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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!
LUCY BURDETTE: HAPPY NEW YEAR REDS! Now on to our first blog of 2016...
I love Paris, let's face it, who doesn't? And I've been wondering about how the city has fared in the months after those terrifying attacks. I thought of Juliet Blackwell, who's written a wonderful novel set in Paris. Might she like to write a blog about her experiences in the city? Luckily for us, she said yes! And we'll start the new year off right with a giveaway of her book--leave a comment with your email to be entered.
JULIET BLACKWELL: I’ve been spending a lot of time in Paris over the past few years.
(I know, I know, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it…)
The reasons are simple: First, I fell in love with a French man. Second, I based my recent novel, The Paris Key (9/15), in the cobblestoned, fairytale-like Marais neighborhood of the City of Light; my second, Letters from Paris (coming 9/16), is set in the ancient Latin Quarter.
And third: pain au chocolat. Seriously, have you ever seen a genuine Parisian bakery?
Anyway, I digress. Since I’ve spent so much time in France lately, American friends naturally turned to me after the recent terrorist attacks on the city, asking: how will Paris –and Parisians-- react?
Of course, it’s difficult to make declarations about national character without falling into stereotypes. After all, we humans are individuals and not everyone tows the party line or fits in or agrees, no matter the culture.
But that said, I’m going to make a few sweeping generalizations about the French people in general, and Parisians in particular:
They are not new to violence. Every time I’m in France – every single time—at least one elderly person thanks me for the American intervention in World War II. Sadly, the German invasion was nothing new; the history of Paris is steeped in war. As early as 845 The Vikings laid siege to the city. Prussians invaded Paris in 1814. In the 1950s/60s Algeria’s National Liberation Front set off bombs; a decade later “Carlos the Jackal” terrorized Paris. And in the 1990s the Armed Islamic Group committed hijackings and bombings in and around the City of Light. There is now a permanent military presence in the city – it’s not unusual to see uniformed men on street corners holding scary-looking weapons. However, while implementing certain security measures French citizens are loath to give up their hard-won civil rights. Which leads me to my next point…
They are wonderfully stubborn. The French have developed their beloved customs over many centuries and the Parisians, in particular, see themselves as curators and conservators of world-class standards in art, cooking, philosophy, fashion, and café-culture. Paris’s leadership in these areas is up for debate, of course, but it speaks to the core of the Parisian identity. So terrorists attack cafés and music venues and sporting events in an attempt to force Parisians to change their lifestyle? Good luck with that. The French didn’t fold under the Vikings, or the Prussians, or the Nazis, and they won’t collapse in the face of a few murderous religious fanatics.
The recent attacks will make them stronger. I haven’t been back to Paris since the attacks, but I hear from friends that people are smiling more, helping one another, reaching out to neighbors and inviting one another out to cafés more often. Just as happened in New York City after 9/11, an attack on its citizenry has brought people together to mourn, to rebuild, and to resist.
I can’t wait to go back and linger with a friend at a café, chatting about philosophy and art and romance over a glass of wine. Isn’t that what life, and Paris, is all about?
That, and pain au chocolat, of course.
Juliet Blackwell was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She studied Latin American Studies at University of California, Santa Cruz, and earned Masters in Anthropology and Social Work from the State University of New York, Albany. Upon her return to the Bay Area she established her own decorative painting studio, specializing in historic homes. In addition to mainstream novels (The Paris Key; Letters from Paris), Juliet pens the New York Times Bestselling Witchcraft Mysteries, Haunted Home Renovation series, and Agatha-Award nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. She is past president of NorCal Sisters in Crime and former board member of Mystery Writers of America.
Keep in touch with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
And here's a link to her Yahoo Travel article on the Marais neighborhood
