What are you reading the week of September 7th, 2014?

[Enthusiast]

I'm still reading The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg.


The gluten thing has limited my reading this week. That and my wife's vacation. I'll catch up this coming week.

What are you reading this week?

[shenmue]

1. 'Where Monsters Dwell,' Jorgen Brekke

Really creepy so far. Yeeps.

[Enthusiast]

2. We are going to order that from the library.

I like creepy.

Thanks, shenmue.

[shenmue]

3. You're welcome

[Old Crow]

4. Still working on *Boy, Snow, Bird*

I'm at 65%, but hope to make some good progress tonight.

By the way, do you folks here want book reviews? I write a review of everything I read for my GoodReads page. If there's interest, I'll also post the reviews here as I write them. They're nothing fancy or profound--usually just a few paragraphs explaining what I liked and didn't like about the book, with a quote or two for illustrative purposes. I generally read one to three books a month, depending on the books and my other commitments.

[scarletwoman]

5. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I would enjoy reading your reviews.

I drop into GoodReads from time to time, I mainly enjoy reading reading reviews of books I've already read - I'm always curious to see if anyone else shares my take on a particular book. It's fascinating to me to read all the different reactions.

I actually signed up at GoodReads many months ago so I could I write a review of a book I particularly liked, but after a few weeks of checking in to see if anyone else had posted anything on that book - no one had - I stopped checking, and now I can't remember my log-in.

Anyway, I can't imagine that anyone here would object to your posting your reviews. I think it would be a plus for this group.

[shenmue]

7. Sure

I like Good Reads, it's a fun site.

[Enthusiast]

8. I'll be looking forward to your reviews, Old Crow.

There. I just bookmarked Good Reads.

[Old Crow]

9. Woohoo!

Thanks, ScarletWoman, Shenmue, and Enthusiast. I'll be happy to post them. I just hope no one winds up feeling underwhelmed. As I say, my reviews are nothing profound; essentially, they're notes to myself so I can remember what I thought of a particular author or book down the road. That said, I'm eager to share.

[Enthusiast]

10. Compared to my reviews yours will seem profound.

[scarletwoman]

6. Yesterday I finished "Far North" by Michael Ridpath,

the second book in his Magnus Jonson series. I finished the first book of the series, Where Shadows Lie earlier last week. I have the next two books of the series on order at my library.

The series is a bit of an odd duck - written by a Brit, featuring a detective who's an Iceland-born emigrant to the U.S. who works for the Boston P.D., who ends up back in Iceland. But the first two books were engaging, if of questionable realism, and I like the protatgonist and the stories so far. The author obviously studied his Icelandic geography, topography, and history. And I'm a sucker for any book that takes place in Iceland - which I find unreservably fascinating.

Michael Ridpath is no Arnaldur Indriðason, but his two Iceland books have been entertaining so far, and left me wanting to know what happens next.

Today I started I Can See in the Dark by Karin Fossum (Norway). It's stand-alone novel, not part of her Inspector Sejer series. I'm olny 20 pages in, so it's far too soon for me to say much about it. Meanwhile, I'm on the waiting list for Fossum's #10 Inspector Sejer book, The Murder of Harriet Krohn. Once I finish I Can See in the Dark, I will have read everything she's written - that is to say, everything that's in English translation.

[Goblinmonger]

11. The Escape

Student recommended it because I'm a zombie fan. Kind of like Lord of the Flies with zombies but we'll see how it pans out. Not a fantastic read, but I don't usually pass when a student recommends something so they feel like I'm listening to them.

[pscot]

12. The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst

And more Simenon. I attempted Lionheart by Sharon Penman, but quit after about 20 chapters.

[Tracer]

22. Furst used to be one of my favorite writers.

Not anymore.

He's one of those authors who - in my opinion - are "written out".

He just phones it in these days and it shows.

[pscot]

23. LeCarre and Eric Ambler

are my favorites in this genre.

[closeupready]

13. I'm going to try starting The Kraken Project, Douglas Preston.

Downloaded on my Kindle today.

[Enthusiast]

14. I'm looking forward to the The Kraken Project, closeupready.

[closeupready]

15. Yes - sounds like an interesting story and

he really knows how to write compellingly. I read everything he and Child write - together and solo.

[Enthusiast]

16. We have read all their books.

My cousin happened to mention The Relic. My wife got it from the library. That was it.

I find the Wyman Ford books especially appealing. We loved Tyrannosaur Canyon and the rest. Blasphemy blew us away. That's a technical term.

[scarletwoman]

17. I'm near the end of Nevada Barr's most recent Anna Pigeon novel, _Destroyer Angel_.

I grabbed it off the "New Books" shelf at my library in desperation for something to read while I wait (and wait) for all the books I have on order to finally show up. I was out of books, and being a reading addict, I couldn't face a week of no books to read.

But as I've reluctantly slogged my way through this one, it mainly reminds me of why I stopped being interested in the Anna Pigeon series years ago. I simply don't find stories that revolve around a protagonist-in-peril to be either interesting or rewarding. And that is what all the Anna Pigeon books are about.

Ms. Pigeon gets into a tough spot. Awful things happen to her. She figures out a way to survive through all these awful things. This is pretty much the pattern in book after book. Ho hum. Somehow, I just don't really care.

Back in the 90s when I first got into the Anna Pigeon series, I loved all the different locations - the National Parks; learning about the geography, the wildlife, the ecology, the history, and all that stuff that went into the settings for the novels. Cool stuff, without a doubt.

But I got weary of reading about a heroine/victim/plucky survivor in story after story. It just gets ridiculous after awhile. NO one is both that unlucky (one tight spot after another) and that lucky (always manages to escape aforementioned tight spots), year after year.

Reading another Nevada Barr book just reminds me of why I got into the Police Procedural genre - and especially the Scandinavian entries. Instead of page after page after page of agonizing along with a victim of a crime, there's just the crime which is already a fait accompli, and the intellectual exercise of solving the crime.

I have three other books I also picked up from the library's "New Books" shelf, all of which are written by unfamiliar authors. I hope I may have better luck with one of those - while I wait (and wait) for the books I have on order to come in. *sigh*

[Enthusiast]

18. I agree, Nevada Barr's books have become formulaic.

But of those formulaic Anna Pigeon novels I believe I liked Destroyer Angel the most. I must find them entertaining because I have read them all.

[scarletwoman]

19. Well, our tastes definitely diverge on this one.

I found it to be one of the most tedious and unenjoyable reads I've had in recent memory. About two-thirds of the way through I was sorely tempted to just stop and return it to the library unfinished. But I slogged on to the end - why, I don't know, maybe just for the payoff of feeling so relieved I was finally done with the damn thing.

I remember enjoying the early books of the Anna Pigeon series, when Anna was solving actual mysteries. But Destroyer Angel is not a Mystery. I suppose it might be categorized as a Thriller, and I do not like Thrillers, period.

Anyway, I fear I may have no better luck with the other three books I randomly picked off the library shelf and I haven't figured out which one to try next.

I WISH some of the books I have on order would come in! Take me back to Scandinavia, please!

[Enthusiast]

20. There is a central element of mystery in The Rope by Nevada Barr.

I think it would appeal to you much more than Destroyer Angel. But I suppose it could still be classified as a thriller. Maybe you have already read it.

I'm sorry your library requests are so slow. Our requests are also slow to come in.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/nevada-barr/rope.htm

[scarletwoman]

21. I read _The Rope_ when it first came out - did not like that one, either.

In fact, after reading The Rope I swore I'd never bother with another Anna Pigeon book again. I should have kept to it. The only reason I broke my oath was because I was desperate and in a hurry. I couldn't find anything that looked appealing, but I didn't have time to really browse the rest of the shelves, so I just grabbed a few books from the library's "New Books" shelf.

I already knew that Destroyer Angel was set in Minnesota (my librarian had mentioned it to me a few months ago), so, since I often enjoy reading books set in my home state, I thought oh well, maybe it won't be as bad as The Rope. And I was right, it was worse, imho.

Since I finished Destroyer Angel last night, I've spent the morning looking up my remaining three random choices on GoodReads. I've eliminated two of them right off the bat - they sound absolutely awful to me - they'll be going straight back to the library unread. I'll give the third one a reluctant try - only because the library isn't open again until Tuesday, and I just can't bear not having something to read on my lunch breaks at work for the next two days.

Thank you for your sympathy on my long wait for my library requests - very kind of you considering how I've slammed a book you liked.

Come Tuesday, I'm heading straight to the "D" shelf in their Fiction section and hope they have a Sherlock Holmes book or two to tide me over. If not, I'll re-read the two Ian Rankin books that I know they have on the "R" shelf. They usually get their inter-library loan books delivered on Thursdays, so I'll be holding out hope that maybe one of my requested books will show up.

SAVE ME O YE LIBRARY GODS!!!! No more "Thrillers"!!!!