, replete with fugitive hunters, voodoo healers, and other dangers lurking in the swamp. Jon Michael Varese’s deftly plotted first novel is an intense tale of death and betrayal that shows us how undeniably the ghosts of the past remain with us, and how resolutely they refuse to be quieted.

[Tracer]

44. Unfortunately, a couple of losers.

The Power by Naomi Alderman. Had to quit after 50 pages or so. Young girls shoot electricity out of their hands and become just as cruel as their previous tormenters. Ridiculous and not well written.

The Bomb Maker by Thomas Perry. I used to enjoy Perry, particularly his Jane Whitfield series, but this book is dreadful. A write-by-numbers effort. I quit after 50 pages too.

[hostalover]

45. Glad to see I was not the only one who could not make it through The Power. Ugh!