What are you reading this week of January 24, 2016?
I'm about halfway through Drums of Autumn. I am getting a little weary of it. I pretty much skim through the detailed descriptions now since I've read them all before. And really, a bear? 
I still love the characters, though, and will see it through to the end.
When I wake up in the middle of the night and need to read for a while, I've started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I have a collection of her novels in one book. I'm not sure why I've never read any of her works before though the titles are quite familiar. Glad to have the opportunity now.
What are you reading now, if you're not outside shoveling? Warm thoughts to all our friends out East. 
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Look up any fiction book and it will give a brief synopsis of the story, when it was written and how many pages. No critiques or ads filling up the page. Just simple. I love it.
It sounds like something we can all use frequently.
Ian Rankin, Even Dogs in the Wild - Rebus #20!
Actually, it was only just released in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand on November 7, 2015. And just released in the U.S. on January 19 - but way back sometime last year as soon as I heard the book was in the works I put in my order for a hold at the library. I was the #1 hold! 
I got the notice on Wednesday, but didn't have a chance to pick it up until Friday - which was fine, I'm good with a little delayed gratification, especially for a new Ian Rankin book!
I started on the Rebus series some years ago, and have read every single book of the series in order. I've also read his two Malcolm Fox books which take place in Rebus' world.
Inspector John Rebus, now retired, is one of the most fabulous creations ever in the world of crime fiction. Right up there with Sherlock Holmes, in my book. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Rankin has tried to move on from Rebus, but his millions of readers wouldn't hear of it. So Rankin took 2 years off, and then finally brought forth #20. We fans and hopeless Rebus addicts have rejoiced mightily. 
Now please excuse me, I have to get back to my reading...
We are never the #1 hold. 
I have yet to read the fifth one of the series. I look forward to reading the rest in sequence as you have.
For quite a number of years now, I've made it my practice, once I come across a series I'm interested in, to start with the first book and read all the way through, one after another, generally reading nothing else but every book in the series until I'm caught up to the latest one.
Then, while I wait for a new entry in that series, I'll start on a different series by another author and do the same thing. While I've been waiting on this Rankin book (among others), I've been working my way through a series by British author Stephen Booth. I've gotten through #9 out of 15 - but for *Rebus* I'm setting the rest aside until I finish Dogs.
I keep an eye out for my favorite authors on Fantastic Fiction, checking fairly regularly to see if a new book is in the works. As soon as I see that there's one on the way I put in my "hold" request at the library. Right now I have the #1 hold on four other books, including a new one by Peter May (author of the Lewis Trilogy) - but it may be months before they come in.
I do love totally immersing myself in a particular place, with a particular set of characters, by reading a whole series non-stop from the beginning. It's just my thing, I guess.
It was totally insane, I kept looking at the time, thinking "This is ridiculous, I've GOT to go to bed!" but every time I turned a page, I just couldn't stop reading. "Just a little more, and then I'll stop..." "Okay, NOW just a little more and then I'll stop..." "Oh what the hell, if I just read a little more, then for sure I'll stop!" "Damn, I can't stop - I'm going to have to call in sick to work today."
And so I did. Finished around 4 in the morning, laid in bed with all the scenes from the book running through my head non-stop for the next hour and a half, then got up and called in sick. I am a very bad person. 
Anyway, if it's not already apparent, I think the book is absolutely brilliant, wonderful, fantastic, exquisite, awesome! Definitely one of the best of the Rebus series, if not THE best - bearing in mind that I first started reading the series at least 13-14 years ago, so my memories of the earliest books are necessarily vague. What has carried over in my mind are mainly the love of the character Rebus, the love of Rankin's writing, and love of the Edinburgh settings.
Even Dogs in the Wild is definitely Ian Rankin in top form. You can tell that his heart and soul went into the writing of this book - unlike his previous 2 Rebus books. I think he really meant to be done with Rebus in his 2007 Exit Music, but his fans wouldn't have it.
So, he managed a Rebus comeback in the 2012 Standing in Another Man's Grave, which wasn't bad but seemed just slightly strained (imo). And then came the 2013 Saints of the Shadow Bible which I found quite disappointing - it just seemed sort of phoned in, with no sense of the heart and fire of the earlier Rebus books. I had to read it, of course, and I'm not sorry I did, but I was left with a feeling of "meh" at the end.
But this new one! Oh yes, Rankin definitely got his mojo back!
After I finally got a few hours of sleep, once I got up I started re-reading it all over again. I can't help myself, it's just so delicous! Like diving into the most wonderful meal you've ever had, complete with dessert and drinks!
If you really don't think your library can get it, and if you really want to read it as soon as possible, and if you don't mind spending the money, then I think, as a "Rebus addict", you'll definitely find it worth it.
I am reading Scaramouche (I hope I am spelling the name correctly) by Rafael Sabatini. The story is set during the initial phase of the French Revolution and shows through the eyes of the protagonist the shifting dichotomies between the noble and peasent classes. Some of the titles that are mentioned in this thread also seem to be rather interesting so I do hope to finish soon so I may enjoy some of the other works people are talking about!
Thanks!
So glad you found our little book nook. For the past year I've been reading books that were recommended by others here and I have yet to be disappointed. I keep a Notepad page and each week I copy and paste things that sound interesting to me. That list is getting quite long now and I hope to eventually read everything on it.
I've lived many years in Minnesota and Canada so that is not an unusual event for me. But it never gets any easier, no matter how much practice one gets from dealing with it. So I now live in a desert.
I am very intrigued by your description, "the most heart-wrenching scene," so that book has been added to my list.
Thanks and be careful out there.
My to-do list today is very long. 
It was an engaging story but there was a lot that I thought could have been cut - especially the detail of all the police characters. The Lisbeth character was over the top, but so unique that I didn't mind. Also, as we go more & more digital, who's to say she's over the top. What do I know about the deep web & shit like that? It was a fun read.
I finished the series late Friday night, like 2AM, lol, & let it digest for the rest of the weekend. Last night I started Imperfect Birds, by Anne Lamott & didn't like it, so I then started The Horned Man, by James Lasdun. It's a small book, under 200 pages & quirky as hell. I'm on page 55 & very curious how the story plays out.
which I enjoyed and found definitely intriguing. Part of what Steig Larsson touched on in the series was the 1986 assasination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme. If you have any interest in that aspect of the story, I'd like to recommend another trilogy by a Swedish author which focuses solely on that event:
Story of a Crime by Leif G W Persson
1. Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End (2010)
2. Another Time, Another Life (2011)
3. Free Falling, As If in a Dream (2014)
I found this trilogy to be absolutely mind-blowing! The books are very long (around 600 pages each) and convoluted, not easy reading at all, and definitely not to everyone's taste. But I loved them much more than the Steig Larsson trilogy, they made a much deeper impression.
On the other hand, you probably ought to catch up on your to-do list before you take me up on this recommendation...
When I finish a good book, especially a long, involved one, I can never just pick up another one & start reading. I have to take time to let the one soak.
So my library has the 2nd title, but not the 1st or 3rd. Weird. But thanks, I'll look for them - after I get caught up.
#2 just won't make much sense if you haven't read #1. Does your library have an interlibrary loan program? That's how I get most of my books - my little small town library has very few titles in stock of the kinds of books that interest me, but they're wonderful about getting in books on loan from other libraries around the state.
I understand what you mean about stopping and letting a long book "soak" in after you've finished it. When I've finished a book that really strikes me, I can't start a different book right away, either. But the fact is, I very often end up just re-reading the same book again right away - turn and close the last page, then go right back to the first page and start reading it again all over from the beginning. Is that weird? 
Wishing you luck on getting "caught up". Do any of us reading addicts ever really get caught up? All that ever happens to me is that my "want-to-read" list just keeps getting longer, and longer, and longer, and ...
