What are you reading this week of May 29, 2016?

[hermetic]

I'm reading The Last Policeman by Ben Winters. This has been on my must-read list since it came out in 2012.

... a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

My library didn't have it so I was thrilled when I found it on ThriftBooks. What I didn't realize was that it was the first of a 3-part series so now I'll have to seek out the remaining 2.

I'm listening to Maddadam by Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood was a bit of a slog-through but this one is much more enjoyable. "Please, no more singing."

I tell ya, Atwood in the afternoon then Winters at night could make a person despondent. But then I get up and read the news in the morning and an impending collision with an asteroid or a plague that wipes out most of civilization doesn't seem like such a bad thing at all.

Gloom and doom aside, I hope you all have a pleasant Memorial Day. Spare a thought for all those who served with honor.

And remember to tell us all what you're reading this week.

[randr]

1. American Gods--Neil Gaiman

Page turner

[hermetic]

2. One of my alltime favorites

I think they're making a movie now. I don't keep up with the movie industry but that's sure one I would like to see.

[Enthusiast]

5. That sounds like a good one. Thank you, randr.

[hermetic]

8. Oh Enthus,

If you've not read Gaiman yet, I highly recommend you get thee to the library, or something. He has the most amazing way of writing about our beliefs. It's almost impossible to describe, you have to see for yourself. I believe him to be one of the greatest writers of all time. He's like Socrates meets Voltaire meets S. King.

[Enthusiast]

12. Cool! I have a used copy on the way.

I really appreciate your recommendations.

We are having a fun evening.

[japple]

9. American Gods is a wonderful book. I loved it!

Also Good Omens with Gaiman & Terry Pratchett. What a riot!

[libodem]

3. I saw Margaret Atwood speak at BSU

And have read "Year of the Flood". Pretty dark.

I'd like to read the reat but just have not been reading much lately.

[Enthusiast]

4. Hello everyone! Thank you for the thread, hermetic!

I am still reading When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman. I like this very much but it is a long book.

Speaking of long books Mrs. Enthusiast is still reading The Stand by Stephen King. She is really enjoying The Stand. I think she is going to become a true Stephen King fan after this.

[TexasProgresive]

6. Starting the 3 volume in John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" series- "The Last Colony"

I really enjoyed Tim Krabbé's The Rider. I'm not sure anyone who is not a cyclist would get this book. There are vignettes of past races and towards the end some get quite fanciful as the extreme exertion begins to affect the mind of the rider. It is a novel but told in the 1st person by a racer named Tim Krabbé.

About Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades I liked it much better than the 1st Old Man's War. The main character is someone who starts out without a real personality and has another persons brain pattern also in his brain. The characterization is much more developed in this novel. That's what I like in a novel; good character development that tells a good story.

I was a big fan of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lindley series. I liked the interplay of the inspector and his often unconventional sergeant. When Lindley's wife is murdered it seemed like Ms. George jumped the shark. How was A Traitor to Memory?

[hermetic]

7. To be honest,

I didn't finish it. At 700+ pages in a large hardbound, it was just too much. Every minuscule item of each character was way more than I needed to know. I should go back some day and read the end, just to see who done it. But I just stopped caring. I am sure I will read her again, some more recent works as my library has them all.

I do enjoy the Lindley and Havers characters but they were not in this book much after reading 500 pages. Ah well, Ms George is a prolific writer so I haven't given up on her entirely.

[Enthusiast]

13. I feel the same, I like good character development that tells a good story.

I think every book I have ever really enjoyed shares those characteristics. With a very few possible exceptions.

Nice to see you, TexasProgresive. I wish you would tell us about the goats too. I watch every silly video of the baby goats then I show them to Mrs. Enthusiast. I know, we're crazy. It's like they have a spring that is wound too tight.

[japple]

10. Thanks for the thread, hermetic. I am reading

Peace by Richard Bausch. It is very well written and the first of his work that I've read. Not easy to read about this topic--December 1944 in the mountains of Northern Italy with the allies closing in on the Germans. It was very hard on even the toughest, most well-prepared soldiers.

[Enthusiast]

14. I'm 'into' WWII so I think I would like that one.

I worked with an old guy that was in the thick of it in Italy. And my FIL was an MP in Italy. I believe that is where Bob Dole was wounded. Wouldn't we love all of today's Republicans to be like Bob Dole. Oh, for the days of the moderate Republican.

[japple]

16. Yes, I even find myself getting sentimental about those days when

there was such a thing as a moderate Republican. Even though we disagreed with them politically, we didn't live in fear and dread of them winning an election--until Tricky Dick came along and even he did some things I approved of.

My Dad was in the thick of it in northern Italy. His best friend who was a childhood schoolmate, was taken prisoner at Anzio and killed by the Germans.

You might enjoy reading James McBride's book, Miracle at Santa Anna (which was also made into a movie) and Mary Doria Russell's book, A Thread of Grace.

[Enthusiast]

18. Thanks, japple. We spoke of the James McBride book, Miracle at Santa Anna.

We got Miracle at Santa Anna from the library. We both liked it, very unusual.

[japple]

19. We did? I can't even remember what I had for dinner yesterday. Oh wait,

I can go check the Cooking & Baking group and find out!!!

Glad that you and the Mrs. enjoyed Miracle at Santa Anna. I am crazy about James McBride.

[Enthusiast]

20. My memory is compromised a bit too.

I think I need more leafy greens.

[pscot]

11. A Moveable Feast by Hemingway

and I'm about a third of the through The Brothers Karamazov. I finished The Water Knife which began well, but lost focus, I thought, as it went on.

[Enthusiast]

15. Thanks, pscot.

I wonder about A Moveable Feast. I have read several by Hemingway. I have yet to read A Moveable Feast.

[pscot]

17. Try it, you'll like it

Seriously. It's a quick read and it has the feel of his short stories, which are also pretty wonderful. I highly recommend the short stories, if you haven't read them. He was an absolute master of the form.

[Number9Dream]

21. "Looking For Rachel Wallace" by Robert B. Parker

It's an older entry in the Spenser series, which I'd never read. Being a long time Spenser fan, I enjoyed this book too. Mystery with a sense of humor, good dialogue, and a page-turner. Spenser is hired to bodyguard a controversial lesbian author. After she fires Spenser, she is kidnapped. Spenser feels obliged to find her.

[hermetic]

22. That sounds good!

I have added it to my list.

Hope you are doing well.