Candace Robb’s first Owen Archer book is a great read… the rest of the series veers into some seriously creepy, and not in a good way, territory. I found the first two enjoyable, wanted a shower after the third and the fourth to be decent…
If anybody is looking for some easy-reading western fiction, the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box might fill the bill. Joe is a game warden in a fictional Wyoming county who manages to get himself embroiled in all manner of criminal situations. I think there are 18 novels at this point. The books are not as good as the Longmire series, and are fairly predictable, but are readable.
One of my freaky-good readers (seriously, this third grader just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany, a whole other conversation right there) recommended The Night Gardener to me. I finished it yesterday; it’s a charming but fairly forgettable children’s story with some unexpectedly macabre moments. If you’re looking for something to gift to your goth-in-training niece or nephew, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.
I also just finished Nnedi Okorafor’s novella Binti, a science-fiction story about a girl leaving her isolated African community to travel to a science academy on planet, and the horrors that happen along the way. Okorafor is always good for some freaky-ass visions of what could be; while I don’t rank this among her best, it’s less than 100 pages, and I’m happy to have read it. (If you’d like her best, consider the World-Fantasy-Award-Winning Who Fears Death, post-apocalyptic central African horror/fantasy awesomeness).
Finished it - and liked it even more than I did the first time!
I zipped through an audiobook of Robert Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy, about a young slave boy in a distant-future interstellar society. Not bad. The reader, Lloyd James, had some fun with the voices - Baslim the Cripple sounds like Sean Connery, Grandmother like Katharine Hepburn, and Capt. Brisby an awful lot like Ronald Reagan.
I’m now about halfway through Joseph Ellis’s Revolutionary Summer, about the political and military events of the summer of 1776, as the Continental Congress in Philadelphia considers and finally declares independence, and the Continental Army meets and is bested by the British invasion force in New York. It’s pretty good, although not as good as his masterful Founding Brothers.
You might like Ted Chiang’s short story “Tower of Babylon,” in his collection Stories of Your Life and Others. (Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life,” also included in the collection, was the inspiration for the recent sf movie Arrival). “Tower of Babylon” is about the construction of a massive tower and the society which develops among its builders; it has a weird ending that I’m still not sure I understand, but it was certainly an interesting story.
I finished The Wonder Engine Book Two of the Clocktaur Wars by T. Kingfisher aka Ursula Vernon. As a long time fan of Ms Vernon, I have to say the book did not disappoint. I’m sad that it’s over.
I’m reading The Devil in the White City, which takes place at the tail end of the 19th century (if nonfiction books can “take place”). It has alternating chapters describing preparations for the world fair and a serial killer who lives in Chicago, where the fair takes place. It’s good enough to keep reading, but not as good as I was expecting it to be based on the recommendations of others. The people building the fair fall pretty far behind schedule, and there’s this sense of stress and urgency in the chapters on fair preparation which I don’t like. I read books to relax, not to feel frantic and overwhelmed!
Other book I’m reading right now is The Dazzling Heights. I like this book more than I was expecting to. It’s the second book in a trilogy, takes place one hundred years in the future, and follows a group of high schoolers as the fall in love, backstab, and try to keep secrets from one another. I came in with low expectations, since it’s the second book in a series and second books are sometimes pretty bad, but this one keeps me engaged.
I liked the author enough to read some of his other books. I even emailed him about a subject he may find interesting to write a book about, and he wrote me back!
I found myself putting the book down and Googling to get more information.
Finished The Pope of Palm Beach, by Tim Dorsey. Fun as usual, but not one of his best. Next up: Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska. It’s a magical-realist novella based on his youth and escape from the Nazis.
As much as I love The Goldfinch and The Secret History (they are numbers 1 and 2 on my “favorite books” list), I HATED The Little Friend. Creepy and boring and not her wonderful writing style.
Currently I’m reading Victoria by Daisy Goodwin, and The Great Influenza by John M. Barry.
Finished *Mandelbrot the Magnificent *by Liz Ziemska. Outstanding. Makes me wish I knew more about math than I ever will. One of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
Next up: Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters, by Patricia C. McKissack.
I just finished Hello Universe, the latest Newbery winner. I’ll go post a review in the appropriate thread.
Finished it. Ellis had some interesting things to say about the limited-war approach of British leaders who were, in 1776, still hoping to bring America back into the imperial fold, but otherwise he didn’t break much new ground. McCullough’s 1776 and Fisher’s Washington’s Crossing are better books on the war.
Just started Noah Feldman’s Scorpions, about four U.S. Supreme Court justices all appointed by FDR, and how their personalities and judicial views eventually drove them apart.
Finished Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters, by Patricia C. McKissack. I enjoy folktales in general, and there were a couple of good ones in here: “The Best Lie Ever Told” and “The Earth Bone and the King of the Ghosts.”
Next up: Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith.
I recently completed Chernow’s “Grant” and it was very well done, as usual.
I’ve heard that from several other history-junkie friends. I’m sure I’ll read it someday.
His Washington and Hamilton bios are both superb.
Just started The Cartoon History of the Universe, Volumes 1-7: From the Big Bag to Alexander the Great, by Larry Gonick.
Currently reading The Great Game, the end of a trilogy that I’ve not read the first two in. I try to avoid this situation in general, for obvious reasons, but I bought this novel with a gift card back in January, not realizing it was the third in a trilogy, and my library system doesn’t have the first two.
It’s ridiculous: steampunk London ruled by lizard-people, with every literary character you can think of stuffed willy-nilly into the book. I’m skeptical of steampunk, and I’m skeptical of fantasies set in London, and I’m skeptical of throwing literary characters into new novels as a gimmick; all of these together is extra dumb.
But I’m loving it. What can I say? The author knows how to take this hot mess and turn it into a doesnt-take-itself-remotely-seriously action fest.
I love hot messes that don’t take themselves seriously. 
Just finished Rag and Bone by KJ Charles. It’s another m/m urban fantasy full of magic, warlocks and revenaunts set in 1870s London. She is definitely one of my favorite authors.
I finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman yesterday. If I hadn’t tried to read American Gods, I would swear that everything Gaiman touches turns to gold. This was my seventh Gaiman book, and aside from American Gods I’ve enjoyed every one. Though I must say my favorite of his is The Ocean at the End of the Lane.