What Fiction are you reading this week, December 12, 2021?

[hermetic]

Medical Library at McGill, Montreal

I have just about finished The Madness of Crowds and have learned that Dr. Ewen Cameron was a real person who actually did all those horrible things. It's quite a book that Ms. Penny has penned.

Listening to Truth or Dare by Fern Michaels. This one is from her Men of the Sisterhood series. They have found some children abandoned in the woods and are on the hunt for child traffickers. Or worse. Good story so far.

In other news, I have been watching the British TV series, Agatha Raisin, on DVDs from the library. I've read a lot of M C Beaton's books and this show is an absolute delight. Funny, and filmed in a gorgeous little village. It's great escapism which I am happy to have these days.

What books are making you happy this week?

[dhol82]

1. Just finished an oldie - Message from Malaga

Very entertaining.
Now about to start The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Looking forward to it since I loved his Gentleman from Moscow.

[hermetic]

2. Me, too

re: Towles' books. Do let us know what you think about it.

[nwliberalkiwi]

3. Harlem Shuffle

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. My introduction to Mr. Whitehead. His writing is a pleasure to read. I will be reading more of his works.

[hermetic]

5. He's fantastic

And this is "another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead. A gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s."

[AngryOldDem]

21. This is a great book!

[CrispyQ]

28. This showed up on my "you might like" lists.

I'll check it out.

[bahboo]

4. just finished The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai...

a great, great book. Parallel stories set in AIDS ravaged 1980's Chicago, and Paris in 2015. Compulsively readable...

[hermetic]

6. Another great one

"A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris."

Good choice.

[bahboo]

7. one of those books when you're sad when you're finished....

[TDale313]

8. Just started the first of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book.

I had always been interested, but never gotten around to it. Good so far, and enjoying the show on Amazon Prime Video.

Also, I think I may go back and reread Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire.

[hermetic]

9. I would like to read

The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. This companion book contains over fourscore full color paintings including stunning new maps of the world, portraits of the central characters, landscapes, objects of Power, and national flags. The reader will learn about the exotic beasts used by the Seanchan and read of the rise and fall of Artur Hawking, peruse the deeper story of the War of the Shadow. And a whole lot more.

I was so sad to hear about Anne. I loved the Vampire stories and was so intrigued by the whole eternal life debate. I also really enjoyed her tales of the Mayfair Witches.

[Xoan]

10. Lincoln Highway ...

So far I love it.

[hermetic]

11. Good

Everyone sure seems to. Love it.

[Polly Hennessey]

12. Just starting, Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves.

Nice to be visiting with Vera, again.

[hermetic]

15. Truly

I have a Cleeves in my pile to be read pretty soon. Always enjoyable.

[The King of Prussia]

13. Still Aurora Teagarden

Hardly read at all this week. Been too busy shouting and swearing about Johnson and his racist gang. Also fretting about Omicron.

[Polly Hennessey]

14. Know the feeling.

You should have heard me during the tRump years. Keep hoping Donnie (The Former Guy) will fade away. It is a slow process.

[The King of Prussia]

18. An attempt is being made to get this to#1 in the charts

It's basically the soundtrack of my life right now. Definitely NOT to be played in front or children, or at work, or in front of those who take offence at naughty words.

[hermetic]

24. LOL!

Got a good beat and easy to dance to.

[hermetic]

16. Well maybe

this Christmas Quiz thing will get BoJo in a bit of trouble. Probably not, though. Right? Obviously some people are above the law.

Try not to fret too much. Since we are vaccinated and boostered, at least if we do get the virus it will be mild. Or so we hope. Stay safe.

[The King of Prussia]

17. I think he's on the way out, but all the potential replacements are equally vile

They're all, lazy, lying, thick racists. So I'm indifferent to his fate.

[yellowdogintexas]

19. I love Aurora Teagarden!!

Charlaine Harris is so much more than Sookie Stackhouse
I have enjoyed her books

[yellowdogintexas]

20. I have 4 of the Men of the Sisterhood books

but have not read them yet.

Still working on the Sisters.

Will give status report tomorrow I need to go to bed, if my cat will get off my lap

[AngryOldDem]

22. "The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois" by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers.

It’s a long one. The juxtaposition of past and present is very well done.

[hermetic]

23. Sounds excellent!

An immersive journey through American history. Dramatic, beautifully written, and compulsively readable, the novel brims from page to page with grand storytelling and heart.

Spanning two hundred years, it explores the history of an African-American family in the American South, from the time before the American civil war and slavery, through the Civil Rights Movement, to the present.

[AngryOldDem]

25. It really is.

I know some people have trouble with its length (790 pages), but if the writing is good, it doesn’t matter. The story is very well paced.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. Sisterhood adventures continue... currently in book 18 Cross Roads

I am just a litte way into this one.

The Sisterhood will not be broken . . .

It’s been a year and a half since the women of the Sisterhood received their presidential pardons, but the freedom they craved has come at a high price. The impossibly lucrative positions handed out to them by the mysterious Global Securities company have turned out to be golden handcuffs—scattering them around the world, cutting off communication, and leaving them in miserable isolation.

But a happy homecoming at the old Virginia farmhouse is marred by the hijacking of Nikki and Kathryn’s private jet. It seems their few fellow passengers are not ordinary travelers—they’re an elite group of Interpol agents who urgently need the Sisterhood’s help. Now the ladies face a stark choice: resume their vigilante status for one of their most hazardous assignments yet or try to outwit a group of powerful adversaries willing to use truly desperate measures. This time, everything is in the balance—their lives, their friendship, and the freedom they fought so hard to gain . . .

since last week I finished #15... Vanishing Act in which a syndicate of identity thieves are at work.

Deadly Deals Book 16

An adoption scam brings out the Sisterhood’s righteous fury in this gripping thriller from the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Vanishing Act.

After years of trying to become pregnant without success, Rachel Dawson and her husband Thomas felt their dreams had finally come true the day they brought home their newly adopted twin babies. Though the lawyer Baron Bell who arranged for the surrogate mother charged a hefty six-figure fee, one glance into the eyes of their precious children told them it was all worth it. Until the birth mother reappeared, first demanding more money, then the twins themselves. Suddenly Baron Bell was nowhere to be found, and the Dawsons were once again childless, heartbroken and nearly destitute.

When the case finds its way to the offices of high-profile attorney Lizzie Fox, she can’t wait to take down the so-called “Mr. Wonderful.” And she knows she’ll have all the help she needs as it’s just the kind of crime that really gets the Sisterhood’s adrenalin flowing. Once they get their hands on the perpetrators there will be hell to pay, and it will cost a lot more than cold, hard cash . . .

Game Over Book 17
With yet another successful assignment behind them, the ladies of the Sisterhood have enjoyed a relaxing break together and celebrated the wedding of Myra and Charles on Big Pine Mountain. But as soon as the newlyweds return from their shortened honeymoon, they are hit with some exciting yet unsettling news . . .

It seems their dear ally Lizzie Fox, recently ensconced as Chief White House Counsel, is rumored to be near the top of the short list for a soon to be vacated seat on the Supreme Court. While the Sisters are thrilled for Lizzie, they are concerned about her being ripped to shreds in the approval process, partly due to her connections with the Sisterhood. They also fear it will delay or even derail their long-awaited pardon promised to them by President Martine Connor. It will take a masterful plan—and loyal friends aiding them at every turn—for the Sisters to succeed in protecting Lizzie while securing their own freedom at last.

[CrispyQ]

27. I just gave up on "Bunny" by Mona Awad because it wasn't making me happy at all.

The story is about friendship, but I read 119 pages & found the story to be...weird. Weird beyond comprehension. I just didn't get it. Sam's new friends were drugging her & she didn't pick up on that? IDK. Maybe I should finish it, but it seemed like a waste of time.

[CrispyQ]

29. A good friend recommended "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss.

I checked out three books from the library, including Bunny, review above, on the same day, & this is the last book I'm looking at because it's so thick it will be hard to read in bed. 662 pages.

[hermetic]

30. This sounds like quite a tale,

"a tale unequaled in fantasy literature -- the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend."

Hope you enjoy it more than Bunny. I know what you mean about that one. I rarely give up on a book but one I was recently reading, Crossing the Lines, just got to be too frustrating. It was about writers writing about each other and you could not be sure what was real and what wasn't. It won awards for being incredibly clever and original but I kept looking at a pile of really good books waiting for me so I quit about half way through. As we do like to say around here, "So many books, so little time."