What are you reading the week of April 23, 2022?

I had to take a couple of days break this week, so I didn't read a lot. I've finished about half of Maigret Gets Angry. The chronology of the books are a bit scattered. Maigret retired a half dozen books ago. Then he was back on the police force. Now he's still retired and investigating a suspicious death in a rich family for the elderly matriarch. I'm reading the books in roughly chronological (publication) order. It has me a bit confused. :-D

I've also begun Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy's Mr Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. This is the third book on Putin that I've read in the past five years. It is by far the best of the three.

Continuing this book ~

Kindle eBook ~
Reminders of Him: A Novel by Colleen Hoover

This week I read The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. I loved I Capture the Castle so I decided to give it a try. I thought it was really cute, and it also gave me some history about the Dalmatian breed.
Next up is The Starlight Barking. My copy is an omnibus so I'm going to keep going.

Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders
3/5 stars
This is the interesting and unusual story that takes place during the Civil War in 1862 and involves the death of Lincoln’s son Willie who has just died and the struggle over his soul. I don’t think ever read a book quite like this. There are multiple characters (living and the dead) discussing his death.

>3 PaperbackPirate: My Dad bought us a Dalmation dog and we named it Patches. I think it was not too long after the movie came out. She was a lovely dog but whenever it stormed she would cower in the basement.

>1 fredbacon: Sounds like I'm not at a disadvantage reading the Maigret books out of order then!

I'll finish up the latest Ian Rutledge, Game of Fear today and then I may start Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Still reading Memory's Legion and The Echo Wife. Still stuck in a mild reading slump.

I finished Turning Angel, the second in Greg Iles' Penn Cage mystery series. I'll have a review up on my 50-Book Challenge thread today or tomorrow. The plot was pretty much entirely implausible (the plotting of the first book, which I read several years ago, I recall as being much more believable), but the book was still fun to read, enough so that I plan on continuing on with the series bye and bye.

Next up will be Mary Roach's latest book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law which is only about half the length.

i am reading a scandal in bohemia i went to my local library got The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes vol.1 they didn't have vol 2 have to get it from another library

Finished listening to the excellent final installment of the Natchez Burning Trilogy, Mississippi Blood.

Next up for listening is Devil's Bargain by Robin James.

Finished The Hello Girls. As for the rest of the month I have Bowie's Bookshelf, Machinehood, and Bubble in the Sun lined up.

I finished The Man Who Had Been King which was a scholarly biography of Joseph Bonaparte. Well written and interesting although the lists of visitors and of his art and possessions were often more than I was interested in.

I'm reading The Woman in the Library and it's a bit confusing but I'm trying since I got it in exchange for a review on netgalley.

I'm also reading a book a friend recommended decades ago, Nervous Conditions about a spirited young woman navigating postcolonial Zimbabwe. I'm sorry it has taken me this long to read it as it is pretty brilliant.

I'm also zipping through Sadie Jones' The Uninvited Guests. It's ok but not as eerie as I'd hoped.

I was going to start Joseph Conrad's Shadow Line but it didn't take. Maybe in a month or two, I'll try it again.

>6 Copperskye: Not at all. :-D Reading them in order let's you watch Simenon's writing develop, but there's nothing special in that. Each book is independent. There's just the confusion on whether he is or isn't retired. Simenon retired Maigret in the early 30's but then he returned to the detective novels in the early 40's.

>5 JulieLill: Aw she sounds like a great dog! You might like this book if you haven't read it already.

One of our chihuahua mutts also hates storms and fireworks.

Writers & Lovers – Lily King
Audiobook performed by Stacy Glemboski
3.5*** rounded up

Casey Peabody is a struggling writer, reeling over the sudden death of her mother some six month before the novel begins, burdened by crushing student debt and maxed-out credit cards, and recently having broken up with her boyfriend; she is adrift and somewhat depressed. But she does have a reasonably steady job as a waitress at a high-end Boston-area restaurant, and an affordably priced “apartment” in the potting shed of her brother’s friend’s estate. And she has her mornings free to write.

I really liked this book. I loved how Casey looked at the people and events in her life. She had a writer’s way of observing things and recalling them, using descriptions that I just would never think of but that were spot on to give me a real sense of being there with her. I liked her best friend, Muriel, who encourages, pushes, advises and believes in Casey. I liked how King gives her two possible romantic interests … neither of which is perfect, but each of whom has qualities I’d want in a partner.

I liked that Casey, despite all her difficulties, has a strong sense of her own self, and stands up for herself against bullying co-workers and misogynistic bosses. I also like her cautious approach to romance. She wants what she wants and she’s not willing to compromise. Still, Casey’s life seems in a bit of a downward spiral, and I worry that she’ll never see her way out of her troubles and find a true path to success. That makes the ending – which is close to HEA – easier to bear, because I really did want to cheer for her.

The only thing that bothered me was the technique that initially enthralled me. It was the way Casey described things – with metaphors and similes I would not have thought of but which seems absolutely perfect. That is until I began to notice this writing style and to feel, “Okay, that’s enough of that cleverness, I got the picture already.” It’s really a small quibble.

Have a couple of reads to add here as I sail toward the end of April, which may be a 12-book month.

Throne of Isis was a somewhat slow-moving take on the Clepatra / Marc Antony affair, told largely from the viewpoint of a fictional kinswoman of the queen, who was also a priestess of Isis. I usually enjoy books set in this milieu, but this one spent more time on politics than I really wanted to know.

Also just wrapped up Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin, which was a near-miss. There were a lot of "secrets" to uncover in this novel, some of which were flashing on-and-off neon signs and others which remained unexplained even after the book ended. Too bad, because there's also some very fine writing here.

Just picked up New Mercies by Sandra Dallas and am having a bit of trouble with the racial undertones. The POV character is a Denver woman who lands in 1930s Natchez and who thinks and speaks of the book's Black characters in what is probably period-accurate but undeniably problematic language.

Finished listening to Devil's Bargain. Meh.

Next up for listening is West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge.

>14 fredbacon: I’m finding that I like the later books more than the earlier ones. Maybe I should read in reverse order. Lol.

I’m enjoying Cloud Cuckoo Land. It’s like reading several different books at the same time. It’s pretty lengthy, though, so I’ll be at it for a while.

Finished New Mercies and enjoyed it, though it's somewhat of a departure for Dallas. The discomfort with racial language & 1930s Mississippi custom turns out to have been deliberate and related to key plot points -- telegraphed way in advance BTW. None of the Big Reveals came as a surprise.

Just started Sisters Behaving Badly which is not what I had hoped. For some reason (see subtitle!) I thought it was going to to be madcap comedy. Nope.

Finished listening to the mediocre West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge.

Next up for listening is Matrix by Lauren Groff.

I finished the excellent book The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It was a moving multilayered story of a Pakistani schooled and working in the US and his evolving relationship with the US during and after 9/11. The story also includes his relationship with a troubled woman and a surprise ending.

Finished: Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu
#2 and new installment in the "Edinburgh Nights" series

The new thread is up over

>24 fredbacon: If I may . . .

here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341472

>25 rocketjk: Thank you. I have no idea what happened.