<p>NYmom,
I think Faithful Place is Tana French’s latest book but I don’t know if she is coming out with a new one soon. I will be looking for it if she does!</p>
<p>Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller & Tom Shales.</p>
<p>The Passage by Justin Cronin.</p>
<p>Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen </p>
<p>A truly hilarious memoir!</p>
<p>And right before it I read:
Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970</p>
<p>It was interesting, but also as wordy and overwrought as the title!</p>
<p>EPTR, Nothing on Amazon about a forthcoming book. I thought Faithful Place was her best.</p>
<p>Just finished Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes.
Just started Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve.
I get most of my books from the thrift store so rarely reading anything “hot off the presses”.</p>
<p>^^^
Good! I just started it. Do you have any other authors that you like? (since we seem to like the same kind, I’ll pick your brain).</p>
<p>Just started Arvida by Samuel Archibald, while still slowly plowing through The Complete Chronicles of Conan by Robert E. Howard.</p>
<p>State of Wonder - next CC book club selection. Discussion begins Oct 1st.</p>
<p>The Accident by Linwood Barclay.</p>
<p>Linwood is a friend who has become an international best selling author in the past few years. It’s very cool when that happens to someone you’ve known for a long time! Great mysteries, which aren’t usually my thing but when written by a friend, I love reading them.</p>
<p>Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand</p>
<p>EPTR, I really like the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie is a very bright woman who came from the servant class, happened into a very good education, went to France in WWI as a nurse, and became a private detective. The books take place during the years between the two world wars, and the effects of WWI on the various characters is a dominant theme. There is a wonderful sense of time and place, as in the Tana French stories.</p>
<p>I love Elizabeth George’s early mysteries, but haven’t liked the more recent ones as much.</p>
<p>Martha Grimes is another favorite author.</p>
<p>I’ve read a few Charles Todd mysteries; he has two series.</p>
<p>I like Louise Penny, too. They take place in Quebec, in a small town with quirky characters.</p>
<p>Ann Patchett–State of Wonder, Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan, and the newest Janet Evanovich in the Stephanie Plum series (I can’t help myself–I guess I keep reading because there’s usually some scene where I can’t stop laughing!).</p>
<p>^^^ Bromfield: I just finished the latest Evanovich … and keep reading them for the exact same reason you do.</p>
<p>NYMomof2: I’ve been eyeing the series by Winspear, Penny, and George. I plan to pick one series and read til I’m caught up and then choose another. Right now it looks like I’ll start with the books by Louise Penny … though I could just as easily grab the first Winspear. My sister gave me all the first Elizabeth George books, but I loaned them to a friend and will wait til she’s done.</p>
<p>At the moment I’m listening to State of Wonder - Ann Patchett. I have the hardback copy on hand but ended up on a road trip and the library just happened to have the audio book available before I left. My road trip ended before the audio, so I’m finishing up in starts and stops. I plan to sit down with my copy of the book before the CC Book Club discussion starts on October 1st. I imagine I’ll hear the reader’s voice in my head as I read.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned A Discovery of Witches. I read it shortly after the book’s release date and was dissatisfied … but I ended up taking the audio book with me on a road trip. The reader is great and makes everything good about the book come to life. Not that I’m recommending the book and the audio is 20 some odd hours (which reminds me of some things I didn’t like about the book.) Be forewarned if you pick up the book: it starts a trilogy and very decidely leaves the story “to be continued.”</p>
<p>I just started One Amazing Thing - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. One Amazing Thing is the book chosen for this year’s “Gulf Coast Reads” and different events/discussions will be held throughout Houston and the surrounding region. I won’t go to any event but did want to read the book.</p>
<p>limabeans-
I first read [Raven</a> Stole the Moon-](<a href=“http://www.garthstein.com/raven/]Raven”>http://www.garthstein.com/raven/)by Garth Stein , years ago but lent to someone & then it went out of print, but last night downloaded it & read it on my iPhone all at once.</p>
<p>Different than Racing in the rain, but so good.</p>
<p>NYMomof2, can you actually figure out Martha Grimes mysteries? I threw the last one I read against the wall and never read another one. The detective is standing in the fens and has the ahah moment (apparently) where he’s figured out who the murderer is, but Grimes doesn’t bother to tell us, and I certainly didn’t have a clue. I’d also gotten pretty tired of the sadsack sidekick by then as well.</p>
<p>That said, I’m not really a big mystery reader - I’ve read some of the classics (some Christie, all the Sayers, some Nero Wolfe), some of the newer ones - Dick Francis, Elizabeth George (got annoyed with her characters too) didn’t really like Ruth Rendell or PD James. Lately my favorite sci fi writer (Bujold) has been writing sci-fi mysteries that are fun. She’s always skirted the line between space opera, mystery and romance.</p>
<p>leftrightleft, I tried to read Unbroken. I really did. I made the mistake of keeping it near my bed, which is never good as my eyes s-l-o-w-l-y close and I end up rereading a lot of pages. Nonetheless, I kept feeling Louis Zamperini must, at some point, find freedom. I mean, he had to, given how most stories turn out. But instead it just kept getting worse and worse, and miserable to simply deplorable. Did the torture never end? </p>
<p>By now, I reminded myself of the book’s title. I finally returned it to the library and hoped for the best. I think what I didn’t care for was the style of writing. It would have been much better (I thought) if it was first person. I know Gilibrand tried to keep it “to the facts” and maybe that’s how she assumed a Navy pilot might feel, but was still missing something. A writer speaking to its reader maybe? Emotion maybe.</p>
<p>Just finished “State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett. Although I did enjoy it, I wasn’t as crazy about it as many reviews would indicated. At least one of the major plot lines wasn’t quite believable enough for me. Yes, I know it’s fiction, but still…</p>
<p>Before that, I read “Sarah’s Key”. I flew through it and really loved the “voice” of this author. It was a compelling read. </p>
<p>Thanks to all the CC readers here. I got both suggestions from you and keep coming back for more. Up next, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”.</p>
<p>Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. Presently in the middle of The Aleph.</p>
<p>Have temporarily set aside: A Sportman’s Notebook by Ivan Turgenev and Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by Ambrose Bierce</p>
<p>I’m reading The Witches Daughter.</p>