What are you reading this week of February 14, 2016?

[hermetic]

Happy Valentines Day, fellow readers.



Just finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. It was sad. Tennessee Williams said,
"Carson's major theme: the huge importance and nearly insoluble problems of human love." But also quite interesting when it gets into the politics of the time, which don't seem to have changed at all since then. Not always an easy read but totally worth it, in my opinion.

What books have you got your heart set on this week?

[Enthusiast]

1. Happy Valentines Day to you, hermetic! Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

This past week I finished The Black Book by Ian Rankin. Now I am reading Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart. It's an entertaining read.

Mrs Enthusiast finished When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman. She liked it so much that I ordered used copies of the next two in the series. She just started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.

[hermetic]

2. Tell the Mrs.

that she will encounter some words she may never have heard before. Being a retired editor I freaked when I came across the word "rinch." I thought for sure it was a typo but then it gets used again and I realized it was probably a common term in the deep South back then. Maybe still is, I dunno. Lots of learning opportunities in that book.

[Enthusiast]

3. Thanks, hermetic. She welcomes that sort of thing—learning opportunities.

She has learned so much since becoming an avid reader. She sure is better at Jeopardy now, lol.

[japple]

4. Rinch is the way my Texas grandmother (and other relatives) said "rinse!" They

also used the same word for wrench. Rinch the top offa that jar--it's stuck on too tight. Rinch out that dishrag before you wipe the table with it. She also called (and spelled) white (Irish) potatoes "Arsh" potatoes. Haven't read that book in so many years, but I don't remember the colloquialisms. Will be interesting to read it again.

Right now, I'm still immersed in T. C. Boyle's The Harder They Come, and as with most of his books, there is plenty of black humor and a rich cast of characters, some good, some despicable.

Womanofthehills, I'm happy to see a fan of Anne Tyler, whom I have loved for many, many years. My favorite of her books is still Searching for Caleb.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I ran into "arsh" potatoes down here, took me awhile to find out what they were.

My Grandmother's family was from Ohio back in the late 1800's, she used to say " red up" the dishes, meaning to scrape them off and put them in the sink for washing.
Took a long time to find out about that expression being from the NE area. Thanks to computers.

[Enthusiast]

8. I'm from Ohio. I heard "red up" often as a child. IIRC it applied to many things not just dishes.

It seems to me that red up meant to gather together. I might not be remembering correctly.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. I think you are recalling accurately.

I had looked it up online, checked out several word origin pages. Gram used it in context of clearing the table of used dishes, so that would fit.
never thought to ask her about it, drats.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Barry Eisler's The God's Eye View

When Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove was having its run, service people left the theater muttering, “That wasn’t a satire. That’s what they’re like.”
So it is with Eisler’s fine thriller. His power-mad loons, who pull the levers of supersecret government organizations, aren’t exaggerated for dramatic effect.
We know that because Eisler has appended an eighteen-page guide to all the nasty stuff governments do in the name of national security.

His achievement, though, is to make this cybersnoop world not just a backdrop but instead a vital—and wonderfully vile—character on its own.

Eisler is the author of the John Rain thrillers, think of him as a contemporary Ian Fleming, only better.
He was in the CIA, he is VERY smart.
This latest book is set a few years after the Snowden incident....what if Snowden was only half right, and it is much worse than we thought??

An excellent overview of Eisler's thinking can be heard in this marvelous discussion, taped here at the Commonwelath Club of California.

[Enthusiast]

10. I'm glad I got to listen to that. Thank you for calling this to our attention.

Sounds like a book we would like too.

[WillParkinson]

7. I just finished 'Until September' by Chris Scully

As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

---
I'm a sensitive sort when it comes to book characters. Archer was REALLY hard for me to like in the beginning, but as I learned more about him, the reasons became clear.

[Enthusiast]

11. That sounds good, Will.

[Number9Dream]

12. Finished "Listening Woman" by T. Hillerman; Started "Reliquary" by Preston/Child

I thought "Listening Woman" was the best Joe Leaphorn I've read yet (just the first 3 so far). Good mystery, very visual locations, and satisfying ending.

For a change, I started "Reliquary" by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. My first time reading them (though I've seen the movie "Relic&quot . This one takes place soon after the events of Relic. So far, it's a very creepy page-turner... Strange, grisly murders in the undergrounds of New York City.

[Enthusiast]

13. We have read almost every one of those Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child books.

We like the non collaboration books too. Glad you are enjoying the Leaphorn books.

[hermetic]

14. Thanks EVERYONE

for your wonderful contributions yesterday. Great to see all the synopses and I want to read every one of those books. You all done good and I love ya for it.

Also, rinching was what they did to their dishes, back in the 30s. Fun to see some of you recall that term.

I am now reading Reflections in a Golden Eye which was made into a movie back in '67 starring Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, and Brian Keith. Directed by John Huston. "On a U.S. Army post circa 1948, a major who is an impotent, latent homosexual is married to an infantile birdbrain who never misses an opportunity to ridicule his masculine failings." Well, this should be interesting.

[japple]

15. I remember seeing that movie back in the day--I was 17 or so and must say I didn't understand

all of the imagery in the film. I read the book many years later later and then saw the movie again as an adult, and it all kind of fell into place. I was probably way too innocent to have seen that movie in 1967! Will be very interested in your assessment of the book.

[Enthusiast]

18. Seems to me we watched that movie on TCM recently. Well, I half watched it but

Mrs. Enthusiast fully watched it. Those were some fairly verboten movie topics for the time.

[scarletwoman]

16. Oh, I'm going to be in Eurocrime heaven this week!

Finally, after waiting since last October, I got Peter May's Runaway from the library last week. Just started it today, and I'm quite confident that it will end up in my "Favorites" list. Peter May, for those who may not be familiar with the name, is the Scottish author of the glorious Lewis Trilogy which all take place in the Hebrides Islands. I think a number of Fiction Group members have read those. Anyway, Runaway takes place between Glasgow and London, moving back and forth from the present to 1965 and back, following the story of 5 friends who formed a rock band in the 60s in Glasgow, and travelled to London to seek their fortune. I've been really looking forward to reading this one!

And in an embarrassment of riches, waiting for me at the library are two other books I've had on order for many months: Open Grave by Swedish author Kjell Eriksson, and Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason's latest Erlandur novel, Into Oblivion. Both of these books were published in 2015, but it's taken some time for them to make their way into the library system. I'm just delighted that they've finally made it.

Kjell Eriksson is a fine writer, and I've been impressed and well-entertained by all his novels to date.

Arnaldur Indriðason may be one of my favorite authors ever. His chief protagonist, Inspector Erlandur, is one of the most compelling fictional characters I've ever had the pleasure to encounter.

So, I'll be hanging out in Scotland, Sweden, and Iceland this week - much to my delight!

I suppose I ought to mention that for the past few weeks I've mostly been in Peaks District of England, making my way through 15 books by British author Stephen Booth in order. They were sufficiently enjoyable and diverting, although nothing outstanding - sort of standard British police procedural fare. But it's been interesting to visit that part of Britain, the plots were fairly original, and I grew fond of the main protagonist and most of the cast of secondary characters. They were a pleasant way to while away many cold winter afternoons and evenings.

But I must admit, I'm far more enamored of the Scots and the Scandinavians than I could ever be of the Brits.

[Enthusiast]

17. Nice to see you, scarletwoman! You really hit the jackpot!

[scarletwoman]

19. Indeed I have!

Right this moment I'm on page 117 of Runaway and I'm so utterly immersed in the story. Peter May is truly a wonderful writer! I'm, like, just totally there with the characters - I absolutely know them.

Anyway, I'm happy as always to see you, Enthusiast! May both you and Mrs. Enthusiast live long and prosper and read many wonderful books!

[womanofthehills]

20. We read "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" in my book club a few months ago

I enjoyed it but it definitely was about people who were not happy and you didn't get the sense that someday this would change. Carson McCullers wrote this book when she was only 23 yrs old - which is amazing.