By Sherry
Okay, Wickeds we haven’t talked about what we are reading in a long time. This is perfect reading weather, so what are you reading and why did you pick the book?
Edith: Right now, having finished an ARC of Catriona McPherson’s Quiet Neighbors (LOVED it) and Gigi Pandian’s The Masquerading Magician (also LOVED it), I’m reading G.M. Malliet’s new book, The Haunted Season. I scored the copy at the midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, but I would have read it, anyway. I love the series. And now I can picture Grantchester as Max Tudor. ;^)
Jessie: I just finished Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart. It was a great read and I just 
loved the cover!
Yesterday I started The Witch of Lime Street: Seance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World by David Jaher. So far it has been really a great read.
Liz: I just finished Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. I’m a huge Connolly fan, and this one didn’t disappoint. I think it hit a world record for number of deaths, though! Next up – more Liane Moriarty. I absolutely loved Big Little Lies and now I want to read everything else she’s written. I think The Husband’s Secret is next!
Sherry: I just finished What You See by Hank Phillippi Ryan. It’s great and Hank’s books just keep getting better and better! I also just read Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger — what beautiful writing. He’s going to be the guest of honor at Crime Bake this year so I wanted to read him before then. Now I’m reading the nonfiction book Story: Subsance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screen Writing by Robert McKee. It’s giving me a lot to think about.
Barb: I have been reading The Words in My Hand, by Guinevere Glasfurd. It’s an amazing book about Helena Jans, a housemaid in 1600s Holland who became the lover of Rene Descartes and the mother of at least one child by him. The work is historical fiction, much of the record has been lost, though it does honor the facts that are known. One of the most intriguing questions–Descartes and Jans carried on a correspondence for years, but why was a housemaid in 1600s Holland literate in the first place? The book is only available in the United Kingdom, Germany and a few other countries so far, but I hope it comes out here because it is beautifully, beautifully written. It has been tearing it up in the UK, including being named January Book of the Month in the Times of London. The author, who lives in Cambridge, England, is a work friend of mine from a business totally unrelated to fiction writing, but I do remember when neither of us was published, walking around Manhattan wondering if it would ever happen.
Readers: What are you reading? How did you decide to read it?
I’m reading Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron as I make my way through all the Agatha Award-nominated books in anticipation of voting at Malice Domestic.
On my list!
Most recently I read American Passage, which is non-fiction (gasp!), by Katherine Grandjean, a history professor. She writes about how 17th-century settlers in the colonies communicated with each other and with their home countries, while surrounded by unknown wilderness and hostile natives. Clearly rumors and paranoia about what was going on are nothing new!
I like it.
Just finished Beach Plum Island by Holly Robinson and enjoyed it so much! Not just for the sense of place, but for the rich interplay of characters. I met Holly at a signing at Inkwood Books in Tampa. (She mentioned you fondly, Edith!)
NIce! She’s a good friend. I can easily recommend all her books.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. A friend, a retired librarian, is giving a community talk about this book and asked me to read it and attend the presentation. It is a book that we all should read – we all get older.
I totally agree, Gram. Very important read.
Ohmygoodness. Every time I read this blog my TBR gets longer and longer. I can’t even see the end of it at this point. Thank you all, and thanks to the commenters, too, for their wonderful suggestions!
Isn’t that the truth! It’s impossible to keep up!
Having finished a reread of Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer by Dorothy Gilman over the weekend, I’m about to finish rereading The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire (Trixie Belden #34). It’s ironic that I had two rereads in a row since I actually rarely reread any books at all.
Next, I’ll be moving on to new material with The Big Chili by Julia Buckley.
I haven’t read a Mrs. Pollifax in years!
I’m reading Kernel of Truth by Kristi Abbott. I decided to try it because I love gourmet popcorn, and the cover was eye catching. So far it is very good!
I love the covers too!
I’ve been using my slow cooker a lot lately, so I’ve been reading a slow cooker cookbook I downloaded for free from Amazon. Keeping with the food theme, I’m also reading “Fry Another Day”, one of J.J. Cook (Joyce and Jim Lavene)’s Biscuit Bowl food truck mysteries. Somehow I missed it when it first came out. And I just started listening to “The Rowan” by Anne McCaffrey.
More books to look for!
I just finished Sheila’s A Gala Event (yay, Sheila! Loved it!), and now I’m reading Laura Bradford’s A Churn for the Worse. I also have Daphne duMaurier’s Rebecca going, in anticipation of attending a talk by our friend Leslie Wheeler next week.
The talk and books sound wonderful!