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hermetic

(8,310 posts)
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:13 PM Mar 2018

What are you reading this week of March 11, 2018?





At the end of A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I like all the Buddhist stuff; sure wasn't expected.

Just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Such a unique story. If you like reading treatises on art, you'll likely like this one. The ending, where it all gets summed up, is quite powerful.

So, what books are you liking this week?
65 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What are you reading this week of March 11, 2018? (Original Post) hermetic Mar 2018 OP
"The Hobbit" shenmue Mar 2018 #1
Cool hermetic Mar 2018 #5
Awwwww....I cried too and for the same reason. I figured it was just me....:) dameatball Mar 2018 #15
"The Fort" - Bernard Cornwell and "Mangrove Lightning" - Randy Wayne White dameatball Mar 2018 #2
Nice hermetic Mar 2018 #9
This message was self-deleted by its author dameatball Mar 2018 #12
Thought your reply was a spoiler? hermetic Mar 2018 #19
Yes, figured I should delete it. dameatball Mar 2018 #20
I absolutely loved "The Goldfinch." femmocrat Mar 2018 #3
I think hermetic Mar 2018 #7
Wow! thanks! femmocrat Mar 2018 #38
Me, too. I couldn't put it down. Ohiogal Mar 2018 #31
Steinbeck Grapes of wrath TEB Mar 2018 #4
I bet you see things differently in this read. TexasProgresive Mar 2018 #10
Pretty much hermetic Mar 2018 #21
Most definitely TEB Mar 2018 #27
A truly great story hermetic Mar 2018 #11
Grant by Ron Chernow redstatebluegirl Mar 2018 #6
As in Ulysses S. hermetic Mar 2018 #13
I am only about 1/3 of the way through, it is great. redstatebluegirl Mar 2018 #16
Artemis by Andy Weir. Thyla Mar 2018 #8
Oh yeah hermetic Mar 2018 #14
That's the one. Thyla Mar 2018 #18
A Study in Scarlet Women iamateacher Mar 2018 #17
Sounds like fun hermetic Mar 2018 #22
Thanks, I will correct it. iamateacher Mar 2018 #23
I've gotta look for that one! PennyK Mar 2018 #44
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn Freedomofspeech Mar 2018 #24
This sounds good hermetic Mar 2018 #25
"Difficult Women", short stories by Roxanne Gay. LisaM Mar 2018 #26
I like the sound of this hermetic Mar 2018 #28
Thanks. LisaM Mar 2018 #35
S'okay hermetic Mar 2018 #39
Heretics by Leonardo Padura alfredo Mar 2018 #29
This sounds really amazing hermetic Mar 2018 #30
Im taking my time reading it. Its my waiting room book. alfredo Mar 2018 #34
"Sulphur Springs" by William Kent Krueger Ohiogal Mar 2018 #32
Number 16 in the Cork O'Connor series hermetic Mar 2018 #40
This House of Sky, cilla4progress Mar 2018 #33
Ivan Doig is awesome. You are on to a good thing. I've read all his japple Mar 2018 #36
Doig's autobiography hermetic Mar 2018 #41
We are very glad our daughter found such a cilla4progress Mar 2018 #42
Thanks, hermetic, for the weekly thread. I finished reading The Front Porch Prophet by japple Mar 2018 #37
The Real Story of What Happens to America hermetic Mar 2018 #43
I read the Brooks book when it first came out. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2018 #53
Matched backtoblue Mar 2018 #45
Certainly hermetic Mar 2018 #47
"The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell Number9Dream Mar 2018 #46
Well, Outlander hermetic Mar 2018 #48
Thanks, Hermetic Number9Dream Mar 2018 #49
"The Last Kingdom" getting old in mke Mar 2018 #50
Thanks for the info Number9Dream Mar 2018 #55
snow Blind by Ragnar Jonasson. A thriller set in the Northern edge of Iceland. MLAA Mar 2018 #51
Ooooh hermetic Mar 2018 #58
I live in hot Tucson, so must be why all the snow and ice appealed to me! MLAA Mar 2018 #63
I always liked Lois McMaster Bujold's Barrayar series The Polack MSgt Mar 2018 #52
Most assuredly hermetic Mar 2018 #59
Just finished "Ghosts of the Tsunami" PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2018 #54
Lots of interesting things hermetic Mar 2018 #60
I just finished the first fiction books I have read in a while ashling Mar 2018 #56
Well hello, ashling hermetic Mar 2018 #61
Finally finished Goldfinch Cuthbert Allgood Mar 2018 #57
I do agree to some extent hermetic Mar 2018 #62
I've given up on Sleeping Beauties PennyK Mar 2018 #64
You're not alone hermetic Mar 2018 #65

shenmue

(38,506 posts)
1. "The Hobbit"
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:18 PM
Mar 2018

Got a new boxed set of "The Lord of the Rings," so I have to start over from the beginning.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
5. Cool
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:38 PM
Mar 2018

I'm pretty sure that is my most favorite story ever. I know I cried like a baby at the end, because I didn't want it to end. Then I fell in love all over again with the movies. I really see it all as a prefect metaphor for what we are now experiencing with repugs making the perfect orcs.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
9. Nice
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:59 PM
Mar 2018

Last edited Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

"Grounded firmly in history, inimitably told in Cornwell's thrilling narrative style, The Fort is the extraordinary novel of this fascinating clash between a superpower and a nation in the making." (18th Century, American Revolution)

In this electrifying new novel, Mangrove Lightning, the ghosts of a 1925 multiple murder stalk investigator Doc Ford.

Sounds like some great reading for you.

Response to hermetic (Reply #9)

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
19. Thought your reply was a spoiler?
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:36 PM
Mar 2018

Maybe not as it says right in the description: "ineptitude and irresolution lead to a mortifying defeat--and have stunning repercussions for two men on opposite sides"

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
7. I think
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:45 PM
Mar 2018

I read somewhere that they were. Oh wait, I just found it. It's happening but won't be done until next year. Here is a terrific article about it. https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/1/16/16898940/goldfinch-movie-adaptation-casting-news
"The Goldfinch is a project that screams both “Prestige” and “If this doesn’t do the book justice, people will riot.” Expectations are high."
fellow Finchhead.

TexasProgresive

(12,157 posts)
10. I bet you see things differently in this read.
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 01:59 PM
Mar 2018

I routinely reread books that I read when younger and am amazed at what I remembered correctly and not. Although I have been accused of waking up in a new world every day.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
13. As in Ulysses S.
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:06 PM
Mar 2018

A new account of the Civil War general and two-term president. Chernow has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Humanities Medal for his writings so this is bound to be an excellent read.

redstatebluegirl

(12,265 posts)
16. I am only about 1/3 of the way through, it is great.
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:14 PM
Mar 2018

I read his book on Hamilton and Washington both were great! This one has lived up to the hype.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
14. Oh yeah
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:12 PM
Mar 2018

By the author of The Martian, this is a heist story set on the moon. "Propelled by its heroine’s wisecracking voice, set in a city that’s at once stunningly imagined and intimately familiar, and brimming over with clever problem-solving and heist-y fun, Artemis is another irresistible brew of science, suspense, and humor."

Welcome to DU, and the reading room.

Thyla

(791 posts)
18. That's the one.
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:34 PM
Mar 2018

The Martian was very readable for a debut novel and my early impression is that this one is just as readable.

Also cheers for the welcome.

iamateacher

(1,089 posts)
17. A Study in Scarlet Women
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:19 PM
Mar 2018

By Sherry Thomas, great author. Sherlock Holmes is a young woman....
And I plan to re-read "A Wrinkle in Time".

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
22. Sounds like fun
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 02:47 PM
Mar 2018

Bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down…
"it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind."

My search did reveal, though, that the tile is A Study in Scarlet Women, not to be confused with Doyle's original.

PennyK

(2,302 posts)
44. I've gotta look for that one!
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 01:30 PM
Mar 2018

I'm a Holmes 'revisitor' fanatic...and this one sounds wild!
I'm slogging through Stephen and Owen King's Sleeping Beauties. Interesting but long.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
25. This sounds good
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 07:06 PM
Mar 2018

An enthralling new historical novel where two women are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption during WWI and beyond.

LisaM

(27,813 posts)
26. "Difficult Women", short stories by Roxanne Gay.
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 07:24 PM
Mar 2018

I'm really impressed. They are strong and funny and terrible all at once.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
28. I like the sound of this
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 07:32 PM
Mar 2018

"A powerful collection of short stories about difficult, troubled, headstrong, and unconventional women . . . Whether focusing on assault survivors, single mothers, or women who drown their guilt in wine and bad boyfriends, Gay's fantastic collection is challenging, quirky, and memorable."

As a bit of a 'difficult woman' myself, I think I need to read this. Be advised, though, the author is spelled with one N. Roxane. Not to worry...

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
39. S'okay
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 12:17 PM
Mar 2018

The only reason I noticed was I copied and pasted into my library's search bar and nothing came up. Unlike Google searches, there are some places you need to be very exact.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
30. This sounds really amazing
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 08:02 PM
Mar 2018

A sweeping novel of art theft, anti-Semitism, contemporary Cuba, and crime. Leonardo Padura takes us from the tenements and beaches of Cuba to Rembrandt’s gloomy studio in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, telling the story of people forced to choose between the tenets of their faith and the realities of the world, between their personal desires and the demands of their times. A grand detective story and a moving historical drama, Padura’s novel is as compelling, mysterious, and enduring as the painting at its center.

Historic, yet timely. Thanks.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
40. Number 16 in the Cork O'Connor series
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 12:30 PM
Mar 2018

Cork heads to the desert of the southwest, looking for a missing person and dealing with drug running and illegal immigration. Sounds like a good, and pertinent, mystery.

cilla4progress

(24,736 posts)
33. This House of Sky,
Sun Mar 11, 2018, 08:18 PM
Mar 2018

Ivan Doig. Sumptuous writing. Daughter just moved to Bozeman, MT and I am enraptured!

japple

(9,833 posts)
36. Ivan Doig is awesome. You are on to a good thing. I've read all his
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 09:00 AM
Mar 2018

works and loved every one as much as I love the state of Montana!

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
41. Doig's autobiography
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 12:42 PM
Mar 2018

His life was formed among the sheepherders and denizens of small-town saloons and valley ranches in the rugged wilderness of western Montana. I adore his writing and am quite fond of Montana myself. Always have a great time there.

japple

(9,833 posts)
37. Thanks, hermetic, for the weekly thread. I finished reading The Front Porch Prophet by
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 09:08 AM
Mar 2018

Raymond Atkins. The ending was sad/funny, wrapped up nicely. Enjoyed this local author very much.

I just discovered that Albert Brooks had recently published a work of fiction--his first, titled 2030 so that's where I headed next.


Comedian and filmmaker Brooks welcomes the reader to the year 2030 in his smart and surprisingly serious debut. Cancer has been cured, global warming is an acknowledged reality, people have robot companions, and the president is a Jew--and oy vey does he have his hands full with an earthquake-leveled Los Angeles and a growing movement by the young to exterminate the elderly. And when the Chinese offer to rebuild L.A. in exchange for a half-ownership stake in Southern California, President Bernstein is faced with a decision that will alter the future of America. Brooks's sweeping narrative encompasses a diverse cast of characters, including an 80-year-old Angelino left homeless by the earthquake, a trust fund brat with a grudge against the elderly, and a teenage girl saddled with debt after her father's death, all of whom get brought together just in time for a climactic hostage crisis. Brooks's mordant vision encompasses the future of politics, medicine, entertainment, and daily living, resulting in a novel as entertaining as it is thought provoking, like something from the imagination of a borscht belt H.G. Wells. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


hermetic

(8,310 posts)
43. The Real Story of What Happens to America
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 12:50 PM
Mar 2018

Wow. For sure going to have to read this one. It sounds kind of scary, especially for us old folks. But it also sounds like an improvement over what we've got going on right now. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,862 posts)
53. I read the Brooks book when it first came out.
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 06:22 PM
Mar 2018

It's kind of odd, and I thought rather pessimistic. But well written, nonetheless.

backtoblue

(11,343 posts)
45. Matched
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 07:18 PM
Mar 2018

It's a dystopian YA novel by Ally Condie. I must confess that I've contracted the YA fantasy bug lately.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
47. Certainly
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 03:01 PM
Mar 2018

nothing wrong with that. Action & Adventure, Love & Romance, Fantasy & Magic: what's not to like?

Number9Dream

(1,562 posts)
46. "The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 09:07 AM
Mar 2018

Just finished "The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell. This was the second book in the Saxon stories series. Well written story about a young Saxon lord who, along with King Alfred, is trying to prevent the Danish Vikings from conquering England. I think I'm going to need a break from all the death, violence, and gore, for something lighter. Can anybody suggest some quality erotica?

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
48. Well, Outlander
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 03:04 PM
Mar 2018

has some pretty stirring scenes, but also a great deal of violence and gore.

It's looks like for really quality stuff you have to stick with the classics...
Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
Fanny Hill by John Cleland
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Ada by Vladimir Nabokov
Maidenhead by Tamara Faith Berger
Nine and a Half Weeks by Ingeborg Day
The Autobiography of a Flea by “Anonymous”
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker (this one sounds fun) ...a 1994 novel about a man who can stop time, and uses this ability to embark on a series of sexual adventures.

Aha, I found this...good old GoodReads has an Erotica Shelf https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/quality-erotica The only one I've ever heard of is 50 Shades which I personally have no interest in as I hear it's rather poorly written.

Have fun exploring!

getting old in mke

(813 posts)
50. "The Last Kingdom"
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 03:52 PM
Mar 2018

on Netflix is based on the Saxon Chronicles. Two seasons so far. I've enjoyed them and the books.

Number9Dream

(1,562 posts)
55. Thanks for the info
Wed Mar 14, 2018, 02:25 PM
Mar 2018

I don't have Netflix, but thanks for the info. Guess I'll make my way through the series a book at a time, when the mood is right.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
58. Ooooh
Fri Mar 16, 2018, 02:08 PM
Mar 2018

This looks good.

Taut and terrifying, SNOWBLIND is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent. A quiet fishing village in northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors, turns out to be a community where no one can be trusted and secrets and lies are a way of life.

That was 2015. Jonasson has 3 more Mystery/Police Procedurals from Dark Iceland since then with another due out this year. Sounds like a great new series that many of us here would enjoy. Especially in the summer when it's blazing hot outside.

Tks.

The Polack MSgt

(13,189 posts)
52. I always liked Lois McMaster Bujold's Barrayar series
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 04:29 PM
Mar 2018

And I just finished her newest "Gentleman Joles and the Red Queen".

It was really good - but probably not a great jumping off point if you aren't familiar with the story line

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
59. Most assuredly
Fri Mar 16, 2018, 02:18 PM
Mar 2018

An author who can keep you busy reading for a very long time. Genres: Young Adult / Teens, General Fiction, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Alternative History, Gay / Lesbian / LGBT, Clones, Werewolves / Shapeshifters, and Zombies! A bit of something for everyone.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,862 posts)
54. Just finished "Ghosts of the Tsunami"
Tue Mar 13, 2018, 06:36 PM
Mar 2018

by Richard Lloyd Parry, which focuses mainly on one small city in northern Japan where 70 or so of the 100 and some children at the local elementary school died in the tsunami. It was the only school in Japan that last a significant number of children. Very interesting, especially as it gives thoughtful insight into Japanese culture and norms.

I also finished The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a Hungarian Jew who survived Auschwitz, married shortly after the war, emigrated to the United States where she and her husband raised three children and eventually became a clinical psychologist. She's 90 now and still going strong.

At the moment I'm currently reading A Village With My Name by Scott Tong, about his family's history in China and connecting to the relatives that still live there. Also reading Something Missing by Matthew Dicks about a thief who only steals what he is certain won't be missed and is very OCD, which is why he's a successful thief. So far it's quite good.

ashling

(25,771 posts)
56. I just finished the first fiction books I have read in a while
Thu Mar 15, 2018, 02:48 AM
Mar 2018

All historical fiction:

The Ionia Sanction,
a whodunnit set in classical Athens and Persia ...


A Spark On the Prairie,
about the trialof the Kiowa Chiefs Satanta and Big Tree in 1871 in Jacksboro Tx.

My gr gr grandfather homesteaded about 130 mi. south of there in 1871 and I was born just across the county line in Clay County Tx in 1952 ...

AND

1356

about Edward, Prince of Wales and the Battle of Poitiers. Most of the book is fiction leading up to the battle.

all excellent books

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
61. Well hello, ashling
Fri Mar 16, 2018, 02:26 PM
Mar 2018

Lovely to see you here. Glad you are back on the fiction wagon and thanks for some interesting additions.

Cuthbert Allgood

(4,921 posts)
57. Finally finished Goldfinch
Thu Mar 15, 2018, 10:04 AM
Mar 2018

I liked it. Didn't love it (loved a good many parts of it though). Thought the end was a little heavy handed thematically, but I fully realize that is just a me thing. Glad I read it. I do agree that the concepts at the end are powerful. I just keep thinking of my favorite painting during the end of the book (Crows over wheat field) and why it means so much to me and the emotional reaction I had to seeing it in person in Amsterdam.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
62. I do agree to some extent
Fri Mar 16, 2018, 02:35 PM
Mar 2018

About the story. But it is just so amazing what a painting can do to a person. I will never forget being in the Jeu de Paume in Paris back in '84 when it was the Impressionist's museum. I was actually weeping from being so overcome by all that beauty.

PennyK

(2,302 posts)
64. I've given up on Sleeping Beauties
Sat Mar 17, 2018, 01:18 PM
Mar 2018

It's just not a Stephen King book, which I usually devour.
Starting The Tuscan Child" by Rhys Bowen, her follow-up to "In Farleigh Field." Loved her Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy series. I've got "A Study in Scarlet Women" to dive into next.

hermetic

(8,310 posts)
65. You're not alone
Sun Mar 18, 2018, 12:56 PM
Mar 2018

After reading a few reviews, I took it off my list. Too much other really good stuff out there. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on A Study in Scarlet Women.

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