Literature What are you currently reading?

[christen_g]

This poem.

葛飾や　　（katsushika-ya
桃の籬も　（momo-no magaki-mo
水田べり　（mizuta-beri

Im not well versed in classical japanese nor japanese poetry, so its taking me a while. Fun lil project.

 

[Tom L.]

I just finished "Gundog", by Gary Whitta, after borrowing it from the local library. It wasn't the most original story, perhaps: it starts several decades after Earth has been taken over by the Mek, an extra-terrestrial race of artificially-intelligent machines. But I liked it. The Gundog was developed to combat the Mek: it's somewhat reminiscent of "Transformers", but requires two humans to function: one to "drive" and another to operate its extensive arsenal of weapons. In a twist, a third person becomes involved....

It wasn't as violent as science-fiction sometimes is (considering that it is about a war!), and the human characters were very likeable. My only complaint is that the ending was kind of a lame setup for a sequel (I don't think that really gives anything away... please let me know if it does!)

 

[Chryssie]

I have finally finished book two of the Empyrean series, "Iron Flame." It was a very long book. I liked it quite a lot and now have to wait for book three because our war with the evil beings is just getting started. Reminds me of Game of Thrones but that is not a bad thing. I like the dragons especially the "teenager" who keeps wanting to eat people and is told "We don't eat our allies" by the older dragon.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunnin…

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, t…

www.goodreads.com

I read the second book, but this is the first. I LOVED the "everyone on the train is a suspect" book. It was a fun quirky twist on the detective story. I will start this one in a bit, it was before the train book.

 

[Lou]

I have finally finished book two of the Empyrean series, "Iron Flame." It was a very long book. I liked it quite a lot and now have to wait for book three because our war with the evil beings is just getting started. Reminds me of Game of Thrones but that is not a bad thing. I like the dragons especially the "teenager" who keeps wanting to eat people and is told "We don't eat our allies" by the older dragon.

I'm not done but I'm far enough in to realize that there is going to be a sequel. I just looked it up and it doesn't come out till January. Arg.
Anyway, I liked this book better than the first.
I confess that every time I came to an x-rated scene I skipped ahead which helped.

 

[Emma JC]

JD Robb's latest in the Eve & Roarke series - Random in Death - having one arrive from my Holds is like getting a very large dk chocolate raspberry flavoured vegan chocolate bar

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Raven]

I had pre-ordered the new Lucy Foley book - The Midnight Feast to my kindle.

Midsummer, the Dorset coast

In the shadows of an ancient wood, guests gather for the opening weekend of The Manor: a beautiful new countryside retreat.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. And the candles have barely been lit for a solstice supper when the body is found.

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at…

THE MIDNIGHT FEAST

 

[Chryssie]

I have read two books since I posted. First "The Dog Who Knew Too Much" by Krista Davis. It was one of those "cozy mysteries" which are a fun and fast read. This author has a series of books that feature dogs. This one the town is named Wagtail. It was enjoyable!
I just finished "Bear Witness" by Lark O. Jensen. It takes place in Alaska and the main character is a tour guide on a tourist cruise boat. It was just ok. A passenger goes missing on the tour boat and his body is found the next day. Our tour guide helps solve the crime and meets a "hunky" cop in the process. Some romance, no descriptive sex but hints that they "do it." LOL

 

[SuicideBlonde]

I switched out books today. I picked up handmaid's tale. I have seen the series, but never read the book. The book itself is a nice hardcover with a built-in bookmark.

 

[Chryssie]

I switched out books today. I picked up handmaid's tale. I have seen the series, but never read the book. The book itself is a nice hardcover with a built-in bookmark.

It's really good and there is a sequel called "The Testaments."

 

[Chryssie]

I just finished another fun "cozy mystery." This is called "Towhee Get Your Gun" by J.R. Ripley. This is the second one I have read in this series about a young woman who owns a bird watcher supply store and solves murders. A towhee is a bird BTW. I will read more of the series as I find them.

 

[Chryssie]

Today I finished "Summers at the Saint" by Mary Kay Andrews. I have read a few of her novels and I really like her writing. The characters are believable and you get to know them and care about them and the stories always have family drama and often murder. I also like that they take place in the South. This one is about an exclusive resort in Georgia, called The Saint. Lots of stuff going on at this hotel among the employees and when the daughter of one of the owner's is killed, things get even more complicated. I got sucked into the story and couldn't put it down.

 

[Lou]

I finished another audio book, Murder at the Dinner Party, by C.J. Archer. This is the 8th book in the Cleopatra Fox series. This one was a little different from the rest because it had something like 3 mysteries combined. I always enjoy C.J. Archer's audio books which are free at Hoopla.

I'm also reading Fairy Tale, by Stephen King. I'm really enjoying it, too.

 

[Chryssie]

Yesterday I read a really good book that I discovered browsing the new books section called "The Boy Who Cried Bear." Of course this was the newest in a series so I will have to find the others. Kelley Armstrong is a Canadian writer and the books are about a safe haven, off the grid, community in the Yukon. The main characters are a woman detective and her husband. The community was founded to hide people who need to escape from whatever, like witness protection. Max a 10 year old boy sees a "bear-man" while on a hike. Of course everyone thinks he is just imagining the "human eyes" and it is a regular grizzly bear. Precautions are taken, but Max disappears. So starts a mystery. Very good writing. I like the characters and the story was interesting and surprising.

 

[Lou]

Started an another audio book series. The series is the Eastwind Witches, by Nova Nelson.

I've listened to the first book in the series and so far so good. Total fantasy.
They are supernatural mysteries similar to the TV show Grimm and the series, the Dresden Files. A decent mystery, interesting setting, some good world building and likable characters.

One thing I didn't like is that the book mixes fairy tale, mythology, and the supernatural. That might be more of a pet peeve of mine because the boundaries of those things are pretty fuzzy anyway. It's just that I don't believe werewolves, witches, angels, and the Grim Reaper belong in the same story.

also it is really hard to pull off a good fantasy mystery because its hard for the author to explain everything the reader needs to know without giving it away.

 

[shyvas]

 

[Chryssie]

Today I read a book my sister told me about by Michael Connelly called "The Narrows." It is an older book, published in 2004. It is one of the Harry Bosch series and is about a serial killer who was a former FBI agent. I have read several of the Harry Bosch books and one of these days I will watch the TV show. This book was exciting and I couldn't put it down.

 

[Lou]

finally finished Fairy Tale, Stephen King - it was worth it in the end and reminds me very much of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrope and some of the other CS Lewis books - if you have time, it is good

I just finished and I can't recommend it. I really like the first third of the book. The middle half became very slow and tedious. And although I liked the last sixth, I wish it was more developed. In the end, lots of good stuff were skipped over.

 

[Chryssie]

This afternoon I read another J.R. Ripley "cozy mystery" called "Buried in Beignets". It was a quick fun read with lots of humor, interesting characters and of course, murder. Our heroine is a newly divorced woman starting a beignets and coffee shop in a small town in Arizona. Her grand opening is stalled when she finds the body of her landlord in a box in her storeroom. Of course she has to solve the crime herself with some help from the police. I will find more of this author's books as it was very enjoyable.

 

[Raven]

I logged in to my library account yesterday and I have 6 books ready for me! The notifications must have been going to my junk mail.