I'm watching a lot of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime lately and everybody else probably is, too. I'm also using the time at home to catch up on reading books I have stockpiled and never gotten around to. I've read 3 James Michener books: Alaska, Texas, and Centennial. And next I'm starting on my James Lee Burke books. I really like his Dave Robicheaux books. I think I've read all the Dave books except the 3 I have now: The Glass Rainbow, Creole Belle, and Swan Peak. Is anybody else reading anything they really like?

@roflwofl wrote:

I've read 3 James Michener books: Alaska, Texas, and Centennial. Is anybody else reading anything they really like?

Have you read Michener's Iberia or The Drifters? Both of them are very good.

I read Iberia back when I was in college. It was very good. I haven't read The Drifters. I'll put that on my list.

I remember devouring the Michener books years ago. That was also the stage when I was devouring Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, despite his flawed science. More recently I have consumed Jean Auel's Earth's Children series and only this year picked up the last of the series, The Land of Painted Caves. On the flip side I have finally finished the John Grisham books collected from garage sales that will head off for Goodwill without regret. He had a couple of good tales and a whole lot of 'why bother'?

Yes! Some of Grisham's work is great and I hate finishing the book and some are just meh. I loved The Painted House and the Runaway Jury and The Client. I even thought the movie made from The Client was great and I don't usually like movies from books I've read.

A few authors I'd recommend for passing time during the Sorry, The USA is Closed experience: Jodi Picoult, though I wouldn't read them one after the other as they begin to sound formulaic. Andromeda Strain by Michael Creighton for a late 60s look at how an extraterrestrial organism causes deadly havoc and how a scientific team finds the way out. Other Creighton books, too, though they also can begin to sound formulaic. James Rollins for fast paced (no critical thought allowed) action adventure. David L Goleman, more action adventure with a mythological twist. Octavia Butler, author of some amazing and thought provoking science fiction. 13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks and others. This one is about oddities of science and the natural world that don't have a ready explanation. Fun read.

I've been hitting up the curbside libraries around my house. So far I've gone through Wicked. a couple of books that were on Reese's Bookclub list, one recommended by my downstairs neighbor that ended up being a formulaic romance (and got put back in the box halfway through, the original Freakonomics (a little dated, but still fascinating). Now I'm halfway through The Life of Pi, which I'm finding hard to put down.

I've read 7 books so far. Older ones that I got for free. I do love reading a book. My sis only listens to books, but I have no taste for that.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean. It’s about the 1986 fire at the LA public library that burned at 2,000 degrees for 7 hours and destroyed 400,000 books. It also is a cool insight on how libraries are built, history of libraries and the public, and how they are managed. The audio book is narrated by the author, she’s not the best audio book narrator, but once engrossed in the story I can get past it.

It is funny about books. My kids are quite comfortable reading them on tablets and such, but I think I will never quite get over the comfort of curling up with a hot or cold (depending on the season) beverage on the table beside me with a plate of a couple of cookies and paper pages to be turned. On many occasions, cookies and beverage long gone, I have closed the book and been a little surprised that dawn was breaking.

I read Wicked a few months ago and liked the idea but not the style. My favorite book over the past couple of years was Carl Zimmer's "She Has Her Mother's Laugh". It is a layman's look at how we have fumblingly processed through our understanding of genetics from early heraldic crests through the mapping of the human genome and on into the potentials of CRISPR. I am a science nerd to start with and for me it was the perfect nerdly experience.

As a Floridian, I am especially drawn to Florida authors who incorporate known Florida sites into their work. John McDonald had a mystery series with his hero/investigator, Travis McGee, that was lots of fun. Piers Anthony has his Xanth series, which has a handful of more recent books I need to get my hands on. Carl Hiaasen was a columnist for the Miami Herald and adeptly weaves the Good Old Boy political corruption of Florida into his books while telling a good tale.

So you've read Tim Dorsey then, right? Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, a bunch more. All the Florida sites and noir you could want.

@Flash wrote:

As a Floridian, I am especially drawn to Florida authors who incorporate known Florida sites into their work. John McDonald had a mystery series with his hero/investigator, Travis McGee, that was lots of fun. Piers Anthony has his Xanth series, which has a handful of more recent books I need to get my hands on. Carl Hiaasen was a columnist for the Miami Herald and adeptly weaves the Good Old Boy political corruption of Florida into his books while telling a good tale.

@panama18 wrote:

So you've read Tim Dorsey then, right? Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, a bunch more. All the Florida sites and noir you could want.

No, I've missed those. Certainly will check them out! Thanks

Between Kindle and Calibre I have hundreds of books I haven't read but I'm rereading Moby Dick and eyeing The Once and Future King.

Apparently I spent a lot of time on shopping-related stuff.

The perfect child, A simple favor, The overdue life of Amy byler, a year of extraordinary moments, the girl who lived, and postcards from a stranger.

My post from yesterday has not appeared. Perhaps this post will appear at some point in time.

This week, I have war history and biography. Next week, I will have several successive generations of science books and books on topics which should not be mentioned or discussed in this forum.

I am listening/reading Longmire series, Irish Country Doctor series, The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I was listening to books while commuting, now find them handy while doing things at home.

Unfortunately, the library doesn't put them all on audio e-books so I have to read some.

I just finished reading Sharp Objects. Found it very disturbing and am done with that author! But I didn't mind watching the mini-series

Miss Emilie Seton! The retired British art teacher uses her skills to portray scenes. Her work is keen and incisive, and her renditions lead to the discovery of whodunit. Heron Carvic (and Hamilton Crane) wrote this artsy old series.

Amy Tan "The Valley of Amazement" was so good. John Grisham "The Rooster Bar" was eeehhhh. I used to enjoy his books so much more. My friend just dropped off Shari Lapena " The Couple Next Door." Having difficulties getting into it.

The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency: I was just going to start this book later today.

How could I have forgotten about Amy Tan?

I loved the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series so much. I finished them all and started reading his other books. Our libraries are all closed and I'm dying to get back to reading real life books. I spend enough time on the computer/phone, I don't want to spend another few hours reading a book on there.

My sis says that #1 Ladies is the second in the series. Is it? I loved it...so refreshingly different and loved the lilt of the writing too.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
Tears of the Giraffe (2000)
Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
The Full Cupboard of Life (2004)
In The Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004 – also known as The Night-Time Dancer)
Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)
The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010)
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (2011)
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (2012)
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (2013)
The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe (2014)
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (2015)
Precious and Grace (2016)
The House of Unexpected Sisters (2017)
The Colours of All the Cattle (2018)
To the Land of Long Lost Friends (2019)

From Wikipedia

I read some of the AMS books and enjoyed their gentle ministrations. Like a Botswanian breeze, only dedicated to print and not to the whims of the air, the small and large ideas waft and await our interest. Should we invite, they alight soft as a butterfly, rendering us with a desire for more. Or something. I have not dipped into all the series, but I will do that someday.

I read mostly She Has Her Mother's Laugh kind of books

@trotons wrote:

I read mostly She Has Her Mother's Laugh kind of books

I like the title. Haven't heard of it.

I read Ash Princess, Lady Smoke and Ember Queen by Laura Sebastian. I wish I could find something similar!!!

Now I'm reading The Selection on my Kindle. I will read the next ones too.

Has anyone read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins? That sounds good...President Snow as a teenager. prequel to Hunger Games.

Now, I am reading Behind Enemy Lines by Marthe Cohn. Seems good. She is a real person and still alive!

I am currently reading:

Non-Fiction (Re)reading:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Letters on the Elements of Botany: Addressed to a Lady.
[As an undergraduate, years ago, I read an 1815 printing of Martyn Thomas' 1785 translation. I am now reading the 2000 translation by Cook and Marshall. Its nice to read not only a slightly more modern translation, but to read it for fun rather than scholarship.]

Non-Fiction (Reading for the first time):
John Dean, Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers (2020)
Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values (2020)


Fiction (Reading for the first time):
Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (1895)
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, The Return of the Deputy (1790)