Sacramento Public Library discussion

What books are you starting off the new year with? Which ones would you recommend? Please share with a comment below.

I just finished reading Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I plan on reading the rest of this series this month. Two more full length books and two novellas. I really loved the first book and I think I'll enjoy the other two as well.

I'm juggling a couple of books at once:

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest is an alternate history, steampunk Civil War story about a Virgina nurse who receives word that her estranged father is dying and she decides to travel west to see him. Oh, and there are zombies.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight follows Amelia's mother as she tries to reconstruct the last days (or more) of her daughter's life before Amelia committed suicide...or did she?

I'm starting the month by listening to "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in audio format. Meanwhile I'm finishing up reading "The Radleys" by Matt Haig while waiting for my copy of "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence to arrive.

I have started the year reading some YA novels by Michael Grant. I just finished #3 of the Magnificent 12 and began #4 today. I may start next on his BZRK series. I finished last year with some "heavier" novels, notably "Earth Abides" and needed to lighten things up a bit. YA novels are always a safe route for me as I know they are going to "PG" rated and I like Michael Grant's sense of humor. I will also start "Elegy Beach" next week.

John wrote: "I'm starting the month by listening to "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in audio format. Meanwhile I'm finishing up reading "The Radleys" by Matt Haig while waiting for my..."
WOW, It has been probably 20 years since I read "The Mote in God's Eye". Your post got me thinking about it and I barely remember it. So now, I have to reread it. lol. I own it, so I will have to finish the library books I have out first, but then this.

I started Marisha Pessl's Night Film on New Year's Day. Wow - I'm really loving it so far!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tart and loving the Armand Gamache dries by Louise Penny.

I finished anatomy of a boyfriend, and started reading landry park.

I finished Night Film yesterday--wow! What an incredible book! I started Christopher Reich's The Prince of Risk but really want to reread Night Film.

I am reading The Book Thief for a book club and I am impressed with how easily I was sucked into the story! I have heard lots of good things about the Goldfinch, I hope I can manage to get it from the library soon.

Loved the Book Thief! Couldn't put it down but am uninterested in seeing the movie. Didn't care for Night Film... Liked it in the beginning but fell out of like in second half.

Reading "The Lincoln Deception" for my historical fix and "Black Lament" for my sci-fi fix. Also reading J.D. Robb's short story "Taken in Death" and Ann Rule's "Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors" for my crime fix. The books are way better than TV right now! Looking forward to reading more new books this month.

Wow, you are all reading so many good books! Reconstructing Amelia sounds good Angie and I keep seeing advertisements for Goldfinch, Hallie, so I may end up getting to that this year. I also want to read The Book Thief this year too as well as begin the Uglies series.

Right now I am reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier in audiobook format as well as Books 33-36 of the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne in audiobook format with the kids. I am also reading an e-book called The Rockin' Chair by Steven Manchester and a paperback novel I won from Goodreads called The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee.

It's fun having all three formats of books available to me :)

I am working my way through two door stoppers right now.

The Invention of Murder: how the Victorians revelled in death and detection and invented modern crime by Judith Flanders is the first one. It is a must for any mystery reader as it traces the impact of major crimes in literature. I did not know how much Charles Dickens ripped his plots from the headlines!

The second book is Dangerous Women edited by George RR Martin. It's a collection of short stories featuring women, as you might imagine from the title. (And yes it includes a new story from Martin himself) I use it to break up the dense scholarly reading of the previous book.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

I need something a little more substantial though.

Brendle wrote: "I am working my way through two door stoppers right now.

The Invention of Murder: how the Victorians revelled in death and detection and invented modern crime by Judith Flanders is the first one...."

Have you read Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell? It stars Thomas De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, helping Scotland Yard track down a copycat killer. I thought it was great fun, and it be might be especially enjoyable after reading Invention….

Chip wrote: Have you read Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell?"

No, I haven't but I shall add it to my list. Invention of Murder did cover the Ratcliff incident so that will be interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!
I did come across another crime in Invention which I had already read about in detail in another book, the murder of Saville Kent at Road Hill, in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
Really, the whole book was fascinating as it demonstrated how these various notorious crimes impacted British society and spread through custom, media, culture and ultimately institutions with the creation of detection and a professional police force. It isn't a quick read, but it is a good one.

I recently found e-book versions of "The Time Master Trilogy," by Louise Cooper. It's one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. The titles, "The Initiate," "The Outcast," and "The Master," were all published sometime in the 1980s and have been out of print since. Right away I started reading "Initiate," the first book in the series, and put aside what I'd actually planned to read, "Prince of Thorns," for a little later.

If you ever come across "The Time Master Trilogy," I highly recommend the books. Instead of good vs. evil, it's order vs. chaos, where order equals peace but rigid, autocratic control; and chaos equals randomness, violence, but also growth and individual freedom.

Because of my new obsession with the Sherlock series, I've started reading/listening to the Arthur Conan Doyle's originals. They're just wonderful, and I doubt I'll move on to anything else until I've read them all.

Just finished Night Film by Marisha Pessl. I started out loving it - I really like Pessl's style - but it got a little too long and a little too weird, and I saw how it was going to end way too soon. Three-and-a-half to four stars (out of five).

I'm now reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman - our daughter just got a job as second assistant editor on the film version. (And after Night Film this is refreshingly short!)

@Chip That is exactly how I felt about Night Film. The first half I was recommending it to friends, second half I was contacting friends to take back my recommendation.

I tried and tried to finish S. (The J.J. Abrams book) and failed. I just couldn't get into it. I'm a critical thinking type reader and all, but the jumping around just got me frustrated (It is Abrams after all). I love his other works, but I think this one required too much "work".

I've since turned that one away and started reading Marty Sklar's new book "Dream it! Do it!". It talks about his time working for the Disney Company, his time with Walt, and being one of the lead players in keeping Disneyland afloat in it's first few years. The man is a true Disney legend.

I have been reading Guy in real life...very interesting with online role playing & D & D game playing .

I'm reading two books right now...Endless Knight by Kresley Cole and I just started Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins. Both YA.

I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for one of my nursing classes.

I just finished "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" by Ben Fortune. Wow! This amazing novel examines our involvement in Iraq from the point of view of a 19-year-old enlistee who is on a "heroes' tour" across the US with other members of his unit. The final stop before heading back to war is a Dallas Cowboys football game on Thanksgiving Day. A very powerful read!

Some time last week, I finished Gayle Forman's If I Stay - very much a "teen girl's" novel. I'm clearly not in the target demographic. It seemed very "Hallmark Movie of the Week" to me - sappy, predictable, wearing its heart on its sleeve. Meh… (I read it because our daughter is working on the the film version that's currently in production.)

Then I read The Dinner by Herman Koch. The narrator has a delicious, cynical, urbane wit, and can't stand his politician older brother. The story has a lot of surprises and I can't say much more about it without spoiling some of them. I'll just say that it is definitely a European story. If you're hoping for a happy ending, you probably won't like it. It's a grim, but somehow entertaining, look at human nature and motives.

Now I'm about 90 pages into Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore and loving it. There are lots of little geek-treats in it (like references to Reverse Polish Notation and a witty riff on different programming languages) but it seems to me that it should appeal to a much wider audience with its charming characters and clever story-telling. It's a lot of fun!

poppy wrote: "Because of my new obsession with the Sherlock series, I've started reading/listening to the Arthur Conan Doyle's originals. They're just wonderful, and I doubt I'll move on to anything else until I..."
A few semesters back, I wrote a paper for Eng.Lit. class that showed the co-relation between the new movie and the original works by Sir Arthur. I am so glad that two television series have been spawned by the renewed interest in my favorite detective. I am so happy that people still find Sherlock Holmes viable. He was the first CSI detective! Sometimes the old Sherlock movies are on at night and there are some on Netflix as well. I am in constant need of a Sherlock Holmes fix.

I am reading "Outliers" as the TA for a ENGWR class and I am dtermined not to read ahead so that I can answer the students questions appropriately. I finished "Guilt" by Kellerman and am trying to finish "The Final Cut" by Coulter. I will look into the two crime books, since they come so highly recommended. Has anyone read the book on Anne Perry--convicted murderess and now best selling fiction novelist?