From fictiondb.com : As provocative as Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, Juris Jurjevics’s enthralling debut delivers a combustive blend of politics, military might, and environmental catastrophe.

I'm happy to hear you like Anne Hillerman. One of these days I will read it. I have one or possibly two Tony Hillerman books yet to go.

Last week I read Runaway by Peter May. I'm starting to think Peter May has a flare for dramatic endings! That is a quality that I appreciate in a novel.

Now I'm reading The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood. I'm not off to a very good start on this one. But it's just me, biorhythms or something. Thank you for the recommendation, Mz Pip!


Mrs Enthusiast finished At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier. It reminded her somewhat of Tracy's previous book The Last Runaway. She did like it. Now she is reading Runaway by Peter May which she is all caught up in. She hasn't even come to the dramatic conclusion yet. Thank you for the recommendation, scarletwoman!

and was blown away by it. I have put it on my best books of 2016 list. My sister read it and was confounded by the author's use of language.

I downloaded from the library and have gotten quite caught up in Bruce Holbert's book, The Hour of Lead

Here's a bit of the description from Overdrive:

Lonesome Animals was named as a Best Book of 2012 by both The Seattle Times and Slate, a literary debut sparking with beautiful language set against the rugged landscape of 1920s Washington state. Holbert returns with The Hour of Lead, an epic family novel and coming of age story that is once again imbibed with the mythology of the west.
After losing both his twin and his father in a brutal, unexpected snowstorm, Matt Lawson must take over the family ranch. As his mother disappears into grief, Matt learns the hardest lesson the west has to teach: he is on his own. The necessity of work stabilizes young Matt against the pitfalls of first love with Wendy, the daughter of a local grocer, and their ragged end will sent Matt on a journey across the county, leaving Wendy to tend the ranch with local schoolteacher Linda Jefferson and her unwieldy son Lucky. It will take decades for Matt to learn his way back home, and that long journey will have great impact on all of those around him.
Invoking the same beautiful landscape and language of his critically-acclaimed debut, The Hour of Lead is a wider, more expansive novel, less violent but just as affecting, another important contribution to the literature of the west.

Last edited Sun Apr 3, 2016, 09:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Mrs. Enthusiast received the book as a gift so we don't have to return it to the library. We have read all the other Tracy Chevalier books. I especially liked Remarkable Creatures because of my love of Jurassic marine paleontology

I have a used copy of The Ploughmen on the way. It sure sounds good.

by Diane Gabaldon. This book is divided into books and I stopped at the beginning of book 3. I'm back into it and as usual Claire and Jamie are in the thick of it. Maybe I will watch some of the Outlander series.

I finished "Tyrannosaur Canyon" by Douglas Preston. I enjoyed it very much. Very good ending.

Started "Talking God" by Tony Hillerman. Only about 40 pages in.

To the other regulars on this thread, on 4/18/16, I'll be going into the hospital for mitral valve surgery. I'll be out of work for four weeks, and same for the internet. Talk to you then.

I certainly wish you the best and rapid healing. Hope you will be able to do some reading. When I've had to do hospital stays I've always made sure to have books on hand because they do help pass the time. Plus I always preferred light, amusing and sometimes outright funny stuff, laughter being the best medicine and all. I really do believe in that.

You can be sure we'll be thinking about ya.

and don't try to do too much too soon. Reading isn't too much!