What We're Reading

LUCY BURDETTE:  I haven’t been reading quite as much as usual because I had some retina surgery last week that’s cramped my style. (It has not however cramped my appetite, as you can see in this photo, which was on the way home from the surgery center.) 

I have read and loved Hallie’s CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, and Jenn’s WORD TO THE WISE, and Rhys’s LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS, and I have Hank’s and Debs’s new books on my nightstand. Yay! But I wanted to recommend one more nonfiction, non-Red book called MOTHERLAND by Elissa Altman. Altman started out as a food writer and blogger, and has since written three memoirs.

In MOTHERLAND, her latest, Altman tells the astonishing and poignant story of her troubled relationship with a narcissistic mother. It's beautifully written--alternately funny and tragic. I loved it. And loved meeting her at RJ Julia Booksellers , too, to hear her talk about this intense and complex mother-daughter dance.

Assuming you all have the new Reds releases on your TBR pile, what else are you reading or looking forward to this fall?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Since my actual TBR pile is literally all Jungle Reds books right now, I'll share what I'm looking forward to. I'm going to use the  descriptions, because they're both tantalizing and compact: First, in mystery, Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart, who had appeared here on JRW. I've enjoyed her series on the amazing (but based on true life) Kopp Sisters, and this is the fifth. Publisher's Weekly says, "In the spring of 1917, the Kopp sisters sign up for one of the military-style training camps for women who want to serve in WWI. When an accident befalls the matron, one of the sisters reluctantly agrees to oversee the camp."

For science fiction/fantasy, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. It's REALLY hard to describe this sword and sorcery debut set in an interstellar empire - PW calls it "madcap", but I read the first chapters at Tor.com and immediately pre-ordered it from one of my local indy bookstores. Crazy good writing.

My final choice, a thriller, isn't coming out until December, but it sounds so much my cup of tea I'm including it here: Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison. SheReads.com says, "The Goode School is an Ivy League boarding school – with only the most elite students – until a stranger shows up and things go from Goode to bad (see what I did there?). In a school where people can’t be bothered to turn their heads or question anything about the evil of some of these students, everything comes to a head when a popular student is found dead…. possibly due to a dark secret." JT, if you read this, send me an ARC!!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am on book tour, so lots of flight time, but I need to use the to finish MY new book! Still, you cannot work all the time, right? So I am reading the crazy THE ESCAPE ROOM by Megan Goldin, which is a locked room thriller that absolutely should not work but it absolutely does! I have to keep tearing myself away from it.  I know I should read THE WHISPER MAN, such a fabulous cover, but it sounds so scary. And eager to get started on TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware.  I powered through THIRTEEN (The serial killer is not on trial, he's on the jury, so says the cover). Another book that should not have worked, but did. And THE CHAIN! Shaking head. How do they do this? 

RHYS BOWEN: I have just concluded my book tour, while juggling page proofs of my next book and keeping up my writing requirement for the WIP. So... Not much time for reading. I have just read a stellar Book of WW2 Amsterdam called House on Endless Waters. I'm dying to find time to start Louise Penny's new book. Actually I'm dying to find time to sit and read!

JENN McKINLAY: I belong to a plot group with two insanely talented writers and very dear friends. Because we plot together -- shenanigans and mayhem, as you do -- I get to see the inner workings of their writing and marvel at how they take the random suggestions we throw at each other and then deliver them in twisty turny, compelling mysteries. Both of my partners have books coming out that I am just giddy about. Paige Shelton's THIN ICE, a suspenseful mystery set in Alaska, and the latest offering in Kate Carlisle's ever brilliant series Fixer Upper Seris, SHOT THROUGH THE HEARTH. Trust me, these are two books you don't want to miss!

LUCY: Jenn, you’ve talked about your plot group before—I am lime green with envy!

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm just back from teaching at Book Passage's annual conference for mystery writers where I moderated a panel on creating a main character. There were four authors on the panel, each a fantastic mystery writer, and I went back and found the first time each had put their protagonist on the page. At the conference, they read it aloud and (tried to!) remember why they'd introduced their character in that particular way. One of the authors on the panel was Elizabeth George, and the book where she introduces Lynley and Havers is A Great Deliverance. Well, I could not stop reading. I read the entire book in two days. No wonder that series is such a success.

LUCY: That sounds like an amazing conference panel, Hallie. Such a smart way to run it!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am all caught up on my fellow Reds fabulous books--such a reading feast! Next up for me is the ARC of Charles Todd's new Bess Crawford, A CRUEL DECEPTION, and I can't wait to dive in. And here are the top four below it on my nightstand: THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIES by John Boyne (recommended by our JRW friend Ann Mason), THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE by Jennifer Ryan, MEET ME IN MONACO by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, and THE PARIS ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure. Of course, no telling what I'll come across between now and then, or pull off my to-read shelves, or my Kindle. I enjoyed Kate Atkinson's BIG SKY so much that I want to go back and catch up on the Jackson Brodie novels I haven't read.

Okay Reds, your turn! What are you reading?

What We're Reading

LUCY BURDETTE: I don’t usually read hard boiled mysteries and detective fiction, but I have read all of Michael Connolly‘s Harry Bosch books and most of his others. I just finished DARK SACRED NIGHT, which alternates points of view between Harry Bosch and Connolly’s newer character, Renee Ballard. Harry Bosch may be growing gray and gimpy, but he hasn’t lost his powerful drive to avenge the underdogs who need him most. Ballard is a perfect foil – damaged, misunderstood, and loaded with heart. Connolly also does a stellar job of exploring the tensions women face when they call a man on his behavior in a man’s world. I enjoyed the book very much. The only thing that really bothered me was that the characters work the night shift and never sleep!

I absolutely LOVED the novel from Laura Lee Smith called THE ICE HOUSE, which won the Florida Book Award for fiction last year. Though the book is on the long side, my interest never flagged--I only dreaded the moment where I'd turn the last page. The author has a gift for breathing life into her characters, both the main narrators (a middle-aged married couple) and the less central quirky but endearing characters. She also did a marvelous job of bringing two very different settings to life--Jacksonville FL and Glasgow, Scotland. The plot was rich with twists--an estranged son, a brain tumor, a failing family business, middle-aged regrets--that never felt forced. Though the writing was lovely, it never drew attention to itself. Loved it!

And two other quick notes so I don’t hog the stage: I wait eagerly for each new release from Elinor Lipman. GOOD RIDDANCE was a fine addition, charming, funny, and heart-warming. Ditto for Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries. I love visiting the Maine town she’s created and her cast of quirky characters, all present in her latest installment, STEAMED OPEN. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Right now I have three categories of recent reads: upcoming, already out, and beloved rereads. For the first, I recently finished Joseph Souza's PRAY FOR THE GIRL, coming out this May, which was the sort of dark and dirty small town with secrets mystery I love. Joe's written a genuinely unique and cool heroine; I've asked him to come to JRW when the book is out and talk about it.

Current reads: I'm working my way through the CRAZY RICH ASIANS trilogy. If you have fond memories of the sex and shopping soap operas of the seventies and eighties - novels like SCANDAL (Judith Krantz), LACE (Shirley Conran) and DECEPTIONS (Judith Michael) you will love Kevin Kwan's books. There's humor, there's emotion, there are eye-popping luxuries lovingly detailed. Great escapism,

Beloved re-reads: I'm enjoying Lois McMaster Bujold's World of Chalion series for the umpteenth time. As in her science fiction, Bujold centers women (often older, fully mature women!) and unconventional, not-traditionally-masculine men in her stories. Chalion, an alternate version of 15th century Spain where demons and gods interfere with human lives, is a refreshing change from the eighteen hundred fantasies based on the British Isles and Scandinavia. 

JENN McKINLAY: I can't tell you. No, seriously, I can't. I'm finishing up my reading for the RITA (romance writer's award) and I can't disclose the titles. Bummer, I know. Not gonna lie, some were a slog, some were meh, and a few were delightful so a mixed bag, for sure. In addition to those titles that shall not be named, I've been listening to Jen Sincero's audio book You Are a Bad Ass. Highly recommend! It's fast, funny, and super motivating! 

RHYS BOWEN: Very little reading going on at the moment as I focus on finishing the first draft of my Queen Victoria novel. Maybe 30 pages to go! I've tread a couple of Agatha Christie comfort reads: Funerals Are Fatal and Peril At End House. I did read Jenn's next book,Word to the Wise, which I loved. And I am about to read Kate Quinn's The Huntress because it sounded so fabulous when I was on a panel with her.  Once that first draft is done there will be binge and catch up reading!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes--I just read for the Edgar best first, and that took a lot of time! SO pleased with the choices, though. And frustrating that I can't discuss! But books I can happily and delightedly recommend The brilliant Sophie Hannah's brilliant :-) THE NEXT TO DIE--complex and beautifully structured and surprising and so quirkily funny. And actually even inspirational. She's a whiz at incredible dialogue--I mean, astonishing. I know I am being inarticulate, but it's wonderful.  I'm also reading her new Poirot, which is going to be great.  And the incredibly fabulous Carol Goodman, I am now in a total binge, reading THE OTHER MOTHER  and THE WIDOWS HOUSE (one book upstairs and one book down)  and then I am going to read every single word she's ever written or will write.  

And in non-fiction, the riveting RED NOTICE by Bill Browder about the rise of the Russian oligarchs. Amazing. Terrifying.  And oh, Katy Tur's UNBELIEVABLE, about when she covered the 2016 presidential campaign. MUST READ, reds! (Also amazing and terrifying...)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I just finished our Jenn McKinlay's upcoming WORD TO THE WISE which was such a treat! Great setting, wonderful characters! After that, the new Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novel, THE STONE CIRCLE. I'm such a fan that I ordered it from the UK--couldn't wait until it comes out in the US in May--and it was as good as expected. I love these characters so much, they are so human and real. Now I'm reading the new Peter Robinson Alan Banks novel, CARELESS LOVE, so enjoying Banks and Annie and the team and the Yorkshire moors. Up next on the nightstand, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN by Stephanie Barron. And on my Kindle, Michelle Obama's book and THE ALICE NETWORK. I could go on and on but instead I'm going to look up THE ICE HOUSE:-)

HALLIE EPHRON: I've been reading books by two Icelandic noir authors -- Yrsa SigurdardÓttir and Ragnar Jonasson, boning up for meeting them and interviewing them about their writing for an event at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton next week. We were in Iceland last year so there's something wonderfully familiar, reading their books. Familiar setting, fantastic prose and storytelling, and sooooo dark. Must be something in the water up there. I also just finished WORD TO THE WISE and my word to wise readers is you're in for a treat! My TBR pile is teetering.

LUCY: I really wish I could be at that panel, Hallie! Even though I say I don't prefer dark books, for some reason I love the Icelandic writers. Okay Reds, what are you reading? What should we not miss?

Reading My Way Out of a Reality Funk

LUCY BURDETTE: The news has been so distressing and depressing lately that I’ve made a conscious effort to spend more time reading and less time obsessing about social media. Here’s what I’ve read recently—much of it colored by my trip to France and also the need to escape reality. I’d love to hear what you’re reading too!

THE ART OF INHERITING SECRETS by Barbara O’Neal: I am a huge fan of Barbara O'Neal and this book was no exception. She packed it with food, a fascinating English countryside setting, romance, family drama, and a female lead figuring out what her authentic life and self should be. (Yes, there were a few unrealistic plot threads, but who cares when the rest of the strengths kept me turning the pages deep into the night?)

THE LOST VINTAGE by Ann Mah: As a lover of France and food and family secrets, I very much enjoyed this novel from travel writer Ann Mah. Sommelier Kate travels from San Francisco to France to study Burgundy wines in advance of attempting to become a Master of Wine. In her extended family's vineyard and home, she finds terrible secrets buried in the past along with hope for happiness with the man and world she fled from years ago.

THE CROW TRAP by Ann Cleeves: You guys got me started on Ann Cleeves, and I am crazy for her Jimmy Perez Shetland series. Except I have only two left to read so I’m hoarding. On my trip I took along this first book in the Vera Stanhope series. It was the perfect book for a long journey (over 500 pages!), easy reading, complex characters, and a brooding landscape. So far I prefer JimmyJ, but I’ll definitely read more in this series.

COMING TO MY SENSES by Alice Waters: I read this memoir to get ready for Paris, as Alice Waters was a major Francophile and the founder of Chez Panisse. We grew up in a similar part of New Jersey, with similar non-gourmet food experiences. But that’s where the similarities end. She spent a year in Paris and had a food conversion experience that eventually led to her founding of the local food movement in California and the iconic restaurant she scratched out from nothing. She lived in Berkeley in the thick of the 1960’s—I found these descriptions fascinating.  

And currently reading THE LOST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE by Juliet Blackwell. How about you?

Books to Movies, Movies to Books

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm on a great reading binge right now--yay! One of the books I finished this month was BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarty. I read it after seeing the HBO miniseries starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. (I won't use spoilers in case some of you haven't seen or read it and plan to.) I loved the show, I think even more than I loved the book--though the book was a humdinger of a page turner. I wondered if this was an artifact of the order? Usually, it's the other way around, I like a book and so go to the movie and end up preferring the book. 

But this got me thinking about the process of choosing a book to be brought to life on TV or in the movies. And also some of the decisions about making changes. Which subplots would be better cut or added? And which characters could be eliminated because they really don't add to the story? (Madeline’s son for example in Big Little Lies, had very few lines of dialogue, and no forward motion depended on his character. Nor did he seem very important to his mother’s character. Cut!) I'm thinking about the book I'm writing now and who could be trimmed to tighten the story. This isn't a spoiler, but in the movie a pair of characters goes to a therapist. In the book only the woman goes. Why the change? 

And why change the ending? This seemed like a big adjustment that changed the character’s motivation for the accident.

Obviously, I have more questions than answers. If any of you have experience with moviemaking or screenwriting, I’d love to hear your experience of how decisions are made. If you have none, and most of us don't, do you enjoy going to movies that have been made out of books? What about reading books where you've already seen the movie? Was there an adaptation that you thought did an especially good job?