What Fiction are you reading this week, May 9, 2021?

[hermetic]

Happy Mother's Day!


Still reading Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith. Almost a third of the way through. Getting into some interesting visuals. Can this mystery be solved?

Listening to the marvelous Be Frank with Me by Julia Johnson. This is SO funny. Also heartwarming and captivating. Usually audio books begin with the title and then, "read by" whomever. This one says "performed by Tavia Gilbert." She does that ever so well. A must-read for those of us of a certain age who were really into movies when we were young.

What marvelous books are finding their way to you this week?

[Timewas]

1. Sandford's latest

Ocean Prey..typical Davenport so far...

[hermetic]

5. Hot off the press new

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces when an off-duty Coast Guardsman calls in some suspicious behavior from a nearby boat. It's a snazzy craft, slick and outfitted with extra horsepower, and is zipping along until it slows to pick up a surfaced diver . . . a diver who was apparently alone, without his own boat, in the middle of the ocean.

[KPN]

2. Been reading an oldie: "Lonesome Dove". About 3/4 through it.

Guessing a synopsis isn't necessary. But I will say it's definitely a great book. Don't know how I hadn't already read this long ago!

[hermetic]

6. Indeed, a classic.

A love story, an adventure, and a western frontier epic.

[japple]

20. Yes, Lonesome Dove is a literary treasure, as are all of the books

written by Larry McMurtry. He was a genius with a typewriter.

[KPN]

22. Yeah, his characters come alive and you really get to know them.

[MOMFUDSKI]

3. Jonathan Kellerman's

The Wedding Guest. So far, so good.

[hermetic]

7. A gripping psychological thriller

Pretty much can't go wrong with Kellerman.

[Paper Roses]

4. James Patterson: The 13-Minute Murder.

[hermetic]

8. Another psychological thriller

Looks like a quick read. But a good one.

[SheltieLover]

9. Just finished Be Frank With Me

It is funny, but also a great example of the eccentricities of people with aspergers.

Now reading Later Gator by DeLeon.

In serious need of new cozy series!

Also learned Rita Mae Brown & Patterson both have new releases coming out soon!

[hermetic]

11. That's good news

Claws For Alarm, the new tantalizing mystery from Brown and co-author Sneaky Pie sounds like a winner.

[SheltieLover]

14. For sure!

Considering a reread of the series.

[The King of Prussia]

10. A cure for all diseases by Reginald Hill.

One of his Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries. Rather bizarrely it's also a rewrite of Jane Austen's final, unfinished novel. I'm enjoying it, but there's an awful lot of characters to keep track of.

In the real world covid still seems on the retreat (touch wood). Things open up more the week after next, and we're going to celebrate by going to the James Herriot museum.

Stay safe. We will get there.

[hermetic]

13. That one sure sounds interesting

Even more interesting, that book was also published under the title The Price of Butcher's Meat. That evidently made some people quite angry when they bought the second one and found they'd already read it. Looks like now they show both titles on the cover.

I imagine the James Herriot museum would be a terrific place to visit. Enjoy. Send me a postcard. (just kidding )

[Polly Hennessey]

12. Could not finish The Alexandria Link by

Steve Berry. At first it was a little fun and I liked the main character. About half way through I became tired of bad guys chasing good guys through museums and cathedrals and ancient riddles and land grabs in the Middle East. I tried but no more Steve Berry for me.

I started The Ice House by Minette Walters. Her first book in 1992. Reminiscent of Ruth Rendell.

[hermetic]

15. Thanks for sharing that

I know I hate investing time in a book and then it just gets to be too much.

Walters sounds like an author to get to know. The Ice House being a stunning debut -- a marvelous marriage of classic convention and contemporary sophistication. Minette Walters sets a new standard of excellence for the mystery novel. And she's written a good many more since then.

[bif]

16. Rereading "The Emigrants" by W.G. Sebold...

Last edited Mon May 10, 2021, 10:01 AM - Edit history (1)

Just finished "Paris is Always a Good Idea" by Jenn McKinlay and "Watershed" by Mark Barr

[hermetic]

17. Looks like you found

some good reading. And I would tend to agree: Paris is Always a Good Idea.

[bif]

18. "Paris" was just okay.

It turned into a light romance. Seibold is always magical. And I'm about to give up on "Watershed". Fairly plodding and slow moving. I gave it 50 pages and it's just not doing it for me.

[japple]

19. Love the picture in the OP. So sweet. Happy to see that you're

listening to Be Frank with Me. Reading it was a pleasure, but it sounds like I need to listen to that audio book, too.

I'm nearly finished with Tracey Chevalier's At the Edge of the Orchard which I am thoroughly enjoying. I have read most of her books. She does the research, really fleshes out her characters and this is no exception.

From amazon:

1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck – in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life.

1853: Their youngest child Robert is wandering through Gold Rush California. Restless and haunted by the broken family he left behind, he has made his way alone across the country. In the redwood and giant sequoia groves he finds some solace, collecting seeds for a naturalist who sells plants from the new world to the gardeners of England. But you can run only so far, even in America, and when Robert’s past makes an unexpected appearance he must decide whether to strike out again or stake his own claim to a home at last.

Chevalier tells a fierce, beautifully crafted story in At the Edge of the Orchard, her most graceful and richly imagined work yet.

And next up is Reckless

New York Times bestselling author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stacey Abrams, writing under her pen name Selena Montgomery, tells an unforgettable story of a high-powered Atlanta lawyer who is forced to confront her painful past and prove her innocence to the man she loves.

I heard an interview with Stacey Abrams on NPR this morning and read an interview (with gorgeous fashion shots) with her here: https://www.instyle.com/politics-social-issues/women-politics/stacey-abrams-cover?fbclid=IwAR3luuFJgVhAVhkbvKA-iKzmSI0FoGT_R9rsiLmA3bFrG7_VAMFz_wJkjnQ

Folks from Georgia need to stick with Stacey Abrams. She is a bright and guiding light.

Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there, whether furry, human, feathery or scaly and thanks so much, hermetic, for our weekly thread.

[hermetic]

21. I'm so happy you like the photo!

I saw it a few days ago and thought it would be perfect for today. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. I am mother to a human child who sent me a lovely gift today. But I am also mom to a bunch of fur kids as I know many DUers are, as well. So,

At the Edge of the Orchard certainly sounds great. And I absolutely love that Stacey Abrams writes novels, which I can't wait to start reading. She is a true American hero, right up there with RBG, and I truly hope enough people in GA recognize that fact.