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

[hermetic]

I still can't read. When I went to have cataract surgery on Tuesday they saw my heart wasn't beating right. After a few tests the surgeon said I needed to go to the Emergency Room. The nurse there tested my heart and called for an EKG, stat. Two hours later I was on an operating table having a pacemaker installed. A couple of days in the hospital and now I'm home and feel mostly okay. The incision is quite painful and I can't use my left arm for a while. And my eye surgery is now Aug 5. So, ever onward.

I'm listening to The September House by Carissa Orlando. I waited several months to get this one. It's quite unusual. A woman buys a house that turns out to be haunted. Very. It gets quite gory but is also funny. And there's a whole lot of "language." Definitely not a book for everyone.

Hope you all are in good health and enjoying a good book or two.

[Haggard Celine]

1. Sorry about your heart issues.

I got a pacemaker 5 years ago and I haven't had anymore trouble. I had it checked about 6 months ago, and they said the battery was good for another 9 years. Most of the time I forget all about it. Hope it goes the same for you.

I just started reading We Disappear by Scott Heim, and so far I like it. I read another book by him years ago called Mysterious Skin and loved it. He's a wonderful writer! Maybe I'll check out The September House next. I love horror!

[hermetic]

3. Thanks

Glad to hear you are doing well. I'll be getting a little box to keep by my bed which keeps the device in touch with the cardiologist, monitoring the beats. Medical technology is pretty amazing.

Heim's books sound good. I think you'll enjoy The Sept. House.

[Srkdqltr]

2. How awful for you. But good they caught the heart issue.

I'm rereading some of my Jodi Taylor books as she has a new one out in October. Re reading The Wizards Butler by Nathen Lowell.
I fell and broke some ribs and the meds make it hard to concentrate so rereading seemed like the thing to do.

[hermetic]

5. Oh no!

Broken ribs are no fun at all. I do hope you feel better soon and am so happy you have some reading to enjoy. The Wizard's Butler sounds like fun. "They didn't tell him about the pixies."

[Srkdqltr]

13. I liked The Wizards Butler the first time i read it but i think it needs a second reading.

[txwhitedove]

4. Oh no! But, oh good you were well taken care of. Relax, get better.

Finished Something in the Water, which was a surprise.

Now reading The CIA Book Club by Charlie English. Non-fiction about use, printing, smuggling of books during war and cold war. Here we go again, mirroring what's happening to us today. I'm soaking up tips just in case, and makes me want to rebuild my library (decimated by H.Katrina) of important works like: 1984, Animal Farm, etc. Speaking of Animal Farm, I've been enjoying Instagram posts by: cultivatinglegacy, reporting sheep farm shenanigans and political subterfuge by evil doers, funny and on point.

[hermetic]

6. That Instagram sounds like fun

Who's the author of that Something in the Water? There are a whole bunch of books with that title, oddly enough.

I, too, am trying to keep as many "important" books as I can.

[txwhitedove]

8. Author is Catherine Steadman. I gave a synopsis here a week ago or so. Interesting characters,

quirky viewpoints, good read.

[hermetic]

12. Thanks

I did check last weeks' but didn't see it so thought I'd ask as I wanted to add that one to my reading list.

[Bayard]

7. Yikes!

Last edited Sun Jul 27, 2025, 01:05 PM - Edit history (1)

That had to be a nasty surprise. Hope you recover well.

I picked up a very old Michael Crichton, writing as Jeffery Hudson, from 1968, "A Case of Need." Lots of medical jargon, with footnotes. Its mildly interesting.

We'll have to start calling this the, Fiction Thread for the Infirm. I have to have an epidural next week for a bulging disc that has laid me low for months.

[hermetic]

10. Oh wow

Once you get through that it should be an enormous relief. I wish you a very speedy recovery.

[cbabe]

9. Spirit Crossing/William Kent Krueger

The latest in his Cork O’Connor series.

The great northern Minnesota wilderness.

Seven year old Waboo stumbles across a grave while blueberry picking. His visions of the lost girl help lead to her being ‘found’.

Side plot is an oil pipeline going across sacred lands and waters. And native protests.

The two plots and sets of bad guys intersect on man camps and sex trafficking.

Family and law enforcement track the clues.

Pretty good read.

[hermetic]

11. Sounds good

“one of his most puzzling mysteries to date” (Publishers Weekly)

[Jilly_in_VA]

14. It's not fiction, but reads like it

and it's hella long. The Plantaganets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones. I've been reading for a week, and I'm only up to King John who is about to get the Magna Carta thrown at him. Jones makes these assorted folks come alive as most historians don't. He admires Henry II, who he describes as "short, redheaded, thick-chested, with a tendency to fat", and Eleanor of Aquitaine (as who wouldn't? She was a powerhouse in a time when women were only good for dynastic marriages and breeding) and he is kinder to Richard the Lionheart than most historians. King John, not so much. I believe this book ends with Richard II but there is a second volume planned. I think I will need some mindless fiction after this.

[hermetic]

15. Ah, the good old days

[mentalsolstice]

16. Whoa! Get well soon! ❤️‍🩹

Reading The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. Very good so far.

Take it easy!

[Polly Hennessey]

17. Oh, Hermetic, your cataract surgery took an unexpected turn.

It’s good to know your heart issues were diagnosed and resolved. Now on August 5 your eyes 👀 will be better. It’s almost a new you.