Announcing the August tag

[Hannah]

Yay! I was the random person to pick the tag this month and I was a little worried I had chosen badly but I'm glad it won.

[Jason]

Good choice Hannah.

[annapi]

Thank you Hannah! I'm curious - when you pick your suggested tag, do you know what the other two choices are?

[Sushicat]

annapi wrote: "Jason wrote: "Yes, Ian Flemming James Bond first 9 books. That's all I have read so all I can recommend."

Thanks! I will probably read Diamonds are Forever (#4), since that will be a triple hit fo..."

Yay, that means I can stick with Casino Royale for the Decathlon as well.

[Jason]

Be prepared for major sexism.

[Hannah]

annapi wrote: "Thank you Hannah! I'm curious - when you pick your suggested tag, do you know what the other two choices are?"

lol no I did not hence why the choices where so all over the place. I suppose that is kind of the point to get some diversity in there.

[Anita]

Hannah wrote: "Yay! I was the random person to pick the tag this month and I was a little worried I had chosen badly but I'm glad it won."

It didn't just win. It trounced the competition, lol. Great choice and one we surprisingly have never done before.

[Jen]

Hannah wrote: "Yay! I was the random person to pick the tag this month and I was a little worried I had chosen badly but I'm glad it won."

Definitely a great pick. I wanted poetry to win but I do appreciate this tag too and am happy about it

[Hebah]

Joanne wrote: "My Library does have this one, so a good option for me-thanks"

Huzzah! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Robin]

Amy wrote: "OK, my new problem is this. I ordered three books from the library for espionage. They’re all on my TBR. But I just looked them up and all three of them are extremely low ratings. It’s hard to tell..."

I have not yet to read George Washington secret six, but it is on my "want to read" based on a recommendation I got. If that helps you at all.

[Joanne]

Joy D wrote: "Last year I read a really good book about the Dreyfuss Affair (1894-1904 in France). I recommend it for this tag:

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris"

I enjoyed this one too!

[Joanne]

Hannah wrote: "Yay! I was the random person to pick the tag this month and I was a little worried I had chosen badly but I'm glad it won."

Excellent choice-now I have another reason to ignore making dinner and keep on reading!

[Joanne]

This use to be my go-to genre so I have quite a few I can recommend-all rated 3.5 and above(mostly 4's and 5's) Also included time and place of the story
One Man's Flag (Britain WWI)
The Hunt for Red October (US-Russian Cold War)
American Assassin (US-Late 80's)
The Kremlin Conspiracy (US-Russia Present
Day)
The Tourist(US-Present Day)
Macarthur's Spies: The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War III(Pacific Theater WWII)
The Cairo Affair (Middle East-present day)

Going to be a great reading month!

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[Amy]

Hannah - you saved us!

[LibraryCin]

I went to look at my shelf to see if I had anything I could recommend (to help out with Decathlon for a few more recommendations to choose from).

I don't use the tag "espionage", but looking at the books I've tagged "spies", they were all rated 3 stars (ok) or 3.5 stars (good). I usually only recommend things that I've rated 4 stars or higher, unless it made a specific impression on me, so I'm not going to recommend the ones I've read.

[Jgrace]

I was thinking about Jason's 'prepare for major sexism' warning and I've come up with a few recs for people who want to avoid that:

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - this is the first of a series, a bit dated, about a 60-something widow who goes to work for the CIA, mildly funny, a cozy mystery/espionage mash-up.

Some Agatha Christie:
N or M?
The Clocks

Historical Fiction:
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
The Alice Network

From Laurie R King's Russell/Holmes series:
O Jerusalem
The Game - this one uses characters form Kim - another book about spying

From Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series:
Pardonable Lies
Journey to Munich
A Lesson in Secrets
In This Grave Hour

These books all deal with spies and spying even if they haven't been shelved as espionage.

[Jess]

So my choices from my TBR are

I Am Pilgrim and The Honest Spy

I'm leaning towards the latter. Anyone read either?

[Booknblues]

Jgrace wrote: "I was thinking about Jason's 'prepare for major sexism' warning and I've come up with a few recs for people who want to avoid that:

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - this is the first o..."

Thanks, JGrace. One which I might read that falls in that category is The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure & Betrayal, it is a nonfiction that I have on my TBR.

[Booknblues]

Jess wrote: "So my choices from my TBR are

I Am Pilgrim and The Honest Spy

I'm leaning towards the latter. Anyone read either?"

I read The Honest Spy and it was on my list of recommends. It is based on a true story.

[Sushicat]

I used to read a lot of WW2 and espionage books at one time, but it’s so long ago I can really remember which books I loved best. As for authors my favorites were Len Deighton, Ken Follet, Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth.

[Joi]

Jgrace wrote: "From Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series:
Pardonable Lies"

This is a great idea! She always definitely has to do with spying, looks like this one more in particular. I'm on this book in the series- so I may go this route. Thanks JGrace!

[Amy N.]

Welp. Espionage is not my thing, but I'm willing to expand my horizons. Loving all these suggestions, especially Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory and Poison Study.

And it turns out I've read one espionage book in my life: Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, a delightful light fantasy regency romp with magic seamstresses.

My main problem with this tag is that anything involving spies tends to be large and complicated, which is probably part of the point. But I'm not a big fan or large and complicated most of the time... anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? Preferably fantasy or some other genre taking double billing with espionage.

Speaking of multiple genres, someone here mentioned that LibraryThing has a tagmash, and I barely know how it works but I already know it's going to be my favorite thing ever because cross-referencing tags is something I have been desperately trying to do for weeks now. Thanks to whoever that was!

[Karin]

Amy N. My main problem with this tag is that anything involving spies tends to be large and complicated, which is probably part of the point. But I'm not a big fan or large and complicated most of the time... anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag?

Yes, of course :) Her Royal Spyness, the start of a series, which has an average rating of 3.77. It wasn't my cup of tea, but quite a few people enjoy this series.

If you like y/a, there is the series by Ally Carter that begins with I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You which is quite fun, not complicated and definitely about espionage.

[JoLene]

Karin beat me to it —- those are two I would recommend for lighter fare.

Some others have also mentioned some the series by Gail Carriger. Most have a steampunk, paranormal theme, but they are not to complicated.

There’s always Harriet the Spy which was one of my fav books as a kid!

[Amy N.]

JoLene wrote: "There’s always Harriet the Spy which was one of my fav books as a kid!"

Harriet the Spy, of course! I loved that one. I still crave egg creams from time to time despite never having had one in my life.

[[deleted user]]

My list is long on my TBR. This is an easy month for me and a genre I like very much. This is the short list and then there are some non-fiction I would love to get to.
Enemy of the State
The Other Woman
The Spy's Gamble
The Quantum Spy
Pushing Brillance
Triple Identity
Leaving Berlin
The Damascus Cover

[Amy]

I think the spiced Gamble might be on my TBR list too. But I think I limited it as an option due to length. I’m getting through a fine balance now, followed by bear town and a forgotten garden in August. I need a few quick reads, and espionage better be one of them.

[Meli]

I apologize if someone mentioned this title already, but will Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest fit this tag? "Espionage" didn't show up in the tags, so I wanted to double check. Sounds like espionage to me though...

Another recommendation from my husband. He also picked The Master and Margarita for June, which took me 2 months to finish :)

[evsbooks]

Heist Society

Heist Society has been on my TBR for a while so if Im able to get a copy i think i will read that :)

[Kristel]

Powell’s book store is featuring Espionage. Here are their suggestions. http://www.powells.com/featured/gotch...

[Jgrace]

I remembered another one about an American Civil War spy,

All Other Nights.

It's about a Jewish Union spy. The historical background was very interesting, although I only gave it 3 stars for the writing. I think Linda liked it more than I did.

[LibraryCin]

Amy N. wrote: "Speaking of multiple genres, someone here mentioned that LibraryThing has a tagmash, and I barely know how it works but I already know it's going to be my favorite thing ever because cross-referencing tags is something I have been desperately trying to do for weeks now. Thanks to whoever that was!..."

It may have been me who mentioned LT's tagmash. Let me know (you can PM me) if you want specific instructions to talk you through it. LT has a lot of features, so it can be confusing to try to figure out how to do things, sometimes, but I can help, if you'd like!

[LibraryCin]

Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 stars (good), but I think a lot of other people rated it higher than that. It's YA, so it is going to be lighter than many others, I think:
Code Name Verity

[ShazM]

Jgrace wrote: "I was thinking about Jason's 'prepare for major sexism' warning and I've come up with a few recs for people who want to avoid that:

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - this is the first o..."

Thanks Jgrace for reminding me about Mrs Pollifax, these are wonderful stories and I have several of them in my attic. I'm going for 'Our Man in Havana' and 'I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You' for variety but now I'm also going to go up the rickety ladder and find Mrs Pollifax as well!

[KateNZ]

For something a bit different, you could try ‘The Blackstone Key’ by Rose Melvin. First of a series, set in the 1790s, involving spying against Napoleonic France. It introduces an interesting heroine. I see some of the reviews have been mediocre but I enjoyed it (and the second). Not deep literature but quite cool

[Hebah]

LibraryCin wrote: "Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 stars (good), but I think a lot of other people..."

Code Name Verity is YA, but it is NOT light.

[Robin]

Hebah wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 stars (good), but I think a ..."

I read the summary of the book and it sounds interesting. I have a 12 yr son that loves reading books of this nature. Since you said you would not call it light. Wondering why and if you would recommend it for 12yr (who intellectually is mature for his age)

[Joanne]

A few more I can recommend, and with place and time period

An Officer and a Spy (Paris 1895)

The One Man (WWII Germany/Auchwitz)

The Faithful Spy (Present Day Middle East)

[Hebah]

Robin wrote: "Hebah wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 stars (good), ..."

One of the main characters has been captured by Nazis, and as I recall, there is implied torture. At one point, a character discretely asks if the prisoner was subject to rape (I believe the answer there is a no). And there's a heartbreaking decision at the end that just gutted me. I leave that to you as to whether those are things your 12-year-old specifically would be up to handling (after all, Hunger Games is no walk in the park either, and many tweens have read that too). If you're still on the fence, I'd recommend thumbing through it yourself.

[Kelly]

Amy wrote: "Michelle Moran's Mata Hari's Last Dance would also qualify, for lovers of historical fiction..... That's the best in my opinion of the four Mata Hari books that have shown up in this last couple of..."

Amy - Do you think I would like this one?

[[deleted user]]

Joanne wrote: "A few more I can recommend, and with place and time period

An Officer and a Spy (Paris 1895)

The One Man (WWII Germany/Auchwitz)

The Faithful Spy (P..."

I loved The Faithful Spy. I have not read An Officer and a Spy but it sounds really good. I'm adding it to my TBR.

[LibraryCin]

Hebah wrote: "Code Name Verity is YA, but it is NOT light. ..."

Thank you for the correction. It's been a while since I've read it, and don't really remember!

[Critterbee❇]

Seconding that Code Name Verity is NOT light...

[Hebah]

LibraryCin wrote: "Hebah wrote: "Code Name Verity is YA, but it is NOT light. ..."

Thank you for the correction. It's been a while since I've read it, and don't really remember!"

Heh. I figured that was the case. It was a book that has definitely stuck with and haunted me since I read it, but I also think it's a case where the blurb almost doesn't do it justice.

[Robin]

Hebah wrote: "Robin wrote: "Hebah wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 ..."
Thanks I will probably look at it first.

[Kimber]

Cora wrote: "I have one recommendation tagged espionage.

City of Stairs (one of my favorite trilogies)

Some I am considering:

The Rook
Six of Crows

I liked The Rook.
I have both Six of Crows and Poison Study on my TBR.

[Amy]

I do think you’d like it Kelly. Simply because we have enjoyed so many books together. You’re one of my all-time book twins. And I gave this one five stars. It’s an easy but compelling and entrancing read. Feel free to check out my review if it helps. I just adored it.

[Book Concierge]

LibraryCin wrote: "Amy N. wrote: "anyone have suggestions for a light read in this tag? ..."

I think a few people have recommended it already. I believe I rated it 3.5 stars (good), but I think a lot of other people..."

Code Name Verity is NOT light .... bring tissues... LOTS of tissues.

[Ladyslott]

Jgrace wrote: "I remembered another one about an American Civil War spy,

All Other Nights.

I remembered another one about an American Civil War spy,

All Other Nights.

It's about a Jewish Union spy. The historical background was very interesting, although I only gave it 3 stars for the writing. I think Linda liked it more than I did.
..."

I rated 4 stars, although that may have been because of the Jewish aspect, since I'm Jewish.

[Michael]

I forgot I read this gem on US uses of submarines for spying: Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. The cat and mouse with the Russians during the Cold War reached absurd heights of boldness and danger. One time the underwater telephone cable serving Russia was accessed for months by a submarine parked over an underwater site of a tapping operation.