I’m a whiny bookwyrm today. I got hit by a ton of bricks masquerading as a mild cold yesterday and it’s really knocked me for a loop. And everyone in earshot knows just how miserable I am. (typical guy, I know, I know…I don’t plan on changing that. Self-improvement is not my bag)
But you didn’t come here to read me go on and on about that (and I could). So, let’s turn to the WWW.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
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| The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein |
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor; read by Ray Porter |
I might have read a Heinlein book in Middle School—I honestly don’t remember if I finished it. But he’s one of those guys you often wonder if you missed something by skipping. So, I might as well, right? Also, it’s the book that the SF Book Club will be discussing next week.
Not Till We Are Lost continues Taylor’s effort to explore deeper and darker issues—while not losing all the yuks. I’m really enjoying this.
What did you recently finish reading?
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| Hermit of Paradise by Kim Sanders |
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, read by Keval Shah |
The less said about Hermit of Paradise the better. So…Dreadful is about a dark wizard who wakes up in his lab, with no recollection of his name, his goals, why he has a princess locked up in a cell, or pretty much anything else. It’s worth the time. Also…last week, in our RPG session, I ended up playing a necromancer who had no memory of his abilities (or that he was a necromancer). It was a nice bit of coincidental timing, and I probably owe Rozakis something for borrowing so much.
What do you think you’ll read next?
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| Spook Street by Mick Herron |
Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan, Dave Keyser |
I had to put Spook Street on hold Monday so I could hit a couple of deadlines…can’t wait to get back to this. A fantastic setup from Herron, can’t wait for the other 2/3.
Pigeon-Blood Red looks like a promising crime thriller. Intrigued by it.
How do you distract yourself from colds/flu/etc.? TV, a comfort read, whatever’s next on the TBR, rewatching beloved movies? (I’m a combination–I used to turn to Rex Stout like chicken soup). What are you reading now (hopefully while healthy)?
Bob Germaux
I’m currently reading “Fool Me Once,” a 2016 novel by Harlen Coben about a woman who buries her murdered husband and then sees him with their child on a “nannycam” in their home. So far, a fascinating read.
I just (finally) finished “What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing” by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormick. Simply put, if you’re a fan of the show, this is a must read. I loved every minute of it.
Next up? Probably “A Quantum Love Story” by Mike Chen. The idea of romance and time travel always intrigues me. (HC, I first heard about this book on your blog.)
allysonyj
I’ll be interested in your take on Heinlein. HIs early writings are terrific, particularly his YA stuff, and then he began to have a medical issue in his older years which led to his taking some peculiar meds and, beginning with “Stranger in a Strange Land”, got weirder and weirder, harder and harder to read.
I picked up Rafael Sabatini’s “The Sea Hawk” for an airplane trip. About halfway through I thought it would be a DNF, (the plot has been done to death but hey, he was one of the first!) and then I picked it up and landed in one of his lush, detailed, evocative descriptions (an Arabian souk, in this case); maybe I can put up with the plot for the sake of the setting. (If you have never read any Sabatini, start with “Captain Blood”, imagining Errol Flynn as the hero, not this one.)
Took Margaret Drabble’s “The Needle’s Eye” along on the same trip. So British, so slow, so many pages, such small print…
Made some progress on “The Brothers Karamosov” on the same trip. These chapters are brother Ivan explaining at length to brother Alyosha why he is disillusioned with God. Wow. Heavy stuff, but magnetic, emotional, and absorbing.
Started a new book written by a friend of a friend, “Whispers Across a Sea” by Christinia Holloway, a family saga about the Anglo-Irish in Ireland and Canada.
And tired of all this, I hopped into Katharine Koen’s “Through a Glass Darkly”, a historical romance which makes the Regency look a lot darker than the Georgette Heyer version. This is another 700 page saga so I’ll be with it for a while. (What would we do for book titles without the King James Bible, I wonder?)
Next I’ll be reading Colm Tobin’s “Brooklyn” for a book club. I’ve already seen the movie.