What book are you reading right now? (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Out today and jumping to the front of the line on my reading list...

 

[Jake Lipson]

This is another recent book I've heard good things about, so it is on my list for after I finish with Sunrise On the Reaping.

 

[DaveF]

Out today and jumping to the front of the line on my reading list...

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How are the new books? I loved the original trilogy, but have’t revisited them since. I have The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but haven’t gotten to listening to it yet.

 

[Jake Lipson]

How are the new books?

If you liked the original trilogy, I think you'll probably like the prequels too. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focusing on a teenage Snow has more distance from the events of the trilogy and, as such, more opportunity for unexpected storytelling. Sunrise On the Reaping focuses on Haymitch's games, so we already know he is the victor. It is still a good read. But Collins has to lay out the board more directly according to what is coming in the original trilogy, and it includes a lot of connections that make the world feel smaller with references to the others. Still, I would recommend both.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay was the book that prompted me to start this thread last year. I won't reiterate my lengthy comments again because they're still in the first post. But I did want to mention it again because the paperback version is being released today. It also has a snazzy new cover designed for this edition. So if you're curious but didn't get to it last year, the paperback could be a cheaper option. It is also possible that demand for the book at libraries might have subsided a bit now that it has been out for almost a year. The wait at my library was several months long when I decided to get it instead, but it is available to borrow now. Anyway, I still love this book and highly recommend it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I discovered Alex Finlay with If Something Happens to Me last year. I'm making my way through his previous work before his new novel comes out next month. I just got Every Last Fear today.

 

[Malcolm R]

Will be finishing this in the next day or so, about the early days of electricity, lighting, and the rivalries among Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla. Moore is probably better known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Imitation Game about Alan Turing.

Not sure how historically accurate this is, but it's a good read after a bit of a slow opening.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Every Last Fear was great. I'm continuing with Alex Finlay's back catalog. The Night Shift also features his recurring character FBI agent Sarah Keller involved in a different case.

 

[EricSchulz]

Just finished this one today. A good psychological thriller about Tilde, a Swedish woman who has been institutionalized because of her perceived conspiracy among a group of men, including her husband, who she thinks are involved in the disappearance of teenaged Mia. Tilde voices her suspicions to her son Daniel and chronologically recounts her story about those involved: the mayor, a doctor, a detective, the police…even the father of the girl. Is her story just a fabrication or can she prove it really happened? It’s well paced without being too gimmicky. And I didn’t even see the twists coming…

 

[TheMovieDude]

 

[Malcolm R]

I finished this one last week. I've read a couple of Barclay's now, this one and "A Noise Downstairs", and both were pretty good. I like this one a bit better.

Reading this one now. Not bad, but it's one of those where the killer is revealed early so there's not much mystery. You're just watching the authorities try and put the pieces together.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay was just published. It is next on my reading list as soon as my copy arrives in the mail.

Finlay's other four books have all been fantastic -- including If Something Happens to Me, which was the inspiration for this thread. This one is my most anticipated book of the year.

 

[Malcolm R]

Finished Victim Six, not really a fan. Now reading another Steve Berry, Cotton Malone novel, The Lincoln Myth. Berry is one of my favorite authors, along with James Rollins, who often create an exciting mix of history with action and espionage. I also just recently got James Rollins latest, Arkangel.

I put a Finlay novel on my wish list at Amazon to pick up at some point.

Forgot that between Victim Six and The Lincoln Myth, I read the latest Ryder Creed novel (#8) from Alex Kava. Great series if you like mysteries and dogs, though this one seemed to end rather abruptly for my taste.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I finished Parents Weekend in two days. I loved Alex Finlay's other books and I said before, this was my most anticipated book of the year and it did not disappoint.

The basic premise is that five freshmen disappear from a college campus on a college parents weekend when they were all supposed to meet their parents for a scheduled dinner. Finlay switches perspective among the affected families throughout the investigation. As usual, everybody has their own secrets which may or may not have something to do with what happened to the students.

The college experience described here was not like my own. However, just the university setting made me very nostalgic for that period of time in my life. Finlay's mysteries are tightly plotted with lots of twists. But what I really like about his writing is how richly develpoped the characters are. There's no reason to care about the mystery at all if you aren't invested with the characters, and he does a really good job of making them all unique and investible. There are a lot of characters to keep track of her -- five students and parents for each and the investigators -- and yet each of them feel like distinct, well-rounded people. I wanted to know what happened next in the mystery because I found them interesting.

Finlay considers his novels to be standalone. You don't have to have read any of the others in order to understand this. It doesn't directly involve any of the investigations from his prior books. But this is the third appearance for his recurring FBI agent character Sarah Keller. There is one single line in the entire book which includes a spoiler for The Night Shift in which she previously appeared. So while I have no reservations about recommending Parents Weekend on merit, I do think that is worth noting. While it does not require knowledge of the other books, one reference would give away something significant if this is read first. If you don't care about that, there is no reason Parents Weekend couldn't be read independently.

 

[EricSchulz]

Definitely agree with @Malcolm R that this is a great read! Excellent thriller that would make a great miniseries.

 

[bmasters9]

Mother Love, Deadly Love by New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser: about the infamous incident in the 90s where Susan Smith did her two sons in by drowning, and the hoax when she insisted a Black man carjacked her car and took her sons.

 

[Malcolm R]

Finished "The Lincoln Myth" by Steve Berry, which was quite good as are all the Cotton Malone books. Picked up another Gray Man novel, "Gunmetal Gray" by Mark Greaney. I read the first one in the series and wasn't exactly in love with it, but I found a couple more at bargain prices, "Gunmetal Gray" and "Relentless", so decided to pick them up.

 

[DaveF]

I recently finished David Brin’s The Postman, which was good though I didn’t love it commensurate with its classic status.

I’m now close to finishing John Scalzi’s newest When the Moon Hits Your Eye. This is a great disappointment. It’s not bad, exactly. But it continues Scalzi’s trend of putting out the his equivalent of Netflix movies. He just seems out of gas.

He was a must-buy for me for going on 20 years. I will no longer be buying his books without checking reviews.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I recently finished David Brin’s The Postman, which was good though I didn’t love it commensurate with its classic status.

I read The Postman many years ago and liked it, but would agree that it doesn't ascend to classic status. (The novel is better than the film adaptation.) Thinking about David Brin, have you ever read any of his 'Uplift' novels? I haven't read any of them in years, but Startide Rising made a big impression on me when I read it. I think it could have been adapted into a terrific SF mini-series or film; more especially now, considering the FX requirements to do the novel justice.

- Walter.

 

[DaveF]

I read The Postman many years ago and liked it, but would agree that it doesn't ascend to classic status. (The novel is better than the film adaptation.) Thinking about David Brin, have you ever read any of his 'Uplift' novels? I haven't read any of them in years, but Startide Rising made a big impression on me when I read it. I think it could have been adapted into a terrific SF mini-series or film; more especially now, considering the FX requirements to do the novel justice.

- Walter.

This is the first I’ve read of Brin.