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.