How are you this week? Have you been able to concentrate on a book? Maybe books are your favorite escape from all of the news. So, what are you reading?
I’m having a hard time concentrating, so William Ottens’ Librarian Tales is just what I need. He’s a librarian from Lawrence, Kansas whose book is subtitled, “Funny, Strange, and Inspiring Dispatches from the Stacks”. I’m not far into it (there’s that word concentrate), but I’m going to enjoy it because I’ll be able to connect with his stories.
I hope you’re okay this week. Let’s talk about what you’re reading.
Good morning Lesa. The book you’re reading sounds interesting and my library has it so I put a hold on it. I found curling up with a book was helpful this week but I was having trouble getting into anything so I borrowed a book from my mom that I hadn’t read in a few years, FLAMESCAPE by Gerald Hammond. A young photographer helps the police solve cases of arson and murder.
I also read an ARC of A DEADLY DISCOVERY by J.C. Kennedy. A literary agent in a small town attempts to solve a 20 year old cold case.
This week I volunteered to participate in a new pilot program my library is testing at our branch. You fill out a form about what you like to read and they pick between 5 and 10 books for you. I wound up with 15 but I’d either read or tried all of the adult fiction they picked out so I retuned those. I ended up with a couple of YA books and a batch of biographies, non of which I’d heard of. So far from those I’ve read 3.
WILD BY NATURE: FROM SIBERIA TO AUSTRALIA, THREE YEARS ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS ON FOOT by Sarah Marquis. Her story was really interesting but I never felt any connection with her as a person.
THE LIST by Patricia Forte. A YA distopian story set after the ice caps have melted and flooded most of the world. I didn’t care enough to read the second book.
BLOOD, BONES & BUTTER: THE INADVERTENT EDUCATION OF A RELUCTANT CHEF by Gabrielle Hamilton. At 13 she lied about her age and started words a dishwasher to feed herself and never got out of the food service industry. Reading about her life sort of felt like watching a train wreck.
Now you have me wondering, Sandy, if that program is going to work for avid readers.
I think it only works for avid readers if you’re willing to take books outside of your usual genres.
That’s what I thought when I looked at your list. It sounds as if you had already read the first books they suggested.
I have been doing a lot of reading, but it is mostly short stories. In the first 13 days of the year, I’ve already surpassed my total from the last two full Januarys with 47 stories read! Besides the Lawrence Block collection of Burglar stories (finished last week), I’ve mostly been reading THE BIG BOOK OF ESPIONAGE, ed. Otto Penzler. Stories range from before the first World War to World War II, the Cold War, and modern days. I’ve read stories by Richard Harding Davis, John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Paul Gallico, Ambrose Bierce (our Civil War), Dan Fesperman (an excellent story about the OSS in Switzerland in WWII, “The Courier”), Olen Steinhauer, Erle Stanley Gardner (the man wrote everything!), Mark Twain (another Civil War story), and the great Charles McCarry, among others. The other collection I’m reading is JEWISH NOIR, ed. Kenneth Wishnia, which is not a part of the Akashic Noir series that started with BROOKLYN NOIR. Harlan Ellison, Marge Piercy, Wendy Hornsby, Reed Farrel Coleman (under the name Moe Prager, his most famous series character) are some I’ve read so far.
The other reading I’ve done has been non fiction: EX-LIBRIS by Michiko Kakutani and , most recently, THE SUBWAY CHRONICLES: SCENES FROM LIFE IN NEW YORK, short essays (supposedly based on true events) by Francine Prose, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Lawrence Block, and Calvin Trillin, among others. EX-LIBRIS and SUBWAY CHRONICLES both have short pieces you can read in five minutes or less when you have a spare moment or need a break from the news of the day.
Six days and three hours to go… .
Short stories and essays. I should probably be changing my reading to those right now, Jeff. It’s hard for me to concentrate. Fortunately, the weekend is coming up, and I’m much better at turning off the news over the weekend.
Keep that countdown going!
Now I downloaded LIBRARIAN TALES too!
Just what you needed, another book, Jeff!
I finished ABIDE WITH ME by Jane Willan and just loved it.
Last night I finished MUSICAL CHAIRS by Amy Poeppel. There was a lot going on with lots of characters. Once I settled into it , I enjoyed it. Bridget Stratton is at her home in Connecticut envisioning a romantic summer with her new boyfriend. Everything falls apart when her twin daughter and son arrive with their problems. There also is a crisis with the musical trio she plays with and her 90 year old composer/conductor father decides to remarry. All the pieces fit together nicely at the end.
Happy Reading!
Good to hear about both books, Sharon. I was curious about Musical Chairs.
I was in a pretty good reading groove this week. Yesterday, though, I had to pick up 8 holds at the library! I was only going to pick up half and the rest next Monday, but it’s MLK day so they’re not open. Four of the books are through LINK–three of them from San Diego! Great program when you can’t find what you want in your county system. I also have a Kindle loan from the library right now and 5 books I bought–my work is cut out for me.
On Tuesday we learned that the greater Sacramento region would come off the stay-at-home order–we’re now back in the purple tier, which allows outdoor dining and opens hair salons. I hope that sticks.
I read THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB (Richard Osman) again for a book club, and this time I enjoyed it more because I forced myself to slow down. That was important to catch all of the details and nuances of the complex characters. The author says he’s working on the sequel, which will include everyone who was alive at the end of the first book! And I think there’s going to be a movie or TV miniseries.
Then I needed a less demanding book, and Erin Duffy’s ON THE ROCKS fit the bill. Attorney Grace and kindergarten teacher Abby are longtime friends who live in Boston and decide to rent a house in the beach town of Newport, Rhode Island for the summer (Grace will spend her weekends there). Both are dealing with difficult issues. Abby has been trying to recover for months from a brutal breakup with her longtime boyfriend and fiance, and Grace is having an affair with a married man at her law firm. Abby has a lot of awful dates but makes some new male friends, while Grace agonizes over whether her man will ever leave his wife, and whether she can deal with the repercussions if he does. I enjoyed this undemanding read.
Thanks to Lesa for recommending THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS by Jenny Bayliss, even though I didn’t get to read it until after New Year’s. In the small town of Blexford, England, 34-year-old Kate paints and designs fabric and bakes goodies for the local café. She tries to improve her love life drought by subscribing to a series of 12 dates with different men and different activities over the month of December. It’s a little unbelievable that almost all of the dates turn out to be disasters, but it is very entertaining to read about. Kate’s two best friends–a woman with two young children and the cafe owner with whom she shares a difficult past–also figure prominently in the story, in addition to Kate’s parents. I found it to be a charming story, just right for the holiday season, even though you could see the ending a mile away.
I’ve got THURSDAY MURDER CLUB coming, so it is good to know that I should slow down for it. I will plan my reading time accordingly.
Oh, you could see the ending of The Twelve Dates of Christmas, Margie, and I think I said that in my review. But, it was just fun, wasn’t it?
I’m glad you gave The Thursday Murder Club another chance. You do have to pay attention to the characters in that one, so I’m glad you slowed down. I’ll be curious to see if the second one can live up to the first.
I’ve spent the last few days reading BLOOD ALONE by James R. Benn, the third in his Billy Boyle World War II series. It was good, and he is wonderful at bringing people and situations to life. At times, that distracts from the mystery, however. I’m conflicted on that because I love the world, but a little more focus would be nice.
Today, I will be digging into CRIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINARA by Stephanie Cole.
Mark, Crime of the Ancient Marinara is on my future holds list at the library, so I’ll be interested to see what you think.
I have not read a novel in a week or more. I’ve been reading Barack Obama’s “A PromIsed Land,” which I’m loving. Mixing in some essays and poetry. This has been a very tough week. And for the first time in a very long time I am spending hours in front of the TV. And I’m mad as hell.
It has been a tough week, Kaye. I’m mad as well. And, I think I’m glad I’m at work so I can’t spend all day in front of the TV, which I would, and that would just make me angrier.
Hi Lesa and everybody,
I’m very late joining you today – it’s been a bit of a week for us, as on Tuesday my father-in-law died. This was not unexpected, he had unfortunately been suffering with dementia for some years, but it was still sad, and the Covid restrictions make the arrangements more complicated all round.
Then today we had to make a planned trip to Edinburgh to accompany my own mother to a hospital appointment – we had to leave Aberdeenshire at 6.45am (it does not get light here till around 9am in January) and the driving conditions were not great, snow, sleet, etc. We finally got back here after 9pm so it’s been a long day.
So what with all of this I’m still on the books I started a few days ago – The Golden Egg by Donna Leon and Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson. While we were at our house in Edinburgh I managed to smuggle four big bags of books into the car before my husband noticed. By the time we got home it was too late! I also dug out a DVD of the film Frost/Nixon which we are going to rewatch. My husband saw a programme about Nixon last night and was shocked at his devious and unrepentant behaviour. He said ‘that man was prepared to throw everyone else under a bus, and to deny the truth, just to save his own neck’ – I asked him if that didn’t sound rather familiar….
Glen – I am so sorry I didn’t get the time to comment on your post yesterday. It’s just been one of those weeks, but I enjoyed reading about your books, and was very impressed with how many you’d read!
Marghanita Laski, whose book The Village is one of my great favourites, wrote another one called To Bed with Grand Music, but I’m so tired that I’m off to bed with nothing but the sound of the river at the end of the garden, flowing along Deeside and (eventually) into the icy North Sea.
Rosemary, I’m sorry. No matter how expected, it’s hard to lose someone you love. I’m sorry for you and your entire family. I’m sure COVID makes it even more difficult.
Oh, yes. That does sound familiar. That’s probably why they showed the Nixon show.
Good for you for sneaking those four bags of books. You can be in isolation without books!
Sending lots of hugs.
Doing the same here as ever.
Read:
Skim Deep by Max Allan Collins; Final book in the Nolan series. Pretty good being so far out of its era, and nobody wore Blondie (The rock band, not the comic strip)T-shirts in 1989.
Say Good-Bye to Dork City by Lincoln Peirce; A collection of Big Nate strips. Even though nobody ever talks about this strip,and it gets no coverage anywhere, it has it’s own shelf at Barnes & Noble. Amazing. Garfield, Peanuts, even Calvin and Hobbes don’t get their own shelf.
The Mystery of John Colter; Despite being somewhat renowned,nothing much is known of Colter, but the little that is known, is probably in this very short book. I think the end-notes make up more of the book than the actual biography.
e-books:
Exploration; a British kid becomes a cabin boy to avoid the law after accidentally burning down most of a town, and gets involved with espionage, and helping to found Plymouth.
Skelgil: Murder at the Wake; After a funeral, the brother of the corpse is murdered on an isolated estate, which just happens to be by Skelgill’s hometown. Enough tea is drunk to keep Lipton in business for years.
Harbinger of Doom; High fantasy with enduring evil, young prince, yada yada yada.
This summary, Glen, is the reason I enjoy your posts. It’s those last lines! They make me smile.
I finished The Thursday Murder Club the first of this week, and now I’m reading The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths, who most of you know is one of my top authors to follow. The book won’t be out in the states until March 2nd, and I am loving it, no surprise. While it’s a stand-alone, it does carry over the character of DS Harbinder Kaur from the first stand-alone, The Stranger Diaries. She is such a great character that it’s a real treat to have her featured in this new book.
I am still trying to catch up with 2020 books and hoping this year I can focus better. Mostly mystery/crime are in my huge stacks of catch-up, but I have a few non-mystery. Kaye’s recommendation of Perestrioka in Paris by Jane Smiley, Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie, and the non-fiction Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. Hidden Valley Road is about a family into which a dozen children were born between 1945 and 1965, and half of those children developed schizophrenia. This family became one of the first families studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. One of the reasons I became interested in this book (and apparently lots of others are interested in it) is because a dear friend of mine has an adult son who suffers from this disease, and it has been a heartbreaking story.
I usually have a mystery/crime series or two I try to catch up on each year. Last year, it was the wonderful Zoe Chambers series by Annette Dashofy. One of the ones I’m considering this year and really want to read is what Mark has started reading, James Benn’s Billy Boyle series. I enjoyed seeing all the mention of The Thursday Murder Club. I have a review of it going up today. I agree that it is a book you have to slow down for, but it is well worth the slowing down.
I knew you’d love The Postscript Murders, Kathy. I read it, and my review will be up in March. It just didn’t do it for me. Now, The Thursday Murder Club? I really liked that one. I’ll have to check out your review.
I am spending far too much time in front of my tv cussing people. I am so angry and disgusted with so many folks right now. Just think of me as a fat version of Red Foreman from “The 70s Show” and move on. I will not rant. None of you need me going off. Anyway….
I did finally finish FATAL DIVISIONS by Claire Booth. 4rth book in the series is good. I have a review to write and can not focus well enough to do it.
Have started THE ORPHAN’S GUILT: A JOE GUNTHER NOVEL by Archer Mayor. I am a big fan of the series (of course you are, Kevin, you are over 300 pounds and six foot four) and just started it yesterday and then got distracted by events.
Covid is getting worse here and we are running around 3K new cases a day. Averaging about 20 ICU beds being available every day. The news came out today that several hospitals are setting up triage tents for non Covid patients in their lobbies and outside as things go downhill. Hiding at home….like always.
And now….a shameless plug…. if you have time today and think the blog is worthy, please vote for Kevin’s Corner as Best Review Site over at the Critters Workshop. https://critters.org/predpoll/reviewsite.shtml Thank you!
Oh, Kevin. I know what you mean about way too much time in front of the TV. I need to get away from that because I have an LJ deadline next Friday, and six books to read by then.
I’ll look forward to your review of Fatal Divisions when you get around to it.
I am retired and lately have been glued to the news. I have been reading three books at the same time but now overwhelmed with all the books from GoodRead, LibraryThing and another group from another source. They all came in the last three days!
I have begun Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic. I am on page 29 and read that other people started and have been reading it all day or staying up to the wee hours of the morning to finish. It is a page turner. I have decided to read it by itself, while a big pile of books 7 1/2 ” tall (9 bookare screaming tead me now. But I have a few other things to do so will stick with this one, as long as I can,
I’d be right there with you, Carolee, if I was retired – glued to the news, and buried under a pile of books. I hope you enjoy Dark Horses!
This week I finished Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. A story about a cafe in Tokyo that has the ability to allow people to travel in time. It was full of interesting characters and moving stories.
I also finished Muzzled by Eileen Brady. This is a cozy series whose main character is a veterinarian. She is currently working in upstate New York making house calls. When she shows up to an appointment, she finds the owners dead in the living room. The author is also a vet which made this an interesting read.
Now I am reading The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair. Just after WWII, two women start The Right Sort of Marriage Bureau – a company that arranges meetings between eligible single people who desire to get married. I am just getting started on this one, so far it is good.
Gretchen, I’ve heard excellent comments about The Right Sort of Man. I have a copy, but I just haven’t had a chance to read it.
I am reading a Japanese crime fiction novel for a Japanese Literature Challenge: Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino. I am reading some short stories from Home Schooling by Carol Windley, set mostly in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. I will spread those out over a couple of months. And I am doing a slow read on Master and Commander (one chapter a week) and that is a new type of book for me.
I liked Master and Commander more than I expected to, Tracy. I hope you do as well. Good for you, doing a Japanese Literature Challenge!
I’m reading A Side of Murder by Amy Pershing. Comes out in February
I’m not familiar with that one, Dru. I’ll have to look it up.