What We're Reading

 LUCY BURDETTE: It's been a while since we’ve talked about what we’re reading and I miss it! I will describe a couple of the ones I’ve enjoyed recently. But first I must admit that I have stacks and stacks of books in my TBR file (see photo–it’s embarrassing.) I’m an addict. But I am always happy to hear your recommendations and add to the pile.

Laura Hankin’s THE DAYDREAMS: We’ve had Laura visit the Reds several times and I love all of her books. This one is about a teenage TV show that ended dramatically–the characters have been enticed to come back for a reunion ten years later. Lots of drama, revenge, old flames, and so on, plus a dose of understanding the damage that fame can do, especially for young people. I loved it!

J. Ryan Stradal’s SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB: Stradal writes beautifully about the Midwest, with quirky characters and food. If you enjoyed listening to Garrison Keillor's The Prairie Home Companion, this is a book for you. Great characters, delicious homemade food and restaurant life, and a solid Midwestern vibe.

Also I am listening to Julia Whelan read THANK YOU FOR LISTENING, which was recommended by Debs and Jenn. I am enjoying it very much (especially the discussion of the life of a narrator) but realizing I’m not really an audio book reader. For one, at night I fall asleep. And I think I must be a faster reader on the page. How about you Reds, anything to recommend?

JENN McKINLAY: Oh, I loved that audiobook, Lucy. I listen mostly while at the gym or walking the dogs. You can also speed up the audio if the narrator’s pace is too slow for you. Personally, I have been on a reading bender (I believe it is also known as deadline avoidance). 

I just finished the Mary Higgins Clark award winning A DREADFUL SPLENDOR by B.R. Myers. It was fantastic - all the Gothic spookiness my heart desired. I also read THE GAY BEST FRIEND by Nicolas Didomizio. For anyone who has suffered being in a wedding party (seven times for me), this book is for you! 

Next up on my TBR is THE LIBRARY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Felicity Hayes-McCoy. It’s set in Ireland. What more do I need to say about it? Nothing. Then, I have A NOVEL DISGUISE by Samantha Larsen on deck. The premise of this one has me so intrigued. Set in 1784, a spinster has to disguise herself as her late half-brother and assume his role as the personal librarian to a Duke while searching for a lost family heirloom or she loses her home. And then, even though I say I never read literature, I have R.F. Kuang’s YELLOWFACE in the queue because the premise of one author taking another author’s work upon her death and claiming it as her own – well, I’m all in!

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m reading a book I’ve been meaning to read forever: GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. I loved her HOUSEKEEPING when I read it eons ago. Also reading Kwei Quartey’s first novel, WIFE OF THE GODS, a murder mystery set in Ghana. I was supposed to spend a summer working in Ghana when I was in college, but the trip never happened because the airline overbooked the plane. I’m visiting it now, virtually.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ooh, you know how sometimes you get an especially lovely TRB? Welp. I have Ruth Ware’s upcoming ZERO DAYS (I’m interviewing her in person soon), JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON, which is the new Gillian McAllister (if you did not read her WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME, do that instantly!). And I am deeply in the midst of THE PUZZLE MASTER by Danielle Trussoni, which is so twisty and thought provoking! And so clever. Kind of... Dan Brown meets Tom Stoppard. Love it. And oh, do not miss BEWARE THE WOMAN by Megan Abbott. It is life changing and she is incredible.

And I have to add that I am always so enchanted by our different choices.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Of course I picked up books at the California Crime Writers Conference in LA weekend before last! I'm reading (my signed copy of) Jeri Westerson's Holmes pastiche, THE ISOLATED SEANCE, which is such a treat. I hope to see lots more of Badger and Watson! I also bought Adam Sikes' LANDSLIDE, an espionage thriller, as I really enjoyed Adam's panel. Going in a completely different direction, I couldn't resist Syrie James' THE MISSING MANUSCRIPT OF JANE AUSTEN. And then I heard Michelle Gagnon read from her new thriller, KILLING ME, at Noir at the Bar, and there was no way I could pass up the book after that excerpt. I predict big things for this one!

RHYS BOWEN: I am so envious of you ladies. How do you find time to read what you want to? Books you actually choose? Ah, maybe it’s because you are not crazy enough to write two and a half books a year, to agree to blurb every book that takes place in the first half of the twentieth century. I have brought my Kindle loaded with all kinds of juicy books, including Donna Leon’s and Kate Morton’s latest, but the day we arrived I was sent the Sisters in Crime anthology to which I’d agreed to write an introduction, a 1940s mystery novel going to be re-released, to which I’d agreed to write an introduction, and then the page proofs of my upcoming book. So no vacation reading for me yet. One day I’ll say no to everything and sit and read to my heart’s content! 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I wish I could send you a photo of my stack o' books, but I'm also away from home, and therefore relying on my trusty Kindle. Right before I left, I had the honor of interviewing Carla Neggers, so my reading that week was loads of her backlist, including the Sharp & Donovan novels and the Black Falls series. Also on the "just read" list, SEA OF TRANQUILITY by Emily St. John Mandel, who continues to be THE most amazing and inventive novelist working today, and CITY UNDER ONE ROOF by Iris Yamashita, a mystery set in the real town of Point Mettier, AK, where everyone and everything is housed in one high rise building. Highly recommended.

Next up for me: ALL THE DAYS OF SUMMER by Nancy Thayer, because summer isn't summer without a Nantucket book. I'm continuing in that theme with BAD SUMMER PEOPLE by Emma Rosenblum, a mystery described as "The Real Housewives of Fire Island." Who could resist that?

 

What are you reading, Reds?