Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and audio books. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
My pretty kitty is the culprit causing the trembling of the TBR pile next to my computer. I like to talk about the books that are on it so that you can see that I do buy books you recommend and also to show books that you might be interested in finding. I will ask you to vote on which book I should read next.
What is on your to-be-read pile?
Mysteries
1. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva (not a Gabriel Allon)
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
“In wartime,” Winston Churchill wrote, “truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” For Britain’s counterintelligence operations, this meant finding the unlikeliest agent imaginable—a history professor named Alfred Vicary, handpicked by Churchill himself to expose a highly dangerous, but unknown, traitor. The Nazis, however, have also chosen an unlikely agent. Catherine Blake is the beautiful widow of a war hero, a hospital volunteer—and a Nazi spy under direct orders from Hitler: uncover the Allied plans for D-Day...
2. Fatal Pursuit by Martin Walker (Bruno)
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
At the annual fête in St. Denis, Bruno’s biggest worry is surviving as a last-minute replacement navigator in a car rally race. The contest and a classic-car parade are new to the festivities and draw a spate of outsiders with deep pockets, big-city egos and, in the case of a young Englishman, an intriguing story. It’s the tale of a Bugatti Type 57C, lost somewhere in France during World War II. Among the most beautiful cars ever made, one of only four of its kind—Ralph Lauren owns one—it is worth millions and drives its pursuers mad with greed. In the midst of the festivities, a local scholar turns up dead and Bruno suspects unnatural causes. After a second death, there is mounting evidence that the events in St. Denis are linked to international crime.
To make matters even more complicated, a family squabble over land brings to St. Denis a comely Parisienne who turns Bruno’s head. As usual, Bruno’s life offers its challenges—but there is always time for a good bottle and a home-cooked meal.
3. Alpine Fury by Mary Daheim
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
For generations the venerable family-owned bank has served the old logging town in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. But suddenly Marv Peterson, bank president and family patriarch, seems unnaturally distracted; his heirs and employees are jittery. And when a banker from Seattle comes to town, allegedly on a fishing vacation, Emma Lord, editor and publisher of The Alpine Advocate, decides to do a bit of fishing herself…
4. Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill (Jimm Juree)
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Jimm Juree was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family—a mother who might be drifting mentally; a grandfather—a retired cop—who rarely talks; a younger brother obsessed with body-building, and a transgendered, former beauty pageant queen, former older brother. When Jimm is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she's convinced her career—maybe her life—is over. So when a van containing the skeletal remains of two hippies, one of them wearing a hat, is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer's field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered, with the temple's monk and nun the only suspects.
Suddenly Jimm's new life becomes somewhat more promising—and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm is to make the most of this opportunity, and unravel the mysteries that underlie these inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family.
One of Library Journal's Best Mystery Books of 2011
5. The Sweet Golden Parachute by David Handler (Berger and Mitry)
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
A storm is brewing in Dorset.
Poochie Vickers, the local aristocrat, is becoming even more eccentric in her old age. She's taken up shoplifting and reckless driving but refuses to see a doctor. Her worrisome daughter, Claudia, is angling to take over the family fortune, which makes some of the would-be beneficiaries uneasy. Two of Dorset's biggest troublemakers are being released from prison. And the bad blood between these two families, rich on the one hand, swamp Yankee on the other, could come to a boiling point: Two young people from the families are dating, to no one's delight but their own…
Scifi/Fantasy
6. Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology. On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative. His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation.
When his platoon is sent to a distant colony to quell a local resistance effort, it seems like a stroke of amazing fortune, and Lawrence plans to rob the colony of their fabled gemstone, the Fallen Dragon, to get the money he needs. However, he soon discovers that the Fallen Dragon is not a gemstone at all, but an alien life form that the local colonists have been protecting since it crashed in their area. Now, Lawrence has to decide if he will steal the alien to exploit the use of its inherent biotechnical processes — which far exceed anything humans are capable of — or if he will help the Resistance get the alien home.
7. Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Empress Celene of Orlais rose to the throne of the most powerful nation in Thedas through wisdom, wit, and ruthless manipulation. Now, the empire she has guided into an age of enlightenment is threatened from within by imminent war between the templars and the mages even as rebellion stirs among the downtrodden elves. To save Orlais, Celene must keep her hold on the throne by any means necessary.
Fighting with the legendary skill of the Orlesian Chevaliers, Grand Duke Gaspard has won countless battles for the empire and the empress. But as the Circle fails and chaos looms, Gaspard begins to doubt that Celene's diplomatic approach Orlais' problems will keep the empire safe. Perhaps it is time for a new leader, one who lives by the tenets of the Chevalier's Code, to make Orlais strong again…
8. Hot Sky at Midnight by Robert Silverberg
9. Drayling by Terry Newman
10. Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley Beaulieu
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Song of Shattered Sands: Book One Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings — cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first.
11. A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Set in a world similar to our own, during a war that parallels World War II, A Green and Ancient Light is the stunning story of a boy who is sent to stay with his grandmother for the summer in a serene fishing village. Their tranquility is shattered by the crash of a bullet-riddled enemy plane, the arrival of grandmother’s friend Mr. Girandole—a man who knows the true story of Cinderella’s slipper—and the discovery of a riddle in the sacred grove of ruins behind grandmother’s house. In a sumptuous idyllic setting and overshadowed by the threat of war, four unlikely allies learn the values of courage and sacrifice.
12. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.
Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris's career isn't the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next…
Fiction
13. Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
When Father Quixote, a local priest of the Spanish village of El Toboso who claims ancestry to Cervantes’ fictional Don Quixote, is elevated to the rank of monsignor through a clerical error, he sets out on a journey to Madrid to purchase purple socks appropriate to his new station. Accompanying him on his mission is his best friend, Sancho, the Communist ex-mayor of the village who argues politics and religion with Quixote and rescues him from the various troubles his innocence lands him in along the way. Published in 1932, Monsignor Quixote is Graham Greene’s last religious novel, a fond homage to Cervantes, and a sincere exploration into the meaning of faith in the modern world.
14. The Promise by Ann Weisgarber (sent to me by a friend who lives in TX)
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio, in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation, she agrees to marry him, but when Catherine travels to Oscar’s farm on Galveston Island, Texas—a thousand miles from home—she finds she is little prepared for the life that awaits her. The island is remote, the weather sweltering, and Oscar’s little boy Andre is grieving hard for his lost mother. And though Oscar tries to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them.
Meanwhile, for Nan Ogden, Oscar’s housekeeper, Catherine’s sudden arrival has come as a great shock. For not only did she promise Oscar’s first wife that she would be the one to take care of little Andre, but she has feelings for Oscar that she is struggling to suppress. And when the worst storm in a generation descends, the women will find themselves tested as never before.
15. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Nina Redmond is a librarian with a gift for finding the perfect book for her readers. But can she write her own happy-ever-after?
16. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
For readers of The Nightingale and Sarah’s Key, inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this remarkable debut novel reveals the power of unsung women to change history in their quest for love, freedom, and second chances.
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power…
Non-fiction
17. The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest by Nick Thorpe
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
The magnificent Danube both cuts across and connects central Europe, flowing through and alongside ten countries: Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany. Travelling its full length from east to west, against the river’s flow, Nick Thorpe embarks on an inspiring year-long journey that leads to a new perspective on Europe today. Thorpe’s account is personal, conversational, funny, immediate, and uniquely observant—everything a reader expects in the best travel writing. Immersing himself in the Danube’s waters during daily morning swims, Thorpe likewise becomes immersed in the histories of the lands linked by the river. He observes the river’s ecological conditions, some discouraging and others hopeful, and encounters archaeological remains that whisper of human communities sustained by the river over eight millennia.
Most fascinating of all are the ordinary and extraordinary people along the way—the ferrymen and fishermen, workers in the fields, shopkeepers, beekeepers, waitresses, smugglers and border policemen, legal and illegal immigrants, and many more. For readers who anticipate their own journeys on the Danube, as well as those who only dream of seeing the great river, this book will be a unique and treasured guide.
18. Talking to the Moon by John Joseph Mathews
www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Talking to the Moon is an unusual and charming story of a Thoreau-like adventure in remote northeastern Oklahoma.
Following his university education and his service as a pilot in World War I, John Joseph Mathews returned to his beloved Osage country. He built a sandstone house on a blackjack-covered ridge in the midst of his ranch, and there he lived for ten years, stirred by a natural world that was still undisturbed by the demands of civilization. He became a part of the life that moved about his cottage.
In this beautiful account of what he saw and did and thought, Mathews describes his solitary life among the creatures of the ridge with rare perception and style.
His observations are based on the white man's seasons as well as the Indian cycles of the moon, and he discourses upon the eccentricities of man, the behavior of animals (including the communicative talking to-the-moon coyote), and the encompassing and particular beauty of his wilderness home. Even the most jaded reader will be touched by the sensitivity and generosity of Mathews' response to the natural world. To read Talking to the Moon is to be reminded that this world once existed for all of us.
This is your chance to mention books that you are planning to read soon, too. Has your pile been growing?
How do you decide which book to take off the to-be-read pile next? Do you just grab one or contemplate on which one should be next?
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! A thought from teh guru.
By SensibleShoes
www.dailykos.com/...
………………
A warm fuzzy diary for AIDS Walk Austin
By anotherdemocrat
www.dailykos.com/...
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All Times are EDT, EST
Readers & Book Lovers Series
Schedule Day Time EST/EDT Series Editor(s)
Sunday 6:00 PM Young Reader's Pavilion The Book Bear
(last Sun of the month) 7:30 PM LGBT Literature Chrislove
Monday 8:00 PM Fantasy: The Language of the Night DrLori
Tuesday 5:00 PM Indigo Kalliope: Poems from the Left Kit RMP, ruleoflaw
8:00 PM Contemporary Fiction Views bookgirl
Wednesday 7:30 AM WAYR? Chitown Kev
8:00 PM Bookflurries Bookchat cfk
Thursday 2:00 PM Self-Publishing 101 akadjian
8:00 PM Write On! SensibleShoes
(once a month) 2:00 PM Monthly Bookpost AdmiralNaismith
Friday 8:00 PM Books Go Boom! Brecht
Saturday 9:00 AM You Can't Read That!
Paul's Book Reviews pwoodford
9:00 PM Books So Bad They're Good Ellid
….….…..….….…..
Note: Dkos Book Club: The Brothers Karamazov, book 11.3-11.10
By pico
www.dailykos.com/...
I suggest we stop at the end of the prosecutor’s speech (Book 12.9) and save the defense and the rest for the following week.