What are you reading this week of July 24, 2016?

[hermetic]

Finished LaRose. Brilliant and beautiful. Sometimes funny, sometimes frightening. I really loved it. Just started Countdown City, book 2 of The Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters. It's gonna be a good one, I can already tell.

I am only halfway through listening to The Talisman. That's one mighty tall tale. Actually it has a lot in common with LaRose. Both stories of a young boy and what he must do for his mother. Lots of myth intertwined with reality. Colorful characters. I've been quite entertained.

What is entertaining you this week? Too hot to leave the house so you just stay in and read?
I'm looking at temps around 100 all next week. At least it's a dry heat here. Of course it will still cook a turkey, as they say.

[yallerdawg]

1. I'm reading Stephen King's "End of Watch."

Final novel in 'Hodges Trilogy' - retired police detective!

Speaking of "The Talisman."

[hermetic]

2. Yes, I agree

I'm probably one of the last few readers in the world who never got around to reading it before. I am a big King fan and used to read all his books when they were new but somehow they just got away from me and now I am woefully behind. Plus, there are so many other great books out there to read!

So, does the Hodges Trilogy have some otherworldly aspect to it or is it just good old police procedural/whodunit?

[yallerdawg]

3. King has frequently flirted with hardcore crime noir.

There remains an element of King's natural inclination to go 'out there' so, yes, the last novel in particular is getting back to his brand of storytelling!

His horror, though, is often reflective of our real horrors.

The first book, "Mr. Mercedes," is a very, very timely horror of recent events.

The very least he wants to do is make us uneasy - ever since "Carrie"!

[locks]

4. The Japanese Lover

by Isabel Allende, now in paperback

[Paper Roses]

5. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Recommended to me by a friend. I must admit, I almost gave up during the first 50 pages or so. Now I can't wait to get back to it. This book is not my general type of reading but if a friend recommends it, well.....

I am a Lee Child "Jack Reacher" fan. Love books of this type. Can't wait until September for the next one.

[pscot]

6. Straight Man by Richard Russo

Also Jefferson and Madison by Burstein and Isenberg.

[SheilaT]

7. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters.

His latest. It takes place in a United States where the Civil War never happened, four states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Carolina [North and South united into one state at some point] known as the Hard Four) still have slavery. A man called Victor, himself a freed (or escaped?) slave works for the U.S. Marshall Service hunting runaways. So far, so good.

[japple]

8. Finished Heidi Durrow's book, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.

I liked the story, but it was a bit confusing at times, being stream-of-consciousness
narration by the main characters.

I started reading Black River by S. M. Hulse a couple nights ago and have fallen into the story.
Here's a synopsis from amazon:

Wes Carver returns to his hometown—Black River, Montana—with two things: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the parole board. The convict who once held him hostage during a prison riot is up for release. For years, Wes earned his living as a corrections officer and found his joy playing the fiddle. But the riot shook Wes’s faith and robbed him of his music; now he must decide if his attacker should walk free. With “lovely rhythms, spare language, tenderness, and flashes of rage” (Los Angeles Review of Books), S. M. Hulse shows us the heart and darkness of an American town, and one man’s struggle to find forgiveness in the wake of evil

SheilaT, I recently heard Maureen Corrigan's review of Underground Airlines on Fresh Air
and put that one on my list. Glad to read that you're enjoying it.

[SheilaT]

9. I think Winters is going to have a long and wonderful career.

The Last Policeman series was amazing. I believe I first heard about it here, on DU.

[hermetic]

11. He is such a good writer

Really pulls you into the story. I swear, reading Countdown City, it starts to feel like that is really happening, that it's true. We actually are on a collision course with a large asteroid and in a few months life, as we know it, will end. Then I'm feeling all down and I turn the page, and it's blackness. Those pages are so freaky. Genius. Thanks for telling us about Underground Airlines as I will definitely want to read that.

[hermetic]

12. My must-read list

just keeps growing and growing. Thanks a lot.

[Number9Dream]

10. Finished "The Book of the Dead" by Preston / Child

The conclusion to the Diogenes trilogy was quite good. After four straight Preston / Child books, I think I need a change, but I'm not sure just what next. I'll have to peruse a couple of library websites.

[Angry Dragon]

13. Extreme Prey -- John Sandford

Last edited Tue Aug 9, 2016, 02:01 PM - Edit history (1)