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hermetic

(8,614 posts)
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 12:38 PM Dec 2021

What Fiction are you reading this week, December 26, 2021?





I must have been really good this year because Santa brought me State of Terror by Hilary Clinton & Louise Penny. Also Lee Child's Night School. Heather Graham's Ghost Night. Murder on an Irish Farm by Carlene O'Connor. And The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel.

First, though, I'm reading my library book, Silverview, John Le Carre's final novel. It's every bit as good as one would expect from the Master Spy storyteller. I'm intermingling this with The Usual Santas, short stories of crime capers.

Listening to A Hiss Before Dying by Rita Mae Brown, a "contemporary mystery involving wild animal poaching, set against a historical narrative that takes place in America's post-revolutionary past." Really interesting, informative, and entertaining.

Did you get anything new to read?

Have a happy and safe New Year's.

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What Fiction are you reading this week, December 26, 2021? (Original Post) hermetic Dec 2021 OP
"A History of Great Things" by Elizabeth Crane bif Dec 2021 #1
Sounds good hermetic Dec 2021 #2
What a beautiful Christmas tree. Just lovely, and most appropriate. c-rational Dec 2021 #3
Thanks hermetic Dec 2021 #6
Not new but read Louise Penny during mos surgery. cbabe Dec 2021 #4
Hope you are recovering well hermetic Dec 2021 #5
Wish she would publish a cookbook. Her food and nature as characters are the best cbabe Dec 2021 #8
Season's Greetings, hermetic! CrispyQ Dec 2021 #7
LOL! Love it hermetic Dec 2021 #11
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides happybird Dec 2021 #9
That does look good hermetic Dec 2021 #12
I received, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis Polly Hennessey Dec 2021 #10
Oh, I see hermetic Dec 2021 #13
David Rosenfelt's "Best in Snow" (play on words "best in show") SheltieLover Dec 2021 #14
I love Rosenfelt hermetic Dec 2021 #15
I love his work so much, I read the first 19 books in a week. SheltieLover Dec 2021 #17
THe Order by Daniel Silva. Wish I knew what part was real and what was fiction. Paper Roses Dec 2021 #16
Sounds quite intriguing hermetic Dec 2021 #18
love this whole series... bahboo Dec 2021 #19
"Mystery In White" by J. Jefferson Farjeon The King of Prussia Dec 2021 #20
14? That's marvelous! hermetic Dec 2021 #21
I am finishing up State of Terror by Clinton & Penny. It's an adrenaline-rush from start to finish Hekate Dec 2021 #22

bif

(23,910 posts)
1. "A History of Great Things" by Elizabeth Crane
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 12:54 PM
Dec 2021

A good read. Not great but it made it past the 50 page mark, so I will finish it.

hermetic

(8,614 posts)
2. Sounds good
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 12:59 PM
Dec 2021

"A witty and irresistible story of a mother and daughter regarding each other through the looking glass of time, grief, and forgiveness... it will make readers laugh and cry and wonder how we become the adults we always knew we should."

cbabe

(4,125 posts)
4. Not new but read Louise Penny during mos surgery.
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:09 PM
Dec 2021

Hours long procedure. Cut. Lab check. Cut some more. Comforting cozy read in between cut times. Lots of quibbles about her books BUT my best friend in difficult time.

cbabe

(4,125 posts)
8. Wish she would publish a cookbook. Her food and nature as characters are the best
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:18 PM
Dec 2021

Recovering well. Excellent doc and clinic. My modeling days are over but probably no scar!

CrispyQ

(38,166 posts)
7. Season's Greetings, hermetic!
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:18 PM
Dec 2021

Wow, Santa was good to you!

I gave this title to a few friends in an effort to fight the War on Christmas. It's actually a cute story about a tow truck and snow plow who save Christmas, but I love the spoof.




I finally started reading "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. This is the book my friend said was really good. I haven't read fantasy in a long time. It's over 600 pages & I'm only about 70 into it & it just started to get really good, so I'm happy.

On the non-fiction side, I'm reading "Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe" by Steven H. Strogatz. I never took calculus, but I know it's integral to so much in our life. This book is great at explaining how. An interesting read. I'm about 1/3 of the way through.

https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Powers-Calculus-Reveals-Universe-ebook/dp/B07FKF9DVJ/ref=sr_1_1

From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus—how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.

Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.
Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number—infinity—to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.

Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.

As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.


Happy New Year!

happybird

(5,092 posts)
9. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:21 PM
Dec 2021

Sent by my sister and looks pretty good!

I need to finish 1922 by Stephen King before starting my new book.
It has been sitting in my iPad for ages (literally years) and finally started it last week.

hermetic

(8,614 posts)
12. That does look good
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:34 PM
Dec 2021

".. a shocking psychological thriller of a woman's act of violence against her husband -- and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive." I'll have to read that one, for sure.

Polly Hennessey

(7,433 posts)
10. I received, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:29 PM
Dec 2021

and In The Woods by Tanya French. Books very different from each other and both from the same person.

hermetic

(8,614 posts)
13. Oh, I see
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 01:50 PM
Dec 2021

I was confused there. How could they be the same person? Duh...

A Grief Observed
is a collection of C. S. Lewis's reflections on the experience of bereavement following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960. The book was first published in 1961 under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk, as Lewis wished to avoid identification as the author. Though republished in 1963, after his death, under his own name, the text still refers to his wife as “H” (her first name, which she rarely used, was Helen).

Tana French wasn't born until 1973. I did read In the Woods and it was good.

SheltieLover

(59,500 posts)
14. David Rosenfelt's "Best in Snow" (play on words "best in show")
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 02:13 PM
Dec 2021

He is my other top fav author.

Protagagonist lawyer, Andy Carpenter & his team, including his Golden Retriever, Tara, help a wrongly accused reporter. Exceptional read!

Dymanic quirky characters, interesting story, & lots of laughs.

In real life, the author runs a dog rescue org. Each of his books is are titled in a manner related to dogs & several dogs are characters in each of his books.

SheltieLover

(59,500 posts)
17. I love his work so much, I read the first 19 books in a week.
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 02:21 PM
Dec 2021




I'm always thrilled to see a new one!

I love that santa rewarded you with so many delicious pieces of mind candy!

Paper Roses

(7,504 posts)
16. THe Order by Daniel Silva. Wish I knew what part was real and what was fiction.
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 02:21 PM
Dec 2021

This book keeps me interested but I find that certain references are confusing. A good read but I won't put it in my "read again" pile.

hermetic

(8,614 posts)
18. Sounds quite intriguing
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 02:31 PM
Dec 2021

Death in the Vatican and a long-lost gospel. I should think it's entirely fiction. But....

bahboo

(16,953 posts)
19. love this whole series...
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 03:12 PM
Dec 2021

he is a pro-Israel conservative which kind of colors his writing, especially in the Obama era. But the writing....man, so good. And he does hate trump....

20. "Mystery In White" by J. Jefferson Farjeon
Sun Dec 26, 2021, 09:06 PM
Dec 2021

A Christmas crime story from 1937. It's OK, but the world generally is making me grumpy so I'm not really enjoying anything right now.

Omicron is sweeping the country. My current plan is to stay away from the health service until all the anti-mask anti-vaxx dickheads are dead. Hopefully it won't be long.

On the bright side I got 14 books for Christmas.

Happy New Year!

hermetic

(8,614 posts)
21. 14? That's marvelous!
Mon Dec 27, 2021, 09:42 AM
Dec 2021

I know just how you feel, though. Totally the same here. Sigh. Here's to a better new year.

Hekate

(94,477 posts)
22. I am finishing up State of Terror by Clinton & Penny. It's an adrenaline-rush from start to finish
Tue Dec 28, 2021, 11:33 PM
Dec 2021

Do NOT start reading this just before bedtime.

That said, it is really quite well done. I’m a fan of Louise Penny’s, and ultimately Three Pines makes a cameo (yay!) The description of Trump aka Dunn’s horrible character and outsize charisma is very well executed.

Now, back to the last 50 pages.

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