What have you read recently?

[anethum]

Louise Penny's Gamache books are best read in order from the beginning. Characters' lives change (and sometimes end) throughout the series. You will get a better sense of Armand Gamache if you start at the beginning. Also, important events are cited in later books. FWIW, I consistently liked the early books a lot. I was less keen on a couple of the later books in the series, though I thought the last one was excellent.

 

[Chuckanut]

I've been reading The Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series by Margaret Mizushima.

Deputy Mattie Cob and her K-9 tracking companion Robo defend the innocent and bring the guilty to justice in small town Colorado. Sometimes they have the help of the handsome divorced town vet.

I don't know if I will continue. The series provides an interesting look at how police dogs are trained, and how their handlers control their behavior. The mysteries themselves are OK, IMO, but not great. The biggest mystery seems to be will Mattie overcome childhood abuse to allow romance to bloom with the vet. OTOH, if you are a dog lover, you may enjoy the books more than I.

 

[anethum]

I just read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It's an extraordinary novel, utterly engrossing. Set in three different locales & eras, Constantinople in the 15th century, present day Idaho, and a spaceship traveling from earth to a distant planet in the future. The characters are fascinating and varied.

 

[ItsAllGood]

I recently read The Lincoln Highway. It's a terrific story with great characters. I highly recommend it.

 

[Osprey]

I just read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It's an extraordinary novel, utterly engrossing. Set in three different locales & eras, Constantinople in the 15th century, present day Idaho, and a spaceship traveling from earth to a distant planet in the future. The characters are fascinating and varied.

I also loved this book which is by the author of All The Light You Cannot See.

 

[Osprey]

I recently read The Lincoln Highway. It's a terrific story with great characters. I highly recommend it.

I just finished this book which was a great read.

 

[scrabbler1]

I just finished "Our Team," by Luke Epplin, a book about the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The subtitle is "The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball." The 4 men were Larry Doby, the AL's first black player after he joined the team in 1947; Bob Feller, an ace pitcher who was beginning to show some decline after several outstanding seasons; Satchel Paige, an aging Negro Leagues star who joined the team in the middle of 1948; and young owner Bill Veeck, flamboyant and ahead of his time.

The book rotates among these 4 men in the years leading up to 1948 before focusing on that amazing season in Cleveland. There is lots of fascinating backstory, some of which I knew but most of it I didn't know.

Given that I am using the 1948 Indians in a Strat-o-Matic baseball project now, I love also reading about many of the other players on that team, from Eddie Robinson (who
recently passed away at 100) to Joe Gordon to player-manager Lou Boudreau to Bob Lemon to Gene Bearden to Ed Klieman.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I just finished "Our Team," by Luke Epplin, a book about the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The subtitle is "The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball." The 4 men were Larry Doby, the AL's first black player after he joined the team in 1947; Bob Feller, an ace pitcher who was beginning to show some decline after several outstanding seasons; Satchel Paige, an aging Negro Leagues star who joined the team in the middle of 1948; and young owner Bill Veeck, flamboyant and ahead of his time.

The book rotates among these 4 men in the years leading up to 1948 before focusing on that amazing season in Cleveland. There is lots of fascinating backstory, some of which I knew but most of it I didn't know.

Given that I am using the 1948 Indians in a Strat-o-Matic baseball project now, I love also reading about many of the other players on that team, from Eddie Robinson (who
recently passed away at 100) to Joe Gordon to player-manager Lou Boudreau to Bob Lemon to Gene Bearden to Ed Klieman.

If you're still in the mood for vintage baseball stories, check out "Summer of '49" by David Halberstam. Chronicles the pennant race between the Red Sox and the Yankees, Joe DiMaggio vs. Ted Williams, while covering everything else that was going on in 1949.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Louise Penny's Gamache books are best read in order from the beginning. Characters' lives change (and sometimes end) throughout the series. You will get a better sense of Armand Gamache if you start at the beginning. Also, important events are cited in later books. FWIW, I consistently liked the early books a lot. I was less keen on a couple of the later books in the series, though I thought the last one was excellent.

I just finished the first book in the series, "Still Life". It's a solid story, maybe a bit too much extraneous character building. And too many dining scenes. OMG, did these people eat a lot, and the food was (too) thoroughly described. Also, too many descriptions of the foilage, the weather, the trim on buildings, antiques inside houses, etc.

I liked the main character Armand Gamache. His assistant didn't seem to have a personality. The rookie female investigator came up with two incredibly helpful insights into the investigation and was not appreciated.

The problem I had with the plot was there was no reason for the killer to be caught. Literally no evidence whatsoever. The intuitive leap needed to suspect the killer was flimsy at best.

 

[scrabbler1]

I just finished "Glory Days," by L. Jon Wertheim. It's about a few months in the middle of 1984 which changed sports and culture. Wertheim includes chapters about pro, college, and Olympics basketball; pro baseball; pro tennis; pro (USFL, a short-lived league) football; the Michael Jackson Victory tour; pro wrestling; the rise of cable sports network ESPN; the hit movie The Karate Kid; the summer Olympics in Los Angeles. A lot went on in those months.

The book reminded me a little of Ron Brownstein's book about 1974 although that book focused mainly on the entertainment industry (movies, music, TV) and some politics, all in the Los Angeles area.

 

[braumeister]

Maverick, A biography of Thomas Sowell.
Just published, and I was lucky enough to get the first copy my library received.
Sowell has long been one of my favorite economists. A truly brilliant man, and this is an easy reading bio of him and his work. Not technical at all, and worth a read. It could have benefited from a little tighter editing, but on the whole it's well written.

 

[scrabbler1]

I am nearly finished with "Saved at the Seawall," by Jessica Dulong. Its subtitle is "Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift." The book originally came out in 2017, but the newer version includes a new preface and foreword.

The book shows a fascinating look at the September 11th, 2001 attacks from the view of the many boat operators who provided first aid and evacuated thousands of people from the World Trade Center area following the attacks and collapse of the twin towers. There was a lot of co-operation from and within the mariner community, from private boat operators to the many governmental agencies (NYPD Harbor Patrol, FDNY Fireboats, Port Authority of NY and NJ, and the Coast Guard) which oversee the activity in New York Harbor and the Hudson River.

 

[Ally]

I’m trying to get through Katie Couric’s new book, Going There. I’m not a huge fan of hers, but thought she might have interesting stories. While there are parts I’ve enjoyed, I’m not sure I’ll finish it. It is a library book.

 

[anethum]

Michael Lewis' The Premonition: A Pandemic Story is a very interesting read. It's less about Covid and is more about a small group of unusual individuals, mostly M.D.s, with experience in infectious diseases and skepticism about what was coming out of the CDC. Micahel Lewis' writing is great, as always. A reviewer for the NY Times Book Review said of his writing, "I would read an 800-page history of the stapler if he wrote it."

Ann Cleeves began a new mystery series a couple of years ago called "The Two Rivers" series set in Devon, England. I read the 1st book in the series, The Long Call, and enjoyed it a lot. A TV adaptation was made, which I haven't watched yet.

 

[Badger]

I have been adding to all the Clive Cussler series in first editions (cheap fun) from the first one to the most recent "The Devil's Sea" (that was written by his son after Clive's death) except for "Iceberg". Still a couple of dozen to read yet.

However, for the past 2 years because of the pandemic I have read 126 murder mysteries. Too many to name.


Cheers!

 

[Qs Laptop]

Speaking of Kevlar cables to suspend disbelief, I just read Hillary Clinton's State of Terror, co-authored with Louise Penny who is an old favorite. Basically, a Hillary-like Secretary of State saves the world after a Trump-like administration sets the country up for a coup. It was an amusing read. Naturally, Three Pines comes into it.

I just finished this one. The vast right wing conspiracy exists in this novel.

The main character is Ellen Adams, US Secretary of State and a Hillary Clinton clone. She is the smartest person in the room, always underestimated, and is the only one capable to save the United States from a violent coup engineered by a shadowy cabal of backers of the previous Trump-like administration. If there was any doubt that Hillary has a planet Jupiter sized ego, this novel should settle that question.

Somehow she jets to several world capitals (five? six?), meets with the heads of government, deftly reads personalities and their motivations, interrogates witnesses, gives advice, solves coded messages, repairs broken familial relationships, defies the President, all in the space of about 48 hours, without sleeping. It's Supergirl!

And I thought the TV show 24 was incredulous. It is weak sauce compared to this novel.

Despite its overt political slant, and being so far-fetched a dog chasing this bone would be in orbit, it was entertaining.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I have been adding to all the Clive Cussler series in first editions (cheap fun) from the first one to the most recent "The Devil's Sea" (that was written by his son after Clive's death) except for "Iceberg". Still a couple of dozen to read yet.

However, for the past 2 years because of the pandemic I have read 126 murder mysteries. Too many to name.


Cheers!

I have read all the Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt novels, all the Juan Cabrillo novels (The Oregon Files), all of the Kurt Austin novels (The NUMA files), most of the Isaac Bell novels, and only one of the Fargo novels.

You have some enjoyable reading ahead of you. I strongly suggest checking out the Oregon Files series, start with the first one, Golden Buddha. Hard to believe but I'd rather read a new Oregon Files novel than a new Dirk Pitt or new Kurt Austin novel.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Previous to Hillary Clinton's "State of Terror" I read "The Apollo Murders" by Chris Hadfield, former astronaut and (now) best selling author.

This is an alternative history novel set in 1973 and concerns the Apollo 18 moon mission. On the way to the moon the astronauts are given a top secret military mission of approaching and investigating a newly orbiting Soviet space station, which the US believes is spying on them. Once they get to the Soviet space station all hell breaks loose--both in earth orbit and politically down on earth. There are plenty of twists and turns, some I didn't see coming, which add to the enjoyment of the book.

Chris Hadfield writes with the technical accuracy of an insider but without boring the audience. The story was strong all the way to the ending, where I had some questions as to why one of the characters took a particular action.

If you are a fan of Apple TV's series "For All Mankind", this novel is right up your alley.

 

[braumeister]

The Clot Thickens: The enduring mystery of heart disease
by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick

Wonderful book -- I devoured it in two days.
Full of remarkable insights -- I was truly surprised at how much I learned. And his writing style is just delightful. There were plenty of lines in every chapter that made me smile and often laugh out loud. Kind of incredible for a book full of science!

If he doesn't convince you of his argument in this book, you will at least learn a few things and re-think others.

 

[JP.mpls]

I also loved this book which is by the author of All The Light You Cannot See.

Anethum and Osprey,
I just finished All the Light You Can Not See.
Will have to try his other book on your recommendation.
JP

 

[John Galt III]

Currently reading 'Tis' which is Frank McCourt's sequel to Angela's Ashes. I haven't read Angela's Ashes yet, though, lol. I am finding Tis to be interesting. A bit repetitive so far. Only at page 60.

 

[Ally]

Currently reading 'Tis' which is Frank McCourt's sequel to Angela's Ashes. I haven't read Angela's Ashes yet, though, lol. I am finding Tis to be interesting. A bit repetitive so far. Only at page 60.

I thought Angela’s Ashes was much better.

 

[Chuckanut]

I enjoyed the The Witcher on Netflix so I thought I would check out the books the TV show is based on. They are written by a Polish fellow - Andrzej Sapkowski.

So far, the books are even better than the TV show, IMHO.

In the books, Geralt (The Witcher) is not just a warrior with a big sword that he uses to kill nasty monsters. In many ways he is a model for the enlightened, sensitive male. He simply earns his keep by killing monsters who are genuine 'bad guys'. He does not harm widows, orphans, farmers in-keepers, peasants, etc. He often out thinks his adversaries, rather than out fights them. Like many modern day heroes his personal life is messy.

The books were not written in perfect order. Start with the short stories - The Last Wish (2007) and Sword of Destiny (2015). Then fill in with the books written between those years.

 

[CoolRich59]

I recently read The Lincoln Highway. It's a terrific story with great characters. I highly recommend it.

I just finished The Lincoln Highway tonight. I agree that the characters were great - very vivid and well developed. I was disappointed in the ending however. It seemed very rushed and left a lot of loose ends.

 

[Qs Laptop]

"The Reckoning".

I usually enjoy John Grisham novels. Once in a while there will be a clunker, but never anything as downright awful as “The Reckoning”. His writing has never been as clumsy, as repetitious, and as uninspiring. The story itself is a disjointed mess that ends on a very sour note.

Avoid.