What Fiction are you reading this week, August 6, 2023?

[hermetic]

I'm reading Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter by Blaize Clement. From 2006, this story takes place on a Florida Key back when the state was was still a nice place to live. There are instances of people who are bigoted, prejudiced deplorables but the descriptions of the birds and trees and the ocean all around sound so lovely. Plus, the dogs and cats being cared for by the protagonist are a joy to read about. And then there's a very mysterious murder. So, all in all, a great book and I look forward to reading more in this series.

Listening to No Exit by Taylor Adams. A college student is stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She'll have to spend the night in the rest stop with four complete strangers. Then she stumbles across a little girl locked inside one of their parked cars. There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow. "Full of shocking twists and turns, this beautifully written novel will have you on the edge of your seat."

What books will you be opening this week?

[byronius]

1. Finishing Steven King's new Fairy Tale.

Great read. Maybe a little too great since it gave me postoperative nightmares after a heart surgery and had to be put down.

But finishing it after getting out — the man is still a brilliant plotter, with amazing descriptive skills and a deep connection to the simplest human conditions —

I love him more each book.

[hermetic]

2. Oh, my

I'm glad you survived it: the book and the surgery. Hope you're feeling better every day.

Thanks for the great rec. Sure makes me want to read it.

[mentalsolstice]

26. I often argue that Stephen King's books....

Crosses genres. The way he develops characters, he should be considered as a literary fiction writer in addition to thriller/horror novels. His books are equal parts character development and plot development.

[Bayard]

3. All 3 of these sound good

Will have to look for them.

Alas, my reading has been somewhat curtailed lately. I have two books here already that I haven't managed to finish.

[hermetic]

5. Yeah, I can relate

Sometimes real life cuts into my reading time.

[MontanaMama]

4. I'm not reading any fiction at the moment...

But wanted to say hi anyway! I might pick up that Stephen King book mentioned above…especially heading into fall and towards Halloween.

I am reading “Life Worth Living: A Guid to What Matters Most” by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnaly-Linz.

Based on the Yale class, the book is a guide to defining and then creating a flourishing life, and answering one of life’s most pressing questions, how are we to live?

I guess the answers to the questions in this book are different for everyone…but I’m enjoying thinking deeply about how I want to and should live, structure the last third of my life and fill it with what means the most to me.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691260/life-worth-living-by-miroslav-volf-matthew-croasmun-and-ryan-mcannally-linz/

We’re enjoying a second day of a slow steady rain…sorely needed as there are wildfires everywhere. I hope all is well your way. 📚

[hermetic]

8. Hi!!

We got a 10-minute shower yesterday morning. It was SO wonderful. Otherwise dry as a bone. Hoping the rain took care of that fire I saw some pics of right by you. Something Knife area? Yuck.

Good for you on your reading choice. Important stuff. I sure hope nothing happens to prevent us from living our choices. Like if you-know-who should end up you-know-where next year. That would sure mess things up big time for so many of us. I shudder to think...

I'd rather be scared by a book than by our government.

[niyad]

6. "Guild Boss" by Jayne Castle, set in the future paranormal world of Harmony.

Conspiracies, drugs, dust bunnies (the live kind), kidnappings, secrets galore.

"Death At Wentwater Court" by Carola Dunn. The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has chosen a career, rather than the role set for her as a female member of the aristocracy in post WWI Britain. On her first assignment for a magazine, she investigates the death of one very nasty houseguest. Suspects galore, wonderful descriptions of meals, decor, dress, manners. A very nice cozy.

"The Lost Gargoyle of Paris", by Gigi Pandian, part of "The Accidental Alchemiist" series.

"The Girl Who Knew Too Much", by Jayne Ann Krentz (who also writes as Jayne Castle, and as Amanda Quick), a mystery with secrets, illusions, Hollywood dirt, serial killers, and beautiful 1930's California as a setting.

[hermetic]

9. That sounds like a great

bunch of books. Thanks for all the new suggestions. (List grows longer.......)

[niyad]

13. You are most welcome. I love sharing my authors. If you check out the list

from Jayne under those three names, well over 70.

Had not heard of Blaize Clements, so thank you for this newest addition to my ever- growing list.

[Polly Hennessey]

7. Am reading Blaize Clements, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs

Can’t go wrong with her books. I’ve read all of them. I agree about her Florida. She makes it seem almost ok with her descriptions of the birds, the flowers, the trees, the beach, the sunsets. I love the animals Dixie takes care of. They each are memorable with individual personalities. Mr. Bubba is a new one in this book. He is a smart aleck parrot guaranteed to steal your heart.

[hermetic]

11. Oh cool

Thanks so much for recommending these. I think it must have been you that got me started and I am delighted.

[txwhitedove]

10. Been busy with family, so still reading Song of Achilles. It got interesting when

Brad Pitt.., er, Achilles showed up. While interesting, thoughtful and well written story about war and more, not wowing me. Many years ago read a great book about the archaeologist who discovered the ruins of Troy, I think by Irving Stone. Enjoy your recommendations.

Love the pic. Most peaceful days are spent reading in armchair here in my hobbit hole, music playing softly, with dog and cats snoozing nearby.

[hermetic]

12. Sounds lovely

Thanks for sharing.

[cbabe]

14. Still summer comfort reading. John Sandford/Deadline. Some

of it is hilarious. Plus mosquitoes.

On a side note:
Nine year old neighbor kid told his mom: I’ve read every book.

Oh! Best fun ever. Made him a six page list from Aesop’s fables to Shakespeare’s insults to Narnia to Gary Paulson to Rick Riordan.

The challenge has been met.

[hermetic]

16. Good for you!

A worthy endeavor, indeed.

[zeusdogmom]

15. Blackout Book Club / Amy Lynn Green

World War II, small town near the coast of Maine. Power of books, people, and a library. Good read

Just started Cradles of the Reich / Jennifer Coburn. “Story of 3 women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called mater race.”.

And in between the two titles, a no-brainer - Never, Never / James Patterson

All good.

[hermetic]

17. Lots of good reads there

Cradles of the Reich, although historical, sounds uncomfortably current.

[brer cat]

18. I'm reading Stacey Abrams' new thriller, Rogue Justice.

It's very well written and an interesting plot. It will come as no surprise that the Democrats are good guys and republicans are assholes.

[hermetic]

19. Awesome

A new Abrams thriller. Can't wait to get a hold of it. Thanks!

[TexLaProgressive]

20. Anne Cleeves' "The Rising Tide," a Vera mystery

School mates on the 50th anniversary reunion of their “Open Connect” school trip to Holy Island. There is murder. I mean there has to be, because it is what Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope runs on.

[hermetic]

21. I've been seeing

lots of ads for that one. Sooner or later it will be in my weekly reading pile.

[Jeebo]

22. "Edge of Time" by David Grinnell.

When I was a kid we never went anywhere, except once every two or three months we would pile into the Volkswagen beetle and drive the 180 miles or so east from my hometown of Selma, Alabama, to visit my maternal grandmother and uncle in Columbus, Georgia. They lived in a house on the outskirts of Columbus that my uncle Lowell built himself after World War II. He was a veteran who drove a supply truck behind the lines in Italy during the war. I never saw him do anything but sit in an easy chair smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and reading paperback novels. There was a closet in that house that was filled literally floor-to-ceiling with the paperbacks he had read.

During those weekends I spent in that house there wasn't much to do besides a little homework I brought with me, watch television on a black-and-white console with a roof antenna that only brought in two or three stations, and read. I would help myself to the paperbacks in that closet. That was 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963. I was 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. There were several different genres in that closet: mysteries, crime thrillers, adventure novels, but mostly science fiction. That was the pulp-fiction era and there was lots of pulp fiction in that closet. That closet, more than anything else, was what got me started reading.

I still have some of the pulp-fiction paperbacks that came out of that closet. I found a couple of them in a box of paperbacks that I pulled out of storage recently. "Edge of Time" by David Grinnell was published in 1958, cost 45 cents, and is only 142 pages. I remember reading it 60-plus years ago and really enjoying it. I remember almost nothing else about it. I'm going to re-read it, largely as a reminiscence of my pre-teen youth. I'm going to start on it today.

-- Ron

[hermetic]

23. Fascinating

Thanks for sharing that. We're about the same age and I grew up on very small naval bases in remote areas so there wasn't much else to do but read. There were always libraries so sci fi, mystery and animal stories were my constant companions. Hope you enjoy your book. It got a lot of good reviews.

[japple]

24. Not fiction, but a new book by Alan Paul,

Brothers and Sisters.

New York Times bestselling author Alan Paul's in-depth narrative look at the Allman Brothers' most successful album, and a portrait of an era in rock and roll and American history.

The Allman Brothers Band’s Brothers and Sisters was not only the band’s best-selling album at over seven million copies sold, it was also a powerfully influential release, both musically and culturally, one whose influence continues to be profoundly felt.

Celebrating the album’s 50th anniversary, this audiobook delves into the making of the album while also presenting a broader cultural history of the era, based on first-person interviews, historical documents and deep research.

[hermetic]

25. Fun

Ah, the good old days. Saw them in concert once, after Duane.

[mentalsolstice]

27. Cat Sitter sounds interesting.

I have cousins who have a timeshare on Siesta Key and they come down from KY several times per year. Politically, FL isn’t great, but it’s still beautiful and quirky.

No Exit sounds good too.

I haven’t read as much as I like to this week, but getting back on it.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. Reading Night Crime another Kat Makris

Greek Mafia novel
This is such a fun series.

Not reading as much because I am in Arizona.

[NH Ethylene]

29. No Exit was incredibly suspenseful; I loved it!

[hermetic]

30. Thanks, I'll have to read it

I tried to listen to it from my library's audio service, Overdrive. But I couldn't because IT WAS IN GERMAN! I was furious. Nowhere does it mention that when you check it out and I could find no way to contact them to complain. Grrrr.