What are you reading: November 2014

[Sacramento Public Library]

As the weather becomes colder and wetter what books are you staying inside with? Share in the comments below and help someone find their next great read.

[Julie]

I just finished The Last Time We Say Goodbye , by Cynthia Hand and I loved it -sadly it comes out next year. This book made me happy and sad .

[Robyn]

I just finished Mockingjay and I just now started reading Outlander.

[Steven]

Personal and Abaddon's Gate

[Susan]

I am working on JR Ward's Immortal. I think I am getting tired of the Fallen Angels series. Sad when you don't care if the devil is going to rule the world!

[Sarah]

A couple of weeks ago, I finished The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. I thought that the book was an easy read, and it is a good one for a book club. There are a lot of potential discussion questions to be explored. More recently, I started reading a historical fiction novel called The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. It's a completely different kind of story, but so far, I'm enjoying it.

[Julie]

I am reading shutter and I finished first world problems :)

@Susan sorry to hear you feel that about that series. I felt that way with the heart of Christmas by brenda Novak .

[Carolyn F.]

I'm reading a linked book, Personal Demons

[Steven]

Personal, a Jack Reacher book was just ok, Lee Childs needs to retire him and move on to something else. Abaddon's Gate was excellent, the best so far in The Expanse series.

[Susan]

I had to point out As You Wish to my husband. He loves that movie and I figured he would like it. Glad to hear it was enjoyable to someone who isn't obsessed with the movie.

[John]

I find myself in a rather unusual position of having finished two books, one in print and one in audio, and not having anything immediately at hand to start reading.

I read "The Frenzy Way," by Gregory Lamberson. Not bad, police investigate a series of killings with a paranormal connection. It's a rather common plot and this doesn't stand out from the crowd. Still, it's entertaining enough to consider the next title in the series.

[John]

I also finished up "Hold the Dark," by William Giraldi. The New York Times, LA Times, and Library Journal all loved it. Kirkus Reviews did not. I found it frustrating and unsatisfying. The book started out moderately interesting: Medora Slone, whose husband Vernon is off fighting in a nameless desert war, summons wolf biologist Russell Core when wolves supposedly carry off Medora's young son Bailey from the front door of their cabin in a remote Alaskan village. Core discovers that the wolves had nothing to do with Bailey, finding the boy's strangled and frozen body in the cabin cellar. Here the plot veers off on a sharp tangent, and it's almost as if the last half of another story has been grafted onto the first, as Medora flees across the Alaskan backcountry in winter with Vernon in pursuit, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Core pretty much disappears from the story line at that point. Medora is unsympathetic and Vernon seriously deranged. I almost wished that the two would cross paths with a grizzly or something and get eaten up...a bit of poetic justice, Alaskan backwoods style.

OK, now on to something more promising. For the first time the Christie family has authorized a new Hercule Poirot tale, "The Monogram Murders," by Sophie Hannah. I'm giving it a listen in audio format. Having heard several other Poirot stories, it will be interesting to see how this measures up. So far, pretty good.

[Julie]

I am reading Horde by Ann Aguirre -- she has become an auto read author for me . I also love her New Adult series all using Backstreet boys songs :)

[Steven]

@john - have you tried the "Prey" series by John Sandford, or the "Rapp" series by Vince Flynn? If you prefer a little supernatural with your mysteries, I recommend the "Odd Thomas" series by Dean Koontz.

[Chip]

I just finished The Best American Essays of the Century, edited by Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan. Some terrific stuff in there (including some by authors I'd never heard of - "Illumination Rounds" by Michael Herr comes to mind), some that didn't do much for me, some that I just hated. (What is it about William and Henry James? Were they having a contest to see which of them could write the most convoluted, unintelligible prose?)

Anyway, having recently seen the movie Birdman, I'm now reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, a short story collection by Raymond Carver. (The title story is featured in Birdman.) Jeez - I haven't read Carver in about 30 years. I remembered that he was really, really good, but I'd forgotten just how good! I highly recommend the book and the movie!

[Carolyn F.]

Julie wrote: "I am reading Horde by Ann Aguirre -- she has become an auto read author for me . I also love her New Adult series all using Backstreet boys songs :)"

I'm about to start the 2nd book in that series Julie. I love this author too.

[Brendle]

I recently finished Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, the sequel to her award winning Ancillary Justice. I enjoyed reading it almost as much as the first book. This series is part space opera, part mystery, part character study and part social commentary. There is also an interesting look at artificial intelligence that is quite different from the usual portrayals. If you like sci-fi, genre bending books or just darn good books, I would recommend this one for you.

[Katie]

I'm currently reading "Wonderstruck" by Brian Selznick, then I will start on "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith.

And I'm slowly making my way through the Heroes of Olympus series on audiobook. The reader is so fantastic! I just wish that he read all five book in the series...

[Carolyn F.]

Brendle wrote: "I recently finished Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, the sequel to her award winning Ancillary Justice. I enjoyed reading it almost as much as the first book. This series is part space opera, part my..."

Ancillary Justice took me awhile to warm up to and then I loved it. I'll have to look out for Ancillary Sword.

I just finished Havoc

[Steven]

Ancillary Justice had me hooked from the first chapter. Thank you Brendle for the update! I will be reading Ancillary Sword. For a complete change of pace I read My Prairie Cookbook by Melissa Gilbert. A nice nostalgic read, great recipes interspersed with great Little House on the Prairie anecdotes.

[Carolyn F.]

I'm reading for Carmichael book club (this coming Saturday) and for myself :)

[Cat]

I recently finished Dorobo: dark days, the debut novel if young local author Chantelle Feasel. I was really impressed by her world-creation and interesting characters. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fares after her official launch on December 3!

[Karri]

Just finished Everything I Never Told You. Wonderful depth of characters. Well written book.
Just started Dark Places.

[John]

I've started on Kafka's "Metamorphosis," for this month's Goodreads reading challenge (revisit a book you disliked). For our book club, I've started "Ready Player One," by Ernest Cline.