Geat book from my library of post apocalypse books:    World Made by Hand: A Novel

I am reading Anita Brookner's Leaving Home (I love Brookner and her brooding characters), Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit (what a brilliant writer--I also loved Unbroken), and Cathleen Schine's The Three Weissmans of Westport, among others.

                                                                                                                              Rose

Yesterday,I started and  finished I AM GOD by Giorgio Faletti. Very different from I KILL, but an excellent book, IMO. Surprise ending, which I like. If the book is predictable, it is not for me. I avoided the 100+ heat and stayed inside and read the book all day and into the night to finish. Did not even turn the computer on to check email. Husband was working, so no cooking or laundry. YEAH

Next is THE LEOPARD by Jo Nesbo. I just ordered it from Amazon and expect it to great, like his other Inspector Harry Hole.

Audio in the car is the third in series by Tana French, FAITHFUL PLACE. So far, it is interesting.

Mary

I LOVE Tana French's books! Faithful Place did take me a while to get into, though.

                                                                         Rose

Rose,

It did seem to me that there was a gap between the first two and the third, but in audio it is easier to bridge the gap. I think I had to rewind a little. In fact, I had to research info on the first two books. I thought he was in trouble for other murders before the girlfriend disappeared?

Mary

I am trying to finish Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer, but it's slow going.  Very well written but not something you can just breeze though.

I am not generally a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, but I did like Alas, Bablylon, so maybe I'll try Kunstler.

World Made By Hand is about the people, not so much about the 'how did things get this way".  I just ordered the sequel from Amazon.  I will let you know how it is. 

I finally finished reading Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer, his massive historical fiction novel of the CIA.  At 1,289 pages, it's the longest book I ever read.  Fascinating, but a bit dense.

Read Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.  Quite a good mystery.  I gave it four stars.  Read To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick which was a very good read as well and I gave it four stars, too..  My next reads were three books by Alexander McCall Smith - The Morality of Beautiful Girls, A Full Cupboard of Life and The Kalahari Typing School for Men.  With an unexpected death in the family I needed light reading and I really enjoy this series.  

BUST by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr.  Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor series are wonderful IMO. I read BUST which is Bruen and Starr co-written. The book was a quick read, but I am not sure if I will continue with the combo written books. This was a bit crude/rustic  for me. I do not like the cover, either. I found the book onliine at the library, because if I had seen the cover, I would not have read the book. Silly, but just my opinion. Picture of cover is linked below.

 http://www.amazon.com/Bust-Hard-Case-Crime-Bruen/dp/0843955910

Mary

Just finished the sequel to World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler.    The Witch of Hebron is the title and this is another great novel.  Maybe even better than the first book, WMBH, which is rare.  Usually, book two is the weakest of a series.  I have no idea if Kunstler will write another about these characters but there is lots more to write about, at least I still have a lot of questions.

This weekend I finished Angela's Ashes (was a chore, it been on my TBR forever)  and The Shape of Mercy - which was really good.

REK's post reminded me that I have the 3rd book  by Ariana Franklin, I may start that tonight.

I read Angela's Ashes several years ago, and while I didn't think it was awful, I wasn't too impressed, either.  I actually read it to see if my (much younger) brother might like it for his summer reading (nope).

I've decided to try and read through all the work of Martin Amis, and I'm working on The Information right now..  I think he may be at once the most brilliant and most unreadable author I've ever come across.

Now I am reading " A Dog's Purpose" which is good, but I think I liked "The Art of Racing in the Rain" better.

I worked on cleaning off my TBR today, and took down 10 books that I know I will never get around to reading.

I finished two books this week that I LOVED:

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty
Author: Tim Sandlin

This book has me laughing and laughing!  I am 56 years old and it is about baby boomers in a California nursing home in 2020.  OMG, this is funny stuff!

It is the perfect end of year book for me.  Fun and creative and just plain readable.