What Are You Reading?

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts.

Believe it or not, I'm not one of those who needs to be the center of attention. I don't need to hear myself talk. I realize that since I came back to blogging a month ago that it has been me, me, me, all the time. With that in mind, let's talk about authors other than myself. At least for today... wink.

In the past few years I have been reading a ton, as you will soon see! When I was a kid - teens and early twenties, it was pretty much all horror. I'm still easily tempted by a good ghost story; however, these days, I find myself shying away from anything gratuitous. I'm heavy into thrillers, suspense and mysteries. It was also much later that I began to make a conscious effort to reach for the classics. I will also take a break, give myself a brain cleanse by reading something different. It could be a romance or drama or a biography. So, I will plan to share this journey perhaps every couple of months.

According to Goodreads, in '22, I only managed to read 25 books.

In '23, that number jumped to 52 books.

In '24, 68 books.

Last year, 95 books. So far, at the time of this writing, I'm at 46. We'll see what happens when I start writing my next novel later this summer. I imagine reading will slow down, but we'll see.

Like most of us, I cut my teeth on Uncle Stevie. Recently, however, and partly because I hadn't been reading at all for a long time, I came back to him late 2023 with Mr. Mercedes. I was floored! I swallowed that series whole. This past February, I came back for more with the books featuring Holly Gibney. So good! I inhaled those too, between February 1st and 13th. All four.

Nobody pays me to be a critic. If I do not like a book, I may very well walk away and say nothing. There's enough negativity in this world without me adding to it. Sometimes, it happens with authors I have met online. There's a couple recently that readers had raved over their books, but I did not like them at all. Newcomer Alison Lyle is NOT one of them. This talented author has been rapid-fire publishing one after another in the past year or so, but they have all been quality writing with twists and turns you often will be surprised by. Her latest is no exception. If you like those twisty reads, check her out.

I finally took the plunge to see just what all of the hype was about with Wuthering Heights. I'm afraid I still don't know. My problem isn't that the book is mostly mean. I guess it is that they spin it like some great love story when it seemed to me to be anything but. It was also written a very long time ago, so I felt like I needed a dictionary on nearly every page. Now, I will say that there is a ghost of something there; almost a feeling that I could understand if I try again at some point in the future. I think I will. On the other hand, soon after reading that, I jumped over to The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. That one I really enjoyed. No chase scenes. No explosions. No blood spilt. Just quality writing.

Sometimes I notice a book like it's stalking me. It's in every window. Every Shelf. Every add. There it is again on the floor between men's pants and belts. Kidding of course, but you get the picture. Most times, like now, I hate myself for waiting so long. In 2024, it was Where the Crawdads Sing. I saw it everywhere, but never read it. Until I did. I loved that book and didn't stop talking about it for weeks. Last year, it was The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. This year, it was The Butterfly Garden. I was blown away by that one and recently read book 2. 

Another one that stalked me for a while was The Housemaid. This one was funny because I was not enjoying myself at all for the first third of that book. It felt like when a character is snooping around someone's bedroom or office on tv and you just know they are going to get caught - and you find yourself squirming. I was squirming and second-guessing myself dreadfully on that one until that twist came and my head was blown! Wait! What? Once I got to that point and I realized the author had played me masterfully, I happily raced through it. I'm looking forward to more. 

  

Oh, Joe Hill! I guess we shouldn't be shocked at the quality of the writing or the imagination. What stories did that kid's dad read to him? He may not call himself Mr. King, but he definitely is one. I haven't loved everything I have read from him, but they are always one helluva ride. I thought Horns was fantastic, especially the humor. I don't have that much hair left, but the lady who cuts what I do have, strongly recommended King Sorrow as one of her favorites. She wasn't wrong. It's a long book, but I did enjoy that one week this past April.

I should tell you that for the first time in my life I DNF'd a book. I won't tell you what it was. Prior to that one, I would skim on my trusty Kindle just to at least get to the end to see what happened. This time, facing a long Memorial Day weekend, I decided I was not going to skim through the last two days - wasting them, when I wasn't enjoying myself. So, I quit and found something far more enjoyable. Does this mean I'm growing?

Before we get to some honorable mentions, I found myself pleasantly surprised by someone I had never heard of. I happened to scroll by author Christopher Swann's Substack account and noticed he had a sale going on that particular week. I looked up A Fire in the Night and thought it sounded interesting, so I replied that he had talked me into it. This was last month. A week or so later, I opened it and killed it in two days. Wow! The main character felt a bit to me like Tom Hank's movie version of Robert Langdon with Liam Neeson's special set of skills from the film Taken. He's not exactly Jason Bourne, but he can kick some ass when forced to. Not only that, I thoroughly enjoyed the interplay between the main character and his niece. Highly recommend.

Okay. I also highly enjoyed the following:

Pilate's Key & Pilate's Ghost in the J. Alexander John Pilate series. 

The Perfect Marriage and The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose. What's not to love about those bleeding book covers? Am I right?

The Gospel According to Luke by Toto Guitarist Steve Lukather. That cat literally played on everybody's record back in the day. And how about that book title?

Asteroid Outpost: Nick Walker UF Marshall #1. I don't usually read science fiction, but this is that without monsters, and the dialogue is so very good.

Jenny Cooper Has A Secret by Joy Fielding. Both gripping and hilarious.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I didn't even recognize who that author was. I had forgotten about hearing his name while reading Drood by Dan Simmons, the fictionalized account of the last five years in the life of Charles Dickens and his unfinished novel as told from the Collins' viewpoint. Shame on me because I still own that paperback copy and should have known this.

Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson.

Okay, enough of that. I need to get back to the book I'm currently reading.

We'll talk soon