What Are You Reading the Week of 22 November 2014?

This is from Wikipedia iin its entirety:Charlaine Harris (born November 25, 1951) is a New York "Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for thirty years.2 She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children.2 Though her early work consisted largely of poems about ghosts and, later, teenage angst, she began writing plays when she attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She began to write books a few years later. Her later books have been in the urban fantasy genre. She is best known for The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, otherwise known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels.3
Life and career

Harris was born in Tunica, Mississippi. After publishing two stand-alone mysteries, Harris began the lighthearted Aurora Teagarden books with Real Murders, a Best Novel 1990 nomination for the Agatha Awards. Harris wrote several books in the series before the mid-1990s when she began branching out into other works.4 She did not resume the series until 1999, with the exception of one short story in a Murder, She Wrote anthology titled "Murder, They Wrote".

In 1996, she released the first in the Shakespeare series featuring cleaning lady detective Lily Bard, set in rural Arkansas. Harris "lives in small-town Arkansas", according to a New York Times interview.4 The fifth book in the series, Shakespeare's Counselor, was printed in fall 2001, followed by the short story "Dead Giveaway" published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in December of the same year. Harris has stated on her website that she has finished with the series.

After Shakespeare, Harris created The Southern Vampire Mysteries series about a telepathic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse who works in a northern Louisiana bar.4 The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.4 The series has been released in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Argentina, Poland, Serbia, Brazil, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Portugal, Iceland, Czech Republic, Romania, Estonia and Israel. Harris wrote thirteen novels in the series. The thirteenth and final novel in the series, Dead Ever After, was published in May 2013,5 with a supplemental book, After Dead, released in October 2013.6

Sookie Stackhouse had proven to be so popular that Alan Ball, creator of the HBO television series Six Feet Under, undertook the production of a series based upon The Southern Vampire Mysteries.7 He wrote and directed the pilot episode for the series, True Blood, which premiered on September 7, 2008 on HBO.8 The television show was a critical and financial success for HBO running 7 seasons through the 2014 year.4

October 2005 marked the debut of Harris's new series entitled The Harper Connelly Mysteries, with the release of Grave Sight. The series is told by a young woman named Harper Connelly, who after being struck by lightning, is able to locate dead bodies and to see their last moments through the eyes of the deceased. In October 2010, it was announced Harper Connelly's series had been optioned for a television series named Grave Sight.

2014 marked the debut of the Cemetery Girl series, a graphic novel series co-written with Christopher Golden and illustrated by Don Kramer.9

Professionally, Harris is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the American Crime Writers League.10 She is a member of the board of Sisters in Crime, and alternates with Joan Hess as president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance.

In her personal life, Harris has been married for many years. She has three children and two grandchildren. She is a former weightlifter and karate student,11 she is also an avid reader and cinemaphile. Harris resides in Magnolia, Arkansas, where she is the senior warden of St. James Episcopal Church.412

Bibliography
Aurora Teagarden Series (series ended in 2003)

Real Murders (1990)13
A Bone to Pick (1992)14
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994)15
The Julius House (1995)16
Dead Over Heels (1996)17
"Deeply Dead" in Murder, They Wrote (1997)18
A Fool And His Honey (1999)19
Last Scene Alive (2002)20
Poppy Done to Death (2003)21

Lily Bard (Shakespeare) Series (series ended in 2001)

Shakespeare's Landlord (1996)22
Shakespeare's Champion (1997)23
Shakespeare's Christmas (1998)24
Shakespeare's Trollop (2000)25
Shakespeare's Counselor (2001)26
"Dead Giveaway" published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (December 2001)

Sookie Stackhouse (Southern Vampire) Series (series ended in 2013)
Main article: The Southern Vampire Mysteries

Dead Until Dark (May 2001)27
Living Dead in Dallas (March 2002)28
Club Dead (May 2003)29
Dead to the World (May 2004)30
"Fairy Dust" in Powers of Detection (October 2004)and in "A Touch of Dead" (October 2009)31
"Dracula Night" in Many Bloody Returns (September 2007) and in "A Touch of Dead" (October 2009)32
"Dancers in the Dark" a novella in Night's Edge (October 2004);3334
Dead as a Doornail (May 2005)35
"One Word Answer" in Bite (December 2005) and in "A Touch of Dead" (October 2009)36
Definitely Dead (May 2006)37
"Tacky" in My Big, Fat Supernatural Wedding (October 2006)—a Dahlia short story3438
All Together Dead (May 2007)39
"Lucky" in Unusual Suspects40 (December 2008) and in "A Touch of Dead" (October 2009)
From Dead to Worse (May 2008)41
"Gift Wrap" in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (October 2008) and in "A Touch of Dead" (October 2009)42
"Bacon" in Strange Brew (July 2009)—also makes an offhand reference to Jim Butcher's wizard, Harry Dresden; a Dahlia short story34
Dead and Gone (May 2009)43
"The Britlingens Go to Hell" in Must Love Hellhounds (September 2009)34
"Dahlia Underground" in Crimes by Moonlight (April 2010)—takes place during All Together Dead; a Dahlia short story34
Dead in the Family (May 2010)
"Two Blondes" in Death's Excellent Vacation (August 2010)
"Small-Town Wedding" a novella in The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (August 2011)—an anthology with interviews, FAQ, recipes, and more44
"A Very Vampire Christmas" in Glamour Magazine (December 2010)—a Dahlia short story3445
"Dying for Daylight" (February 2011)—The first all new video game written by Charlaine Harris, released by iPlay Games; starring Dahlia 3446
Dead Reckoning (May 2011)
"Death by Dahlia" in Down These Strange Streets (October/November 2011)—a Dahlia short story3447
Deadlocked (May 2012)
"If I Had a Hammer" in Home Improvement: Undead Edition (August 2011)
"Playing Possum" in An Apple for the Creature (September 2012)
Dead Ever After (May 2013)
The final Sookie Stackhouse novel5
After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse; (October 29, 2013)6

Harper Connelly Series (series ended in 2009)

Grave Sight (2005)48
Grave Surprise (2006)49
An Ice Cold Grave (2007)50
Grave Secret (2009)51

Cemetery Girl Series (with Christopher Golden)

The Pretenderdisambiguation needed (2014)5253

Midnight Texas Trilogy

Midnight Crossroad May 2014

Other/non-series

Sweet and Deadly (1981)54 republished in UK as Dead Dog
A Secret Rage (1984)55
"An Evening With Al Gore" in Blood Lite (October 2008)56
Blood Lite (2008) 57
Delta Blues (2010) 58"

This week's author is not one that I have read, but @richardderus and others have, I know. THe author picture makes me think I should give her a try if I am ever in the mood for that kind of book - it happens. I believe the final Stookie Stackhouse has been published? What did those who've read it think of it?

What are you reading this week?

Thank you MD! I read all of the Sookie books and they were quite fun. I'm currently reading Revival by Stephen King , Night Strangers by Chros Bohjalian, World in Winter by Ken Follett and The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger

I picked up a 1952 hardcover edition of My Cousin Rachel at a thrift shop and am about halfway through it. It's outpacing my other current reads. After the disappointment of The House on the Strand, I'm glad to find another engaging du Maurier.

>Meredy: I also enjoyed her short stories Don't Look Now and her novel The Scapegoat. Scapegoat is different from Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel but really good. I tried House on the Strand and Rule Brittania but I just couldn't get into them. I'm going to try Jamaica Inn some day but it sounds iffy although friends rave about it.

I'm absorbed in C.J. Sansom's newest Lamentation.

Congratulations on your new job, MDGentleReader!!

#3 Meredy: What a coincidence. I finished my first du Maurier book a few days ago, Rebecca, which I was and still am absolutely captivated by. I quickly downloaded The House on the Strand, but haven't picked it up in a few days as I find it quite slow to start. Let us know how you like My Cousin Rachel.

Halfway through A Street Cat Named Bob, who I love and want to meet. He's a cute orange cat in London who is often photographed wearing tiny scarves knit for him by fans all over the world!

oooh My Cousin Rachel is excellent. I didn't read it for years because I heard it was a warmed-over Rebecca, but it isn't. Far from it. Also really enjoyed The Scapegoat and The Flight of the Falcon. Frenchman's Creek is a hoot, too, if you're looking for something lighter. Jamaica Inn and The House on the Strand are dim in my memory, but I don't remember hating them.

>4 enaid: Thanks. I think it's going to be a lot if fun - and, well a lot of work ;).

I finished what has been published of the Steerswoman series this week - The Language of Power. What a wonderful series. The genre is up for debate and I thinking categorizing it a particular way is spoilerish, so I won't. I did just read a review that said that it is about the joy of understanding - that it is. It is also great world building, well rounded, consistent, believable characters and page turning tension and action. I just read that the author has been battling cancer and has had to take the dreaded Day Job. I hope that for both her and her readers' sake she can ditch the Day Job soon and write, write, write.

>4 enaid: >5 framboise: >6 Bookmarque: Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm. I gave a very good review to The Scapegoat, which I liked almost as much as I disliked The House on the Strand. As a teenager I just loved Rebecca, a real pulse-thumper for me at the time, and then about 50 years went by before I read another by du Maurier. I found My Cousin Rachel engrossing from the first page.

9 Meredy: Thanks for the info. I pushed up My Cousin Rachel to the top of my list. Also have the dvd (Hitchcock version) of Rebecca to watch over Thanksgiving. Looking forward to that.

Still in kind of a reading slump so I'm still reading Annihilation and Due Justice. Neither is proving compelling enough to drag me out of my slump.

I'm delving into the world of Charlie Chan, as I've started the first book in the series, The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers.

Thank you and congratulations on snagging your dream job, mD!

>13 hemlokgang: Thanks!

I finished reading Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson. I liked seeing the world through the child Tove's imagination and experience. It's a lovely book.

Tomorrow I shall begin reading Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life. I admire the author's work so much -- I'm eager to know more about her. I will take some time tonight to look back at her collective biography of her father and his three brothers, The Knox Brothers.

Thank you for getting us started again and congratulations MDGentleReader!

I'm still reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I think I might read it for one more day and then take a break to read Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris for my book club.

I managed to finish Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy read by Lou Diamond Phillips, Hawkeye: LA Woman by Matt Fraction and Hacker by Malorie Blackman last week.

Now I'm focusing on listening to Lynn Redgrave's reading of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and reading Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith and Midnight over Sanctaphrax by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell and I've started dipping into The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.

Congrats on the new job, MD!

I tried some of the Sookie books and liked the first 2 or 3 but got bored with them and quit reading the series. I have the attention span of a gnat.

I'm about two-thirds through Last Night at the Blue Angel, and am enjoying it. I'm listening to Stephen King's Insomnia, and am liking it but not loving it, in part because of the music added to the reading of it.

I finished Beautiful Ruins last night and while it was entertaining, I don't know, it was kind of ... meh. It was goofy and really poorly written in so many spots, but maybe I'm just not that big a fan of Hollywood type stories. I absolutely loved We Live In Water, so maybe I'll stick with his short stories.

Not sure what is up next! Time to choose something ... always exciting!

Finished The Royal Succession by Maurice Druon, #4 in the "Accursed Kings" series
First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

Finishing A Tale for the Time Being and then onto The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.

Congratulations on the new job MDGentleReader and Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate holiday.

Hello again, everyone! :) So, I started reading Random Hearts by Warren Adler on Thursday, November 20th and finished the book on Sunday, November 23rd! I've only seen portions of the movie starring Harrison Ford and Kristen Scott Thomas, but I absolutely loved the book!

Currently, I'm reading a romantic suspense anthology: What Lies Beneath by Anne Stuart, Joanna Wayne and Caroline Burnes. I started reading this book today Monday, November 24th and have so far finished reading the first two stories. It's easy reading for me, and they were quite good stories for their type. :)

>21 MsMaryAnn: Thank you for both!

>18 TooBusyReading: Thanks! Even folks at my current job think I'm a great fit for it. Nice to have all this validation before I even start.

MDGentlereader Congrats on your new job..all the best! Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it and safe travels to all traveling.

Thanks, MD. Add my congratulations on the new job!

I'm reading The Peripheral, William Gibson's new one, and The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. Liking both so far.

Currently reading and one chapter away from finishing Reunited: An Investigative Genealogist Unlocks Some of Life's Greatest Mysteries by Pamela Slaton, a professional searcher who helps adoptees and their birth families find each other. I first heard of Pamela Slaton on a recent episode of 20/20. She is herself an adoptee who searched for her birth mother, the details of which she recounts in this book. Really interesting read.

Next I will continue with The World According to Bob, the sequel to A Street Cat Named Bob which I read last week and absolutely loved. Wish I could meet Bob, but alas, he lives in London!

Began A Crown of Lights by Phil Rickman, the third in the Merrily Watkins series.

Just closed the covers of M C Beaton's Lady Fortescue Steps Out -- gentle fun for Gentle Readers; of Euphoria by Lily King -- read it!; of Lila: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson -- incomparable.

Just opened them on A Thousand Splendid Suns and Roman Games: A Plinius Secundus Mystery. Am planning to tackle Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen. Haven't read anything by her for years, and that was Blessings.

Finished Cannery Row, exquisite!

Next up to listen to is The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer.

My Cousin Rachel rated four and a half stars from me. It was a doozy.

Now I'm going on with Firmin, which I left at home while we were away, and next I have a choice of two library books: The Daughter of Time and, by Judi Dench, And Furthermore (great title!).

Finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Unfortunately, I hit a reading slump while reading this and I'm not sure if my blah reaction is due to that or the fact the book really didn't click for me. Oh, well. Started A Play of Shadow by Julie E. Czerneda.

Congrats on the job, GentleReader! What fun. I actually love my job(s) (part-time lawyer and now soon to be yoga teacher too) and find both add a lot of spice to my life!

I am reading Sister Golden Hair, another offering from one of my now-favorite publishers, Tin House Books! So far good, but the T-Day vaca begins at about noon today, so I will soon have a bit more time to read!

>27 framboise:
I requested A Street Cat Named Bob from the library based on your, and other's, recommendations!

>32 seitherin:
Same reaction to Annihilation. Not sure if I'll read the sequels.

Now reading Requiem by Lauren Oliver, third in the Delirium series. I met the author at a library event this month and bought her new one for adults, Rooms.

I just finished Someone which was actually an excellent followup to Stoner. It took me a little time to get into it but once I did it was an excellent portrayal of an ordinary life, poignant with a hint of mystery and with the atmosphere, smell and vision of every scene clearly presented.

Next up will be THE CAREGIVER by Maria Theresa Casale. The author was a participant of the same writing workshop I've gone to and I've heard much praise. The Touchstones couldn't find it although I could order it on Amazon. Looking forward to it.

>35 snash: I loved Stoner. Someone sounds just like the kind of book I enjoy. Added to my wishlist.

>35 snash: I liked Someone very much too, and you're right, it is a nice pairing with Stoner. They both find the radiance in an unspectacular life, which is just what most of us have. I didn't rate it quite as highly, but I thought it well worth reading and recommending.

Congrats

>33 CarolynSchroeder: Thanks, Struggling a little bit with short-timers disease on the old job, but I'll type up what I think people need to know about what I do and leave it with them. Pertty soon it won't be my problem. Tra la la.

It is a wonderful thing to enjoy what you spend so much time doing every week. Interesting contrast between your two vocations :-).

I agree with all that's been said about Someone and Stoner.

I am not far into Hermione Lee's biography of Penelope Fitzgerald, but I'm already in love with the beauty and depth of this book. I have long admired Fitzgerald and this only increases my feeling for her. I recommend that all of you -- whether you care about Fitzgerald or not -- find a way to beg, borrow or steal a copy of Lee's biography and read the second chapter: "Learning to Read" It is a beautiful and incredibly rich, evocative chapter. It begins with these words: "Twice in your life you know that you are approved of by everyone: when you learn to walk, and when you learn to read." What you learn of Fitzgerald's own childhood in this chapter goes a long way to explain the precision and deep understanding in her characterizations of the children who appear in her novels, and the way she is able to tap into the childhood experiences, influences, and longings of the subjects of her biographies.

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday weekend.

All right -- I take back what I said about stealing that book. But you really do need to read that chapter. It's so much about what all of us gathered here believe and cherish.

I am still dipping into, and enjoying Restoration by Rose Tremain

.....This is going to sound whiny, but Seasonal Affective Disorder always hits me around November, and I am thoroughly affected by the disorder of the season. Depression, etc. Can't concentrate on reading, so am watching a lot of Netflix and eating a lot of carbs.

Am slowly making my way through Jonas Jonasson's The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared, which is good, when I have enough focus to read it.

Also discovered Max Beerbohm the other day on Project Gutenberg. I'm reading Zuleika Dobson and enjoying it as much as I enjoy anything this time of year.

I don't know what your new job is, >1 MDGentleReader:, but I wish you happiness in it.

Have you tried using a light box?

I finished The House Without a Key, by Earl Derr Biggers. This is the first Charlie Chan book, published in 1925. I was quite happily surprised at how well written and interesting it was. Looking forward to enjoying more of Biggers' work.

I've jumped right into another mystery/thriller, starting The Empress File, the second of John Sanford's "Kidd" series.

Firmin had mixed reviews around here, but I liked it. It's off the beaten track, and not just the beaten track but pretty much any beaten track. Yet somehow it strikes numerous resonant chords with me, and not just because I still have a dim memory of the sight of the old Scollay Square before it became Government Center in Boston.

I finished that last night and started The Daughter of Time, which I've heard recommended since I was a kid in school and never read.

I finished the substantial Graphic Canon Volume 2; fun way to revisit great literature with ambitious visual interpretations. On to Vol. 3.

Finished Kindred by Octavia E. Butler and wish I could say I loved it, but I didn't. Such a great concept incorporating time travel and slavery but I found the protagonist rather flat and unsympathetic. Searching for my next book and feeling a mystery coming on.

>41 mollygrace:

Glad to hear you are enjoying Penelope Fitzgerald so much. I think I will read that over Christmas, as I have more time off.

Despite being in the middle of 8 books, I picked up Epilogue for my Thanksgiving weekend reading. Couldn't sleep last night and got engrossed in the fist 115 pages...

>43 ahef1963: Thanks!

I second the recommendation of a light box, they have some good, affordable, portable ones now. As for the disorder of the season, turn fof the TV and radio, avoid malls and enjoy Netflix. May this be the best low light and holiday season you've ever had. Hugs.

>41 mollygrace: you got me with a book bullet - Penelope Fitzgerald, have to spend a couple of days in court soon (no electronics allowed), *** justed checked, my library has it as well as a number of Penelope Fitzgerald books.

>41 mollygrace: my library has penelope Fitzgerald on order. I'm 11th in line for 1 copy.

Was sick with a cold Thanksgiving Day, perfect time for some Elizabeth Cadell, Past Tense of Love and Family Gathering. Lovely. Nothing like just the right author at the right time.

The Frozen Thames was excellent; beautiful writing.

About halfway through The Peripheral.

Dying to read the Penelope Fitzgerald biography. I loved her At Freddie's; each of her stories mirrors her life in some way which should make the bio fascinating.

Hello everyone! Just stopping by and playing major catch-up with what I've read. :)

Following on from my last post - >22 moonshineandrosefire: I finished reading What Lies Beneath by Anne Stuart, Joanna Wayne and Caroline Burnes on Tuesday, November 25th; and while it was a good mystery anthology overall, I wanted to read this book primarily because of the first story by Anne Stuart: 'The Road to Hidden Harbor'!

Up next for me was Blackbird House by Alice Hoffmann, which I started reading on Tuesday, November 25th! It only took me a day to read this book and I finished this book on Wednesday, November 26th! This was a very beautifully and lyrically written story.

As of Thursday, November 27th, I started reading Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner. This a reread for me from two years ago.