What Fiction are you reading this week, January 23, 2022?

[hermetic]

Stay in, stay warm, and read.


YAY! I am reading State of Terror, by...you guessed it...Hilary Clinton and Louise Penny! A novel of unsurpassed thrills and incomparable insider expertise. A unique and utterly compelling international thriller. I love it. It starts off with a bang, so to speak. Then the tension just keeps growing. The references to the "previous administration" are spot on and quite horrifying. I like how the previous guy is named Dunn and his cabinet are flying monkeys. But I really love the photo of the two beautiful, intelligent women on the back cover.
I keep that side up at my bedside as a reminder of how strong we women need to be these days.

Listening to another C. J. Box novel, Dark Sky. Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip into the Wyoming wilderness. But he soon finds out that they are the hunted.

What compelling fiction are you reading this week?

[The King of Prussia]

1. "Murder-on-Sea" by Julie Wassmer

A cozy set in Kent. I've only just started it, and she's not an author that I've read before. so I don't have an opinion yet.

I've just finished "The Moving Target" by Ross MacDonald. Excellent, of course. Before that it was "Sergeant Cluff Goes Fishing" by Gil North. A short, but quite tough read. Well worth it, though.

Life goes on. Johnson seems to have decided that the pandemic is over. We'll see. If we're tripping over corpses in the street in the fortnight, no doubt lockdown will be back.

[hermetic]

4. Hi,

I learned a bit about Sgt Cluff.

"Gil North's Sergeant Caleb Cluff is not a man of many words, and neither does he play by the rules. He may exasperate his superiors, but he has the loyal support of his constable and he is the only CID man in the division. Life in Gunnarshaw is tough, with its people caught up in a rigid network of social conventions. These stories are sparse, tense, and moodily evoke the unforgiving landscape."

Hey, I just saw a headline that said a new omicron variant was discovered in a lab in the U.K. So, don't be burning your masks just yet. I also heard yesterday that dear Boris might be looking at a no confidence vote. That might be a good thing. Ah well, we can just hunker down and hope for the best.

[The King of Prussia]

8. I read a bit about this new omicron variant

Suggestion seems to be that it isn't new, and it's no big deal. Who knows?
I'd rather keep Johnson than have any of his possible replacements. They're all corrupt, racist vermin.

[hermetic]

9. Yeah,

I was thinking along those lines, as well.

[niyad]

2. "Muletrain to Maggody" (an Arly Hanks mystery) by Joan Hess. Chief of Police

Arly Hanks must deal with the filming of a documentary on a Civil War skirmish that involves possible stolen gold, along with the usual insanities and characters in her small
Arkansas community.

The Maggody series is an absolute hoot.

[hermetic]

5. That does sound fun

I will have to look into that series. Thanks.

[niyad]

7. You are most welcome. Let me know what you think.

[yellowdogintexas]

20. I have a few of those books. Maybe that will be my next series

assuming I ever see the end of The Sisterhood/Men of the Sisterhood

[Paper Roses]

3. Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline.

Good easy reading, good plot. I'm 3/4 of the way thru and am enjoying it.
I am a random reader so I read whatever good authors I can find. Cannot find extra $$ to buy current books at full price. I'm thankful we have the Little Free Library nearby.

I donate the books back except the "Reacher" books. I collected all 26 of them and will try to sell them as a collection. Bought most on-line because they never showed up at the Libraries.

[hermetic]

6. Love Little Free Libraries

I actually just got a Reacher book from my local one, Night School. Funny coincidence you should bring that up. You might want to take a look at Thrift Books, https://www.thriftbooks.com They have a lot of books for .99.

Corrupted sounds like a good mystery/thriller. I like Scottoline.

[rsdsharp]

10. I just finished the latest Lee and Andrew Child Reacher book,

Better off Dead. I also read the latest Stephen Hunter book about Bob Lee Swagger, Target. Both were standard fair from the authors, which is to say I quite enjoyed them.

I’m a little concerned these characters are going to age out on their authors. Jack Reacher is near 60, and Bob Lee is in his 70s, as is James Lee Burke’s major character, Dave Robicheaux. That’s getting a little old to believably beat the hell out of people. That may be why Hunter says that his next book will be a flashback to Bob Lee’s father, Earl, in WW II.

I just started Ken Follet’s new novel, Never. So far, my principal impression is that 800 pages in hard cover are a lot heavier than in Kindle.

[hermetic]

11. Heavy, indeed

Never is an extraordinary novel, full of heroines and villains, false prophets and elite warriors, jaded politicians and opportunistic revolutionaries. It brims with cautionary wisdom for our times, and delivers a visceral, heart-pounding read that transports readers to the brink of the unimaginable.

Aging IS a problem. Don't I know it. Maybe they need to take on an apprentice or two.

[SheltieLover]

12. Read Rita Mae Brown's Furmidable Foes

Not really enjoyable as I prefer much more involvement with her animals as they are funny. th8s is another one in which the author flips back & forth from previous centuries to present, not a style I care for.

Now reading "Ghost of a Potion." It's okish, but not riveting. About a town filled with witches, most of whom practice white magic with herbs to help people. It's not awful, I suppose it's just not my thing. 😏

[hermetic]

13. Have you read Joan Hess?

She was mentioned above for her Maggody series. When I was looking her up I saw her referred to as the queen of cozies so you might want to give her a look. She's got around 50 books. Also writes under another name.

[SheltieLover]

14. I haven't...yet

Ty! Having device issues again today. 😓

[Staph]

15. I just finished State of Terror.

Great book! So much detail about the inner workings of the State Department makes this book feel hyper-realistic. And I love that the village of Three Pines (from Penny's Inspector Gamache series) makes an appearance as well.

I'm alternating series this week, as they become available from the library. I'm trying to read The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. An old friend recommended the series after seeing that it was made into a television series. He emphatically does not recommend the television show - it doesn't follow the books at all. The first book is The Eye of the World.

And when The Wheel of Time books are on hold, I'm reading a nice cozy series, the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries, by Paige Shelton. The main character, Delaney Nichols (from "Kansas in America" ), has come to Edinburgh to work at the Cracked Spine, a rather mysterious used book store in Edinburgh. The body count isn't as high as Cabot Cove, Maine, but everyone who works there finds a dead body from time to time. The first book is The Cracked Spine.

[hermetic]

16. Those book store mysteries

Are on my list of must-reads. "The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there."

She has a couple of other series, too. Cozies!

[japple]

17. Just started reading Melissa Lenhardt's book, Heresy, about a women's outlaw

gang who, out of desperation, rob banks and try to right the wrongs that have come their way.

Finished reading Zorrie by Laird Hunt, a short, quiet book about an ordinary woman. It's just the kind of book I was looking for--something peaceful to read before bed.

[hermetic]

18. Zorrie

A short book, but SO MUCH PRAISE. And awards: 2021 Kirkus Best Books of the Year - Historical Fiction, 2021 National Book Award - Fiction (Finalist), et al.

"This is one story so eloquently told, that it suffuses the soul with warmth, imbues life with rich beauty no matter how small and alone we may feel. I had not planned on reading this book, but I read a page, and then another and another!"

I just got short-listed for this one at the library.

[japple]

19. It was a lovely story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. not much reading accomplished this week.

I finished Crash and Burn Sisterhood #27 and started on

Fast and Loose (Men of the Sisterhood #2 )

With the women of the Sisterhood away on a covert assignment, their significant others could be expected to kick back and enjoy a little drama-free downtime. But that’s not the way Jack, Ted, Harry, Charles, and the rest of their comrades roll. An urgent call has come to the headquarters of their organization, BOLO Consultants. Bert Navarro, head of security for Countess Anna de Silva, suspects that Annie’s deluxe casino, Babylon, is being stealthily and expertly robbed. But figuring out who’s hacking into Babylon’s security system proves more difficult than expected—and may have implications for one of BOLO’s own. The security expert working for them has unlocked one hard fact—that there are more than enough suspects to investigate. But the men of BOLO will do what it takes to prove that, even in Vegas, there’s no gambling with justice . . .