Okay, I'll grab Redemption Road, It looks very good.

Off to checkout Redemption Road myself.

I haven't read anything by John Hart, but Redemption Road looks like a good one. I did read The Wasp Factory and found it disturbing but difficult to put down. I didn't like the characters nor the rationale for doing what they did, but it is a story I won't forget.

I'm now reading Iain Bank's The Player of Games. It's part of his Culture series, and I'm really liking it so far. I did read his Consider Phlebas about 10 years ago but don't remember much about it. I think I'll read it again.

Two good fantasy books I recommend are Under the Whispering Door and The House by the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. The former deals with death in a rather unique way, and the latter has some elements of the Miss Perrigrine series.

I hope you enjoy John Hart: I have bought two more of his books on Kindle (one being a very cheap deal), but I am currently enjoying rather lighter fare with Becky Chambers (mentioned above) and her wonderful characters from multiple species learning to co-exist in a successfully immersive world/universe, and examining clashes in culture resonating with some of our own.

T J Klune is a new author to me and I have read and enjoyed the kindle free sample of The Whispering Door but decided to start with one of his earlier books, Wolfsong, the first of the Green Creek series: thanks for the recommendation.

Afterword: have now finished the first Becky Chambers book and think she is great - the book is thought provoking and heartwarming (without detracting from a good yarn). The author John Connolly says of her work: "the best speculative fiction currently being written... Becky Chambers is a wonder, and I feel better for having her books in my life" - I do not think his praise is misplaced, although I would simply class her as being among the most interesting speculative fiction writers. Strongly recommended, not least for the treatment of unusual love themes.

Becky Chambers is another new name to me. I'll check her out.

Today I was looking at a website I've shopped from called Out of Print, which has all kinds of great book and reading related t-shirts, totes, masks, pins, socks, and other paraphernalia, and came across Haruki Murakami, another author I've never read. His books sound quite intriguing, but since there are so many of them, I wonder if anyone here has some recommendations for me.

LadyK I have never read any of Haruki Murakami's books although I had heard of him: there is some information on his amazon page and the opportunity ro read quite substantial samples of his books, probably at least enough to give you a feel for whether you may enjoy them https://www.amazon.com/Haruki-Murakami/e/B000AP7AFI/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1?pldnSite=1

I am now reading and rather intrigued by Penpal from Dathan Auerbach - not my usual sort of book and I think perhaps a choice prompted by a review I had seen somewhere, plus of course the free kindle sample! It consists of a series of childhood reminiscence vignettes, each ending with a very short sinister twist, I suspect working towards an overall punchline of some sort.

I don't ether LadyK but I agree they look interesting. I am sure I have one soemwhere, given by an Aunt who loved reading, so I will dig it out and add it to my pile.
I am in the throes of finishing The Girl With All The Gifts, which was one of the better movie treatments of zombies I saw in the last few years but never knew it was a book.

I'm not much into zombies, but I like the look of The Girl With All The Gifts and will probably get it: I also like the look of some of his other books (and I see that I had read the kindle sample of The Book Of Koli some time ago although I then decided not to buy it).

I found the Murakami novel LadyK - its Kafka on the Shore - so will read that one next.
I haven't read any of the others by Carey; what decided you against the one you sampled Lex?

Bank's Culture series is very good, and I have all of them down the basement . As some point I'll read my way through them again.

I'm rereading the Wheel of Time series. Read it when it came out, but thanks to the new Series, decided I needed to reread it. Plus we have them all in Audible too, so I can coordinate the listening and the reading

I'm reading the latest one by Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed. His other books have been The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. He writes about his native country Afghanistan and the books are just excellent.

I'm reading God's Blessing on this Wonderful World, a Japanese light novel full of anime, video games jokes and trolls.

looney,

I just finished watching the television series today. I'm thinking about reading The Whie Tower by Wisehart next. Has anyone read that yet?

to GameBoomers.

Hi nami, welcome to the thread and thanks for the suggestion: I had a quick look at that series of books which look like fun, but for me probably to be dipped into rather than read straight through (although I can imagine that you might easily get hooked!).

Now about to start my fourth dose of John Hart: on the basis of his latest book The Unwilling I rank him as close to Thomas Harris in both writing ability and (brutal) content, and probably still improving. Just what my twisted psyche craves!

Still reading John Hart, but meanwhile Amazon has pushed a couple of interesting items my way - thrillers in a historical setting from the 1940s by James Kestrel (Five Decembers) and Thomas Mullen (Darktown trilogy): has anyone read anything by either of them?

I am just about finished with Robert D. Kaplan's book, "The Revenge of Geography." It goes deeply into how the landscape shapes history between nations, explaining how geography is destiny. He made such a clear series of points about how and why America came to be such a world leader, secure from territorial disputes and blessed by two huge ocean frontages for trade purposes. With Canada above and Mexico below us, there was no power adjacent to us spoiling for a fight. Anyway, the book makes European politics and history of warfare so easy to understand as well as explaining why Latin America and southern Africa have not matched the growth of other countries simply because of their isolation and geography. Kaplan has written a dozen books other on the political struggles of the world's people and what allows an empire to rise or predestines it to fall. Fascinating!

That sounds interesting, Reenie. I'm more in the fantasy/sci-fi/mystery mindset right now, but Lapham's Quarterly spring 2019 issue dealt with trade from a historic perspective, which, of course, was influenced by geography.

I have Darktown on my shelf but haven't read it yet, Lex. It looks like it's going to be a gritty one.

I finished The Bone Shard Emperor, the second book in the promised Drowning Empire trilogy by Andrea Stewart, and I highly recommend this unusual fantasy series. Depending on how the last book resolves things, I can see it becoming an exciting adventure movie.

Reenie, thanks for the mention of Robert Kaplan's book: the kindle sample is quite long and I like its flavour enough to perhaps be tempted to a change from fiction, and meanwhile I know a couple of people for whom it may be of considerable interest.

LadyK, as you say Darktown looks like a gritty outing, and I am still awaiting an appropriate (less escapist) mood...

Still immersed in the books of the amazing John Hart, now it's The Hush - voodoo and beyond in the Louisiana swamp...
Probably best to read The Last Child beforehand as this revisits the same territory although with a very different spin in terms of the type/genre of story.
Has anyone else tried his stuff?

I believe I have read some of his books, but not for a while. The book titles are very familiar -- all of them, which means I read one and came back for more.

I'm a history buff and this sounds really interesting to me. I'm off to Amazon to read a sample chapter. Thanks Reenie.

I just read a good mystery/thriller called Conviction, written by Denise Mina, a Scottish writer I hadn't encountered before. A true crime podcast serves as a distraction for Anna, the protagonist, who is trying to come to terms with the bombshell her husband detonated in her life that morning. Unfortunately, the podcast about a sinking boat and a murdered family also includes someone she knew in the past. A visit from a once-famous musician and a meddling neighbor lead to a roller coaster chain of events as Anna tries to find out the truth about the crime while trying to avoid the demons of her past. It's a nice twisty page turner.