Series Read: Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson

[Mary X]

The Cold Dish: I finished this today. I liked it lot. In reading a couple of reviews, it appears to be like most books in relation to their TV shows: very different. But I haven't seen the show.

Johnson in good with giving a description that's very detailed without being very wordy. I love the relationship between Henry and Walt.

[❀Tea❀]

Starting book 1...

[Cynthia]

Finished it this morning. What a good mystery! I also love the relationships between characters. I'm wondering about this daughter we haven't seen. Maybe the next book has to do with her?

(view spoiler)[ I never saw it coming! I was so sure it was Jim Keller (Brian's dad, the crying boy). I never suspected Vonnie, but in retrospect the hints were there.

We knew her Dad had killed himself with one of the rifles, which meant she probably had it.

The lady that runs the diner (can't remember her name) alluded to something bad happening to Vonnie years earlier, beyond the suicide.

Vonnie herself talked about having something in her past.

There may be more, but I didn't catch them. It was very well crafted! I hate when some villain comes out of the blue on the last 5 pages, but Vonnie is totally plausible and I don't feel cheated. (hide spoiler)]

[Audrey Jane]

I'm currently reading .
(view spoiler)[ I was confused at the beginning due to the switching timeline. I still am a bit lost for some kind of reason, I don't catch everything what Walt means or is trying to say. Or maybe it's his kind of humour that is lost on me. I still need to come into it but I'm very intrigued so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Cynthia]

Audrey Jane, it took me a bit to get into it also. I was reading 3 books with switching timelines and I'm so ready for something straightforward!

It gets better, although the backflashing continues throughout the book. I can't see much of a reason for it either. Although it's vital to the story, knowing the whole thing in one big lump wouldn't ruin the mystery.

Maybe this flip-flopping is something they teach in writer school. If so, I wish more of them would skip that day.

[Sheila]

Oh, I so agree with that Cynthia. Give me a straightforward book any time.

[❀Tea❀]

Cynthia wrote: "Maybe this flip-flopping is something they teach in writer school. If so, I wish more of them would skip that day. "

Lol.
But so right.

They could at least put something like present day in front. It took me few paragraphs to figure out we are back in now.

[Laura]

Book: Cold Dish

I had just started this book when they formed this group so I'm a bit ahead (as in I already finished it :-) ) Since many are just starting I won't go too deep into it yet but I will say now I thought it was an exceptional Book in many ways. I too loved the relationship between Walt and Henry, and I just loved Henry in general, the way he spoke. I did watch the TV series (a favorite of mine) and it seems the TV series totally nailed Henry's personality.

>>>Mary said:
Johnson seems to have this habit of going into a flash back or just cutting from one "scene" to another which gets a little confusing with the audio.
<<<

QUESTION: If I want to respond to something like this in here should I do it in a post like this where everyone will see it, or is it OK to use the respond button so it's under the post to which I'm responding?

RESPONSE: Mary, I had the same experience with the book. Not just jumping scened but sometimes I didn't know which character was speaking, or what they were talking about. There were a lot of interruptions while I was reading this book so I didn't have long stretches to get totally engrossed. But I often found myself thinking - wait - what's going on? Who's saying that? When I re-read, I could usually figure it out, but it definitely wasn't explicit.

I found this annoying and beneficial, if that makes sense. I wanted the author to spell it out for me, please! But I also sensed that kind of reader-hand-holding would take away from the book.

It's a book that makes you think, which I appreciate. Even though I'm not sure I always got what the author was trying to convey.

[Audrey Jane]

lol Cynthia, I agree. I'm not that far into the book though, so I'm off to read some more!

[Laura]

PS about switching timelines - as a general rule these drive me crazy. Especially when they start at some dramatic situation then go back to show us how they got there. Seriously? I already know what happens because you just told/showed me. Now why do I care to know everything little thing that led up to it?

I don't mind flash backs for character development. Glimpses of past experiences that slowly reveal what makes the character tick. That I appreciate. But when the plot goes backwards, that invariably annoys me.

[Michelle]

I finished this one just now! I had to work until 2am so I read when I got home and finished it up after a nap. :)

I'm surprised how much I liked this book. I definitely think I have a new favorite series on my hands.
(view spoiler)[ I did not see the end coming, but the clues were there. Maybe, like Walt, I didn't want to see it because I want him to be happy with someone. The one thing I was certain about was it wasn't Henry.

I also thought it was realistic that he didn't immediately brush it off and go back to work, and the team gave him time to get back on track. One of my favorite parts was the dog coming to live with him. I liked that the two of them ended up together.
(hide spoiler)]

I'll write my review later tonight. We are off to see the Thunderbirds air show out at Nellis AFB today so I won't get anything else finished until this evening.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

I'll be able to start book 2 on Monday if anyone is interested. If we need a little break, that's fine, too. I'm just dying to get back to this series!

[Sheila]

I'll be ready to start book 2 Becky

[Laura]

My son kept telling me to read this series because he knew I would like it. I am 40 pages or so into . Looking forward to reading more!

[Cynthia]

I'll probably squeeze book 2 in some time late next week. This one was a relaxing read, so it'll be good to intersperse these books with others that burn a little more brain calories.

[Kay Kay]

Can I join the buddy read. I started book one today. I read the first chapter.

[Kay Kay]

I have never done a buddy read before. Are there questions that we answer?

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Sheila wrote: "I'll be ready to start book 2 Becky"

Awesome! I can wait until Cynthia is ready if you're game. I have one book I have to finish this weekend, so Monday is probably the earliest I could start anyway. I can wait a few more days if need be.

[❀Tea❀]

Karrie wrote: "Can I join the buddy read. I started book one today. I read the first chapter."

Yep. You can join anytime.


Karrie wrote: "I have never done a buddy read before. Are there questions that we answer?"

We are doing informal buddy read so there are no questions. Just book talk.
And since this is series read, not all of us are reading same book. :D Be sure to mention when you comment what book are you talking about.

That doesn't mean you can't ask questions if you want (don't forget to use spoiler tag!).

[Sheila]

I've had this entire series for a while now since I loved the tv show. It is nice to finally read them.

[Cynthia]

You don't have to wait for me. I've got about 5 books left to finish today/tonight (and with Alabama & LSU playing tonight, I may not get a lot of reading done).

I just got back from the library picking up and I want to start that tomorrow, along with 2 more buddy reads and a re-read of Wool so I'm ready for Shift.

I'll read the next one Tuesday, probably/maybe/who knows.

[❀Tea❀]

Book 1 - Chapter 2 or 3

I had no idea I'll be laughing here. Ok, it's still confusing with past/present and who's talking, but it's funny.
(view spoiler)[I mean, you can't trust firemen with fire, because they'll burn things down! :P Oh, and that fuse box scene. That one was deja vu from couple years ago when one of the appliances broke, so we had to figure out which one needs to be 'unplugged' (hide spoiler)]

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Cynthia wrote: "I'll read the next one Tuesday, probably/maybe/who knows."

That works for me. My son and DIL have a baby gender reveal party Monday night, so I'll be pretty busy that day.

Tea...LOVED that scene! Harry has some great one liners later on that made me laugh, too. And Lucien...OMGosh. He is a HOOT!

Enjoy! : )

[Mary X]

Ah so it's not just the audiobook that's the issue.

I love Henry Running Bear. I have a thing for Native American men anyway. (my grandfather was Iroquois although you can't see a drop of it in fair, blonde, green-eyed me). Henry is a bit of a ladies man.

[Mary X]

I'm still waiting for book 2 from the library. Shouldn't be long.

[Sheila]

I finished:

The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
(view spoiler)[

I liked so many things about this book.

The locales were beautifully presented without being beat over the head with them.

I loved the relationships
Walt/Henry
Walt/Vic
Walt/Ruby
Walt/Lucien

Sadly the hopeful relationship to get Walt to move on after Martha's death didn't quite work out as planned. (I sure didn't see Vonnie as the killer)

All in all a very enjoyable read once I got past the fact that it wasn't like the tv show it was great. (I had the same issue with Castle and Rizolli and Iles.)

The one thing I didn't like was the title. I get it now, but what a title.

On to book 2 (hide spoiler)]

[Mary X]

The Cold Dish:

(view spoiler)[I didn't get the title at first but then I had an aha moment about half-way through. I also did not see the killer was until the end and normally I have it all firgured well before that. (hide spoiler)]

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

I just started book 1, The Cold Dish. I read the first chapter. I had intended to read at least 3 chapters but wow, that was a long chapter! It's only 25 pages but the text is a little smaller than I'm used to reading so it took me longer to get that far.

Thoughts so far: I really like the writing style. This author has talent. I feel like I am right there with the characters, that's how well this guy describes the environment and the people.

Since I already know that Lou Diamond Phillips plays Henry in the series, that's who I will picture when Henry is on the page. Not a bad image, haha!

Loved the bar scene with the fuses. I really like the relationship between Walt and Henry. I'm going to try to read 2 more chapters today.

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Sheila wrote: "Reminds me a lot of the descriptive language in the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box and the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr. "

I've read a few books in the Nevada Barr series and I've read one C. J. Box book and I can see how you would compare the descriptive language in this book to those. Now I want to get back to the Barr series and move the Joe Pickett (by Box) series up my list of series to read. In the description of book 2, the write-up compares the writing style to Robert Parker and someone named Ace Atkins. I've never heard of Ace Atkins but I'm going to look into him.

[Sheila]

Ace Atkins is the writer that now writes the Robert Parker series - Spenser since Parker's death in 2010. He is a really good writer in my opinion. I've enjoyed reading a couple of books in his Quinn Colson series.

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Mary: Harry Dresden's Love Slave wrote: "Ah so it's not just the audiobook that's the issue.

I love Henry Running Bear. I have a thing for Native American men anyway. (my grandfather was Iroquois although you can't see a drop of it i..."

I've got a thing for Native American men, too, Mary. I always have found them very attractive and appealing and in high school one of my crushes was Iroquois. Just loved his dark hair and dark eyes and the strong nose. Okay, let me stop...this isn't a romance book group, haha!

Since I'm just finished with chapter 1, I have yet to experience the hopping timelines thing that a few of you have mentioned.

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Sheila wrote: "Ace Atkins is the writer that now writes the Robert Parker series - Spenser since Parker's death in 2010. He is a really good writer in my opinion. I've enjoyed reading a couple of books in his Q..."

Ahh, good to know, Sheila! Will definitely see if my library carries his books. They have some of the Spenser series but not all of them, which kind of drives me nuts.

edit: Yep, they have some Ace Atkins. They have a few titles from a "Nick Travers" series. Will look that up here to see what it's about. I love the book titles so I'm already planning to check those out.

[Sheila]

Funny thing about Ace Atkins is that after Robert B. Parker died unexpectedly in 2010 I thought that it was really sad. However I also thought well at least I can finally get caught up on his series at least. (Jesse Stone being my fave). Spenser alone has about 40 books. And then here comes Ace Atkins with NEW Spenser novels, sigh.

I have a friend that is way further ahead with Spenser and she says his books are a lot closer to the earlier Spenser books and she even wrote him a letter to thank him and he answered her back.

[Cynthia]

Love hearing that about Ace Atkins. I've watched more than one Jesse Stone movie on Lifetime with my parents (I think it's the only channel they get). I think I would enjoy the books, just haven't had the time to fit them in yet. I got some of them for my mom since she likes him on tv.

I'm so relieved to hear you say that the Rizolli & Isles books are not like the tv program. I hate that show. Real policewomen don't dress like that. And also they usually have a little more meat on their bones. You know, so the bad guys can't huff and blow them over. Back into the eventually-to-read pile!

[Mary X]

I love Lou Diamond Phillips so I had no problem picturing him as Henry.

You can tell by looking at my Dad and most of siblings that they are half Native American. My sister got all those genes and my brother and I got the light eyed blonde genes from my mother. (Dad's mother was also blue eyed blonde)

[Kay Kay]

I just finished chapter one too. I do not have the book yet, so I am reading it on my nook in store (you get one hour a day). I do have a question about chapter one here it is
(view spoiler)[
Did anyone else notice that the sheriff was drinking and driving, and right in front of the deputy too? I was a little shocked!(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Kay Kay]

I LOVE the CJ Box books!

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Yeah, Karrie! (view spoiler)[ I was sort of surprised, too! I thought Vic would make him hand over the bottle but nope, he made a crack about driving with open bottles in every state or something along those lines and she just seemed amused. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Karrie wrote: "I just finished chapter one too. I do not have the book yet, so I am reading it on my nook in store (you get one hour a day). I do have a question about chapter one here it is

I was surprised to Karrie.

[Laura]

BOOK: Cold Dish

Karrie, (view spoiler)[I noticed that too! And I was kind of disappointed in him.

I had trouble not comparing the book to the TV show even though the Walt's look different and have somewhat different personalities. But I kept thinking that in the TV show Walt seemed pragmatic, where he would not let the law stop him from apprehending a killer, but otherwise a law and order kind of guy. I don't recall him flouted the law over something so self-indulgent. Or at least not be somewhat ashamed of it. Though I do recall some scenes of him drinking some. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Book: Cold Dish

Something that is revealed much later in the book that struck me when comparing the book to the TV Series was that (view spoiler)[ Walt's relationship with his wife really was not that good/passionate. In the TV series he was so in love with her he could not move on. In Cold Dish he reminisces over the fact that she had "settled" for him and they really stuck together for Cady.

I liked that because it made me feel better for him not being so devastated, but it didn't match the fact that he had been in a celibate funk for years since her passing. (Not that I've ever lost a spouse to death, so maybe I don't understand.) But I wonder if that ambivalence to moving on was part of his personality<?spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Cynthia]

I suspect that he is the kind of person that doesn't like change of any sort.

I also considered that (view spoiler)[ he had moved out of town and started building her the house of her dreams before she got sick. The she died on him. Either they were really trying to give a go, and build something special with each other, or he's taken this as proof that Change. Isn't. Good. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

@Cynthia - very good points/thoughts. I think you may be on to something.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Ohhh...Cynthia....very insightful. (view spoiler)[If they were starting over and lost that chance when she died, it makes sense that he'd be in a real rut. I'm still wondering if there is more to the story of his wife's death, though. It's been awhile and he still seems so broken, like something is holding him back. I also thought it was telling that he seems a bit out of touch with Cady. Is he afraid of getting that close father/daughter intimacy or is he hiding something?

I'm trying not to base my thoughts on the series, because I know that the author's website (or somewhere on the net) it said the TV show is a very loose adaptation. Some ideas were used on TV that he couldn't/didn't incorporate into his books. I guess time will tell if my suspicions are correct. I'll enjoy finding out! (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

I am 1/2 way through the book and am so enjoying it. I love the humor, or Walt's sense of humor!

[Sheila]

Anybody ready to start book 2 tomorrow?

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Sheila wrote: "Anybody ready to start book 2 tomorrow?"

Yep! I'm in!

[Sheila]

Super

[Cynthia]

Sounds good, Sheila. I just finished one of my books a little earlier than I planned, so I'm okay to get going on another Walt story.

I've only got 7 books to finish this week, and I've finished one and a good ways into 4 more. What's another one on the pile? I do better under pressure ;-)

[Michelle]

I may not be able to start tomorrow, but I will get to it this week and catch up with everyone.