What Fiction are you reading this week, December 18, 2022?

[hermetic]

Still reading L.A. Requiem by Crais. Big book, a lot of it learning who Joe Pike is. And then, the plot thickens. Yeah, it's getting really good now. Suspenseful. Be advised: this is not a cozy. Definitely hard-boiled.

Listening to The Guest List by Fern Michaels. How cool is this? On Friday I was trying to find a new audio library book but everything on my list was either checked out or they didn't own. I was getting a little frustrated and when they said they didn't have this one they asked if I recommend they buy it. So I said yes and went on my way. Then yesterday morning I got an email saying they bought it, based on my rec, and now I am listening to it. Kinda feels like a Christmas present.

What's on your 2022 penultimate week's reading list?

[FalloutShelter]

1. Reading Ministry for the Future, by

Kim Stanley Robinson. VERY heavy but very important. Best friend gave me Truly Madly Deeply,
Alan Rickman’s diaries. Will dig into that after the New Year.

[hermetic]

2. Wow, important indeed...

A masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.

Thanks. Hope I can find this one before it's too late...

[FalloutShelter]

5. It's a must read.

Have you read Green World and New York 2140? Also great reads.

[hermetic]

11. Haven't read those

This is my introduction to Stanley, although she has over 35 books out, many award winners.

[Staph]

23. He.

Kim Stanley Robinson is of the male persuasion.

(Don't worry - I went for years thinking he was a she! I loved the Mars Trilogy.)

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. Just finished

Dark Age Monarch, by Joseph J. Swope (I think I got the author's name right). It was an attempt to reconcile the Arthurian legend with history by interspersing history with the tales in novel form. It didn't work very well because it ended up being very choppy and the only character that stood out at all was Merlin. I am a sucker for any Arthurian tales but this one just made me want to pick up The Mists of Avalon or The Once and Future King again and say to hell with history. It's nice and all that but put it in the front or the back of the book, don't chop it all up!

Now I'm reading Chaucer and the Legend of Good Women, by Philip Gooden. So far, much more to my liking. I liked the other book I read in this series. I like the Matthew Shardlake books too.

On my downstairs Kindle I'm reading Extraordinary Means, by Donna Levin. It's the story of a young woman who's in a coma after a (maybe) accidental overdose and the conflict in her family over whether to pull the plug. So far I hate everyone in the book except the victim, who hovers like a spirit above everyone and watches everything, telling the story from her viewpoint. It's the first time in a long time I've disliked so many characters so much! I wouldn't blame her for wanting to get away from them....

[hermetic]

10. I, too, am a fan

of Arthurian legend books. Think I'll give that one a miss, though.

That Chaucer book looks like it was first written in '05 by a Philippa Morgan, then again in '14 by Gooden where it is longer and seems more detailed but seems to be the same story. Interesting.

That Kindle book sounds like a good story, too.

[SheltieLover]

4. "One Potion in the Grave," Heather Blake (Witchy series)

Fun light read.

Also read 2 earlier in the week that were similar, but much more intriguing:

"A  Spell for Trouble," Esme Addison.  Excellent paranormal cozy!

Also by same author, "A Hex for Danger."

These works have an interesting cultural component: the protagonist is following her Polish roots.

Congrats on your library gifting you a copy of what you wanted to enjoy!

My gift from the universe this year was finding a wonderful kitty rescue who helped me trap the little homeless kitty. Snip snip Tues. morning.

Hoping my senior rescue will buddy up with this sweet boy. She attacks my pittie when he tries to lick her head, so....

Happy Holidays to All!

Ty for this thread!

[hermetic]

6. Thank you

for all the great, fun suggestions.

Hope all works out for your little visitor. And that your season is merry.

[SheltieLover]

7. Thx!

[The King of Prussia]

8. An ultra-cosy

"Curtain Call at the Seaview Hotel" by Glenda Young. Set in Scarborough. Earlier I consumed "Shadow Falls" by Wendy Dranfield in one day. Hugely recommended.

Next up I might return to Three Pines - I need something to remind me that actually she's a pretty good author - dreadful TV series notwithstanding.

Away from books we have slowly been introducing and integrating Russo kitten with the other two cats. They will insist on eating each others' food, but otherwise it's going very well.

Pip pip! 🐈 🐈 🐈.

[hermetic]

12. Heyo, I was wondering

Last edited Sun Dec 18, 2022, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)

how Russo was getting along. Glad to hear it's going well. All my cats eat each others' food. I've pretty much given up on who is supposed to get what. Fortunately the babies are getting old enough to eat regular food, as long as it says "all stages" on it. Soon, one food to feed them all will make my life easier.

I will definitely look for Shadow Falls.

I belong to an online discussion group for Louise Penny and the arguments over the TV series are wild. I do hear, though, that her latest book is quite something.

Cheerio!

Edit to add Shadow Falls is called Find My Child here in the U.S., in case anyone else wants to read it.

[The King of Prussia]

15. The problem we have

Is that the two older cats are on a special diet, so whilst their food won't be especially harmful to Russo - his will certainly not be good for them. Surprised about the Louise Penny group - I would have expected all fans to loathe it (apart from Alfred Molina's performance.)

[hermetic]

17. TV fans like to point out

that the series says, "Based on" the books and this gives them much leeway. Personally, I don't think I would enjoy them.

[The King of Prussia]

22. My wife hasn't read the books

And I have - so we've got all bases covered. Both of us think it's rubbish.

[bahboo]

9. the Elvis Cole, Joe Pike novels are fabulous....Crais is a great writer....

re-reading one of the Thorn novels by James W. Hall, Tropical Freeze. Great South Florida noir....

[hermetic]

13. Agreed!

I've never read anything quite like this one. I'll for sure be reading more, even though they're probably pretty dark.

Tropical Freeze sounds good: A tense thriller set in an exotic locale where greed and criminality thrive. Yup.

[SheltieLover]

27. Thx!

I've checked out a couple!

[cbabe]

14. Dick Francis series

Detective against the world is almost an American archetype. Travis McGee and Robert Crais and McConnelly and James Lee Burke and Hillerman and onwards.

I’d forgotten what a great storyteller Francis was. Easy page turner prose but characters with depth and very twisty plots. Plus horses. And English weather.

Sadly library has incomplete collection so will be hunting titles at used book stores. Christmas gift to me.

[hermetic]

16. 65 books!

That should keep you busy for a while. I like stories with horses in them. Good luck with your search.

[cbabe]

18. Yep. Caution with books authored by his son,

Felix. He took over the series after his father’s death. Lacks the magic touch.

Dick really knew his horses:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Francis

After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch which fell when close to winning the Grand National. Francis retired from the turf and became a journalist and novelist.…

[hermetic]

20. Interesting

Thanks!

[SheltieLover]

26. Thx for sharing!

I've checked out a couple of ebooks!

[cbabe]

28. Let us know how you like them. Cheers.

[SheltieLover]

29. Will do!

Apparently, very popular. Most had dozens of holds. Unusual for such old books!

Ty again!

Happy Holidays!

[snowybirdie]

19. Grisham's new book

Boys from Biloxi. Afraid he's losing his touch. So far about a third in, I'm bored. Don't know if I'll finish

[hermetic]

21. Aww,

sorry to hear that. Maybe it's just a slump.

[Jeebo]

24. "Upgrade" by Blake Crouch

I read "Dark Matter" three or four years ago, and, well, wow. Ditto this one, although I'm only about a hundred pages in. I'm going to have to read all of his novels, starting with "Recursion" next.

The central character is the son of a brilliant geneticist who is working for noble goals (spoiler alert: with disastrous unanticipated side consequences). On page 104 she identifies the greatest threat we face, for her son and some of her assistants, "The greatest threat to our species lies within us. ... It's denial. Selfishness. Magical thinking. We are not rational beings. We seek comfort rather than a clear-eyed stare into reality. We consume and preen and convince ourselves that if we keep our heads in the sand, the monsters will just go away. Simply put, we refuse to help ourselves as a species. We refuse to do what must be done. Every danger we face links ultimately back to this failing."

Those are the words of a character in a novel, but Mr. Crouch wrote the novel and thus wrote those words himself. I have a feeling that anybody who could articulate that sentiment that well is not a Republican.

My aging, failing 73-year-old eyes will not allow me to read as much as I used to, but I think I'm going to go through this novel pretty fast.

-- Ron

[hermetic]

25. Thanks for that

Profound.

I know what you mean about the eye thing. Got that going on myself. I'll keep at it, though. Best wishes to you.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. Forever and Then Some: Prequel in the Grifter's Daughter Series

EVEN GRIFTERS HAVE FAMILIES.
THEY’RE JUST MORE COMPLICATED…
At least Dani Silver’s is. Complicated, unconventional, criminal, and –worst of all to some--downright amoral. But whathehell, family’s family.

A PREQUEL TOLD IN SHORT STORIES....

Duane Lindsay brings to life the tale of this very odd, yet affectionate kinship group in a completely original prequel, told in interconnected short stories, some of them stretching to novellas.And each one chronicling one of their cons.

At its heart, the book is the Byzantine yet surprisingly tender tale of artists in love. Con artists, that is. Meet legendary con Leroy Logan and his crime partner Kate Mulrooney, who’s known reverently in their circle as Fast Kate, an homage to her famous ability to spot a mark at a thousand paces.

Leroy’s a lovable, irresponsible, untrustworthy, unfaithful lazy lug, unlucky at gambling but renowned for criminal brilliance. In other words, the quintessential bad boy.

So of course Kate loves him.

It's starting out pretty good.

I was reading Society for Paranormals, which is a series. The Grifter's Daughter intrigued me so I am going to alternate these two series.