Vintage Tales discussion

Having read and liked a couple of books in Wolfpack Publishing's Avenging Angels series by A.W. Hart out of series order (long story!), Barb and I have decided to follow the series (she's an avid Western fan, and I enjoy these books as well). So we've started on the first book, Avenging Angels: Vengeance Trail. The actual author of this one is Peter Brandvold ("A. W. Hart" is a house pen name).

Late last year, as part of my ongoing challenge to support physical bookstores, I bought a copy of the anthology American Midnight: Tales of the Dark. Today, I've started reading it while I wait for an interlibrary loan book; since I might not finish it before the other book comes, it's on my "being read intermittently" shelf.

I'm still passing time waiting for an interlibrary loan book (the lending library sent the wrong book the first time; so, as movie directors might say, we're now on "Take #2" :-) ). So while I'm waiting, having finished two story collections, I've started on a third one, The Penguin Book of Horror Stories. This one is a lot thicker than the last two combined, so it will probably serve me through this situation and several more like it!

Back in the early 70s, I read a book by the 20th-century Chinese Christian leader and theologian Watchman Nee; but by the time I joined Goodreads in 2008, I no longer remembered the title. On my "read" shelf, it's listed as The Normal Christian Life (which is his best-known work). But I've begun to suspect that it was actually The Normal Christian Church Life; so I'm now reading the latter book to see if I recognize any of the text. (If it is the same book, after a lapse of 50 years or so, it needed a reread anyway!)

The forthcoming novel (expected publication date, Sept. 15 of this year) Victoria Unveiled, by my Goodreads friend Shane Joseph, is a near-future science fiction tale, dealing with the potential pitfalls of AI and sentient androids. Having received an e-ARC (to be deleted when read) from the author, I started on it today. (Reading in electronic format doesn't fit regularly into my schedule, so I have to grab time to do it when I can!)

I am rereading Anne of Green Gables and 2 Corinthians (Bible #47), ESV

My encounter with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith began as a pre-teen kid (which probably wasn't the best time of life to read it). I'd been listing it as "read," but I think I actually just skimmed some of the last chapters, rather than reading them, and don't remember the book very fondly. But I've long felt that to be fair to the author, I should read it with an adult's perspective; so I started on that read yesterday.

I'm reading For the Roses by Julie Garwood, which was given to me by a neighbor friend. This is a different genre than I normally read, so will see about this.

I'm reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Werner wrote: "My encounter with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith began as a pre-teen kid (which probably wasn't the best time of ..."

I love this book! I actually saw the black and white 1945 movie first which had me search for the book.

Katherine wrote: "I'm reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott"

I love Little Women! <3

Katherine wrote: "I'm reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott"

I love Little Women! <3

Janice wrote: "I love this book! I actually saw the black and white 1945 movie first which had me search for the book."

I've never seen the movie version. But I really like both the 1994 film adaptation of Little Women (the one starring Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon) and the book itself, which got four stars from me!

Janice wrote: "I love Little Women! <3"

I'm really enjoying it so far.

While on our recent road trip to visit family, Barb and I started a new "car book," Castle of Deception, co-written by Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman. This is a reread for us, though our first reading was back in the early 90s and we've forgotten much of the plot. Though both authors are veterans in the fantasy genre, so far this is the only novel I've read by either; but I've read single short stories by each of them in fantasy anthologies.

Barb and I got started today on a new book we're reading together, Caught in Crystal by one of my favorite fantasy authors, Patricia C. Wrede. (This is another one we read once before, back in the 90s, but are revisiting.) We read it as a standalone, having stumbled on it at a flea market; I only learned after joining Goodreads that it's the fourth book of the author's Lyra series, which I'm not familiar with otherwise.

I'm taking part in another group's July read of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré (and have started a little early). This is another reread for me, but my prior read was in the early 70s, and there are major gaps in my memory of the book. At the time, I didn't appreciate it much (I've never reviewed it, but I rated it at two stars); however, I've often wondered if I'd rate it higher now, if I read it with the added maturity I've gained since.

@Werner, I'm another who has been revisiting le Carre these past few years.. Loved Tinker and The Honourable Schoolboy. Find these novels have to be savoured for their intricacies.

Cphe wrote: "@Werner, I'm another who has been revisiting le Carre these past few years.. Loved Tinker and The Honourable Schoolboy. Find these novels have to be savoured for their intricacies."

Thanks for your feedback, Cphe; that's encouraging. And I love your profile picture! (I have an Aussie connection myself; our oldest daughter and her husband and their daughters live in Maryborough, Queensland, which is his home town.)

Werner wrote: "Janice wrote: "I love this book! I actually saw the black and white 1945 movie first which had me search for the book."

I've never seen the movie version. But I really like both the 1994 film adap..."

My favourite version of Little Women is the 1949 version but I haven't watched the 2019 version yet. :)

Katherine wrote: "Janice wrote: "I love Little Women!

I'm really enjoying it so far."

I hope you love it! :)

Werner wrote: "Cphe wrote: "@Werner, I'm another who has been revisiting le Carre these past few years.. Loved Tinker and The Honourable Schoolboy. Find these novels have to be savoured for their intricacies."

T..."

@Werner - Australia is a big country but we're a small world overall.

Cphe wrote: "Australia is a big country but we're a small world overall."

That's very true, Cphe!

@ Werner - am currently reading novels from the Virago and Modern Classics list.

Cphe wrote: "@ Werner - am currently reading novels from the Virago and Modern Classics list."

Cphe, I'm actually not familiar with either list. Do you have a link (assuming that Goodreads will let you post it)?

Reading with the Virago group here on GR's - all novels by women writers.

Okay, I understand now! For those interested, here's the link to that group's homepage: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... .

Janice wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Janice wrote: "I love Little Women!

I'm really enjoying it so far."

I hope you love it! :)"

Thanks Janice!
I've finished it. and as a whole I did love it!

Last year, I read and liked the first two books of my Goodreads friend G. K. Werner's The Clerk of Copmanhurst's Tales series, which I'm finding to be an excellent retelling of the Robin Hood legends. This year, I'm hoping to finish the four-book series; so to that end, I started today on the third book, Robin of Barnsdale: Tales of Maidens and Outlaws. (Technically, these books are story collections, but the stories form a closely-linked cycle.)

James Matthew Wilson has a reputation, in some intellectual circles that I respect, as a serious 21st-century voice in American poetry. I tried reading his first collection, Some Permanent Things (2014), back in 2020, but bailed on it before reading very far. But reading some favorable reviews of this collection, or of other work by him, convinced me that I should give him another chance, so I've now started reading it again.

In the past 24 hours, I've started reading (in different formats) two new books. Both of them happen to fall into the mystery genre.

I typically spend much of my evenings at the computer, usually on Goodreads. But our Internet connection was down last night, so I started reading a book on my Kindle app. The one I picked was Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon, the first book in her Miss Fortune Mysteries series. My Goodreads friend Monica gave this one five stars, which put it on my radar; and I'd downloaded the e-book edition some time ago when I discovered that the author offers it for free (as a teaser for the series).

The Barks and Beans Cafe' mystery series by Heather Day Gilbert is one that I've frequently mentioned here, since Barb and I are following it and have read the first six books together so far. We started on the seventh installment, Roast Date, this morning.

On Aug. 3, Barb and I plan to leave for another visit to the Harrisonburg, Virginia area. While we're there, I hope to do some reading in The Best Short Stories of O. Henry, which the public library in Harrisonburg has. But since the BU library has it too, I started this read of it (which will be my third, though I've never reviewed it) this week. This one goes onto my "being read intermittently" shelf.

I'm joining in another group's read of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Originally, I'd expected to start it later, since Barb and I had intended to be out of town for a few days. But our plans are up in the air now, and our departure has been at least delayed (if we go at all). So I've gone ahead and started on the read. It's actually a reread for me; but the first time was decades ago, so I'm very much looking forward to the refresher!

The collection The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories by Robert W. Chambers has been on my to-read shelf forever; and my appetite for reading it was further whetted earlier this year when I read his story "The Mask" (which was my first exposure to his work!). So I've finally begun reading it this afternoon. I'm interested in him both in his own right, and as an influence on H. P. Lovecraft, one of my favorite writers.

Being a longstanding horse lover, Barb's read a number of the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley, but mostly back in the 90s. I'd never read any of them myself, and didn't actually have any on my to-read shelf; but I suggested The Black Stallion Mystery (1957), the only one we own, as our next "car book," and we started on it yesterday. (It's the 13th book in the series, but I'm trusting that I can appreciate it as a stand-alone, and I think it will be another relatively quick read.

Ive started my reading journey with Don Quixote as I was told that it was one of the first modern novels. Im finding it quite comical with some links to the world as we know now. Lets see where the story goes.

I am rereading Sanditon: & Other Stories by Jane Austen and Philippians (Bible #50), ESV

Yesterday, I started reading a paperback ARC of The Guardian Initiative by Liane Zane (which actually just went on sale in that format today, though it's been available on Kindle a little longer). This was a kind gift from the author; it's the final book in her action-adventure/espionage trilogy The Unsanctioned Guardians. Both of the first two books got high ratings from me, and I expect that this one will as well!

I'm currently reading The Drift Fence by Zane Grey. I seem to have emerged finally from my reading slump. O Happy Day!

Gia wrote: " I seem to have emerged finally from my reading slump. O Happy Day!"

We're happy for you, Gia!

Back in January, my Goodreads friend Charles Van Buren gave five stars to the (77-page) novella Miss Knight and the Night in Lagos by Vered Ehsani, who was born in South Africa, but now lives in Kenya. That put it on my radar; and since it's free for Kindle, I downloaded it to my Kindle app. Since my Internet access was down yesterday over breakfast (which I eat at my computer), I started reading it to pass the time. :-)

Barb and I decided that we weren't invested enough in The Black Stallion Mystery to continue with it. Instead, we've started on Shade Grown, the next installment of the Barks and Beans Cafe' mystery series by my Goodreads friend Heather Day Gilbert. Since we've already read seven previous books in that series together, it's been mentioned fairly often on this thread. :-)

Ryan J. Stark, an English professor at Corban Univ. in Oregon, was kind enough recently to send the BU library (where I work) an unexpected donation of his book A Guidebook to Monsters: Philosophy, Religion, and the Paranormal. Since it's short and I was intrigued by the subject matter, and since I wanted to show appreciation for the gift, I've now started reading it.

William J. Laurence (who's a Goodreads member, but not officially a "Goodreads author") and I are in another Goodreads group together; and through a discussion on one of the threads there, I became interested in his short treatise, The Purposeful Love of God: Seeing God's Love from His Perspective. I was recently able to purchase a copy online, and started reading it earlier today.

Right now, I'm taking part in another group's common read of The Jewel of Seven Stars (1904) by Bram Stoker. With this novel, as he did on a larger scale with Dracula, Stoker took an idea that had been written about before (in this case, reanimated Egyptian mummies) and gave it a definitive literary treatment which became the dominant influence for all of the subsequent portrayals in drama and fiction.

Starting this past Saturday, I'm taking part in another group's common read of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. (This is a new read for me; it's my ambition to eventually read all of Dickens' novels, and I have quite a few to go!) I'm late in joining in; the read officially started on Sept. 22. But the group as a whole is reading very slowly, only a chapter a day (to facilitate deep discussion, and emulate the serial experience of the first readers), so I'm confident of my ability to catch up.

Ever since the BU library acquired a copy of The Mark of Zorro (1919) by Johnston McCulley, I've had it in mind as a possible book for Barb and I to read together; and we finally started on it this morning. Although McCulley originally created the iconic character of Zorro in magazine stories, this novel was probably the primary impetus for the subsequent movie/TV adaptations and spinoffs that made the character an enduring part of U.S. pop culture.

Although I've liked a couple of short stories by Zora Neale Hurston, I've never read any of her long fiction. Late last year, I resolved that 2024 would be the year I finally read her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. With the end of the year fast approaching, that's been, as the British would say, "a close-run thing;" but I finally started on it this morning!

That's an amazing book, Werner!

Rosemarie wrote: "That's an amazing book, Werner!"

I'm favorably impressed with it so far!