As the Page Turns (the Book Thread)

[missing]

Thanks. It's on my list. I found a page with all her books and that's the only one that says "thriller". The others are "general fiction". Lee Child gave it a good review.

I guess if characters in books did the normal, right thing all the time it would get pretty boring, huh? I'm always thinking "why didn't you just............." and the ever popular "don't go there alone", but they do.


I've read the first two. #3 is "on the list".

It wasn't so much the normal, right thing (you overestimate my moral standards). It was do the self-protective little bit immoral thing. But the author came close enough to what I would have done that my slightly immoral soul was satisfied.

 

[Susan1]

It wasn't so much the normal, right thing (you overestimate my moral standards). It was do the self-protective little bit immoral thing. But the author came close enough to what I would have done that my slightly immoral soul was satisfied.

Yeah, I didn't mean the "moral" right thing to do. I meant the logical/correct thing to do (in whatever situation). Like - just shoot them. And I don't even know what we are talking about. ha ha

 

[missing]

Yeah, I didn't mean the "moral" right thing to do. I meant the logical/correct thing to do (in whatever situation). Like - just shoot them. And I don't even know what we are talking about. ha ha

Just a dainty touch of blackmail. Nothing we wouldn't all do under the circumstances.

 

[Japanfan]

I've started a new murder mystery series by V.A Vance (the Brady series) but have been slow to get through the first book. I know I'm going to enjoy it, but didn't get past the beginning to the 'can't stop reading' point.

And I took it out of the library, and someone is waiting for it, so I have to return it tomorrow and don't get to finish it.

So I'll have to proceed with the second book in the series. I hate it when I don't get to read a series properly from start to finish.

 

[rfisher]

For those who like the Pendergast novels by Preston and Child, there is a new book, Old Bones, just out. It features Nora Kelly (in Relic and other earlier books) and Corrie (also in earlier books). Pendergast only appears in the epilogue. P/C have set this up for future pairing of Nora and Carrie. It's a good mystery, but I figured out one of the bad guys early (it was blatantly obvious after a major reveal during the archaeology excavation). I've always like the Nora Kelly character, moderately liked Carrie (she's better written in this book) and think future pairings will be good. They should drop the Gideon Crew series and focus here when they don't want to write about Pendergast.

 

[Prancer]

I usually don't talk about books until I've finished them, but I really needed a good laugh and How to Build a Girl is killing me .

 

[Susan1]

I've started a new murder mystery series by V.A Vance (the Brady series) but have been slow to get through the first book. I know I'm going to enjoy it, but didn't get past the beginning to the 'can't stop reading' point.

And I took it out of the library, and someone is waiting for it, so I have to return it tomorrow and don't get to finish it.

So I'll have to proceed with the second book in the series. I hate it when I don't get to read a series properly from start to finish.

Do you mean J. A. Jance, the Joanna Brady series? The 22nd book was out in 2018. I started reading those when they first came out in the 90's. I'm caught up and getting the new ones.

She also writes the Ali Reynolds (also caught up) and J.P. Beaumont series (I'm only up to 2009 cause I have had to get the older ones interlibrary. I got lucky that the first three books were combined into one <heavy paperback.)

 

[Susan1]

Someone We Know and quite enjoyed it. She's good with plot and getting better with each book - thought I had this one figured out, but I was wrong, and that makes me happy However, she's not great with characters because at this point she's using pretty much the same cast of stereotypes in all her books, and even within the books as several of the characters in this case were interchangeable.

Hoping others have read it because there are a couple of points I'd like to vent on but they require spoiling the entire thing.

Halfway done. I got sucked into genealogy research this morning and didn't notice till 10:30 a.m. that I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet.

But I am intrigued. I'm thinking I know "whodunit", but I don't know why, just because it's not an actual suspect (is that vague enough?). I'm going to have to go eat and finish it tonight. I hope I am not disappointed in the outcome, even if I am wrong.

@Susan1 let me know because there was a glaring (to me at least!) editing error and I immediately thought of you

I had my library post-it pad on the table next to me so I could make a note. Then I was practically reading each word real slow in my head instead of paying attention to the story line! But I got over that. So, on page 101, just something that bugged me - she wrote "It use to........" (then) "They used to......." twice in the same paragraph. Does she think use is singular and used is plural? I see "I use to" do whatever a lot. Is that it? I wouldn't think MOST people would notice. And there was a " at the beginning of a sentence that wasn't a quote a little while after that. I didn't write down the page.

 

[Japanfan]

Do you mean J. A. Jance, the Joanna Brady series? The 22nd book was out in 2018. I started reading those when they first came out in the 90's. I'm caught up and getting the new ones.

Yes. I keep calling the author V.A Vance. Good to know there are 22 of them.

 

[antmanb]

I usually don't talk about books until I've finished them, but I really needed a good laugh and How to Build a Girl is killing me .

Caitlan Moran is really funny - she wrote a TV series over here called Raised By Wolves that I found hysterical.

I think i'll add this to my beach read list for my holiday.

 

[Susan1]

Just finished Shari Lapena's (The Couple Next Door and two others) latest, Someone We Know and quite enjoyed it. She's good with plot and getting better with each book - thought I had this one figured out, but I was wrong, and that makes me happy

Hoping others have read it because there are a couple of points I'd like to vent on but they require spoiling the entire thing.

o.k. - I finished it last night. I won't say whether I got the murderer right or not because I don't want to give any clues. I really enjoyed it though. And I was not disappointed by the ending.

PM me your "vent" while the book is still fresh (relatively - I read so much, I forget what was going on in a book I started the day before) in my mind and before I take it back to the library tomorrow.

 

[Prancer]

Caitlan Moran is really funny - she wrote a TV series over here called Raised By Wolves that I found hysterical.

I think i'll add this to my beach read list for my holiday.

That title would work for this book as well, at least so far.

Apparently the book is the second in a trilogy; the first is How to Build a Woman. But I'm glad I started with this one, as it takes me right back to being 14, only funnier.

I have quoted a former professor of mine several times here--"The battles in academia are so vicious because the stakes are so low." Tuesday I had lunch with an old college friend, during which said professor came up. We wondered if he was still alive, so we web-stalked him, and he is indeed still kicking at 82. I was quite shocked by this, as his being 82 now means that he was close to my age when I was taking classes from him, and I thought he was around 82 then.

But I digress. We learned that he had recently published a memoir about his days of being a college professor, so of course we promptly tracked it down. I picked up a copy yesterday, took a break from How to Build a Girl, and read it straight through. There were places where I wanted to scream because there are things straight out his lectures; he had this one story that he ALWAYS told in class. He was giving a guest lecture in a class I was taking once and I was mentally off somewhere more interesting when I realized that he and the students were all staring at me and I had no idea why. My friend (the one from lunch, as it happens) hissed "He wants you to tell his Oregon story." I was and still am confused as to why he wanted me to tell his story (I may have zoned out as soon as he started talking--I could have given his entire lecture, and have given parts of it over the years), but I obliged and rattled it off, and there is it, virtually verbatim, on page 48. But that was just the beginning. It was like reliving my undergrad days all over again.

But the best part is that he talks about all the professors in the English Department. He names a few of them that he likes, but the rest are all given somewhat fake names that are no disguise at all to me. I know exactly who they all are, at least the ones who were there when I was.

No one else is likely to find this book entertaining, but may you all be blessed with a juicy tell-all about your teachers because and and .

 

[Mozart]

New books that came today:
Lisa Scottoline Damaged
James Collins The Crucible
Lisa Jackson Willing to Die
Catherine Coulter Paradox
Heather Graham The Seekers
Lisa Jewell I Found You
Jane Harper Force of Nature
Linwood Barclay A Noise Downstairs
Iris Johansen Vendetta
David Baldacci Saving Faith

Already started reading The Crucible. It looks interesting.

 

[Susan1]

New books that came today:
Lisa Scottoline Damaged
James Collins The Crucible
Lisa Jackson Willing to Die
Catherine Coulter Paradox
Heather Graham The Seekers
Lisa Jewell I Found You
Jane Harper Force of Nature
Linwood Barclay A Noise Downstairs
Iris Johansen Vendetta
David Baldacci Saving Faith

Already started reading The Crucible. It looks interesting.

Read Damaged. (I still have Feared from 2018 on the list to read.)

Willing to Die must be new. The last one I on my list was Deserves to Die from 2014. And 2 standalones. (I cleaned up my lists and got rid of some of the oldest things I read.) Did I mention that Nancy Bush is Lisa Jackson's sister? They wrote the "Wicked" series together (on my list). If you read the standalones you have to read Sinister by Nancy Bush before you read Ominous by Lisa Jackson. It's the same families, but if you read Ominous first, you won't know what they are talking about!

And I read A Noise Downstairs. I have reserved his Elevator Pitch. I'm not sure if I will like it. I like the ones that are related to the last one better.

Tried reading Iris Johansen, the forensic head reconstruction thing (I don't know - ha ha), and Heather Graham before. I read Tall Dark and Deadly and Drop Dead Gorgeous a long time ago. I forget which one was first, but I didn't like the second one so I never got any more of them.

 

[puglover]

Has anyone read the new Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child novel - "Old Bones". It is not a Pendergast book which I knew but so far it is all about a group lost in the mountains trying to get to California who resort to cannibalism. Not good at all - so far.

 

[Susan1]

Willing to Die must be new. The last one I on my list was Deserves to Die from 2014.

I just looked - Expecting to Die from 2016. How'd I miss that. I go to the "books in order" pages and copy over what they have so I can start at the beginning of an author's series. And I always notice the new ones somewhere. Lisa Jackson has written too many books! Oh well, the two newest ones are both on there now.

 

[rfisher]

Has anyone read the new Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child novel - "Old Bones". It is not a Pendergast book which I knew but so far it is all about a group lost in the mountains trying to get to California who resort to cannibalism. Not good at all - so far.

Really? That was the Donner party. All my archeology friends and I think the book is great. We liked Nora Kelly back in Relic. Plus, there is an interesting twist on a character supposed to be a Donner victim. The Donner event is true. There are a lot of histories and sensational stories written about what happened, but they are just a prop for the real plot.

 

[puglover]

Really? That was the Donner party. All my archeology friends and I think the book is great. We liked Nora Kelly back in Relic. Plus, there is an interesting twist on a character supposed to be a Donner victim. The Donner event is true. There are a lot of histories and sensational stories written about what happened, but they are just a prop for the real plot.

Well, rfisher, you have given me much more insight and I will give it another try. I had no idea it was a true story. I started reading it late at night and it gave me nightmares. Thanks for the information.

 

[rfisher]

Well, rfisher, you have given me much more insight and I will give it another try. I had no idea it was a true story. I started reading it late at night and it gave me nightmares. Thanks for the information.

You never read about the Donner party? All the back story in the book is true except for some key elements they used as plot points. I'll let you finish the story, then look at the author's notes. They explain what they embellished. A lot of tourists do drive up to Donner Pass in the Sierras just for the morbid curiosity. And, the archaeology is pretty accurate technique wise. Doug Preston has written a couple of true books on archaeology. He personally funded a fairly large excavation in Central America and wrote about it. He makes a few mistakes here and there, but unless you're an archaeologist you won't catch them. They move on from the Donner story pretty quickly when the present day murders start happening. I've always liked the Nora character (remember she was married to Bill Smithback before Cabinet of Curiositys (one of the scariest of the books. I still remember staying up all night reading it because I was afraid to turn off the lights. ) Old Bones isn't really scary or spooky, it's more of a mystery with a lot of red herrings. And Carrie didn't annoy me as much as she has in previous books.

 

[flyingsit]

I finished Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key last night... if you like suspense novels, put it on you”to read” list NOW.

 

[Jenny]

And there was a " at the beginning of a sentence that wasn't a quote a little while after that. I didn't write down the page.

Got that one! Another one I thought was a typo but apparently not was ax instead of axe. Thought I had the whole American English thing down, but that one still looks odd to me.

The other one wasn't a typo as much as a plot point:

Spoiler

The son breaks into a house and lights his way by the phone he pulls out of his pocket. Only it was long established that his phone had been taken from him as punishment, and it did not get it back until well after this scene. Easy fix would have been to have him bring a flashlight.

o.k. - I finished it last night. I won't say whether I got the murderer right or not because I don't want to give any clues. I really enjoyed it though. And I was not disappointed by the ending.

PM me your "vent" while the book is still fresh (relatively - I read so much, I forget what was going on in a book I started the day before) in my mind and before I take it back to the library tomorrow.

Spoiling here in case anyone else reads this and wants to weigh in:

Spoiler

I was completely annoyed the longer the book went on that absolutely no one, including the detectives who were portrayed as smart and on the ball, suspected any of the women for even a second. Surely Becky, the next door neighbour madly in love with the husband, would have ample motive to kill the wife, as would any of the wives of men she was sleeping with and/or just generally causing trouble for. The block party where she was flirting with all the husbands was referred to repeatedly, and yet everyone assumes that a man must've whacked her with a hammer?

For awhile I thought the author was just doing that (and in the process making the whole thing less believable) because it was best friend Glenda the whole time. That the mysterious texts on the victim's burner phone were to her - would have fit that she was complaining that her husband was a psychopath to a woman rather than a man. Perhaps you had the same thought?

And finally (well maybe not, I could keep going!), much was made of the son breaking in and learning secrets and sending emails - that's the premise on which the book is being promoted - but that really never came to anything. He learned one secret, and he sent one set of emails related to that secret. The whole book could have been written without that storyline, and it was a wasted opportunity to make things far more complicated and interesting.

But it was a fun read nonethless, I'll keep reading her books.

A lot of tourists do drive up to Donner Pass in the Sierras just for the morbid curiosity. A

Raises hand! A few years back we were on our way to Lake Tahoe and had planned to stop by - wait for it - the Donner Lake Campground (!!) and got detoured so ended up approaching from high above the far end of the lake, and it was really beautiful to come up on it like that. Stopped in at the park and did the walk, including touching the large boulder that one of the families had built a lean to against that eventually got buried in snow. The gift shop disappointed in not having either a cookbook or a snowglobe (too soon?), and eventually the same trip took us to Sutter's Fort, where the survivors were brought after finally being rescued.

 

[rfisher]

Got that one! Another one I thought was a typo but apparently not was ax instead of axe. Thought I had the whole American English thing down, but that one still looks odd to me.

The other one wasn't a typo as much as a plot point:

Spoiler

The son breaks into a house and lights his way by the phone he pulls out of his pocket. Only it was long established that his phone had been taken from him as punishment, and it did not get it back until well after this scene. Easy fix would have been to have him bring a flashlight.

Spoiling here in case anyone else reads this and wants to weigh in:

Spoiler

I was completely annoyed the longer the book went on that absolutely no one, including the detectives who were portrayed as smart and on the ball, suspected any of the women for even a second. Surely Becky, the next door neighbour madly in love with the husband, would have ample motive to kill the wife, as would any of the wives of men she was sleeping with and/or just generally causing trouble for. The block party where she was flirting with all the husbands was referred to repeatedly, and yet everyone assumes that a man must've whacked her with a hammer?

For awhile I thought the author was just doing that (and in the process making the whole thing less believable) because it was best friend Glenda the whole time. That the mysterious texts on the victim's burner phone were to her - would have fit that she was complaining that her husband was a psychopath to a woman rather than a man. Perhaps you had the same thought?

And finally (well maybe not, I could keep going!), much was made of the son breaking in and learning secrets and sending emails - that's the premise on which the book is being promoted - but that really never came to anything. He learned one secret, and he sent one set of emails related to that secret. The whole book could have been written without that storyline, and it was a wasted opportunity to make things far more complicated and interesting.

But it was a fun read nonethless, I'll keep reading her books.



Raises hand! A few years back we were on our way to Lake Tahoe and had planned to stop by - wait for it - the Donner Lake Campground (!!) and got detoured so ended up approaching from high above the far end of the lake, and it was really beautiful to come up on it like that. Stopped in at the park and did the walk, including touching the large boulder that one of the families had built a lean to against that eventually got buried in snow. The gift shop disappointed in not having either a cookbook or a snowglobe (too soon?), and eventually the same trip took us to Sutter's Fort, where the survivors were brought after finally being rescued.

It's such a sad thing to know how close to getting through the mountains they were when the blizzards hit. A few days earlier and they'd have made it.

 

[Jenny]

It's such a sad thing to know how close to getting through the mountains they were when the blizzards hit. A few days earlier and they'd have made it.

Oh for sure, and I do think that the cannibalism aspect just serves to cloud what is otherwise a very long and fascinating story, with many themes, colourful characters and interesting subplots. For example, very little is made of the fact that they were mislead (willingly of course, but still) by Lansford Hastings, who was promoting a "new" route that he had actually never taken himself. That, along with a bizarre amount of dawdling early on that put them at the back of the season's pack of travellers and thus brought them to the mountains at the worst time, are key plot points, if you will.

It's also the origin of the phrase "don't take no shortcuts" - attributed to one of the little girls who wrote it in a diary or a letter, saying that and "never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can.” My husband and I say that to each other all the time when one of us is going out on an errand without the other

And since this is the book thread, this one is really good, telling the story day by day, with plenty of photos, illustrations and maps to follow along. Always thought it would be an interesting road trip to follow the entire thing one day, perhaps even at the pace they did. #lotterygoals

 

[Susan1]

Got that one! Another one I thought was a typo but apparently not was ax instead of axe. Thought I had the whole American English thing down, but that one still looks odd to me.

The other one wasn't a typo as much as a plot point:

spoilers deleted

Spoiling here in case anyone else reads this and wants to weigh in:

spoilers deleted

But it was a fun read nonethless, I'll keep reading her books.

How do I make a spoiler reply back?

 

[Jenny]

How do I make a spoiler reply back?

Just say what you want and put spoiler tags on it!

 

[Susan1]

Just say what you want and put spoiler tags on it!

I practiced first!

Spoiler

It’s a good thing I made notes cause I couldn’t even remember people’s names since I read a James Patterson book with a trio of stories and a J. A. Whiting cozy in the last three days.

I guess ax or axe is permissible.

I didn’t even catch the thing about the cell phone. One thing I thought was stupid was him sending emails and that they made a big deal about people not knowing that he sent emails from their account. If they didn’t see the sent emails on their own account so they said there weren’t any, you can delete emails after you send them, which he probably did. And wouldn’t the person receiving them reply “what are you talking about”. But, yeah, the email thing never came to anything.

The reason I thought Adam was the killer for a long time was that Carmine (isn’t that a man’s name - Carmen would be a woman’s name - anyway……..) saw him drunk with a broken hockey stick (which didn’t come to anything either). But I thought maybe he was sleeping with Amanda. I liked the twist that his mother killed Carmine though.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

After reading 3 serious books in a row, I am rereading Mary Roberts Rinehart mystery books. I love them !

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I read the YA sci fi novel Satellite by Nick Lake (I think). Really good story, but it took me awhile to get past the writing style. (for example "I" is never capitalized, and is always & and of course the every popular c and u and b4. But the story was compelling so I got past it. Sort of.

 

[clairecloutier]

Ran across this quote from James Mattis:

“If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

 

[SHARPIE]

Read Lisa Jewell’s latest (The Family Upstairs). While I was a big fan of her, this book is just weird and makes me think she’s jumped the shark.