What are you reading this week of July 9, 2017?

[hermetic]

I'm still reading A GREAT RECKONING by Louise Penny, the 12th Chief Inspector Gamache novel. Good whodoneit. Plus really learning more about Gamache's character.

One of our esteemed colleagues here has a birthday this week so I wanted to say, "Hope you have a happy day and many more!"

Meanwhile, whatcha all reading now?

[TexasProgresive]

1. "Crimson Shore" by Preston & Child

Another Special Agent Pendergast novel. The Black suited, ultra-white skinned New Orleanite ends up on the Massachusetts shore with his aide/associate Constance Greene to investigate the theft of a fine wine collection. Of course this is only to get the bored Pendergast to this remote village where worst things have happened and are to happen.

[hermetic]

3. ooooh, cool

Hidden burial chamber, a mystery of a lost shipwreck, the terror of the mud flats and salt marshes, a forgotten community of Salem witches...seems to have a lot going for it. Preston & Child sure do know how to spin a good tale.

[Number9Dream]

17. I read "Crimson Shore" about six months ago

I enjoyed most of the book very much. Without giving away the ending, I was disappointed by the ending. Let us know if you are too.

[TexasProgresive]

19. Will do.

Off topic- about your avatar and name; John Lennon and Number9Dream, back in the day when vinyl ruled we manually played "Revolution 9's" lyric #9, #9, #9 backwards which sounded exactly like turn me on dead man. So is there a connection to your name?

[Number9Dream]

20. We did the record backward experiment too...

...the whole Paul is dead thing. The day I originally joined DU, I was particularly enjoying Lennon's "Number 9 Dream". Nothing deeper than that.

[TexasProgresive]

21. Well, we know that Paul was not and is not dead.

[TexasProgresive]

25. Well it defiantly ended on an unresolved chord.

I really enjoyed the book. It ran really fast and was well put together. Not wishing to spoil it for others I wont go into why the book ended leaving us hanging. It is a standard ploy to entice the reader to want more. I did find that the next novel "Obsidian Chamber " may answer some of the questions. For those who have read "The Crimson Shore" this link is to the 1st 8 chapters of "Obsidian Chamber."
http://www.prestonchild.com/storage/med/obsidianchamber/227_Obsidian_Chamber_-_free_preview_excerpt.pdf

[Number9Dream]

26. Without having read any Pendergast beyond "Crimson Shore" (possible spoiler?)

My guess is that Preston / Child are going to resurrect a past nemesis in order to sell books.

[murielm99]

2. I am reading

Last edited Sun Jul 9, 2017, 05:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Midnight Crossroad, the first book in the Midnight Texas trilogy. It will be a summer TV series soon.

I have had two brushes with urban fantasy and I hated both of the series I tried to read. This one is different. I like it. The writing is good, and I am engaged. My only problem with it is that she introduces too many characters too soon.

[hermetic]

4. Yeah

It starts in 2 weeks now. I am curious to see how it fares. I just watched a trailer for it here?

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/midnight-texas-salvation-2017-summer-broadcast-dramas-1202489016/

Whole bunch of supernatural stuff going on.

What were the ones you didn't like?

[murielm99]

5. The first one was so bad I can't remember.

Last edited Sun Jul 9, 2017, 05:04 PM - Edit history (1)

It had witches and people who fought evil. They consumed huge amounts of calories to keep up their energy to fight. In between fights, they had sex all the time. I read the first three (paperback) and donated them to the library. I asked my daughter, who attends a lot of science fiction conventions, what she thought about urban fantasy. She doesn't like most of it, calling the books "huge sexathon orgies."

I bought the books because I support an independent bookstore in a nearby community. The guy is a good Democrat. He has a coffee area and local entertainment on the weekends. He has author events and book signings, too. I go in there and buy from him even though I use the library most of the time.

The second series was by Deborah Harkness. It had vampires and an academic setting. Harkness is an academic. I found them too violent and predictable. They were better than the first series, but still not that wonderful.

Charlaine Harris' Midnight Texas series is a departure from all that garbage.

The library I use has an entire section of urban fantasy. They have a section of graphic novels, too. Of course they have always had a science fiction section, but this is new.

I have been a librarian and teacher. I am heartened by the fact that professionals are acknowledging these newer ways to keep people reading. If I was still active in either field, I would be keeping up with authors and titles, just to help library clients and students.

[hermetic]

7. Interesting

I'd never heard the term before. I do live in a very small town with a tiny library so not likely they'll be setting up a new section for that in the foreseeable future. Graphic novels are mixed in with the general fiction, though mystery and sci fi have their own sections.

You gave me a good chuckle with that all they do is fight and have sex. Definitely not my reading interest. Don't care much for vampires, either, except for Anne Rice's creations.

[murielm99]

9. I have my card through my hometown library, pop.

It is where I worked for fourteen years. Mostly, I use the library in the next community, which is larger, more professional, but still friendly. Many of the librarians there are former colleagues.

I hope your library has interlibrary loan and allows you privileges with larger, nearby libraries. I appreciate those services. My husband and I donate to the library we use. We don't give large amounts, but we try to be generous. We have had things placed in their display case, and we participate in some of their programs. You can't go wrong supporting the library.

[hermetic]

14. I love libraries

Mine is 4 blocks from my house so I go every week, mostly for DVDs. They do have interlibrary loans but they always give you a bill for postage, although it's just a suggestion. I have donated a good many books and movies but they have recently stopped taking donations due to lack of space to put them. Sadly, my meager SS income doesn't allow much for donating these days.

[murielm99]

11. Urban fantasy, not urban fiction.

I had a senior moment. Forgive me.

[hermetic]

12. That does make more sense now

But, no big deal. A great many of my moments are seniorized nowdays.

[murielm99]

13. I edited all my posts.

How embarrassing, for a former librarian.

[yellowdogintexas]

15. also looking forward to the TV series. I really liked this book

I keep checking HalfPrice Books, Friends of the Library, and Amazon for a discounted version of the second book.

[pscot]

6. All the light we cannot see y Anthony Doerr

Hi Hermetic. I'm almost done with this one. It's probably the best thing I've read this year. Also reading Recognitions by William Gaddis; I started this one in the fall of 1965 and I'm less than halfway through, but if I persevere, I hope to be done with it sometime in 2074. For my light work I have Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Cheers. Have a good week. Don't forget your sunblock.

[hermetic]

8. Hi, yeah

That is one terrific book.

Had to look up Recognitions. The novel was poorly received initially. Evidently it is quite an odyssey. Writer Jonathan Franzen said that this novel was, "by a comfortable margin, the most difficult book I ever voluntarily read...

Gaddis even says, "I do ask something of the reader and many reviewers say I ask too much . . . and as I say, it’s not reader-friendly. Though I think it is, and I think the reader gets satisfaction out of participating in, collaborating, if you will, with the writer, so that it ends up being between the reader and the page. . ."

So, do pop in once you've finished it in 2074 and let us know what you think.

To Say Nothing of the Dog sounds like one I would enjoy.

Sunblock, sure, mostly I just stay inside. It's 98 - 102 Every. Single. Day. So tired of it

[murielm99]

10. I brought that book home from the library

and did not get to read it. We had to leave town for an unexpected death in the family.

You have inspired me to get back to that book. Thank you!

[yellowdogintexas]

16. Still running around New Orleans with Skip Langdon

and company; am in book 9 of the series by Julie Smith. I love detective stories and this one is pretty good.

Not sure what I will read next. I have a boatload of free and 99 cent books on my Kindle.

[hermetic]

23. I'd say

That's a good problem to have. A boatload of books. Smooth sailing!

[Number9Dream]

18. Half way through "Outlander" (first book) by Diana Gabaldon

The premise sounded interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm about half way through and am enjoying it. Between work and yard chores, I haven't had time to read except for short bursts. I'm going to have to renew it, if there are no holds on it. I'm struggling a little with the Scottish dialog, but not too bad.

[hermetic]

22. Ah, my favorite tale

I loved that book so much I couldn't wait to read the next one. The third one started making me wonder if she was ever going to come up with a new plot device. Then I couldn't even finish the fourth. Those first 2, though...POW! Then the TV show is mind-blowingly stunning. I suspect you'll be talking with a Scottish brogue soon enough.

Slàinte!!

[PoorMonger]

24. My Darling Detective by Howard Norman

A witty, engrossing homage to noir from National Book Award finalist Howard Norman

Jacob Rigolet, a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector, looks up from his seat at an auction—his mother, former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, is walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa’s “Death on a Leipzig Balcony.” Jacob’s police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation. In My Darling Detective, Howard Norman delivers adelivers a fond nod to classic noir, as Jacob’s understanding of the man he has always assumed to be his father unravels against the darker truth of Robert Emil, a Halifax police officer suspected but never convicted of murdering two Jewish residents during the shocking upswing of anti-Semitism in 1945. The denouement, involving a dire shootout and an emergency delivery—it’s the second Rigolet to be born in the Halifax Free Library in a span of three decades—is Howard Norman at his “provocative . . . haunting”* and uncannily moving best.