I finished reading The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, which, while engaging, wasn’t what I was expecting. It was character-centric, the setting was nicely done but the book wasn’t particularly satisfying. Still, I’m glad I read it.
Now I’m reading two books, one an ebook and the other a physical one, for when the batteries run down. I’m finding both books quite entertaining.
The ebook is One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. It’s a science fiction time travel novel, the first in The Chronicles of St. Mary series.
The other book is The Spirit Box by George Mann, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. WW I has come to London, and Holmes has come out of retirement at the request of his brother Mycroft, to look into an involuntary suicide which could affect national security. I enjoyed the other pastiche Mann wrote, so got this one last year.
Barbara finished The Stranger by Harlan Coben. She says it had a slow start, but eventually got going and she liked it enough to try another of his books.
She just finished Twisted by Andrew E. Kaufman, which she liked a lot. It is his latest so now she has to wait for a new one. She has started Hold the Dark by William Giraldi. She’s not sure it will pass the 40-page test (some people use 30 pages, some 50, etc. but around here it’s 40).
How about you? Have you read these books or authors? What are you reading?
Tip the Wink 
Richard, I’m still reading WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte, which is not an easy read, and NOBLE BEGINNINGS, a Jack Noble thriller by L.T. Ryan I picked up randomly from Amazon. I’m also reading a fictionalised account based on the great Indian epic, MAHABHARATA, revolving around a famous battle.
Prashant, I read Wuthering Heights in college, and have seen the film a couple of times. It’s worth the effort.
I have to admit there is only one book on that list that really caught my eye and that was the time travel book. Since it is available from Amazon for 99 cents I downloaded it.
My problem remains Too Many Library Books. And with new books coming out by three of my favorite authors on the same day a week from tomorrow – Bill Crider, Margaret Maron, Peter Robinson – that is not likely to improve.
Jackie, like you resistant to ebooks, has taken to the Kindle Paperwhite for bedtime reading, which she can do without disturbing me. She reads one book during the day and another on the Kindle at night.
No new arrivals and only two books finished this week: Joe Lansdale’s outstanding western PARADISE SKY and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Cynthia Weil’s first novel, a YA set in the Brill Building era of 1963 called I’M GLAD I DID. The best part is the behind the scenes look at the music industry through the eyes of 16-year-old JJ Green, as she tries to make it as a composer. The weaker part is when Weil turns it into a mystery as well. But overall, I would recommend it to anyone old enough to know what the Brill Building was.
Short stories. Another positive month as I read 53 stories in July (July 2014 – 38). I’m currently reading Milton Lesser’s pulp collection, JOHNNY MAYHEM. Can’t remember where I read about it, but I’m enjoying Susan Beth Pfeffer’s first dystopian YA, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. An asteroid hits the Moon with unexpected results. The Moon is closer to Earth, the tides go wild and tsunamis and flooding kill untold numbers of people along the coasts. It’s told through the diary of 16 year old Miranda, in Northeastern Pennsylvania and is the first of a trilogy that was successful enough that a fourth book is now out.
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Jeff, I’m already on page 290 of Just One Damned Thing After Another and enjoying it a lot. It’s pretty much YA but I like the character, it’s fun, a bit like a time travel Heinlein/Rowling book. I’ll probably go straight on the the second in the (six so far) series. I’m reading them on the iPad.
You mention three of your favorite authors with new books coming this month. I’d add Louise Penny and John Scalzi to your Bill Crider, Margaret Maron, Peter Robinson – though I haven’t read any Marion in years.
Sure I know of The Brill Building – it’s where the Brill-o pad was invented. 😉 53 stories in July – I read some, but only during my no novel period. LIFE AS WE KNEW IT sounds interesting.
I thought of Scalzi after writing this morning. It is on my list too.
I finished One Damn Thing After Another just after lunch, bought the 2nd in the series and have started it.
And I finished LIFE AS WE KNEW IT last night. Good one.
With Summer winding down and return to work looming at the end of August, I’m reading one last Big Fat Book before my vacation is over: William T. Vollmann’s THE DYING GRASS, a 1,300-page whopper.
Your return to work looming is further away than most people’s annual vacations. That’s too many pages for any book.
With the exception of my FFB, THE THREE PALLADINS by Harold Lamb, I got nothing. I’ve been moving books into piles instead of reading them.
Jerry I hope the packing, moving, house hunting and all is and will go well for you. You can send all the cool old paperbacks this direction…..
THE DYING GRASS is just another of William T. Vollmann’s long books. IMPERIAL, Vollmann’s story of migrant workers published in 2010, was 1,200 pages long.
Last week I finished The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zach Dundas. I have an interview with the author in this week’s Missoula Independent, which comes out on Thursday. Zach is a Missoula guy who is now Executive Editor at Portland Monthly.
At the moment I’m reading Chasing Rumor: A Season Fly Fishing in Patagonia by Cameron Chambers. Also reading Essays After Eighty by Donald Hall. Oh, and a Batman/Superman TPB.
Christopher Farnsworth’s The Eternal World is out today, and my pre-order arrived yesterday. His stuff is a lot of fun. As soon as I finish the book on Patagonia I’ll be cracking this one open.
Sounds fascinating, Chris. You read much cool stuff.