I know. We’re a day early, so I hope everyone finds the post and tells us what you’re reading. Tomorrow is November 1, so Treasures in My Closet will be up. If I’d remembered last Thursday, I would have reminded everyone.
I’m starting Jenny Colgan’s Christmas on the Island, a novel set on a remote Scottish island. I finished the third in Heather Graham’s recent Krewe of Hunters trilogy, Echoes of Evil. And, the real reason I read both of them? Susan Orlean is breaking my heart with her latest, The Library Book. I know it’s going to get easier to read, but I found myself gasping and tearing up as I read the first 35 pages, the actual account of the fire at the LA Public Library. I was reading it on my lunch hour, and I was getting too choked up. I needed a couple novels. I’ll get back to The Library Book.
What are you reading this week? Would you share?
Per your suggestion last week THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER went back to the library unread. I read Anne Lamott's ALMOST EVERYTHING NOTES ON HOPE instead. Like many of her books, it was a little random at times. And with our current political saturation on TV, in newspapers, and social media I would have liked a little less of that but I gleaned a few nuggets from it.
Next I read LARK! THE HERALDS ANGELS SING by Donna Andrews. I just loved this one. It might just be my favorite Christmas read.
Now I am reading THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Hazel Gaynor. Historical fiction based on Grace Darling who became famous for her part in a shipwreck rescue on England in 1838. So far so good. Her Wikipedia entry is interesting.
Happy Halloween and Happy Reading!
Currently reading NO TIME LIKE THE PAST, book five in Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St. Mary's. Also FIFTY-ONE TALES (I'm getting there!) by Lord Dunsany and THE HIDDEN: MYSTERIOUS TALES OF SUSPENSE by Brendan DuBois, collecting some of his stories that weren't published in EQMM or AHMM. I have also started MAJOR DUDES: A STEELY DAN COMPANION, a collection of reviews and articles about the group.
And yesterday, I picked up six more books that came in to the library!
I haven’t had much time to read lately. I’m partway through two books: Under the Nocturne Moon by Larissa Emerald and ThevThin Placevby Lori Herter.
At Lesa's suggestion, I read HITTING THE BOOKS by Jenn McKinlay. It's the ninth in her Literary Lovers Mystery series, but the first I've read, and I will definitely look for more. I enjoyed spending time with the characters in Briar Creek (including head librarian Lindsey) and found the plot twisty enough to keep me interested.
In A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult, her conceit of telling the story in reverse (an hour at a time on a fateful day when a disturbed man enters an abortion clinic, starts shooting and takes hostages) was not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. Could you read it back to front? No, because there are a couple of twists in the last chapter, and there is an epilogue. It was quite a "coincidence" that the sister and daughter of the police negotiator assigned to the case are two of the hostages . . but there's gotta be conflict, right?
I've just started DESERT REMAINS by Steven Cooper after Lesa's recommendation of the second in the series. I thought I'd start at the beginning.
I finished reading:
A Charming Crime(book (book 1) by Tonya Kappes
Live Bait (book 2) by P J Tracy, didn’t really like this book till the last few chapters.
Now reading:
Dead Run (book 3) by PJ Tracy, enjoying this book as much as book 1
How to Bake a Murder by K J Emrick
Murder Past Due by Miranda James
Lesa, I was so shocked when I found three books by Miranda James on RB, they never have anything I wanl.
You can’t beat books and a hot drink of your choice.
📚📚📚📚☕️☕️☕️☕️
First of all, Charlotte, I'm glad you are enjoying DEAD RUN. I thought you probably would. It's fun with all the women.
I'm reading or rather listening to Sherry Thomas' 3rd Lady Sherlock book, THE HOLLOW OF FEAR and liking it very much. I also recently read Jane Willan's 2nd Sister Agatha book set in Wales, THE HOUR OF DEATH – loved it, loved it!
Lesa, I have THE LIBRARY BOOK on audio, but haven't started it yet. Not sure when I will. I suspect I'll have a similar reaction to yours.
I read The Library Book and I loved it! One of my favorite books for 2018. Susan Orlean reminded me of why I wanted to be a librarian way back when. And, yes, those first 35 pages got to me too – partly because her early library experiences with her mother were very similar to mine, except I used to go to the library with my dad and we continued doing so even after I left home for university.
Hi everyone! We had NO Internet at work today, so I couldn't even catch up on my lunch hour. Fiber cut someplace in northern Indiana. I just read all your comments, and I have a few comments to make after dinner tonight. I also have to finish Treasures in My Closet. Busy evening.
Chat later!
SAS, I'm waiting for that Anne Lamott. You're right. Can be a little random. Donna Andrews is one of my sister's favorites. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Jeff, You made me laugh when you ended with you picked up six more books. My kind of library patron!
Sandy, Sometimes life just gets in the way of reading.
Margie, That's kind of scary that you're taking my recommendations like that. I'm glad you enjoyed the Jenn McKinlay! Hope you enjoy the Cooper book.
Charlotte! I think you're going to enjoy the books about Charlie and Diesel. All public libraries should carry them! (Librarians love books about themselves. Throw in the cats. Of course we buy those books!)
You probably will have that reaction, Kay. Thank you, Jane! It's good to know I'll enjoy it even more when I get past this section. I'm enjoying it, but that was just tough.
This week I read:
Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child; Perhaps best described as Pendergast goes to Peyton Place. I was disappointed at the lack of a picnic scene.
Judah's Sceptre and the Sacred Stone; An historical novel about how the Stone of Scone made its way from Jerusalem to Scotland.
The Aviators by WEB Griffith; Soap opera about the formation of the helicopter squadron during the Vietnam War.
Primeval; a book about the search for Sasquatch in Alaska. It's usually a bad idea to find him in these sorts of books.
The 500 best Hospitals in the USA 2019 from US News and World Report; I was relieved to learn that good number of them are located near me.
Spillover by David Quammen; how a nonfiction book about how diseases spread from animals to humans. Frightening, but nothing new. This has been happening since time immemorial.
A Dead Sister by Ana Celeste Burke; a sort of Stephanie Plum rip off, only the protagonist is one of the idle rich, living in an upscale area. A lot of suspension of disbelief is required.
Lesa, believe it or not – and isn't that the way it always seems to happen? – I got an email that two more books are waiting to be picked up at the library:
Michael Connelly, DARK SACRED NIGHT
James Mustich, 1,000 BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU DIE
Both of these will go to the top of my list. The pile is getting unwieldy.
Now I must read The Library Book. I lived in the LA area after the new library was built and have wondered about the fire!
Now reading Also Human by Carolyn Elton. It is about the many doctors who either drop out of medicine entirely, commit suicide or have to change their specialization. My brother did not make it through so that is what drew me to the book. He was having trouble with depression and when he was on the rotation for children dying of kidney disease, he could not bear it and committed suicide. Surprisingly, this book is very sluggish and not veru empathic! It is full of facts and studies in the U.K. The author talks abput the extremely long hours and the emotional toll of seeing people who doctors cannot help, like terminal cancer patients but she comes cold.
Also reading My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma and it cracks me up. Loving it so.
I have won five books from GoodReads and Library Thing that are slow in coming in but now they are starting so now I am taking a break from listening to audio books. Just cannpt manage it timewise.
Glen, Picnics and Sasquatch. You don't know how much I look forward to your comments.
Jeff, I know exactly how you feel. My entire home is unwieldy with books.
Carol, Yes, you'll want to read The Library Book. I'm sorry about your brother. And, I'm sorry that book is dry with no empathy. I'm sure that hurts. You needed the relief with the Bollywood book!
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I'm also reading the Anne Lamott book, but it is very small print and slow going for me. Sailor and Fiddler by Herman Wouk – a bit of autobiography, Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Anna Waterhouse. I am finally getting to read The Martian by Andy Weir – it was slow at first but is now picking up. Also reading Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman – one of the earlier books in this series that I somehow overlooked.
I finished reading BEAU DEATH (Lovesey). I love Peter Diamond (protagonist). Since then I started another book by a well-known author and was so annoyed that I quit after about 50 pages. Now I've just started A FRENCH WEDDING (Tunnicliffe) so far I'm liking it. I'll be interested in what Lesa thinks about the Jenny Colgan book – I've liked all of hers that I've read. And I definitely have lived through the experience of having all my holds come in at once at the library.
I have the Library Book checked out and will be reading it for nonfiction November. I am currently reading Desperate Measures by Stuart Woods in print, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle on kindle/print, listening to Night by Elie Wiesel (also for nonfic november) on audio.
Gram, I have that Mycroft Holmes book to pick up at the library tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
Sally, I only have 100 pages left in the Jenny Colgan & I'm loving it. I've never read any of her books, and I love her characters and her way of telling a story. Really enjoying it. Hard to read an annoying book.
I need to get back to The Library Book, katstev. I'm liking it, just had a hard time with the beginning. Enjoy your November books!