Book Lovers Club

Ruth, if you're organizing the trip, I would accompany you anywhere.

Welcome cindyanne! A good vacation series is the Holly Barker books by Stuart Woods. There are five books in the series, starting with Orchid Beach. Forced into early retirement, an ex-military cop takes a job with the police dept in what seems to be a sleepy island town. But then there's a murder...

FUN!!!

Michael Connelly

David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series is a nice light quick read,,, especially if you are a dog lover!

I love that Icelandic tradition and would love to go there,, and to Finland!

If you are interested in an Icelandic mystery series: Arnaldur Indridason has written a series, that, I believe has been completely translated into English now. Inspector Erlendur. They are not always easy to find, but I did manage to get all of them thru my library, although they borrowed a couple of them from other libraries, via inter-library loan. I love reading about the Icelandic traditions, and the descriptions of the countryside.

Jar City was the first to be translated, I believe, but it is supposed to be the 3rd in the series.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/280366.Jar_Cit...

Stayed up until 2am to finish Lisa Scottoline's Most Wanted- 2016. I couldn't put it down. It's not part of her series. "...they are desperate for a baby. Unable to conceive...they make a decision to use a donor...But one day, she is shocked to see a young blond man on the TV being arrested for a series of brutal murders - and the blond man bears an uncanny resemblance to her donor." The surprises just keep coming. The discussion questions in the back made me want to start a book club at 2am.

I have read quite a few of the Rosenfelt books. I liked the Andy Carpenter stories up to the point when he became wealthy. I found I didn't like the rich Andy as much as the poor Andy.

Lee Child was mentioned in a post. I have read most of his books. His audio books are great for road trips when the scenery is the same-old same-old. When dh and I making the long trip up I-55 that we've made countless time to visit his relatives, we rent audio books from our library.

Several years ago my sister gave me a Kindle that she had bought for herself. She found that she liked reading books that she held in her hands. I love the Kindle and use it for all of my book reading. I go to our library's web site and download ten books, mostly mystery fiction. Then I switch off the wifi connection and the books stay on the Kindle until I switch the wifi back on. Meanwhile Amazon returns the books so that they are available for other readers.

Occasionally I buy books from Amazon. It's so convenient. They download immediately after you authorize payment.

Hi everyone, I'd like to recommend a mystery series by Stan Jones set in Alaska. The main character is State Trooper Nathan Active. Although born to an Inupiat mother he was adopted and raised by a white couple in Anchorage. His first assignment brings him back to the small town he was born in. The first book in the series is titled White Sky, Black Ice.

It's a great read for dark winter nights!

Another good book for the winter is set in medieval Russia - The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. It has elements of fantasy and a folk tale quality!

Reading Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited for Christmas Day. Fond memories of long philosophical discussions & companion books and studies when I first read it in college. Of course the intervening 50 years make it an entirely new book.

Just read Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy. An interesting look at the time and the women behind the scenes that helped win WWII. They were really a secret group (instructed to say that they were secretaries etc.) and many never talked about their jobs, reluctant to do so even now.

I was sad to hear this today. I've enjoyed her books so much.

Glennie - thanks for passing along the notice about Sue Grafton. I am so sorry to hear this.

Over C-mas break, DH and I both read Children of the Fleet (2017) by Orson Scott Card. It was just OK.

Much better was Hillbilly Elegy (2016) by J.D. Vance. From a former Marine and Yale Law School graduate, a probing look at the struggles of America's white working class through the author's own story of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town.

Next up is The Power (2016) by Naomi Alderman. Women develop the ability to release electrical jolts from their fingers, thus leading them to become the dominant gender.

I love the idea of doing the Icelandic chocolate/book exchange among friends. I’m going to try and remember to do it next year.

If any of you like sci fi, two of my favorite series are the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold and the Expanse series by James SA Corey.

I’ve been on a kick of reading Christmas/Winter books. A few of my recent reads were Christmas at a Tiffany’s by Karen Swan and Simply Unforgettable by Mary Balogh. Both were pleasant reads, though with some faults.

Blasting through and thoroughly enjoying the space saga Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. Multigenerational starship sent to colonize Tau Ceti runs into some problems...

I've been reading about the upcoming new movie based on A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Seems the discussion is everywhere, from Time Magazine to The Smithsonian. I have the book on my shelf but haven't read it over 30 years since my son was young, so I pulled it out last night. "They" are right - this is one spunky heroine. I enjoyed the journey & the memories.