What are you currently reading?

[QualityBookReviews]

An open discussion on what everyone is currently reading. Make recommendations to others, discuss what is new, hot, bestsellers, anything and everything related to books and the authors.

[Luke]

the Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

First person monologue from an upper middle class Pakistani who went to Princeton and gets a top drawer job. 911 comes along and his cosy Western world experience is shattered. I read it from the perspective of a pro USA white Brit who has been several times to Pakistan. The guy becomes one of Dubbya's 'enemies' and the monologue is addressed to the man who has come to assassinate him...or?

[I. J. Parker]

Colin Harrison, THE FINDER. Readable but not particularly addictive or memorable. Too many little bitty choppy section/POV changes.

[K Barrett]

Finished listening to 'Daemon' by Daniel Suarez. A prose video game. Well, that's too easy. Video game but with far reaching implications in terms of how computers run our lives. The Terminator's 'SkyNet' but v 2.0. A bit more scary than Jeff Deaver's attempt at computer crime, too. Another instance of the author getting many balls in the air, you can see many ways for the plot to twist, you fear for the character's lives. Will 'A' happen? Will 'B', 'C' or 'D'? And then the book ends.... I'm not sure what teh *f* happened.

Going through 'Lost City of 'Z'' and enjoying it. Liked 'River of Doubt' better, but this one ain't bad.

[Karen from AustCrime]

JF The Paris Enigma by Pablo De Santis which was light and amusing and okay, but then I read The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (first in the series but just translated which is just unfathomable) - but it was really good - Vargas does quirky characters (well eccentric really) incredibly well. Currently - Pat Flower's Criss Cross.

[I. J. Parker]

Listening to a Tom Sharpe novel in the car, and decided to buy a couple of his from Amazon. One needs a good laugh now and then. Reading Val McDermid's A DARKER DOMAIN.

[HappyRuby]

I recently did a review on A Darker Domain for Armchair Interviews. I thought I had it all figured out but the end was a surprise to me.

[Joy Calderwood]

PATHS OF EXILE, Carla Naylund's historical novel set in 7th century Britain. I read past my busstop while following king's son Eadwine's attempts to protect his family's kingdom.

But the big excitement lately was twofold:
THRONES, DOMINATIONS, a Dorothy Sayers idea developed by Jill Paton Walsh. Either Sayers did a lot of the writing, or Paton Walsh did a much better job of replicating Harriet and Peter's lives in London society than she did for their country life in A PRESUMPTION OF DEATH, which is mostly Harriet and family, minus Peter, settled in Talboys for the duration of WWII. In THRONES, DOMINATIONS, I loved the dialogue and the character studies.

AMONG THE MAD, Jacqueline Winspear. Reading a Maisie Dobbs mystery always makes me happy. I love the tone of the series. In this one, Maisie has been pre-empted by various government agencies to find a madmad whose threats to kill large segments of London population are all too credible. Maisie uncovers some secrets that reflect poorly on the government, and makes her contribution to remedying the situation.

[Dana Stabenow]

The Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood (Aussie flapper post WWI solves crime, witty, light-hearted, and just plain fun), the Joe Sandilands series by Barbara Cleverly (again, post WWI but this time the British Raj in India, not too much "what what" to turn you off and a you-are-there setting), Alexandria by Lindsey Davis (latest in the Falco series), and S is for Silence by Sue Grafton. Reading other stuff, too, these are just the mysteries. There's an advantage to not having broadcast or cable tv.

She said smugly...

[HappyRuby]

Finished Cape Disappointment by Earl Emerson and then read Illegal by Paul Levine which was very good. Just started Afraid by Jack Kilburn and I don't think I want to be reading much of this after dark.

[Joy Calderwood]

Dana, what do you think of ALEXANDRIA? Has Davis made an effort to rejuvenate her series, do you think?

[Andrew Kent]

I just finished "Dog On It." Not the greatest mystery under the sun, but the execution of the protagonist's world was spot on (joke intended). My only concern is that it might be a one-hit wonder. I don't think a second one in the same voice would be nearly as endearing or appealing.

[Joy Calderwood]

Started John Maddox Roberts' ORACLE OF THE DEAD last night when I was ready to fall asleep. It looks like it will be a cheerful read, like the rest of the series, but I have a busy weekend ahead of me.