Literature What are you currently reading?

[Lou]

I usually will watch a little bit of every show and then for most of them I stop after a while.
however I've watched every episode of Castle and Moonlighting. the Moonlighting episode which is a version of the The Taming of the Shrew was just genius.

I watched every episode of Grimm. There were any number of things that I didn't like about the writing. But I was a member of a Grimm Forum and that was fun.

I was a big fan of Veronica Mars (but after it was off the air). and that led me to iZombie (same writers).

 

[Tom L.]

I remember that "Taming Of The Shrew" episode: Bruce Willis using an axe to break through a door and yelling "HEEERE'S PETRUCCIO!!!!".... the entire cast yelling "We HATE iambic pentameter!" at the end...

 

[Chryssie]

I am finally done with the Rockton series having finished "The Deepest of Secrets" today. It was another very good mystery with lots of murder and mayhem! I have reserved the first book in the new series and have already read the second one by mistake not knowing it was a series.

 

[Chryssie]

While waiting for reserved books, I read "How High We Go in the Dark" by Sequoia Nagamatsu. This is a really strange sci-fi book I am not sure how I feel about. A few years in the future (2030) climate change has caused the permafrost in Siberia to melt leading to the discovery of the body of a prehistoric woman. A scientific team is excavating and studying the area. A virus is released and spread causing a worldwide pandemic with no way to stop it. It affects children more and people are dying in droves. So much so that a whole new industry surrounding death is created. This is so dark and depressing. The story features different people who are affected jumping between their perspectives. Then we have the invention of a starship and people go on a journey to find a new Earth. The plot jumps around some more and the ending is bizarre. Can't say I recommend this one!

 

[Chryssie]

Read the first in the new series about the Rockton characters called "Murder at Haven's Rock". Haven's Rock is the new Rockton started by Casey and her husband in another Yukon location. Still under construction, of course there is a murder and some people have gone missing. Always a fun mystery! These people do have terrible luck though! Murders all the time! LOL

 

[Lou]

I remember that "Taming Of The Shrew" episode: Bruce Willis using an axe to break through a door and yelling "HEEERE'S PETRUCCIO!!!!".... the entire cast yelling "We HATE iambic pentameter!" at the end...

TAMING OF THE SHREW, MOONLIGHTING EPISODE, DR. SEUSS - Google Search

 

[Lou]

Now that I have finished all 13 of the Eastwind Witches audiobooks, I have moved on to the Witch Way Librarian series. Hoopla recommended it to be based on my reading the Eastwind books. A somewhat surprising cooincidence is that the narrator for both series is the same. She is a pretty good narrator and does a lot of different voices but she is using a lot of her voices from Eastwind in Witch Way, which is a little weird. I don't think she is as good as a narrator as the gal who does all of C. J. Archer's books but still pretty good.

There are five Witch Way and I have read four of them. The fifth one will have to wait because I have run out of "borrows" from Hoopla. I liked them a lot. This series takes place in the real world which is always fun. In this case, a very small town in Oregon. And the main character lives and works in a library which is also fun. The main character is a witch and her power is over books. The only issue is a common one that we have is when cozy mystery series go on for a while it seems very unlikely that there would be so many murder mysteries to solve.

Anyway now that I have used up my monthly ration of Hoopla books, I am going to catch up on the hardcover library books I have. I have been reading the Icarus series by Zahn. I'm not on the second book, although there was one book that predated that series that also involved Icarus, that I just finished.

I'm one of those guys who likes to solve the mystery before the detective does and I take points off if the detective includes new facts when he is describing the solution. I give out bonus points if the reader has all the facts by page 100. But I'm getting the idea that these Icarus books need to be judged differently. First off although there may be a main mystery there are many little mysteries that are encountered and solved through out the book. And also the main mystery is so complicated and the story is so convoluted - for most of the book I can't even predict where the story is going. Which is good in a different way.

 

[Chryssie]

Today I finished "That Dangerous Energy" by Aya de Leon. It was a bit different from my usual as there was no murder. LOL It is labeled Urban Fiction (whatever that is) and is kind of a romance and is about climate activism. Morgan is a young woman who grew up in poverty with her single mother and grandmother and is of mixed heritage. She appears to be white but considers herself Black. She is a struggling artist who designs fabrics, clothes, and loves creating quilts. She meets a billionaire oil baron through a job and they begin a relationship. She sets her sights on marriage and living the high life. A chance meeting in an airport bar with an environmental activist starts her on a journey that drastically changes her life. It was a good read and this author is an activist and educator. I will find more of her books.

 

[Lou]

t is labeled Urban Fiction (whatever that is)

Urban fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Chryssie]

Urban fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thanks, that was informative. I guess this author's books qualify as she is Black as are her characters. This book's setting is NYC so urban for sure.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

I have had headaches, so not reading much. I could not get through Wicked, great play the book lost me.
I finally started the newcomer a day ago and I think I will finish it tonight.
I have the Thursday Murder Club at the library, I got the notification today.

 

[Lou]

I have the Thursday Murder Club at the library, I got the notification today.

That would be a great name for a book club that meets on Thursdays.

 

[Lou]

That would be a great name for a book club that meets on Thursdays.

They would have to be a murder mystery book club.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends…

www.goodreads.com

"In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders."

Summer Sons

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends …

www.goodreads.com

"Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge."

I have 2 from the library right now. I can not decide what one to start first.

 

[Lou]

The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends…

www.goodreads.com

"In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders."

That reminds me of a series. Cannot remember its name. Four women, each with a different skill set, set in San Francisco. Written by a best selling author....
oh thanks Google

James Patterson – Books – Women’s Murder Club

WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB Lindsay Boxer, Cindy Thomas, Claire Washburn and Jill Bernhardt, the stars of 1st to Die and 2nd Chance, are the founding members of the Women’s Murde…

www.jamespatterson.com

 

[Chryssie]

I have read "The Sacred Bridge" by Anne Hillerman. She has followed in her father's footsteps continuing the story of the Navajo police officers, Jim Chee and his wife Bernadette. I read several of Tony Hillerman's books some years ago that featured Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. I am happy to have discovered the new updated books by his daughter. There is also a TV show based on the books called "Dark Winds." It is set in the 70's but the new books by Anne are modernized to the present time. It was a good mystery/thriller and I will find more.

 

[Chryssie]

Today I finished "Nosy Neighbors" by Freya Sampson. This one was on one of my book lists and is not a crime thriller or sci-fi but a character driven novel about secrets and how the past can haunt us. There is tragedy and humor and it can get pretty emotional at times. In a small village not far from London, there is a 130 year old mansion that has been converted into flats. The people that live there are a varied group watched over by Dorothy a 77 year old woman who has lived there for over 30 years. When they are notified that they will be evicted and the property torn down for new apartments, they band together to fight it. There is a lot going on with each of the characters and you get involved in their struggles. It's a really good book! I will look for more by this author too!

 

[Raven]

I decided to read some non-fictions each morning. I started a few books yesterday to see which one I liked the most. I am probably going to read the Andre Agassi autobiography first.

 

[Tom L.]

Today I finished "Nosy Neighbors" by Freya Sampson. This one was on one of my book lists and is not a crime thriller or sci-fi but a character driven novel about secrets and how the past can haunt us. .......

Some what off-topic: I sometimes listen to John Tesh's nightly radio program, in which he presents news items on various topics over the course of the show. In one of them this week, I vaguely remember he reported that the effort expended in keeping a secret can seriously wear someone down.

 

[Chryssie]

Some what off-topic: I sometimes listen to John Tesh's nightly radio program, in which he presents news items on various topics over the course of the show. In one of them this week, I vaguely remember he reported that the effort expended in keeping a secret can seriously wear someone down.

This was certainly the case for the characters in this book! The secrets along with massive guilt feelings, led to them being very unhappy people. The story was not a total downer though but... no spoilers!