What Fiction are you reading this week, July 28, 2024?

[hermetic]

Keith Richards


Reading Has Anyone Seen My Toes? by Christopher Buckley. A novel from the Covid years, with the title alluding to the fact that some of us might have put on a bit of weight from all that time spent sitting, waiting... "A laugh-out-loud romp through a time that has been anything but funny." Publishers Weekly
Mostly, I'm laughing. It's pretty wild.

What's hot on your reading list this week?

[sinkingfeeling]

1. "The Family Upstairs" by Lisa Jewell. I read the second book

in the series, first. Oh well.

[hermetic]

5. Sounds like a must-read

"Lisa Jewell brings us the can't-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets."

[PJMcK]

2. Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea (n/t)

[Lulu KC]

3. The Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott

Written in 1929. Pretty interesting so far.

https://www.mcnallyeditions.com/books/p/ex-wife

[Srkdqltr]

4. Im reading Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times.

Im reading the wizard novels . I'll work on the others later.
I like Rincewind and Luggage.
Jodi Taylor recommended them and as her next isn't out until Sept. I needed something.

[hermetic]

6. Love Pratchett

I just got on a short waiting list for the first Chronicles of St Mary's book. Sounds like fun.

[Srkdqltr]

7. They are fun. I have enjoyed them all.

Unlike Pratchett you should read them in order.

[mentalsolstice]

8. Oooohhh, I love Keith Richard's' library!

I’m reading Polite Calamities by Jennifer Gold. It’s about Newport society during the late sixties.

I hope everyone has a great week!

[EverHopeful]

9. Started what will likely be the final Ian Rutledge novel

due to the passing of one of the authors writing as Charles Todd (A Game of Fear) but broke away from it for the newest Rex and Albert book, Old School by Steve Higgs.

Decided that a quick fun read with old friends traveling in Europe and stumbling upon yet another mystery, with smiles and chuckles along the way, would cheer me up before saying goodbye to the brilliant Scotland Yard inspector who travels the UK unearthing, sometimes decades old, secrets that have led to murder.

[japple]

10. A memoir written by former US Army intelligence officer, Nina Willner

Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall

Growing up near Washington, D.C., Hanna’s daughter, Nina Willner became the first female Army Intelligence Officer to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Though only a few miles separated American Nina and her German relatives—grandmother Oma, Aunt Heidi, and cousin, Cordula, a member of the East German Olympic training team—a bitter political war kept them apart.

In Forty Autumns, Nina recounts her family’s story—five ordinary lives buffeted by circumstances beyond their control. She takes us deep into the tumultuous and terrifying world of East Germany under Communist rule, revealing both the cruel reality her relatives endured and her own experiences as an intelligence officer, running secret operations behind the Berlin Wall that put her life at risk.

A personal look at a tenuous era that divided a city and a nation, and continues to haunt us, Forty Autumns is an intimate and beautifully written story of courage, resilience, and love—of five women whose spirits could not be broken, and who fought to preserve what matters most: family.

My father was stationed in Germany and we lived there for 3 years during which time the Berlin Wall was built. That was a very tense period for the US military.

Thank you for the weekly thread, hermetic. Love Keith's library. I'll bet he even has a few cats around his house, too.

[hermetic]

12. Book sounds marvelous

From Wiki "Keith Richards is an avid reader with a strong interest in history, and owns an extensive library."
An article from April 2010 revealed that he always wanted to be a librarian.

[txwhitedove]

11. Rainy Sunday here again. We're still cleaning up after Hr Beryl, with huge pine tree scrap piles on

the front lawn for county pick up.

Reading WW2 fiction Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea. "In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle."

[hermetic]

13. Rain is good

That also sounds like a really good book.

[mentalsolstice]

14. Excellent book, 5 stars ⭐️! nt

[japple]

15. I read Good Night, Irene last year and loved it. Also thought his book

Devil's Highway was excellent. He's a very good writer.

[Bayard]

16. Another Dean Koontz,

"The Big Dark Sky." It was a romp until the end--kind of a letdown.

Starting something else this evening. Still working my way through my last shipment.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams

Almost finished. I like it enough that I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
A quirky club in small-town North Carolina holds the keys to health, happiness, friendship—and even solving a murder—all to be found within the pages of the right book…

Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain. So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help. But before he can keep their appointment, he’s found dead on the train tracks.

Stunned, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to earn redemption by helping others. To join, members must divulge their darkest secret—the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place. Now, determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman’s demise, the women meet in Nora’s cozy bookstore. And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge—proving it’s never too late to turn the page and start over…

“Adams kicks off a new series featuring strong women, a touch of romance and mysticism, and both the cunning present-day mystery and the slowly revealed secrets of the intriguing heroines’ pasts.”—Kirkus Reviews