What are you reading this week of July 16, 2017?

[hermetic]

Hello, fellow book fans. Speaking of fans, been hot enough for ya?

I don't seem to have much time for reading these days. I'm almost through A GREAT RECKONING. I guess I just don't want it to be over. I know the end is going to make me .

What's hot on your reading list this week?

[cilla4progress]

1. The Red Pony

By Steinbeck. Beautiful writing of course.
Soothing balm... only partway through so don't disabuse me of my comfort yet if it doesn't end well!

[hermetic]

2. Aww, great story

I've always been a sucker for horse stories. Probably read them all. Enjoy!

[cilla4progress]

3. 😀

👍

[pscot]

4. Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow

Bellow can be pretty acerbic, but this is a comic novel about an American millionaire who goes to Africa looking for fulfillment and becomes a god. The Recognitions is still sitting on the night stand and I renewed the library loan but I can feel my sense of commitment weakening.

[hermetic]

6. That sounds kind of fun

Africa today probably a far cry from 1959. I liked this one description, though: "A rich old man goes to Africa to find himself, only to get tangled up in one huge, extended metaphor with a lion."

[pscot]

9. If I recall that was the time

of the MauMau uprising, so yeah, African reality was quite different. One of my favorite books back then was Something of Value by Robert Ruarke. It's a terrific story, but it might be offensive to contemporary readers. They made a movie of it with Sidney Poitier and Rock Hudson.

[TexasProgresive]

5. I pulled an old favorite off the shelf

"Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. I have only read 2 of Follett's novels-this on and its sequel, "World Without End" Perhaps I should widen my scope and read some of his others.

[hermetic]

7. Should keep you busy for a while

Over 900 pages! Sounds like a really terrific story, though. Great character development and a thriller, no less. I might have to consider that one some day, myself.

[TexasProgresive]

8. It and its sequel are great historical novels

You finish having enjoyed a great story with new knowledge of the period.

[PoorMonger]

10. A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume

The author of the award-winning Spill Simmer Falter Wither returns with a stunning new novel about a young artist's search for meaning and healing in rural Ireland.

Struggling to cope with urban life-and life in general-Frankie, a twenty-something artist, retreats to her family's rural house on "turbine hill," vacant since her grandmother's death three years earlier. It is in this space, surrounded by countryside and wild creatures, that she can finally grapple with the chain of events that led her here-her shaky mental health, her difficult time in art school-and maybe, just maybe, regain her footing in art and life.

As Frankie picks up photography once more, closely examining the natural world around her, she reconsiders seminal works of art and their relevance. With "prose that makes sure we look and listen,"* Sara Baume has written an elegant novel that is as much an exploration of wildness, the art world, mental illness, and community as it is a profoundly beautiful and powerful meditation on life.

[PoorMonger]

14. Musical Suggestion 'My Maudlin Career'

https://m.

The title track from Camera Obscura's "My Maudlin Career' (2009). This one dovetails with a few themes such loneliness and alienation. The fact that the band's name is reference to photography was what originally made it come to mind.

It's so odd how so many things converge with the world around us and the intellectual headspace if we pay attention. I also found out this week that my favorite video game from last year Life is Strange has a sequel coming in August just as I was starting this - the game coincidentally also deals with mental health and photography as major themes.

[hermetic]

15. Sorry so slow

to respond this week. Got hit with a summer cold and it's the first time I've been sick since 2012 so it really took away all my energy. Better now, thanks.

I def want to read that book. I am so interested in those themes and I always enjoy what you have to say here. And the tunes.

[PoorMonger]

22. Thanks as always

I hope you're feeling better Hermetic and not worries about timely response. It's enough that you've got me thinking like this again. I am thinking I really should bring my blog back or make a new one for these. Always looking for ways to engage my brain more.

[japple]

11. Hi everyone. Thanks for the weekly thread, hermetic

It has been hotter than the blazes here in Georgia, too. We put up corn last week and this week it's tomato-canning time. The field peas are also coming in almost daily. I don't know how my grandmother did all of that in addition to farming cotton, but I guess her 12 children helped with the chores once they were old enough. And all done without air conditioning. I feel like such a wimp.

I have gotten about half way thru Crossing Purgatory - Gary Schanbacher and am really enjoying this contemporary, literary western. The writing is just beautiful. Reminds me a bit of Ivan Doig.

In spring of 1858, Thompson Grey, a young farmer, travels to his father’s estate seeking funds to expand his holdings. Far overstaying his visit, he returns home to find that his absence has contributed to a devastating family tragedy. Haunted by remorse, Thompson abandons his farm and begins a westward exile in the attempt to outpace his grief. Unwittingly, he finds himself at journey’s end in the one place where his strongest temptations are able to overtake him and once again put him to the test.

Set against the backdrop of the frontier during the years just preceding the Civil War, Crossing Purgatory is a beautifully scripted and powerful story of unprincipled ambition, guilt, and the price one man is willing to pay for atonement.

[hermetic]

16. Sounds marvelous

"Reminds me of Doig" is high praise.

Truly is amazing what our forebears were able to accomplish. Of course having a dozen children would help, but think of all the time involved in pulling that off.

Worried here. Farmer's market opened Wed. and there was basically nothing available. Everyone saying that between the god-awful winter and now the brutal heat, veggies just aren't surviving.

[japple]

19. It is starting to sound apocalyptic isn't it? There are very few peaches in Georgia

or in (my birth state of) South Carolina this year. I paid $9.00 today for a basket that held a total of 8 peaches and that didn't include the basket. The peaches are about the size of a baseball (not a softball as in years past.) Is this going to be the way it is for future generations? Middle income people cannot afford to buy the fruits/vegetables that are grown in their own community? I am fortunate enough to have a sister and neighbors who grow gardens and cultivate the land. We share with others whenever we can, but I fear for those who live where there is no access to fresh food.

Sorry to hijack the thread and for being such a sour puss. The last two weeks have been very rough and it doesn't look to improve any time soon.

and happy that you are still hosting our weekly thread Thanks for that.

[hermetic]

21. I enjoy doing this

and sometimes we go a bit off topic, but I'm okay with that and never get any complaints. So....

Oddly enough, what I did get at my market was peaches. A bag for $2. Had maybe 10, from a local orchard. And this is Idaho. Go figure, eh?

[japple]

25. In the Southeast, it is the result of the drought in 2015 and 2016, coupled with

a late Spring 2017 freeze. 80% of the peach (and I guess other fruit) crop was lost. Even though I hate figs, our fig trees are loaded this year.

[mainstreetonce]

12. The Two Family House Loigman

Easy fiction read about two Jewish mothers in NY who switch babies at birth.


Also
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
WWI army nurse loses her memory and must get her family back. Not the best by
Shreve, but an easy summer read.


My pile
Behold the Dreamers. Mblue

A Gentleman in Moscow. Towles

Small Great Things. Picoult


All three of those come highly recommended.

[hermetic]

17. Two got high recs here, too

Both A Gentleman in Moscow and Small Great Things (HOORAY!! Bolding, etc, is back!)

Behold the Dreamers sounds fascinating, as well. "A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream..."

Thanks for joining in. We're here every week. Do stop by again.

[Ineeda]

30. Re: Shreve

Off topic and possibly not fair, but I went to highschool with "Nita", as she was called then, and refuse to read her. She was an unbearable snob then, and decidedly a "mean girl." Sad but funny that interactions from over fifty years ago can still sting. (I did read her Strange Fits of Passion years ago before I realized the author was "that" woman. I begrudgingly admit liking it.)

[PoorMonger]

13. Nailbiter Vol. 6 by Joshua Williamson

Sixteen of the world’s worst serial killers were all born and raised in the same small town.

For years people have tried to solve the mystery of “Why this town?” And now the truth is finally revealed... but at what cost?

The bloody tale of horror from creators JOSHUA WILLIAMSON and MIKE HENDERSON continues!

Fans of Wytches, Outcast and The Walking Dead will enjoy this thriller drama!

Collects NAILBITER #26-#30

This is the 6th trade paperback ( and possibly the last of the series).

[hermetic]

18. Fun!

I am reading Utopia by Lincoln Child right now which is a thriller about an amazing imaginary amusement park. I say this because I see Joshua Williamson has written several adventure stories about Disneyland. Scary fun

[PoorMonger]

20. Musical Suggestion ' Psycho Killer '

https://m.

From the Talking Heads debut Talking Heads : 77 (1977).

Perhaps a little on the nose, but I've always loved this song. A few years ago when going to a Halloween party (as Patrick Bateman ) I committed to the bit so much I got this ringtone on the occasion someone would call just so I could have a private chuckle. Because my parents owned a business card shop at the time I still have custom made Patrick Bateman cards as Mergers & Acquistions Specialist from Pierce & Pierce, obviously. I also rambled on about music and needing to hit the video store and dry cleaners. Though the true test of my resolve was that I spent the night drinking vodka , when I much prefer bourbon. I was pretty damn charming for a total creep.

[hermetic]

24. But of course

One of my all time fave songs and many memories with that one, as well.

[PoorMonger]

23. Saga Vol. 7 by Brian K Vaughan

From the worldwide bestselling team of FIONA STAPLES and BRIAN K. VAUGHAN, “The War for Phang” is an epic, self-contained SAGA event! Finally reunited with her ever-expanding family, Hazel travels to a war-torn comet that Wreath and Landfall have been battling over for ages. New friendships are forged and others are lost forever in this action-packed volume about families, combat and the refugee experience.

Collects issues 37 through 42.

Vaughan is my favorite writer in comics today - this Sci-fi Romeo & Juliet is maybe his most compelling works yet and subtly asks lots of societies most pressing and constant questions. His "Y: The Last Man" is probably the series I most want to see adapted for TV. With the wild success of The Walking Dead and Preacher I have high hopes it will happen someday. I've always thought that it would provide so many chances for women to get killer roles.

And because BKV never stops working , he's got another current series Paper Girls which is also fantastic and majorly important.

[PoorMonger]

29. Musical Suggestion 'Across The Universe'

https://m.

Cover by Fiona Apple ; of course this classic Beatles song has been used for a lot of things ( including the pretty awesome musical ). But to use it here I wanted to bring up yet another version that I always enjoyed. It was written for yet another OST for Pleasantville (1998). Not only is it fitting for a story so firmly rooted in female empowerment , but Fiona is also the name of the series fantastic artist , Fiona Staples.

[rzemanfl]

26. Philip Kerr

Prussian Blue.

[PoorMonger]

27. Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told... until now.

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.


At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.


One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."


On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...


Journey back to Castle Rock again in this chilling new novella by Stephen King, bestselling author of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and Richard Chizmar, award-winning author of A Long December. This book will be a Cemetery Dance Publications exclusive with no other editions currently planned anywhere in the world!

[PoorMonger]

28. Musical Suggestion ' Nuclear '

https://m.

From Ryan Adams' album "Demolition" (2002).

This story isn't about nuclear war in the traditional sense - but about awesome responsibility and powerful buttons ; particularly a tempting red one.