What are you reading this week of February 19, 2017?

[hermetic]

Have a happy Presidents' Day, remembering the good ones.



Still reading McDermid's Splinter the Silence which is quite intriguing: "a timely and disturbing look at the way the anonymity of the internet enables abuse." This is the 9th in the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. I have only read one of the earlier books and that was enough to fall right in with the characters in this one. McDermid does a good job filling the reader in with background without going into long descriptions. IOW, it stands well on its own.

Listening to Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, which I must say is one of the best audio books I've ever heard. There are 6 readers and the main character sounds so much like Jane Leeves, Daphne from Frasier, that I had to double check that it wasn't her. Then her voice gradually changes as she gets older and wiser. When I listen to books on CD I always play one disc a day. At the end of this fist disc I absolutely had to listen to the next. They almost all end with a cliff-hanger and it's tempting to just listen to the entire story in one sitting. But that would take about 15 hours and I do have other things to attend to. So, I did 2 discs a day. This is a romance of sorts although it is not a romance novel. Some of it is LOL funny. Mostly it is about people with disabilities and things they must deal with every day. Gives you a lot to think about.

Any good ones on your reading list this week?

[TexasProgresive]

1. A Necessary End- Peter Robinson

I will be starting Spider Robinson's Star Dancer trilogy that he co-wrote with his wife.

[hermetic]

7. You still liking Peter Robinson?

I got my books from Thriftbooks but nothing yet from Alibris. I ordered them all on the same day. So I don't have Telempath yet, the very first one, and I do want to read it first.

[TexasProgresive]

13. Yes. I was wanting a break from British coppers

I wanted the 1st Callahan book but it wasn't available. I'm on my phone as I am in the ccu waiting room. My wife just had heart surgery.

[shenmue]

2. Pietr the Latvian, by Georges Simenon

[hermetic]

8. That's an oldie

1930. The first Detective Maigret tale, a name many British mystery fans are familiar with.

[onecaliberal]

3. How Children Succeed. Paul Tough

Great book.

[hermetic]

12. Sounds like it

This provocative and profoundly hopeful book has the potential to change how we raise our children, how we run our schools, and how we construct our social safety net. It will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.

Something all parents should read, if only they could. Or would.

[onecaliberal]

14. Agree. I've read it a few times but this book had a profound impact in the way I do my job.

ALL educators should read it. Anyone making decisions for children in any fashion should read this book. The thing I like most is the way it turns the conventional wisdom on its head about education and it's relationship with your zip code. Then read, Got Grit...

[pscot]

4. The Arms of Nemesis by Steven Saylor

Gordianus the Finder solves a murder at a country house in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. I read this so long ago it's like brand new. Next is Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley. This is an Easy Rawlins novel. It's a pleasure to find one I haven't read.

[hermetic]

9. Walter Mosley, wow

There's a name I haven't heard for a long time. I read several of his books back in the 90s and I'm happy to see my library has some of the newer ones. He sure has been cranking them out. Guess I've got some catching up to do.

[northoftheborder]

5. "From Sand and Ash", by Amy Harmon

About WWII in Italy, German occupation, Jewish being sent out on trains; very depressing; a love story between a Catholic Priest and a Jewish girl.

[hermetic]

10. That does sound depressing

Well, chin up and all that.

[Number9Dream]

6. Finished "The Seventh Plague" by James Rollins

The latest by James Rollins is another interesting, action page-turner. The story goes from the biblical plagues of Egypt, to Stanley and Livingstone, to Tesla and Mark Twain, to the present source of the Nile, to a mysterious herd of elephants. Read at the link. It was excellent from beginning to end.

http://jamesrollins.com/book/the-seventh-plague-a-sigma-force-novel/

[hermetic]

11. Mmmm, that sounds really good

Nice you see you around again.

[Goblinmonger]

15. Jude the Obscure

Didn't get to it as much as I would have liked last year.

So delightfully depressing. I love Hardy so much.