What Fiction are you reading this week, Apr. 11, 2021?

[hermetic]

Spring cleaning, anyone?


I'm reading Cathleen Schine's The Grammarians, "an enchanting, comic love letter to sibling rivalry and the English language...celebrating the beauty, mischief, and occasional treachery of language." I'm loving this book. Coincidentally, a comic strip I read every day, Pearls Before Swine, has just started running a story about a grammarian. Then, even more coincidentally, one of those toons was posted here, on DU, earlier today.

I got the audio book, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter, by Lisa Patton. This story definitely has me emotionally involved even though I can't really relate to any of the characters. But I laugh, and I cry. I guess that's just a sign of some really good writing.

Got my second Pfizer jab Friday. Only a slightly sore arm yesterday. Feels great to be moving forward while all around me so many are insisting on staying behind, fools that they are.

What's on your reading list this week?

[The King of Prussia]

1. "Do not exceed the stated dose" by Peter Lovesey

He's an excellent writer, but it's a collection of short stories - and I just don't like short stories that much.

My second dose - Astra Zeneca - isn't due till 6th June - but the country is opening up further on Monday and we're going to take advantage. A neighbouring village has 2 good book shops so we plan to visit on Thursday.

Generally things seem to be going well - cases and hospitalisations down, and while deaths were up slightly that's almost certainly a consequence of delayed reporting over Easter. We've even booked to go to a couple of gigs at the end of the Summer.

Still, of course, having the nagging fear that Johnson and his chums will find a way to fuck this up.

[hermetic]

2. Caution: reading too many of Peter Lovesey's stories at once

could have unexpected results. Goosebumps, curled toes, tension. Sounds like fun to me.

I like to have books of short stories on hand for reading while waiting for something, like a bus or an appointment.
Good to hear you are making plans. I need to start doing that, as well.

Cheers.

[rzemanfl]

3. I am halfway through

War Lord, the last book (#13) in Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales" series. I'm going on a road trip for a couple of weeks starting a week from today and won't be spending much time reading, or on DU, until I get back.

My second Pfizer was fully effective at the end of last month. I got my shoulder length hair cut, had my teeth cleaned and got back to a little lap swimming. It is nice to have a tan again.

[hermetic]

4. Road trip? Woo hoo!!

Have a great time. Swimming sure sounds like fun. Stay safe!

[rzemanfl]

8. The local Y has a nice outdoor pool.

I want to get back to being able to do a mile before my 74th birthday in August. The plague really screwed up swimming. I've done a mile every birthday since I hit seventy, except for 2020.

[hermetic]

12. Excellent!

We just have a public pool here, outdoor, which never even opened last year. I used to walk a good bit every day, before the plague. Next week should put us into the 70s so I hope to get out and start doing that again.

[SheltieLover]

5. Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon ongoing

Delightful, easy, hysterically funny cozies.

[hermetic]

6. Cool

Definitely looking forward to reading those.

[SheltieLover]

13. I read soldiers of fortune first

Hysterically funny!

Fortune is a CIA assassin hiding out from retaliation in Sinful, LA.

She is teamed up with 2 former spies, elderly ladies. Gertie is quite an eccentric character, much like Grandma Mazur in the Stephanie Plum series.

Ida Bell is more grounded, with a dry sense of humor.

Of course, Fortune is dating the town deputy.

Great reads.

[Demsrule86]

18. She has a new one out...got it at Amazon...kindle book. And if you like her, you

might like Leslie Meier. She has a new one that is free with kindle unlimited.

[MontanaMama]

7. Hello neighbor!

While I’m not reading any fiction at the moment, I couldn’t help but jump in here to say hi. I am reading Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones and I’m enjoying it. Jones is a force to be reckoned with and the book is what I need at the moment when life is changing rapidly.

I’m glad you feel good after your vaccine. I got the J&J on March 10th and I’m thrilled to have it behind me. I talk to some fool everyday who is anti-vaccine and I do not have time for it. I plan to leave them in the dust.

[hermetic]

9. Howdy neighbor!

Good to hear from you. Your book sounds like a good read. I will have to look for that one. Life truly is taking a lot of snaky turns these days. I'm pretty glad to be living in a small town where I pretty much don't have to deal with anyone face to face, except for every 10 days or so at the grocery.

Stay safe!

[Polly Hennessey]

10. Just finished: The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill

and am starting, The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse.

[hermetic]

11. Sounds like a good story.

In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution to the horrors of World War I, Freddie is traveling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. Over the course of one night Freddie will have unearthed a tragic, centuries-old mystery, and discovered his own role in the life of this remote town.

[Polly Hennessey]

15. I loved her other books: The Labyrinth and

The Sepulchre.

[SheltieLover]

14. Congrats on 2nd Pfizer!

I had mine a few weeks qgo. Great feeling but, of course, I'm still masking & isolating. Way too many mask holes here.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Anxious People

by Fredrik Backman. He also wrote A Man Called Ove, which was wonderful as was the movie.

So far it's very good. There's a not very competent bank robber, hostages, people whose lives intersect, most of whom are extremely annoying.

[hermetic]

17. Loved OVE

So I'm sure this is another great tale.