What Fiction are you reading this week, April 21, 2019?

[hermetic]

I’m reading The Illearth War, the second book of Stephen R. Donaldson’s trilogy. I sure don’t find Thomas Covenant to be a very likable character but that’s on purpose, I believe. He’s a real anti-hero; an utterly unwilling and despicable character to eventually be redeemed, probably not until the third book. We shall see.

Listening to Clive Cussler’s Medusa, a thrilling adventure about an undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research to prevent a pandemic.

Wishing you all a most pleasant day. Try to put our real life despicable character out of your mind for a bit and enjoy some chocolate, or whatever.

And tell us a little about what you are reading this week.

[dameatball]

1. "Enemy of God" by Bernard Cornwell. #2 in a three part series, retelling the Arthurian legend

[hermetic]

3. Wow, Mr. Cornwell

has written more books than I could count. On the lookout fot his TV series, The Last Kingdom.

[jkirch]

2. Philip Roth

The Plot Against America.

[hermetic]

4. That sounds good

A bit of Alternative History, although maybe a lot more realistic now than when it was written in 2004. “It can't happen here.” Riiight.

[murielm99]

5. The Game,

by Laurie R. King. It is part of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series.

I will now have to go back and reread Kipling's Kim.

And to think that I still have all those Jane Austen books sitting there.

[hermetic]

7. Right?

Will we ever be able to read it all?

I'll have to buy that one just for the cover. The copy I saw has her in this gorgeous gown or robe that I would love to have.

I also see that she has a book out called For the Sake of the Game. Short stories, out just last year. I'll bet that's a good one.

[hermetic]

12. Woo hoo!

I just ordered it. And two others. Powells Books, Portland OR, is having an online sale today. Buy 2, get 1 free! Sweet!!

[SeattleVet]

6. The Thieves of Manhattan, by Adam Langer

Sort of a hall of mirrors, plot within a plot within a plot novel (or is it a memoir? I guess I'll find out at the end...) about literary fakery and fraud. Good use of language - he uses a made-up slang of a highly literary bent (using authors names for various items of clothing...a 'portnoy' is a penis) without making it obtrusive.

[hermetic]

8. That sounds fun

Fact and fiction can be dangerously intertwined.

[japple]

9. Still on the run from that unfortunate incident down in Georgia,

with the 3 outlaws in Donald Ray Pollack's, The Heavenly Table. I love this author's very direct style, even though some of the dialog and literary revelations delve into madness; much like Cormac McCarthy. Hell, after going through all that we've been through with the tRUMP admin., this is a picnic. This kind of reading material really makes the world seem a bit tame.

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter/spring holiday. It's a beautiful time of year here in Georgia with migrating birds, wild asparagus, flowers everywhere. Our tomato seedlings are going full tilt. Kitten season is in overdrive!!!

Many thanks to you, dear hermetic, for all of the weekly threads.

[hermetic]

13. Thank you

for always telling us about the fascinating books you find. And for all you do to help the kitties.

FYI, Powells powells.com is having a used book sale today. Buy 2 get 1 free.

[The King of Prussia]

10. Mud,Muck and Dead Things by Ann Granger

A whodunnit set in the Cotswolds. Really enjoying it, and don't have any idea who did do it. First of a series - I think I'll be reading more. Also read a couple of books by Robert Crais last week - not read him before. Very good.

[matt819]

11. A few

Finally got around to listening to The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. My wife has been urging me to listen to it for years, and I finally did it. What a book! Queeg is Trump. Trump is Queeg. Paranoia. Nothing his fault. Everyone hates him. Etc.

Reading Mr. Monster by Dan Wells, the second in his series about teenage sociopath John Cleaver. I don't know how far Wells takes John in the series. I don't think he'll become a serial killer. So far he's only killed one person, though 1) he wasn't a person and 2) he needed killing. He could become a CEO. Who knows.

Also reading In a House of Lies, the latest by Ian Rankin. That guy sure can write. Rebus has been retired for some time, but he's still in touch with Siobhan Clarke (now a DI) and Malcolm Fox, the main character in a few of Rankin's books. You don't necessarily have to know the entire Rebus oeuvre to read this, but you really couldn't go far wrong by doing so. With more than 20 Rebus novels, it'll take some time to catch up to the latest.

Started reading You Were Made for This by Michelle Sacks. Story about a maybe not so happy American couple now living in Sweden - inherited a house. Of course, it wouldn't be worth reading if everything were as it seems. It isn't. I've got sidetracked by Rankin and Wells, so I'm not sure I'll finish.

Last year I started keeping a list of books read, books I should read, audiobooks downloaded and to be downloaded, and books I gvae up on. The list is about 20 pages long. Actually a bit overwhelming. Of course, I will likely die before I make my way through the list. So it goes. I'm having fun keeping the list.

In this regard, this website has been invaluable, for obvious reasons just from its name. It's not a particularly pretty site, and some info isn't accurate, but it's the best and most useful of its kind and has formed the basis for many in my "to read" list: www.bookseriesinorder.com.

I also went to my local library's checkout history. In ten years I have checked out nearly 1900 books. Not that I've read all of them, but I certainly have checked out a lot. Mostly fiction. Some non. Some cookbooks. I should probably download the list and incorporate it into my 20-page list. Not sure if that will be eye-opening or depressing.

[hermetic]

14. Nicely done

Telling us a bit about the books without spoiling anything.

Thanks for that link. I expect to find it quite useful. My goto WAS fictiondb.com and they just "updated" their site and made a horrid mess of it, IMO.

Today I also found out about powells.com, which sells used books, and it has tons of good info as well. Plus today they are having a buy 2 get 1 free sale. So I'm happy again.

[MuseRider]

15. I just finished listening to

Blackwater: The Complete Saga by Michael McDowell. I liked it. Was not horrified by it like I thought I might be after reading the reviews but it was a nice long story that was interesting and kept me engaged even if I got confused somewhere in the middle. Picked the info back up a chapter later. The one thing I dislike about listening is it is difficult to go back and find what you did not understand. I miss books in my hand but these days this is the only way I can actually read all I want to read or ever finish anything. Retirement was supposed to be my reading time, HAH!

Just starting The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale. I had not heard of it but was sorting through news that comes on my phone and saw an article about Peter Dinklage being part of the team producing (? or something else) the movie and he was signed to star in one of the roles. I thought it might be interesting to read and it was available.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling.