What are you reading this week of August 21, 2016?

[hermetic]

Finished Rankin's Hide and Seek which was so good. The way it all comes together at the end is haunting. Can't stop turning it over in my mind.

Now I'm moving myself to the cold climes of Newfoundland with Michael Crummey's River Thieves. This is such a good book and I also bought 2 of the later ones which many here liked. So, this will be my reading for the next month or so.

Sad to discover I have now listened to all the books on CD from my library that I am interested in. They're supposed to have The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, recc'ed by someone here, but I couldn't find it. I put it on reserve a month ago but they haven't been able to find it either. Since then I've heard this book mentioned a couple of times in other places and now I really want to read it. I have to wonder why it disappeared. Either someone really loved it and wanted it, or someone didn't want us poor rubes here getting wise to the Big Water scam. My money's on the latter. I'll just have to buy the book, I guess.

Anyway, since I've become so fond of listening to books every afternoon while I do my chores, I went to Good Reads and looked for thrillers that my library has on CD. Today I got Flashback by Dan Simmons. Off to a good start. Story takes place in the future, ATSHTF (AfterTheSh...). We're in a dystopian Denver where people are hooked on flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. Like any drug, it has its drawbacks and side effects. Our hero is a former detective who has been hired to try to solve an old murder. This story is a long one, 18 hours, so I hope it holds up. Reviews on this one are mixed.

I also got the movie, Walking Across Egypt, a Clyde Edgerton story. It was no Killer Diller but still good. The same themes: small-town deep South, kids are basically good, Christianity can inspire but there are always bad people. Happy ending. I enjoyed it.

Any happy endings in your reading this week?

[Paper Roses]

1. Just finished "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese.

Great book I will pass this along. Since I exchange books with friends, everything I read is not necessarily current. My friends and I make sure what we exchange is worth reading. I buy books at my library sales, flea markets, what have you. The bad ones go into the recycle, the good ones go to others.This is a good read.

I have a backlog of about 200 books but then, NEVER ENOUGH BOOKS!.

One of these days I'll try and sell some of these on my local 'garage sale' site. I think I'll start with all the dupes I bought when I started to read Lee Child, "Reacher. I never kept a list, just kept buying them. Now have a complete set of 20 with a bunch of dupes. Suggestion: If you search a particular author, make a list of what you have on hand. Saves money to know what you own. Dupes...phooey!

[hermetic]

3. Dupes...

I hate when I go to the library, bring home a book, start reading it and, , I already read this one!

Now I use this website called Trello. It's a list organizer, free. I keep a list of books I want to buy, a list of ones the library has, and a list where I move them after I've read them. I find it quite helpful.

My favorite place to find used books is thriftbooks.com . Most cost around $3.50 and shipping is free for orders over $10. After you spend so much, they send you coupons for your next purchase. Last week I had to build a new bookcase because I've bought so many. They are older books, though. Newer ones cost more, but they'll be old soon enough.

I will be looking into Cutting for Stone.

[yellowdogintexas]

19. I love Reacher!!! I actually read them way out of order

but for the most part they stand alone fairly well.

The first one I read was "61 Hours" which had me up all night.

If you like Jack, check out the sidebar series about the two FBI agents who are trailing him all around the country. Author is Diane Capri and her novels are written with Lee Child's blessing.

I pick them up on BookBub as they become available.
Start with Don't Know Jack lots of fun!

The Hunt for Jack Reacher Series Begins in this New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
Lee Child Gives Diane Capri and her NEW Hunt for Jack Reacher Series Two Thumbs Up!
"Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too. Kim Otto is a great, great character - I love her." Lee Child, #1 World Wide Bestselling Author of Jack Reacher Thrillers

Jack Reacher: Friend or Enemy?
It’s been a while since we first met Lee Child’s Jack Reacher in Killing Floor. Fifteen years and twenty novels later, Reacher still lives off the grid, until trouble finds him, and then he does whatever it takes, much to the delight of readers and the dismay of villains. Now someone big is looking for him. Who? And why? Hunting Jack Reacher is a dangerous business, as FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are about to find out. Otto and Gaspar are by-the-book hunters who know when to break the rules; Reacher is a wanted man, and a stone cold killer when things get personal. But is he friend or enemy? Only the secrets hidden in Margrave, Georgia will tell them.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Diane Capri brings her insider knowledge to bear on her friend Lee Child's iconic character. Have you joined the Hunt for Jack Reacher yet?

[CrispyQ]

2. My freind listened to "The Water Knife" & said it was excellent.

I'm still reading The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild. It's the story of a woman who buys a painting in a junk shop that turns out to be a masterpiece. The painting is a POV character.

[hermetic]

4. I do want to check that one out

What a fun and unusual idea. Thanks for the tip.

[CrispyQ]

14. I finished it this afternoon.

It was just okay. Not wickedly funny like the jacket said. There were too many characters & some of them I don't think added to the story at all. For all the detail throughout the book, it ended abruptly.

[TexasProgresive]

5. Will start Lee Child's "Killing Floor" the 1st Jack Reacher novel

The copy I have has an introduction by Mr. Child on how Jack came to be. It is really interesting.

About Doctor Zhivago I have a confession to make. I put it down unfinished. I do have an excuse, albeit a lame one. Somehow I skipped several chapters. I was reading without understanding why things were happening. I did figure it out and tried to find where I had been. Anyway, I think I will put the Doctor back on the shelf and pick it up come winter.

I have a better sense of how Russia became the Soviet Union. Like most big events it is not simple.

[Paper Roses]

6. Good luck, you will be hooked!

If you become a "Reacher" fan, the following list is of all his (Lee Child) books in order. Keep a list!
I have many dupes because I kept buying them since I was first introduced to them. I'm not good remembering titles. One of these days I will post the dupes for sale on my local 'Garage sale' site. I have all 20 of the series and am waiting for the new one in November.

http://www.lovejackreacher.com/jack-reacher-books-in-what-order-should-you-read-them/

If you find yourself a fan, there is a great active site. Bookmark this page and let me know later what you think.
Nothing as good as a good book!

[murielm99]

7. I love the Jack Reacher books!

They are what inspired me to read the Jane Whitefield books, by Thomas Perry. Jane is a Native American who helps people disappear.

[hermetic]

9. Ya know,

Zhivago has never been called an easy read. I had to read War and Peace in high school and that really affected me and my thinking. Then I saw the Zhivago movie, which I adored. Then I read the book, which was probably a lot easier after seeing the movie, though I really don't have much recollection of it. You've really made me dredge back through some ancient memories here. That's not a bad thing but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't read Zhivago again. Too many better things to read.

I'd like to read Killing Floor but my library doesn't have it. Since I do plan to read more Reacher books, I guess I should get this one. Thanks for the input.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Reacher is GOOD!

Excellent bedtime read.
The series moves along, the stories are very good, nice escapism.
but it chapped my butt when the movie version ended up with Tom Cruise as Reacher.
Lee Child is reacher, exact build, and Reacher's size is a key element to the stories.
Cruise? yeecch

Also, check out Barry Eisler's John Rain series. Written some years ago, still very good collection of what I call waiting room/airplane books.

[Little Star]

8. I just picked up Jonathan Kellerman's 'Victims'..

It's number 27 in his Alex Delaware Series. I haven't started it yet but I have read the series up to this point. I also picked up the next three in this series Guilt, Killer & Motive.

Does anyone else like to read a book series in the order that they are/were released?

[hermetic]

11. Oh, for sure, BUT

When you live in a small town with a small library, that's just not always possible. I've had to start with a number of more recent books which, if I really like, I will seek out and buy the earlier releases. Kellerman has SO MANY, it's a bit harder to do.

I must say, though, that our fellow host here, scarletwoman, loved and recommended the Dr. Siri series by Colin Cotterill and I have slowly acquired the first 4 books of that series and I hope to be able to read the entire collection in order, eventually.

I do know that authors try to write each novel so that you can enjoy it as a stand-alone. Some are better at that than others. Of course now one can just go to Wikipedia and read a synopsis of earlier books and I've found that quite helpful.

I do plan to read all the Kellerman's I can get my hands on. In time, if not in order.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. I am not super picky about a lot of things but books must be read in order

Unless the reviews specifically state that all of the novels are stand alone stories.

I love series fiction.

I have been known to buy a piece of a series at a sale and hold on to it until I can get my hands on the preceding books.

[Little Star]

20. Same here.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. My new bedtime read is John Grisham's The rogue Lawyer

Exceptionally entertaining cause Grisham uses the main character to point out all the flaws of the criminal justice system, via short stories as the
protagonist tells of various cases.
Current case is when the police "serve a warrent" by smashing into a house at 3 am, shooting the barking dogs, shooting and killing the 70 year old wife and wounding her husband, who thought he was being attacked by burglars.
and it is the wrong house.
The story examines the behavior of the police as they attempt to cover up the FUBAR.

Pretty engrossing, both subject matter and enjoyable writing style. A very cynical look at the system today.

[hermetic]

12. Grisham!

Now there's some books on CD I can listen to. Thanks!

I don't know if I'm ready to read that one, though. "Current case" is just happening way too much. I read it in the news every freaking day and I get SO angry. I wish someone would write about how to make this stop. Do let me know if he comes up with any solutions. I have this weird theory about how writing can make things happen.

[pscot]

15. I read The Water Knife a while back

it was an interesting read but lacked a strong finish, i thought. I'm reading Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo. Today i collected books 11 & 12 of the Poldark saga so I'm in the home stretch there. I've been living with these people for a while now, and I'll miss them when I'm done in another 1300 pages or so. I'm also nibbling on a collection of essays about Shakespeare's circle of acquaintance edited by Paul Edmundson. Cheers, Hermetic

[hermetic]

25. Hey,

I remember when you started reading Poldark. You certainly have been "living with" them.

The movie, Nobody's Fool, with Paul Newman was really enjoyable. And now there is Everybody's Fool which I am really looking forward to reading soon.

Thanks for your opinion of The Water Knife. I have moved it a little further down my must-read list. I do think this book should be read by many people because the potable water issue is one of the most critical problems we face right now. But, since I already know that, I'll let others have their go at it first. Maybe open some eyes...

I think a satisfactory ending at this point would be difficult to write. I fear we are all just going to dry up and blow away. Thank heavens for beer!

[Mz Pip]

16. End of Watch by Stephen King

It's #3 in his Detective Hodges trilogy. Mr. Mercedes is back and wreaking revenge.

I'd never read a Stephen King book before the first in this trilogy, Mr. Mercedes. This was a compelling trilogy, real page turners.

[hermetic]

24. I do plan to read

Mr. Mercedes someday. You might want to look into The Talisman. It's a really enjoyable romp through King's imagination.

There was a new poster here a couple of weeks ago who said he was really into Stephen King and loved talking about him. A shame he hasn't come back. Ah well....

[yellowdogintexas]

18. Currently reading "The Specimen" by Peter Kahle

which I acquired via one of those bargain sites like BookBub (get emails from three different ones)

My guess is I got it for either 99cents or free, since I rarely choose anything more costly than that. It is the beginning volume of a series. It is good

WINNER - 2014 KINDLE BOOK AWARDS (Horror/Suspense) - The Kindle Book Review

From a crater lake on an island off the coast of Bronze Age Estonia...
To a crippled Viking warrior's conquest of England ...
To the bloody temple of an Aztec god of death and resurrection...
Their presence has shaped our world.

They are the RIDERS.

One month ago, an urban explorer was drawn to an abandoned asylum in the mountains of northern Massachusetts. There he discovered a large specimen jar, containing something organic, unnatural and possibly alive.

Now, he and a group of unsuspecting individuals have discovered one of history's most horrific secrets. Whether they want to or not, they are caught in the middle of a millennia-old war and the latest battle is about to begin...

[hermetic]

23. Oooohh,

that sounds really good.

[japple]

21. Hi all! Thanks, hermetic, for the thread. I'm late this week as I have

been pet/house sitting for a friend out-of-state since last Friday. It was a LOVELY visit to the cool, green mountains.

I finished reading Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

River Thieves was one of my favorite books of the last few years. I'm waiting for Sweetland to come up on my e-book queue at the library. I've also got The Water Knife on my library list.

Haven't seen the movie version of Walking Across Egypt but I love the book and Clyde Edgerton has long been someone that I would like to have over for dinner! Hope it's available on amazon or netflix.

There was a review of Brad Watson's book, Miss Jane in Book Page and I'm now reading it. Quite an unusual story, though it reminds me a bit of Carson McCullers' writing. I've only gotten about 1/4 into the book, so I don't know where it's going. THe writing is beautiful, though, and it's great to read such eloquent passages.

[hermetic]

22. I have Sweetland

and The Wreckage on my shelf, soon to be read. When I don't get distracted by a shiny, new thing.

I agree that Clyde sounds like an interesting person to spend some time with.

Glad you had a nice get-away. The heat here has finally backed off so it's wonderfully cool in the mornings now. Kitties no longer lying about like molten lumps all day.