What are you reading this week of April 30, 2017?

[hermetic]

I am laughing nightly to Callahan's Secret by Spider Robinson. While wildly funny it is also deeply serious. True, it feels a bit dated as it was written in the 70s, but the secret is timeless. Shared pain is decreased; shared joy is increased. Words I am truly living by these days.

And what MAY you be reading this week?

[japple]

1. A Southern gothic: She-Rain by Michael Cogdill.

From a reviewer at Barnes & Noble named ChristysBook Blog:

She-Rain by Michael Cogdill is a powerful story of the 1920s that will leave readers considering the nature of love. Frank Locke has lived his life with more despair and tragedy than ten other boys his age. His father is addicted to paregoric, and his mother too often faces his fists. The grandparents who guide his life giving it foundation and faith die while he's still a young man, leaving him to make his way. Mary Lizbeth has suffered even worse than Frank, and their shared pain pulls them together in a bond that seems irrevocable, until a violent act sends Frank running for his life and spilling onto the doorstep of sheltered Sophia. Sophia and Frank share a loss that binds them together as well and will change them both forever. Cogdill writes the book that every author intends when they sit down to write the Great American Novel. Filled with quotes that will touch the reader's very soul, every word seems carefully chosen, pulling the reader into the mountains of North Carolina where a child suffers for the sins of the parent. Beautifully written, impossible to put down, Cogdill will leave readers thinking about how true love makes each of us better, never leaves us the same and that "love is the only thing you earn by givin' it all away."

@ http://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/she-rain-michael-cogdill/1112537836?ean=9781600377020#reviews-header

This book is set in the mountains of Western North Carolina--a place near and dear to my heart and where I'll be headed for a visit next week.

I notice that I didn't post anything last week. After setting up and cleaning up from our semi-annual book sale for Friends of the Library, I was beat and it took me a few days to recover. Between the library and cat rescue, I'm up to my ears in projects. Thank god I'm retired!

and thank you, hermetic, for your weekly posts.

[hermetic]

3. Hi,

That sounds like a really lovely book. Speaking of love, a most marvelous thing has happened in my life. I'm in love, and I never expected to feel this way again, as I am almost 70. But several months ago I met this extremely intelligent, cute, funny guy who writes poetry to me on FB! Unfortunately, we were 1,500 miles apart. Until now. We decided we might as well spend our time together, sharing our stories and watching out for one another. So, we are. I've had to make major changes in my house but it is working out nicely. One of the most amazing things about this is that it all came about thanks to Spider Robinson books.

You keep up the good work there.

[japple]

5. Awww, now you're making me cry. So happy for you and your new love. You never know when

it's going to hit you. Wishing you both all the best in your new life together. I hope you have many happy times together.

[Number9Dream]

7. Glad to hear you've found new happiness

You deserve it.

[hermetic]

11. Aw, thanks

My good friend.

[PoorMonger]

8. Congrats!

That's really sweet to hear Hermetic. I'm glad you shared the personal happiness. I would also like to thank you for these weekly threads. I'm still relatively new to DU but you'll see a lot of me in these threads because I read a ton.

I used to do a review blog in my free time, weighing the possibility of starting up again this summer. The concept is that I write a conventional book review and then connect it with a song in some way - through a plot point , a character, a theme or even a line in the book that resonates.

I might just start adding song connections to books here for now as a way to get my brain thinking like that again.

[hermetic]

12. Thank you

And happy to have you in our little group here. You may have noticed I try to do little theme things here. Some work out better than others. I look forward to your song connections.

[Number9Dream]

2. Finished "Haatchi & Little B" by Wendy Holden

Wendy Holden's Haatchi & Little B is the true story of an astonishing little boy, a very special dog, and the inspiring, inseparable pair that they make together. (From book jacket). It was a very touching story.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20945097-haatchi-little-b?from_search=true

[hermetic]

4. Sweet!!

Thanks for sharing that.

[PoorMonger]

6. The One-Eyed Man by Ron Currie

Ron Currie’s three previous works of fiction have dazzled readers and critics alike with their originality, audacity, and psychological insight. A writer of unique vision and huge imagination, Currie excels at creating complex, troubled, yet endearing characters, and his work has won comparison to everyone from Kurt Vonnegut to George Saunders.

K., the narrator of Currie’s new novel, joins the ranks of other great American literary creations who show us something new about ourselves. Like Jack Gladney from White Noise, K. is possessed of a hyper-articulate exasperation with the world, and like Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces, he is a doomed truth teller whom everyone misunderstands. After his wife Sarah dies, K.becomes so wedded to the notion of clarity that he infuriates friends and strangers alike. When he intervenes in an armed robbery, K. finds himself both an inadvertent hero and the star of a new reality television program. Together with Claire, a grocery store clerk with a sharp tongue and a yen for celebrity, he travels the country, ruffling feathers and gaining fame at the intersection of American politics and entertainment. But soon he discovers that the world will fight viciously to preserve its delusions about itself.

How Currie's unconventional hero comes to find peace, to reenter the world, and to be touched again by emotion and empathy makes for a dramatic, utterly memorable story.

[hermetic]

13. Sounds like a good read.

I will keep an eye out for it.

[PoorMonger]

18. A Clever Book

I could see this protagonist really annoying some readers - it was kind've his defining trait after all. But I did find it to have a decent sense of humor.

[hibbing]

9. Just finished Heroes of the Frontier - Dave Eggers

Fiction, and I absolutely loved it.


Peace

[hermetic]

14. Hi. Thanks!

I've always really liked Eggers so I will be sure to read this.

[PoorMonger]

17. Read This Too

An interesting look at Alaska , I could imagine it being adapted to film.

[PoorMonger]

10. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Introducing an instant classic―master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths.

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki―son of a giant―blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor’s hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman―difficult with his beard and huge appetite―to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir―the most sagacious of gods―is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and rebirth of a new time and people.

Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

Gaiman has been a favorite of mine since Neverwhere - only getting to this now because I was on the library waiting list

[hermetic]

15. I just listened to this one

a few weeks ago. Neil reading it, of course. Loved it. Big Gaiman fan, too.

[PoorMonger]

16. Lots of Fun

Most of my previous exposure to Norse myths were from Marvel's Thor - just as Gaiman talked about in his forward. So to see these characters in another light was interesting. I read this really fast - loved the mead of poetry story, and also found Loki quite compelling.

[PoorMonger]

19. Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

An intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery

Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country's first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he's dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father's sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions.

Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?

Rich with warmth and suspense and surprise, Spaceman of Bohemia is an exuberant delight from start to finish. Very seldom has a novel this profound taken readers on a journey of such boundless entertainment and sheer fun.

[PoorMonger]

20. Musical Suggestion 'Starman'

https://m.