What are you reading right now?

Margaret, I guess the articles wouldn't be selected if they weren't positive, at least in some way.   That applies to those which relate some less than positive situation but share how someone addressed it.   I'm thinking now of the article in which a family had to quarantine at Christmas b/c one of the children got a contagious disease, one of the ones that appeared years ago and for which there was no vaccine at the time.

It was unsettling to read about using Lysol on the patient (actually, I more than cringed!), but the tenacity of the family in dealing with the situation was inspiring.

I wonder if people would buy magazines which addressed only negative situations.  We read about that daily online!

Garden Artist, I’m glad that the magazines are so helpful for relaxation. I don’t want to burst your balloon, but they are so unrealistically positive that they do the opposite for me. Being on the land (at least here, where we have virtually no subsidies for farmers) is really tough, and things go wrong more times than right. The lovely ‘homes’ and ‘gardens’ in the country belong to the rich with hired labor. Even our industry newsletters are doggedly positive – successes only please. Grrr!

Just finished Ocean Prey by John Sandford.

I've temporarily switched from books to magazines, specifically the ones to which my father subscribed.   I'm pleasantly surprised by how much they relax me.   I'm reading Country and Country Extra, with Reminisce and Reminisce Extra and Farm Ranch in the "to read" pile.

The descriptions of life in the country, on a ranch or farm, are so diametrically opposite from life in a heavily populated metropolitan area that I find myself relaxing as soon as I pick up one of the magazines, some of which I've read twice.

I understand why Dad read them so faithfully; they were soothing and while not necessarily absorbing, they redirected attention from tense books, or political issues plaguing the country, or pandemics.  They reminded him of better days, and of less friction that our modern life seems to entail.    I'm really enjoying these magazines and decided to keep them instead of donating them.   I can read them every year or so, or especially when I get neurotic.

The Bourne Betrayal
Novel by Eric Van Lustbader

I got the book from a “Little Free Library” in my neighborhood. Take a look at www.littlefreelibraries.org. There may be one near you. Take a book. Leave a book.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich. Really good read.

I'm reading a book titled Search for Her by Rick Mofino. I guess you could call it a good summer read. Not great but not bad.

I've been on a bad book streak lately. You know that feeling when you finish a book and say to yourself, well, theres a few hours I can never get back. 🤔

I was looking at Origins and thought it sounded interesting.

This list might help you Glad

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3810.Best_Cozy_Mystery_Series

I've enjoyed almost everything by Charlaine Harris, especially Sookie Stackhouse, Auroa Teagarden and Lily Bard
The Stephanie Plum series by Jan Evanovich is old and I don't know if they've stood the test of time but when I read it I would actually laugh out loud.
I very much enjoyed the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert
If you like cat mysteries the Joe Grey books by Shirley Rousseau Murphy are fun
Another easy read is the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross

GladImhere, I forgot to mention the latest Dan Brown novel I've read:  Origins.   It's a tech thriller, addressing the big question of what happens if/when AI segues into independence and makes decisions for itself, overriding or ignoring the intents and programming of its creator.   I read another novel on the same principle but can't remember the name right now.

I think AI progression beyond human control might be the new science fiction focus.

https://danbrown.com/origin/

Cozy mysteries are quite fluffy - easy reading! Just google for them and you will find a big selection.

Thanks CW and GA. Some fluff recommendations? There I would be completely lost!

GA, those sound like excellent recommendations. Seems I read a Margaret Truman once, a very long time ago.

Gladimhere, I haven't read While Justice Sleeps, but it sounds like a good one for my collection (one can NEVER have too many good books!).   And I'm really impressed with Stacey Abrams.

Have you read any of Margaret Truman's political thrillers?  And yes, she's a presidential daughter who knows DC in and out.   I've read probably almost all of hers, some of them 3 or 4 times.  Her talent clearly progresses after the first few books, and the complications heighten the mysteries.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/1559.Margaret_Truman

Evelyn Anthony is another political writer, but I haven't read any of her books for years, not deliberately, but b/c they're in my "storage" library and I just forgot about them.    Hers are more international, if I remember correctly.

And yet another good mystery writer was Alistair MacLean.  His novels were set in different countries, adding an international intrigue to the plots.   If you've seen Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone or Ice Station Zebra, you've seen movie adaptations of his novels.  Geopolitics seems to be a strong theme in his novels, and always with one spy who's integrated him or herself into US action teams.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/alistair-maclean/

Library e-books are the best! thing! ever! You can download tons of stuff (well, up to your limit anyway) and there's absolutely no reason for regret if you find a book isn't worth finishing.
You might want to add some fluff to your reading list for those times when you can't concentrate on anything deeper.

Just finished While Justice Sleeps, a political thriller, never read one before it was quite good!

I must get my library card reactivated with weeks of recovery coming up so I can explore the digital options available. Seems there is quite an extensive digital library lending site with a valid card.

Any recommendations anyone? I enjoy mysteries, thrillers and the like the best. Might have to see what Dan Brown has available. Haven't read anything of his in a long time.

I am halfway through Nomadland; I bought the book after seeing the film reviews. I think it’s terrific. The sense of place is amazing. I feel I am there with these travellers, and am in awe of their bravery and resilience.

Just started Anxious People, have enjoyed Fredrik Backman before and hope this one is good too

Bit of a knight's move thought, but Margaret's post reminded me of Mary Renault's throwaway comment on the Ancient Roman historian Curtius - "...an unbearably silly man, with access to priceless sources now lost to us."

Harsh? I am in no way qualified to judge. But in any case the point is this crushing remark was part of the author's notes on The Persian Boy, the second volume of her Alexandriad trilogy, and a book I will never tire of re-reading.

Ooh, Alva. I envy you reading it for the first time!

The Witch Elm by Tana French. While I almost always like her books, I had avoided this. Something about the title (hee hee). But it is good, especially if you kind of like a protagonist you don't much like, telling his story in the first person. I can't figure out where it's going 1/3 the way through.

A Plain Account of Christian Perfection by John Wesley

There have been a couple of times in my life where I've felt as though I've read everything of interest in my library and I'm approaching that place again, several of the books and series I have sampled lately have warranted one star ratings or I've tossed them aside without finishing; I try to ration the authors I know I can count on but I can read much faster than they can publish. Last night I pulled out TLOTR - it's been a while but I've read it so often I can open any page and immediately sink into the story, and although I like some parts better than others for me it has never gotten old (I still shed a tear or two when Frodo doesn't get his happy ending).

Follow the River, a book I read years ago and my daughter remembers as well. About an woman who was captive of the Shawnee in the 1700s, who makes her way home after escaping activity. By an author James Alexander Thom, it is based on a true story. Enjoying it again.

My reading has become more serious as I have returned to school and this time fully online. Many universities are offering either free courses or even free degrees for seniors. I am enjoying learning apart from any pressure to get a job, etc, but just learning for the sake of what I am interested in. Have a nice day.

I love reading and listening to audiobooks. I am also a member of Goodreads which list the books I have read and my reviews. In all my books that I have read there is one that I read three times. It’s “The Wednesday Letters” by Jason F. Wright. I like this question and the responses. Thanks.

Has anyone read The Vanishing Half ? I’ve had it on hold and am supposed to pick it up tomorrow

Currently reading The Children's Blizzard, by Melanie Benjamin. It's a historical novel based on a massive blizzard that hit in January 1888 in the Dakota Territory. The weather had been mild earlier in the day, and children went to school without their warmest coats. The blizzard hit just as school was letting out. It profiles what two different teachers did at their respective schoolhouses.

Melanie Benjamin has written some excellent historical novels. My favorite was The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, about the wife of fellow PT Barnum attraction General Tom Thumb. I just love this book.

I am reading Iris Murdock's Bruno's Dream on Kindle, my Ancient Egypt for Dummies intermittantly, along with the GOOD mystery, Apple Tree Yard and a few poem a day of Jane Kenyon, a gathering of her poems in her last book named Otherwise. I am a bit of a book and reading maniac, so there's that. I seldom have this many going at once, but often have two going at the same times.

Glad,

Sounds interesting!

Looking for my next read. Maybe The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

While shopping came across Secrets at the Big House.
There were ghosts and there were secrets at the BIG House. The space between the walls of The BIG House were charged with the anguish of ever-present unhappiness. It was a different kind of haunting.Time changes many things, but it does not change our memories.This is a true story of descent from wealth and social standing. By necessity, it is also the story of my mother, a petite socialite of uncommon beauty, who subjected her children to unspeakable..

Thinking about it.

Decided on The Kind Worth Killing