What are you reading this week of August 20, 2017?

[hermetic]

Hope everyone is feeling better this week.

I finally found a copy of The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich, a macabre mystery that draws on Erdrich's Native American and German American heritage. As expected, the writing is ever so exquisite.

Some interesting news about Erdrich from her FB page: She started writing Future Home of the Living God in 2002. Still in shock from 9/11, she felt like things were moving backward. Regressing. "I started wondering why evolution started and wondered what would happen if, just as mysteriously, it stopped. I started writing about a young woman named Cedar."

She left it for several years then, until this year when she had only "to look at photographs of white men in dark suits deciding crucial issues of women's health to know the timing is right." The book comes out Nov. 14.

"Right now, many women in the world are living out a reproductive dystopia. As I finished this book, writing speculative fiction felt like writing a form of truth. Still, as I kept on working, I forgot why I started the book. I lived again through my fearless and fearful Cedar as she hides, writes secretly, escapes, adventures, is hunted down, falls in love and evolves toward faith in the natural world even as the world irrevocably changes around her."

Sounds like it will be another award-winner for Ms. Erdrich. For sure a must-read.

Any award winners on your reading list this week?

Getting kinda busy around here today. I'm about 80 miles south of the totality with near-perfect weather predicted tomorrow so something like half a million visitors are descending upon my state now, looking for a place to park. I'll be staying home, watching from my yard. Hope you are in a good spot to enjoy...

[gopiscrap]

1. a book entitled 'German Boy'

about an 11-15 year old struggles during the war and it's aftermath

[hermetic]

2. Are you enjoying it?

Is that by Tricia Wastvedt? Synopsis: The German Boy tells the moving story of two families entangled by love and friendship, divided by prejudice and war, and of a brief encounter between a woman and a man that touched each of their lives forever.

That sounds quite good and timely. Or have you found another by that name? Just wondering...

[gopiscrap]

4. this is about a guy who was a boy during the war

it tells of his struggle to stay alive and fed as both a civilian being bombed and then as a refugee fleeing the Russians and trying to find food and shelter. He later emigrates to the US and become a colonel in the USAF

[longship]

3. "World War Z" by Max Brooks.

I know, I know. But he's Mel Brooks son. And hey! It's zombies!

Plus, it's an oral narrative and well written, so far.

[hermetic]

6. Oh my

That sounds amazing. A remembering the future kind of thing. I'd advise others to look this one up and read all the interesting reviews, too many for me to copy here.

I settled for this one little bit, just to pique some interest: "That's probably the most pleasurable part of the first half, to tell you the truth, and by "pleasurable" I mean "witty and humorous in a bleak, horrifying, schauenfreude kind of way" -- of watching the virus become more and more of a threat, of watching entire cities start to go under because of the zombie epidemic, then watching Brooks paint an extremely thinly-veiled portrait of how the Bush administration would deal with such a situation, and by extension any government ruled by a small cabal of backwards, power-hungry religious fundamentalists."

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18521838?utm_campaign=reviews&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=fictiondb.com

Wow


Thanks for sharing.

[TexasProgresive]

5. "The Axeman's Jazz" by Julie Smith

A police procedural taking place in New Orleans. The main character is Skip Landon, a 6' tall young woman not from NOLA. She didn't fit in with her hoity-toity family but seems to have found a home as a homicide detective. 2 murders occur of victims without any obvious connections except cause of death and a large A on the wall. So far it's fun.

[hermetic]

7. Cool

I do plan to check her out in the future.

[murielm99]

8. I read that book some time ago.

I read Erdrich's books often.

Have you read LaRose, by her? I recommend it.

Right now, I am reading The Flood Girls, by Richard Fifield.

[hermetic]

12. Loved LaRose

I've read several of her books. Enjoyed them all. This older one was hard to find but I finally did.

Erdrich has a fabulous bookstore in Minneapolis and it just slays me that in all the time I lived there, I never knew about it, or her. I only just got interested in her writing a few years ago and left MN 15 yrs ago.

Now I really must read The Flood Girls.
"Richard Fifield’s hilarious and heartwarming debut will have you laughing through tears. This snappy, sassy redemption story set in small-town Montana is filled with an uproarious and unforgettable cast of characters you won’t want to leave behind."

[PoorMonger]

9. Postal : Volume 4 by Byan Hill (& Matt Hawkins)

This is the fourth trade paperback - the second since series creator and TopCow imprint founder Matt Hawkins handed off writing duties to Bryan Hill. The synopsis below is actually for volume one - because it gives a better description of the story.

The townsfolk of Eden, Wyoming wake up to the first official murder the town has seen in 25 years. Their reaction to this isn’t normal and there’s a reason for that. Eden operates as a haven for fugitive criminals who remain here while new identities, often including facial reconstruction, are created for them. There is zero tolerance for any illegal activity that might draw attention to the town and an “official murder” is the last thing they want. A single, tight-knit family runs Eden with the youngest oddball son Mark Shiffron overseeing the postal branch, the only means of shipping in or out of the city. THE FBI has repeatedly been foiled trying to insert an undercover here; they see Mark as the weak link to exploit. This murder gives them a new opportunity.

[hermetic]

13. Love this premise

Wyoming is a really interesting state. Great scenery.

[shenmue]

10. "Prime Suspect 1973," by Lynda La Plante

The prequel to Prime Suspect. So good. The TV adaptation was amazing.

[hermetic]

14. Sounds good

I enjoy Scotland police novels, i.e., Rebus. That was a TV show? Never heard of it. BBC? I will have to look that up.

[PoorMonger]

11. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

New York Times Best Seller
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

A dazzling, richly moving new novel by the internationally celebrated author of The God of Small Things

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes us on an intimate journey of many years across the Indian subcontinent—from the cramped neighborhoods of Old Delhi and the roads of the new city to the mountains and valleys of Kashmir and beyond, where war is peace and peace is war.

It is an aching love story and a decisive remonstration, a story told in a whisper, in a shout, through unsentimental tears and sometimes with a bitter laugh. Each of its characters is indelibly, tenderly rendered. Its heroes are people who have been broken by the world they live in and then rescued, patched together by acts of love—and by hope.

The tale begins with Anjum—who used to be Aftab—unrolling a threadbare Persian carpet in a city graveyard she calls home. We encounter the odd, unforgettable Tilo and the men who loved her—including Musa, sweetheart and ex-sweetheart, lover and ex-lover; their fates are as entwined as their arms used to be and always will be. We meet Tilo’s landlord, a former suitor, now an intelligence officer posted to Kabul. And then we meet the two Miss Jebeens: the first a child born in Srinagar and buried in its overcrowded Martyrs’ Graveyard; the second found at midnight, abandoned on a concrete sidewalk in the heart of New Delhi.

As this ravishing, deeply humane novel braids these lives together, it reinvents what a novel can do and can be. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness demonstrates on every page the miracle of Arundhati Roy’s storytelling gifts.

[hermetic]

15. Mr. Roy

Evidently an amazing writer. Someday, someday...

[Number9Dream]

16. "Sharpe's Eagle" by Bernard Cornwell

This was my first Cornwell novel. Captain Sharpe is in the British army during the Napoleonic War. As a history buff, I enjoyed the relative historical accuracy of the battles and such. Cornwell didn't paint a rosy picture of what it was like to be a soldier during that time, with a few corrupt, cowardly officers as Sharpe's nemesis (plural?). There was much battlefield action, but I don't know if I want to revisit Capt. Sharpe very soon.

[murielm99]

18. Cornwell is excellent.

I have enjoyed the Saxon Chronicles by Cornwell, and their historical accuracy.

The Saxon chronicles feature Uhtred of Bebbanburg, who goes to work for Alfred, who becomes Alfred the Great. I am caught up with this series, and waiting for more books. If you like the Sharpe books, you will love the Saxon Chronicles.

[hermetic]

21. Hi Dreamy

and murielm,

I found this quote not long ago and now seems like a good time to share it.

It is incumbent upon us to read fiction and history and read each widely. Senator Ben Sasse recently said that "reading encourages empathy development, transports the reader to foreign times and places, and in so doing enables us to see the world through the lenses of other protagonists." Literature, particularly novels and history, is therefore something more than mere books. Literature is a mirror reflecting the self-same image of the other. And we can look into it not only to see ourselves and others but also to see what might need improving.

~~Brian E. Denton

[japple]

17. Happy Eclipse Day, everyone. Thanks for the thread, hermetic. I'll be staying home,

watching from my yard, same as you.

So happy you are into another of Louise Erdrich's works. She is a master storyteller. I look forward to Future Home of the Living God.

I'm still deeply involved with Nathan Hill's The Nix. All of the good things reviewers have said about it are true. It is long--700+ pages, but I love the surprises he throws in and his clever story construction.

I had 4 foster kittens last week, which was a blast--like having a 3 ring circus in your home. They were so much fun to play with and I hated to see them go. Now I just have one

[img]?1[/img] [img]?2[/img]

This little girl, Smudge, will be going to rescue tomorrow. Sweetheart!!!!!

[hermetic]

22. Cutie!

Here's my little monster. He is hard to shoot these days as he never slows down. Running and jumping and climbing and then he falls over into deep sleep. Four months old now.



I really must read The Nix someday.

[Liberal and Proud]

19. Two excellent books I just finished:

"Highly Illogical Behavior" by John Corey Whaley. It features three modern day teenagers, Solomon, Lisa and Clark. Solomon is agoraphobic, which is handled very sensitively, and Lisa decides to "cure" him in order to have an interesting topic to write about for a college application essay. She enlists the help of her friend, Clark, and the three of them form a bond, which is tested when Solomon finds out what Lisa's original intentions were. This is a YA book, quick read and well worth your time.

"Our Short History" by Lauren Grodstein. (I really liked this book.) Karen Neulander is the single mother to Jacob, a delightful six-yr-old. Jacob's father, Dave, has never been in the picture, having told Karen he didn't want to be a father. However, Karen learns she is dying of ovarian cancer, and Jacob wants to meet his father. Karen is shocked to learn Dave is thrilled to find out he has a son, and she now must struggle with letting Jacob get to know his father while maintaining her close relationship with her son. A very good read.

[hermetic]

23. Those do both sound

like enjoyable reads. Thanks for telling us about them.

And, Welcome to DU.

[getting old in mke]

20. Catching up on my espionage fiction

Just finished The Black Widow and now reading House of Spies by Daniel Silva, the latest two entries in the Gabriel Allon series. TBW is about playing a woman into ISIS as a French Palestinian Doctor who is not far off--a French Israeli Doctor. HOS is about aftermath. I like this series.

Next up: The latest two books in Alex Berenson's John Wells series. I like this series even better

[hermetic]

24. Interesting

Alex Berenson looks to be quite the spy/thriller writer who several members here might enjoy checking out. I see my library has quite a few of his books so I just may do that myself. Thanks.