Monday, October 22, 2018

What We're Reading


INGRID THOFT
It's time for another edition of "What We're Reading" here at Jungle Reds.  I always love to hear what the other Reds and all of you are enjoying; my TBR pile threatens to topple over after getting so many terrific suggestions!

I just finished MONUMENT ROAD by Michael Wiley, which is a terrific, unique novel featuring an investigator in Florida.  Michael will be my guest on Wednesday, and I'll let him tell you more about the book.  WILD FIRE the final Jimmy Perez book by Ann Cleeves is off to  strong start, although I suspect I won't want it to end.  I'm looking forward to the latest Jodi Picoult, A SPARK OF LIGHT and I'm saving the new Robert Galbraith, LETHAL WHITE for an upcoming vacation.  I gave in and will be reading that one electronically; if I were to drop the hardcover on my face when drowsy, I might break my nose!

How about you, Reds?  What are you enjoying in the book department these days?


LUCY BURDETTE: What we're reading can never come too often for me! I finished HOW TO FIND LOVE IN A BOOKSHOP by Veronica Henry and loved it. It's perfect for readers who are desperate for some happy endings after difficult life events (like me!) I also loved Juliet Blackwell's THE LOST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE, with multiple strands from two periods in the past and one in the present and lots of French countryside and chateau viewings. And I've just started Joshilyn Jackson's GODS IN ALABAMA and Hemingway's MOVEABLE FEAST, which I'm chagrined not to have read before!


HALLIE EPHRON: I'm reading THE CHILD by Fiona Barton. Just started it but intrigued by the multiple viewpoint and the SECRET... which I'm sure will be revealed. Also reading Ellen Byron's latest, MARDI GRAS MURDER. And Amy Stewart's GIRL WAITS WITH A GUN. I'm *watching* SCOTT AND BAILEY on Amazon. That show is so smart and so character-driven, it's like reading a many chaptered superb novel.

RHYS BOWEN: I just finished THE STRANGER DIARIES by Elly Griffiths. I'm not sure when it's going to be released in the States but I think it's out in UK now. It's terrific--gothic, multiple narrators, a creepy school, an old story...not usually my cup of tea but it's well written. And now I've also just started a Juliet Blackwell: THE PARIS KEY. I've had such a stressful time recently that I needed a Paris fix.


DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love "What We're Reading!" Last week I read LETHAL WHITE, the new Robert Galbraith, which I loved. But it did take me a week! I'm behind on everything else, though. I just finished THE CHALK PIT by Elly Griffiths, so now need to read the newest Ruth Galloway, THE DARK ANGEL, to see what happens next. I've been hearing a lot of good buzz about the Elly Griffiths standalone, THE STRANGER DIARIES so have that on my list. I seem to have read Ann Cleeves' Shetland books in bits and pieces, so would like to go back and start the series from the beginning before I read WILD FIRE. I will be reading a good bit on my Kindle the next month, as on Tuesday I fly to the UK for three and a half weeks. Of course, I suspect there will be some book shop finds there, too!

On the watching front, I discovered the UK TV adaptation of the Cormoran Strike books (Robert Galbraith/aka JK Rowling) which are available on Amazon Prime for a couple of bucks an episode. These are so good that I'm sad I only have one episode left. I'm hoping that LETHAL WHITE will air in the UK while I'm there.

INGRID: I loved the STRIKE TV series, Debs.  I'm jealous you might get to see the newest installment while in the UK!

JENN MCKINLAY: Currently, I am on deadline with a book due Nov 1, galleys due Oct 23, and revisions due Oct 30. There is little to no reading happening for me. LOL! I am, however, listening to ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE while I walk my dogs every day and, interestingly (to me), I don't think I would like this book nearly as much as I do if not for the incredible narration by Cathleen McCarron. She is absolutely brilliant. I'm not a big fan of unlikable protagonists but the narration, hearing Eleanor in my head like this, is making me reluctantly fond of her. I'm halfway through so we'll see how it wraps up.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  I am reading for a contest, so I can’t tell you everything :-) but out of the contest  (not eligible) THE 71/2 DEATH OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE.  It is an amazing tour de force of point of view, and I am loving it.   I also read  Katy Tur’s UNBELIEVABLE,  her chronicle of covering the election of 2016. It is absolutely wonderfully riveting.  And I just finished Louise Candlish’s OUR HOUSE ,  that was also terrific! One of those ideas that you think… Wow.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Raving about Joshilyn Jackson made me check her website, and sure enough, I missed a book last summer. Just downloaded ALMOST SISTERS. I bought and read THE CONSUMING FIRE, the second novel in John Scalzi's Interdependency series, in one night. So good, and I continue to steer people who are SF curious to Scalzi. Very approachable writing that values characters over technological whiz-bang.

Audio book in the car is non-fiction: HERE IS WHERE: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History. The author, Andrew Carroll, traveled all over the country looking for the spots where significant historical events have happened - and then forgotten.  I'm loving it, and it's perfect for the car or brief periods of reading.

What about all of you?  Please add to our already toppling TBR piles!

83 comments:

  1. Today, I finished up Yule Log Murder, a collection of three novellas by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross. Next up is Killed on Blueberry Hill by Sharon Farrow.

    Honestly, I'm pretty much booked the rest of the year (pun definitely intended) with many wonderful new releases coming out from the likes of Victoria Thompson, Nancy Cole Silverman, Maddie Day, Krista Davis, Laura Bradford.... That's off the top of my head, and I'm sure I'm leaving people out. It's a blessing and a curse trying to get all these books in by the end of the year.

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    1. sounds like such a fun season of reading Mark!

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    2. How will you have time for your running /training. Mark? :)

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    3. Mark, I know that I'm looking forward to the new Maddie Day novel "Murder on Cape Cod".

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  2. Ingrid, I love seeing what everyone else is reading, but then there are so many books to add to my to-be-read pile!
    I’ve just finished Ted Dekker’s “Rise of the Mystics” and Mitch Albom’s “The Next Person You Meet in Heaven” and am now reading another Albom book, “The Time Keeper.”
    What else have I read recently? A couple of Neil Armstrong biographies “First Man” and “A Life of Flight” . . . Gene Cernan’s “The Last Man on the Moon” . . . “Always Another Dawn” by Scott Crossfield . . . Joanne Fluke’s “Christmas Cake Murder” . . . Lisa Unger’s “Under My Skin” . . . James Patterson’s “Ambush” . . . Christian White’s “The Nowhere Child” . . . an ARC of Erik Therme’s “Keep Her Close” . . . .

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    1. Joan, I'm curious about the Neil Armstrong bios. Was he as disconnected and unemotional as the movie allegedly depicts him?

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    2. Yay for Lisa Unger! SO pleased..xoo And yes, your Armstrong binge--did you see the movie?

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    3. I saw the movie the day it opened, Hank, and enjoyed it very much. I appreciated that the filmmakers got it “right” that the space missions were hard and dangerous and required a great deal of sacrifice on the part of the men flying them. The astronauts were “on the edge of their seats” throughout their missions, never knowing what challenge might spring up or what unexpected situation they might have to address. The movie made you feel as if you were right there in the spacecraft with the astronauts . . . it was absolutely amazing!

      Ingrid, I wouldn’t describe Neil Armstrong as either disconnected or unemotional, but he did keep things to himself; he had a well-deserved reputation for being very private and not seeking publicity. He just wanted to do his job in the best way possible. As a pilot, he had a reputation, both in aircraft and spacecraft, for being virtually unflappable, able to handle any situation with exceptional calm. I interpreted the character in the film as having grace rather than as being unemotional.

      Perhaps the loss of his daughter at the age of two had something to do with him keeping his emotions “locked down” and to himself; losing a child is unfathomably tragic and makes you a completely different person than you were before that loss.

      In any event, when I met him, I found him to be very gracious and friendly.

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  3. There's been a break in my work schedule so I've been able to get in a lot of reading. This week it was Robert Galbraith's Lethal White followed by Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Jenn, please give Eleanor a chance. I think you may develop a real fondness for her once you get to see all of her. I loved the book. I've ordered Catriona McPherson's Go to My Grave. While I'm waiting for that to arrive I've started Jess Lourey's March of Crime. Not much tv this week other than Dr. Who, season 11. Loving the new Doctor!

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    1. Lyda, I spent the first 2/3 of Eleanor wondering why I was sticking with the character, but I admit, there was an excellent payoff at the end!

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    2. Clearly I need to read a "Robert Galbraith" novel...

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    3. You will love Go To My Grave---Catriona is brilliant!

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    4. Lyda - I'm really loving Eleanor right now. I think I've hit that spot where she is growing and her past is being slowly revealed and I am so intrigued but also worried. The writing is truly brilliant.

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  4. So many great titles! I'm on the verge of finishing Mardi Gras Murder and can't wait to start Jessie Crockett's (written as Jessica Ellicott) new Beryl and Edwina mystery.

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  5. I think my reading list is almost entirely informed by Jungle Red. I just finished E. J. Copperman's delightful "Bird, Bath, and Beyond," with a couple of his Haunted Guesthouse books on deck so I can catch up with that series. I'm also reading Hank's "Trust Me" in tiny bites. (It's not you, Hank, it's me; there are triggers, so I'm taking it slowly. It's terrific writing, and great characters.) Thanks to the Reds I've discovered Catriona McPherson, so I'm four books into the Dandy Gilver series. And at some point I'm going to have to sort out and sell some of these books that I've already read so my floor doesn't collapse! Thanks for all the great suggestions.

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  6. I'm reading Bart Paul's "Under Tower Peak" and Julia Spencer-Fleming's "In The Bleak Midwinter".

    I'm also reading a couple of comic trade paperbacks.

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    1. I'm not familiar with the Bart Paul book, Jay, but of course, I love Julia's books!

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    2. Jay, I always have to curb my curiosity when you mention the comics. My son maintains a webpage and also contributes to one on the Eisner nominated blogs. He's taking me to the con in LA this weekend so I can get some background for a short story idea I have. It should be fun!

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    3. Ingrid, the book is about an ex-military sniper. I saw it in an ad in Mystery Scene and it looked good so I ordered it. Finally getting around to reading it.

      I'm also looking forward to starting two books (prose) that I picked up at the comic convention last weekend. The first is a sci-fi novel called "Infinite Velocity". It's by a guy named Colin Carlton. The pitch for the book is "Imagine if the crew of Serenity found an abandoned starship Enterprise. 10 second pitch and I was sold.

      The other book I got from author Stacey Longo, who was one of the three authors on a writer's panel called "Anthologies and the New Writer" that I attended while at the comic convention. I enjoyed the panel so I talked to all three writers and ended up with a copy of her "My Sister The Zombie" book.

      Lyda, I'm by no means an expert just a big fan of comics. But the collections I'm reading are Volume 9 of The New Teen Titans and Volume 1 of Marvel Two-In-One.

      You should have a real eye opening time at the LA convention. Wait til you get a load of the creativity of cosplayers.

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  7. Last night I finished "The Dream Daughter" by Diane Chamberlain. Very, very good! Next up is Lisa Unger's "Under My Skin".

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    1. Lisa is a dear pal of mine--she will be so happy to see this!

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  8. I enthusiastically second Hallie's rave for Scott & Bailey on Amazon Prime. It has it all: gritty Manchester setting, realistic police procedural context, complex characters--flawed but talented and committed. The relationship between the two main cops--Scott and Bailey--is so nuanced and authentic, capturing the subtle interplay between friendship and loyalty to the force. Alas, I think the series is over,and the last series (6) seems to have only 3 episodes .Best to start at the beginning and prepare yourself for a treat and, as Hallie suggests, the television version of a superb novel.

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    1. Couldn't agree more! Love Scott and Bailey!

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    2. For a while it was impossible to find on any of the channels I stream, so happy to find it on Amazon. S&B is up there with Vera... which has sadly now jumped over to Britbox from Acorn. :(

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    3. Oh, dear, Hallie, I'm afraid I am going to have to pay for Britbox...

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  9. Ann Cleeves, Wild Fire, the last (sniffle) Jimmy Perez book. It's not as intricately written with fewer POV, which made it a faster read. Paul Munier, A Borrowing of Bones, loved the dogs, setting, and naturalized artwork in the woods. Lisa Scottoline, Feared, with the crew at Rosato and DiNunzio law firm.

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  10. Julia, you will love Almost Sisters. Look for Joss Jackson's essay about the personal reason she wrote this book; it's so like her, and poignant.

    I'm reading non-mysteries at the moment, since I'm still slogging through Midsomer Mysteries on Netflix. This week I'm reading Louise Erdreich's The Plague of Doves, for book club, while taking a break from Christopher Moore's very quirky Lamb. The latter is a retelling of the story of Jesus Christ, from the standpoint of his best friend Levi, known as Biff. And it fills in the missing years of Jesus's life before he turned 30 and showed up in the Gospels in the Bible. It's really good, thought-provoking, and hilarious. I have to finish it because I borrowed it from my son-in-law, and they're coming to visit in a couple weeks.

    This weekend I volunteered at Cincinnati's Books by the Banks festival, and bought a signed copy of Sara Paretsky's new VI Warshawski book, Shell Game. And then I drove to Indianapolis to attend Magna Cum Murder, which was also fun. (I missed Margaret Turkevich by an hour, it seems!)

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    1. The newest V.I. Is on my list Karen!

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    2. I loved Almost Sisters! Where can I find the essay you mentioned, Karen?

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    3. I have to get the new Sara Paretsky novel too.

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    4. Judi, I've looked, but can't find it, sorry!

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  11. I recently finished Anne Cleeland's "Murder in Containment," Hank's "Trust Me" (wonderful, of course!) and "Murder at the Book Group" by Maggie King. Like Mark, I'm pretty much "booked up" for the remainder of the year. I have started "The Last Time I Lied" by Riley Sager and "The Shape of Water" by Andrea Camilleri, and have queued up "Lethal White" by Robert Galbraith, "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman, "The Vampire Knitting Club" by Nancy Warren, Louise Penny's new release, and a few more. Plus now I think I have to add Elly Griffiths' standalone!

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  12. Let me see, books I've read in the last week:
    Death of a Rainmaker by Laurie Lowenstein. This unknown book by an unknown author is worth knowing.
    The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton: A standalone, not my favorite. Great if you're into the paranormal.
    The Witch Elm, Tana French: Another standalone. I prefer her quasi-series, each featuring a character from the previous book. And it was too long, but then I didn't have to read it, did I.
    Unsheltered, by Barbara Kingsolver. Beautifully written although the 150 gap between chapters makes for an odious comparison. I prefer the contemporary characters and story to the post Civil War one. Still, the way her voice changes between 1870 and now is amazing. She was the first writer I ever met, decades ago, at a reading of The Bean Trees,decades ago in Long Beach. I couldn't afford to buy the hardback, so I never got her to sign for me.

    I have Jess Lourey's latest, Mercy's Chase, at the top of my pile, and I'm panting for Catriona's new standalone, always a treat. And how long do I have to wait to go back to Three Pines?

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    1. I am the raison d'etre for all of you. Now please go back to your writing. xox

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    2. Ann, I think Louise's book is out in November.

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    3. You are fabulous. You are an INSPIRATION!

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    4. Thanks for the heads up on the Bolton, Ann. I really didn't like her last stand alone Guess I have to wait for the next series book!

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  13. Deb, I too am rereading the Shetland books. How the characters have grown and changed over the years. And how Ann's voice has developed. I hope you enjoy Wild Fire as much as I did. There's a little easter egg on the last page!

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  14. Hank, I read THE 7 1/2 DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE (picked up an ARC at Bouchercon) and it is amazing! Truly a captivating narrative and I am slightly in awe of the POV tricks.

    I am slowly working my way through COTTONMOUTHS, not a new book, by Kim Ford. It is...gripping, but I have to read slowly and in chunks or else I think I'd be overwhelmed by the emotion.

    I was able to pick up a copy of Reavis Wortham's latest Sonny Hawke thriller, HAWLKE'S WAR, at Magna Cum Murder this past weekend, so that's next up.

    As a palate cleanser, I'm revisiting some fantasy books from my teen years, Roger Zelazny's CHRONICLES OF AMBER, and THE DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES. Not deep, but terribly nostalgic and fun in their own way.

    Mary/Liz

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    1. Oh, Mary/Liz, I read Zelazny's books. What fun.

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    2. Mary, so pleased you enjoyed Evelyn! What a tour de force, right?

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    3. Deborah, I finally managed to track down a copy of the fifth book. But I wasn't in love with the second five books, about Merlin, Corwin's son. I kind of felt like it was a "and then they went home" ending.

      Hank, yes! I thought it was a brilliant manipulation of time.

      Mary/Liz

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  15. I'm on a bit of a UK binge (as often happens):
    Finishing up THIRTEEN, the new book from Steve Cavanaugh, which has one of the most impressive hooks I have ever heard - it's a courtroom drama in which a serial killer is in the jury box.
    The new Karen Pirie novel from Val McDermid is one that that series' best.
    I too loved both The 7 1/2 DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE (which in the UK only included 7 deaths, LOL) and OUR HOUSE (as Hank says, a very clever hook to that one too).
    Next up is THE STONE DIARIES by Elly Griffith and then hopefully the second book in Ragnar Jonasson's excellent new series.

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    1. Was 13 graphic or really scary? Fraidy cat asking.

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    2. Ingrid, THIRTEEN is not particularly excessive in its violence. At least so far. It's more of a court-room drama. The scenes from the serial killers POV are the scariest, but they are not gratuitous and can be skimmed if needed.

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  16. That is SO interesting, Kristopher! And I'm wondering where it makes it more suspenseful to add the half, right? Since there are 8 people, aren't there? And OUR HOUSE, wow. You think--HOW is she gonna get out of this?

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    1. Yes, there are 8 people and I think the extra 1/2 is such an intriguing element to the title that it pretty much guarantees that browsers would pick up the book to see what the heck that actually means. But the UK version was first and did perfectly well, so what do I know.

      As for OUR HOUSE. I expect really big things from Cavendish in the future. This one was so impressive.

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    2. Ha, I wondered why on Goodreads it was listed as "Then 7 Deaths." Yes, I think the "1/2" adds an element.

      Mary/Liz

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    3. Here's a short article on the name change of this book from the UK edition to the US and a mention of some other books, too. https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2018/sep/13/us-uk-book-titles-changed

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  18. Thanks for all the great suggestions! As if I needed more books to read, LOL.

    I'm reading Cara Black's Murder in St. Germain, but may have to leave it unfinished when I take off for London tomorrow. Or give in to temptation and buy it on my Kindle, too... I'm also read Nicola Upson's London Rain, one of her series featuring Josephine Tey as the sleuth. As a huge fan of Tey, I wasn't sure about dipping into this series. The writing, however, is lovely, and the descriptions of 1930s London are incredibly vivid. Can't say about the plot yet as I'm only half way through. I do wish I'd started the series from the beginning as there is a good deal of ongoing relationship stuff.

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    1. And tell our friend Kate Charles hello. I am regularly beating her these days

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  19. Shalom Reds. I just yesterday finished listening to the audiobook W.E.B. Dubois’ The Souls of Black Folk. I found it on CastBox, which is otherwise a podcast app because my go-to podcast app was not posting episodes reliably. It was in the audiobook section but was erroneously categorized as Fiction. I had expected the history and sociology to be a bit dry but instead found Dubois language to be almost poetic and the narrator’s work made the text very easy to apprehend. Perhaps this will give me the motivation to find and pick up the first volume of David Levering Lewis’ biography of Dubois which I got this year from Amazon Marketplace and have misplaced. I also just received by parcel post the book Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. I had borrowed it from our local library twice but failed to finish it so I bought the hardcover edition from Amazon. This is an academic text, so I may have to be content with slow progress.

    On the mystery and police beat genre, I am also on the waiting list at the library for the book The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves. I am interested in this because I have recently finished 5 out of 7 sets of the television series Vera and found them all marvelous. All seven sets (each including 4 episodes) are available on the library app Hoopla.

    Our local Bucks County Free Library is having its annual book sale starting today. I really don’t need any more books but I will probably find it hard to resist particularly with a little cash in my pocket. The sale goes on for a week and the prices fall as we get to the end of the week.

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  20. I had a lengthy response typed out and lost it. (Saying curse words and frown on face.) I will summarize.

    Most of you know how much I love Elly Griffiths/Domenica de Rosa, so I'm thrilled to see her books mentioned multiple times here. Dom's Ruth Galloway series is one I've been completely besotted with for years, and then she goes and writes another brilliant series in the Stephens and Mephisto (The Magic Men) series, which I also love. Her latest in that, The Vanishing Box, was just out here in the states and is wonderful. Her stand-alone, The Stranger Diaries, had me glued to the pages in a state of euphoric reading ecstasy. It will be out Nov. 1st in the UK and March 5th in the states. Her next Ruth Galloway, The Stone Circle, will be out in February in the UK and in May here in the states.

    Some of the other amazing reading I've done lately and early was Lou Berney's November Road, Catriona McPherson's Go to My Grave, and Anne Cleeland's Murder in Spite (the Doyle & Acton series I love so much). I read Kate Atkinson's Transcription and, much to my disappointment, didn't love it. As I'm a fan of Atkinson, with Life After Life being a favorite book, this one fell flat for me and I couldn't connect with the main character. I'd be interested in what others have thought of it. I also read Flynn Berry's A Double Life (she wrote a favorite read of mine, Under the Harrow) and it was pretty good. I read Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott, the first in the new Beryl and Edwina series and found it charming. The second in that series, Murder Flies the Coop, was out in September.

    I'm currently reading The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton and am completely engrossed by it. It's a stand-alone and returns to Bolton's earlier books, before Lacy Flint, where the supernatural was a hovering element, like in Sacrifice and Blood Harvest and Awakening. Since I fell in love with Bolton's writing in this first books, I'm enjoying a return to these thematic elements, but it shouldn't deter those of you who aren't into the supernatural, as it's an excellent police procedural and crime book, too.

    I had just started The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle when The Craftsman arrived, so I put it down for the Bolton book and will pick it back up. I had only read about 25 pages and it has me much intrigued, so I'm looking forward to reading it. I am feeling the pinch of trying to get books read by the end of the year that I want to consider in my favorites post on my blog. Upcoming books will include, but not an exhaustive list, The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton, The Three Beths by Jeff Abbott (out tomorrow), Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny, Storm Rising (FBI K-9, #3), Juror #3 by James Patterson and Nancy Allen, Taste of Vengeance and Day of the Dead by Kristi Belcamino, Last Seen Leaving by Catherine Lea, Under My Skin by Lisa Unger, Gallows Court by Martin Edwards (not yet out in the states, next year), Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, The One That Got Away by Joe Clifford, The Betel Nut Tree by Ovidia Yu, and The Man Who Became Upton by George Pelecanos. Then, there's The Witch Elm by Tana French and so many others. I will not be able to read them all by the end of the year, but I'll get to as many as is possible with my slower reading. Of course, there are many others I want to read, too, from this past year. As the saying goes, "So many books, so little time."

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    1. I read Flynn Harrow's latest and also enjoyed it, Kathy. I may have even liked it better than her first...

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  21. What fun! Two terrific new books by real pros- James Benns Solemn Graves, newest in his series of mysteries about Billy Boyle, special investigator general Eisenhower in the thick World War II. Here, it's after D-Day, Allie troops strggling to make progress towatd Paris and chaos among the French. And Carol Goodman's The Widow's House, ashling gothis set in NY lovely (and surprisingly scary) Hudson Valley. Definitely a page turner.

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    1. Triss, I have James Benns' Billy Boyle series on my list of series to start reading, and Carol Goodman's The Widow's House is in my TBR pile.

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    2. Kathy, start at the beginning. The books are great fun and very instructive of little known things that happened during the war. Every book has been fun and eye-opening, as well. I adore the Billy Boyle series.

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  22. I just started American Nations by Colin Woodard. It's a history of the US from the beginning, focusing on the settlement of eleven different regions. Woodard demonstrates how the values of those founders continue to influence these regions even to the present day. Not as heavy reading as one might think and it sure makes a lot of sense to read it now. Before that I read two early Louise Penny mysteries and James R. Benn's latest Billy Boyle World War II mystery, Solemn Graves. Billy Boyle has to be one of my favorite characters of all time. It's fun to see what everyone is reading.

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  23. I forgot to mention a wonderful book Hank loaned me - ICE SHEAR by M. P. Cooley. Small town, terrible weather, upstate NY - it's right up my alley.

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    1. Ooh, Julia. Sounds like a perfect curling up under a throw with cocoa book !

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  24. Oooh! Oooh! I just discovered an author! Quite by accident. I was perusing the mystery shelves in a book store and found Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon. British, of course (I always love the Brits), and 20th Century. HUMOR and MYSTERY. And he wrote 80-some books! He has a series based on a homeless man called Ben, and it is hilarious.

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    1. A discovered airborne with lots of books is always a treat, Keziah!

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  25. I'm currently reading The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor. Finished The Vampire Knitting Club with great enjoyment. Listened to Faithful Place by Tana French; so glad I didn't grow up in a Dublin slum. I just finished Murder Flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott; I enjoy her characters and the time period. Read Patricia Wynn's latest early Georgian historical, Whisper of Death. I have two library books coming up: The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle by Susan Wittig Albert and Charlaine Harris' latest: An Easy Death. Coming up is Carolyn Haines' Gift of Bones, Deborah Harkness'Time's Convert, Susanna Kearsley's Bellewether, Steve Burrows' A Shimmer of Hummingbirds, Maggie Toussaint's Dadgummit. Oh and I have the latest Charles Finch at NetGalley to read. And I look forward to the latest Elly Griffith Ruth Galloway, Charles Todd either series, and Frances Brody Kate Shackelton!

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    1. I think "Faithful Place" is terrific Still not sure about her latest, but I'm intrigued enough to keep reading.

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  26. And when is the next Rivers of London book coming out?

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  27. With all these suggestions, my wallet is in agony. Thankfully, I won't be buying anything new for the next few weeks as I'm preparing to go to the Rhode Island Comic Con. I'll have to have money for that so I'm limiting my use of what is laughably called my discretionary income.

    I'm covering the event so at least I get in free, but since one of the stars from Firefly is going to be there, it means a part of my day will be spent in line waiting to meet him.

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    1. I'm meeting Alan Tudyk! I've already met Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite and Summer Glau!

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    2. What great fun! Enjoy your visit with Firefly star and have a ball at Comic Con.

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  28. Just finished "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens last night. I think someone on this blog recommended it, and it was one of the best books I've read in a long, long time. I highly recommend it, and I hope she writes some more fiction.

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    1. I've heard great things about "Crawdads." Looking forward to it!

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  29. I read both of E J Copperman's newest books. I'm reading an Eloisa James romance from the library and Amanda Flower's Premeditated Peppermint on my Nook. Jenn's Hitting the Books is another of my library books. Thanks and keep on writing those books.

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