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hermetic

(8,663 posts)
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 12:29 PM Nov 2021

What Fiction are you reading this week, November 21, 2021?

Sometimes you just need to lie on the couch and read for a couple of years.

Yeah. This.


Reading Bloody Mary by J. A. Konrath. This is good. Woman detective; smart, funny. A wicked serial killer whose vicious acts the reader is privy to. You can tell he's one of a certain group in this story, but which one. Wish my library had more of Konrath's books. He's written over 40 but we only have a few.

Listening to Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones. Book 6 of the Charley Davidson series. (I only just now got that play on words.) Charley finds a naked corpse riding shotgun in her car. Then, a man loses his soul in a card game. Throw in a deaf boy who sees dead people, a woman running from mobsters, and a very suspicious boyfriend, and things can't get any worse. Unless, of course, the Twelve Beasts of Hell are unleashed. "Sometimes I wrestle my demons. Sometimes we just snuggle." -- Bumper Sticker

Wishing you all a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving. What books will you gobble up this week?

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What Fiction are you reading this week, November 21, 2021? (Original Post) hermetic Nov 2021 OP
"And Then Came Paulette" bif Nov 2021 #1
Updike, truly hermetic Nov 2021 #5
I did not know that bif Nov 2021 #8
Still working my way through Darynda Jones books SheltieLover Nov 2021 #2
I dunno hermetic Nov 2021 #3
Thx SheltieLover Nov 2021 #4
I really enjoy them, too hermetic Nov 2021 #6
I love Charley's ADD character SheltieLover Nov 2021 #7
"A Stranger In My Grave" By Margaret Millar The King of Prussia Nov 2021 #9
Sad to say hermetic Nov 2021 #10
just funished anthony doerr's "cloud coocoo land" rampartc Nov 2021 #11
Been wanting to read that one hermetic Nov 2021 #13
no, i don't have 2022 on any of my pools. rampartc Nov 2021 #15
I just hope I live long enough to read "Winds of Winter" yellowdogintexas Nov 2021 #23
i have given up hope rampartc Nov 2021 #25
Finished "Warlord" by Bernard Cornwell Number9Dream Nov 2021 #12
Glad it was worth the effort hermetic Nov 2021 #14
Reading Abaddon's Gate, the 3rd in James Corey's pscot Nov 2021 #16
That sounds really good! hermetic Nov 2021 #18
Just looked J A Konrath up & he has a bunch of titles named after drinks. CrispyQ Nov 2021 #17
Yay! My library has that one. hermetic Nov 2021 #19
I finished it yesterday. CrispyQ Nov 2021 #21
A Meeting At Corvallis 93_NCSU Nov 2021 #20
That does sound good hermetic Nov 2021 #27
Hermetic, you're always doing this, but ... Jeebo Nov 2021 #22
Hi Ron hermetic Nov 2021 #26
Continuing my complete immersion in "The Sisterhood" yellowdogintexas Nov 2021 #24

bif

(24,267 posts)
1. "And Then Came Paulette"
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 12:44 PM
Nov 2021

By Barbara Constantine. Very entertaining book that takes place in a small town in France. Also reading the short stories of John Updike. I try to read one every evening before lights out. They're so damn good!

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
5. Updike, truly
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:16 PM
Nov 2021

One of America's greatest authors. Did you know he was also an art critic?

SheltieLover

(60,395 posts)
2. Still working my way through Darynda Jones books
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 12:45 PM
Nov 2021

A Good Day for Chardonnay currently. Seems a bit juvenile, a lot of the protagonist (sheriff's) teen daughter trying to solve crimes. Maybe it's a young adult book.

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
3. I dunno
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:08 PM
Nov 2021

None of the places I checked said it was YA. Just mystery, police procedural, suspense. Her Darklight books are YA. Reviews call your book laugh-out-loud.

SheltieLover

(60,395 posts)
4. Thx
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:11 PM
Nov 2021

I guess I'm just tired.

I have a couple more Charley/Reyes stragglers that just popped up as avail in library holds. Great series! Ty so much for sharing it here!

I really wish the ebooks weren't more expensive for libraries.

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
6. I really enjoy them, too
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:19 PM
Nov 2021

And totally agree about libraries' ebooks.

It appears the Shrug emoji is broken. All we get is side eyes.

SheltieLover

(60,395 posts)
7. I love Charley's ADD character
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:24 PM
Nov 2021


Oh no! Shrug is broken? Trying it out.



Ps - Another Mrs. Pollifax straggler just became available.
9. "A Stranger In My Grave" By Margaret Millar
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 01:46 PM
Nov 2021

Brilliantly creepy.

Earlier in the week I read two of the DI Clare MacKay series by Marion Todd - "In Plain Sight" & "Lies To Tell". Thrillers set in St. Andrews, Scotland. Recommended.

Had a fun weekend away in Grassington which stands in for "Darrowby" in the TV adaptation of the novels of James Herriot.

Less than 15 days until my Covid booster. We keep getting "pinged" - which means we've been in close contact with someone who tested positive. But we haven't had it. Vaccines!

Happy Thanksgiving!

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
10. Sad to say
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 02:03 PM
Nov 2021

Neither of those authors available at local libraries. From what I just read of them, they sound quite enjoyable. So, added to my list to seek out later.

Keep on staying safe over there. And thanks!

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
11. just funished anthony doerr's "cloud coocoo land"
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 03:42 PM
Nov 2021

maybe the "great american novel" though i still consider huckleberry finn and moby dick as slightly better.

i'm thinking of what to read next. as i wait patiently for martin to run out of money and finish "winds of winter."

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
13. Been wanting to read that one
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 03:59 PM
Nov 2021

I've enjoyed Doerr's other books.

Well, since winter is pretty much already here, guess we won't be seeing Martin's book until 2022 now.

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
15. no, i don't have 2022 on any of my pools.
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 05:10 PM
Nov 2021

in fact, my bet is that martin will die before completing the damn thing.

to his credit, doerr manages to tie up 3,000 earth years on several continents and a few thousand cubic light years a little more efficiently than that.

Number9Dream

(1,660 posts)
12. Finished "Warlord" by Bernard Cornwell
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 03:55 PM
Nov 2021

Thanks for the thread, hermetic.

This was the thirteenth and final book in the Saxon series. Lord Uhtred is in his sixties and living in his beloved Bebbanburg Castle. All around him, however, is political intrigue among factions interested in controlling Northumbria. King Aethelstan of the Saxons, and also the Scots, and Norse factions all have designs on Bebbanburg Castle and Northumbria. Lord Uhtred doesn't know if he can trust anybody. It comes down to a climactic battle for control of England (or Englaland, as they call it). After having read all 13 books, this turned out to be a very good way to end the series.

Hermetic - I'll give you more thoughts on this.

pscot

(21,041 posts)
16. Reading Abaddon's Gate, the 3rd in James Corey's
Sun Nov 21, 2021, 10:29 PM
Nov 2021

expanse series. Aptly named because it goes on through 8 hefty volumes.

From my library:
An alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark. Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artefact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core.

This is a ripping space opera about 1st contact and a gateway to the stars for humans. The plotting is imaginative, the characters plausable and interesting and the writing is solid. James Corey is actually 2 men and they've put together an entertaining package. Highly recommended for science fiction fans.

Peace and happy Thanksgiving Hermetic

CrispyQ

(38,604 posts)
17. Just looked J A Konrath up & he has a bunch of titles named after drinks.
Mon Nov 22, 2021, 10:24 AM
Nov 2021

I just ordered a Bloody Mary from my library.

I'm almost finished with "When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky" by Margaret Verble.

Two Feathers, a young Cherokee horse-diver on loan to Glendale Park Zoo from a Wild West show, is determined to find her own way in the world. Two’s closest friend at Glendale is Hank Crawford, who loves horses almost as much as she does. He is part of a high-achieving, land-owning Black family. Neither Two nor Hank fit easily into the highly segregated society of 1920s Nashville.

When disaster strikes during one of Two’s shows, strange things start to happen at the park. Vestiges of the ancient past begin to surface, apparitions appear, and then the hippo falls mysteriously ill. At the same time, Two dodges her unsettling, lurking admirer and bonds with Clive, Glendale’s zookeeper and a World War I veteran, who is haunted—literally—by horrific memories of war. To get to the bottom of it, an eclectic cast of park performers, employees, and even the wealthy stakeholders must come together, making When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky an unforgettable and irresistible tale of exotic animals, lingering spirits, and unexpected friendship.



The story is written from the 3rd person omniscient point of view. I'm not sure I've ever read an omniscient POV before. The cast of characters is fairly big & the reader gets a glimpse into everyone's head, even the animals & the apparition. The author also uses a lot of sentence fragments which drives me crazy, being I'm old school & we try to avoid those or use them very sparingly. But the story is interesting. It takes place in Tennessee during the Scopes trial. One of the characters laments how many people deny science & I thought, some things never change.

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
19. Yay! My library has that one.
Mon Nov 22, 2021, 04:08 PM
Nov 2021

I will be reading that one. Sounds quite interesting.

I'm loving this Konrath guy. He's written a ton of short stories, which is how I first learned of him. I do hope to read the entire Jack Daniels series. He makes you laugh but then makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

CrispyQ

(38,604 posts)
21. I finished it yesterday.
Tue Nov 23, 2021, 12:34 PM
Nov 2021

I thought the ending was a little rushed & there were a couple of loose ends. Or at least, I would like to have had a little more explanation about what happened with certain characters. But it was an interesting read.

93_NCSU

(7 posts)
20. A Meeting At Corvallis
Tue Nov 23, 2021, 06:15 AM
Nov 2021

It is third novel in the Emberverse series that began with Dies the Fire.

The premise is that a natural phenomenon has plunged the world into a medieval existence by killing anything electrical and/or explosive. It follows groups of communities that spring up in the post-Change world in the Willamette Valley region in Oregon.

Jeebo

(2,318 posts)
22. Hermetic, you're always doing this, but ...
Tue Nov 23, 2021, 04:07 PM
Nov 2021

... I wish every so often you would also ask, "What is the best novel you've read this year so far? " Maybe that would be a good thing for you to do at the end of the year.

You didn't ask it this time, but I'm going to answer that question anyway. The best novel I've read of the couple dozen or so I've read this year so far, no question, is "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. I can always tell I've read a really good one when I find myself thinking constantly about it for days and even weeks afterward. It's still staying with me three months after I read it. So much science fiction is about humans and extraterrestrials not getting along, fighting, trying to kill each other and even destroying each other's civilizations, each one trying to survive the other's attempts to genocide them, and it's hard to find the kind of science fiction in which the two species are cooperating, helping each other out, becoming friends, lending each other a helping hand. Robert L. Forward wrote science fiction novels with that theme. "Dragon's Egg" and its sequel "Starquake" were the hardest-to-put-down novels I've ever read. There were a couple of days when I went to work with no sleep.

Well, "Project Hail Mary" is that kind of novel. The human astronaut and the representative of the alien species meet at the nexus of an existential threat to their mutual civilizations, both of them with a long-shot task of trying to figure out how to deal with the threat to their species, and they get to be friends, then best friends, then saviors, each to the other, both individually and to their civilizations. That novel is so positive, so optimistic, so uplifting, I'm thinking about reading it again.

Anyway, Hermetic, just a suggestion, think about it, the last time you post your "What fiction are you reading" question this year, add to it the question, "And also, what is the best novel you've read this year? "

-- Ron

hermetic

(8,663 posts)
26. Hi Ron
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 03:01 PM
Nov 2021

If you look at the main page for this group you will see, underneath the "What books are you reading this week?" post, a post called "What are the BEST BOOKS you've read in 2021?" It's always at the top in the "pinned posts" which have a little red spot by them. Whenever someone adds to that post, it will move to the every top until a newer post is added to the weekly one. In January that will change to 2022. It's something that has been done here for many years so you can go back and find peoples' favorite books for each year.

That said, Project Hail Mary is on my books to read soon list.

yellowdogintexas

(22,819 posts)
24. Continuing my complete immersion in "The Sisterhood"
Thu Nov 25, 2021, 02:36 AM
Nov 2021

novels by Fern Michaels.

I love a good con and these women have pulled off some doozies.

I really like the characters too.

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