What are you reading this week of November 19, 2017?

[hermetic]

Wishing everyone a fine feast this week, should that be on your list of things to do


Use this multiple-role reader's theater script to explore how the Pilgrims learned to get along when they first landed on Plymouth Rock. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/thanksgiving-readers-theater-mayflower-compact/

Almost through The Black Echo by Connelly. I like this mystery: what's behind these murders and robberies? The writer's comments about women gives me pause sometimes, though. I have to keep reminding myself this was written before '92, which is easy enough to remember when I read how Bosch has to find a pay phone so he can call the office to get his messages. That seems so long ago and in a galaxy far, far away now.

It's funny, too, how back then Bosch has had a TV show made about him, and then some 10+ years later that actually happens.

I have also started the long-awaited true story of The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston. Jungles and spiders and snakes, oh my! Fascinating. And I love that there's color photos to really bring home what a difficult trek this would be, despite all our new technology.

Any amazing adventures on your reading list this week?

[dhol82]

1. Just got Dan Browns Origin

Looking forward to an exciting read.

[hermetic]

4. No doubt

[northoftheborder]

24. Just finished "Origins"

good plot and intrigue, and makes you think about your beliefs

[dhol82]

27. Well, it should be interesting.

I am an atheist and already seeing that might get trashed in the novel also.

[Ineeda]

37. I'm reading that right now.

About 80% done. Loving the mixture of science, religion, history, geography, art, architecture, and of course, intrigue. The best Dan Brown so far.

[shenmue]

2. Just got "The Echo Man" and "The Killing Room" by Richard Montanari

I expect they will be very good.

[hermetic]

6. Those both sound

really good!

[shenmue]

17. Hug thx

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. I want to read Chris Matthews latest on Bobby Kennedy.....

titled, Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit.

I saw Bobby Kennedy give a speech at St. James Park in downtown San Jose in June of 1968 the day before he was taken away from us.

[hermetic]

8. How very sad

I believe we really missed out on some great things from him.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

9. Yes we did, hermetic...............

For Bobby would have done great things for this country.

[angstlessk]

5. IF Audible is called 'reading a book'

"The Man Who Invented Christmas" about Charles Dickens..

I always saw him an an old codger, but he was a young man!

Movie being released Nov something?

[hermetic]

7. Oh sure

We talk about audibles here all the time.

That sounds really interesting. Plus, a movie. Cool

[angstlessk]

10. the latest actual book I bought was

Obama An Intimate Portrait

Since pictures are not audible

[hermetic]

11. LOL

He does photograph REALLY well.

[PoorMonger]

12. Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore

First we live. Then we die. And then . . . we get another try?

Ten thousand tries, to be exact. Ten thousand lives to “get it right.” Answer all the Big Questions. Achieve Wisdom. And Become One with Everything.

Milo has had 9,995 chances so far and has just five more lives to earn a place in the cosmic soul. If he doesn’t make the cut, oblivion awaits. But all Milo really wants is to fall forever into the arms of Death. Or Suzie, as he calls her.

More than just Milo’s lover throughout his countless layovers in the Afterlife, Suzie is literally his reason for living—as he dives into one new existence after another, praying for the day he’ll never have to leave her side again.

But Reincarnation Blues is more than a great love story: Every journey from cradle to grave offers Milo more pieces of the great cosmic puzzle—if only he can piece them together in time to finally understand what it means to be part of something bigger than infinity. As darkly enchanting as the works of Neil Gaiman and as wisely hilarious as Kurt Vonnegut’s, Michael Poore’s Reincarnation Blues is the story of everything that makes life profound, beautiful, absurd, and heartbreaking.

Because it’s more than Milo and Suzie’s story. It’s your story, too.

[PoorMonger]

13. Finally!

Finally back from the slog of major research - for a while - and so I can read purely for fun again!

[hermetic]

14. Yay! Glad to have you back.

And, Reincarnation Blues sounds marvelous. Any time someone gets compared to Gaiman, I AM THERE.

[TexasProgresive]

15. About to finish Black Box by Connelly.

I have hernia surgery tomorrow. If all goes well I will read Concrete Blonde by him as well.

[hermetic]

16. Oh my!!

I certainly hope everything goes well. It should though, right? Hernia surgery is pretty common? And then you will feel so much better. Be sure to let me know how you're doing cause I'll sure be thinking about you and sending healing thoughts your way.

[TexasProgresive]

20. Much appreciated.

The plan is I come home afterwards. I’ll pm when the drugs wear off

[PennyK]

18. The Moor by Laurie R. King

Fourth book in the Mary Russell series. I whipped through the previous book so quickly that this time I took out this one and the next today! What a great way to forget your troubles...I had really gotten out of the habit of reading.

[hermetic]

19. Good for you!

Glad you found your way back. Reading is FUNdamental and all that.

[PennyK]

23. I know it'll sound silly, but...

...I just didn't think I could find books I was interested in...although I did read, and love, JK Rowling's Robert Galbraith books.
We started watching mysteries and that genre seemed the logical choice. Then I found a list of recommended mysteries that were all a bit out-of-the-norm, and found many of them to be perfect for me.
Thanks to The Moor, I now know that an inglenook is a corner fireplace.

[Number9Dream]

21. "The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cornwell

This is the first book in a series. Set in 9th century England, and the Danish Vikings are conquering most of England. Uhtred, a boy of ten, and the son of a nobleman, is captured in the same battle in which his father is killed. He is raised as a Viking, but his loyalties become divided. This had been made into a TV series which I haven't seen. I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. Seems like I have less and less time to read, with all the yardwork and leaves, and such.

I read "Lost City of the Monkey God", but I won't give away any spoilers. Let me know what you think of it.

Have a nice Thanksgiving, Hermetic.

[hermetic]

22. You know I will (talk about it)

Thanks, pal. You do the same.

You DO know that leaving leaves to overwinter on your yard is good for the soil, right? Just sayin'...

[northoftheborder]

25. Just started "Beneath a Scarlet Sky"

World War 2 drama; historical novel, based on Italian's true story; I'm learning more about the war's effects on Italy; most books I've read on that war are placed in France, and England.

I recommend so far. Well narrated.

[hermetic]

32. Nice

By Mark Sullivan, a bestselling author who has co-authored novels with James Patterson, who acknowledges that this book “is a novel of biographical and historical fiction.” It's the story of Pino Lella who will amaze readers with his successful wartime efforts. These include guiding Jews through several dangerous hindrances to the Swiss border, driving a Nazi general around like an experienced chauffeur, acting like a trained secret agent by retrieving and making photographs of top-secret documents from the general’s briefcase, assisting the arriving American soldiers, and more. These can only be attributed to the adage: truth is stranger than fiction. The historical details are generally presented in the characters’ clear dialogue, and the scenes are effectively dramatized up to the terrific ending.

[japple]

39. I loved "Beneath a Scarlet Sky." I've read quite a few books about WWII, and most

especially those set in Northern Italy and Southern France since that is the area where my Dad was situated with the First Special Service Force.

If you like this book, I highly recommend Mary Doria Russell's book, A Thread of Grace. Also James McBride's book Miracle at St. Anna which was made into a movie by Spike Lee.

MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA chronicles the story of four black American soldiers who are members of the US Army as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II. They experience the tragedy and triumph of the war as they find themselves trapped behind enemy lines and separated from their unit after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy. Directed by Spike Lee from a screenplay written by James McBride, the author of the acclaimed novel of the same name, the film explores a deeply inspiring, powerful story drawn from true history, that transcends national boundaries, race, and class to touch the goodness within us all.

[northoftheborder]

40. Thanks - I'll put those on my list

I circle away from WW2 and am now reading Circling the Sun by McClain; main character a strong young woman has to overcome her family circumstances and find success in her own world in the early years of colonial Kenya; but I'll be drawn back to the second World War, don't know why exactly, I had no family who served in that war and can scarcely remember it. I keep hoping that history has taught us some lessons.

[gopiscrap]

26. 'Tis by Frank McCourt

[hermetic]

31. Aha,

A memoir written by Frank McCourt. Published in 1999, it begins where McCourt ended Angela's Ashes , It looks like this can be found online in PDF format.

[gopiscrap]

34. I like it because it talks about his immigration to the US

and his integration into American culture. It in some small ways reminds me of my own experience

[PoorMonger]

28. The Late Show by Michael Connelly

Introducing Renee Ballard, a fierce young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD's toughest beat, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Renee Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood--also known as the Late Show--beginning many investigations but finishing none, as each morning she turns everything over to the day shift. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.

But one night she catches two assignments she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the investigations entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job, no matter what the department throws at her.

[hermetic]

29. Wow, how timely

Just published this past July: she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.

People are loving this book. Hopefully I'll soon be among them.

Hope you have a great day.

[PoorMonger]

35. Yeah it was great!

I actually had been on the wait list for it at my library since July and finally got it last week. Then I let my mom read it first as I was still hard at work on school stuff. Then I flew through this book in about a day.

I learnt to just order his books now to avoid such a wait. Got the latest Bosch in the mail yesterday so that’ll be up soon.

[getting old in mke]

30. Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" trilogy

Listening.

Really enjoying it. Dark, violent epic fantasy with characters that grow. Ain't nobody a hero here. Just lots of (some deeply) flawed characters doing what they think they have to do in very uncomfortable situations.

At this point (halfway through the second book), it seems Abercrombie is going to mess with the underlying conflict in a way that will make the reader unsure that what the apparently "good guys" are doing is in support of a good end. Nice.

It puts me in mind of Savage Sword of Conan pen and ink comics from the 70s/80s.

[hermetic]

33. Most intriguing!

Thanks for sharing.

[PoorMonger]

36. Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss

"One of America’s most important novelists" (New York Times), the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The History of Love, conjures an achingly beautiful and breathtakingly original novel about personal transformation that interweaves the stories of two disparate individuals—an older lawyer and a young novelist—whose transcendental search leads them to the same Israeli desert.

Jules Epstein, a man whose drive, avidity, and outsized personality have, for sixty-eight years, been a force to be reckoned with, is undergoing a metamorphosis. In the wake of his parents’ deaths, his divorce from his wife of more than thirty years, and his retirement from the New York legal firm where he was a partner, he’s felt an irresistible need to give away his possessions, alarming his children and perplexing the executor of his estate. With the last of his wealth, he travels to Israel, with a nebulous plan to do something to honor his parents. In Tel Aviv, he is sidetracked by a charismatic American rabbi planning a reunion for the descendants of King David who insists that Epstein is part of that storied dynastic line. He also meets the rabbi’s beautiful daughter who convinces Epstein to become involved in her own project—a film about the life of David being shot in the desert—with life-changing consequences.

But Epstein isn’t the only seeker embarking on a metaphysical journey that dissolves his sense of self, place, and history. Leaving her family in Brooklyn, a young, well-known novelist arrives at the Tel Aviv Hilton where she has stayed every year since birth. Troubled by writer’s block and a failing marriage, she hopes that the hotel can unlock a dimension of reality—and her own perception of life—that has been closed off to her. But when she meets a retired literature professor who proposes a project she can’t turn down, she’s drawn into a mystery that alters her life in ways she could never have imagined.

Bursting with life and humor, Forest Dark is a profound, mesmerizing novel of metamorphosis and self-realization—of looking beyond all that is visible towards the infinite.

[PennyK]

38. Ready Player One

Not me, but my husband. The movie is due out soon, and this book looks to be pure fun for him, a gamer. I'll grab it when he finishes.

[hermetic]

41. Super cool!

Playing Solitaire is my idea of gaming but my sweetie is a long-time gamer and this looks like a prefect Christmas gift. Thanks!!