Just wondering ... what is everyone reading now?

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mysterychef, I'll have to look for those at our library when my reading season returns (after baseball season). Our daughter lives about 5 miles outside the edge of Amish Country. Every time we're back home to see our kids we take off for the butcher and cheese shops that we like, bringing home a bounty of yummy things we cook for dinners when we're there. Unfortunately, the Shearer's factory outlet is in the same area. Dangerous when you can stop and buy a 3# bag of bulk calories chips. More dangerous when you walk out with more than one. :ohmy:
 
Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher. I read hal of it and then had to take a break from it because I'm trying to read it without "cheating". The need to know if any of my ideas or predictions were correct was getting painful. I just picked it back up a couple nights ago. Hoping to finish it tonight. Then it's on to the next book in the series, although I need to finish reading The Surrogates. It's much shorter though and has far less actual reading so should go pretty quickly.
 
At the urging of my best friend, who has nearly identical reading tastes as I, I'm trying to get into Clan of the Cave Bear. Not sure it's going to fly. So far it is laborious. Yes, I know characters have to be established, etc., but I'm ready to get some sort of story going. It's a little like watching paint dry. I'll give it some more time but I'm not holding out a lot of hope I'll finish it.
 
I've come upon two series. The Joe Pickett series by C.J. Boxx, I've just finished Open Season and have the second in the series, Savage Run waiting. And an author I have yet to try by the name of Deborah Crombie / Jemma something, british detective series. I think the book is titled "Now You May Weep."
 
At the urging of my best friend, who has nearly identical reading tastes as I, I'm trying to get into Clan of the Cave Bear. Not sure it's going to fly. So far it is laborious. Yes, I know characters have to be established, etc., but I'm ready to get some sort of story going. It's a little like watching paint dry. I'll give it some more time but I'm not holding out a lot of hope I'll finish it.

I really liked the whole series, except for the most recent (hopefully final) sequel where the author seemed to be hitting the cash register and writing a travelogue at the same time.

But really, I enjoyed all the series except the finale (hopefully it's the finale).

My advice: if you don't like it by page 100, move on. That's my advice on all books.
 
I've come upon two series. The Joe Pickett series by C.J. Boxx, I've just finished Open Season and have the second in the series, Savage Run waiting. And an author I have yet to try by the name of Deborah Crombie / Jemma something, british detective series. I think the book is titled "Now You May Weep."

The earlier Pickett novels were very good (first 5?) but I burned out at some point and bailed out of the series.
 
At the urging of my best friend, who has nearly identical reading tastes as I, I'm trying to get into Clan of the Cave Bear. Not sure it's going to fly. So far it is laborious. Yes, I know characters have to be established, etc., but I'm ready to get some sort of story going. It's a little like watching paint dry. I'll give it some more time but I'm not holding out a lot of hope I'll finish it.

It took me 3 or 4 tries before i got over that first part of the b ook, Katie. Once I got past it, I couldn't put it down. Took me 2 years to get it read.
 
mysterychef, I'll have to look for those at our library when my reading season returns (after baseball season). Our daughter lives about 5 miles outside the edge of Amish Country. Every time we're back home to see our kids we take off for the butcher and cheese shops that we like, bringing home a bounty of yummy things we cook for dinners when we're there. Unfortunately, the Shearer's factory outlet is in the same area. Dangerous when you can stop and buy a 3# bag of bulk calories chips. More dangerous when you walk out with more than one. :ohmy:

Many years ago we traveled through the ''Amish'' community in Ohio, but we didn't stop.[regretfully] On the way back while traveling we stayed in Lancaster Pa. It was mid Sept.and we had a motel in the middle of a cornfield. We watched them cut and bale cornstalks with a team of horses. It was nice to see the families work together. We went back last year and I couldn't believe all the commercialization. We still had a wonderful vacation. Nice pace, good people, and excellent food.
 
Yeppers Kylie. :) In fact it's just before 6 p.m. here and I expect to hit my bedroom and continue Cuckoo in about 4 hours.

I've been exercising a lot more lately and found (as I already knew) that the more exercise I get during the day the more energy I have in the evening. I'm now up to about 30-40 pages a night.

And I have Stephen White's latest novel and series finale Compound Fractures queued up (I reserved a library hardcover copy early on, nimble enough to get a single digit reserve number when LAPL will probably buy 40 copies), and planning on reading Stacia Kane's second in her series I mentioned above after I finish Compound Fractures. (I expect to get White's last Alan Gregory novel in about 2 weeks, just long enough to finish Rowling's Cuckoo.)

My life has had great tumult lately and that has made it very hard for me to focus on reading novels, but now that things are settling down I've found it so much easier to focus and enjoy reading.

Believe me, not knowing where you will live next month makes it very hard to focus on enjoying fiction. Now I know where I will live for the next 20-30 years, and that's a great settling factor in my life. Now I can just sit down and read a novel and know that anything I put off is nothing important.

I finally have time to enjoy reading. I don't have to scurry to the home buying bidding wars any more. You have only to win one round, and I won mine. Now I can focus on reading and cooking and relationships.

I'm very much looking forward to continue Stacia Kane's series, and I have a few other urban fantasy authors queued up too, and I'll mention them soon.
 
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I love Robert Crais books. I've read everything he has written and I think Suspect is his best ever.

When the new book arrives at our library, soon I hope, my name is first on the list - I'm really looking forward to it.

Right now I'm reading a new one by M. C. Beaton - The Death of Yesterday. Hers always zip right along, giving just enough details, like the names of the cat and dog -- Nonsie and Lugs.
 
OMG Lizzie, I totally forgot about Crais! I've read all his novels up to Taken.

Actually, almost all his novels. The entire Cole/Pike series is awesome. His non-series novels Demolition Angel and Two Minute Rule were fair. I just noticed I haven't read Hostage (1981) so no comment about that.

I see that Suspect is also not a Cole/Pike series novel but I'll give it a read as soon as my reading schedule is free. I'm currently reading Rowling's Cukoo novel, and I'm queued up as #12 for 17 copies, all of them "in process" which is how they show until the publisher releases them for distribution (Aug. 20th in this case). LAPL is such a large library I'm sure they'll buy much more than the current 17, they probably have another couple dozen copies that haven't been logged into the system yet. So I should probably have Compound Fractures in my hands in about a week.

For people who buy books it's much simpler: you order them, you get them, and then you can read them whenever you want. People like me who would rather read library books for free (not really free, my taxes pay for it) have to manage their reading very carefully when they seek popular books because there is brisk competition and long wait lists for the most popular, most recent books. When you get your copy you have 3 weeks to finish it or you return it and go back to the end of the wait list. (I sometimes go into late fees if I'm near the end of a heavily reserved novel.)

I'm glad you and Fi reminded me to check up on Crais. I'm intrigued since Fi says its his best book ever. I particularly liked the one (or was there more than one) written from Pike's point of view.

By the way, when I'm up on my game I check all my favorite authors every month or two, and then when they announce a forthcoming novel I make a note of the release date then several weeks before that date I check my library (LAPL) every day or two and as soon as they add a place holder entry I put in my reserve. I often end up in the mid teens or even single digit place. I'm #12 on the Stephen White list but I bet there's at least 400 behind me! (You can't see how long the hold list is unless you are placing a hold, and the number you get is how long the list is.)

I have long thought that my city tax money spent on libraries is the best spent part of my tax dollars, considering all the wasteful things they do with most of my taxes. In these times of tight budgets I'm surprised LAPL continues to buy 30-40 copies each of all the popular authors. When these popular books hit the shelves on publishing date it's not at all unusual to have wait lists of 300-500 people!
 
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Robert Crais Books

Wow, Greg! I recently finished The Two Minute Rule (thanks, Vitauta); it was my first Crais and I thought it was super. Now I can't wait to try some others. Guess I'd better hang onto my socks. :LOL:
 
At the urging of my best friend, who has nearly identical reading tastes as I, I'm trying to get into Clan of the Cave Bear. Not sure it's going to fly. So far it is laborious. Yes, I know characters have to be established, etc., but I'm ready to get some sort of story going. It's a little like watching paint dry. I'll give it some more time but I'm not holding out a lot of hope I'll finish it.

When that first came out, I tried and tried to get through it. I gave up and have never given it a second thought. :angel:
 
Wow, Greg! I recently finished The Two Minute Rule (thanks, Vitauta); it was my first Crais and I thought it was super. Now I can't wait to try some others. Guess I'd better hang onto my socks. :LOL:

Definitely read Demolition Angel and Hostage...fair warning...buy yourself a box of kleenex for Suspect. When you get to the Pike and Cole books...fasten your seatbelt!

Shrek and I just hit the used bookstore...we used up $80 of our trade credit, got a book or 20.:LOL: Now I don't have any excuse (except lack of attention span) to not read.
 
I'm glad you and Fi reminded me to check up on Crais. I'm intrigued since Fi says its his best book ever. I particularly liked the one (or was there more than one) written from Pike's point of view.

Suspect is a different type of story, easily his best for evoking honest caring emotion, not just blood and guts.
 
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