Book a Week 2015 - BW23: Legal Thrillers

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts:  We are on week 23 in our quest to read 52 books.  Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - Legal Thrillers by Brad Meltzer:  You know how they say a writer's first novel isn't always the best.  Whoever they are, aren't always right. I'm a huge fan of thrillers,  ones that get your heart pounding, fingernail nibbling, break out in cold sweats action type of stories.  From John Grishman to Lisa Scottoline to Jeffrey Deaver to Dan Brown (hush now) to Dean Koontz and all those in between.   A few years back I picked up Brad Meltzer's first novel The Tenth Justice and it totally blew me away.  I couldn't put it down. 

 

Synopsis:  Twenty-six-year-old Columbia Law grad Brad Meltzer makes a firecracker debut with a novel that will challenge your expectations of the legal thriller. With dialogue as true as it is sharp-witted, characters as likable as they are familiar, and a plot so addictive it will keep you reading into the night, The Tenth Justice is the one thriller you and your friends won’t be able to stop talking about this year—from an undeniably original writer you’ll be following for years to come.

Fresh from Yale Law, Ben Addison is a new clerk for one of the Supreme Court’s most respected justices. Along with his co-clerk, Lisa, Ben represents the best of the fledging legal community: sharp, perfectionistic, and painstakingly conscientious—but just as green. So when he inadvertently reveals the confidential outcome of an upcoming Court decision, and one of the parties to the case makes millions, Ben starts to sweat. Big time.

Ben confides in Lisa and turns to his D.C. housemates for help. They offer up their coveted insiders’ access—Nathan works at the State Department, Eric reports for a Washington daily, and Ober is an assistant to a leading senator—to help outsnake the blackmailer who holds Ben’s once-golden future hostage. But it’s not long before these inseparable pals discover how dangerous their misuse of power can be, even when accompanied by the very best of intentions. And when a suspicious leak develops from within their own circle, Ben and his friends find themselves pitted against each other in a battle of shifting alliances and fierce deceptions that strikes to the weaknesses in their friendships, threatens to ruin their careers—and ultimately may cost them their lives.

 

Which then lead me to The Millionaires

The Millionaires

 

It started as the perfect crime. Then it took a turn for the worse.

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they’re faced with an offer they can’t refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn’t belong to anyone.

It’s a foolproof crime. More importantly, for Charlie and Oliver, it’s a way out of debt and the key to a new life. All they have to do is take the money.

But when they do, they discover they’ve got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead—and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in. What invisible strings were attached to that account? How are they going to prove they’re innocent? And why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

 

Which of course then lead to The Zero Game:

Zero Game

 

Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are playing a mysterious game. It’s a game almost no one knows about—not their friends, not their co-workers, and certainly not their bosses, who are some of the most powerful Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill.

It’s a game that has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that—just by being invited to play—you’ve confirmed your status as a true power broker in Washington.

But as Matthew and Harris quickly discover, the Zero Game is hiding a secret so explosive, it will shake Washington to its core. And when one player turns up dead, a dedicated young staffer will find himself relying on a tough, idealistic seventeen-year-old Senate page to help keep him alive…as he plays the Zero Game to its heart-pounding end.

 

  So, if you love thrillers and books about law and lawyers and judges, be sure to check out Brad Meltzer. In addition to writing books (including nonfiction, children and comic books), he also hosts Lost History on H2 and Decoded on the History channel.

*************************************************************

 

History of the Medieval World

Chapter 26 - Invasion and Eruption pp 180 - 185 

Chapter 27 - The Americas pp 186 - 192

 

**************************************************************

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 22

[Robin M]

Silly me just realized I never read the very first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series so reading Dark Lover.  Once I'm finished, will be ready to get back to Swann's Way.

 

Carrying over posts from last week:

 

Pam in Ct:  Just popping in to report that I'm about to go off the grid entirely for a while -- my son and I are doing a 3 WEEK language immersion/service trip in Guatemala.  I'm really psyched that he agreed to go with me -- we've never been alone, together for this long and I'm really looking forward to spending the time with him.  (Similarly my husband has never manned the fort alone, this long... I have a certain degree of anxiety on that front, but I'm forcefully pushing it out of my mind.)  

 

The only hard cover books I'm taking are White Masks (thanks Jane) and All My Children (thanks Eliana); other than those I plan to read off the long pile that's accumulated on my Kindle...

 

So awesome.  Have a wonderful time and bring back lots of stories to tell.  Hubby will survive. It's always a experience when they are left to hold the fort alone. You just may find some home improvement projects have been finally completed.  :laugh:

 

Stacia:  My mind is boggled over the green sand.  Glad you had an great time!  Thank you for the pictures.

 

Laura in CA:  I've been remiss in welcoming you to the thread.  Glad you decided to dive in. 

 

 

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I seem to be finding an equilibrium between my GoT obsession and other reading, phew! I'm reading A Feast of Crows, but also working on a bunch of pre-reads for next year's Science/History of Science studies, including:

Almost Everyone's Guide to Science - John Gribbin

Letters to a Young Scientist - E.O. Wilson

The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society and the Birth of the Modern World - Edward Dolnick

The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman

The Adoration of Jenna Fox (audio)

 

I'm also reading Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence by Laurence Steinberg. Super interesting.

 

Last week I finished A Storm of Swords, The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, and From Then Till Now: A Short History of the World (read aloud to the girls).

[Just Robyn]

I made some progress on my currently-reading clean out by finishing Maps of the Imagination (started about a month and a half ago) and Diaries of Franz Kafka (started January, 2012). 

 

More clean-out books to come:

 

A People's History of the United States

One Zentangle A Day

 

I also read Glitter in the Blood by Mindy Nettifee. This is a book about writing poetry. My review: Great for a teenage female. The tone is hipster aunt gab session, do you wanna take a hit off my joint?, just one - don't tell your mother. Some messages:

Be yourself, and tell us all about it.
It's cool to be smart.
It's cool to be healthy.
Question everything and everyone.
Poetry is hard work.

Plus, of course, some lessons on writing good poetry, prompts. and some jumping off points for fledgling autodidacts.

 

And I started Selected Poems of Corsino Fortes and Karate Chop. 

[Kareni]

Yesterday I finished Way of the Warrior which is an anthology by Suzanne Brockmann, Julie Ann Walker, Catherine Mann, Tina Wainscott, Anne Elizabeth, M.L. Buchman, Kate SeRine, and Lea Griffith.  All author and publisher proceeds go to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.   "The Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2002 and provides a wide range of programs and services to veterans and service members who have survived physical or mental injury during their brave service to our nation."

 

As is fairly typical with anthologies, I liked some stories better than others, but overall I liked the book.  I was drawn to it since I've read and enjoyed a number of military romances by M. L. Buchman.

 

 

"This is a must-read for every military romance fan. " - Publishers Weekly

"A heartfelt tribute to our military personnel and the sacrifices they and their families make. This anthology is a hands-down winner..." - Library Journal

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I also recently finished Her Ladyship's Companion by Joanna Bourne

 

This is a recent reissue of the first book by one of my favorite historical romance authors.  It's described as a gothic regency, and I don't believe anyone would find its content offensive.   I enjoyed it even though it's not of the caliber of her more recent works.  Now I'm curious as to why the author took a break from publishing between 1983 and 2008 when she published her truly excellent historical romance The Spymaster's Lady.

 

 

"Beautiful Melissa Rivenwood was leaving Mrs. Brody's Seminary for the Daughters of Gentlemen for a new life. But when she accepted the position as companion to the formidable Lady Dorothy, spirited Melissa could not have known that she would soon be caught up in a web of passion and intrigue at beautiful and remote Vinton Manor. Giles Tarsin, her haughty employer, is maddeningly aloof—and irresistibly attractive. Darkly handsome Sir Adrian Hawkhurst admires her undisguisedly with, Melissa suspects, the most impure intentions. Harold Bosworth, a family connection, appears to be ever the gentleman. But why is seven-year-old Robbie, an orphan like Melissa, so terrified? Before long, Melissa is struggling to unravel dark family secrets that will lead her suspicions to center on just one man . . . the one man she loves!"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[guilfordlake]

 

Happy Sunday dear hearts:  We are on week 23 in our quest to read 52 books.  Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - Legal Thrillers by Brad Meltzer:  You know how they say a writer's first novel isn't always the best.  Whoever they are, aren't always right. I'm a huge fan of thrillers,  ones that get your heart pounding, fingernail nibbling, break out in cold sweats action type of stories.  From John Grishman to Lisa Scottoline to Jeffrey Deaver to Dan Brown (hush now) to Dean Koontz and all those in between.   A few years back I picked up Brad Meltzer's first novel The Tenth Justice and it totally blew me away.  I couldn't put it down. 

 

 

Synopsis:  Twenty-six-year-old Columbia Law grad Brad Meltzer makes a firecracker debut with a novel that will challenge your expectations of the legal thriller. With dialogue as true as it is sharp-witted, characters as likable as they are familiar, and a plot so addictive it will keep you reading into the night, The Tenth Justice is the one thriller you and your friends won’t be able to stop talking about this year—from an undeniably original writer you’ll be following for years to come.

 

Fresh from Yale Law, Ben Addison is a new clerk for one of the Supreme Court’s most respected justices. Along with his co-clerk, Lisa, Ben represents the best of the fledging legal community: sharp, perfectionistic, and painstakingly conscientious—but just as green. So when he inadvertently reveals the confidential outcome of an upcoming Court decision, and one of the parties to the case makes millions, Ben starts to sweat. Big time.

 

Ben confides in Lisa and turns to his D.C. housemates for help. They offer up their coveted insiders’ access—Nathan works at the State Department, Eric reports for a Washington daily, and Ober is an assistant to a leading senator—to help outsnake the blackmailer who holds Ben’s once-golden future hostage. But it’s not long before these inseparable pals discover how dangerous their misuse of power can be, even when accompanied by the very best of intentions. And when a suspicious leak develops from within their own circle, Ben and his friends find themselves pitted against each other in a battle of shifting alliances and fierce deceptions that strikes to the weaknesses in their friendships, threatens to ruin their careers—and ultimately may cost them their lives.

 

 

Which then lead me to The Millionaires

 

 

The Millionaires

 

 

It started as the perfect crime. Then it took a turn for the worse.

 

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they’re faced with an offer they can’t refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn’t belong to anyone.

 

It’s a foolproof crime. More importantly, for Charlie and Oliver, it’s a way out of debt and the key to a new life. All they have to do is take the money.

 

But when they do, they discover they’ve got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead—and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in. What invisible strings were attached to that account? How are they going to prove they’re innocent? And why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

 

 

Which of course then lead to The Zero Game:

 

Zero Game

 

 

 

Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are playing a mysterious game. It’s a game almost no one knows about—not their friends, not their co-workers, and certainly not their bosses, who are some of the most powerful Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill.

 

It’s a game that has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that—just by being invited to play—you’ve confirmed your status as a true power broker in Washington.

 

But as Matthew and Harris quickly discover, the Zero Game is hiding a secret so explosive, it will shake Washington to its core. And when one player turns up dead, a dedicated young staffer will find himself relying on a tough, idealistic seventeen-year-old Senate page to help keep him alive…as he plays the Zero Game to its heart-pounding end.

 

  So, if you love thrillers and books about law and lawyers and judges, be sure to check out Brad Meltzer. In addition to writing books (including nonfiction, children and comic books), he also hosts Lost History on H2 and Decoded on the History channel.

 

 

*************************************************************

 

History of the Medieval World

Chapter 26 - Invasion and Eruption pp 180 - 185 

Chapter 27 - The Americas pp 186 - 192

 

**************************************************************

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 22

 

 

I have posted in a long time but I had to jump in to say how much I  :wub:  :wub:  :wub: Brad Meltzer!  At least his earliest novels.  I haven't enjoyed his more recent books as much.  I think it is The Zero Game that has the completely unexpected plot twist right at the beginning of the book and I thought, "Oh my gosh, this man is a genius!  I've never seen a writer do that right at the beginning!"  (I can't remember for certain, it might be a different title.  Now I want to find out which book it was and reread it :) )

[Butter]

You know how they say a writer's first novel isn't always the best.  Whoever they are, aren't always right.

 

You are very right.  I've read some that were utterly amazing and even better than some of their later stuff.  John Green and Looking for Alaska is one example.  While the story was very jarring and I didn't like what happened (never mind what happened really did happen to a girl when JG was in boarding school), it was way better than his next book (An Abundance of Katherines).  Shannon Hale's Goose Girl was incredible.  On the other hand, I read Michael Crichton's 4th book (haven't read his first three; those were written under a pen name, btw) and it was... not great.  The topic was fascinating and it was somewhat engrossing, but it was nothing like what he produced later.  I once went to a Q&A with Robin Cook and he said no one should ever read his first book because it was horrible and he learned a lot about writing in those years between The Year of the Intern and Coma.  I never expect a lot out of a popular author's first book, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when it's especially good.

[Onceuponatime]

I'm not a fan of thrillers. My threshold for anxiety while reading has gone down in recent years. An occasional Gothic mystery is about as thrilling as I usually get.

 

We were on vacation for a week and I didn't get much reading in. So, I'm still working on Giant by Ferber and River Out of Eden by Dawkins.

[Violet Crown]

Almost done with Lewis Gibbon's Sunset Song, which is really good and highly recommended. I think I mentioned that it was "Voted Best Scottish Book of All Time By the Public in 2005." (Great Girl: "They must not mean the Scottish public, or it would have been Best book of all time.") It's part of a trilogy called A Scots Quair. I'm eager to request the sequels from the library. Though I swear I'm going to finish David Copperfield. Some day.

 

It was bad weather when we visited Edinburgh yesterday, so after the National Gallery and National Museum, we scurried over to Armchair Books and got some ballast for our suitcases. Dh went for Scottish writers: David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus, a 1920 science fiction, sort of, novel, to which Harold Bloom once wrote a sequel; and Ian Macpherson's Wild Harbour, a 1936 postapocalypse set somewhere near Inverness. I got Gillespie, by another Scot, J. MacDougall Hay; T. H. White's Farewell Victoria; and E. F. Benson's Victorian memoir As We Were. Middle Girl found A. A. Milne's The Red House Mystery, and The Phantom of the Opera. And Wee Girl stocked up on Rupert annuals and Enid Blyton. Because you know, she hasn't read all of them yet.

[Stacia]

I've started In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin. 

 

Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction and the 2009 Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. “The rural rootedness and gentle humour of R.K. Narayan with the literary sophistication and stylishness of Jhumpa Lahiri.â€â€•Financial Times
 

Passing from the mannered drawing rooms of Pakistan’s cities to the harsh mud villages beyond, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s linked stories describe the interwoven lives of an aging feudal landowner, his servants and managers, and his extended family, industrialists who have lost touch with the land. In the spirit of Joyce’s Dubliners and Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches, these stories comprehensively illuminate a world, describing members of parliament and farm workers, Islamabad society girls and desperate servant women. A hard-driven politician at the height of his powers falls critically ill and seeks to perpetuate his legacy; a girl from a declining Lahori family becomes a wealthy relative’s mistress, thinking there will be no cost; an electrician confronts a violent assailant in order to protect his most valuable possession; a maidservant who advances herself through sexual favors unexpectedly falls in love.

Together the stories in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders make up a vivid portrait of feudal Pakistan, describing the advantages and constraints of social station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. Refined, sensuous, by turn humorous, elegiac, and tragic, Mueenuddin evokes the complexities of the Pakistani feudal order as it is undermined and transformed.

 

[Ali in OR]

I finished Death Comes for the Archbishop this week which I thought was lovely. I enjoyed the history lesson, the geography lesson, and Cather's beautiful language. I had to research a bit afterwards to find out what was true--she did base this novel on the real first Archbishop of New Mexico, Jean-Baptiste Lamy. I wondered if she had ever lived in New Mexico--she visited there (I think for an extended time, and did some traveling on horseback), but never lived there. But I think My Antonia will remain my favorite Cather as it mirrors a little family history for me--a Bohemian great-grandmother who lived in Nebraska before settling with her parents in Idaho.

 

Next up: I picked up 3 holds from the library--David Brooks' The Road to Character, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and Laurie King's The Moor (mentioned in last week's thread). The Road to Character is a 14-day book, so I have to start that one soon. I may try reading The Moor on the treadmill, but the font looks a little small for that. The Crucible is the shortest so I'm likely to open that one right away. So it's looking like a week to read three at once.

 

Like Rose I will be hitting pre-reading season soon, but for history and literature here (dd does science in public school). History will cover Renaissance to 1914 (Human Odyssey Vol II), and I need to do a little high-level planning with the text before I start planning supplemental readers and read-alouds. But I'm already starting to think of possibilities for the master list. There are some Lightning Lit books I need to read too.

 

I've read thrillers before, but I think they're too stressful for me in this season of life. I remember reading a John Grisham (maybe The Firm?) when we had first moved to this town, and as I tried to navigate the unfamiliar one-way streets I felt like someone was following me! But I ditched him when I went the wrong way on one of those one-way streets...

[Negin]

I read Murder in Amsterdam - 4 Stars - I could barely put this book down. One morning in 2004, the great-grand-nephew of Vincent Van Gogh was killed as he bicycled on his way to work. Theo Van Gogh was a controversial public figure and filmmaker. He’d recently completed a film with another controversial figure Ayaan Hirsi Ali, about women and Islam. A Muslim Dutch citizen shot and stabbed Van Gogh. He also stuffed a letter into Van Gogh’s body threatening Hirsi Ali as well.

“Islam may soon become the majority religion in countries whose churches have been turned more and more into tourist sites, apartment houses, theatres, and places of entertainment. The French scholar Olivier Roy is right: Islam is now a European religion.â€

The above quote struck me as possibly true. When I was in Europe four years ago, I was shocked to see a church in my old hometown that had turned into a mosque.

The author addresses the challenges of a historically liberal and tolerant culture. 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I just finished Letters to a Young Scientist by E O Wilson. It was wonderful, very inspiring - makes me want to start my career all over again. This will definitely be on Shannon's reading list next year.

[mumto2]

I read Murder in Amsterdam - 4 Stars - I could barely put this book down. One morning in 2004, the great-grand-nephew of Vincent Van Gogh was killed as he bicycled on his way to work. Theo Van Gogh was a controversial public figure and filmmaker. He’d recently completed a film with another controversial figure Ayaan Hirsi Ali, about women and Islam. A Muslim Dutch citizen shot and stabbed Van Gogh. He also stuffed a letter into Van Gogh’s body threatening Hirsi Ali as well.

“Islam may soon become the majority religion in countries whose churches have been turned more and more into tourist sites, apartment houses, theatres, and places of entertainment. The French scholar Olivier Roy is right: Islam is now a European religion.â€

The above quote struck me as possibly true. When I was in Europe four years ago, I was shocked to see a church in my old hometown that had turned into a mosque.

The author addresses the challenges of a historically liberal and tolerant culture.

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

Murder in Amsterdam looks very interesting. I definitely plan to read it. I found it overdrive but haven't had a chance to look for it in book form which might be better because dh might be interested in it.

 

While I was serching I checked out Brad Meltzer's Zero Game. I may have read it already because it sounds familiar. I wish I had found Goodreads earlier! This is probably a challenge I am capable of completing. ;)

[Stacia]

Negin, I need to look up Murder in Amsterdam. It sounds like it might be a good go-along book with one I have already on my shelf (& am hoping to getting around to reading this year): Head in Flames.

 

Head in Flames is an astonishing collage novel composed of chips of sensation, observation, memory, and quotation shaped into a series of narraticules told by three alternating voices, each inhabiting a different font and aesthetic / political / existential space. The first belongs to Vincent van Gogh on the day he shot himself in Auvers-sur-Oise in July 1890. The second to Theo van Gogh (Vincent’s brother’s great grandson) on the day he was assassinated in Amsterdam in November 2004. The third to Mohammed Bouyeri, Theo’s murderer, outraged by the filmmaker’s collaboration with controversial politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali on a 10-minute experimental short critiquing Muslim subjugation and abuse of women. The aggregate: a restless, haunting exploration of art’s purpose, religion’s increasingly dominant role as engine of politics and passion, the complexities of foreignness and assimilation, and the limits of tolerance.

 

[Robin M]

I have posted in a long time but I had to jump in to say how much I  :wub:  :wub:  :wub: Brad Meltzer!  At least his earliest novels.  I haven't enjoyed his more recent books as much.  I think it is The Zero Game that has the completely unexpected plot twist right at the beginning of the book and I thought, "Oh my gosh, this man is a genius!  I've never seen a writer do that right at the beginning!"  (I can't remember for certain, it might be a different title.  Now I want to find out which book it was and reread it :) )

 

Hi Jennifer. So happy to see you again.

Yesterday I finished Way of the Warrior which is an anthology by Suzanne Brockmann, Julie Ann Walker, Catherine Mann, Tina Wainscott, Anne Elizabeth, M.L. Buchman, Kate SeRine, and Lea Griffith.  All author and publisher proceeds go to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.   "The Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2002 and provides a wide range of programs and services to veterans and service members who have survived physical or mental injury during their brave service to our nation."

 

Looks great. Downloaded for kindle. Thank you!

 

You are very right.  I've read some that were utterly amazing and even better than some of their later stuff.  John Green and Looking for Alaska is one example.  While the story was very jarring and I didn't like what happened (never mind what happened really did happen to a girl when JG was in boarding school), it was way better than his next book (An Abundance of Katherines).  Shannon Hale's Goose Girl was incredible.  On the other hand, I read Michael Crichton's 4th book (haven't read his first three; those were written under a pen name, btw) and it was... not great.  The topic was fascinating and it was somewhat engrossing, but it was nothing like what he produced later.  I once went to a Q&A with Robin Cook and he said no one should ever read his first book because it was horrible and he learned a lot about writing in those years between The Year of the Intern and Coma.  I never expect a lot out of a popular author's first book, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when it's especially good.

Robin Cook has been hit or miss as well as Michael Crichton for me.  Maybe it's the subject or the character or they just got a bad editor for one of their books.  I love their writing but haven't read any of theirs in a while.

 

I finished Death Comes for the Archbishop this week which I thought was lovely. I enjoyed the history lesson, the geography lesson, and Cather's beautiful language. I had to research a bit afterwards to find out what was true--she did base this novel on the real first Archbishop of New Mexico, Jean-Baptiste Lamy. I wondered if she had ever lived in New Mexico--she visited there (I think for an extended time, and did some traveling on horseback), but never lived there. But I think My Antonia will remain my favorite Cather as it mirrors a little family history for me--a Bohemian great-grandmother who lived in Nebraska before settling with her parents in Idaho.

 

Next up: I picked up 3 holds from the library--David Brooks' The Road to Character, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and Laurie King's The Moor (mentioned in last week's thread). The Road to Character is a 14-day book, so I have to start that one soon. I may try reading The Moor on the treadmill, but the font looks a little small for that. The Crucible is the shortest so I'm likely to open that one right away. So it's looking like a week to read three at once.

 

Like Rose I will be hitting pre-reading season soon, but for history and literature here (dd does science in public school). History will cover Renaissance to 1914 (Human Odyssey Vol II), and I need to do a little high-level planning with the text before I start planning supplemental readers and read-alouds. But I'm already starting to think of possibilities for the master list. There are some Lightning Lit books I need to read too.

 

I've read thrillers before, but I think they're too stressful for me in this season of life. I remember reading a John Grisham (maybe The Firm?) when we had first moved to this town, and as I tried to navigate the unfamiliar one-way streets I felt like someone was following me! But I ditched him when I went the wrong way on one of those one-way streets...

I should be doing some pre-reading for James since we will be doing world history.  Trying to tug him away from WWII for a while and that's like pulling teeth.  I was thinking of doing Excellence in Literature with him which includes Death Comes for the Archbishop.  I'll be picking and choosing between the different manuals.  He just isn't ready for some of the offerings.

[JennW in SoCal]

My goodness what a beautiful evening it is out here on the back patio. I'm sipping a cold beer, the fountain is trickling in the background while the neighbors are cheering in response, I believe, to the ballgame on tv.  I'd keep reading but there isn't quite enough light, so thought I'd check in here.  

 

My book du jour is one of the Amsterdam police procedurals by Baantjer that Jane had mentioned last week.  I stopped in at the library yesterday and picked it up along with a print copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell as I still have 24 hours left on the audio version!  I'd like to get through it before much more of the summer passes, and reading is always quicker. My college boy in the meantime has already blasted through almost the whole thing.  I also picked up a few titles from the used book cart: a biography of Fred Astaire, a memoir by Isaac Stern (a concert violinist) and a mystery set in Sitka, Alaska.  

 

The other title I started this week is a recent travel book by Paul Theroux, The Last Train to Zona Verde. I've been hooked on his travel writing since I read Riding the Iron Rooster about travel through China.  He so perfectly captured what I had seen, felt and thought when I spent a summer (long, long ago) in China that I wanted to grab perfect strangers and say "here -- read this!  THIS, this, is what it is like to travel in China!"  I have traveled the world with him ever since, all from the comfort of my backyard! 

[-M-]

Hello! I've completed five books since I last posted:

 

â–  The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi; 2015. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Silent Alarm (Jennifer Banash; 2015. 336 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Anne Boleyn (Howard Brenton; 2011. Drama.)
â–  The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (Pico Iyer; 2014. 96 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Marie Kondo; 2014. 224 pages. Non-fiction.)

 

This puts me at 48 in my quest to complete 104 books in 2015. The Water Knife and Anne Boleyn are knockouts. Silent Alarm, a YA title narrated from the perspective of the sibling of a school shooter, is a solid effort. Tidying... sigh. A virtual friend recommended it last year. Both it and Stillness strike me as statements of the obvious delivered with a sense of breathless pseudo-spirituality.

 

Color me pragmatic.

 

At this writing, it seems likely that I will finish The People in the Trees, Parenting Out of Control, and Primates of Park Avenue before my next post. My reread of Sense and Sensibility is happening in fits and starts, as is my reread of The Stand.

 

Here's my complete list:

 

â–  The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi; 2015. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Silent Alarm (Jennifer Banash; 2015. 336 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Anne Boleyn (Howard Brenton; 2011. Drama.)
â–  The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (Pico Iyer; 2014. 96pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Marie Kondo; 2014. 224 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson; 2011. 288 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Subprimes (Karl Taro Greenfeld; 2015. 320 pages. Fiction.)
■ So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (Jon Ronson; 2015. 304 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Shooting Arrows: Archery for Adult Beginners (Steve Ruis; 2012. 124 pages. Non-fiction.)
■ Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery (Brian J. Sorrells; 2004. 122 pages. Non-fiction.) *
â–  The Little Foxes (Lillian Hellman; 1947. Drama.)
â–  Jean Luc Mylayne (Terrie Sultan, and more; 2007. 140 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Lazarus, Vol. 3: Conclave (Greg Rucka; 2015. 144 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Joe the Barbarian (Grant Morrison; 2011. 224 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews; 2014. 330 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Container Gardening for the Midwest (William Aldrich; 2008. 208 pages. Non-fiction.)
■ How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students (Cal Newport; 2005. 193 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Read This! (Hans Weyandt; 2012 200 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Outcast (Robert Kirkman; 2015. 152 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Birthright, Vol. 1: Homecoming (Joshua Williamson; 2015. 128 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Spread, Vol. 1: No Hope (Justin Jordan; 2015. 160 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  The Woods, Vol. 1 (James Tynion; 2014. 96 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz; 2003. 480 pages. Fiction.)
â–  My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (Annabel Pitcher; 2015. 224 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Descent (Tim Johnston; 2015. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Stranger (Harlan Corben; 2015. 400 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 5: For a Better Future (Nick Spencer; 2013. 136 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 4: Truants (Nick Spencer; 2013. 216 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 3: P.E. (Nick Spencer; 2012. 240 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 2: All Will Be Free (Nick Spencer; 2011. 168 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 1: For a Better Future (Nick Spencer; 2011. 192 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins; 2015. 336 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Afterparty (Daryl Gregory; 2014. 304 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home (Susan Hill; 2009. 240 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Undivided (Neal Shusterman; 2014. 384 pages. Fiction.)
■ Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir (Roz Chast; 2014. 240 pages. Graphic memoir.)
â–  The Party, After You Left (Roz Chast; 2014. 96 pages. Graphic collection.)
â–  The Days of Abandonment (Elena Ferrante; 2005. 188 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data (Charles Wheelan; 2013. 302 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Storm in the Barn (Matt Phelan; 2009. 208 pages. Graphic fiction.)
â–  Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief, and Small Boats (Roger Rosenblatt; 2012. 160 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Reading as Therapy: What Contemporary Fiction Does for Middle-Class Americans (Timothy Aubry; 2011. 268 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Dept. of Speculation (Jenny Offill; 2014. 192 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Paying Guests (Sarah Waters; 2014. 576 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Vodou (Mauro Peressini and Rachel Beauvoir-Dominique; 2013. 108 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion (Meghan Daum; 2014. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes; 2013. 400 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Abroad (Katie Crouch; 2014. 304 pages. Fiction.)

 

* Denotes a reread

[Butter]

I finished reading Younger by Suzanne Munshower today.  It's a thriller.  It was slow to get started and used flashbacks that did not work well and were not necessary for the first few chapters, but otherwise it was excellent.  The end was a little confusing since so many people were involved in the wrap up and characters change from good to bad and vice versa throughout the last several pages.  The epilogue was excellent and finished the wrap up perfectly.  Anna Wallingham, a 57 year old doing PR for a cosmetics company, is fired and feeling quite over the hill with few prospects when she is approached by the head of a pharmaceutical company to run a campaign for a new product guaranteed to knock decades off your looks.  The catch is she has to use the product, take 30 years off her face and hands, and assume a new identity, but, for all that, she will be handsomely paid.  She goes with it, but soon starts piecing together the clues that everything is definitely not what it seems.  4/5 stars.

[Halcyon]

I need a recommendation for a really good, captivating thriller type book on Audible....I am knitting again and would love somethign to listen to. I liked Girl on the Train well enough, so I guess something in that vein?

 

Thanks!~!!

 

I am reading more short stories by Flannery O'Connor and am enjoying them immensely. What a talent!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Not a legal thriller, but I'm listening to The Forsaken Inn by Anna Katharine Green read by Gabrielle De Cuir on Audible. I suppose it's more of a Gothic murder mystery. I also listened to The Lodger (Jack the Ripper) on Audible. (I listened while on the treadmill... I think I picked up my pace in a few spots during the reading....convinced I was being followed.... ;) )

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I am knitting again

 

Given the mention of knitting in a reading thread, it would be remiss of me not to give a nod to Elizabeth Zimmerman's books. I was just flipping through Knitter's Almanac yesterday, and so many memories came flooding back...

 

 

From Amazon:

Elizabeth Zimmerman once wrote, "So please bear with me, and put up with my opinionated, nay, sometimes cantankerous attitude. I feel strongly about knitting." Perhaps her passionate opinions, as well as her love of wool craft and her delightful style, hark back to her English upbringing or long residence in the Wisconsin woods; in any case, the "Busy Knitter," as she calls herself, is one of the most charming and informative, as well as "un"ventive (her word) knitter-authors anywhere. This book gives full scope to her tireless imagination through a year's worth of projects, fitted to the seasons, moods, and needs of knitters who would like to design their own work.

The year begins with an Aran sweater and proceeds to February baby things, a March Shetland, April blanket, May mittens, and so on through the months, completing the zodiac with November moccasin socks and a December last-minute wishbone sweater. Projects are completed in the midst of canoe trips, fishing expeditions, travel, and snowstorms. The author continuously comments on the project, its history, other ancient and modern customs, and personal beliefs.

Mrs. Zimmerman works step by step with the reader, suggesting alternative methods and ideas as she goes. Her patterns are "classic," historically suited to wool, thus remaining ever-fashionable as well as tasteful and attractive. The knitter may easily adapt the designs at will, creating new, individual projects. Mrs. Zimmerman's hints (such as how to measure gauge when working a pattern and tips for baby's items) help ease the way and will instruct even the most experienced knitter. This corrected edition of the Knitter's Almanac will provide at the very least a year's worth of knitting pleasure to intermediate and advanced knitters and may even help stimulate a knitting passion.

[Caroline]

Just ordered The Tenth Justice. Still slogging through Fire and Rain. I have spent more time at soccer tryouts than I anticipated last week. Now everyone has a team, and tennis girl is set for the rest of summer, so maybe I'll get a little more time to hang out at the pool and read?

 

I had lunch at a new to me restaurant last Friday. It is a Louisiana grill and very delicious. I ate with some good friends from the school I left last spring. I have never had a group of women where I have felt this comfortable. The food was amazing and the chef came out and chatted with us. This Friday I am meeting a bunch of women from my current school forunch at another new to me restaurant. Teachers on summer break love to lunch out.

 

Halcyon, I would love to learn to knit. I sew clothes and quilts and pillows and stuff, but I feel like knitting would be so relaxing. I would love to sit at soccer games and knit and maybe the crazy parents would leave me alone?

 

MMV, you are my reading idol. I love picking books off your blog and reading them.

 

My older boys are reading some Michael Crichton and a biography of Elon Musk. They both have engineering brains and these books go right with that. My dd is reading Harriet the Spy, which I loved. She is also reading soccer player Alex Morgan's latest book. Next she is on to Taffy of Torpedo Junction and Betsey Dowdy's Ride. My youngest is enjoying Encyclopedia Brown.

[NoseInABook]

Almost done with Gail Carriger's Blameless. I'm having trouble focusing on anything lately but I'm still here. :)

 

All right, finished up Blameless and am starting Ghosts of Tsavo. 

[MrsWeasley]

I'm not much of a legal thrillers fan. Probably the closest I ever get is some of Picoult's fluff. Speaking of which, I just finished The Girl with All the Gifts, and it's pretty much the most original zombie novel I've read in a while. I've just started A Walk in the Woods. 

[Mom-ninja.]

I just finished Letters to a Young Scientist by E O Wilson. It was wonderful, very inspiring - makes me want to start my career all over again. This will definitely be on Shannon's reading list next year.

I'm reading this aloud with my ds. 

 

 

Pam, I once left my dh at home alone for 4 weeks, and when I came home he had fenced the back yard (an acre) with field fence. Then another time I also left for 3 weeks and he painted the bathroom. Hmm, maybe I should leave again. There are several home projects I'd like done. ;) 

 

 

I read Julia Sweeney's book, If It's Not One Thing It's Your Mother. I very much enjoyed it. Much better than Jenny Mollen's book. I liked Julia's memoir whereas Mollen's book had me rolling my eyes and just not interested. IMO, I think that's the difference between a person who can write and a person who can't.  :gnorsi: Or perhaps I don't care for crass. Mollen is crass. That turns me off. 

[mumto2]

Given the mention of knitting in a reading thread, it would be remiss of me not to give a nod to Elizabeth Zimmerman's books. I was just flipping through Knitter's Almanac yesterday, and so many memories came flooding back...

 

 

From Amazon:

Elizabeth Zimmerman once wrote, "So please bear with me, and put up with my opinionated, nay, sometimes cantankerous attitude. I feel strongly about knitting." Perhaps her passionate opinions, as well as her love of wool craft and her delightful style, hark back to her English upbringing or long residence in the Wisconsin woods; in any case, the "Busy Knitter," as she calls herself, is one of the most charming and informative, as well as "un"ventive (her word) knitter-authors anywhere. This book gives full scope to her tireless imagination through a year's worth of projects, fitted to the seasons, moods, and needs of knitters who would like to design their own work.

The year begins with an Aran sweater and proceeds to February baby things, a March Shetland, April blanket, May mittens, and so on through the months, completing the zodiac with November moccasin socks and a December last-minute wishbone sweater. Projects are completed in the midst of canoe trips, fishing expeditions, travel, and snowstorms. The author continuously comments on the project, its history, other ancient and modern customs, and personal beliefs.

Mrs. Zimmerman works step by step with the reader, suggesting alternative methods and ideas as she goes. Her patterns are "classic," historically suited to wool, thus remaining ever-fashionable as well as tasteful and attractive. The knitter may easily adapt the designs at will, creating new, individual projects. Mrs. Zimmerman's hints (such as how to measure gauge when working a pattern and tips for baby's items) help ease the way and will instruct even the most experienced knitter. This corrected edition of the Knitter's Almanac will provide at the very least a year's worth of knitting pleasure to intermediate and advanced knitters and may even help stimulate a knitting passion.

Your mention of Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns is such an odd coincidence. I spent quite awhile recently looking through her patterns on Ravelry, happy memories. I have made a few of them over the years. No idea why I started looking at her stuff. I also found one of my favorite knitting books after a lond search, Mason Dixon Knitting. For the curious they have a bloghttp://www.masondixonknitting.com/that I found recently.

 

I finished another Pink Carnation book. I am totally hooked on this series. Already downloaded the next one. Currently reading the new Faith Hunter beford overdrive returns it.

[Jane in NC]

Hello again from NC dear reading friends.

 

I have spent the last two weeks with an elderly friend who lost her husband recently. "Normal" for her means transitioning into a summer cottage which I volunteered to do as her children have jobs and children of their own. It was hard sometimes, but fun others. I left knowing that a number of tasks are done and that some support services are in place.

 

One of the things I read during this period was the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, a recommendation from Eliana. I loved this imaginary conversation between Niels Bohr and Werner Heizenberg. My friend with whom I was staying read it too. As the wife of a scientist, she loved the role of Margrethe Bohr (wife of Niels) which she thought was spot on. Personally I enjoyed the playwright's afterward on the historical speculation of a very real conversation that took place between Bohr and Heizenberg in occupied Denmark but one for which there is no transcript or certainty of the content. Given the role of physicists in WWII and the knowledge we have now of nuclear weapons, the subject matter is not cut and dry in terms of ethics. Frayn deals with this complexity very well. Much food for thought.

 

I took Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside on the plane with me which means that I will be mailing it back to the library on Cape Cod. Fortunately the librarians know me so they won't be totally surprised to receive a return by mail. Of course, I doubt if I have been the first to do such a thing.. I truly look forward to reading other books by this author! Death in the Garden is not a "cozy" in the traditional sense but our gentle readers should not be offended by it. I suspect that other readers will find that it is a wonderful mystery of surprising depth.

 

One surprising thing that happened today: I found that TSA gave me "precheck" status which means that I did not have to take off my shoes, remove my toiletries from my suitcase, etc.--nor wait in a long line at Logan. I had not officially enrolled but was apparently gifted with the status for today's flight. Let's hope that I maintain my "princess status" on future trips! (And I am so glad that the bundle of rhubarb from a relative's garden packed in my suitcase did not raise an eyebrow.)

 

I had hoped to get together one day with Nan but that did not happen. She too has transition duty with older relatives.

 

Pam, have a wonderful trip! Rosie, you crack me up! Stacia, you inspire travel dreams.

 

Hugs to all,

 

Princess Jane

[Stacia]

Ah, Princess Jane! :grouphug:  on your bittersweet trip.

 

We too (or at least some in our traveling party) got pre-check on multiple legs of our trip. That was nice! They did back-up the x-ray machine to do a second look at my sister's carry-on with the big Taz statue/figurine, though. :lol: (A friend of hers that we visited ended up giving it to her & only my sis is crazy enough to carry around a large Taz statue for the remainder of a trip. He became our traveling mascot & was a fun addition to our group.)

 

Shout out of 'thanks' to Pam (even though she might not see this for 3 weeks) for sending me Michael Lavigne's The Wanting. Looking forward to delving into it.

 

I started a book tonight that may (or may not) fit into Robin's category of legal thriller. It's one I've wanted to read for a bit & have actually checked out a couple of times, but never got around to reading. I apparently downloaded an ebook version from the library before my trip & just got an email telling me I've got 3 days left on the check-out time. I didn't have time to read on my trip, totally forgot that I had downloaded it, but decided to jump in & start it this evening because of Robin's challenge this week. I can't tell you for sure if it fits the challenge because I don't want to read summaries/reviews for fear of finding a spoiler. The book is The Infatuations by Spanish author Javier Marías. I suspect that if it meets the category, it will be more of a thriller than a legal thriller. Maybe I'm off the mark. Here's the NPR review if you want to read it (but don't tell me any spoilers) -- I've read only the first 4 paragraphs of the review. :lol:

 

I will have to let you know more after I actually read it, assuming I can get it finished over the next 3 days.

[Butter]

For the special book challenge my daughter and I are doing this year, we need a book by an author with our initials.  So I need help!  Can anyone come up with an author with the initials of HEH (or just HH if there are no HEH's)?  My daughter's initials are ASH which she said seems like it'll be easier.

 

Also, looking for books published the year I was born (1978) for that challenge, I was highly amused to discovered Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry was published then.  My daughter is named Anastasia because of those books.  I picked her name when I first read the series when I was 9.  I am still proud that I managed to give her a nickname ending in i (Ani) because Anastasia in the book lamented that you can't make a nickname out of Anastasia that ends in i.  My daughter actually e-mailed Lois Lowry some years ago and told her that she was named after that character and goes by a nickname ending in i and got a nice reply back from Ms. Lowry!

[Kareni]

It's always fun to see posts about books.  Here's one from BuzzFeed ~

 

27 Seriously Underrated Books Every Book Lover Should Read

 

Now I want to read Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

For the special book challenge my daughter and I are doing this year, we need a book by an author with our initials.  So I need help!  Can anyone come up with an author with the initials of HEH (or just HH if there are no HEH's)?  My daughter's initials are ASH which she said seems like it'll be easier.

 

 

 

Siddhartha  by Herman Hesse

 

Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain  by Hal Holbrook

 

How old is your daughter?

 

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery: Eleven Spooky Stories for Young People   by Alfred Hitchcock and Fred Banbery

 

Roots: The Enhanced Edition: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[idnib]

I've been really busy but I finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Did I mention that in the last thread? I can't remember.

 

Working away at The Wasteland. What a beautiful poem, just beautiful.

 

I checked out Meltzer's The Zero Game today, based on this week's OP. The librarian, who knows my reading taste, gave me a "what in the heck?" look, but didn't ask. Maybe they're trained not to.  :D

[LaughingCat]

Listened to Howl's Moving Castle and The Hobbit on a long trip last week.   Both were 're-reads' but first time listens.   The Hobbit has been on my list for a while due to the movies (which I have not yet seen).  Interesting to hear the songs sung.   And I had forgotten or misremembered a lot of the story.

 

Had a huge pile of books waiting for me at the library when I got back -- so I think no mysteries of any type for me this week, I'll be too busy wading through my pile.

[mumto2]

For the special book challenge my daughter and I are doing this year, we need a book by an author with our initials. So I need help! Can anyone come up with an author with the initials of HEH (or just HH if there are no HEH's)? My daughter's initials are ASH which she said seems like it'll be easier.

 

Also, looking for books published the year I was born (1978) for that challenge, I was highly amused to discovered Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry was published then. My daughter is named Anastasia because of those books. I picked her name when I first read the series when I was 9. I am still proud that I managed to give her a nickname ending in i (Ani) because Anastasia in the book lamented that you can't make a nickname out of Anastasia that ends in i. My daughter actually e-mailed Lois Lowry some years ago and told her that she was named after that character and goes by a nickname ending in i and got a nice reply back from Ms. Lowry!

Taking a quick look at something my library provdes for your Initial books. Not recommending just spotting some. ;) This is off a sight used to recommend books, if you like Christie try blank. Mainly popular books that are found in libraries in UK I think. The AH ones for your dd are definitely not recommendations....

 

Helon Habila. Nigerian. Writes general fiction.

 

Alison Penton Harper. Writes chick lit wirh mature themes so probably not appropriate.

 

Harry Harrison. American. Science fiction and humour.

 

Anne Haverty. Irish. Historical.

 

Humphrey Hawksley. Adventure/thriller.

 

Amanda Hemingway. Fantasy.

 

Anne Herries. Historical.

 

Anne Holt. Norway. Writes crime novels that are descriptive if I am right. Again not for you dd or at least not for my dd. ;)

 

Hazel Holt. Crime with Amateur Sleuth. Similar to Sayers......?

 

Audrey Howard. Writes Sagas set in Liverpool apparently.

 

Angela Huth. General.

 

Aldous Huxley. Lived from 1894 til 1963, writes like Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, and Kurt Vonnegut. Received a thumbs up on the site. Might be interesting......might interest a Dr. Who fan......

[Chrysalis Academy]

It's always fun to see posts about books.  Here's one from BuzzFeed ~

 

27 Seriously Underrated Books Every Book Lover Should Read

 

Now I want to read Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

That was an interesting list, I've read only a couple. I added quite a few to my list.

 

Speaking of underrated books, I finished listening to The Adoration of Jenna Fox. It was recommended on my 8th grade reading list thread, and I was previewing it for my kid's reading list. But I was totally blown away.  This may be another one of those books where listening is superior to reading - the girl who read it was just excellent.  She sounded 17, but she did unique and interesting voices for each of the characters - the grandmother, the mother, each of the male characters. It made it a very engrossing listen, it was easy to follow who was speaking and the voices really helped create the characters. I like well-done audio books where accents and voices are done in a helpful and not distracting way, but this is one of the best I've ever listened to.  

 

And the content! I was surprised to see so many bad reviews on goodreads. I thought this was a fantastic and thought-provoking book. It's about medical and scientific ethics, sure, but it's really about what it means to be human, the construction of the self, and it's *all* about relationships.  What parents will do for their child, but even more - what parents will do *to* their child in the name of protecting (possessing?) them. It's about pedestals, expectations, perfectionism and letting go. And it's refreshingly not just an evil parent/sympathetic kid story - you can really feel for the parents, the grandmother, and you really have to ask yourself what you would do in a similar situation. How far is too far? When does protection cross the line into control? When are you stealing the life you meant to save?

 

Anyway, I thought it was fantastic. Very thought provoking, I definitely plan to listen to it with my dd at the end of our unit on genetics.  We have the TC course The Science of Self that we'll do, and I think this will be an excellent complement.

[Butter]

 

Siddhartha  by Herman Hesse

 

Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain  by Hal Holbrook

 

How old is your daughter?

 

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery: Eleven Spooky Stories for Young People   by Alfred Hitchcock and Fred Banbery

 

Roots: The Enhanced Edition: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Awesome!  Thanks!

 

My daughter is 15 and reads anything.

[Kareni]

One more excellent AH book for an older elementary aged child or middle schooler ~

 

I Am David by Anne Holm

 

"David's entire twelve-year life has been spent in a grisly prison camp in Eastern Europe. He knows nothing of the outside world. But when he is given the chance to escape, he seizes it. With his vengeful enemies hot on his heels, David struggles to cope in this strange new world, where his only resources are a compass, a few crusts of bread, his two aching feet, and some vague advice to seek refuge in Denmark. Is that enough to survive?

 

David's extraordinary odyssey is dramatically chronicled in Anne Holm's classic about the meaning of freedom and the power of hope."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

Last night I finished Shiloh Walker's contemporary romance Busted  which I enjoyed.  It's the third in a series, but it can stand alone.  Some adult content.

 

"Like his brothers Zach and Zane, Trey Barnes thought he had found the love of his life. But fate had other plans. A widower who’s had to raise his five-year-old son on his own, Trey has not allowed himself to be with another woman. Until he meets Ressa Bliss at—of all places—a children’s library program. The beautiful librarian is wonderful with his son, Clay, but every time Trey even considers asking her out, he is tortured by guilt.

Fate is indeed fickle. When the two meet again at a conference, this time the attraction is too powerful to resist. But is their connection and passion strong enough to survive Trey’s deep inner torment?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Given that this week's theme is legal thrillers, I found a couple of such books that are (currently) free to Kindle readers ~

 

HOSTILE WITNESS  by Rebecca Forster

 

"When sixteen-year-old Hannah Sheraton is arrested for the murder of her stepgrandfather, the chief justice of the California Supreme court, her distraught mother turns to her old college roommate, Josie Baylor-Bates, for help. Josie, once a hot-shot criminal defense attorney, left the fast track behind for a small practice in Hermosa Beach, California. But Hannah Sheraton intrigues her and, when the girl is charged as an adult, Josie cannot turn her back. But the deeper she digs the more Josie realizes that politics, the law and family relationships create a combustible and dangerous situation. When the horrible truth is uncovered it can save Hannah Sheraton or destroy them both."

 

And

 

Irreparable Harm  by Melissa F. Miller

 

"After eight long years, attorney Sasha McCandless is about to make partner at a prestigious law firm. All she has to do is keep her head down and her billable hours up.

When a plane operated by her client slams into the side of a mountain, killing everyone aboard, Sasha gears up to defend the inevitable civil lawsuits. She soon realizes the crash was no accident: a developer has created an application that can control a commercial plane's onboard computer from a smartphone.

Sasha joins forces with a federal air marshal, and they race to prevent another airline disaster. But when people close to the matter start turning up dead, Sasha must rely on both her legal skills and her Krav Maga training to stop the madman before he kills her."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[6packofun]

It's always fun to see posts about books.  Here's one from BuzzFeed ~

 

27 Seriously Underrated Books Every Book Lover Should Read

 

Now I want to read Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I just read this and added to my huge to-read list today.  LOL

 

Recent reads:

 

Dangerous by Shannon Hale.  I can't pin down if I like Hale or not.  This is a teen/YA selection and I liked the plot, but the characters don't quite work for me.  First of all, teens who quote literature and poetry just seem so forced to me.  I'm sure there are many who do it, but to have 3 random teens doing it is a bit much.  Also, I think I see a pattern in teen/YA writers from Utah.  (As is Hale.)  I don't know if they are ALL Mormon, but every single selection from a female writer from Utah has had a real hankering for sexual tension that is all about "wanting" and "needing" and this almost ridiculous amount of lusty angst.  This angst develops by page 29, I think, in this one.  LOL  A little much.  I get wanting to "go there" but NOT go there all the way, kwim?  But all the sexual desire, lust, hunger and pining is just...I dunno.  Meh. 

 

The Caller by Karin Fossum.  Fossum is one of my favorite writers.  She's like the Ruth Rendell of Norway.  LOL  (Her books are all originally in Norwegian and the translations are very well-done, I think.)  This one was just really good.  Creepy psychological goodness.  LOL

 

I'm currently on Love at the Speed of Email as mentioned here and I find the author's job to be fascinating, wishing for more detail.  But...she's kind of spoiled, even as a 31yo grown woman, isn't she?  Still using a phone card that her parents pay for...  And I guess it's pretty easy to travel all over when your mom will buy you a $700k house just 'cuz.  :P  I'm still enjoying it, though!

[mumto2]

 

The Caller by Karin Fossum. Fossum is one of my favorite writers. She's like the Ruth Rendell of Norway. LOL (Her books are all originally in Norwegian and the translations are very well-done, I think.) This one was just really good. Creepy psychological goodness. LOL

 

 

I have read the first two books in Karin Fossum's series and loved them! The Caller is supposed to be number 10.....

[6packofun]

I'm not much of a legal thrillers fan. Probably the closest I ever get is some of Picoult's fluff. Speaking of which, I just finished The Girl with All the Gifts, and it's pretty much the most original zombie novel I've read in a while. I've just started A Walk in the Woods. 

 

The Girl with All the Gifts was good!  Another interesting take on the zombie genre is Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory.  (Somewhat of a weak ending, but I enjoyed the concept.)

[6packofun]

Last night I read Karin Fossum's The Drowned Boy. It's new, I think. She has a very distinctive tone - fwiw, I think the earlier books are better.

 

I haven't read that one yet...the summary sounds interesting.

[Little Nyssa]

Still working on TS Eliot's poetry: looking up allusions in The Waste Land and also moving on to other poems.

 

Speaking of thrillers, I've been reading Louisa May Alcott's bio and some of her thriler-type fiction. I read "Pauline's Passion and Punishment" and now I'm reading "The Mysterious Key." Very interesting to compare with her Little Women-type literature, which I am concurrently reading aloud to DD and DS! These other stories of hers do seem to be the kind of stuff that Jo March would write. There is a part in LW where Jo seems to be ashamed of it, but the biography I've read shows no sign of that at all. Interesting. The stories are thrilling and exciting, but there is an odd kind of innocence, as if the author had never experienced any of these shocking events she describes, as if it were a teenage girl's fantasy, not the writings of a grown woman.

 

Also interesting to compare Alcott with these other real/fictional girls who grew up to be writers:

 

LMAlcott/Jo March

Laura Ingalls Wilder/herself

LM Montgomery/Anne of Green Gables

Kate Douglas Wiggins/Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

and also: Edith Nesbit/Noel (though Noel is a boy, he seems to represent something of Edith when she was young)

 

Can anyone suggest any others?

[Jane in NC]

For Kareni and her husband, I offer a link to today's xkcd.

 

(This comic offers a link for embedding but I worry about doing so given Susan's legal warning.)

[Onceuponatime]

Giant was weighing me down, so I took a break and read The Escher Twist by Jane Langton. I enjoyed it very much. This one reminded me of a Blue Balliet story, but grown up.

[mumto2]

I need a recommendation for a really good, captivating thriller type book on Audible....I am knitting again and would love somethign to listen to. I liked Girl on the Train well enough, so I guess something in that vein?

 

Thanks!~!!

 

I am reading more short stories by Flannery O'Connor and am enjoying them immensely. What a talent!

Well I missed the on audible part of this post but remembered that you were looking for books like Girl on the Train, I spotted thishttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/hausfrau-by-jill-alexander--book-review-affairs-of-a-distant-heart-10092412.htmlon overdrive being advertised as like Girl on the Train. I haven't read either but thought I would post it. Eta. I forgot the actual name of the book, Hausfrau by Jill Alexander. Not sure about the linked review but I like to link sources other than Amazon and Goodreads when they are easily there. The book sounds better in the overdrive description. :lol:

 

I also spotted a thriller called Eyes on You which is part of a massive overdrive lend for the next two weeks. No waiting. If you have an account you can check it out in ebook form. World's largest book club. I checked one out. ;) Anyone else? Might be fun...https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18634982-eyes-on-you

[-M-]

The Girl with All the Gifts was good!  Another interesting take on the zombie genre is Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory.  (Somewhat of a weak ending, but I enjoyed the concept.)

 

The Girl with All the Gifts earned a thumbs-up here, too. Thanks for the Gregory recommendation. I recently read and enjoyed Afterparty by the same author.