What are you reading this week of September 18, 2016?

[hermetic]

Good news: this week we get an extra hour! Might as well spend it reading.

Finished The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. Terrific book. LOL funny, full of surprises, thought-provoking politics, gruesome deaths and graphic autopsies. And ghosts. It's been a while since the ending of a book made me say aloud, "Whhooaa! Bwahahahaha!" So I was delighted to be able to immediately start the next one in the series, Thirty Three Teeth. Bears, oh my!

Listening to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Really interesting so far but it's 21 hrs long and I've only just begun. It's about transgenderism.

What books will you be falling back on this week?

[TexasProgresive]

1. "Sacred and Profane" by Faye Kellerman

Last edited Sun Sep 18, 2016, 02:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Finished Murder on the East Coast by Dianne Harlan. A good read, but I think Ms. Harman could use a good editor.

[hermetic]

2. Oh yeah

As a professional editor (retired), mistakes like that really can detract me from a good read.

Here's a little story: a few months ago I bought a used copy of Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. Fabulous book and her writing is impeccable. BUT, a previous owner for some reason underlined passages, perhaps for a book report. And there are underlined statements on Every. Single. Page. All 367 of them. WTF? It made me want to find that person and give them a good slap! Some people, I swear....

[TexasProgresive]

3. Hee Hee I had to edit my own post.

for a typo. I've been using my phone to save data on the sat link.

[pscot]

4. 'S' by Doug Dorst

I can't really describe it, so I'll just provide the summary from the library listing:

"A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown. The book: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V.M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey. The writer: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world's greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumors that swirl around him. The readers: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they're willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears."--Slipcase

[hermetic]

5. That sounds really intriguing

and kind of funny given what I said above. There were no margin notes in my book, though, just thousands of words underlined.

While reading your posted description, I had a strange sense of deja vu about the plot. It was written in '13, though,so I know I've never read it. I will have to look into that one. Thanks.

[northoftheborder]

6. Finally finished listening to "The Company"

The CIA is more corrupt than I already knew.

[hermetic]

9. Quelle surprise, right?

Earlier some DUers were talking about this movie, Charlie Wilson's War, that draws the same conclusions. I've never seen it so I checked my library catalog and they have the book on CD, so I'll be giving that a listen fairly soon. Sounds interesting.

[CrispyQ]

7. Noting right now, but I picked up three books from the library minutes ago.

The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah - I think someone in this forum recommended it.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - no idea - it just caught my eyel

Madd Addam by Margaret Atwood - I will be hard pressed not to start with this one.

[hermetic]

10. You're gonna need

a lot more than an extra hour to get through all of those in 2 weeks. Madd Addam alone took me 2 weeks. Do let me know as you are reading that; it is one of my favorite tales and I'd love to talk about it.

I didn't find much online about The Nightengale but I did find this about Dark Matter.

"...a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human. A relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we will go to claim the lives we dream of."

Well, count me in for that one!

[shenmue]

8. "The Watcher," by Charlotte Link

Creepy story I've just started. Set in Germany.

[hermetic]

11. It does sound creepy.

The kind of story that might happen anywhere, though. I will for sure check it out.

[japple]

12. Got a free download of Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

and am really enjoying it. I thought I had read it years ago, but must be remembering the movie which I saw on tv many years ago. About the only thing I recall is that Alan Arkin was the lead and Sondra Locke was also in it. After I'm through with the book, I will have to see if it's available on netflix or prime.

Didn't you read this book a couple of months ago, hermetic?

[hermetic]

13. I did, indeed

Back in January. Had 3 of her novels combined in one book. Terrific writing, so compelling. Looks like the movie differed from the book as it was not set during the Depression. I don't recall ever seeing it. Nice to see you, though.

[getting old in mke]

14. Confused...

extra hour? It's the equinox today, but not the time change, at least where I am.

However it may be, I'm squeezing in some extra Jeffrey Deaver, The Skin Collector where our baddie seems to be obsessed with Rhyme and Sachs work in The Bone Collector and wants to play with them. But, as the astute might notice, he really, really likes skin.

Given the high percentage that some of my kids have covered with ink and body mods, I'm finding interest beyond just the mystery.

[hermetic]

15. Yeah, duhh...

Evidently I'm a little confused myself. But I swear I heard them mention that on NPR last Saturday, though I wasn't really paying much attention.

Anyway, that sounds like a high-suspense thriller. Will have to keep an eye out for it. Good planning on Deaver's part. Last summer I went to an outdoor concert and I swear I was the only person there without a tattoo. And I fully expect to remain that way. Nothing against them, just not my thing.

[Goblinmonger]

16. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

He is the writer and producer of the TV version of Fargo. It's pretty good. Not incredible, but solid.

Hope you enjoy Middlesex. The exploration of duality is incredible, in my opinion.

[hermetic]

17. Oh, I did!

It was brilliant. It certainly gave me a lot to think about. I hadn't realized that Eugenides won a Pulitzer Prize for this. Great review here that gets into the genetic coding thing, if that interests you. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/161699822?utm_campaign=reviews&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=fictiondb.com