Book a Week 2016 - BW40: October Spooktacular Reading Month

[Lady Florida.]

Hello BaW gals. If you haven't seen the hurricane thread, I'm very close to ground zero. We're almost done with our prep. I'm actually doing laundry today. I figure if we're without power and/or water for a while I at least want my clothes clean lol. 

 

I'll either be bored and online a lot until we lose power or I'll disappear. Either way I'll try to check in briefly once we get on the other side of the storm. If the power is out (and I'm sure it will be) it will be a quick drive by post and I likely won't respond. If I'm using my phone I'll want to preserve its battery life. Ds has a portable charger but still.

 

I'm not concerned about hiding my identity so if anyone wants to friend me on facebook I'm Kathy May Chumley.

 

On the bookish side - my Kindle is loaded with anything I might want to read, and is fully charged. :D

 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

Hello BaW gals. If you haven't seen the hurricane thread, I'm very close to ground zero. We're almost done with our prep. I'm actually doing laundry today. I figure if we're without power and/or water for a while I at least want my clothes clean lol. 

 

I'll either be bored and online a lot until we lose power or I'll disappear. Either way I'll try to check in briefly once we get on the other side of the storm. If the power is out (and I'm sure it will be) it will be a quick drive by post and I likely won't respond. If I'm using my phone I'll want to preserve its battery life. Ds has a portable charger but still.

 

I'm not concerned about hiding my identity so if anyone wants to friend me on facebook I'm Kathy May Chumley.

 

On the bookish side - my Kindle is loaded with anything I might want to read, and is fully charged. :D

 

Kathy - all good thoughts for you and yours. 

[Onceuponatime]

Kathy - all good thoughts for you and yours.

Ditto.

[LostSurprise]

Praying for all of you in Hurricaneland. 

 

I'm half way through World War Z. So far, it's been much more engaging than I expected. The format is short interviews with a variety of survivors around the globe, after the war. The distance from the events makes it less intense than if it was happening in the moment. (It's still disturbing) You get many different perspectives, military, commercial, government, child. It's interesting how the power shifts from white collar to blue collar workers, because they are better equipped for survival and teaching practical skills. The author seems to have worked very hard at making the resulting scenario believable.

 

Have you read any Studs Terkel? The format is similar. I really enjoyed that aspect. 

 

I did read that one, and it was a really tough book. I've thought about the same issue many times. Kevin is a character that has haunted me, as has his mother.  Maybe that's what made Shriver's book work better for me? Told from the POV of the mother, I could relate to it a lot more.  I feel like John Cleaver's mother, and the other adult characters in his book, are very flat compared to how well developed John himself is.  I guess I relate more to the mother character in Kevin than I do to the teenage sociopath in Well's book.

 

I agree, even though I was the opposite (I made it through the Dan Wells book and couldn't make it through the Shriver book because I didn't like the mother). The Wells book is a pretty basic thriller.

 

 

Finished a graphic novel my dh picked up for me from a library sale, another Quebecois. Jane, the Fox, & Me. A good parallel to my own experience, so impactful to me, but the finish was a little simple. Enjoyed. This will by my 3rd graphic novel based on Quebec this year, so I guess that's a thing for me now.  :001_huh:

 

Working on Rewards & Fairies by Kipling. I cleaned out my children's shelf last month (a sad day) and I put the keepers in storage. I'm reading a few I hadn't gotten to yet. I liked the fairy tale/English history/epic poetry of Puck of Pook's Hill when I read it last month. Not as magical as E. Nesbit, but I like the history and poetry.

 

BTW, Kipling's famous poem "If" is in Rewards...

 

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: 

 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken 

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: 

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

    And never breathe a word about your loss; 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ 

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 

    If all men count with you, but none too much; 

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

 

 

 

I picked up Blood Meridian and perused the part I read before. I've decided to make note of words I don't know (Spanish, English) but not stop. That's what got me last time. I call this my Umberto Eco strategy (since that's they only way I make it through an Eco novel).  :rolleyes: There should be a term for the vocabulary drag on a novel when you have to keep looking things up. 

 

[Ellesmere]

Also sending hugs to those in the hurricane path! Was listening to the news about it this morning and thought of you. 

Hoping ErinE & family are doing better. Pertussis sounds terrible.

Not much to report with reading this week. I had two terrible migraines during the past week and am still groggy. I cannot think of anything spooky that I've ever read, although I must have done so. I know I haven't read any horror books -- I don't do horror movies, either. When I was a kid, I enjoyed scaring myself silly with Unsolved Mysteries and some ghost story books but I don't remember which ones. 

Oh, I do remember a title that I used to read all the time: Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn when I was a kid. I read that parents sometimes object to the themes but for all the times I read it, I did not remember any of the most disturbing themes. A lot of it went over my head at the time.

Nowadays the closest I get to scary is mysteries. I really should get back to what started out as a mission to read all the Agatha Christie mysteries and short stories (or skim through the ones I know well). Keep getting sidetracked! I just got a Caroline Graham Midsomer/Barnaby mystery and I never did finish The Lord Peter mysteries I have on my Kindle.

I am nearly done with All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot and I think I'll finish this week.
 

[Nan in Mass]

My spooky reading for this week is the NOAA discussion about Matthew. I think I,ll wait until everyone,s spooky descriptions are over to read this thread lol. Real scary stuff is enough for me.

 

I am listening to Have Spacesuit Will Travel as I make 4 boxes of apples into applesauce and can them. This is rather like The Martian and I am enjoying it. As usual, Heinlein is a bit preachy and dated, but still fun. Gave up on the other Heinlein I was doing.

 

Stay safe, everyone. Holding you in the light.

 

Nan

[Butter]

Oh, I do remember a title that I used to read all the time: Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn when I was a kid. I read that parents sometimes object to the themes but for all the times I read it, I did not remember any of the most disturbing themes. A lot of it went over my head at the time.

 

 

I LOVED that book when I was a kid.  My parents bought it for me because it was set in Maryland (where we lived) and one of the main characters was named Heather (amusingly, my married initials are HEH like Heather and Helen).  I read it the first time when I was 8 or 9.  I *hate* anything scary.  Movies or books.  I just can't handle them.  But for some reason I absolutely loved Wait Till Helen Comes.  I read and reread it and always remembered it.  Almost two years ago I decided to read it again for the first time since I was a kid and I still loved it.  It's scary and a good ghost story, but it's not too scary.

[6packofun]

I'm reading aloud Masterminds by Gordon Korman to my 10yo ds (and 15yo hasn't been able to keep from listening in, either, lol) and we are all enjoying it so much!  It's a conspiracy/mystery type plot with a touch of dystopian feel that ds and I both love.  There are 2 more books in the series, so we're set.  It's not quite scary, but just strange enough to be really satisfying.

 

I am finally reading Britt-Marie Was Here by the author of A Man Called Ove and I just love it so much.  His characters, if you can get past the quirks, are so endearing.  I'm not a smiley person, but I catch myself reading along and wondering how long that little smirky smile has been on my face!!   :lol:

 

My spooky read, if I can get my hands on a copy or download it is going to be Summer of Night by Dan Simmons.  It's in the "Seasons of Horror" series; that sounds fabulous.  LOL!

 

My dd21 read something on Facebook that recommended some horror/scary reads and so I may try a few.  PenPal by Dathan Auerbach which began as a sort of serial story snippets on an online horror forum!  And, The Elementals by Michael McDowell.

 

Also, I don't know if it was discussed here before, but dd and I want to get the collection of Shirley Jackson's short stories (like The Lottery ) because apparently there is a recurring character in most (all?) of them and we want to follow "James Harris", the tall man in a blue suit, throughout the stories!  Oh, found the link from dd!  Here: http://www.the-line-up.com/9-underrated-horror-books-to-read-next/

[Kareni]

An enjoyable post from Tor.com ~

 

All the Emotions: Five Books to Make You Feel  by Garth Nix

 

"Much of what makes books work for readers and makes them continue to work for generations of readers over long periods of time is the transfer of emotion. Often, when trying to work out why a book appeals, people will point to particular characters, or the plot, or the invented world, or the prose. All these things are of course vital parts of how a book delivers its effect, but I think readers often forget that what they like most is what all the nuts and bolts of the writing are making, the overall experience they create.

 

Books can make us laugh, cry, smile, curl up in contentment or despair, jump up and shriek, run out of the room, and recite passages to friends and family. They can provide relief or ratchet up anxiety; they can deliver hope and triumph and deep satisfaction at a world set to rights. Books help us feel an enormous range of emotions as we experience the lives of others through the medium of story.

 

It’s how we feel as we read a book that makes it memorable (or not)...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NoseInABook]

I've heard good things about PenPal. Maybe I'll get my hands on it.

 

I loooooved Wait Til Helen Comes when I was a kid. I read that book over and over and over again. I was a horror junkie as a kid too and maybe that's why I haven't found anything recently that is actually unsettling.

[6packofun]

An interesting selection, Kareni!  I don't trust that something really sad isn't going to happen in Dogsbody that will make me want to throw the book down and cry all day, though!  lol

[mumto2]

I wasn't big on horror books until high school when I read several Stephen Kings because it was what everyone was reading. ;) I do remember checking a book called Down a Dark Hall out of the library frequently for years. A scary gothic in a boarding school. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538757.Down_a_Dark_Hall?ac=1&from_search=true.

 

I actually just found it in my overdrive library so I just checked it out.

[Stacia]

My kitchen is ready for Halloween:

 

Well, I didn't know what I would read for spooky October but when I went by the other library system today, their bookstore had a shelf of "Just in time for October" books. So, for a few dollars, I loaded up on a good assortment of books:

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Dracula by Bram Stoker (which I've already read but didn't own a copy; a favorite & a possible re-read for me)

The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel by Drew Hayden Taylor

The Vampire of New York by Lee Hunt (what makes this version even creepier is that the cover & first 70 or so pages have a small slit/hole through them, like someone impaled the book by stabbing a small blade into it....)

The Dreamwalker's Child by Steve Voake

The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories, chosen by Michael Cox & R.A. Gilbert

Vampire Stories, edited by Richard Dalby

 

From my own shelves, I have:

Florence and Giles by John Harding

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (which I read a long time ago but am considering a re-read)

John Dies at the End by David Wong (another possible re-read for me)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (a favorite & another possible re-read for me)

 

And, from the library itself, I picked up:

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (I've read the first & third books in this trilogy, but never this one, which is the second one)

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Hanged Man: A Mystery in fin-de-siecle Paris by Gary Inbinder (which seems to be more of a mystery than a spooky book)

 

I am also on the library waitlist for Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

 

So, we will see which ones I make it through this month. At least I feel like I have a good stack to choose from.

 

[NoseInABook]

Lois Duncan!! I loved her and I loved Down a Dark Hall! I am pretty sure I read everything she wrote along with R.L. Stine's entire catalog and Christopher Pike too. Now I'm trying to remember which author wrote a story about teens going to an island to spend a holiday in this mansion and when they were there they found out that the owner of the mansion intended to hunt them down and kill all of them for sport. Ah, the things I read when I was young. ;) 

Edited October 6, 2016 by NoseInABook

[Lady Florida.]

My kitchen is ready for Halloween:

 

 

Cappuccino and lattes for only 25 cents? I'm coming to your house for coffee!  :lol:

[Mom-ninja.]

Jane in NC, the book arrived today. Thank you again.

 

Finished Dodger and I liked it more than Nation. Might be my favorite Pratchett so far. 

 

I've now gone back to Jane Austen. I'm reading Sandition.

[Robin M]

Hugs and good thoughts to all in the path of Hurricane Matthew!   Be safe! 

 

Karen - did I tell you I loved the link to the bookends!!!

 

Erin - Hope everyone is feeling better.  Swan's song took a while to pull me in, but once it did, I couldn't stop reading.  I never read The Stand so really can't compare the two.  

 

Angela - Sorry about the puppies.Hope the rest are doing good!

 

Sandy - Thanks for the postcard.  Hubby saw it lying on the desk and said, hey, that's england! Yep.   :laugh:     I've been very remiss in sending anything out postcard or card wise. I have a  big pile of cards to be written sitting by my comfy chair.  One of these days I'll 'get er done.' 

 

:grouphug:

Edited October 7, 2016 by Robin M

[Violet Crown]

Hoping for the best with the hurricane. Glad you've got your Kindle loaded and charged, Kathy; priorities!

 

Stacia, glad to see the Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories on your reading list. I read it last October--or was it the year before that? Anyway it was very good, and I especially enjoyed the James story. Middle Girl has started it but must interrupt for a week of camping with my dad off in the wilds of New Mexico. I picked up for her a battered, disposable copy of Wuthering Heights for reading on the mesas and chucking at the rattlesnakes if necessary.

[Lady Florida.]

I know some of you limit yourselves to only the BaW thread, so I'm copying and pasting my post from the hurricane thread. 

 

We woke up around 11:00 this morning after being up through the wee hours. We seem to have slept through the worst of it. Our house held up well and we still have power. I don't think we ever lost it - it we did it was very brief. Others in my area aren't as lucky. I think the fact that we have underground power lines makes the difference. 

 

We have lots of yard damage. Big sections of our fence are down and large tree branches in the yard, but that's the worst of it. We're still feeling strong gusts since we're on the back side of the storm, but the worst has passed us now. It's heading towards Jacksonville, off the coast around Daytona now.  

[Lady Florida.]

I expected to do a lot of reading, but I only read a little bit before going to sleep last night. My mind couldn't concentrate on a story. We had our own story happening.

[Kareni]

... the worst has passed us now.

 

I was glad to read your report, Kathy, and to learn that you had safely weathered the storm; I hope that the yard cleanup will go smoothly.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[TravelingChris]

HI everybody,

 

   I am about half way done with Moving is Murder by Sara Rosett, who is a wife of a USAF pilot and writes a series of books with the protaganist being an AF wife.  My dh wasn't a pilot but rather a scientist but I appreciate reading a murder story based on the type of life I used to lead.

 

I really like reading Stephen King novels.  So yes, I do like scary.  I downloaded a Prime mystery and bought a Sue Grafton mystery but I do want to read Something Wicked This Way Comes so I will try to get that done this month.

[idnib]

Struggling with: 

 

The Master and the Margarita (I don't dislike it, but struggle to make myself read it. I'm about ready to return it and try again later.)

 

This is one of my favorite books! It works better with historical context; have you read the circumstances of it's creation and publication?

 

I'm half way through World War Z. So far, it's been much more engaging than I expected. The format is short interviews with a variety of survivors around the globe, after the war. The distance from the events makes it less intense than if it was happening in the moment. (It's still disturbing) You get many different perspectives, military, commercial, government, child. It's interesting how the power shifts from white collar to blue collar workers, because they are better equipped for survival and teaching practical skills. The author seems to have worked very hard at making the resulting scenario believable.

 

 

I like WWZ too, and I'm really not interested in zombie books at all. I think I enjoyed it mostly because of the format, with the retrospective interview viewpoint, sort of an autopsy of the eventual outcome.

[Stacia]

Re: The Master and Margarita -- loved it.

 

Re: World War Z -- fun book (& I'm not into zombies at all); loved the way it explored different countries' reactions to handling an "outbreak".

 

Finished a gothic ghost story: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Not a huge amount of action, but rather a slow & sinister build-up of the story.

 

According to my Goodreads page, I had marked it already as having read it, but I certainly don't remember reading it. Maybe years ago??? Lol. It was a decent Flufferton style ghost story (imo), but I still prefer vampires. For Flufferton fans who don't want to do horror, but don't mind a slightly creepy governess/ghost story, this would probably be a good choice for your October reading.

 

And, :party: . The Turn of the Screw marks my 52 book! The way this year has gone, I'm pleased & happy to have actually reached the 52 mark. Wasn't sure I could or would make it this year. And, for anyone interested, here's my reading list...

 

2016 Books Read:

 

Africa:

• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, pub. by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company. 2 stars. Zimbabwe. (Child’s-eye view of life in post-colonial Zimbabwe & as a teen immigrant to the US. Choppy & hard to connect with the characters. Disappointed.) [baW Bingo: Female Author]
• Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki, trans. from the Portuguese by Stephen Henighan, pub. by Biblioasis. 4 stars. Angola. (Simple & charming child’s-eye view of life in Angola during revolutionary changes & civil war in the 1990s. Semi-autobiographical.) [baW Bingo: Set in Another Country]
• The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenström, trans. from the Afrikaans by J.M. Coetzee, pub. by Archipelago Books. 4 stars. South Africa. (A haunting, stream-of-consciousness story of slavery, survival, solitude, strangeness, & strength. The language is lovely.) [baW Bingo: Translated]
• West with the Night by Beryl Markham, pub. by North Point Press. 5 stars. Kenya. (Markham’s amazing & wonderful tales of her life growing up in Africa & her adventures as a pilot.)
• The Stranger by Albert Camus, trans. from the French by Matthew Ward, pub. by Vintage International. 4 stars. Algeria. (Camus’ famous tale, clipped & clinical, about malaise & murder on the beach in Algeria.) [baW Bingo: Nobel Prize Winner]
• The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, trans. from the French by John Cullen, pub. by Other Press. 4 stars. Algeria. (Daoud’s rebuttal tale to The Stranger. Breathless [reminiscent of Camus’ narrator in The Fall] story poured out by the murdered man’s brother. Yin & yang to The Stranger – separate, opposite, yet twins too.)  
• Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes, pub. by Flipped Eye Publishing. 4.5 stars. Ghana (CSI-type criminal investigation mixed with traditional Ghanaian village life & folklore form a unique police tale. Lovely & riveting. Highly recommended.) [baW Bingo: Color in the Title]
• Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, trans. from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies, pub. by NYRB. 4 stars. Sudan. (Explores colonialism, mixing & non-mixing of cultures, idea of the “outsiderâ€, & more. Lyrical, bold, & somewhat unexpected.) [Chaos Reading: Book from a country whose literature you’ve never read; also translated from another language]

Asia:

• North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, pub. by Harvest/Harcourt Brace & Co. 3 stars. Various countries. (A.M. Lindbergh served as her husband’s radio operator during their trek to try mapping new air routes to Asia by travelling north. Diary-like observations of some stops.) [baW Bingo: Historical]
• Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi, trans. from the Burmese by Alfred Birnbaum & Thi Thi Aye, pub. by Hyperion East. 3 stars. Myanmar. (Fiery & feisty natkadaw [spirit wife] Daisy Bond performs during a nat festival while dealing with the wandering heart of his assistant & love Min Min.) [baW Bingo: Banned (in Myanmar)]
• A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power by Paul Fischer, pub. by Flatiron Books. 4 stars. North Korea (Fascinating & sometimes depressing look at the cult of personality & power of propaganda & film in North Korea, based around the 1970s kidnappings of two of South Korea's most famous movie personalities.)
• Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama, trans. by Howard Hibbett, pub. by Tuttle. 3 stars. Burma [Myanmar]. (Slightly didactic view of a troop of Japanese soldiers & POWs in Burma at the end of WWII. The group is united by music. Probably revolutionary when written in 1946.)
• The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, pub. by Doubleday. 4 stars. India. (A feminist retelling of parts of the Mahabharata, focusing on the viewpoint of Panchaali throughout her life. Makes me want to know more about the original.) [baW Bingo: Epic]
• Kokoro by Natsume SÅseki, trans. from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney, pub. by Penguin Books. 4 stars. Japan. (Read because SÅseki [1867-1916] is "being recreated as an android†this year; novel explores mind/emotion shifts between Meiji era into modern era. Low-key, compelling, simple, & straightforward with melancholy overtones. A lovely work.) [baW Bingo: Classic]
• Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann, pub. by Soho Crime. 3 stars. China (Intriguing mix of international/political thriller that paints modern-day China, as well as the after-effects scarring soldiers who served in Iraq.)
• Rashomon and Other Stories by RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa, trans. from the Japanese by Takashi Kojima, pub. by Liveright Publishing Corp. 3 stars. Japan (Reminiscent of Aesop but with longer tales, these leave you with food for thought, a trick, or a moral to ponder.) [Chaos Reading: Translated from another language]

Europe:

• Gnarr! How I Became Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr, trans. by Andrew Brown, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. Iceland. (A quick, easy, fun, & inspiring read with an emphasis on being nice & promoting peace. Just what I needed this week.) [baW Bingo: Non-fiction]
• What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi, pub. by Riverhead Books. 5 stars. Various countries. (Exotic, surreal, & magical collection of slightly interlinked short stories. Slightly sinister, fun, compelling, & completely delightful.) [baW Bingo: Fairy Tale Adaptation]
• A Dark Redemption by Stav Sherez, pub. by Europa editions. 4 stars. England. (Well done gritty crime/thriller, good detective duo, & nice twists involving international politics & African rebel groups. A series I might read more of….)
• Eleven Days by Stav Sherez, pub. by Europa editions. 4 stars. England. (Same comments as with his first novel – well done gritty crime/thriller, good detective duo, & nice twists involving international politics. Looking forward to future books in the series.)
• Time and Time Again by Ben Elton, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. 3 stars. Various countries. (Time-travel book going back to 1914 to prevent the start of WWI. A bit uneven but quick to read. Thought-provoking ending.)
• Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone by G.S. Denning, pub. by Titan Books. 4 stars. England. (Delightful & funny -- a smart & amusing twist on Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. For Sherlock lovers who don't mind a playful retake with supernatural tendencies.)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik, pub. by Del Rey/Random House. 5 stars. Unknown; probably eastern European. (Excellent mix of traditional high fantasy, Tolkien-esque touches, & eastern European folklore & fairytales mesh to create something riveting & new. Layered, deep, & well-written. Loved it. Nebula Award winner for Best Novel 2016.)
• À Rebours (Against Nature) by J.-K. Huysmans, trans. from the French by Robert Baldick, pub. by Penguin Books. 3 stars. France (Decadent look at the inner life of a rich recluse who prefers to exist in an ideal world of his own excessive creation. I’m on the fence…)
• The Tale of the Unknown Island by José Saramago, trans. from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, pub. by Harcourt Brace & Company. 3 stars. Portugal. (A lyrical little tale, nicely told.)
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, trans. from the original French text by the author, pub. by Grove Press. 2 stars. France (Whether it is just a tale of the absurdity of life or if there is a deeper meaning, at least I can now say I’ve read it.) [baW Bingo: Play] 
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, pub. by Tor Books. 3 stars. England. (Gothic ghost story. Not a huge amount of action, but rather a slow & sinister build-up of the story.)

Latin America:

• The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, trans. from the Spanish by Anne McLean, pub. by Riverhead Books. 4 stars. Columbia. (Brilliant & bittersweet story showing the impact of the rise of the Colombian drug cartels on an entire generation of people growing up during the violent & uncertain times of the drug wars.) [baW Bingo: Picked by a friend – idnib]
• The Three Trials of Manirema by José J. Veiga, trans. from the Portuguese by Pamela G. Bird, pub. by Alfred A. Knopf. 3 stars. Brazil. (A mix of rural-life naturalism & the Kafkaesque in an allegory of life under [brazilian] military rule; captures the underlying fear & dread of a town. A serendipitous find.) [baW Bingo: Dusty]
• Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright, pub. by PublicAffairs. 4 stars. Various: mainly Latin & North America. (Interesting look at illegal drugs & cartels through an economist’s eyes, analyzing them like any other large global corporation.) [baW Bingo: Published 2016]
• Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto, trans. from the Portuguese by Alex Ladd, pub. by Europa editions. 5 stars. Latin America & North America: Brazil & USA. (This is a beautiful & inspiring book. A gem of understated beauty about the quest for happiness. Left me with a tear in my eye & a smile on my face. One of the very best I have read this year.)
• Two Brothers by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá, pub. by Dark Horse Books. 3 stars. Brazil (Graphic novel about the split between twin bothers that is never reconciled. Explores many forms of loss.)

Middle East:

• Necropolis by Santiago Gamboa, trans. from the Spanish by Howard Curtis, pub. by Europa editions. 3 stars. Israel. (Chorus of stories, mainly based around an author attending a conference in Jerusalem. One attendee commits suicide. Or did he?)

North America:

• The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar Martínez, trans. from the Spanish by Daniela Maria Ugaz & John Washington, pub. by Verso. 5 stars. Mexico. (Front-line reporting of the dangers migrants face – from physical challenges, terrain, kidnappings, robberies, murders, rapes, & more – when crossing Mexico while trying to reach the US. Required reading.) [baW Bingo: Library Free Space]
• A Quaker Book of Wisdom by Robert Lawrence Smith, pub. by Eagle Brook/William Morrow and Company. 3 stars. USA. (A quiet & inspiring look at basic tenets of living a life of love & service. Nice little book with valuable & thoughtful ideas for today's world.)
• An Exaggerated Murder by Josh Cook, pub. by Melville House. 4 stars. USA. (Super-fun mash-up as if Pynchon met Sherlock Holmes & they had a few too many beers while sparring with Poe & Joyce. Entertaining, untraditional, modern noir detective romp.) [baW Bingo: Mystery]
• Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan, pub. by Atlantic Books. 3 stars. USA. (Mini-novella prequel to Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Pleasant, nice, light reading about tracking down the single-surviving copy of a very old book.) [baW Bingo: Number in the Title]
• Bossypants by Tina Fey, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 3 stars. USA. (Light & laugh-out-loud funny in places as Fey shares her life & fame. It’s easy to tell that she started as a writer -- her writing skill shines.)
• The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay, ARC copy, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. USA; also Europe: Italy. (Interwoven stories linking “Venice†from the 1500s, 1950s, & present day. Mix of thriller, historical fiction, magic/alchemy, & philosophy.) [baW Bingo: Over 500 Pages]
• An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel, pub. by Inkshares. 4 stars. USA. (Really 3 stars, but extra points for the humor, cool cover art, & bringing old-school vampires back to life. Plus, vampires don’t need to wear seatbelts. Fiendishly fun.) [baW Bingo: Pick based on the cover]
• Trout Fishing in America/The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster/In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan, pub. by Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence. 4 stars. USA (Surreal Americana with trout & mayonnaise.) [baW Bingo: Written in Birth Year] 
• Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 3 stars. USA (YA predicting a future dystopia of women being non-entities & desire to make sure that doesn’t happen, along w/ common teen themes.) 
• The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters, pub. by Quirk Books. 4 stars. USA (Police procedural set in pre-apocalyptic America. Why investigate a murder if Earth will be destroyed in six months anyway? Raises interesting & thoughtful questions.)
• The Alligator Report by W. P. Kinsella, pub. by Coffee House Press. 3 stars. USA (A pleasantly odd collection of short stories in a similar, but more lightweight, style to Richard Brautigan’s works.)
• Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters, pub. by Mulholland Books. 4 stars. USA (Alt history/sci-fi exploring the issues of slavery, race, & science. Lots of provocative questions.) [Chaos Reading: Page count between 5x and 7x your age]
• The Hike by Drew Magary, pub. by Viking. 2 stars. USA (Eh. Horror-ish/fable/fairy tale mix that seemed to be more of a crazed jumble than an actual story. Not really my style.)
• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin, pub. by Candlewick. 3 stars. USA (Read for being on ALA’s list of most-challenged books of 2015. Brave teens, nice photos, good resource list, but also teen-angsty at times.)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, pub. by Random House. 4 stars. USA (Fascinating & sometimes horrifying/sad look at Henrietta Lacks & the rise of HeLa cells. Raises questions about medical ethics, race, & human tissue/parts property-rights, among others.  Author closed the disconnect between cells ["it" or "they"] under a microscope to creating a heartfelt & personal link to an individual person, her family & friends, & the impact on all of them.)

Other:

• Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston, pub. by W. W. Norton & Company. 3 stars. (Book for font/typography/punctuation nerds tracing the history of various marks. Some chapters are better than others.)
• The Island of Last Truth by Flavia Company, trans. from the Catalan by Laura McGloughlin, pub. by Europa editions. 4 stars. Other (unnamed island off the coast of Africa). (Small, smart, mesmerizing nautical tale to rival the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson.) [baW Bingo: Nautical]
• The Plover by Brian Doyle, pub. by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. 5 stars. Other: Pacific Ocean (A magical & beautiful maritime tale of with true characters full of flaws, & wonder, & hope. Gorgeous. Now a favorite of mine.)
• Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, pub. by Orbit Books. 4 stars. (Great fantasy mix of war & magic. Loved the characters & their interactions. First of a trilogy that I plan to finish. Very impressive as it’s McClellan’s first book.)

 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Stacia

[Kareni]

 

And, :party: . The Turn of the Screw marks my 52 book!

 

Congratulations, Stacia!

**

 

A book-ish post or two ~

 

11 Books about Remarkable Women Often Overlooked by History  by  Liberty Hardy

**

12 Innovative Books to Get You Out of Your Reading Rut  by Erica Nelson

 

Several of these books have been discussed on the Book a Week thread in the past.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Butter]

#99: Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum.  That was the last of the Oz books.  I enjoyed it very much.  I'd read it was the darkest of the Oz books and I guess it was, but considering how light and rosy they all are, let's just say it wasn't really dark at all.  It wasn't quite as fun or funny as some of the others.  Pretty much the entire cast of characters (major ones at least) made at least small appearances.

[Angelaboord]

Glad to hear you're all right, Kathy!

 

Sandy, I wasn't at home when your postcard came in the mail and it was a great mystery to the kids. [emoji1] Thanks!

 

I'm reading a spooky October type non-fiction book right now called This is Your Brain On Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society by Kathleen McAuliffe. I guess it qualifies for October reading due to the ick factor of things like worms invading crickets and sending them jumping into pools, or fungi turning ants into zombies, and scientists keeping ant brains alive in jars. It's an interesting book, but there is definitely some ick, and if you own a cat, you might find yourself examining your own behavior to determine whether or not you might be infected with toxoplasmosis.

 

Otherwise, I read Sonnets of the Portugese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning this week (the polar opposite of zombie ants) and Circling the Sun is still on the arm of the couch where I do my reading. We're going to visit my parents next week, and I hope to be able to get some reading done. They live in the middle of nowhere, which is always a nice escape for me.

 

Oh, and about the puppies... We ended up losing 5 total (1 stillborn and 4 more in the first few days). We thought that left 8 alive, but my younger boys kept telling me we had 11. Finally my 17 yo went out and counted... and sure enough there were 11 puppies. That means that our dog had 3 more puppies after we thought she was done, for a total of 16! I guess that's why she lost so many of them. [emoji17] At least it makes sense now, though.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mumto2]

Angela :lol: I'm glad the postcard could provide entertainment to all! I'm sorry about the puppies. So sad. But 16 puppies.......just wow.

 

Stacia, Congratulations on 52!!! Hope all is well.

 

I am still reading The Passage. It is good, long, an oddly additive. It's actually going fast considering how little I read yesterday because I found a local Orlando station yesterday and watched hurricane coverage most of the day. I generally have multiple books in progress but at this moment it's my only book. Definitely not my sexy vampires. ;) Not even sure how/what to call this one, spooky fits! :lol: Here's the review I read first https://isleofbooks.com/2012/01/04/the-passage/

[Kareni]

Much of my reading time this past week has been spent on Alice Hoffman's  The Dovekeepers: A Novel for my book group which will meet soon after I return home. I found it a dense read. It was dense in the sense of meaty; it was complex, detailed, fascinating, and depressing. It seemed well-researched (the setting is primarily in Masada from about AD70 to 75) and the author’s note described what was factual and what had been imagined. It’s a book I would not have finished were it not a book group read; however, I’m happy to have it under my belt.

 

 

"Beautiful, harrowing, a major contribution to twenty-first century literature."—Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate in Literature

“In her remarkable new novel, Alice Hoffman holds a mirror to our ancient past as she explores the contemporary themes of sexual desire, women's solidarity in the face of strife, and the magic that's quietly present in our day-to-day living. Put The Dovekeepers at the pinnacle of Hoffman's extraordinary body of work. I was blown away.†—Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed

 

"Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power.

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love."

**

 

I also re-read, with pleasure, Sarina Bowen’s  The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years Book 1), and her novella,  Blonde Date (The Ivy Years Book 0).

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Violet Crown]

Kathy, glad to hear it was no worse.

 

Stacia, congratulations on 52!!!

[Ethel Mertz]

Stacia - Congrats on 52!

 

Kathy - So glad you are ok!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I join the chorus who are happy that Kathy is ok, congratulating Stacia on 52, being sad with Angela about the lost puppies, and thanking Sandy for the fun post card. I am also grateful and excited to have received The Elementals from idnib, and I started reading it last night. So far so good!
 
Stacia, I can't let Turn of the Screw go by so casually:  spoiler alert: 

So, what do you think was going on? Were the ghosts real? Are we supposed to take the story at face value? Or did they exist only in the mind of the governess, whose obsession caused the death of one of her charges and the nervous breakdown of the other?

 

 

I wrote a term paper on this in college, and I was happy that when I re-read this book last year, my thesis still seemed like a viable option to me - love this book!

Edited October 8, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Chrysalis Academy]

An enjoyable post from Tor.com ~

 

All the Emotions: Five Books to Make You Feel  by Garth Nix

 

"Much of what makes books work for readers and makes them continue to work for generations of readers over long periods of time is the transfer of emotion. Often, when trying to work out why a book appeals, people will point to particular characters, or the plot, or the invented world, or the prose. All these things are of course vital parts of how a book delivers its effect, but I think readers often forget that what they like most is what all the nuts and bolts of the writing are making, the overall experience they create.

 

Books can make us laugh, cry, smile, curl up in contentment or despair, jump up and shriek, run out of the room, and recite passages to friends and family. They can provide relief or ratchet up anxiety; they can deliver hope and triumph and deep satisfaction at a world set to rights. Books help us feel an enormous range of emotions as we experience the lives of others through the medium of story.

 

It’s how we feel as we read a book that makes it memorable (or not)...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

On that note, Shannon and I are doing an interesting Future Learn class called How to Read a Mind. It's a short, 2-week course on Cognitive Poetics, which is not a field I had heard of though much of the content in familiar to me from my psych/cog sci days. It applies cognitive science to literature to explore how it is that characters become real to readers. It's very interesting.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Phew, I think I caught up with the thread - it got away from me this week.  Since I posted, I finished Raymond Carver's Short Cuts, a collection of short stories upon which the Altman film of the same name is based. I'm interested in seeing the film, it's certainly a star-studded cast and I can see how some of these stories would really work on film. They are mostly all rather horrible, variations on the theme of selfish, narcissistic men refusing to grow up and having pre-mid-life crises.  But one of them, A Small Good Thing, was beautiful and made me cry, and a couple of them, including So Much Water So Close To Home, made me furious.  So, emotions - yeah.

 

I've been trying to read more Hammett and Chandler, but I have to say none of their other stuff approaches the brilliance of The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep.  I abandoned Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye, and I'm close to dropping Red Harvest.  It is interesting in Hammet's case to trace the development of his style, as he essentially pioneered the whole genre of hard-boiled detective fiction, the anti-cozy mystery story.  So I may read through his work.  I don't find Chandler/Marlowe quite as compelling, though.

 

I've got quite the "The Rich Are Not Like Us" theme going, reading Gatsby, all this 20s-30s detective fiction, listening to Bonfire of the Vanities - brilliantly written book full of completely repulsive characters - and then I just started Howatch's The Rich Are Different.  I like reading themes like this.

 

 I'm also reading Galore which ties to Mink River and also my Marquez binge - Galore reminds me very much of Marquez, but I like it better.  A little less of the completely unbelievable magic, and more of the inexplicable things that actually happen in life. That works better for me. Plus, I like some of the characters, which is often not the case with Marquez.

 

Ok, I think that catches y'all up with my reading life, in case you were wondering! I needed to get it all off my chest before a new week starts.  :laugh:

[Stacia]

Rose, when I read The Turn of the Screw, I was reading it as if option 1 was what was happening. (I'm typing on my phone so please excuse any typos or brief sentences.)

 

It would be interesting to reread it with option 2 in mind.

 

Which do you think it is?

 

I started reading Florence & Giles last night & am very interested to see where this author is going to take the story as it is seemingly a reworking of The Turn of the Screw.

[Stacia]

P. S. Rose, I loved Galore. Such a beautifully written book.

[Stacia]

My sis & bil rode out Hurricane Matthew at home -- a few miles inland from the coast, just north of Charleston. Overall, ok, though they still have strong gusting winds that are supposed to last until this evening. Lots of big tree parts down, part of their fence down, lost power earlier this morning (surprised it stayed on so long).

 

No word yet on my parents' beach house. (It was boarded up & nobody was out there.)

[Violet Crown]

I'm not convinced there's a fact of the matter in Turn of the Screw. Certainly James wrote stories where supernatural events unquestionably occur; but he's careful to leave the matter unresolved in TotS. The governess' state of mind is more interesting to him than the (non)existence of the supernatural.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm not convinced there's a fact of the matter in Turn of the Screw. Certainly James wrote stories where supernatural events unquestionably occur; but he's careful to leave the matter unresolved in TotS. The governess' state of mind is more interesting to him than the (non)existence of the supernatural.

 

Oh, I agree, and that's what I like about the story so much. I definitely lean toward the Option 2 reading, but I love the ambiguity.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Rose, when I read The Turn of the Screw, I was reading it as if option 1 was what was happening. (I'm typing on my phone so please excuse any typos or brief sentences.)

 

It would be interesting to reread it with option 2 in mind.

 

Which do you think it is?

 

I started reading Florence & Giles last night & am very interested to see where this author is going to take the story as it is seemingly a reworking of The Turn of the Screw.

 

I looked for Florence & Giles, but my library doesn't have it.  :thumbdown:  But the goodreads blurb led me to The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - anyone read that?

 

Which reminds me to do my annual plug for Edith Wharton's ghost stories: The Ghost Feeler.  These definitely fall into the mysterious/creepy rather than scary category, and she is such a lovely writer anything by her is a pleasure to read.

[Ethel Mertz]

Just in case this link has never been posted in this thread...

 

Writer Ann Morgan set her reading challenge to read a book from each of the countries recognized by the United Nations in one year.

 

And, here is her list. Surely, this has been posted before, yes?

[idnib]

Since I posted, I finished Raymond Carver's Short Cuts, a collection of short stories upon which the Altman film of the same name is based. I'm interested in seeing the film, it's certainly a star-studded cast and I can see how some of these stories would really work on film. They are mostly all rather horrible, variations on the theme of selfish, narcissistic men refusing to grow up and having pre-mid-life crises.  But one of them, A Small Good Thing, was beautiful and made me cry, and a couple of them, including So Much Water So Close To Home, made me furious.  So, emotions - yeah.

 

I saw the film in the theatre when it came out (1993) and it was excellent, especially Lily Tomlin's role, IMHO. The ending was bizarre, and I wonder how it was represented in the short stories. Perhaps I should read the book.

Edited October 8, 2016 by idnib

[mumto2]

Just in case this link has never been posted in this thread...

 

Writer Ann Morgan set her reading challenge to read a book from each of the countries recognized by the United Nations in one year.

 

And, here is her list. Surely, this has been posted before, yes?

I don't remember seeing it before and suspect I would have spent some serious time with it if I had. ;) Thanks for posting.

 

In 2014 one of my reading challenges was continents combined with a country count. I gave up with Antarctica but did manage 34 countries ....I used both author origin and setting. Several here were doing the same challenge.

[Stacia]

I agree that TotS is ambiguous. I guess I started reading it and took it at "face value". It wasn't until much later in the story that I began to wonder about option 2.

 

And, in thinking about it, option 2 is way creepier than option 1 (imo).

 

Drat! You all are making me want to go back and reread it already! My reading is too sporadic & I have so many other things to read that I don't have time for this! :-p

[Stacia]

Didn't Daniel Radcliffe do a film version of The Woman in Black a few years ago? I also had that book on my list of possible spooky reads so thanks for reminding me of it.

 

Ethel Mertz, thanks for the link. I love reading around the world & have often gone to the blog AYear of Reading the World for ideas and inspiration. But I hadn't seen that particular article about her.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Stacia

[Angel]

I'm half way through World War Z. So far, it's been much more engaging than I expected. The format is short interviews with a variety of survivors around the globe, after the war. The distance from the events makes it less intense than if it was happening in the moment. (It's still disturbing) You get many different perspectives, military, commercial, government, child. It's interesting how the power shifts from white collar to blue collar workers, because they are better equipped for survival and teaching practical skills. The author seems to have worked very hard at making the resulting scenario believable.

 

Have you seen the movie?  World War Z was one of my most anticipated books for the year.  I loved the movie.  However, the book is not like the movie and that was very off-putting to me.  I'm still planning to finish it, and pick it up here and there, but unless I run across something else, this book will fit the category for the book I was most looking forward to but was the most disappointing to read.

[Shawneinfl]

Hello BaW Friends. I'm back after evacuating for Hurricane Matthew. We drove all the way to NC from FL and waited it out up there. I'm so glad we did - we are right near the St. Johns River and surrounded by massive trees. We were very, very lucky. The storm jogged slightly east as it passed our house. We lost two trees but amazingly our power never went out. I'm sad for the devastation up and down the coast. We are so much more fortunate though than the people in Haiti. Praying for all those affected by the storm. St. Augustine, Flagler Beach, Jacksonville Beaches, Amelia Island - all have major damage.

 

You would think I would have gotten some reading done but no, we were glued to the Weather Channel.

[Kathleen.]

In honor of Edgar Allan Poe's anniversary of his death I read "Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems" and my 10yo read "Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe" along with some of the short stories.

 

:)

[Onceuponatime]

Have you seen the movie? World War Z was one of my most anticipated books for the year. I loved the movie. However, the book is not like the movie and that was very off-putting to me. I'm still planning to finish it, and pick it up here and there, but unless I run across something else, this book will fit the category for the book I was most looking forward to but was the most disappointing to read.

I haven't seen the movie, but two of my older children have. They know my taste in movies and they both told me they didn't think I would like it. After their description of it, I think they are probably right.

[TravelingChris]

This is my fourth time trying to respond. :huh:

 

Book list 2016 so far

 

1. The Blessing Way- Tony Hillerman (mystery series with Navajo Police set mostly in New Mexico where I lived for 4 years)

2. The Girl of His Dreams - Donna Leon (mystery series with Venetian Police. I have visited Venice twice and love the city)

3. Death of a Policeman- M C Beaton (mystry series with middle aged female private detective set in Cotswolds)

4. The Blood of an Englishman - M C Beaton

5. No Man's Nightgale- Ruth Rendell (her last novel, Inspector Wexford is now retired from English policing)

6. Kisscut by Karin Slaughter (mystery series with p/t pediatrician/p/t coroner set in small town Georgia)

7. Dance Hall of the Dead- Tony Hillerman

8. A Thief of Time- Tony Hillerman

9. A Question of Time - Crearin Slaughter

14. Cat's Claw- Susan Wittig Albert (mystery series with Herb store owner solving mysteries in Hill Country, Texas)

15. Widow's Tears- Susan Wittig Albert

16. The Dark Wind- Tony Hillerman

17. People of Darkness- Tony Hillerman

18. Hunting Badger- Tony Hillerman

19. The Fallen Man- Tony Hillerman

20. Death at La Fenice- Donna Leon

21. Some Buried Treasure- Nero Wolfe (an old mystery series set in NY)

22. Go Down Moses- William Faulkner

23. Winesburg, Ohio- Sherwood Anderson

24. All Creatures Great and Small- James Herriot

25. Poisoned Pins- Joan Hess (mystery series with female bookstore owner in small town Arkansas solving crimes)

26. Skeleton Man- Tony Hillerman

27. The First Eagle- Tony Hillerman

28. Sinister Pig- Tony Hillerman

29 The Shape Shifter- Tony Hillerman

30. Driving Heat - Richard Castle (NYPD female detective)

31. Something in the Water- by Charlotte MacLeod (mystery series with botany professor set in New England)un

32. Thunderstruck- Eric Larson

33. Gator Ade- Jessica Speart-   (mystery series set in New Orleans area with female National Fish and Wildlife inspector)

34. Death Prone- Claire Curzon (mystery series ith Thames Valley Police)

35. Halsey and the Dead Ringer (mystery series set in Marin County, CA with independently wealthy male detective)

36. Moving is Murder- Sara Rosett (mystery series with USAF wife solving murders)

 

So I am a bit behind but hope to catch up.