What Fiction are you reading this week, April 27, 2025?

[hermetic]

A 13th-century Gothic church in the Netherlands; originally served the Dominican Order. In 2006 it was meticulously restored and repurposed into a modern bookstore.

Reading Thunderhead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. I am loving this story. Archaeologist Nora Kelly leads an expedition into a harsh, remote corner of Utah's canyon country, hoping to unravel one of archaeology's greatest mysteries. There's some "thing" out there, though, that doesn't want it to happen so a lot of really creepy stuff is happening to stop her. I cannot put this book down, wanting to know what's going to happen next. I also love that this is all taking place in areas I am quite familiar with.

Listening to The Left-Handed Twin by Thomas Perry. "Jane Whitefield helps people disappear. Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely." Only this time it's Jane who is being pursued and thus begins an action-packed, bloodthirsty chase. The 9th in a series but fine as a stand alone.

What's your choice this week?

[Mz Pip]

1. Under the Harrow

By Flynn Berry. It’s a murder mystery set in the UK. It won an Edgar Award.

It’s told in the first person by Nora, who comes from London to visit her sister and finds her murdered. She becomes obsessed with finding the killer.

[hermetic]

2. That sounds quite good

Thanks.

[cbabe]

3. Wake up and open your eyes

‘From master of horror Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media.’ (Fox news brainwashing…)

I made it about twenty pages in. Horror is not my genre. Book is very intense combo of Stephen King’s Cell and Stand.

Escape Clause/John Sandford

Virgil rescues endangered (pun intended) stolen zoo tigers. Usual cast of outliers or as Caitlin says: you’re a very odd bunch of people. Minnesota in the summer time.

[hermetic]

5. Interesting coincidence...

I used to frequent the Como Zoo in MN, wonderful place, and recently heard they had 2 new Amur tigers. Photos and story here: https://comozooconservatory.org/marisa-and-maks-make-their-public-debut/
Now I'll have to read that book.

[cbabe]

7. Thanks for the news. Beautiful cats. Warning: book mixes tragedy with the humor.

[Bayard]

12. I like the sound of both of those

Thx!

[cbabe]

4. Two good ones. Especially smart, cunning Jane.

[mentalsolstice]

6. Finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Very good! Now reading I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, about a young woman who accidentally gains access to her coworkers computers, texts and emails. Hilarity ensues. I recommend it for anyone who has worked in a large company’s soul-sucking cubicle environment.

Thanks for the thread hermetic!

[hermetic]

8. And havrn't we all...

at some point? My T-B-R list just keeps growing.

[hermetic]

14. From the Stranger Than Fiction column

"Now, the security of thousands of employees and their parent companies is at risk after real-time images of their computers were leaked by an employee surveillance app.

On Thursday, researchers at Cybernews reported that over 21 million screenshots from WorkComposer, which works with over 200,000 companies worldwide, were discovered in an unsecured Amazon S3 bucket.

As part of its services, WorkComposer captures screenshots of an employee’s computer every 3 to 5 minutes. So, the leaked images potentially include sensitive content like internal communications, login information, and even an employee’s personal information that could leave them vulnerable to identity theft, scams, and more."

https://gizmodo.com/an-employee-surveillance-company-leaked-over-21-million-screenshots-online-2000593880?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[Jilly_in_VA]

9. Finally finished

Great Lion of God, by Taylor Caldwell, her novel about St. Paul, to which I had sentenced myself as a Lenten penance since I don't particularly like Paul. Yeah, I know it dragged out until after Easter, and that's my fault for starting it late in Lent! I can say a couple of things about it. It didn't make me like Paul any better, but the writing, as always with her books, was extremely good, and it interconnected with at least one other of her books, Dear and Glorious Physician, one of my favorites, very well. It was also extremely tedious and longer than it could have been.

I'm now reading a biography of Harry Truman, who's the first president I remember, called The Accidental President, by A.J. Balme. It focuses on his early life and the first four months of his presidency. No, of course it's not fiction. I kind of wish it still were, because some of the things he had to do were pretty horrendous...but I still think they were probably necessary, and I still think he was a greater president than many.

[Number9Dream]

10. A third way into "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Thanks for the thread, hermetic.

I never saw the TV series, or read the books, and I was looking for something new. I wondered if the book would compare to the hype. I'm 220 pages in and am pleasantly surprised. Aside from one or two parts I could have done without (animal cruelty related), I'm enjoying this one. On the plus side it's well written and imaginative. On the negative, there are a LOT of characters (with nicknames) to keep track of. I'll check back in a few weeks when I've finished.

[hermetic]

11. I never saw it either

But glad to hear you are enjoying the book. Hope it/they continue to impress.

[yellowdogintexas]

15. I have re-read the first 4 and read the last 1 once. I won't re-read the last until the 6th one is released

That is of course assuming it is ever released.

If you are not sucked in by that prologue, you may not enjoy the books as much as I did.

Anyway, MR YD and I both enjoyed them immensely.

We were lucky enough to have the first 2 in hand when we started, and book 3 came out shortly thereafter. Then we waited forever for 4, then forever again for 5. I re-read from the beginning when each new book came out so I have read:
Books 1 2 and 3 3 times each and book 4 twice.

There are a number of websites dedicated to this series. A Wiki of Ice and Fire is a good one.

I hope you continue to enjoy them A lot of wild stuff happens! Remember: never get too attached to a character.

[Bayard]

13. I finished, "Weyward," by Emilia Hart

Loved it.

Now on, "From the Borderlands." Its a book of short stories by people like Bentley Little, Steven King, Whitley Strieber, and more. Some are better than others. A little light reading before bedtime....

[yellowdogintexas]

16. Currrently reading "The Gator Did It" from the Southern Beach Mystery Series byKay Dewe Shostak

This is the 5th book in the series

Football is a whole other thing in the South, Midwestern transplant Jewel Mantelle discovers, and on Sophia Island, they love the Gators. Jewel would be fine with that if her friends only meant the University of Florida football team, but they also seem to love the critters skulking around in the ditches and creeks running through their tiny beach town. At her first ever football party she finds herself front and center for the spectacle of the eccentric Bell Jackson calling the gators behind his huge mansion—and it gives her the creeps.

But finding out those very same gators didn’t hesitate to take a bite of Mr. Jackson when he fell off his balcony and landed in their domain is even creepier.......

I missed 2 weeks but since the last time I posted here I have read:
The Sanhedrin Chronicles about a group of Jewish men with superpowers. Lots of paranormal stuff and also fun
College student and certified nerd Arthur Rose has issues: he's estranged from his Jewish faith, he needs a recommendation for grad school, and getting back with his ex, Lynn, is going to take more than an apology and chocolate. He's trying to balance it all when he starts seeing shapes in the dark. ...What follows is a tale ripped out of Arthur's wildest fantasies: to protect the world from evil, he must join a secret order of Jewish demon-hunters that have spanned millennia. He'll have to master Hebrew magic, uncover the secrets of his past, and embrace his heritage. In so doing, he won't just reclaim his faith, but becomes SANHEDRIN

Ruddy Gore another in the Miss Fischer series. I love these books!

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone : A Therapist, Her Therapist and our lives revealed Lori Gottlieb. This was a Book CLub choice and I really thought I was going to hate it; I thought it would be very dry and boring but it was written like a novel.

Primal Creatures by Eric WIlder. Another in his paranormal series set in New Orleans The French Quarter Mysteries
It features a mysterious "monastery", a hurricaine, Cajun werewolves , a little bit of voo doo and a lot of NewOrleans atmosphere. # 3 in the series.