What Fiction are you reading this week, July 14, 2024?

[hermetic]

"BOO"ks


I am reading Welcome To Night Vale, by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor, the book that dares to ask, "What IS reality?" This is a book of the real podcast by the same name, which I had never heard of. A "podcast that is Lake Wobegon by way of David Lynch, Lovecraft, told in the form of a community radio newscast." I had heard that the book was funny and it has made me laugh but there are a few things about it I don't care for. I am only halfway through it though and hoping all will be resolved in the end. And then I will start listening to the podcast. Because it really is weird. And funny.

Listening to The Hit by David Baldacci. Two assassins are called on by our government to eliminate the worst of the worst-enemies of our country: monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims. But now they are forced to go after each other. Quite good, lots of action. But from 2013 so Baldacci doesn't know yet how bad things really can get.

Hope things are getting better for you. What will you be reading/listening to this week?

[Beatlelvr]

1. Going through some Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum books. Some brevity and mystery combined.

[Srkdqltr]

2. A new one is coming out soon.

[hermetic]

7. Ah, yess

Now or Never, set for release this November. "Stephanie Plum returns with a bang in her latest adventure. While Stephanie's personal life is hanging by a thread, a killer case lands on her doorstep that changes everything. Full of humor and suspense, Now or Never proves that a new book from #1 bestselling writer Janet Evanovich is always right on time."

Looking forward to it.

[Sequoia]

3. Reading fiction

"The Master and Margarita", by Mikhail Bulgakov. Second time in a new translation. Just a truly hilarious story, with hints (for me) in song by the Rolling Stones.

[hermetic]

8. An amazing novel

"This classic Soviet/Russian novel is at the same time dark and comic, serious and absurd. It stands as one of the most outstanding pieces of literature from the 20th century. A NEW TRANSLATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. Meticulously translated to capture every shade of meaning intended by the author, in a way that makes for an enjoyable read for an English language reader 50 years after it was first published in the U.S.S.R."

It was the inspiration to Mick Jagger for the lyrics to Sympathy for the Devil.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. I read this years ago. I think I need to re-read it.

I had an old used paperback, and stumbled upon a newer copy at the library book sale.

[brer cat]

4. I'm reading Death Angel by Linda Fairstein.

Good so far.

[hermetic]

11. Sounds like it

Murders in Central Park? "An explosive page-turner filled with a shocking realism."

[Lulu KC]

5. Did I already say Mrs. Unguentine?

Amazing book. I started it at bedtime and ended up finishing it that night. My copy came from the library. Relatively recently reissued. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/324056.Log_of_the_S_S_the_Mrs_Unguentine

Written by Stan Crawford; multiple works of fiction written that had fallen out of print. For the last 40 years he has been garlic farming in Dixon, New Mexico, a place I've had the pleasure of visiting. He died earlier this year. I never met him but I regret it. What a brilliant and lovable guy!

https://lithub.com/writer-farmer-literary-misfit-in-memory-of-the-late-stanley-crawford/

[hermetic]

12. Sounds lovely

R.I.P. Stan.

[mentalsolstice]

6. I finished The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati

It was very good, however, it was a bit lighter than I expected. Kinda like Lonesome Dove meets Hallmark/Lifetime channels.

Now I’m reading The Undertaker’s Assistant by Amanda Skenandore. It’s about NOLA during reconstruction and a young black woman who had escaped slavery as a child coming back in search of her family. Very good so far.

Thank you for this thread, it provides a great escape from the news of the world.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. I would probably like The Undertaker's Assistant. I am such a sucker for anything set in New Orleans nt

[mentalsolstice]

38. Me too.

My husband is from there, grew up there. His grandmother and parents are interred there. We used to go there regularly. I don’t really have a “hometown” so NOLA is special. He always takes me to the parts where he grew up that aren’t touristy, near the 9th ward. We’ve been together since 1990. He used to take me through his neighborhood. I can’t describe what it was like to visit after Katrina, his face seeing the destruction. Everything that he remembered was totally gone, looked like a nuclear bomb went off. However, his grandmother had lived in the French Quarter, so we have that. I want to go back soon, when it gets cooler.

[japple]

9. Thank you for the weekly thread, hermetic. I am still slogging thru Marianne Wiggins' book

Properties of Thirst and, even though the writer is very good, I'm not enjoying the story as much as I did when it first started. Hoping it is just a dull interlude and will pick up again soon.

I love the bookcase kitty in your OP, as tuxies are my favorite.

[cbabe]

10. Plot question: still rereading. Latest

is A Rule Against Murder/Penny.

Hope this isn’t a spoiler. But how does the killer lure the victim to the right spot at the right time? Or does the killer lie in wait hoping the victim will show on the spot?

Penny spends a lot of time on the ingenious weapon. But I’m confused about how the crime actually happened.

Or did I miss the set-up?

Thoughts?

[hermetic]

13. A bigger mystery

How in the world did I miss this Louise Penny novel? I thought I had read them all. Gonna have to do something about that, tout de suite.

Thanks.

[cbabe]

14. Lucky you with a new to you Penny book. Tell us if you find the answer. Cheers.

[TexLaProgressive]

15. I'm back after a long hiatus

I haven't been reading books for a while spending my free time watching Britbox and Acorn shows. But I'm reading the first Inspector McLean novel "Natural Causes" by James Oswald.

[hermetic]

16. Hey, Tex!!

Delighted to see you again! AND, you bring an intro to an Edinburgh Inspector mystery novel, which I see that there are 16 more. Not the same inspector but still good old Scotland tales. My faves!

[TexLaProgressive]

17. I'm enjoying it

A lot going on in Edinburgh that seems connected to a 50 year old strange murder.

Back to it

[yellowdogintexas]

24. Another Britbox and Acorn fan!!! We are currently subscribing to Britbox, after 2 years with Acorn

When we feel like we need a change we will go back to Acorn.

[TexLaProgressive]

35. I haven't watched any regular TV in years since I got HS no data cap Internet

BUT, yellowdogintexas why aren’t you running for a statewide office so this Yellow Dog Democrat can vote for you? “I’d vote for any yellow dog as long as it was a Democrat!”

[txwhitedove]

18. Hi y'all, tiny wave from Texas. Tomorrow 6:10am

will be 1 full week without electricity due to Hurricane Beryl. Supposedly landed as Cat 1, but not like any we can remember, especially by the time it gets north of Houston. You'd think this makes more time to read, but not really. Had to put down Nuclear War: A Scenario cause it looked like a bomb went off in my little cul-de-sac with 6+ trees down, 4+ houses hit, my pine tree trying to fall over. Neighbors and I have had fun, great comraderie, chainsaws and sharing.

Read the non-fiction Empire of the Summer Moon about Quanah Parker, last Comanche Chief. Fascinating history.

Looking forward to our little library reopening so I can pick up the next Chet and Bernie mystery for some fun.

[hermetic]

20. Oh gosh

I was wondering how you fared. So sorry to hear of all the destruction but thank goodness for good neighbors.
Be careful out there around loose branches. Hope you get your power back sooner than later.

[txwhitedove]

22. Tks for good wishes. Two of my kids went on

pre-planned trip to Peru saying, "Bye, what can we bring you?" But grandkids were here to pick up big debri, one loaned me his generator, one brought extra gas. All good.

[TexLaProgressive]

36. Glad you're OK.

A not about the trees, I think the exceptional high temperatures and drouth weakened a lot of trees. A lot of trees have fallen in Brazos and Roberson counties, and we did have wind but not terrible.

[txwhitedove]

37. Thanks. We had rainy spring, and neighbors agree it looks like tornadoes within the hurricane

that hopped around. One friend can't get over how my front bench pillows didn't budge but next door front pine tree fell on the house, then banged my backyard pine trying to uproot it. Weird.

[Bayard]

19. I'm in Baldacci mode this week too

"Wish You Well."--- "A very bittersweet tale of a young girl and her brother undergoing a huge transition after their father's death and mother's resulting catatonic state.' It's loosely based on Baldacci's family in Virginia. Not his usual stories at all, but still quite intriguing and suspenseful. Short book.

Also just finished, "Hour Game," another Maxwell and King murder mystery. Very enjoyable read.

[hermetic]

21. Sounds like a couple of goodies

Added to my list, thanks.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. I listen to Welcome to Nightvale every so often. Sometimes it is exactly what I need. nt

[hermetic]

34. thanks

was wondering...

[FalloutShelter]

27. The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood

[hermetic]

33. Poor Penelope

wife of Odyseeus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan war was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours and keep over a hundred lustful, greedy and bloodthirsty suitors at bay...

[Goonch]

28. Deliverance (1970)

The debut novel of American writer James Dickey, who had previously published poetry.[ It was adapted into the 1972 film of the same name directed by John Boorman.

In 1998, the editors of the Modern Library selected Deliverance as #42 on their list of the 100 best 20th-Century novels.[2] In 2005, the novel was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.

[hermetic]

32. Ahh, who could forget?

Still make me smile:

?si=Ira6lc4se9HDJPju

[dobleremolque]

29. I want to answer

RNC speech transcripts, but to be true to the OP's intentions ... I'm re-reading A Canticle For Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. I first read it back in the '70s. Things are getting kind of apocalyptic, so I guess it's appropros.....

[yellowdogintexas]

30. currently (almost finished) Media Justice by Dennis Karstens (third in series)

Late to the party this week; too much going on what with all the election stuff
and a long drawn out illness (ultimately resulting in death) in my family which has thrown us for a loop. For the past three weeks my anxiety level has been in the stratosphere.

So the book: An adorable—and photogenic—two-year-old girl is kidnapped, and, when her remains are found, her twenty-two-year-old widowed mother Brittany is arrested for her murder. But before she can even be charged, she’s been tried and convicted by the media., at the center of which is Melinda Pace, a cynical, mostly-functioning alcoholic Minneapolis television personality with a “legal news” show called The Court Reporter. Not even in the alternative universe of television news could she be described as a reporter, since she makes no attempt at or pretense of presenting the truth, or even the facts. She does do a great job of producing through-the-roof ratings and whipping the public into a frenzy—with tragic consequences.

Marc is brought into the case early on, before it’s clear it will erupt into a media circus that brings out every goofball, crackpot, and member of the aluminum foil helmet club, along with a publicity-hungry state attorney general.

I am almost finished. Not sure what I will read next. I have a lot of series which are not too complicated so may stay in that territory for the immediate future.

Never did finish Jesus and John Wayne - I had the Kindle version from the Library; my checkout expired and I could not renew it. Waitlist for the one physical book. It was almost like a textbook so could not devour it, but it is definitely interesting. There are suddenly a lot of books showing up which deal with this subject; I have seen several interviews with authors.

[hermetic]

31. Hi,

I am so, so sorry for your loss. Anytime is terrible to lose someone you care about, but these days with all the crazy stuff going on, I can imagine how hard it is to keep up with normal daily life stuff. But thanks for checking in and know that we are holding you in our hearts.

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts!!

He was such a sweet funny guy, and we loved him dearly.