What Fiction are you reading this week, September 24, 2023?

[hermetic]

Hello, Fall

I'm reading The Starless Crown by James Rollins, an intense fantasy/action adventure. I'm finding it entertaining but after reading reviews I see many people didn't like it at all. It's the first in a 5-book series, MoonFall Saga. It takes place in a land that looks quite similar to the UK and on a planet called Urth. We meet a bunch of misfits and outcasts who will band together to save the planet. At just under 600 pages, I've got a long way to go.

Listening to Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. I wanted to get her Tom Lake but I was put on a waiting list and saw this was available now so thought I'd give it a listen. Good book. It's like a bunch of short stories about people who are all related.

What good reading have you got going on this week?

[brer cat]

1. Code Red by Kyle Mills, a Mitch Rapp thriller.

Mills has stepped into Vince Flynn's shoes very well.

[hermetic]

2. Sounds quite intense

Rapp devises a desperate plan that forces him and his team onto a battlefield where the United States is virtually powerless and allegiances shift almost hourly. Further, if Russia uncovers their plot, it will set off a confrontation between the two countries that could change the course of human history.

[cbabe]

3. I look forward to this forum every week. Thank you.

Trilogy (review snitched from Amazon):

Crimson Phoenix: An Action-Packed & Thrilling Novel (A Victoria Emerson ...

Book Review - JT Gilstrap introduces a new post apocalyptic thriller entitled Crimson Phoenix that is surprisingly good. It's a new series about the aftermath of nuclear war, specifically in West Virginia and centered around an ex-Congresswoman and her three sons.
..

I tend to quibble with details: no one seems to be sick with radiation poisoning. Ok to eat poisoned fish/game? Nuclear winter disappears in a few days.

Author spends a lot of time on guns and bullets, very little on cooking over a wood fire.

With more depth it might make a good game like the Oregon trail.
…

Just started Alligator Alley/Mike Lawson. Joe and Emma to the rescue!

[hermetic]

10. Well, thank you

Appreciate your contributions. DUers read the best books. Always something new to look for and try.

[MOMFUDSKI]

4. Just finished

The Wedding Guest by Jonathan Kellerman. Picked it up at an estate sale. Now I ordered his latest “Ghost Orchid” from my library.

[bahboo]

5. his Alex Delaware series is so good....

Milo Sturgis is one of my favorite fictional characters....

[Diamond_Dog]

6. While Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams

A friend gave me Abrams’ first two novels in this series for my birthday!

I’m enjoying it so far. Is there anything Ms. Abrams can’t do?

[Jeebo]

9. I read "While Justice Sleeps".

I read it a couple years ago and enjoyed it. I was not aware there was a second book in that series. What is the name of that second novel?

I am aware that Abrams writes romance novels, but I have no interest in that genre.

-- Ron

[Diamond_Dog]

15. It's called "Rogue Justice".

[hermetic]

16. The second one

is Rogue Justice. Just came out this year.

[hermetic]

11. Probably not.

She's a true, real-life hero. Nice gift. Happy belated birthday.

[Diamond_Dog]

13. TY hermetic!

[hermetic]

17. YW, also

Wanted to say congrats on your winning photo. I love how that water looks so inviting and your wonderful dog just cruising along. A perfect summer photo.

[Bayard]

7. Uncaged

John Sanford and Michele Cook collaboration. Pretty good so far, with a likable and adventurous homeless heroine looking for her brother.

[hermetic]

12. Ooooh,

The first in a high-octane thriller series about a ruthless corporation, unspeakable experiments, and a fight to expose the truth. Doggies! Gotta read this one. Thanks.

[Jeebo]

8. "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" by H. F. Saint

A few weeks ago I mentioned a box of old books I pulled out of storage recently. This is another book that came out of that box. I read it 30-plus years ago and really enjoyed it, so now I'm re-reading it. They made a movie about it, starring Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah, and while that movie is mildly entertaining, it is silly and has no substance. The novel has substance and meaning, but they leached the substance out of it when they made that mindless movie, which is nothing but fluff.

One thing about the concept of the invisible man: I've always thought that somebody who is invisible would also be blind. Invisibility means light passes unaffected through your body. Your body mass has no effect whatsoever on the light that passes through it. Therefore, the rods and cones and pupils and corneas and light receptors in your eyes would not pick up any of the information that is being conveyed in that light. Yet, in all of the fiction and cinema that deals with invisibility in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, that the invisible person would also be blind apparently has never occurred to anybody other than me. Including the author of this novel, although it is a very good novel. Imaginative and well thought out.

-- Ron

[hermetic]

14. I read that one, too

Like you, long ago. I do recall quite liking it. Thanks for your thoughts on it.

[The King of Prussia]

18. Distant Thunder by Stuart Woods

Not an author I've heard of before, but seems he was very prolific. No idea if he is even published here. My wife was in Dallas and bought it for me at the airport. Only just started it, but I think I'm going to enjoy.

[hermetic]

20. Hadn't heard of him either

But that book is #63 in that series with a total of 91 books overall. He has a Wiki page and I see that sadly he passed last year at 84. He had quite a life. Was a pilot and a sailor. Lived in England and Ireland for some time. I will check out his books here as they look the type I enjoy.

[The King of Prussia]

22. I shall report back next week

It's shaping up to be an easy read.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. I've read a couple of his books. "Chiefs" was his breakout book

It is a very good book.

[yellowdogintexas]

19. The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

A story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era America.

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.

The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

These women face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

This is the book which sparked a lawsuit from the author of "The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek" I am finding this one to be different enough that I don't feel as if I am reading the same book twice. Having said that, I did see certain similarities which make me wonder just how the author came up with them if she had not read "Bookwoman".

I won't discuss them here because they could be construed as spoilers. I will say that I do like this book.

[hermetic]

21. Oh, interesting

I was going to look that up to see if it was based on real Bookwomen but now I don't need to. Now I'll just have to read it instead.

[yellowdogintexas]

24. characters are fictional but based on the Pack Horse Librarians nt

[Number9Dream]

23. Finished "Tides of Fire" by James Rollins

Thanks for the thread, hermetic.

This is the newest book in the Sigma series by Mr. Rollins. It is excellent, as usual. Rollins blend of science fiction, science fact, extensive knowledge of zoology, and imaginative action scenes make this another page-turner.

Regarding his Moonfall series... I finished the second book, "Cradle of Ice". Spoiler alert kind of. I've stuck with them, even though I have problems with the deaths of some of the animal companions / helpers... rather depressing. Still the imaginative parts have worth it. I didn't know this would be a five book series, thanks.

[hermetic]

26. Sorry I missed ya yesterday

I had to run off and feed the 30 critters I'm caring for right now.

But yeah, this story is pretty grim. The horrible way they treat a blind girl. They are obviously all Republicans. I'll probably have to take a break between this and the sequel. Read some lighthearted stuff.

Thanks for your contribution here.

[txwhitedove]

25. Happy Fall morning. Your weekly posts are full of so many fascinating books to read.

Currently reading The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods. Three narrators, past and more current, have taken me along their mysterious and magical journey of life. A fun read, but also having to research historical sites like the first library in Ireland, authors, and books.

Update on renovation of our flooded Library: Work began in May, and hopefully completed by next May 2024. Nothing was saved from our library, but the Harris County Public Library has a wealth of books to share with them. They will not get any books from the inner Houston schools whose libraries have been closed, and we sadly don't know what happens to those books now.

[hermetic]

27. Wow, that's pretty sad

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Your book sounds great. An "evocative and charming love story full of mystery and secrets. Gorgeous descriptions of Paris and Dublin transport you to another world; a book to truly escape into." Thanks.