Just wondering ... what is everyone reading now?

[Mad Cook]

I usually don't read books. Can never finish them

!!!!

 

[Mad Cook]

Last weekend I finished reading "The Lifeboat" by Charlotte Rogan for my book club meeting tonight. It's going to be a great discussion - this book has a lot of interesting themes: class, power, manipulation, survival and more. It's about survivors of a Titanic-like shipwreck and how they endure on an overcrowded lifeboat in the North Atlantic for three weeks. And then some are prosecuted. Excellent book, highly recommended.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Discuss Cooking mobile app

Sounds like a touch of plagiarism - There was a Hitchcock film in 1944 from a John Steinbeck story with a suspiciously similar central story.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sounds like a touch of plagiarism - There was a Hitchcock film in 1944 from a John Steinbeck story with a suspiciously similar central story.

Not really. The circumstances may be similar, but the story lines are not even close. It's not unusual for authors to write different takes on historical events. How many World War II movies are out there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_(film)

 

[JoAnn L.]

I am reading Deborah Crombie "Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James Mysteries". All 17 of them.

 

[phinz]

Just picked this up. Can't wait to get into it.

Caribbean Vegan

I'm also working on Rice, Noodle, Fish. So far I'm enjoying quite a bit.

Lastly, I cracked open Florida by Lauren Groff the other night, read about 50 pages and am intrigued.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Pretty much, when I drop a book off at the library I'm also picking one up - one that I decided about online and ordered. No different on Monday, when I said goodbye to my friends at Theo's tea shop (Plum Tea Crazy) and came home with "The Catcher Was a Spy" - and a tag-along book, "The Best Cook in the World" by Rick Bragg.

I had seen TV ads for the upcoming "The Catcher Was a Spy" movie, so I googled to find out about the story line. Like Julia Child and many others of her era, Moe Berg did a little secret agent work for the OSS during WWII. I also saw that the reviews of the movie pretty much condensed down to "read the book, it's better". The movie would be faster, though, since the book is 350 pages of tiny print.

Rick Bragg's column is the first place I go when I get my monthly copy of "Southern Living" (then the recipe section ). His book is going to take a while to read, too. The print is a bit larger, but so is the book format. And it comes in at 481 pages.

If you guys don't see me around much, you'll know why!

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Here's a fun one for you. I was reading a paperback shirtless in my back yard. Felt asleep. Wake up later, Pure white skin shaped like the book on my tummy, total sunburn in the surrounding area.

Going to try lawn chair reading again this summer. Baseball cap to cover the old bald spot, insulated glass of ice tea and try to stay in the shade. The shade moves.

After a long hiatus, I m returning to Sue Grafton's detective mysteries. I bought an armload of her books at the 1/2 price bookstore. I am starting with O is for Outlaw, and don't remember what the other letter titles are.

 

[Just Cooking]

This weeks books...


Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.. Half way through this interesting story of pre-colonial life in Nigeria..



The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson... A bit of a romance book but, well developed characters and an interesting story..

Tell Tale by Jeffrey Archer.. I've always liked this author and his short stories are always fun to read..


Ross

 

[Mad Cook]

Kathy Reichs - "Break No Bones".

I didn't expect it to be like the so-called TV spin-off but neither did I expect it to be slow almost to the point of tediousness. I've tried one of her novels before (so memorable that I've forgotten the title) I did try but tedious wasn't the word and I'm beginning to think there might be better things to do with my time with this one. However, I will persevere.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

... home with "The Catcher Was a Spy" - and a tag-along book, "The Best Cook in the World" by Rick Bragg....

Well, "The Catcher Was a Spy" might have been good to the end, but I got only half way. The author had a way of repeating and saying things over and reminding you what he had just written by saying it over... It Drove Me Nuts! (Yes, a short ride, I know. ) Because I was taking so long with that book, the Rick Bragg book was returned without reading much of it at all. After a quick glance, however, I think I just might be satisfied enough reading his monthly column in Southern Living.

Meanwhile, I've blown through two quick, fun reads. It's a bit out of season, but I read the most recent Meg Langslow cozy mystery, "How the Finch Stole Christmas". Great, as always! I also pedaled my way (via the recumbent bike in the basement) through "The Dirty Book Club", a fun read not of dirty books, but of friendship between four women thrown together by another foursome of friends from an older generation. Touching and funny.

 

[Kayelle]

I recently read a two book thriller, the best I've read since Gone Girl.

Stillhouse Lake, and Killman Creek, by Rachel Caine.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33128934-stillhouse-lake?from_search=true

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I just read the write-ups on those books, Kayelle. I would so have enjoyed them a decade or two ago - they sound really good. But now, suspense books keep me awake at night! I think I'll stick with cozy mysteries - easier on my scaredy-cat nerves.

I forgot to mention the two I picked up from the library - neither of which is cozy. I got the first book in James Patterson's "Women's Murder Club" series, "1st to Die". I loved the short-lived TV series based on the premise of these books, but this is the first print version I'm reading. It must be pretty good - I didn't even notice I had pedaled for 29 minutes when I cracked the book open to start reading while on my bike last night. Not bad!

The second book is "Sweetgrass baskets and the Gullah tradition" by Joyce V. Coakley. We've enjoyed Gullah meals when we've visited Charleston, and have admired the sweetgrass baskets. So far, though, I've resisted buying any. So far, anyway.

 

[Just Cooking]

Currently reading, Whisper Me This by Kerry Anne King
Also these past 2 weeks.
The Tenth Island by Diana Marcum
The King Tides by James Swain
Hotel Sacher by Rodica Doehnert

All a bit different, as I like them..

Ross

 

[Kayelle]

I just read the write-ups on those books, Kayelle. I would so have enjoyed them a decade or two ago - they sound really good. But now, suspense books keep me awake at night! I think I'll stick with cozy mysteries - easier on my scaredy-cat nerves.

No kidding CG...those two books scared the bejeebers outa me!! Somehow it was worth it though. They were really well done. I'm now reading a tame cozy mystery to calm my nerves, and it's all so boring.

Haa..keep you awake at night? When did you start sleeping at night.

 

[Mad Cook]

Finished the Nevil Shute-fest a week or so ago and now have "Break No Bones" by Kathy Reichs on the go (for the 3rd attempt. I don't like to let a novel better me but this really is badly written, turgid tripe). The blurb on the cover compares Ms Reichs to Patricia Cornwell, another writer who should have stuck to the day job.

 

[Mad Cook]

I just read the write-ups on those books, Kayelle. I would so have enjoyed them a decade or two ago - they sound really good. But now, suspense books keep me awake at night! I think I'll stick with cozy mysteries - easier on my scaredy-cat nerves.

I forgot to mention the two I picked up from the library - neither of which is cozy. I got the first book in James Patterson's "Women's Murder Club" series, "1st to Die". I loved the short-lived TV series based on the premise of these books, but this is the first print version I'm reading. It must be pretty good - I didn't even notice I had pedaled for 29 minutes when I cracked the book open to start reading while on my bike last night. Not bad!

The second book is "Sweetgrass baskets and the Gullah tradition" by Joyce V. Coakley. We've enjoyed Gullah meals when we've visited Charleston, and have admired the sweetgrass baskets. So far, though, I've resisted buying any. So far, anyway.

Rather off the topic but what is "Gullah" food, please?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

MadCook, it's yummy. It's a southern food culture style of the East African peoples who were brought to the New World, found a similar climate, and adapted their meals to their new home with flavors from their old. Also referred to as "Low Country" because the lands these people were living on were barely higher than sea level. Simple, tasty, and economical. This post has five sample recipes. The "Gullah Cuisine Restaurant" was where we ate on a couple of occasions. Sadly, the owner closed the restaurant - but she still works as a caterer.

...Haa..keep you awake at night? When did you start sleeping at night.

I'm busted! Well I guess like "it's five o'clock somewhere", it's also night somewhere. When I close the fins on the blinds, then pull down the room-darkening shade, it certainly looks like "night" in the bedroom. I can't help it - this Eastern Time zone body is on Hawaiian time.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

MadCook, it's yummy. It's a southern food culture style of the East African peoples...

WEST African peoples, MC. WEST African! I get my "east" and "west" mixed up sometimes, much to Himself's chagrin when we're on the road.

Seeing as I tried to edit my post a skimpy 23 minutes after first posting it, I was late. Fer cryin' out loud, you would think that by now DC would have done tweaking to allow a larger time frame to correct a mistake if you're a long-time, reasonably well-tempered member. Nope, no 24-hour grace period for anyone. Harrumph. Some forums give you months, or a year even, once you've been there for a while. Just sayin'...

 

[Addie]

I used to stay up all night reading until the book was finished. From the third grade on, I always had a book in my hand. Where did I get lost? I have always loved historical novels.

In 1976, John Jakes put out an eight novel list of books on American history, in order to celebrate our centennial. The series started with an immigrant that fled his country in Europe and participated in each major action of defiance in America. He was never the main character, just a participant. He eventually got old and his descendants were the main characters. Every morning, you would see all of Boston with their heads buried in each book. There wasn't one sound of talk. Then he became ill and had to postpone his next book. On the way home all you could hear was the chatter. Every one was waiting for the next book. He has written other series since, but I have failed to get interested in any of them.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I finished up "1st to Die" in the wee hours of the morning Friday. I'm not starting the second book in the series (2nd Chance) until I get some real work done around this house. Meanwhile, I've been pecking away at the Sweetgrass Basket book whenever I can steal a few minutes here and there.