Book a Week 2020 - BW32: 52 Books Bingo - Noir

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts.  Our next 52 Books Bingo Category is taking us into the world of Noir where it can be dark and deadly with mysterious and flawed characters, and right and wrong aren't clearly defined.

 The genre is defined as "Books made up of stories that contain elements of crime, eroticism, cynicism, moral ambiguity, cruelty, strangeness, and fatalism. The stories are often set in remote areas in urban, rural, and/or out of the way settings or non-distinct settings, like the open road. Noir genre books may or may not include a private eye, detective, or femme fatale. The stories often have an elusive phenomenon or have something that’s just out of reach of the main characters."

The Best Noir Authors

12 Crime Noir Books That Will Have You Reaching for Your Trench Coat

The Rise of Rural Noir 

Guide to Nordic Noir

Noir from around the globe 

Pages of Noir: The Books that Became Film Noir

Hardboiled World: Four Creative Noir Traditions From Around the Globe

"The Noir Genre Helps Mediate between Reality and Fiction”: An Interview with José Salvador Ruiz

Mystery and Detective Novels by Women of Color

Le Chat Noir—Black Cats on the Cover

Have fun exploring the world of Noir.

  

Link to Week 31

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers  around the globe.

 

[Robin M]

Quote

@mumto2I read some of the Rock Kiss books several years ago. I may go back and read/reread again.  If the first one is the book I am thinking of it was better than the rating I gave it on Goodreads 3* as I remember liking it and well,  I remember it years later!😉

I started reading the Rock Kiss series. Yummy!  

 

I have a few Noir books in my stacks I just haven't gotten around to and now is the time, including Attica Lock's Bluebird Bluebird, Jo Nesbo's Redbreast, and Persia Walkers Black Orchid Blues. 

Off to test drive new cars with hubby.  

Edited August 9, 2020 by Robin M

[Ali in OR]

I'm doing a lot of "not reading" this summer, but I have finished a few recently--Stamped and two Regency mysteries, The Mystery at Carlton House (Captain Lacey) and Who Speaks for the Damned (Sebastian St. Cyr). Next I'll be working on our next book club pick, Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers which I already have but haven't started. And I'm sure I'll do a lot more "not reading" in the 4 weeks of summer I have left before I'm back to work (online).

[Pen]

 

Non fiction: Essentialism by McKeown

(if reading is successful I should spend less time on WTM)

 

Fiction possibly fitting noir?   The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 

 

 

have finished all Siri Paiboun by Colin Cotterill series I could get as audio, and then found I had a missed a Louise Penny and Martin Walker, so caught up in those

I should check to see if there are any other series I enjoy  that have new or missed titles

[mumto2]

This week’s reading included The Secret Chapter which is number six in Cogman’s Invisible Library series.  I liked this one more than the last couple of books in the series with the highlight being we finally got to meet Irene’s parents who I had wondered about.  Apparently number seven has already been released so I will probably read that one soon.

I am still reading my way through the dog handler themed books you all helped me find a few weeks ago and this week I stumbled on to the best so far........The Suspect by Robert Crais https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15755201-suspect.  I really enjoyed the storyline where the policeman who knows nothing about dogs falls in love with Maggie the German Sheppard Afghanistan War veteran. Both have been severely injured while on duty with their previous partners killed.  Robert Crais appears to be a fairly prolific suspense author several intertwining series.  The book I read was good enough to try and sort through the multiple series and find a reading order at some point.

Rather humorously I started reading a historical romance right after The Suspect that featured a second son of an Earl who was making his way through life training the dogs of the elite.  Not sure if I have read a historical with a dog trainer before!  Will’s True Wish by Grace Burrowes. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24469443-will-s-true-wish

[Kareni]

4 hours ago, Robin M said:

Attica Lock's Bluebird Bluebird, Jo Nesbo's Redbreast, and Persia Walkers Black Orchid Blues...

What a colorful set of titles, Robin!

**

Some bookish posts ~

Jo Walton’s Reading List: July 2020

https://www.tor.com/2020/08/07/jo-waltons-reading-list-july-2020

This is an article.] An Existential Reading List for Middle-Aged Men

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/08/importance-friendship-older-men/596692/

SIX NOVELS THAT BRING TOGETHER MYSTERY AND TIME TRAVEL

https://crimereads.com/six-novels-that-bring-together-mystery-and-time-travel/

9 OF THE BEST BOOKS ABOUT ASTRONOMY

https://bookriot.com/astronomy-books/

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

32 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

This week’s reading included The Secret Chapter which is number six in Cogman’s Invisible Library series.  I liked this one more than the last couple of books in the series with the highlight being we finally got to meet Irene’s parents who I had wondered about.  Apparently number seven has already been released so I will probably read that one soon.

 

32 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

I am still reading my way through the dog handler themed books you all helped me find a few weeks ago and this week I stumbled on to the best so far........The Suspect by Robert Crais https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15755201-suspect.  I really enjoyed the storyline where the policeman who knows nothing about dogs falls in love with Maggie the German Sheppard Afghanistan War veteran. Both have been severely injured while on duty with their previous partners killed.  Robert Crais appears to be a fairly prolific suspense author several intertwining series.  The book I read was good enough to try and sort through the multiple series and find a reading order at some point.

 

I’ll try that.  I like  Dog characters.

 

I await Hanging Falls, book 6 of a series by Margaret Mizushima, which features a dog - human K9 team plus a veterinarian so lots of other animals as well. 

 

 

 

 

[Kareni]

I just finished a reread of For Real (Spires Book 3) by Alexis Hall. (Significant adult content) I enjoyed this again.

Regards,

Kareni

[Miss Tick]

This weekend I read The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey. It is a mystery set in 1922 India. The protagonist is a smart, thoughtful female lawyer.  The story is set in the midst of a lush, beautiful jungle. This is a sequel to The Widows of Malabar Hill. It isn't necessary to read the first book first, but it does help provide some background. I really hope the author has plans for an extended series here!

[Pen]

39 minutes ago, SusanC said:

This weekend I read The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey. It is a mystery set in 1922 India. The protagonist is a smart, thoughtful female lawyer.  The story is set in the midst of a lush, beautiful jungle. This is a sequel to The Widows of Malabar Hill. It isn't necessary to read the first book first, but it does help provide some background. I really hope the author has plans for an extended series here!

 

Were there women who were lawyers in India in 1922?  That sounds interesting right there.

[Miss Tick]

47 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Were there women who were lawyers in India in 1922?  That sounds interesting right there.

 

47 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Were there women who were lawyers in India in 1922?  That sounds interesting right there.

According to the book she is one of the first. She talks about who the first woman is, and although the book is fiction I assumed that part references a real person. In the story women are not yet allowed to argue a case in court. Her father is a lawyer and she has joined his firm.

[Violet Crown]

I love noir and crime fiction and have dozens of them queued up for when I can get out from under the books I need to read for homeschooling -- so, about 2025, I think. *Snif*

But I finished W. G. Sebald's The Emigrants for Middle Girl's high school English survey course. I didn't put this course together, didn't choose the books (though I loved the choices for the first 2/3 of the course), and have neither read nor heard of Sebald before this. It's a sort of pseudo-autobiographical-but-mostly-fictional collection of narratives, "documented" by photographs, purportedly exploring the lives of various German Jewish emigrants and their families. The first person narrator segues frequently and confusingly into first-person accounts of the people's lives, and it's all about the ephemeral nature and ultimate unreliability of memories, even memories "proved" by extrinsic evidence. It's very much like Nabokov for readers who need their symbolism unsubtle. (By the third appearance of a "butterfly catcher," I felt done.) In fact, Nabokov makes two appearances in the novel, in case we needed help with catching the "memories are unreliable" theme. In further fact, maybe just skip this and read some Nabokov.

Now to finish Twain's and Whoever's The Gilded Age. Though somehow I have this overwhelming urge to re-read Melville's Billy Budd and Genet's Querelle of Brest.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Violet Crown

[Mothersweets]

I've been enjoying my reading lately - it feels good!

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James. I think this was recommended in a link Kareni posted a week or two ago. I read most of it in one night but had to stop as my eyes weren't working any longer, haha. The characters felt fairly true to their time and the story was spooky but it fell apart a little at the end. Also, there were a couple s*x scenes that felt unnecessary.

Minerva by Marion Chesney. I just looked this up on GR in order to link it and found that I've read it before! I gave it two stars back then . I'm listening to the audio version this time around and am liking it much more than in 2014 I should finish it tomorrow.

and I'm reading Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, I'll probably finish tomorrow or Tuesday and am really liking it!

 

[Little Green Leaves]

I love this theme. What distinguishes noir from other detective novels? I guess we can't call Agatha Christie, or any of those British puzzle mysteries noir -- but what about Simenon? There's a lot of darkness and squalor, but is the hero just too bourgeois for the books to count as noir? I don't know. I just read "Maigret's Childhood Friend," which I don't think is his best but is still very wonderful in my opinion.

I finished reading Gilead (Marilyn Robinson). It's the story of an Iowa preacher, told in the form of a long letter to his unborn son. Lots of details about the preacher's one-eyed grandfather, an abolitionist who hung out with John Brown. It's a good book, beautifully written, but more limpid than I wanted.

Now I want to read a book called "Lord," by a Brazilian author named Joao Gilberto Noll. I found out about the writer in a random fit of googling last year and the book has been on my shelf ever since. I'm excited about it because of the writing style - very interior, psychological, rich. I'd really like to actually read it instead of just look at its spine on the shelf every day : )

[mumto2]

4 hours ago, Pen said:

I await Hanging Falls, book 6 of a series by Margaret Mizushima, which features a dog - human K9 team plus a veterinarian so lots of other animals as well. 

 

Thanks, I am excited to find another series to try.  I just put the first one on hold!

[Liz CA]

Sorry, nothing "noir" here but nevertheless I am enjoying my current selection.

Audio:

"Murder on Washington Square" by Victoria Thompson

I am going in order in the series and enjoying it especially on audio as I can follow easily even if I miss a word here and there.

Reading:

"A Death in Vienna" by David Silva.

Realized I cannot listen to these on audio because you cannot miss anything but I love it so far. I just finished "Black Widow" by the same author. This is the Gabriel Allon series and I don't know why I have not tripped over this before now.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Liz CA

[vmsurbat1]

5 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Finally finished Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (audiobook) version.

I am not a big biography or memoir fan and Trevor is too young to have one anyway in my opinion.

Although I am a fan of memoirs,  I agree with you that most memoirs ought to be written when the author has more life experience; that was my biggest gripe with Educated -- the author is too young---and I would like her to revisit her book in another 30 years!  

 

Quote

 

5 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

When he talks about using language to fit in and how his color did not matter then because he replied in the language the person was talking to him or money giving choices I absolutely get him because I have lived those.

I thought this was one of his most insightful lines in a book of good insights.  Definitely a worthy read!

[Negin]

I read One Summer: America, 1927 - 3 Stars - Bill Bryson fans seem to be divided into two groups. Those who prefer his fact-based books versus those who prefer his travelogues. I fall into the latter group. I am obsessed with his travelogues and plan on re-reading them all again, even though they’re quite dated. Some of those have made me laugh to the point of tears. I’ve really wanted to love his fact-based books, such as this one. I’m not there yet, but I haven’t given up. There are still a few more that I wouldn’t mind trying.

This book is thoroughly researched and covers a wide range of topics – prohibition, Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Calvin Coolidge, Babe Ruth, just to name a few. However, I got bored and restless with the parts that didn’t interest me, such as baseball and boxing – lots and lots of baseball! Those parts got a bit tiresome and I felt bogged down by all the details. Bryson has this tendency to go off into Bryson-land, going into far more detail than what I think is necessary. I guess the fact that I was glad to have finished it tells me that I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I also wasn’t too keen on the way that the book was organized.

Here are the parts that I thought were the most interesting as well as some of my favorite quotes:

CROWDS AND SPECTACLE

“On a warm spring evening just before Easter 1927, people who lived in tall buildings in New York were given pause when wooden scaffolding around the tower of the brand-new Sherry-Netherland Apartment Hotel caught fire and it became evident that the city’s firemen lacked any means to get water to such a height.

Crowds flocked to Fifth Avenue to watch the blaze, the biggest the city had seen in years. … From a distance, the building looked rather like a just-struck match. The flames were visible twenty miles away. …

People in 1920s America were unusually drawn to spectacle and by 10 PM the crowd had grown to an estimated hundred thousand people – an enormous gathering for a spontaneous event. …

Some wealthy observers, deflected from their evening revels, took rooms in the Plaza Hotel across the street and held impromptu ‘fire room parties’, according to ‘The New York Times’.”

HOOVER BARELY LAUGHED

I’m not sure how true this is. Bryson may be a bit biased.

“Hoover was a diligent and industrious presence in both administrations, but he was dazzlingly short on endearing qualities. His manner was cold, vain, prickly, and snappish. He never thanked subordinates or enquired into their happiness or well-being. He had no visible capacity for friendliness or warmth. He did not even like shaking hands. Although Coolidge’s sense of humor was that of a slightly backward schoolboy – one of his favorite japes was to ring all the White House servant bells at once, then hide behind the curtains to savor the confusion that followed – he did at least have a sense of humor. Hoover had none. One of his closest associates remarked that in thirty years he had never heard Hoover laugh out loud.”

Honestly, I can’t find the point of living if I was like that. I can barely go by for a day without laughter! I have a magnet on my fridge with a quote that says, “The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed.” That’s my personal motto and reminder.

And this:

“He socialized a little, but poorly. Dinners at his house often passed in more or less complete silence.”

READING

“The 1920s was a great time for reading altogether—very possibly the peak decade for reading in American life. Soon it would be overtaken by the passive distractions of radio, but for the moment reading remained most people’s principal method for filling idle time.”

HENRY FORD

“For a man who changed the world, Henry Ford traveled in very small circles. … He was defiantly narrow-minded, barely educated, and at least close to functionally illiterate. His beliefs were powerful but consistently dubious, and made him seem, in the words of The New Yorker, “mildly unbalanced.” He did not like bankers, doctors, liquor, tobacco, idleness of any sort, pasteurized milk, Wall Street, overweight people, war, books or reading, J. P. Morgan and Co., capital punishment, tall buildings, college graduates, Roman Catholics, or Jews. Especially he didn’t like Jews. Once he hired a Hebraic scholar to translate the Talmud in a manner designed to make Jewish people appear shifty and avaricious.”

Describing a heatwave in New York City:

“Open-sided trolleys ran on Broadway, and for a nickel, people could ride them for as long as they liked. Hundreds did. At night, many people lugged mattresses on to fire escapes or rooftops and slept there. Large numbers went to Central Park with blankets and pillows and camped beneath the stars. The playwright Arthur Miller, then an eleven-year-old boy growing up on 110th Street, years later recalled the surreal experience of walking through an open-air dormitory: ‘With a couple of other kids, I would go across to the Park and walk among the hundreds of people, singles and families, who slept on the grass, beside their big alarm clocks … Babies cried in the darkness, men’s deep voices murmured, and a woman let out an occasional high laugh by the lake.’”

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

The book is fantastic. It’s not perfect, since no book is, but it’s definitely a favorite of mine.

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.

[Shawneinfl]

12 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Finally finished Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (audiobook) version.

I am not a big biography or memoir fan and Trevor is too young to have one anyway in my opinion. One of the legacies of British colonization is cricket and that is how apartheid was introduced to me. Long before I was born the ICC (the International Cricket council) banned South Africa from playing matches and commentators of different nationalities would always talk about the various players. The ban ended right after Mandela was released. So when I heard about someone growing up in apartheid I was curious to read this book.

I started a paper book version just before the world as we knew it ended suddenly in March. I set it aside for a while because I felt I could not handle a book that could make me think or emote. I needed comfort reading and I was sure this book would not be that. During my wanderings of audiobooks I somehow came across an interview with him where he talked about the audiobook version of it and how he was particular that he voice it as he was a spoken word person due to his craft and professional experience more than a written one.I returned the paper book and get the audio book version. Trevor's voice is really nice to listen to, he relives it rather than just reads and I would have missed it if I had just read the book I think. It is an entirely different experience. 

What I never expected was to find so much in common. For instance when he talks about language and how even more than color it defines you to people I could absolute get what he meant. Trevor is a polygot and speaks a lot of the native languages, but his mother saw to it he was educated in English for as he says it is the language of money. You know English and it opens up the world to you in many places and gives you opportunities closed to so many even if they can speak multiple languages. People are treated differently and looked upon as more "educated" if you know English in many parts of the globe and it is a direct legacy of colonization. When he talks about using language to fit in and how his color did not matter then because he replied in the language the person was talking to him or money giving choices I absolutely get him because I have lived those. Even how Hitler in perceived in a place that was colonized made sense to me because in my native country's freedom struggle one of the leaders joined Hitler and the Japanese during WWII which itself was a catalyst to end colonization in many parts of the globe

I could go on and on, but most of all I loved his stories about his grandmother and mother. In a gender based society, the women of the family raise the children and have a big hand in how they turn out. If a child dreams, it is because the mother especially nurtured that and taught them that.  It is an absolutely amazing book. I cried, smiled and savored my way through it. More than a book with stories of race, apartheid, colonization I loved it because it was so much about stories about a boy growing up with stories about him, his family and his people I could identify with which rarely happens to me.  

I have had this book in my audible library for months but haven't started it yet. Your review has given me the kick-in-the-pants I need. I do love Trevor's voice and I believe that was the catalyst to my original purchase. I am a big fan of memoirs btw.

[Matryoshka]

2 hours ago, Shawneinfl said:

I have had this book in my audible library for months but haven't started it yet. Your review has given me the kick-in-the-pants I need. I do love Trevor's voice and I believe that was the catalyst to my original purchase. I am a big fan of memoirs btw.

 

Quote

Glad to help. It is really a book that is so layered, makes you think and he does relive it instead of just reading it in my opinion. It was really something. I read it slow, sitting down when I usually put on an audio book as background. But his voice is really nice to listen, it just flows over you even when the content is jarring at times. Just like his standup where he uses humor to talk about hard topics, I just never realized his voice was part of why. 😀

I'm going to chime in to agree with all of what Dreamergal says and encourage anyone who's interested in this to get the audio.  Sometimes narrators get in the way of the story, other times it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, and sometimes a narrator can make the book a whole different experience - and this was the case here.  The tone, the delivery, all the click languages I never would have even been able to pronounce delivered rapid-fire - and there's so much in it, even if it only covers his childhood.  An amazing book.

7 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

My opinion on memoirs is mostly you need life experience to write it and the older the better. However, Malala was the first one that put a spanner in that opinion because her story is so compelling and needed to be told. Trevor also made me examine that.

As for Educated I am yet to read it and I have been deliberately keeping away and not looking at reviews, interviews or articles because it seems like a book that will need more than a quick read because of so many layers.

I've had Malala's book on my TR list forever, so I should read it?

I've been avoiding Educated.  It's gotten very, very mixed reviews - I know lots of people love it but I've heard some reasonable criticism too.   Too many other books to read!  As for girls not 'needing' education because they just need to be wives and breeders, sadly far, far to prevalent in conservative religious communities right here in the US, and especially in certain homeschooling circles (obviously not the type of homeschoolers who hang about here...).  I know some IRL.  As always, it's really about control.

[Matryoshka]

37 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I am generally not a big fan of audio books because I listen to a lot of spoken poetry and music and would like to not be deaf as long as I can so I guard my ears 🤣. I agree that most narration just drones and not engaging. This was very different, engaging, immersive and as if he is sitting in front of you and telling you the story. He is  a very gifted communicator and he has worked in more audio forms like radio and standup so I think he knows to engage an unseen audience especially because of radio. I think he had a ghostwriter for the book. 

I do not think he had a ghostwriter for the book.  As you say, the man is a gifted storyteller, and I could hear his voice (and comic timing!) loud and clear through the whole thing.  He writes for TV all the time, after all - that's what he does for a living.  You made me google about to check, and here's what he had to say about writing it:

When did you know you were a writer?
I’d call myself more of a storyteller than a writer. That’s what I do onstage. I suppose I knew it for certain the first time I got up at an open-mic night for comedians at a Johannesburg café. I told a funny story about some Nigerians I knew who were running a TV-repair scam, and everyone laughed. I knew that night that telling funny stories was what I was meant to do.

 

I am guessing Malala had a ghostwriter, though...

Edited August 10, 2020 by Matryoshka

[vmsurbat1]

4 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

One of these days I will read it. I just have too many TBRs to pick from it is hard to do so and the reason this book is not so compelling to me is I have seen this story play over and over in my native country, so I think I will get angry while reading Educated and that is not what I want to feel when I read a book currently.

One thing I noted in my brief Goodreads review about Educated is that it was less about her education and more about her dysfunctional family which I hadn't known before picking it up from the library as an ebook.  It is not a 5 Star book by any means, unlike Born a Crime, so I don't think you are missing much.  I am surprised Educated was on so many Best Books of the Year lists..... still trying to figure that one out....

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, vmsurbat1 said:

One thing I noted in my brief Goodreads review about Educated is that it was less about her education and more about her dysfunctional family which I hadn't known before picking it up...

I agree. I would not wish her childhood on anyone. 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Today only, a free classic for Kindle readers ~

The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Also free ~

The Midnight Sea (The Fourth Element Book 1) by Kat Ross

Make Mine A Marine by Julie Miller

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

 

On 8/9/2020 at 2:37 PM, mumto2 said:

I am still reading my way through the dog handler themed books you all helped me find a few weeks ago and this week I stumbled on to the best so far........The Suspect by Robert Crais https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15755201-suspect.  I really enjoyed the storyline where the policeman who knows nothing about dogs falls in love with Maggie the German Sheppard Afghanistan War veteran. Both have been severely injured while on duty with their previous partners killed.  Robert Crais appears to be a fairly prolific suspense author several intertwining series.  The book I read was good enough to try and sort through the multiple series and find a reading order at some point.

 

Finished The Suspect!  Listened late yesterday and again today !  Enjoyed story and characters! 

Is there a sequel to it?  

One place said The Promise is, but blurb on The Promise said it is a Joe Pike series book. 

 

[Junie]

Books I recently finished:

The Power of a Praying Kid by Stormie Omartian -- I've read several books in this series; this one was my least favorite.  It did not seem as well organized as some of her other books.  I don't know if my kids will like it or not.  I was hoping for something that had shorter chapters and a more devotional style.

 

Still Growing: An Autobiography by Kirk Cameron -- This book was mildly entertaining, but it was not well written.  It seems as if the chapters were written with a lot of stops and starts, and there is sometimes a lapse in continuity.  I never really watched Growing Pains, but of course I knew about it.  Dd16 requested this book because she is interested in working in Hollywood some day as a costume designer.  She wanted to hear about a Christian's experience in the industry.

[mumto2]

20 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

 

Finished The Suspect!  Listened late yesterday and again today !  Enjoyed story and characters! 

Is there a sequel to it?  

One place said The Promise is, but blurb on The Promise said it is a Joe Pike series book. 

 

I ‘m so glad you liked The Suspect!  I’m on hold for the Promise so no personal experience.  One function on Goodreads says it is Elvis Cole #16 Joe Pike #5 and Scott and Maggie #2.  Something I read says they are definitely in it so I feel like I should read it soon........at the same time I worry about ruining other series I might like!  😉

[Pen]

5 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

I ‘m so glad you liked The Suspect!  I’m on hold for the Promise so no personal experience.  One function on Goodreads says it is Elvis Cole #16 Joe Pike #5 and Scott and Maggie #2.  Something I read says they are definitely in it so I feel like I should read it soon........at the same time I worry about ruining other series I might like!  😉

 

Hmm.  I want more of Maggie.  

Maybe I should go back to earlier Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books and have one with Maggie to look forward to.  

 

[mumto2]

53 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Hmm.  I want more of Maggie.  

Maybe I should go back to earlier Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books and have one with Maggie to look forward to.  

 

Maggie really is done well!  I keep thinking about going back but I’m not sure which series.....If you do go back keep me updated please.  
 

thinking........going back probably is the right thing especially since you are wondering about it too. https://booksreadingorder.com/robert-crais/. I just checked out The Monkey’s Raincoat.......unfortunately no audio for me and I have to read it online as no Kindle format.  If it’s good I won’t care! 

Edited August 11, 2020 by mumto2

[Pen]

39 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

Maggie really is done well!  I keep thinking about going back but I’m not sure which series.....If you do go back keep me updated please.  
 

thinking........going back probably is the right thing especially since you are wondering about it too. https://booksreadingorder.com/robert-crais/. I just checked out The Monkey’s Raincoat.......unfortunately no audio for me and I have to read it online as no Kindle format.  If it’s good I won’t care! 

 

I found Monkeys Raincoat on Libby (as text not audio) I think some sort of download that on cellphone could then be read by voice reader—but a 3 week wait.   I can get it sooner via another audio service and will let you know.   I am surprised that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Robert Crais on Overdrive. 

 

 

Here is the author’s own answer to what to read first:

 

I just discovered RC’s work. Should I start reading the Elvis Cole series with the first book, or does it matter?

We asked RC for his opinion on this. Here is his answer in his own words:

     “At this writing, the Elvis Cole series now includes ten novels, and, altogether, I have published thirteen books. My readership has grown dramatically over the last several books, and continues to grow. Thankfully, new readers are coming to me all the time, and, inevitably, many want to start with my first book. I understand this, but part of me always cringes because my books and their nature has changed over the course of the ten Cole novels. When a new reader asks me which book they should start with, or whether or not they should begin at the beginning with THE MONKEY’S RAINCOAT, I always suggest they begin with L. A. REQUIEM, or even one of the standalones like DEMOLITION ANGEL or THE TWO MINUTE RULE. It isn’t that I feel the earlier books aren’t as ‘good’ as my more recent efforts—I am intensely proud of those early novels—but my newer books are richer, broader in scope, and way more complex in their structure, so I believe them to be more representative of the work I am doing today.”

Edited August 11, 2020 by Pen

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

All are from reddit:

Some strong fantasy mystery books

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/i6mqtp/some_strong_fantasy_mystery_books/

Fantasy-adjacent fiction and non-fiction

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/hguby2/fantasyadjacent_fiction_and_nonfiction/

Best Non-Fiction of the Decade - Voting Thread

https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/h0jyb8/best_nonfiction_of_the_decade_voting_thread/

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

A survey I ran into........Which Generation Reads the Most     https://allaboutromance.com/which-generation-reads-the-most-a-handy-infographic/.  

Edited August 11, 2020 by mumto2

[SKL]

Just finished another re-read of a book I've read many times - The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.  It was an interesting re-read because of 2020, especially the Law of Detachment part.  You have to be able to give up any attachment to how things are going to turn out, despite your plans and efforts.  Pretty appropriate right now, I'd say.  😛

So here's me trying to embrace uncertainty.  😛

[aggieamy]

On 8/6/2020 at 12:54 PM, Robin M said:

Good morning! It's been an eventful week.  James turned 21 yesterday.  I took him to the comic book store and along with several comic books, I bought him another Godzilla figure, the 1985 one I think.  We watched Blade Runner last night and he really enjoyed it.  I hardly remembered any of it so felt like I was watching it again for the first time.  I told him he needed to read Philip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep now to compare.   I test drove a Dodge Charger (V8 - Zoom zoom) over the weekend and fell in love so  looks like we'll buying a new car soon.  Finished revising another chapter in my latest WIP.  Hubby's keeping me on track with his feedback and request for more, I want to read more. 

 

I can't wait to hear about what car you get! I'm a boring middle aged lady that loves sports cars so let me live vicariously though your adventures while I putter around in my station wagon. 

I volunteer to be a beta reader if you're looking for ones yet!

On 8/10/2020 at 3:55 AM, Negin said:

I read One Summer: America, 1927 - 3 Stars - Bill Bryson fans seem to be divided into two groups. Those who prefer his fact-based books versus those who prefer his travelogues. I fall into the latter group. I am obsessed with his travelogues and plan on re-reading them all again, even though they’re quite dated. Some of those have made me laugh to the point of tears. I’ve really wanted to love his fact-based books, such as this one. I’m not there yet, but I haven’t given up. There are still a few more that I wouldn’t mind trying.

<snip>

Bryson has this tendency to go off into Bryson-land, going into far more detail than what I think is necessary. I guess the fact that I was glad to have finished it tells me that I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I also wasn’t too keen on the way that the book was organized.

<snip>

HOOVER BARELY LAUGHED

 

I have so many Bill Bryson related thoughts here ... please bear with me while I ramble on a bit ...

I want Bill Bryson to be one of my favorite authors. His hiking the Appalachian trail book was hilarious. DH and I listened to it as an audiobook on a road trip and loved everything about it until he wandered off on an aside about acid rain. While that's important it was unrelated to the book and felt like he just needed to shoehorn his cause in where he could. It was odd and took away from the book. Then I read At Home and he did the same friggin thing!  Then Notes from a Small Island and by this time I was tired of his random asides. If his editor had been like, "Hey buddy. That's really interesting and important. Why don't we take this chapter out of the book and send it as an editorial to the New Yorker instead?" then I would be a huge Bill Bryson fan. Instead I'm a mildly annoyed Bill Bryson fan.

Re: Hoover. 

I live Truman country. He was a KC native and we have a lot of respect for the man around here. He was kind, hard working, and unpretentious. Exactly what Midwesterners value. He was also broke. Apparently so broke that the Senate passed the Former Presidents Act so he and Bess would have some sort of retirement to live on. Truman was embarrassed to be in that position and word got back to Hoover so Hoover decided to take the retirement also (despite being independently wealthy) so Truman wouldn't be the only one and be embarrassed. That warmed my heart to hear that story. I'm sure it could be spun to be a story of greed (this wealthy man decides to take a government retirement) but I think Hoover did do it out of kindness. 

I might have a lot of strong opinions on a man while he's president but when he's the former president I cut him a lot of slack. 

[Junie]

1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

A survey I ran into........Which Generation Reads the Most     https://allaboutromance.com/which-generation-reads-the-most-a-handy-infographic/.  

That's a really interesting survey.  Thanks for sharing!

While most of the graphic makes sense to me, as a Gen X'er I'm puzzled though by one of the stats.  The Bible reading statistic looks... inflated?  Do that many people really read the Bible for an hour a day?  I mean, I hope that it's true, but II have been a Christian for most of my life, and while I try to read my Bible every day I'm pretty sure that I don't average an hour a day.  And I kind of doubt that 28 percent of the people I know do either.  Other than that, the survey seemed to be accurate based on what I know of the reading habits of people I know.

[aggieamy]

FINISHED:

The Cuckoo in Spring by Elizabeth Cadell - I'd call her books DE Stevenson-lite. Not as charming but there was still such a good understanding of human character that I read on. If you happen to stumble across one in a thrift store or used book shop pick it up but no need to go out of your way to hunt one down. 

The Teddy Robinson Storybook by Joan Robinson - This was a gift for Chews on Books from Mumto (and probably for me as she took pity on my string of unimpressive read alouds). Guys! It was so so lovely and sweet. John jumped into bed every night and insisted that tonight we "read two chapters about Teddy Robinson". It's one of those books that works for adults and children in different ways but they both love it. Highly recommend if you're still reading aloud to the 6-10 years old crowd. 

And I have to share this Goodreads recommendation because it's hilarious ... Um ... no

And on a similar line of thought ... DH's Kindle recommended a billionaire romance to him the other day. Target ad fail there. 

[aggieamy]

1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

A survey I ran into........Which Generation Reads the Most     https://allaboutromance.com/which-generation-reads-the-most-a-handy-infographic/.  

Super interesting. It does make sense that the Boomer and Silent Generation read the most. Likely they're retired or at least empty nesters and have more reading time. 

I also found the stats on audiobooks fascinating and ring true for the people I know. 

[aggieamy]

5 minutes ago, Junie said:

That's a really interesting survey.  Thanks for sharing!

While most of the graphic makes sense to me, as a Gen X'er I'm puzzled though by one of the stats.  The Bible reading statistic looks... inflated?  Do that many people really read the Bible for an hour a day?  I mean, I hope that it's true, but II have been a Christian for most of my life, and while I try to read my Bible every day I'm pretty sure that I don't average an hour a day.  And I kind of doubt that 28 percent of the people I know do either.  Other than that, the survey seemed to be accurate based on what I know of the reading habits of people I know.

Ditto on the Bible thoughts. I don't know anyone that does an hour a day! And I'm hanging out with some book loving people. 

[Junie]

Oh, I had a really funny goodreads recommendation a week or so ago.  I wish I had thought to take a screenshot of it!

Because you are reading El Llamado de la Mujer a Oracion (the Spanish version of A Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George): The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. 

Now, I actually enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, but I am trying to figure out the relation to a Spanish translation of a book about prayer.

[mumto2]

48 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

Also interesting how the older generation seems to prefer reading mysteries and thrillers per this survey. I can watch mysteries and thrillers, but do not want to read. I was raised on the gentle mysteries of Enid Blyton famous five where Timmy the dog could scare people away. I graduated to Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, then Sherlock Holmes. I have seen more Poirot and Agatha Christie than read. I prefer watching to reading mystery, thriller and suspense genre. But I have watched a whole lot of crime, detective and thriller shows in many languages. I am watching a Korean show currently airing called "Flower of Evil" which is riveting. I don't think I would be able to read it. 

I was born in the last year of the baby boomers and love a good mystery but I tend to read cozy mysteries and suspense more than true thrillers.  I do like Nordic Noir and make an effort to read several of books in that genre each year as the characters fascinate me.  That said I generally read the slightly more gentle series in the genre a pick my way through rather slowly.  I keep adding shelves to Goodreads this year in order to cover these interests.....I started with a cozy shelf, quickly added a thriller shelf for the grimmer mysteries, then came Covid and I now have a romantic suspense shelf as that is what I am reading a lot of.

I was very involved at my villages library for many years as a board member and volunteer and one thing I found fascinating was the number of sweet really old ladies who left the library with stacks of thrillers by authors I tried and discovered to be too violent for my taste.  I saw that statistic and thought right on!

17 minutes ago, Junie said:

That's a really interesting survey.  Thanks for sharing!

While most of the graphic makes sense to me, as a Gen X'er I'm puzzled though by one of the stats.  The Bible reading statistic looks... inflated?  Do that many people really read the Bible for an hour a day?  I mean, I hope that it's true, but II have been a Christian for most of my life, and while I try to read my Bible every day I'm pretty sure that I don't average an hour a day.  And I kind of doubt that 28 percent of the people I know do either.  Other than that, the survey seemed to be accurate based on what I know of the reading habits of people I know.

I wondered at that statistic too.......my only thought was people doing homework from their bible study and that high of a percent just isn’t possible for that!

[mumto2]

1 minute ago, Junie said:

Oh, I had a really funny goodreads recommendation a week or so ago.  I wish I had thought to take a screenshot of it!

Because you are reading El Llamado de la Mujer a Oracion (the Spanish version of A Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George): The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. 

Now, I actually enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, but I am trying to figure out the relation to a Spanish translation of a book about prayer.

I wonder if it’s Poe week at GR because I know Poe is being recommended to me.........last night when I was doing my Robert Crais research he kept popping up.  At least it was thrillers that time...........

[Kareni]

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

A survey I ran into........Which Generation Reads the Most     https://allaboutromance.com/which-generation-reads-the-most-a-handy-infographic/.  

That was interesting, mumto2; thanks for sharing the link. What I find sobering is the percentage of people who read a (one) book over the last year. Since I typically read well over a hundred books a year and many of us here read upwards of twenty-five or fifty-two books, that means that far fewer than the percent stated are reading any books at all...which I find sad.

Regards,

Kareni

[Junie]

So now I'm curious about Bible reading statistics. :)

I just looked up some statistics, and worldwide only 25-30 percent of the population identifies as Christian.  I doubt that most Christians read the Bible for an hour-plus a day.  In certain populations and in certain countries, those numbers will be high, but in the U.S. that is not my experience.  I wish it were true that the people I go to church with (and me/my family) read the Bible for an hour a day, but I know that it isn't.

This survey backs up the Bible-reading numbers in the graphic that @mumto2 linked earlier, but I have found several other surveys that don't.

A survey by lifeway shows that only 32% of Christians (not the population in general) read the Bible every day (with no mention of time spent).  

And this one says that only 13% of people read the Bible every day (with no mention of time spent).

 

I have heard before that American Christians are spoiled and lazy -- that we don't take our faith as seriously as believers in other countries.  I think that might be part of the difference between my experience and @Dreamergal 's.

I have been attending a hispanic church service since last fall and I have noticed that the believers in the Spanish-speaking service seem to be much more serious about prayer than those who attend the English-speaking service.  I'm guessing that this is probably true of Bible reading as well.

Anyway, it's something to think about.  Part of my reading goal for this year is to read the Old Testament in English and the New Testament in Spanish.  So far I am on track to finishing both of those goals, but I don't think I spend an hour a day reading the Bible.  (Most of my reading is in small chunks of time, so I really don't know how much time I spend reading anything.)

 

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Junie

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolph Erich Raspe

 "The fantastic story of the semimythical folk hero who has delighted generations of readers all over the world

Published anonymously in 1785, The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen defies logic, the laws of physics, and even rational thought.
 
Karl Friedrich von Munchausen, also known as the Baron of Lies, was a retired army captain famed for his outlandish accounts of his war and hunting exploits. In this “memoir,” Munchausen regales readers with stories of dancing in the belly of a whale and riding on a horse cut in two. Other escapades include a balloon expedition to the moon, an encounter with the goddess Venus, a fiery battle with the Turkish army, and the experience of being swallowed up by a monstrous creature in the South Seas.
 
It was not until 1824 that Rudolf Erich Raspe was revealed as the book’s author. Although most of Munchausen’s tales sprang from Raspe’s imagination, the author is reputed to have known the notorious baron personally."

**

Also free ~

The Watchmaker's Daughter (Glass and Steele Book 1)

How to Marry the Last Billionaire on Earth (Operation Billionaire Trilogy Book 3) by Elise Sax

Hot Mess (Hot Aussie Knights Book 1) by Amy Andrews

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I just finished Our Child of the Stars  by Stephen Cox; I found this a rather engaging read. 

 "In this magical, bewitching debut, Molly and Gene Myers' marriage is on the brink of collapse. Then a child arrives, with a remarkable appearance. Will he bring them together, or tear their whole world apart?

Molly and Gene Myers were happy, until tragedy blighted their hopes of children. During the years of darkness and despair, they each put their marriage in jeopardy, but now they are starting to rebuild their fragile bond.

This is the year of Woodstock and the moon landings; war is raging in Vietnam and the superpowers are threatening each other with annihilation.

Then the Meteor crashes into Amber Grove, devastating the small New England town - and changing their lives for ever. Molly, a nurse, caught up in the thick of the disaster, is given care of a desperately ill patient rescued from the wreckage: a sick boy with a remarkable appearance, an orphan who needs a mother.

And soon the whole world will be looking for him.

Cory's arrival has changed everything. And the Myers will do anything to keep him safe.

A remarkable story of warmth, tenacity and generosity of spirit, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade. "

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

@mumto2 I have mostly finished Monkeys Raincoat.  I think Suspect is a much better book.  It is nice to have a sense of an author growing though. Let me know what you think. 

[Kareni]

Free for Kindle readers ~

Today only, LGBT romance: Served Hot (Portland Heat Book 1)

Paranormal mystery: Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser Series Book 1)

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I finished the first in a new mystery series about a young female doctor in the early 1900’s.  I hesitate to call it a cozy because it didn’t really feel cozy although it met the broad requirements................A Deadly Affection  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28628211-a-deadly-affection by Cuyler Overholt.  The young female doctor is exploring the field of psychiatry and sort of stumbles into a form of group therapy as a leader.  One of her patients tells her a tale of giving birth at 15 and her baby being stolen from her by her doctor (who she still goes to btw)..........this starts the story off.  Triggers exist which I hesitate to list because the ending is ruined if I do.  One interesting side note is the book explores Huntington’s disease when very little was known about genetics...........I gave it a 4* and do plan to read the second in the series.  

[mumto2]

The description of this Kindle freebie Lightwave Clocker book 1  makes me think it has potential for fans of Space Opera’s https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40196465-lightwave?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PaJVr3rslL&rank=1. The description reminds me of Linesman so I bought it for free from Amazon.  Lots of good reviews...... wondering if . @Kareni has heard of it?

[Kareni]

14 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

The description of this Kindle freebie Lightwave Clocker book 1  makes me think it has potential for fans of Space Opera’s https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40196465-lightwave?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PaJVr3rslL&rank=1. The description reminds me of Linesman so I bought it for free from Amazon.  Lots of good reviews...... wondering if . @Kareni has heard of it?

I downloaded it a few days ago, but it is languishing in my enormous to be read pile. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you get to it before I do!

Here's an Amazon link for others:

Lightwave: Clocker (Folding Space Series Book 1)

Regards,

Kareni