I just started a terrific book. Laura Anne Gilman’s The Cold Eye is the sequel to Silver on the Road. I think I mention Silver on the Road every couple weeks when I’m participating in librarian recommendations on Twitter. Both books feature Isobel, a young woman who rides the Territory, serving as the Left Hand to the boss, the old man who is the devil. She watches for trouble, and protects the residents of the Territory. She’s usually accompanied by Gabriel, a mentor, but at the beginning of this book, they’ve separated just for a short time, and she faces an unknown problem, called by whispers to answer. I love Gilman’s characters and the world she has built in the Territory.
What are you reading today? What world are you escaping into? I’ll check back as I can during the day. I’d love to know what you’re reading or listening to now.
Lesa, I so love your blog. It's nice to find that other people have gigantic TBR library piles along with their TBR piles and TBR lists! My TBR list just grew with Laura Anne Gilman's books. I'm working on my library pile this week and reading DEAD MAN WALKING by Simon R. Green.
Linda Castillo, AFTER THE STORM. Kate Burkholder has a whole new problem – a personal one – to deal with, as well as the body uncovered after a tornado hit northeast Ohio. I think I only have one more left to read after this one. (Again, I credit Lesa for the impetus to start this series, which I otherwise would have mistaken for something not of interest to me.)
Brian Freemantle, THE FACTORY AND OTHER STORIES. Connected stories, British intelligence and a possible mole. No Charlie Muffin here, but worth a try.
Just downloaded another library book that I will start when I finish the Castillo: Dan Chaon's AWAIT YOUR REPLY.
Thank you, Karen! The Cold Eye is from my gigantic library TBR pile, but that one only waited a day until I finished the last book. I love Gilman's world, so I jumped into this one as soon as I could. And, Simon R. Green is another author I like.
Thank you so much for the kind comment about my blog.
Yes, Jeff, just one more at the moment in the Kate Burkholder series. Thank you! I'm so glad you discovered Linda Castillo's books.
First of all, I'll second a big recommendation for Linda Castillo's series. I love it and am so excited about every new book. I read it immediately.
Right now, I'm reading THE LOVING HUSBAND by Christobel Kent. A domestic thriller – think that's a term these days – which has not been published in the US yet. And I'm listening to THE RIVER AT NIGHT, which is about some women who vacation together each year – decide to go whitewater rafting in Maine – things go askew and get complicated. Good so far.
Just finished WAKE UP TO MURDER by Day Keene, 1/3 of a Stark House triple decker reprint of Keene novels.
Those Linda Castillo books. Hard to beat them, isn't it, Kay? Yes, you're right about the domestic thriller term. I'm not a fan.
Sounds dark, Bill. Sometimes dark is perfect.
Reading one paperback Gallows View by Peter Robinson and a ebook Blood Lines by Angela Marsons.
Having a little trouble getting interested in Gallows View. Hope it picks up soon. Dislike starting a book and not get involved right away. Once I start a book I like to finish it.
Especially after you wait so long to get Peter Robinson, Charlotte!
Lesa, thank you for remembering about my long wait for Peter Robinson's book.
Have you read any of his books?
Somewhere I read that his books were great. I started with his first one. Maybe that wasn't the one they were writing about. Like I wrote maybe it will get better.
I am currently reading Fiona Barton’s THE WIDOW which is about the last few years in the life of a man suspected of, but never convicted of, the abduction of a child. It’s briskly-paced and compulsively readable (Ive been reading it until I couldn’t keep my eyes open the last two nights). I was surprised that this was Barton’s first novel because she moves effortlessly between two timelines (during the investigation and after the suspect’s death) and different points of view: a journalist who covered the original crime, the detective who berates himself for failing to get a conviction, and the suspect's widow–an unreliable narrator, doling out information in small increments. I’m really enjoying it and would highly recommend it if this type of book is your “catnip”–which it is for me.
I'm reading a mystery, Assault and Beret by Jenn McKinlay.
I've read Peter Robinson from the beginning, and he did draw me in right away. But then, I was familiar with that area of Yorkshire, which didn't hurt.
Deb, I got the Chaon book after reading your rave. I have read a few of his, including the short story collections, which I really liked.
Jeffrey, thank you for sharing that you have read Peter Robinson 's book. I am hanging in there on reading this book. I love stories written about England and English author.
I've read quite a few of Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks mysteries. He doesn't rank up there with Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, or Peter Lovesey (IMHO), but the books are usually well-plotted mysteries that check-off a lot of the boxes I like when reading a police procedural. The problem I sometimes encounter is that Robinson will fall into habits like overwriting and spending waaaay too much time describing the music Banks is listening to. Has anyone seen the tv adaptations? Are they worth a look?
I'm reading Monarchs, a conspiracy thriller by Alex Chu. A lot like the movie The Skulls.
I've just finished 'A Winter Book', which is a collection of pieces by Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomintrolls. This book is not about them!
Tove was the child of a sculptor father and illustrator mother in early 20th century Finland. Like many Scandinavian families they spent the winters in Helsinki and the summers in a small cabin on the coast. Most of these stories describe episodes in Tove's childhood, though there are also some about her old age. Although they are autobiographical, they are written as stories and have a surreal, fantasy style.
Tove was a tough, brave little girl who turned into a tough woman – she lived the last 20 or so years of her life on an island inhabited by only herself and her (female) partner. Some of the writing is quite magical – at one point the young Tove sees an iceberg floating just off the coast and thinks about leaping onto it and sailing away. In the end she does not do this, but instead throws her lighted torch into a crevice on the iceberg, which continues on its seaward journey, lit up and enchanting. I loved this little book!
Deb, yes and (with reservations) yes. That is, I don't see Stephen Tompkinson as Banks – he's too tall, for one thing – but either he's grown into the role or my view has softened as the series has gone on. As for the books, the recent ones have been too long to my taste, and yes he does go on about the music he listens to quite a bit.
Now that I finished the Castillo, I downloaded the latest title from the library.
Just started an ARC of Michelle Gable's "The Book of Summer." So far, so good.
Thanks, everyone! A good day of more books. I love to know what everyone is reading.
I just finished Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. It was very good. Now a reading A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn.
Don't know how I missed the What are you reading? blog!
A day late, but I just finished reading the ARC of Edith Maxwell's 2nd Quaker Midwife mystery, CALLING FOR JUSTICE. It was an excellent read, and I learned a bit about the Quaker faith and life in 1880s Massachusetts. I remember that Lesa had the first book, DELIVERING THE TRUTH in her top 10 list for 2016.
And I am half way through reading an excellent debut by R.J. Noonan called WHERE THE LOST GIRLS GO. It features a rookie Japanese-American detective (Laura Mori) in a small Oregon town where she leads her first investigation into a fatal car crash that quickly becomes liked to a series of missing runaway girls.
I am reading Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein, which is collection of short stories that speculate about what the future might bring to our lives. It's giving me a lot to think about.
I'm trying to get caught up with James Benn's Billy Boyle series. I also just checked out Redemption at Hacksaw Ridge.