What Am I Reading?

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts.

This has been and will continue to be a busy three weeks for me. I am nearing the 20k mark on draft one of Dance on Fire 4 and, no, it won’t be titled that. I feel like I’m finding the groove on being productive now. Attempting to write at the end of the evening wasn’t working because I was too tired to care. Now I’m using that hour between the workout and dinner and it seems to be working. At the same time, I have had an author event at a local Barnes & Noble on Halloween Day and am scheduled for two more events at local libraries. The last one is on the 21^st. Once those are over, I plan to tell you all about them – how they came about/how successful they were - but that will likely be in early December.

In the meantime, let’s talk about books. I love the “creating something out of nothing” part about writing. It’s fabulous. However, it causes me to have to get creative about finding time to read. I do have my trusty Kindle with me at work, and it is within arm’s reach at home. I read in bed until the eyelids begin to droop, but that makes it hard to finish books as quickly as I’d like to. Yet, I have managed to find and read some really good books since we last discussed the subject in June. The following are the highlights:

The Collector Series. Last time, I told you about finally discovering Dot Hutchison’s The Butterfly Garden. That book was crazy good and I finished the series. I loved book 3, The Summer Children, giving it five stars. I also enjoyed how the series ended with The Vanishing Season.

Oh, John Pilate, you crazy son of a gun, you. This is a good series by J. Alexander Greenwood. It’s very inventive and doesn’t simply copy what works for the same genre. It’s quality writing and very well done.

I picked up my first Kate Atkinson, Case Histories, with her unlikely hero Jackson Brodie. I loved this first one and quickly moved on to the next two in the series. The word “quickly” might be the problem because I found that I wasn’t quite as impressed with those. Then, about the middle of book 3, it dawned on me just how genius she was. Potentially, I was just too much in a hurry and wasn’t actually savoring them. With Atkinson, I fear one can’t read it like its standard fair. It’s too genius for that. I promise to slow down for the next one.

The Witch of the Dark Wood by Sarah Van Goethem. I adored this book! As I wrote in my review, “There is something magical about art that appeals to both children and adults… With books, it is very rare. It has only happened once before with me and that was with Clive Barker's The Thief of Always. Although I grew up with Barker's horror novels, it was Thief that captivated me. It was spooky, but heart-warming. I couldn't wait to read it to my sons once they were old enough… (This book) is worthy to be mentioned in the same breath. It is well paced and well written, has great characters full of depth and emotion, dealing with adult problems. It touches those nerve endings that crave spooky atmosphere, and most importantly of all, grab you by the heart at the end and bring real tears to the eyes… Such a well-conceived story!” What’s funny is I inexplicably found myself drawn to it the first time I saw it. It was magnetic. I almost bought it three different times before I finally succumbed to temptation. It wasn’t something that I normally would have reached for, but I just couldn’t shake it. Ordained by a higher power, was it…?

Having grown up in the late 70’s and early 80’s and having cut my teeth on Stephen King, you might be surprised to hear that I skipped Carrie back in the day. I can’t explain it. Perhaps I was a teen boy who was not interested in reading about a teen girl. I don’t know. In any event, I finally read this and thoroughly enjoyed it. Shame on me for not trusting Uncle Stevie.

I really don’t think I have been disappointed in a Robert Harris novel yet, especially his historical thrillers. I just finished Conspirata and am currently reading book 3. This is a novel of ancient Rome and has been very interesting to read about famous names we grew up with like Cicero, Caesar and Mark Antony.

This might be only the second Koontz book I have ever read, and I’m not sure why that is. It definitely whet my appetite for more.

Okay, before I go, let’s have the Honorable Mentions:

The Housemaid’s Secret (The Housemaid 2) by Freida McFadden.

The Shadow Friends (The Martini Club 3) by Tess Gerritsen.

Welcome to Your Life: Love, Death & Tears for Fears by Roland Orzabal. We love Tears for Fears in our house. We finally got to see them in concert several years ago after Curt rejoined.

What I Did by Alison Lyle

Have you read any of these? Agree? Disagree?

Well, back to reading…

We’ll talk soon.