What are you reading the week of August 10, 2014?

[Enthusiast]

Just finished Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes.

I enjoyed Mr. Mercedes very much. My wife is reading it now. Stephen King does so well with character development.

I have started reading Tony Hillerman's Sacred Clowns.

[shenmue]

1. "The Hidden Child," Camilla Lackberg

Just started the other day.

[Enthusiast]

5. That sounds good, shenmue.

I've yet to read a Camilla Lackberg.

[shenmue]

6. Thanks

Her books are pretty good.

[scarletwoman]

11. Allow me to put a good word in for Camilla Läckberg!

She's definitely among my top dozen or so favorite Scandinavian crime novel authors. I've read her entire Patrik Hedstrom series in order, and am anxiously waiting for my library to get her newest, Buried Angels.

Likeable protagonists, fascinating locale, intricate plots, well-drawn characters, crisp writing - altogether good reading.

Here's the list, in order:

Patrik Hedstrom series
1. The Ice Princess (2008)
2. The Preacher (2009)
3. The Stone Cutter (2010)
4. The Gallows Bird (2011)
aka The Stranger
5. The Hidden Child (2011)
6. The Drowning (2012)
7. The Lost Boy (2013)
8. Buried Angels (2014)

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/camilla-lackberg/

If you're ever in the mood to hang out in a small town on the Swedish coast, you'll have a good time with Camilla Läckberg.

[Enthusiast]

15. Thank you, scarletwoman.

I appreciate your suggestions. I just ordered the first of the Patrik Hedstrom series—The Ice Princess.

[gollygee]

2. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11250053-the-snow-child?ac=1

[Enthusiast]

4. We read that one, gollygee.

It is very unusual. We liked it.

[TexasProgresive]

3. Ben H. Winters' World of Trouble: The Last Policeman Book III

I have read several Elizabeth George's Inspector Linley series but never 3 in a row- having just finished Playing for the Ashes after In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner and In the Presence of the Enemy I am left wondering if George has done this in all the Linley mysteries. I am expecting a lot of red herrings dragged across the trail and enjoy them but in these 3 books the really unexpected is that the murderers all had faulty motives for their crimes.

So a question for the other Elizabeth George fans, is this common in her books.

[shenmue]

7. Kinda :)

She does build a lot of atmosphere with tons of details. They can pile up a bit after a while.

[SheilaT]

19. Oh, oh, oh!

I have World of Trouble on hold at my library. I just checked their site, and they've finally gotten the book in. It's checked out to someone else right now. Darn! I'm going out of town next Tuesday, and I'll be gone for nearly two weeks. so I think I'd better put myself at the back of the line for getting the book. I don't want it to become available and then I can't pick it up before they send it to someone else.

[TexasProgresive]

20. You'll just have to wait Sheila. No spoilers from me.

I finished it in record time, and was once again in the bookless desert. This morning I walked across the street to the library looking for some NEW author. What I picked up was 3 discards (I hate that they throw books away) free for the taking. 2 are John Creasey Inspector Roger West mysteries. I never heard of him but he was quite prolific and a Janet Evanovich mystery. Oh well, so much for somebody new-but they are new to me.

[SheilaT]

22. My library sells off old books. Not sure what they do with the ones

that remain unsold after the twice yearly sales.

Anyway, I don't want spoilers, and I think I'll wait until the last possible minute to re-do my hold. If I can pick it up on Tuesday, they day I leave town, I'll take it with me on my trip.

Have you ever read anything by Robert Goddard? He's a mystery writer, but is never filed as a genre mystery author. All of his novels involve some essential unknown, and I have liked almost everything. I'd especially recommend his first four books, Past Caring, In Pale Battalions, Painting the Darkness, and Into the Blue. Some of his later works were not as good, I thought, but you may not agree.

[TexasProgresive]

24. Into the Blue by Robert Goddard

Well Robert H. Goddard built the 1st liquid fuel rocket that soared into the blue. Not the same Goddard. I haven't read him but have him on the list. Thanks.

[SheilaT]

25. LOL!

As I was composing my post on the writer Goddard, I did a quick google to make sure I had the name right, and of course the first seventy or so entries (I exaggerate only a little) were for the rocket scientist.

[japple]

33. The books that are unsold at library book sales frequently go to the

Friends of the Library book re-sale stores where they are used to raise money for library programs. If they are still around after a couple of years, they might get donated to prisons, thrift stores, other programs.

Our Friends of the Library group has book sales every year in the spring and fall. We usually put them on sale at 1/2 price on the 1st and 2nd days, then on the last day, we'll have dollar bags--everything you can cram in a standard, plastic grocery bag for $1.00. That is the day the booksellers come in and, usually, our shelves get emptied. If we have books that lanquish on the shelves for too many years, we put them in our "Freebies" bins. If they are tattered beyond recognition, they go to the recycle center.

[YankeyMCC]

8. "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki

[Enthusiast]

9. That sounds thought provoking.

I'm so glad to have the Fantastic Fiction resource.

[pscot]

10. The Son by Philipp Meyer

I'm not sure what to make of this one; strong writing, but rather repellant characters.

[japple]

34. My reaction, exactly. By the time I finished the book, I had forgotten the beginning.

Very good narrative, though, and I loved the Texas history.

[pscot]

36. There was nobody in that book to like

It was like Game of Thrones East of the Pecos. I finished it, but only just. By the end I was skipping blocks of text. God help us if that's the True History of Texas. On the other hand, it would explain a few things.

[japple]

38. I love to read books about Texas (and western) history. James Mitchener's opus, all of the Lonesome

Dove books, as well as Larry McMurtry's non-Lonesome Dove books. One of the best books I've read is
Elizabeth Crook's book about Sam Houston's wife: The Raven's Bride http://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Bride-Elizabeth-Crook-ebook/dp/B00FIMXB38/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408842363&sr=1-5&keywords=Raven%27s+sam+houston

This book was a revelation, esp. if you are a student of TX history.

[pscot]

39. I just read Montana; The Last, Best Place

It was filled with stories, essays, Indian tales, journal entries. Kind of s fun read, but outside my usual fare.

[japple]

41. I just got back from a trip to Montana. Have connections to the state and

LOVE visiting. Will have to check out that book. Thanks for responding. Have you read/seen any of the photographs taken by Evelyn Cameron? I saw a lot of her work at the Montana Historical Museum in Helena. What a remarkable woman!! And her photographs are astonishing, gorgeous.

[scarletwoman]

12. OMG, I ADORE Tony Hillerman!

I've read every book he wrote. His books made me feel absolutely COMPELLED to travel around the Southwest, which I finally managed to do in 2011. I can't describe the chills I experienced when I first spotted Ship Rock off in the distance across the desert... *sigh*

I was totally hooked on Hillerman for years, always waiting impatiently for his next book to come out. I literally wept when the news came that he had passed on - it was like losing a cherished old friend. I have no doubt that you'll enjoy your time with him.

[Enthusiast]

16. Thank you, scarletwoman. I do enjoy Hillerman.

I'm always looking forward to the next one.

[scarletwoman]

13. New author for me, a German this time, Nele Neuhaus.

My librarian turned me on to her - taking pity on me for being at a loss for new books to read while I have so many on order that haven't come in yet.

Anyway, I'm on the second of the two currently available in her Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein series, Bad Wolf. The first book was Snow White Must Die. Both very fine police procedurals, with great plots and well-drawn characters. I sailed through book number one, since I started it on Saturday, and just couldn't put it down - got nothing done all day. I regret that her third book in this series doesn't come out until sometime in 2015.

So, I'll be stuck again once I finish Bad Wolf.

[shenmue]

27. That's a good one!

I read 'Snow White' last year. I've been meaning to finish 'Bad Wolf,' but I never manage to before it's due back at the library.

[scarletwoman]

28. Oh, cool! Someone else knows this author!

Sounds like she's very well known and popular in Germany, we're just slow to get English translations.

I thought Snow White Must Die was excellent. A fairly profound exploration of how a community can close ranks and the hide the truth in order to protect their favored members. Heartbreaking and painful.

I'm thoroughly savoring Bad Wolf. I actually ended up completely backtracking once I got about halfway through because I had been so anxious to figure out what was happening I had been racing through it. I reached a point where I just wasn't sure who was who, so I went back to the beginning to read it more slowly and pay better attention. I'm definitely hooked - and thankfully, I definitely have enough time to finish it before it's due back at the library (we get to keep books out for three weeks ).

Obviously, it's another heartbreaking examination of an extremely painful subject. I respect the author for tackling it.

[SheilaT]

14. I just finished "The Kingdom of Ohio" Spoiler Alert!

by Matthew Flaming.

It was recommended to me by a friend whose normally reliable for these things.

It's sort of a time travel/alternate history book, but written by someone who has never read those genres. Oh, and when I looked at Good Reads and Amazon reviews, it was clear to me that the people who praised it and said it was highly original have likewise never read time travel or alternate history.

In fact, while time travel does seem to occur two times in the course of the novel, and the existence of a Kingdom of Ohio points to alternate history, Flaming gets basic historical information wrong. Wrong. Wrong. He has Louis XIV still King of France at the time of the French Revolution. He died in 1715. He talks about the Prince of Wales paying a visit to America in 1837. That was the year Victoria became Queen of England, and there hadn't been a Prince of Wales at that point since 1820. It's sort of like the author remembered a few tidbits of history but couldn't be bothered to check out anything. Nor did the editors at the publishing house. I find those sorts of lapses to be totally uncalled for.

Anyway, all of the characters are cardboard and the plot simply isn't a very good one. Don't bother to read it.

[Enthusiast]

17. Thank you, SheilaT. Those are some grossly incorrect details.

I'm glad you told us.

[SheilaT]

18. I really don't get it, having such mistaken historical facts in a novel.

It's not as though he was that early on trying to make it clear this was an alternate universe of some kind. It's just two more or less throw-away comments early on. Someone who had never before read any alternate history might somehow think that a couple of details like that were enough to establish an alternate history of some kind. But it also indicates the only persons who read it before publication were both ignorant of our real history, and also did not get alternate history.

In certain ways all historical fiction is a sort of alternate history, in that in some way or another events are depicted which never really happened. But regular mainstream historical fiction -- which is what most of this novel purports to be -- does not play fast and loose with actual historical events or the lifespan of people who lived.

Anyway, it wasn't just these things that made the book so unsatisfactory. There are much better books out there to read.

[TexasProgresive]

21. Maybe it was written by a republican

It seems they are always trying to rewrite history.

[SheilaT]

23. Even though I know you are joking,

I'll respond seriously and say the problem was it was written by someone who seems to be trying to invent a new genre, but hasn't a clue that the genre already exists.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

26. I generally don't read modern fiction.

I read non-fiction and biographies. I read old fiction sometimes.

[Enthusiast]

29. You might try some modern fiction.

Many of us enjoy modern fiction.

[japple]

35. Maybe you should be in a group other than "Fiction."

[libodem]

30. Are Hillerman's

Books about a retired Native American cop who works as a pi or something? I've read a few of his. I like any lore about skin walkers or shape shifters.


I was slow to take up Steven King because I'm afraid of horror and slashing. But I was combing the house for reading material and was relegated to my son's fantasy fiction and a Steven King, the beginning of a sequel, about some cowboy walking on a beach dodging lobstrosities, that jump out and bite off your toes. Oh, yeah, it was about a tower. I can't remember the name of the book but I must have read 10 of them. Funny thing is I never read the inspiration novel. And then the end was so stupid about what he found after her claimed that effing tower.

[Enthusiast]

32. Sometimes we find it rewarding to step outside our usual genre.

[libodem]

31. I'm reading a Janet Evonovich

Last edited Sat Aug 23, 2014, 09:56 PM - Edit history (1)

And Lee Goldberg's The Heist. I've liked her cute and funny Stephanie Plum series that run through the numbers. They make me LOL.

I need light reading when politics get me down.

I know. I know. I do have a little shame in the fact that is is only a step removed from a romance novel. I shared my guilty pleasure. Don't judge me too harshly.

( Hangs head in shame all defensive)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

37. Don't get defensive. I used to read Judith Krantz for fluff.

I don't know who writes that kind of humorous fluff nowadays.

[libodem]

40. It's ridiculous situation funny

It's a pleasant diversion from my pursuit of political material. Which is a sickness, btw.