Carrying on from the previous thread which you can find on the link below and which is well worth perusing: please keep the ideas coming, ideally with both likes and dislikes/disappointments!

https://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1241499/49/what-are-you-reading

Lex,
Peter Cawdron's books sound like some I'd like to read. It seems he has a sense of humor, too.

I just read a reimagined version of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" called What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. I reread Poe's short story first because I didn't remember much about it, and I have to say that Kingfisher's version is much more captivating and chilling. She takes the basic story of the friend coming to visit the unwell Ushers in their dismal and decrepit house, and adds characters and reasons for the events. It's still gothic horror in the traditional sense, but with people you care about along with a very creepy plot.

On a very different note, I recommend The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell. An Irish American goes back to Ireland to visit his aunt, who is only a couple of years older than he is. He intends to spend his time brooding in solitude over the woman who spurned him back home, but a series of events caused by a devilish pig, including uprooting of something hidden in his aunt's garden, changes everything. I liked the interactions between the characters, which slowly reveal their history, and some very funny conversations and over-the-top monologues. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I have already ordered the second one, The Pig Comes to Dinner.

If you like trapped-on-an-island mysteries, you'll like The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre. The blurb on the back of the book cover is "Seven women. Seven sins. One night of judgement." The women arrive by helicopter for a luxury bachelorette weekend on a remote Scottish island. One of them disappears, and they are threatened that she will die if one of them doesn't confess her darkest secret. Each woman has something dark in her past, so they all might have to confess unless they can figure out where the kidnapped woman has been taken. The women begin to suspect each other, and there are lots of good twists before the end.

Thanks for getting us going LadyK: I will be giving those a closer look.

I have just started another by David Wellington whom I mentioned earlier https://davidwellington.net

Those all sound good LadyK.

I just reread A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab because I bought the other two books in the trilogy and want to read them in sequence. I'm well into the second one, A Gathering of Shadows. These are really excellent fantasies about four different Londons. Only an Antari magician can move between the cities. Grey is the London with old King George III, and it has no magic. Red London is filled with good rulers who maintain the magical balance, while the rulers of White London harshly restrict and control magic and their people. Black London is sealed off from the others because once, when all the Londons were open to each other, its magic grew uncontrolled and nearly wiped out all the people.

In the first book, Kell, the Antari from Red London, reluctantly forms an alliance with a feisty pickpocket named Lila Bard, who scratches and survives in Grey London. The second book starts several months later with Lila's adventures and leads her back to the place where she and Kell parted ways. (I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers.) The suspense is mounting as a tournament of magic is being planned.

Now excuse me. I've got to get back to my book. 📖

Those sound like more good choices to be added to my list LadyK.

Meanwhile for a bit of a change of pace my wife and I are both enjoying George: a magpie memoir
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/06/06/frieda-hughes-george-memoir/

Something else I have started reading and which is well out of my usual pattern but really has me hooked is Sapiens vrey entertainingly written but fascinating and thought provoking: extraordinary stuff! https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/23692271

Just starting the mystery 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. So far I'm enjoying it.

Years ago I had been reading a series by Laurell K Hamilton: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. There are 30 books according to Fantastic Fiction. I have 22 of them but stopped reading after #17 as they were just getting over the top, outrageous in the sex department. Today I decided to pull the next book out "Flirt" and give it a try. I will start it tomorrow. I also have her Merry Gentry series and have read all but the last two. I knew I had these books and some others in boxes in my "junk" room. I found a lot more books than I thought in there that I haven't read yet so I pulled several out that I hope to get to soon-ish. I know I also have some unread books in boxes in my bedroom but I'm not ready to tackle looking through those yet.

I finished A Conjuring of Light, the 3rd book in V. E. Schwab's London trilogy. It concludes the excellent trilogy nicely, but leaves room for more adventures in that world, if the author chooses to write them.

Before I buy anything new, I'm trying to get caught up with books I own but haven't read yet. It's a bit like torture, but I'm purposely not browsing the Barnes & Noble and Bas Bleu sites until my give-away pile reaches 10 books. So far I have 4 to give to my reader friends.

Since finishing Schwab's trilogy, I've read a couple of books. One of them is Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. A young woman goes to live with her uncle, the owner of a used bookshop in Tokoyo, after her boyfriend jilts her. She helps out in the store, reads up a storm, and begins to heal emotionally. What I liked best about the book is the description of the section of Tokoyo with all the used bookshops and of the annual festival which attracts people from all over looking for used treasure.

I also read The Last Close Call by Laura Griffin, a mystery which brings together a genetic analyst and a detective with an elusive cold case that he has tried for years to solve. Some romance gives it spice and a couple of nice twists adds to the suspense.

Right now I'm reading another book about a bookshop, only this one is a murder mystery that takes place in a small mountain town in Colorado. It's called Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire. It's lighter fare than my previous mystery, and the characters are real...well...characters, especially the grandmother and the cat, Agatha. The family name is Christie, but they're not related to the real Agatha. However, they love her mysteries, which have been referenced quite a few times so far in the conversations. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Dead and Gondola sounds like fun, Lady K.

Old broad, I am waiting for the last book in that series. I enjoyed them but like you I almost stopped reading them multiple times due to the amount and very detailed sex but other than that the story line sucked me in. I just finished Charlaine Harris series Snookie. Enjoyed this one … fun but not so graphic with the sexual description

Re-reading Catch a Falling Star by John Brunner...my 'first' book purchase which started my intrigue with the sci-fi arena.

Marian,
I finished Dead and Gondola, and it was fun with a Poirot-like reveal.

Last night I started Zero Days by Ruth Ware and had to force myself to put it down and go to bed. It's a mystery/thriller and a real page turner from the start.

Soot,
I've read a bunch of John Brunner's novels but so long ago that I don't remember most of the stories. I'll have to pull them off my shelves for a reread.

Good morning LadyK. What other John Brunner nevels do you have? I'm going to have to check them out too.

Thanks for the update on Dead and Gondola, Lady K! Will keep it in mind.

I just finished Adeline Mowbray by Amelia Opie, published in 1805. A very interesting read but also a very demanding one. Amelia Opie was a very close friend of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, who were Mary Shelley's parents. The two main characters in the book were apparently modeled after Godwin and Wollstonecraft, which gave the book an extra dimension for me.

Now I think I might read one of my unread Dean Koontz books, and also up shortly is The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

Soot,
Here's a list of the John Brunner novels I have. Some are probably not in print anymore. I put the copyright dates as a reference for you.
The Crucible of Time (1982)
Shockwave Rider (1975)
Total Eclipse (1974)
The Sheep Look Up (1972)
The Dramaturges of Yan (1972)
The Long Result (1965)
The Super Barbarians (1962)
The World Swappers (1959)

Marian,
How was the Amelia Opie book demanding? Sometimes older books can be very wordy and a bit of a dense slog. Was it that?

I couldn't resist and finished Ruth Ware's Zero Days in the wee hours of this morning, only to be awakened by my bed shaking from the 4.8 earthquake here in New Jersey. No damage was done, and it was over fairly quickly. I'm now looking for something less intense, maybe one of Alexander McCall Smith's Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency books I haven't read yet.

I absolutely devoured John Brunner's books back in the day. Thanks for the reminder. They may be available on Kindle.

They certainly are available on kindle and I have just downloaded a few samples, not being familiar with his work: thanks for the mention.

I remain very much hooked on Sapiens for the moment, which continues to amaze and entertain me with fascinating revelations and some laugh out loud lines: the author has produced a work of genius, even for a genius (which he must be to cover such a wide field in a style so easy to read and understand).

Thanks for your list LadyK ... I will definitely check them out.

Very dense, one where you need to really have your brain in gear for adequate comprehension. Lots of ideas per page. Not a good choice when you just want to kick back and relax and read without having to think too hard. My aunt used to call the latter "potato chip" books, which I thought was an amusing description. And of course I have read plenty of potato chip books in my life and many were very entertaining! I try now to read an assortment. I don't see an unlimited number of years ahead of me for reading like it once appeared that I had, so I am trying to be more selective in order to make the most of it.

I agree Marian, I've got to be in the right mindset for "dense" books

For sure, Dan!

I started Shattered by Dean Koontz yesterday evening and am about 40 pages in. Very suspenseful already!

Shattered is one of Koontz's books I haven't read, Marian. I checked out the story online, and it does sound good.

Well, my vow to not go over to Barnes & Noble went by the wayside last night. I decided to get Sapiens based on Lex's recommendations, and while I was there 3 more books just...um...fell into my cart. Now I have to add more books to my giveaway pile to make room for the new ones.

I finished The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith, the 16th book in his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Precious Ramotswe is one of my favorite characters in fiction. Her kindness, wit, and willingness to help people in difficult situations makes her very loveable, despite her own doubts and occasional mistakes. In this story, she takes a holiday, which proves to be anything but restful.

I also started Precious and Grace, the next book in McCall's series.

Lady K, Shattered was published in the 1970s under one of Dean Koontz's pseudonyms. The paperback I have was first published in 1985 and has his name on it.

I have not been in a physical Barnes and Noble store since the late 1990s and I well remember it as a dangerous place to be. I have ordered books in the past from their online store, too.

Shattered does not seem to have made it to kindle, so I may have to buy an actual book for a change...!

I hope you enjoy Sapiens, Lady K (or should I say birthday girl?): I am only 70% through it, but already contemplating buying the follow up Homo Deus, and there is another due out later this year, Nexus.

Just finished reading "Don't look now" by Mary Burton; it's a very good serial killer thriller, I'm now starting "Quicksilver" by Dean Koontz.

I have Quicksilver in my to-read pile, judith.

It's really good but a little quarky, but that's Dean Koontz for you.

It sure is, judith!

I read a gothic mystery by Rebecca James called The Woman in the Mirror. It has some common tropes, such as a cursed mansion on a lonely bluff in Cornwall and the women who come to it at different points in history. It also has some twists that add some goosebumps. It's not the best I've read, but it was entertaining.

I am now nearly halfway through The Last Astronaut by David Wellington, and I have to thank Lex for another 3 AM bedtime because I couldn't put it down. It's an excellent sci-fi first contact story with a strong female protagonist, and I have no idea yet where it'll end.

I'm on book 3 of the Foreigner series now. They're slow going, and you have to pay full attention. It's really a fascinating world she's created, very dense and real-feeling, of an alien race that is very similar to Humans in every way but one, and essential emotional difference that launched a war.

I read the first 12 books in the series decades ago, when they first came out. I see she's up to volume 21 or 22 now. I would have to say that CJ Cherryh ranks as one of my favourite writers. She's prolific, too.

Glad I have hit the spot for you a couple of times LadyK.

On your recommendation I am currently enjoying some short stories by John Brunner in The Society of Time: The Original Trilogy and Other Stories (British Library Science Fiction Classics Book 16) - this seems like a good introduction to his work and has an interesting foreword about him, all for a very low price on kindle!

Hagatha,
I've been waiting patiently for book 22 in the Foreigner series but haven't seen any signs of it yet.

Glad to hear that the Foreigner series is still worth reading. I hope the overall story gets finished and not left hanging like WOT.

I just found that Foreigner book 22 has been published, but Cherryh now has a co-author. She is 81 now, so I'm hoping she gets a chance to resolve the series.

What series is WOT? I was thinking of Sue Grafton and her alphabetical series of Kinsey Millhone mysteries. She finished Y is for Yesterday but never had a chance to complete Z.

WOT is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He died before the series was done and left the rest for Brandon Sanderson. Unfortunately I don't like Brandon Sanderson's writing, so all of the years I put into the series were wasted because I never finished it. I'm hoping Amazon manages to produce the whole series (I thought Jordan stretched things out needlessly long in the later books, so it would be an improvement).

Hopefully the same will not be true for CJ.

Doug Johnstone does it again with a great sequel to his foray into SF first contact: he is an author who has really found his voice and is also churning the books out at a great pace!
https://dougjohnstone.com/page/2/

Lex,
The Collapsing Wave sounds good. I hope it'll make it across the pond in a timely manor. I see that Johnstone also plans on writing two more Skelf books.

I'm currently reading The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten. It's the sequel to The Foxglove King and a bit convoluted so far. I'm not very far into it yet, so I'm hoping the story will smooth out as it goes along.

LadyK, the Collapsing Wave is the second instalment, so you need to read The Space between Us first.

I think you might also enjoy Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

I did read both Johnstone's The Space Between Us and Weir's Project Hail Mary, Lex. They were both excellent!

Hannah Whitten's The Hemlock Queen took off soon after I posted about it above, and it had some unexpected revelations and very suspenseful twists. The story isn't finished, however, so that means I have to wait for the next book to find out what happens.

I just started Her Little Flowers by Shannon Morgan. It concerns an old manor house, dark family secrets, and ghosts. I'm already hooked.

I just started A Painted House by John Grisham. I've only read the first chapter so far but couldn't help thinking of young Opie Taylor while reading it.

Grisham is always a good read, although I have to admit that I have not read any of his recently.

On someone else's recommendation I have just read Dark Eden by Chris Beckett: not my usual sort of SF and a bit slow at first while setting the scene, but a real page turner once it got going and with some interesting examination of human nature under unusual circumstances https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18166988-dark-eden

I haven't read any of Grisham's books in quite awhile either. I'm grateful for the reminder because I own at least two I haven't read yet.

Dark Eden sounds very good, Lex. I'll have to include it in my next book haul.

Her Little Flowers is a very good modern-day gothic tale that doesn't use many of the usual tropes. The main character is a 50-something reclusive woman who lives alone with some ghosts in her large ancestral home. She much prefers her ghosts to the living, but when her younger sister visits after many years of estrangement, she learns of a family secret that turns her life on its head.

I'm now halfway through Defiance, the 22nd book in C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series, and I'm happy to report that she hasn't lost her touch. Her co-author, Jane S. Fancher, is a friend who has written some fantasy stories, but the book is definitely Cherryh's style, thank goodness!

LadyKeatrel, I'm glad to hear that. I'm on book 5, where Bren and company are about go go off in the Phoenix. I guess I haven't read these books since they were first published. They really are good.

I have just ordered the first Foreigner book, second hand on eBay and being shipped from Germany: it obviously remains popular enough to hold its price quite well more locally, as well as not being available on kindle in UK.

I hope you enjoy it it, Lex.

I'm looking to pickup something new to read and this thread has given me some good suggestions. Thanks everyone.

I had lunch yesterday with a newish friend who also lost her husband a couple of years ago. We were chatting about what was important to our spouses towards the end, and she mentioned that before he went into hospice for his advancing Alzheimer's her husband told her that he never wanted to be without his favourite book, which was Snowcrash. Not being a science fiction fan, she had no idea about that book and was really surprised that I knew it so well. Apparently he was a speculative fiction fan and had a leather-bound collection of signed first editions, all science fiction and fantasy.

I haven't read some of Neal Stephenson's books for a while and it might be time to re-read them when I'm finished with the Foreigner series.

I have just been steered towards Air by Geoff Ryman, and whilst that did not grab me I am intrigued by his very weird (even by SF standards) book The Child Garden: is anyone else familiar with this and/or any of his other output?

I have also stumbled upon the publisher Newcon Press which seems to host some interesting authors including Mercurio D Rivera (an anagram perhaps?) whose collection Event Horizon I have just started reading http://www.newconpress.co.uk

I finished Sara Paretsky's latest V. I. Warshawski mystery, Pay Dirt. It's a series I've read from the beginning with characters I really like. In this one, Vic is still struggling from a previous case that led to a tragic death, but she agrees to go to Kansas for a weekend to watch Angela, her favorite college player, perform on the basketball court. Of course, trouble finds Vic when one of Angela's roommates goes missing and leads her to a party house on disputed land. She finds the roommate and gets her help, but suspicion falls on her, especially when she finds a body in the basement of the same house a few days later. Her attempts to clear herself lead to a much deeper mystery that affects the whole town.

I just started Sparrow House by Alix E. Harrow, who also wrote The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which I read several years ago and really liked. It's a stand-alone fantasy about an old house owned by the mysterious Arthur Sparrow. A poor young woman gets a job there cleaning. She's had strange dreams about the place for years, but only took the job for the money to allow her brilliant younger brother go to a better school.

Lex,
I just looked up The Child Garden and decided to get it. Ryman's other works don't interest me much, but I've always been interested in stories about genetic engineering or mutations. Margaret Attwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy, Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books, and Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis all deal with the subject in interesting and also cautionary ways.

Thanks for that LadyK I will have to give Sara Paretsky a try: I seem to remember a film or TV series about V. i. Warshawski but I do not think I have previously read any of the books.

On the SF front I have been delving into The British Library series of Science Fiction Classics, including several compendiums of themed short stories collated by Mike Ashley: good stuff and inexpensive (at least on Kindle).

Having finished and enjoyed Dark Eden, I was doubtful about the second book in the series and went straight to the third book Daughter of Eden which tied up all the loose ends quite nicely: I may or may not have missed out in so doing!

I finished Sparrow House, which had some nice twists and an unexpected but good ending.

I'm now rereading the first book in the Glass Library series, The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer. I read it about two and a half years ago and want to refresh my memory before I begin the next book in the series.

I'm on Book 10 of the Foreigner series. If anything, I'm enjoying them more this time around. It's been decades since I read them. I think this is the first one I hadn't already read -- I kept buying them without reading them.

I am about half way through the first one and really enjoying it: a smart concept having a physically humanoid alien with an impenetrably tricky and alien psyche, and of course the humans as the foreigners!

Cherryh is a master in creating believeable alien cultures with which humans must interact. I first got hooked on her works when I discovered her Faded Sun trilogy in the late 1970s. Those, and some of her other works, such as Downbelow Station and Cyteen, are moving up in my reread pile.

Cherryh takes up two full shelves in my bookcase, more than any other writer. She is prolific, of course, but her books are almost all wonderful. I would say she's my favourite writer of speculative fiction.

The only other set of books taking up that much real estate is my Terry Pratchett's Disc World series, the ones with the weird and wonderful cover art.

We have similar book shelves, Hagatha. Since I didn't start reading the Discworld books until 2008, most of them are in paperback. I organized them in order and just gobbled them up one after the other.

I finished The Medici Manuscript, the second of the Glass Library books, and am alread halfway through the third called The Untitled Books. The stories take place in London after WWI, and they're mysteries combined with magic. Sylvia Ashe is the assistant librarian in a library that contains all kinds of books about magic, and Gabe Glass is a consultant to Scotland Yard when cases concern magic. Aside from a few dialogue mistakes that are a bit jarring for the time and place, such as the use of loan for lend, Archer's writing is good. I like her cast of characters and nice plot twists.

Move over Jack Reacher - here comes Ben Koenig: M W Craven has gone from strength to strength https://mwcraven.com

I'm on book 16 of Foreigner. I'll be quite sad when the series is done; I'm quite fond of some of the characters now.

I have the second book of the series in my queue, but got sidetracked by a couple of the most recent Jo Nesbo offerings and a doorstop of an anthology called The Time Traveller's Almanac!

I love those SF/Fantasy anthologies. I have about 2 dozen of the Year's Best series of anthologies, perfect for when family members visit because we're all SF fans.

I love SF anthologies too. Have not dozens but a number of the Year's best SF.

I just found a paperback of Asimov's Stars Like Dust. Hadn't read it before. Not an anthology.
Solid SF of course but doesn't make it to the top ten list. If you stumble on it it's worth reading but it's not worth making extra efforts get the book.

I have just enjoyed reading Mickey 7, and I think there may be a sequel: I also know that there is a film in the works.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57693457-mickey7

I am starting M W Craven's Fearless and can't wait to unfold Ben Koenig's exploits.

Starting Starsight by Brandon Sanderson.

Reading my way through Old Man's War books by John Scalzi. I read the first three years ago and thought I would start again and read through all 6.
Its an enjoyable construction, and much more interesting than simply being an ongoing narrative. While events do move on, book four goes back over the event in book three but from a different person's perspective, and book 5 is more a set of short stories set in the world that has been created to that point. Which is where I am currently.
Enjoying it a a lot.

I really enjoyed that John Scalzi series, and in a not dissimilar vein the Frontlines series by Marko Kloos.

Thanks Lex, I will check it out

I finished two books before going on my London trip. C. J. Archer's The Dead Letter Delivery is a good addition to the series, but if the main characters don't get together soon, I'm going to scream! Enough decorum already!

The second book is a strange and wonderful one that Lex mentioned, The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman. In a future tropical London, organics have replaced electronics, people are educated by viruses and can eat by photosynthesizing. However, very few of them live past age forty. The main character, Milena, is immune to the viruses and always feels alone until she meets a genetically engineered polar woman who changes her life in unexpected ways. The book is unlike anything I've ever encountered before. It's jam-packed with new ideas that I'm still mulling over.

I was disappointed that I didn't get to my usual bookstore stops in London this year: Waterstones, Foyles, and the Southbank Centre Book Market under Waterloo Bridge. I always find a few treasures to bring home with me. I did get to read a fun mystery I took with me called The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood. While swimming in the Thames, Judith, a feisty 77-year-old crossword compiler hears a gunshot and later learns that her neighbor across the river has disappeared. She ends up finding his body, and later joins forces with a dog walker named Suzie and Becks, the vicar's wife, to try to solve two more murders. Each woman has strengths (some untried until needed) that help the cases along.

You have a great way with words when you describe these books, LadyKestrel!

Thanks so much, Oldbroad! I enjoy doing them, but I have to say thank goodness for the edit button!

Must read the Marlow book, Lady K. They made a TV series of it a few months back, Marlow is only about 5 miles down the road from us and it was fun spotting all the local landmarks.

He's written a second ome - "Death Comed to Marlow"

Thanks for that, UW! I'll keep an eye out for it.

I zipped through J. D. Robb’s 8th Eve Dallas mystery, Conspiracy in Death, and right now I'm rereading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde because his long-awaited second book in the series, Red Side Story, arrived. Fforde has invented a strange future world called Chromatacia, ruled by a Colortocracy, in which conformity is most important and all know their place in the color spectrum. Or do they?

I have liked all of the Jasper Fforde books I've read. I still have The Woman Who Died a Lot and Shades of Grey to read. Found them in those forgotten boxes a couple months back.

Today I started another "found" book, Dracula in Love by Karen Essex in which Mina tells her story.

Thanks for the heads-up about Red Side Story - loved Shades of Grey. Disappointed that he never expanded the Nursery Crime series - loved them too

I'm on Book 20 0f Foreigner and dreading the end of the available books in the series. The next one comes out in November. Not too long to wait, but then after that it could be a couple of years.

Fforde has another book I haven't read yet called The Constant Rabbit. It's about human-sized rabbits living in the UK. The blurbs on the cover describe it as "a serious-minded comedy" and "a crazed cross between Watership Down and 1984." It's next on my list after Red Side Story.

Hagatha,
The 20th book is Resurgence, and there are two more already published here in the US, Divergence and Defiance.

I see Jasper Fforde will have one more Thursday Next book coming out next year to complete that series.

Rog, I liked the Nursery Crime series also.

LadyKestrel, I do have Divergence but not the other. I should check its availability again.

I could read a whole series about Cajieri and how he guides the world once he becomes aiji. I love his voice in the books. He's wonderfully drawn.

I agree about Cajieri, Hagatha. He has unique experiences that no other leader could have. I've enjoyed watching him grow over the years.

I finished Jasper Fforde's Red Side Story and liked the continuation of the story and the ending very much. However, there are still unanswered questions, so I'm hoping for a 3rd book to tie up all the loose ends. (I'm so glad I reread Shades of Grey beforehand because there was so much I had forgotten about the story.)

Having come to the end of the available Foreigner books, I've decided to read CJ Cherryh's Fortress series again, since it has to have been at least 20 years since I read it. The writing really is superb.

My struggle with the Foreigner series is finding affordable copies in UK: for some reason they are on kindle in USA but not here, and most of the used books are also in USA, also my local library cannot oblige... I am currently awaiting delivery of number 3, Inheritor, meanwhile reading the latest gruesome murder yarn from Chris Carter.

That's a drag, Lex. It's weird that they aren't available on Kindle in the UK.

Most excellent Lex! I finally was able to finish Craven's Fearless and immensely enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation. I look forward to reading more of his books.

I read The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fford, a satire about attitudes to those who are different from those in our own group. It was both funny and quite scathing at times.

I also just finished The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox. In London after WW I, a young woman named Ivy Radcliffe learns that she has inherited Blackwood Abbey in Yorkshire because she is distantly related to the late Lord Hayworth through her late father's line. She leaves London where she was just scraping by and is amazed by the former abbey's estate and especially its wonderful library. However, all is not perfect there. The staff tries to convince her to leave but won't explain why. As her headaches and very bad dreams increase, especially after spending hours in the library, she realizes that something sinister is affecting her. Her struggle to survive and find answers makes for some juicy suspense.

Dan, glad to hear you enjoyed that book: there is a another due out later in the year. Meanwhile you might also enjoy another series by the same author, set in England, starting with the Puppet Show https://mwcraven.com/books/the-puppet-show-washington-poe-1/

I saw that series Lex ... Washington Poe sounds like a fascinating character along with his partner Tilly Bradshaw ... I will be reading it.

Thanks for the link Lex.The Puppet Show looks good to me.

Gee, thanks guys, you're the reason I'll be broke in no time. I just ran across this thread for the first time today and I've already spent a lot of $$$ on your book recommendations. Well, at least I'll be in my happy place.

Better late than never Cheryl, and there is certainly plenty here - you should go back and start with the earlier thread if you really want to drain your bank account!
https://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1309059/1

I have just started reading some thrillers by Lloyd Devereux Richards, starting with Stone Maidens, a relatively mature newcomer who shows promise https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6574106.Lloyd_Devereux_Richards

Reading is proving difficult at the moment but I am intrigued by the Jasper Fford book LadyK. I read some of his Thursday Next novels back in the day as well as at least one Nursery Crime novel and thoroughly emjoyed them but he had completely slipped my mind. I will make a note to check out the Rabbit.

I have also added Jasper Fford to my list and some kindle samples await: flotsam, I hope that your difficulty in reading does not mean that you are suffering eye trouble.

Meanwhile I am exploring an interesting library reading app called Libby: does anyone else have experience of this?
https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby#GettingStarted

I am also becoming more and more immersed in C J Cherryh's Foreigner series, currently on book four and enlisting the help of a very friendly sounding book seller in Toronto to help track down some of the series as they are thin on the ground in England and Europe and rather expensive to ship from USA https://www.sellersandnewel.com

Lex I don't know Libby but see 'Overdrive' mentioned when Googling Libby…we used Overdrive for years for e-books at our library and enjoyed it. It appears Libby is the newer app developed by OverDrive.

And who needs to eat, anyway? Welcome to the thread!

And Lex, have you tried looking at eBay UK for the Cherryh books? I see quite a few of the author's books listed.

Sherlock,
I remember this quote that applies to most of us:
"When I have a little money, I buy books, and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes."
-Desiderius Erasmus

Your link to Sellers and Newel made me smile, Lex. I collected Franklin Library books for many years when I was working. My late husband built an oak cabinet with glass doors to house them, and I love the smell of the leather whenever I open it.

Right now I'm reading Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Ben Greenman, which came out in 2013. I didn't know about his talented band, the Roots, until I started watching the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, but I've enjoyed their interactions with Jimmy, the guests, and the audience over the years. The book is a memoir of a true music geek who became a virtuoso drummer, arranger, producer, composer, and DJ. The Los Angeles Times gave the book this review: "Questlove recounts his musical journey...but digresses regularly with deep (and deeply funny) analyses of the artists and records that shaped him."

Years ago, Amazon used to include free bookmarks with their book orders, and one of them was this quote. I still have mine.

Just finishing up the fifth and final book in CJ Cherryh's Fortress series. In its way, it's as good as the Foreigner series.

After that I'm going to read all of the Slow Horses books I just bought. I had already read the first four and hadn't realized the series went on much farther. And of course, I'm waiting for Season 4 of the TV series, too.

I've had the Fortress series sitting on my shelf for ages, Hagatha, and your post has reminded me that I never read it. I always focused on her sci-fi stories, so it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I'll have to remedy that very, very soon.

I've read two suspenseful novels recently. The first one is The Search Party by Hannah Richell. A couple and their young son are nearly ready for the grand opening of their glamping (glam camping) business in Cornwall, so they decide to invite three college friends and their families to spend the weekend to try out the new facilities and get caught up with each other. Unfortunately, problems occur between the kids, the adults over-react, and anger makes hidden secrets come to light. Then, plot twists abound as one member of the group goes missing just as a big storm moves in.

The second one, The Vacation House by Jane Shemilt, begins in Paxos, Greece at a house owned by a wealthy but disfunctional London family. One night, the caretakers' 13-year-old daughter, Sophie, decides to take a walk on the property's private beach and suffers a terrible trauma. Ten years later, Julia, the daughter of the vacation house owner, seems to be the perfect wife to her influential and demanding husband but is really stifled by him. When she meets a therapist named Laurel, she begins to find fulfillment and hope for a different future. The lives of Sophie and Julia seem bound together, and it's up to the reader to discover the truth.

I also read three humorous fantasies:
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer is the sequel to Assistant to the Villain. In the previous book, the Villain was captured by the king, and Evie Sage vowed to hold things together at his lair and rescue him. In this second book, Evie outwits the king and saves her boss, but since magic is disappearing from the realm, there are places to go and entities to encounter to find out why. Some, but not all things, are resolved. I'm hoping the third book will tie everything up with a big bow.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is about a wizard who loses his memory after an explosion in his workshop and is diconcerted to learn that he is known as the Dread Lord Gavrax. He can't recall any of his evil acts but must face the evidence around him (cringing staff, people running away screaming, etc.) and decide who he really wants to be, the Dread Lord or just Gav. The author pokes fun at all the tropes of evil wizardry, fair maidens, rescuing heroes, and rather delightful goblins. I loved it.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming is a very funny and steamy fantasy rom-com. Cinnamon leads a quiet life as a spice trader until she saves a hot...er...fiery demon and ends up going on a quest with him to kill an evil witch enslaving his people. Great fun!

I wish the Fortress series was a bit longer. The fifth book introduces a new character that had great potential to carry on the story but I can see why it ended where it did.

As with Foreigner, the main characters are flawed people that you can become quite attached to.

LadyK I like the Erasmus quote, and Marian, yes there are plenty of Foreigner books on eBay but mostly in USA with expensive shipping to UK.

I have now found a US library which seems to have the whole series in kindle format (via Libby) and which accepts non-local members, so fingers crossed...

LadyKestrel, I'm not sure that the Fortress series was ever actually finished. It's a good read, but I felt that the ending wasn't really a complete ending. Apparently CJ herself has said there's more story to tell in that world.

I think now I'll read the Slow Horses series.

I don't know the Slow Horses series at all, Hagatha. I'll have to check it out.

I finished and enjoyed Questlove's memoir and have just started Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio, which I think someone mentioned earlier in this thread. I fell into it from the very first page and can't wait to get back to it.

LadyK, for what it's worth, I found a couple of the Slow Horses books well written entertainment and the TV series a good interpretation, but you probably have to be a lover of spy stories to really get into them, and I am not sufficiently that way inclined - too many other books and not enough time...! It may also reflect my usually short attention span in face of tales that are relatively slow burning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Horses

I like the sound of the humorous fantasies, particularly Kimberley Lemming, so may give them a try.

I liked Herron's Slow Horses books, but I absolutely love the series. Gary Oldman just nails his role as the lead, and he is priceless. The entire cast is spot-on. Wile the stories are about spy-craft, the show's real depth is in the characters.

Right now I'm reading more Cherryh; Merchanter's Luck and 40,000 in Gehenna. I haven't read these for at least 25 years.

Now bingeing the Foreigner series on kindle - only on book 5, Defender, so several months' reading even if I do not intersperse other books along the way...!

I'm so glad you are reading the series, Lex. Enjoy!

I'm so looking forward to the next book in the Foreigner series. I feel as though there's still quite a bit of story to tell.

I found a couple of holes in my Cherryh library, and much of it is out of print. I had to order a second hand omnibus edition of one series for $50.00! And that was the only one I could find. The other thing is that I am missing two volumes of the Foreigner series in book form. I ordered them but after 4 months the order simply got cancelled. I might try again. I have them on Kindle but it's not the same.

I may have to start re-reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld. It's been a dozen years at least.

That Toronto book seller Sellers and Newel I mentioned recently could be worth a try to help fill those gaps, hagatha, and if you give details of any titles proving particularly elusive I would be happy to see what I can find on this side of the pond.

Meanwhile, I am content to rely on the kindle editions and I continue to be very impressed with the range of titles held in Houston library in that format, and not just in terms of C J Cherryh: the librarians also seems very receptive to suggestions for additional titles and have just added The Collected Short Fiction of C J Cherryh at my request.

Thanks, Lex. I'll have a look at that bookstore. You just never know.

I am trying another rather different Cherryh saga, a four book compendium entitled the complete Morgaine, starting with The Gate of Ivrel - dark and powerful stuff!

I'm reading a *fluff* type of book by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke, called The Cinderella Murder.