Book Lovers Club
Comments
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as MaryC mentions above, Deborah Crombie has a wonderful mystery series set in Britain. I love Louise Penny's mystery series which is set in the province of Quebec. Donna Leon's wonderful series of mysteries are set in Italy. All three of these are similar in that the detectives have strong mature emotional relationships with their wives or the woman who in the course of the series become their wife. I guess I haven't been reading so much of the single lady detective books anymore - except the funny ones, which neither these, nor the others below would ever be described as!
I also enjoy John Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep series about a young Thai policeman. The series starts with Bangkok Eight.
and Eliot Pattison's series about Inspector Shan, a disgraced Chinese investigator who helps Buddhist monks in Tibet. The first book in that series is Skull Mantra. You learn a lot about present day Tibet and its oppression by China.
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These are great suggestions. Thank you!
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hightide, I've read and enjoyed many of the V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky.
If you liked V.I., you'll like Holly Barker, by Stuart Woods. Book #1 is "Orchid Beach".
Another good set is Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini (a Madison author).
One to note is "The Runaway Quilt" because you learn how quilters helped the Underground Railroad. They'd hang certain quilts on the clothesline to convey certain messages. Cool!
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Hightide - I second the Sara Paretsky books. Great reads. Also like Marcia Muller & Lisa Scottoline. I too LOVE Crombie if you're into British mysteries - as well as Elizabeth George. And consider Martha Grimes for even more British mysteries. Try Maria Whittig Alpert for lighter going. Mysteries are based on herbs & spices. I hope to go meet her at an Indy bookstore in town next month.
What about the Nevada Barr US National park ranger series? I like her. And the Dana Stabenow Alaska series? And an oldie but wonderful - the Amanda Cross series w/New York college prof Kate Fansler. I was so distressed when I found Carolyn Heinlein had died since I like her non-fiction too.
Badger - I just discovered the Elm Creek Quilt series. Fun and easy reading.
Jelson - I assume by funny you mean Evanovitch? I just read Notorious Nineteen. I'll have to look up Donna Leon & Pattison.
And so you know I'm not totally biased towards women, I'm presently reading Lee Childs and Greg Illes. Really like Stephen White and John Dunning (although he's gone too). Oh dear - how did I get started?? Turning off now.
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Excellent-thank you!
Chemo fatigue has an odd positive for me. My reading time is now completely guilt free.
Mysteries work better than Xanax on a bad day.
I am so thankful for this thread.0 -
I'm back-
Minus Two- I read Nevada Barr's "Deep South" while on an airplane. There was one scene that was so funny I laughed until I was crying. Seatmate leaned away like I was crazy.
Did we all start with Nancy Drew?0 -
MinusTwo, I'll read anything co-authored by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Riptide, The Ice Limit, Mount Dragon, and Relic are a few titles I remember.
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hightide, too funny, I was just thinking of Nancy Drew!
Book #1 - The Secret of the Old Clock
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Nancy Drew for sure. My Mother shipped me some of my old books before she died so I have original hard covers of :The Mystery at the Moss Covered Mansion; The Clue of the Leaning Chimney; and The Clue of the Broken Locket. And I actually re-read them a couple of years ago.
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MinusTwo, you're so lucky to have some of the orignal Nancy Drews. I grew up on them, too. I lived ina small town with a one-room library. In the summer I would walk there and get as many Nancy Drews as I could carry home. I won the reading contest that summer for reading the most books!
I'm still hooked on mysteries. I've enjoyed all the Elizabeth George ones, and last year, during chemo, read every one of the Kurt Wallender series by Harvey Mankell, set in Sweden. If you read them in order, you see the detective age and become very attached to the gent.
I've also read the Jo Nesbo series, set also in Sweden, and all the Lee Childs ones. I recommend the David Baldacci Camel Club series, too. And I've read most of the Preston & Childs ones.
Now you all have given me new series to look for. Many thanks.0 -
Ahhh...Lee Childs, David Baldacci, John Lescroat, Daniel Silva and Vince Flynn....They have all saved VR's marriage! When one of them comes out with a new book, the DH is so busy reading their books that he barely notices how much VR is reading and doesn't complain....
Finished reading 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die. It's the revised and updated version. Hmmmm....I wonder which paintings were removed from the current edition and which ones were added. The book brings you up to 2010. Quite an intimidating book of paintings. On Sunday, VR and the DD visited the new Matisse exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here's a tip. Visit the museum when we push the clocks ahead and get there when the museum opens at 9:30 AM SHARP on Sunday morning! By the time we finished up at the museum, throngs of visitors were arriving. We enjoyed the museum while New Yorkers slept in!
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BTW...the preface to the book, 1001 Paintings...was written by my beloved Geoff Dyer. Here's a wonderful quote of his towards the end of the preface.
"The mere fact that you are reading this book means that you enjoy a degree of freedom from the realm of necessity."
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Book readers!! <big handclaps, really big handclaps!>
Mind if I join in? I'm an English professor so I sort of read for a living, BUT I treasure my leisure reading very much. It makes me ridiculously happy to pick up a book and think, "Probably never going to teach this..."
I just finished reading Sister of My Heart by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, and really enjoyed it a lot. I have a weakness for books that are about women's lives.
Total change of pace, though, for what I'm currently reading. The Lost Language of Cranes by David Leavitt. It's about a young gay man's process of coming out to his parents in 1980s New York. Interesting, but, a mere 30 pages in, I rather wish it would move faster.
As several others on this thread have mentioned, I'm finding reading to be the best distraction. I was only diagnosed a week ago and my lumpectomy will be next week, so, just now, I'm in need of a LOT of distraction.
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Welcome Cece! I wish you well with your active treatment! We will be here to keep you distracted...
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I am in awe of the reading everyone does. I'm doing good if I get thru the newspaper (only the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, not the NYT). I started with Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames. I still have most of the Cherry Ames books though did give a few to DH niece that I wish I had back. Not that anyone else but me cares about them. Maybe when I get this baby goat off bottle and onto feed (just like having a real baby except put her in a crate instead of a baby bed) I can start on all the reading I've bookmarked esp. from this last discussion. The last real series I read was that mystery of the alphabet "A is for" "B is for" etc. I do have a few series reading material here, bought "Theodore Rex" a few years ago. Mostly read non-fiction, love cookbooks. But I will never, never keep up with you ladies.
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Luv... No one keeps a tab on how much each of us reads! And besides... If you go back a few pages on this thread you will see we were discussing the author Joe Queenan who, hands down, has probably read more books than all of us added together!
Reading My Year With Eleanor!! Today i had it with me while at the radiologist's office. Radiologist asked about the book. Could anyone believe he is a big fan of hers and wants to read the book! We then spent the next few minutes sharing book titles. What a nice time we had discussing books ...and to top it off ...my sonogram of my breasts were negative. Now I can't wait for my next appointment! LOL!0 -
OH VR I do want to read that and the one about the Bataan/Corregidor nurses. No Kindle etc. so read old fashioned style. Plus reading book for Sunday School and another for ladies Bible study. Little public library here does OK. I spend way too much money at Half Price Books. Could easily hole up and read a winter away with what I have.
Congrats on the negative sono.
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VR, I'm glad to hear you are reading "My Year With Eleanor". I know it's a memoir, but still, I'm rather surprised
If you look the author up on the internet, you can see her talk about her experiences as well as see her doing some of her scarey things. It was fun to watch as I always enjoy putting a face to the author while reading a book. If you aren't too far into the book, it may be a spoiler...enjoy!!P.S. Welcome Cece!!
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I saw her youtube video! I wanna set her up with my older son! They would get along well! He loved reading Choose Your Own Adventure books too! I don't want to give anything away about the book, but her life experiences parallel the DS's!
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I'm not sure Matt would like that
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Okay. I'm 55 pages into The Lost Language of Cranes and I can say that David Leavitt has a lovely way with words, but I have a complaint. He clearly wants to build a thorough picture of the complacency of two of the major characters and he's done a fine job... but, um, Mr. Leavitt? IT'S TIME TO GET ON WITH THE STORY NOW!! Oh, dear, did I shout?
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VR, yeah, I've read all the Vince Flynns, too! I should compare notes with your DH!
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P.S. I also want to read about the Bataan nurses. Another excellent one is:
Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
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P.P.S. And another true and amazing WWII story is
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
It's by the woman who wrote "Seabiscuit," and centers on an Olympic runner whose plane goes down and he becomes a POW in the Pacific. Horrific conditions but testament to the human drive to survive.0 -
Wave ~~ I loved both of those books! We're trying to get my dad back to his previous good reading habits (instead of watching so much TV) and I bought Unbroken and he loved it, too.
Gina
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I know we're not supposed to recommend medical books...but I keep discussing this book on so many threads here at bco that I would love to share this most important book with everyone! I read the book last year and can't stop talking about it! Eric Topol's The Creative Destruction of Medicine. Here's a youtube video of him being interviewed for NBC's Brian William. The book is mentioned in the video.
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Unbroken was great. The author is still alive & I saw him interviewed on Jay Leno. He is in his 90s and still has an unbroken spirit! I have been reading but not posting, because nothing I've read lately is 'recommendable'....one of those streaks.....
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Ruth... Someone reminded me today how much they enjoyed reading Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure. It's light and very enjoyable. I think you'll love it! I know two other history buffs that liked it too!
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Thanks. I will put it on my list!
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Voracious - who said we can't talk about medical books? Maybe I missed that.
Anyway, I saw the link you provided a couple of days ago and I think the future is truly amazing. Even if no one reads the book, we need to be aware of what's happening. I for one will need a technology class since I'm still using an old "flip" phone. But then I'll probably decide I don't wish to see my BP and heart rate, etc. in real time. Sort of like - I don't want to text.
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