What are you reading this week of October 9, 2016?

[hermetic]

Howdy, fellow readers

The Wreckage by Michael Crummey is a very aptly named book. It's about the war with Japan and a few young Canadians who go off to fight. As we know, war wrecks everything: lives, souls, families. I've now reached the point in the story where we jump ahead many years and I am relieved to get away from the brutal descriptions of the ordeals these men faced. Whew

I have begun listening to Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman. When I went to the library yesterday to pick it up they were having a writers' conference so I sat in on a few discussions. Interesting.

What books are capturing your interest this week?

[CrispyQ]

1. My friend's book,

The Lucky Hat Mine, by J. v. L. Bell, came out the first of October so I read it. She calls it 'vacation lit,' light-hearted reading. It was a fun, fast read. Historical fiction during the 1860s gold rush of Colorado.

I still had three books from the library I hadn't touched & realized, they are overdue since September 27! At a quarter a day, per book, that's a $16.50 fine! Ouch! So I hustled over to the library & guess what? They had just joined a coalition of other libraries & moved over to a new catalog system. In the process, all books were re-checked out with an October 17 date. Whew!

So, I'm reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, which has started out with a kick! And Madd Addam is up next.

[hermetic]

2. Wow, you lucked out

Can you renew books online? I've done that a few times, comes in handy. I usually put a B on my calendar for days when books are due.

Dark Matter is featured on my library website right now so I think that may be the next one I read.

[CrispyQ]

3. I need to put a mark on my calendar, too.

Good idea. We can only renew online if the book isn't overdue already!

[TexasProgresive]

4. Maybe you should've bought a Powerball Ticket.

[shenmue]

5. "Blood of Elves," Andrzej Sapkowski

Fantasy adventure.

[rogerashton]

6. Julian Stockwin, Inferno, a Kydd sea adventure

Age of sail adventure during the Napoleonic wars. This one is about the siege of Copenhagen. Kydd is one of the two best still being written -- along with Lamdin's Alan Lewry -- Lucky Jack Aubrey and Hornblower both being retired.

[hermetic]

7. That one is truly

hot off the press (Oct '16). I just read a brief description and it sounds like a really good story. Thanks for telling us about it/them.

[rogerashton]

9. Pretty good so far.

Yeah, I'm a Stockwin fan. There's more land warfare in this one -- a new character who is an officer of light infantry. I would not be surprised to see him in Spain in some future novels.

[Goblinmonger]

8. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

I have to finish Book 3 of March, but that will take about 15 minutes.

I have read and taught a lot (most all?) of O'Connor's short stories but realized I have not read her novel.

[hermetic]

12. Well, son of a gun....

I've read O'Connor's stories back in the 60s and never knew there was a novel. So of course, I had to look it up. (Wiki)

"The novel concerns a returning World War II veteran who, haunted by a lifelong crisis of faith, resolves to form an anti-religious ministry in an eccentric Southern town. The novel received little critical attention when it first appeared but has since come to be appreciated as a somewhat unique work of 'low comedy and high seriousness' with disturbing religious themes."

Be still, my heart! Can't wait to get my hands on that. Published in '52, it should be easy to find on public domain sites.

Thanks!

[japple]

10. Thanks, hermetic, for the thread. I'm still reading Paulette

Jiles' book, The Color of Lightning, and am surprised at how much I didn't remember from my initial reading. There is the feel of Lonesome Dove in the time period and the setting, though the characters are totally different. I think I'm enjoying it much more this time around. It will be interesting to see what the author has dreamed up in her new book for the continuation of this story.

Putting Michael Crummey's The Wreckage on my list. Sounds like a good one. I remember the intensity of his writing in River Thieves.

[hermetic]

11. Gotta tell ya,

River Thieves and The Wreckage are quite different. Still very intense writing but where River Thieves is a lot about place and the environment, The Wreckage is more about the human condition. Plus, the first takes place in the 17th century and the latter in the 20th. And I was wrong to think that just because the story jumped ahead in time, it would be less emotionally gripping. I suspect I will finish it tonight and I expect there will be tears on my pillow.

By the way, I hope you were not in the storm path and if you were that no damage was done.

[japple]

13. Sounds intriguing. I hope I can find it in our library system.

No, we didn't get any of the effects of Hurricane Matthew except for the wind. We could have used some of the rain, though, as we have been moved into Extreme Drought Conditions--abnormally dry since March and nothing for over a month. It is heartbreaking to see dogwoods dying.

[CrispyQ]

14. Spoiler alert on Dark Matter.

I was disappointed in Dark Matter. It had such a great start! Basically, our guy Jason gets transported to an alternate universe where his life is very different & he tries to find his way back to his world. It bogged down in the middle where he trying to find his world. I didn't see the point in spending a few pages describing a world that wasn't his. But the end was just too much for me when there were so many Jason's. I admit to skimming a lot & I don't fully understand how he got replicated or how all the other Jason's came to be in his world, but by then I didn't care enough to go back. I'd give it 1 star on Amazon.

Today I start Madd Addam.

[hermetic]

15. THANK YOU

I'll just put that one on my list of things I might read someday should I ever finish all the books I really want to read.

If you ever find yourself confused about who's who in Madd Addam, I have a comprehensive list of names, places, organizations and a glossary I'd be happy to send your way. I'm not sure where I got it but it came in handy for me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.

A private jet crashes, , and there are only two survivors. Accident? Or something else.

So far, not quite half way through, it's very good.

[Goblinmonger]

17. Read that a few weeks ago.

I liked it. It wasn't awesome, but was solid. Love the work Hawley did on the Fargo television series.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Haven't seen that series.

Have you read any of his other books? My library only has one of them, but I think I'll check it out soon.

[Goblinmonger]

19. I have not.

This one popped up when I looked on Amazon at an Editors' Picks for 2016 books. Just looked interesting. I may put another of his books on the list at some point.