What are you reading currently?
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Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
British officer returns from Waterloo to find his family in debt and disgrace because of his father's scams and suicide. Now working as an investigator of clemency appeals for condemned prisoners, he is expected to just confirm the verdict, but he's sure an accused is innocent and sets out to find the real killer.
A departure for Cornwell, an historic murder mystery and a good one at that! There were places that I found repetitious and dragged out, and there was something about the ending I wasn't keen on (but that's just me), still the characters are well-rounded and compelling and the mystery plot well-planned and executed (pun!) I am surprised with such great characters and setting that it wasn't made into a series. It was still a very engrossing and entertaining novel on a par with Gabaldon's Lord John series.0 -
--The Flame Bearer (The Last Kingdom #10) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
Our beloved Uhtred has a plan to take back his family's impenetrable fortress of Bebbenburg from his cousin, by stealth and cunning. But deadly attacks by the Scots from the North and Saxon enemies from the South keep distracting him from his goal. A powerful old enemy is onto him and races to warn and support the cousin.
--War of the Wolf (The Last Kingdom #11) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
Life is never easy for the aging Uhtred. He is called to defend Anglaland from Sköll, an extremely brutal Norseman and Uhtred's daughter's killer, who, like Uhtred, also fights under a wolf standard. Uhtred has a skirmish with Sköll's son that leaves the young man a brain-damaged invalid. Now the war for the new nation has become really personal.
When it comes to historical fiction, nobody does it better than Cornwell, and this is his best anti-heroic hero and best series ever, IMHO, as narrated from the POV of the acerbic, fatalistic bad*** Uhtred. You not only get to read some of the most exciting and engrossing battle novels ever written, but with the side effect of now knowing more early English history than you ever thought possible.
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LadyCalico2 wrote: »--The Flame Bearer (The Last Kingdom #10) by Bernard Cornwell (5*)
When it comes to historical fiction, nobody does it better than Cornwell, and this is his best anti-heroic hero and best series ever, IMHO, as narrated from the POV of the acerbic, fatalistic bad*** Uhtred. You not only get to read some of the most exciting and engrossing battle novels ever written, but with the side effect of now knowing more early English history than you ever thought possible.
I have these on my TBR mountain, and I enjoyed the first season of The Last Kingdom TV show. It reminded me a lot of Vikings on History and when that moved to Amazon Prime I continued watching Vikings and kind of quit The Last Kingdom (which is a Netflix show now, was BBC). I imagine that the books are very much superior to a TV show. Cornwell is such a prolific writer and I want to read some of his stuff, he has the Sharpe's books, the Starbuck Chronicles, King Arthur trilogy, The Grail Quest, and some others; I don't know where to start.
I said I would finish this cheesy western by Johnstone and I will, then on to something new (and hopefully exciting). The Star Trek book I finished up this morning, it was the best of the Discovery novelizations so far in my opinion, if you are a fan of the show.0 -
Currently reading Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting so far.
Just finished Defending Jacob by William Landy - Had a book hangover from this one so it's taking me a bit to get into my current reading.2 -
Currently reading The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies. I think I heard about it on Spark People, but perhaps it was elsewhere. In any case, it's quite dated in some ways, but I'm sticking with it for two reasons. 1) it's set in a Canadian university and has some humorous moments and I like academic comic novels and 2) it's part of a trilogy and the second part is supposed to be really special.
So glad to find you all here, especially Lady Calico and Catfish Fan from the old World of Books!
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Oooh, I've got Mexican Gothic waiting to be read, I hope it's good too!Currently reading Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting so far.
I finished The Once And Future Witches, so good! I also read The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was a fun read for Pride! My next is also a YA Pride pick, too, Love & Other Curses, it's got me hooked already.1 -
kellibee2000 wrote: »
This author is on my mountainous TBR list too. I have Mexican Gothic on audiobook already. It won the Nebula award and the Goodreads Choice award for horror, so it was on my radar. Hopefully I'll get to it soon.
I'm now reading the third book of the Cursebreakers trilogy by Brigid Kemmerer, A Vow So Bold and Deadly. I'm not very far into it so I don't yet see how the series will concude.
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I finished that, but forgot to add the other one that was squeezed in recently, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. It is the prequel to The Hate U Give. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. It was a backstory about the family in THUG, very compelling.
My library had Mexican Gothic actually checked in on e-book so I will begin that one next.1 -
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (5*)
Two cop families live next door, one plagued by mental illness and alcoholism. The son of one and the daughter of the other develop a deep and committed relationship opposed by both families. When something horrible happens, a chain of events starts that will have consequences that take 34 years to overcome. This is an excellent and oh so real novel but one that is serious, deep, and complex. The multidimensional characters in here are human, flawed, injured, and makes mistakes, just like us. Forgiveness is not forgetting, and you may forgive by suppressing your feelings but that doesn't mean the harm done to you is gone and may still come back to bite you until you deal honesty with the damage and really come to terms with it.1 -
I'm reading some good stuff, but I have way too much reading to do on my plate.
Right now its Impetuous Innocent, by Stephanie Laurens.
So far, so good. I'm enjoying it. I actually really enjoy Robyn Carr novels. Those are awesome!2 -
I'm reading book 7 in the Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey, Killing Pretty. I think you kind of must have to be from Generation X to "get" these books and enjoy them very much. They are easy, silly reads but I am entertained. They are getting better as the series goes along too, the first book was a little bit rough. They are profane, a tad, and twisted, have some language, and are not for everyone.1
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I just finished The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies, which was just plain weird by the end. Now I've started Chapayev and the Void by Viktor Pelevin. It's also odd, a mashup of history with odd twists and turns, but I'm enjoying it so far.2
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The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (4*)
I initially found this book very engrossing and was really hooked when the bad stuff started coming down. However, as it became more complex and implausible, I grew less intrigued. It is still a better than average suspense novel, but could have been better if some of the rougher absurdities were better polished. If you love suspense novels, you will probably enjoy this one.1 -
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline (5*)
I was surprised to see Scottoline's name on a serious historical novel. It was a pleasant surprise since this book turned out to be really great! The characters are realistic and well-developed, the dialogue natural and believable, the story gripping, and the historical background well-researched and authentic. Even though the characters are fictional, the things that happened to them could indeed have occurred to real people during those dangerous times of the Nazi regime in Italy.1 -
I have been neglecting my Kindle Unlimited and Audible Plus memberships, so I am going to try to throw some of those into my reading list each month. I'm reading Skysworn (Cradle series #4) by Will Wight. I have read reviews by others that mention that this is a series, not a bunch of stand-alone books, so if you do not intend to commit to the entire fantasy series then don't waste your time. I am on book 4 of 9 and finding that to be the case, the story keeps going and going. This series is both in KU and a free checkout for Audible members on Audible Plus, so I can immersion read it. Like most KU books, it is ok but not spectacular. Easy reading, sometimes that is what I'm in the mood for (not always a Pulitzer Prize winner).0
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Thanks entirely to LadyCalico, I am reading The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in three parts by Richard Peck. I've just started by absolutely LOVE the language and the atmosphere. I found it in the juvenile section of the library, but if that's where they've shelved Richard Peck, I think I will be returning. This is exactly what I've been craving: humor, wit, fun.... THANK YOU, LADY CALICO!!0
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I finished The Teacher's Funeral and love it. I'll be beating down the doors of the library tomorrow for two more books by Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. What wonderful language he has?1
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FitMary202 wrote: »I finished The Teacher's Funeral and love it. I'll be beating down the doors of the library tomorrow for two more books by Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. What wonderful language he has?
I loved those books. I read them on audiobook format, short and quick ones. I rated both of those 5* on Goodreads. As for the rest of the Richard Peck books, I have yet to read them but I see my library has several more in audio format.
I continued the Cradle series by Will Wight and I'm now on book 7, Uncrowned. The series isn't super but it is entertaining enough to continue for now.1 -
So everyone knew about Richard Peck but me? Well, glad to learn about him now! I've stated A Long Way from Chicago and really enjoying it. I also got Robertson Davies's What's Bred in the Bone and I'm starting it. So nice to have books to help get through the heat wave!1
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I started a long one that has been on my list forever, Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon. It is horror, I didn't read the blurb on Goodreads (because I prefer to be surprised by the plot myself), but I take it that this is kind of like Stephen King's The Stand. And just about as long. I have never read anything by this author so I don't really know what to expect.0
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--The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (3*)
Group therapist travels to Cambridge University when a series of murders comes uncomfortably close to her niece. Although this is an engrossing whodunnit, there are a few things that really bothered me about it. The story was uncomfortably similar to Donna Tartt's A Secret History and the ending's way too similar to Agatha Christie's ABC Murders. The ending involves one of my most unacceptable pet peeves in mysteries, the ridiculously complex and implausible plan involving needless extremes and idiotic risks required for the killer to pull off an absurd murder plot. Seriously, why bother? Excessive murders and complexities just make it more likely to get caught, so nobody's actually as stupid as the criminals in this story. KISS, murderous dummies! Very weak ending!
--A Man at Arms by Steven Pressfield (4*)
Retired Roman officer turned mercenary is offered a release from criminal charges if he can bring in the people carrying Paul's letter to the Corinthians. I found this to be an engrossing and enjoyable novel but lacking in realism. There were too many implausibilities, sadly, the plot itself. It was so unbelievable that the Romans would exert that extreme of manpower, trouble, and expense over an innocuous letter, carried by some minor peasants, when they had very serious and real terrorism from the deadly zealots to deal with in those days. A little toning down of the overkill would have helped. There are good points to this novel that make it a very worthwhile read and I wished I could have rated it higher based on those alone. In short, an otherwise great book that requires a a suspension of disbelief in places.1 -
FitMary202 wrote: »So everyone knew about Richard Peck but me? Well, glad to learn about him now! I've stated A Long Way from Chicago and really enjoying it. I also got Robertson Davies's What's Bred in the Bone and I'm starting it. So nice to have books to help get through the heat wave!
A year Down Yonder is the best IMHO since Peck's found his stride and has polished and perfected the characters, but the whole series is worth the time. Please don't overlook the third book A Season of Gifts which is set 20 years later, but old age has not diminished Grandma Dowdel's conniving, just honed it, and the new preacher in town has a lot to learn from her on how to really keep community sinners in order. It's available on internetarchive.1 -
Thank you for the extra tip, Lady Calico! I am so happy to have learned about Richard Peck!!1
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Started A Year Down Yonder, and I rushed to the library today to pick up A Season of Gifts. Even the librarian got excited for me! And I've also started Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden, and it already seems interesting so WIN-WIN! Thank you!!!2
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The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (The Henna Artist #2) by Alka Joshi (5*)
It's 1969 and the grown up canny street kid Malik apprentices with the Jaipur Public Works. When a deadly balcony collapse occurs in a grand new theater, Malik's boss and old family friend is scapegoated to take the blame. But Malik and his guardian Lakshmi's keen intuition tell them that this cover-up is baloney, so they set out to find the truth. Just as good if not better than The Henna Artist. This second volume involves a very intriguing mystery that those with power and money do not want solved, since it is more convenient to just push little people under the bus to protect their own kind.2 -
Finished Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Was interesting, but I had a hard time getting into it. I don't have any knowledge of Mayan mythology so this was new to me. Give it 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars on Good Reads). I am definitely interested in reading more of her works.
Next up Daylight - David Baldacci. 3rd in the Atlee Pine series. Not an author that I usually read, but was given the 2nd book as a Christmas gift one year, so went and got the 1st one in the series. Supposedly in this book we finally find out what happened to Atlee's sister, so have to see where this story goes.2 -
I finished Swan Song by Robert McCammon tonight. I would say that if you've read The Stand by Stephen King that this is a dud. Since The Stand was written in 1978 and Swan Song was written in 1987, I am surprised that there wasn't a lawsuit. Probably beneath King to sue over this. Instead of a virus killing everyone it was a nuclear war, and it included many of the elements of The Stand, but was slightly varied. I gave it a generous 3 (rounded up from 2.5) on Goodreads, I did finish it and I was entertained at points, but it was 35 hours on audio so it was almost a DNF a couple of times!
Now I am reading The River Between Us by Richard Peck. It isn't funny, about 1861, and won a Scott O'Dell award (along with being runners for other awards). I don't know what a Scott O'Dell award is, I'll have to look that one up. This book, like most of Peck's books, is short.2 -
I'm going to put The River Between Us on my list as well. The restrained emotions he describes just seem so "real" to me. Yesterday I was struck, for example, by his description of the pause for silence at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to commemorate the loses of WWI. I can still remember when we did that in my little home town in Wyoming...2
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FitMary202 wrote: »I'm going to put The River Between Us on my list as well. The restrained emotions he describes just seem so "real" to me. Yesterday I was struck, for example, by his description of the pause for silence at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to commemorate the loses of WWI. I can still remember when we did that in my little home town in Wyoming...
I got out The River Between Us and On the Wings of Heroes at the same time but enjoyed "Wings" much more. It is a really sweet story about a young boy trying to do his best (but not always succeeding) to help on the homefront as his older brother goes off to fight in WWII. But I'm really a sucker for WWII books!2 -
On the Wings of Heroes is going straight on my list as well then. "Sweet" and "real"---that's a rare but winning combination. Thanks again for the recommendations! 0
