What Fiction are you reading this week, March 1, 2020?

[hermetic]

Happy March!!

I’m still reading the first chapter of The Truth, but only because this book doesn’t have chapters. It just goes on with the occasional double spacing whenever there’s a scene change. It’s still really funny, though.

I got the CD version of Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James because it was highly recommended by Neil Gaiman, via an email from GoodReads. Yesterday I listened to the first disk and I could only understand about 20 words in that entire hour and hadn’t a clue what was going on. It seemed the guy had a Russian accent but I couldn’t really tell. It’s read by Dion Graham who is evidently pretty famous but I was constantly thinking, WTF? So, this morning I went to GoodReads and found this, which explains a lot. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2661707390?utm_campaign=reviews&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=fictiondb.com
I’ve decided to not spend any more time on it but some of you might like it. I’d just advise you look into it a bit before investing any time or money.

RIP Clive Cussler. Author of more than 80 books and a favorite of many here. I liked Medusa and have The Silent Sea in my soon-to-be-read pile. He was a real life underwater explorer and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks.

Stay well, friends. Stay in and read. Then tell us about it.

[demigoddess]

1. stephen King, who else?

[hermetic]

2. Certainly no shortage

of books to choose from there.

[spin]

4. Exactly. His novel "The Stand" is an appropriate read in today's environment. ...

I read it years ago and downloaded it as an ebook a couple of months ago. Some say it was King’s best novel. It definitely keeps your attention and the character development is excellent.

Of course the bio weapon accidentally released in the novel is a lot nastier than the coronavirus we are currently dealing with.

The Stand is a postapocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It expands upon the scenario of his earlier short story "Night Surf", and presents a detailed vision of the total breakdown of society after the accidental release of a strain of influenza that had been modified for biological warfare causes an apocalyptic pandemic, killing off over 99% of the world's population. Published in 1978, The Stand was King's fourth novel, and remains (in its "Complete & Uncut" edition) the longest stand-alone novel King has published.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand

[Midnight Writer]

9. The Stand is my favorite of Stephen King's novels. Strong Good vs Evil theme with rich characters.

[spin]

10. As I re-read the novel I ind it to be as good as I remember it to be. ...

Plus the ebook I am reading is the extended version.

In its 1978 incarnation, The Stand was a healthy, hefty 823-pager. Now, King and Doubleday are republishing The Stand in the gigantic version in which, according to King, it was originally written. Not true . The same excellent tale of the walking dude, the chemical warfare weapon called superflu and the confrontation between its survivors has been updated to 1990, so references to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Reagan years, Roger Rabbit and AIDS are unnecessarily forced into the mouths of King's late-'70s characters. That said, the extra 400 or so pages of subplots, character development, conversation, interior dialogue, spiritual soul-searching, blood, bone and gristle make King's best novel better still. A new beginning adds verisimilitude to an already frighteningly believable story, while a new ending opens up possibilities for a sequel. Sheer size makes an Everest of the whole deal. BOMC selection, QPB main selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C4NXKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2

[demigoddess]

16. Even more appropriate is the Dead Zone.

A politician campaigning actually holds up a child to protect him from being shot by an assassin. I can see that happening in today's world.

[spin]

17. I haven't read that novel yet. Thanks.

[matt819]

3. Just finished one

Just finished Just Watch Ne, a new serried by Dexter creator Jeff Lindsey.

Dexter’s counterpart on this one is master thief Riley Wolfe. Great thief. Nasty piece of work. A real page turner, but mixed feelings about the character. Even more than about dexter. We’ll see where it goes.

[llashram]

5. I am reading

Mars Diaries: Mission 9 Sigmund Brower, Contemporary American Short Stories: Updike, Roth, Baldwin, et al and many more.

The Overstory:
A Novel Richard Powers. It's about our true connection to our Earth. Spiritual and otherwise. And as I read it, our betrayal of Mother Earth by our disassociation with Mother Earth hence our ravaging and trashing her.

The Bondwoman's Narrative, Hannah Crafts the author. The first novel by an African-American slave and as the overleaf comments, more than likely the first novel anywhere from a black woman. A little from each every day until, at 72, I finish or die. Hopefully with a book in hand. Nothing maudlin, just truth and love of books and writing. Fiction non-fiction all.

[hermetic]

6. Loved THE OVERSTORY

Nice to meet you, fellow reader. Being in that same demographic, I know just what you mean.

[MuseRider]

7. Just about to finish The Outsider

by Stephen King. I had read it before then started watching the HBO series and could not reconcile what I was watching. That always bothers me but I know many times they have to change and leave out the parts I find most interesting creating whole characters and leaving them less for TV because of time. I will finish watching the TV show now. It will bother me less now that I am sure of what I thought.

Not sure what is next, a lot of books I am waiting on.

[TexasProgresive]

8. Pratchett's "Thief of Time" very good.

[hermetic]

11. Yeah,

that's the first one of his I ever read.

[hermetic]

14. Funny thing...

So, my recent audible didn't work for me and I went to my library online to find something else to listen to. And I found Piranha to Scurfy by Ruth Rendell, a collection of short stories she wrote. So I grabbed it and the first story is about a self-appointed critic who reads books and calls out their errors of fact and usage. Well, be still my heart. I have found my tribe!

Thanks, pal.

[TexasProgresive]

15. You're welcome she's the best.

“Wolf to Slaughter” was deliciously twisted.

[Number9Dream]

12. Not quite done with "The 14th Colony" by Steve Berry

Thanks for letting us know about Clive Cussler. I didn't know he had died. I enjoyed many of his books.

I have been enjoying the Steve Berry books. This one is mostly as good as the others, except for one annoying thing. Apparently Mr. Berry is a big Ronald Reagan fan and praises Reagan throughout the book. He advances the MYTH that Reagan, with a little help from Pope John Paul II, single-handedly broke up the Soviet Union. I think I'll need to take a break from Mr. Berry's books after this one.

[hermetic]

13. Oh, I am sorry

that I had to be the bearer of bad news for you. I know that you are a big fan of his. I saw it on the DU main page a few days ago and did want to give him a mention here as he seems to have been a pretty great guy.

Unlike Berry, evidently. Anyone who sings Reagan's praises sure won't get any time or support from me, so thanks for sharing.