Constant Reader discussion

I finished Alex Berenson's The Counterfeit Agent, the latest (eighth book) in the series about CIA intelligence officer, John Wells. As the series has gone on, it has gotten more and more realistic. But don't start with this book. Start with the first one, The Faithful Spy. I enjoyed the latest book a good bit, but it does leave a lot of things unresolved. A ninth book is obviously coming.

Larry, thanks for the heads-up about which book to start with. I've been wanting to read Berenson, but wasn't sure where to begin.

I've wanted to ask you, Larry, what you thought of .1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed because it really interests me, but if you say it was lousy I won't buy it.

I've started In Sunlight and in Shadow, by Mark Helprin of Winter's Tale renown, not the one who co-authored Game Change. I'm very much enjoying his writing, so far. Perhaps evocative is the right word to describe what I like so far. It's a long book, so it will take me time to finish it, but I don't mind because I'm enjoying the ride

Liby,

The Berenson series of spy novels about John Wells is just great. There was point where Wells became almost super heroic in the earlier books and I really detested that. If I want to read a book about superheroes, I'll read a book about superheroes. But he has since turned Wells into a fairly flawed but still heroic figure. The tradecraft is also really quite accurate ... at least according to my Agency friends.

I really liked Eric Cline's 1177BC book, enough so that as soon as I finished it, I bought his The Trojan War. I have a problem with some popularized history books, mainly that you can get some very screwy ideas presented as if they are firmly established while they are really just extremely speculative. I think that Cline really does a superior job in presenting what is firmly established and what may be some reasonable guesses.

Helprin's writing is just stellar. I've read almost everything he has published (but not IN SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW which I have but haven't gotten around to yet) ... even his political writings which I don't always agree with. For almost 30 years, I've been telling people if they like 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE, they should try Helprin's first novel, Refiner's Fire.

BTW, Liby, the co-author of GAME CHANGE is Mark Halperin.

Wasn't going to readThe Interestings, but glad I relented. So far this book lives up to it's name.

Last night I finished Naoko by Keigo Higashino. A wonderful human mystery, beautifully and delicately done. My review, here... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Larry, in reverse order...THANK YOU for clarifying the difference in spelling! I should have checked my copy of the book...Thank you for the title of Helprin's first novel. I wasn't aware of it. 100 YEARS is one of my all-time favorites, so I'll have to look for it...Your assessment of some popular history books matches mine, so your recommendation of Cline's book delights me, and I'll get the book...I don't mind superhero spy types, but do prefer the more realistic when it's available. I'll keep Berenson's change of course in the series in mind in case the superhero gets on my nerves initially. Again, thanks, Larry!

Libyrinths wrote: "Larry, in reverse order...THANK YOU for clarifying the difference in spelling! I should have checked my copy of the book...Thank you for the title of Helprin's first novel. I wasn't aware of it. 10..."

Liby, I should have said as much as I liked REFINER'S FIRE, and I have read it three times, it is the least well written of Helprin's works. His writing has just gotten better and better over the years.

I don't often dip into the world of nonfiction but after reading a piece of my own writing to my Creative Writing Group I have been encouraged to read An Evil Cradling , Brian Keenan's autobiography of his time as a hostage in Beirut . I have just read a chapter entitled Into the Dark and in particular a section where he describes his euphoria at being presented by a bowl of fruit instead of the usual bread, egg and humous. The passage is all about how the colour of a simple orange transforms his cell and his mental and emotional state. If any of you have this on your shelf, unread, then I do recommend it, If you have it and haven't opened it for a while then open the paperback at page 75 and feast.

I'm about halfway through A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (Audio book performed by Jenna Lamia) – 4****
Of course I already knew the basic story of the famous couple who embodied the Jazz Age. Fowler has crafted a wonderfully personal story of a fascinating woman and the man she loved. She peppers the novel with real incidents and the large circle of friends and acquaintances that surrounded the Fitzgeralds. But it’s wise to remember that this a work of fiction, told strictly from Zelda’s point of view. Still, I was mesmerized. Jenna Lamia does a fine job narrating the audio version of the book. Her Southern debutante Zelda is spot on perfect.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just started C.J. Sansom's Dominion. In the book, the UK has capitulated to Nazi Germany right after Dunkirk. Churchill is in hiding and the Resistance to the Nazi controlled government is growing. Good reviews of this long (600 pages) book.

Larry wrote: "I just started C.J. Sansom's Dominion. In the book, the UK has capitulated to Nazi Germany right after Dunkirk. Churchill is in hiding and the Resistance to the Nazi controlled gove..."

Larry, I have read and enjoyed 1-5 of Sansom's Shardlake series, but haven't tried his others yet. Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.

I'm noshing on Lydia Davis's new collection Can't and Won't: Stories and burrowing through a huge pile of accumulated book reviews. Then I intend to bookend WWI with Tuchman's The Guns of Augustand Ekstein's Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age. Then I intend to get in my car and not come back for a while.

I became interested in the history of Mammoth Cave after we visited there last year--I hadn't been to the park since I was a child. Picked up The Longest Cave in the bookshop. A fascinating tale of the 20-year effort to connect the Flint Ridge Cave system with Mammoth Cave to prove it is the world’s longest cave. Brucker, a past president of the Cave Research Foundation paints a vivid and often scary look at the travails of the spelunkers who had to confront not only difficult passageways and dead ends, but the politics of the National Park System. The quest to discover new routes and to expand a cave system requires almost unimaginable daring and stoicism to this claustrophobic reader.

Charles wrote: "Then I intend to get in my car and not come back for a while. ..."

Safe travels, Charles.

I read Monica's Sister, Earl Emerson's latest in the Thomas Black series. Like putting on a comfortable old shoe.

I've finished A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot, a WWI novel, chronicling the search of a woman for her lost fiancé, and the truth of his death. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Have finished A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr, review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West, review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Also How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny...review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished reading a bevy of books by underrated women, all of which were very good:

The Golden Notebook (a re-read, and it holds up really well, even after more than ten years)

The Driver's Seat (but I always love Muriel Spark

Manservant and Maidservant (this was not what I expected, but was still extremely good)

and

A Misalliance (I find that Brookner is not that popular on this site, but this is my second of hers, and I find I really do like her).

Now I'm supposed to be reading The Recognitions. We'll see how that goes.....

I finished reading The Enchantress of Florence. . will be posting my review soon..

just started reading The Hound of Baskervilles the sherlok holmes # 5 by AC Doyle

Love The Golden Notebook. And Doyle is a lifelong passion.

Robert wrote: "Love The Golden Notebook. And Doyle is a lifelong passion."

I have heard that from many readers Robert..but this is my first read by Doyle :) I am not aware what books other than Sherlock he has authored..please recommend some other work by him

We read The Golden Notebook as an official book a while back. If anyone's interested, here's the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Holmes is Doyle's best -- he was prouder of his historical fiction, but I didn't find it compelling. As a boy, I enjoyed The Lost World, but Professor Challenger is nowhere near as interesting as Holmes and Watson.

I'm re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, and am struck again by the complexity and intense detail of the series. I don't know of any other writer who so completely immerses a reader in the authenticity and linguistic differences of a world he didn't inhabit while he wrote. But what strikes me even more is how O'Brian refuses to use a typical plot to drive his story -- he slips in and out of viewpoints, glides past scenes a less gifted writer would dwell on at length, and often renders major plot points by not describing them at all, except in the aftermath. Essentially, plot is just what happens, rather than what drives the reader. This is not to say he can't do action -- he does -- but that he is far more interested in how characters react to each other, and the observations that allows O'Brian, than anything we generally associate with a series.

Just read President Jimmy Carter's new book: A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. I have always admired him, especially all he has done since leaving office. The book is thoughtful, informative, and gives a truly international perspective.

I've finished two more, short ones by James Sallis. Drive and Driven. Fast paced neo-noir.
My reviews. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished The Great Night, by Chris Adrian. I am a huge fan of the realist novel and rarely read anything w/non-realist elements voluntarily. This extraordinary novel is the exception. It's set mostly in Buena Vista Park in San Francisco and features the fairies from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as characters, though it has mortals in it too. Comic in tone with some tragic scenes and a sad undercurrent, it's like nothing I've ever read before. I highly recommend it, though I should mention that it has a LOT of explicit sex, some of it comic and some of it potentially disgusting (depending on where your disgustometer registers). However, the book has a deeply moral core.

Have also lately finished A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY, but will save my two cents for the discussion. Still working on DANIEL DERONDA, am to page 600 of the 900 page novel. (Pant, pant.)

And then the floorboards of Kat's abode collapsed under the excessive weight of her many tomes, and she was never heard from again.

Joan wrote: "I became interested in the history of Mammoth Cave after we visited there last year--I hadn't been to the park since I was a child. Picked up The Longest Cave in the bookshop. A fasci..."

This sounds really interesting.

Cateline wrote: "Have finished A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr, review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West, review here. https://www.goodreads...."

Two more for the tbr ...

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman – 3***
In his fiction debut, physicist Lightman imagines the kinds of dreams Einstein might have had when he was working on his theory of relativity. This collection of essays on the “relativity of time” is engaging, interesting, fascinating, and thought-provoking. The writing is beautiful, with an ethereal quality reminiscent of dreams.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Book Concierge wrote: " Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman – 3***
In his fiction debut, physicist Lightman imagines the kinds of dreams Einstein might have had when he was working ..."
I read this memorable little gem some years go and was completely entranced by it. I loved its plotless vignette form

Just finished Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits. I loved it! To all of you who recommended that I start with this one - her first novel, thank you so much. I look forward to reading more of her works, in fact, probably all of them.

Nicole wrote: "And then the floorboards of Kat's abode collapsed under the excessive weight of her many tomes, and she was never heard from again."

LOL. I'm actually a very slow and easily distracted reader and have been on these same books FOREVER.

Just be careful out there, Kat. I'm reading a big fat Gaddis novel right now, and I am always careful to put on my safety harness.....

Gaddis does indeed require a harness lol

I had though finished reading The Enchantress of Florence in April but just wrote its review. Here is my review of the book for the Rushdie fans:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Gave up on Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk around p. 50.

I am doing something I rarely do. I am actually reading two books simultaneously. Number one Sweet Water and the next book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Slave Girl has been in my to be read pile a while. While the writing is not especially great, the subject matter is very interesting.

Geoff wrote: "Gave up on Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk around p. 50."

I finished it only because it was for my F2F book club. It does get a little better. But I really did not like it. Gave it only 2**.

I'm still in the early chapters of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but am becoming quite engrossed in it.

Lyn wrote: "I'm still in the early chapters of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but am becoming quite engrossed in it."

I read this a few months ago, I mostly enjoyed it. Some parts were hard to take.

I have finished Recoil by Jim Thompson. Excellent noir, but a little dated.
Right now I am reading Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. Loving it, so far.

Billy Lynn seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it books. It really did drag in the early pages (more than 50 I'd say) but I kept reading based on a couple of "best books" lists where I had first read about it. I was glad I did; in the end I liked it. Very memorable characters to me.

I finished C.J. Sansom's Dominion. Excellent alternate history where a Fascist England exists after capitulation to Nazi Germany. The book is a thriller set in that environment. Sansom does a great job of creating a sense of dread in the context of an ever tightening investigation by a Gestapo member sent to find a British scientist before he can be evacuated to the United States. I used to read a lot of alternate history SF novels, but there were just too many bad ones that turned me off the sub-genre. I think that one thing that happened was that some sf authors, e.g. Harry Turtledove, after writing some good ones like The Guns of the South, discovered that it was just as profitable to knock out some other ones as quickly as possible and that they sold just as well.

I had the exact same reaction to Turtledove. He just turned out dozens with little or no actual historical thought put into them.

Just finished The Hound of Baskervilles Sherlock Holmes #5. Gripping..and a page turner..3 stars

Have finished Recoil by Jim Thompson and The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
Reviews....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was feeling a lil low n distracted..though I took an off from work but could not take up any serious reading..I finished Adventures of Tintin : The Red Rackham's Treasure.. To my surprise I did a bit of work here..I downloaded pdf n created a mobi on kindle comic creator and read this. It was a light read but certainly not satisfying. Yet it reminded of childhood when I used to get so excited to read comic books including tintin, archies, astrix and some Indian comic books. It took me back to time of colours, creativity, juvinile thinking..haa haa