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hermetic

(8,308 posts)
Sun May 5, 2019, 12:26 PM May 2019

What Fiction are you reading this week, May 5, 2019?



I’m reading A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King. Each chapter starts with a rather incendiary quote about women, taken from the Bible or other “scholarly” tomes. They really set the tone for what goes on in the story and I am absolutely loving it. Laurie is so fun to read.

Listening to The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. “A story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another's tragic loss…exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel.” I’ve only just started but am already hooked. The idea of being a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island has always appealed to me.

What’s appealing to you this week?
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What Fiction are you reading this week, May 5, 2019? (Original Post) hermetic May 2019 OP
"Cain" by James Byron Huggins dameatball May 2019 #1
An oldie hermetic May 2019 #4
Yep, I enjoyed his novel "Hunter" so I decided to go back and try another one. dameatball May 2019 #14
Just finished "The Husband" by Dean Koontz. trev May 2019 #2
Yeah hermetic May 2019 #3
I mostly read non-fiction and watch true stories in movies katmondoo May 2019 #5
'Babycakes' in the Tales of the City sequence. I read them every couple of years. CurtEastPoint May 2019 #6
Wow, there's at least 9 hermetic May 2019 #8
Yes, AM's series. CurtEastPoint May 2019 #10
Yes hermetic May 2019 #12
I am reading fiction so light and airy murielm99 May 2019 #7
It's a love story hermetic May 2019 #9
Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber. PoindexterOglethorpe May 2019 #11
Alrighty then hermetic May 2019 #13
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn northoftheborder May 2019 #15
Same thing hermetic May 2019 #16
I've been going through a lot of the Parker series getting old in mke May 2019 #17
My library has 3 hermetic May 2019 #20
Finished Origin. PoindexterOglethorpe May 2019 #18
Good tips. Thanks hermetic May 2019 #19

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
4. An oldie
Sun May 5, 2019, 12:37 PM
May 2019

The CIA resurrects a hit man from the dead and transforms him into a killing machine with the power to wipe out humanity. 1997



CurtEastPoint

(18,634 posts)
6. 'Babycakes' in the Tales of the City sequence. I read them every couple of years.
Sun May 5, 2019, 12:49 PM
May 2019

Like visiting old friends!

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
8. Wow, there's at least 9
Sun May 5, 2019, 01:04 PM
May 2019

books with that title. I imagine you are talking about Armistead Maupin's fabulous writing.

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
12. Yes
Sun May 5, 2019, 01:30 PM
May 2019

Here's other authors who have books called Babycakes.

Sanders, Glenda
Kauffman, Donna
Russell, Amanda
Bailey, Sidney John
Ure, Jean
Thompson, Katrina
Darlington
Manners, Mary

murielm99

(30,724 posts)
7. I am reading fiction so light and airy
Sun May 5, 2019, 01:00 PM
May 2019

that it might float away. I just finished Stephen Kings gravity defying "Elevation." Now I am starting King and Richard Chizmar's "Gwendy's Button Box."

The Light Between Oceans sounds great. I like the idea of being a lighthouse keeper, too.

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
9. It's a love story
Sun May 5, 2019, 01:10 PM
May 2019

takes place in the early 1900s. In Australia.

Gwendy's Button Box Love that title, and it sounds terrific. "The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told -- until now."

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,839 posts)
11. Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber.
Sun May 5, 2019, 01:26 PM
May 2019

A fingerprint expert in the crime lab in Syracuse seems to remember being in a plane crash and being raised by a great ape. Her foster parents never adopted her and the mom won't give her any sensible information about her origin.

Then babies start dying, and the expert gloms onto poisoned blankets being sent anonymously to the families of the newborns.

Well written except my willingness to believe a lot of important plot points such as why in the world did she never try to research her origins before this? Why would she ever believe that her past has a connection? It does, but her original leap to that has no basis in anything. Meanwhile, it takes her far too long to figure out a connection to something else that's happening (I won't give specifics as that would be a plot spoiler). Why does she put up with the unacceptable behavior of her not quite ex-husband? They were married for ten years, he cheated all the time, they've been separated for two years now and no move has been made to divorce? I do know people like that and I have no patience for them.

Anyway, it's reasonably interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone who generally likes crime books like this. I'm just picky, picky, picky.

You never want to see a movie with me.

northoftheborder

(7,571 posts)
15. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Sun May 5, 2019, 02:57 PM
May 2019

I read it decades ago when I was too young to appreciate it, or understand it's nuances. Couldn't remember any of the story, except the tree.

Now I understand why it is a great American novel.

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
16. Same thing
Sun May 5, 2019, 03:08 PM
May 2019

happened to me. When I reread it in my 30s I was just blown away by what a great story it is. I expect to read it again some day.

getting old in mke

(813 posts)
17. I've been going through a lot of the Parker series
Thu May 9, 2019, 07:46 PM
May 2019

from Richard Stark (Donald Westlake).

If you haven't read them, they are crime procedurals (not police procedurals) with a thoroughly professional, conscienceless (anti)hero, Parker. In general, the first half of each book is the locating, vetting, and setup of the heist/caper and is all from Parker's point of view. The third quarter is from any else's point of view as the event happens or goes wrong. The final quarter is Parker again with dealing with the fallout.

He does not have a heart of gold. He does give, though, and expect professionalism and loyalty to the job. Several of the books (and the movie Payback) draw much of the plot about partners who transgress this one rule of his.

While books under Westlake's name are often very comic (for example trying to pull off a burglary at the Watergate on exactly the wrong night), when he writes as Stark, they are flat-out, excellently done noir. That's not to say that they are without humor, just sharper (while threatening someone with a gun, to convince him not to do something stupid, taking out his wallet and saying "Jim. Good name, Jim. I see you are an organ donor, Jim. That's a wonderful thing, being an organ donor, Jim...&quot

The prose is spare, clean, and beautiful like a boulder might be beautiful. U of Chicago has brought out new trade paperback editions of all of them, but lots of libraries and used book places have them as well.

On audio, I'm listening to Brene Brown's "Daring Boldly" about vulnerability and how to properly access it to create courage to change.

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
20. My library has 3
Sun May 12, 2019, 01:07 PM
May 2019

of the Parkers. Funny, they're all in the large print section so I guess they think only us old peeps would find them interesting.
Oh well, works for me.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,839 posts)
18. Finished Origin.
Sat May 11, 2019, 11:57 AM
May 2019

I wasn't completely impressed by it. She has written a couple of other novels, but looking at the descriptions I'm not sure I'm interested in reading any of them. I'm sure others will feel differently.

Right now I'm reading Personal by Lee Child. I like everything he's written. This one is apparently an ebook only, and I've gotten it from my library. I'm also reading Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson, who is best known for The Kind Worth Killing. Very good so far.

hermetic

(8,308 posts)
19. Good tips. Thanks
Sun May 12, 2019, 01:05 PM
May 2019

I just got a Lee Child to listen to and there is one Swanson at the library for later reading.

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