What Fiction are you reading this week, December 24, 2023?

[hermetic]

Glad tidings of comfort and joy.


Reading Mary's Christmas by Laurie R. King, a delightful little story about Mary Russell's childhood with lovely illustrations from early 1900's Christmas cards.

I'm listening to Riviera Gold, also by Laurie King. Seems Sherlock Holmes' Mrs. Hudson has some surprising background secrets.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and I hope you are gifted some really great books.

[iemanja]

1. I'm reading Mick Herron's Slough House series

I just finished book 3 and have started book 4. They are a lot of fun.

[hermetic]

3. This sounds good

For fans new and old, Standing by the Wall is an excellent introduction to the extended literary universe of Mick Herron's Slow Horses. Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Slapstick. State secrets dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall. All this and more...

[LearnedHand]

18. After having watched Slow Horses

I wanted to read the books. Glad to see a review of them!

[Joinfortmill]

2. Murder on Caye Isle

One of Amazon's zillion ebooks. Not bad.

[hermetic]

4. True that

Amazon's zillion ebooks.

[KPN]

5. Rogue Justice -- Stacy Abrams' 2nd political thriller.

Interesting story, but I'm finding it a tough slog at times. Some pretty dense material with a lot of pieces --- hard for me to keep track. But not so bad that I haven't kept with it. Almost done.

[yellowdogintexas]

6. Vaseem Khan's The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star

Baby Ganesh Mysteries Book 3

I love this author's books.

After finishing a few high adventure/serious books I needed a break, so I went to Baby Ganesh

Mumbai is a city that thrives on extravagant spectacles and larger-than-life characters.
But as Chopra is about to discover, even in the city of dreams, there is no guarantee of a happy ending.

Rising star and incorrigible playboy Vikram Verma has disappeared, leaving his latest film in jeopardy. Hired by Verma's formidable mother to find him, Inspector Chopra and his sidekick, baby elephant Ganesha, embark on a journey deep into the world's most flamboyant movie industry.

As they uncover feuding stars, failed investments and death threats, it seems that many people have a motive for wanting Verma out of the picture.

And yet, as Chopra has long suspected, in Bollywood the truth is often stranger than fiction. . .

If you have not met Inspector Chopra and his sidekick Baby Ganesha the elephant you really should do so. The first book is The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra


The Granite Key was a fun read; I can tell these characters are going to have many adventures.

[hermetic]

10. I agree

Baby Ganesh Mysteries are great fun.

[cbabe]

7. Andrew Mayne/Sloan McPherson series

Florida. Underwater investigations. Sloan is a cop raising her daughter, diving with alligators, fighting corruption. Her dad and uncle also longtime smugglers and pirates. This family knows the water and how to survive like no other.

Nature settings: Everglades, manatees, mangroves. Fish. Post Travis McGee.

Series improves with later titles. Tighter prose. Fast pace. Smart dialogue. Less diving technique.

I really enjoyed Sea Storm and Sea Castle.

[hermetic]

11. I'm in

Those sound good. Lots of awards and highly rated.

[yellowdogintexas]

19. Oh No! Another Florida series. I am a sucker for anything set

in Florida but especially South Florida.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. After tomorrow I'm going to open up

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. A good friend gifted it to me. Hope it’s good!

Merry Christmas, hermetic!

[hermetic]

12. Nice gift

I suspect your hopes will be met. "Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing. We all need -- we all deserve -- this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us." Looking forward to reading it myself.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

9. I have one more to go with the Jackson Brodie Series

By Kate Atkinson.

I'm hoping to get through the Stephen Spotswood Pentecost series this week as well. I have an online author event to attend for his latest book, but my challenge to read a book/attend an event for it is for 2024, LOL. Still, I want the rest of the series out of the way before I do that.

If I have time for it, I'd like to get at least The Creak of the Stairs by Eva Ægisdóttir out of the way, too. It's the first book in her Forbidden Iceland series. I do love me some Nordic Noir.

[japple]

13. Merry Christmas, hermetic, and thanks for the weekly thread.

A couple nights ago, I started the new book by Paulette Jiles: Chenneville and I might just spend the whole day tomorrow reading it.

Union soldier John Chenneville suffered a traumatic head wound in battle. His recovery took the better part of a year as he struggled to regain his senses and mobility. By the time he returned home, the Civil War was over, but tragedy awaited. John’s beloved sister and her family had been brutally murdered.

Their killer goes by many names. He fought for the North in the late unpleasantness, and wore a badge in the name of the law. But the man John knows as A. J. Dodd is little more than a rabid animal, slaughtering without reason or remorse, needing to be put down.

Traveling through the unforgiving landscape of a shattered nation in the midst of Reconstruction, John braves winter storms and confronts desperate people in pursuit of his quarry. Untethered, single-minded in purpose, he will not be deterred. Not by the U.S. Marshal who threatens to arrest him for murder should he succeed. And not by Victoria Reavis, the telegraphist aiding him in his death-driven quest, yet hoping he’ll choose to embrace a life with her instead.

And as he trails Dodd deep into Texas, John accepts that this final reckoning between them may cost him more than all he’s already lost…

[hermetic]

14. Sounds like a great story

Enjoy your day!

[Bayard]

15. I have a big stack of new books!

I had a shipment I had ordered come in, and then Mr. Bayard gave me 3 more for xmas. I'm going to start, "Holly," by Stephen King first.

Merry Xmas, hermetic, and thanks for keeping the book club going!

[hermetic]

16. Woo hoo! Lotsa books

I was gifted with a $50 card from B&N. That'll be fun, trying to decide what to get.

I just started my copy of Sleeping Beauties. What a cool story, and so creepy. I really like the underlying theme, though. To paraphrase: Beware of woke women! Damn right.

[Bayard]

17. Will be interested in your take on that book