What Fiction are you reading this week, October 24, 2021?

[hermetic]

Escape with a good book

I finished my library books so grabbed one from my collection: Hope Never Dies, the second Biden/Obama mystery. I think this one is much funnier than the first one. Just my opinion and I know others disagree. But, that's how it is with art. Waiting for me at the library now is The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Féret-Fleury. I've been wanting to read that one for a long time.

I also wanted something Halloween-appropriate so I'm listening to Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones. This is third in a series of tales about a paranormal private eye who is also employed as a grim reaper. I haven't read the first two, as they weren't available, but it's easy enough to know what's going on from reading brief primers, readily found since this is an extremely popular series. I'm finding it quite amusing.

What are you finding to read this week?

[Glorfindel]

1. "Billy Summers" by Stephen King

King is always a good read around Halloween.

[hermetic]

3. Oh yeah

Can't go wrong with Mr. King. I haven't read that one yet.

"This spectacular can’t-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It’s about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption."

Sounds terrific.

[bif]

2. I've got a couple I'm about to launch into...

"What we Lose" by Zinzi Clemons
"Everyone Brave is Forgiven" by Chris Cleave
"The Race for Paris" and "The Last Train to London" by Meg Waite Clayton

[hermetic]

5. Winners, all.

"A deeply felt meditation on race, sex, family, and country."

"This dazzling novel dares us to understand that, against the great theater of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most."

and...

"Combining riveting storytelling with expert literary craftsmanship and thorough research, Meg Waite Clayton crafts a compelling, resonant read."

[SheltieLover]

4. Shades of Grey, Clea Simone

Apparently the last 1 my library has in e-version.

Dulcie is a doc candcidate at Harvard, studying 18th C. fiction. She keeps finding people dead, of course. Lol

Meanwhile, her beloved disembodied kitty, Mr. Grey, speaks at times to guide her.

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax is next. Always interesting reads.

After that, who knows?

[hermetic]

6. Sounds like fun

I always enjoy a good ghost cat story.

[SheltieLover]

7. Me too

[hermetic]

9. I hope you didn't pay for that

If you did be sure to keep it on hand for the next toilet paper shortage.

[The King of Prussia]

10. Well... embarrassingly

I'm still on "Death at the Dolphin" by Ngaio Marsh. I'll probably finish it tonight though.
It's been a busy week.

Next up is "A Murder Inside" by Frances Brody. Rather excitingly the author was doing a book signing at the pictured bookshop. It turns out that she is a friend of a friend so we had a nice long chat. This is the first in a new series of detective stories. Her other current series features Kate Shackleton, a 1920's private eye working in Yorkshire. Several of them are set near to where I live. I recommend them.

Otherwise Johnson's Covid and Brexit shitshows continue. Who knows what will become of us?

[hermetic]

12. Fantastic photo! Wow!

I would go there all the time, just to be there. Thanks for sharing.

And what a nice event for you.

I really need to get away from the miserable place I live and go somewhere nice. Maybe next year. But, like you said, who knows.

I just got my booster shot, though, so there's some hope. Hang in there.

[The King of Prussia]

17. Booster shot

I can't get mine until the first week in December - have to leave a 6 month gap from the second jab.

I reckon 2022 is a no-no for getting away somewhere really nice. Current plan is to go to Santorini for a week or 2 in 2023, but I'm not holding my breath.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I'm rereading The Hunger Games.

[hermetic]

14. Good times!

[Number9Dream]

15. Half-way through "The Eagle's Claw" by Jeff Shaara

It's a historical fiction novel about the Battle of Midway. This was arguably the turning point of the war in the Pacific. So far, a good read.

[hermetic]

16. New and award-winning

"A riveting tale that transports us to the Battle of Midway in another masterpiece of military historical fiction. Shaara's trademark you-are-there immediacy and signature depth of research reveals the one single battle that changed not only the outcome of a war but the course of our entire global history."

[pscot]

18. Hi Hermetic. Finally finished The Ophiuchi Hotline

Which I picked up after you read it. It's the longest short novel I've ever read but I liked it a lot. I don't know how I missed John Varley but he's new to me. He was prolific and I look forward to reading more by him.

I'm reading The Fifth Season by N.K.Jemison. I read The City We Became which blew me away but I haven't made up my mind about this one. I also recently finished The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm not a huge fan of swords and sorcery but Ms. McMaster does it very well.

[hermetic]

21. You nailed it

"the longest short novel I've ever read". Such a tiny book but SO MUCH story. He's new to me, too, and has been added to my list. Two that really interest me: From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction. The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan-or science fiction reader-can do without.

Bujold is very popular, too. 44 books, lots of awards. I haven't read any, yet.

[northoftheborder]

19. Finished listening to "State of Terror", by H. Clinton and L. Penny.

Entertaining political thriller with many VERY recognizable real life characters!

Also read "The Lincoln Highway", by Towles. Interesting tale about some juvenile boys and their adventures, and misadventures. Not the quality of "Gentleman in Moscow" by same author.

[hermetic]

20. OMG!!

Clinton and Penny?!! I just pinched myself to make sure I wasn't still asleep and dreaming. How did two of my favorite people get together and write a book without me knowing about it? No matter, I immediately went online to my library. I thought they might not have it since this is such a repug area. But, they do. And, get this, only one copy in large print. LOL They must have figured only a few old farts would be interested in this book. Joke's on them, though. I signed up to get it and there are 36 people ahead of me.

I'm still in line for the other new Penny book, too. She is really popular among the literate here. All 120 of us.

Thank you ever so much for posting.

[mnhtnbb]

22. I'm reading it now.

Had to wait in line at my library, too, but they have 28 copies for my county system. Still 91 holds!

I am really enjoying it. So much shade thrown at the stand in characters for Trump and his goons. It's a page turner.

[hermetic]

23. Ooooh

I can hardly wait. "Santa" might bring me that one. I have just started reading Louise Penny's The Madness of Crowds which is about the pandemic and it, too, is a real page turner. She is one of my favorite authors.