What are you reading now?: January 3, 2026

Happy New Year to all of you who follow this series of threads.

Wrapping up The Devils, which I found to be a mixed bag. Forthcoming will be Otto Kretschmer, The Ganymedan, and Warship Builders.

Happy New Year to all. I've just started The Doorman, a thriller by Chris Pavone. This is breaking my recent tradition of reading a novel by Isaac B. Singer as my first book started each calendar year. I'm reading all his novels in chronological order of their publication in English, two novels per year. But The Doorman is for my reading group, which meets in a couple of weeks. I don't want to take any chances on not completing it in time, so the Singer will have to wait a book this year.

Happy New Year!
I'm reading A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi for my book club.

Happy Reading in 2026!

Happy 2026 and happy reading to all!

I’m enjoying These Days by Lucy Caldwell. Why did I never realize that Belfast was bombed so hard during WWII?

I just finished a re-read of The Golem and the Jinni. I'm going to re-read Treasure Island next.

In the land of audiobooks, I'm listening to A Drop of Corruption, a sequel to the excellent The Tainted Cup.

Finally finished The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Now I'm starting a book recommended by a friend, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All. The title seems a bit hysterical.

Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS
Lisa Rogak
5/5 stars
This is an amazing true story of four women in the military in WW II and who spread false rumors to throw off the enemies and helped win the war. Great book! Non-Fiction

From the library: Miss Morton and the Missing Heir by Catherine Lloyd
Latest and 4th entry in the "Miss Morton Mystery" series

Started reading an oldie A Dangerous Love by Brenda Joyce

Happy Land and I’m only one chapter in and hooked!

LIGHTNING IN A MASON JAR: A NOVEL by Catherine Mann

Dying For a Date – Cindy Sample
Audible audio read by Pilar Uribe
2.5** (rounded up)

Mortgage underwriter Laurel McKay is a divorced mother of two and ready to get back into the dating scene. She joins “The Love Club” to get matched with likely prospects. Her first date is a CPA accountant with wandering hands. She has to hit him with her cell phone, breaking his nose, to get him to stop. The next morning, he is found dead in his car, obviously murdered, and Laurel is the # 1 suspect.

This is a pretty typical cozy with an amateur sleuth trying to solve the crime, so SHE doesn’t get arrested for it. There’s a very handsome detective who keeps warning her off the case, but she ignores him (of course). Laurel’s ex-husband seems to want to get back together. Her real-estate agent mother is a source of conflict. And she has a gay friend at work who is a great wingman.

I didn’t like the main character very much. Laurel took way too many chances and seemed to constantly put her foot in it … only to then SAY that she had to learn to keep her mouth shut. But, of course, she never does actually learn that lesson.

I did rather like Tom Hunter, detective, soccer dad and hunk. The attraction between them seemed rather one-sided in this debut, but I’m guessing the relationship progresses over the course of the series.

Pilar Uribe does a good job of voicing the audiobook. Her diction is clear, and she sets a good pace.

I finished The Doorman by Chris Pavone, which I thought was only so-so, but it was for my monthly book group. Anyone interested in my specific comments about it can find them on my Club Read thread.

With the book club read handled, I can get to the next book in my 2-per-year project of reading all of Isaac B. Singer's novels in chronological order of their publication dates in English translation. The first of those for 2026 will be The Penitent.

The new thread is up over here.