What are you reading now: June 20, 2026

Seems that I've been remiss in my duties.

I've just finished up Bear Head, and I'm currently switching back and forth between US Aircraft in the Soviet Union and Russia (too big to lug around) and Foundations of Russian Military Flight.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Flood, a crime thriller and the first in Andrew Vachss' 18-book private eye series, Burke, because what I really needed was still another series to be in the midst of. :) Some elements of the book push the "improbable" needle close to the red zone, but the reading journey back to the chaos and grime of New York City circa 1980 (which I remember from my 20s) is fun in a warped nostalgia sort of way. Anyway, it's a first novel and I'm finding it an enjoyable reading experience, warts and all.

I have 68 pages left of Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon by Melissa L. Sevigny! So good! I feel like I've been on an adventure.

Plan on finishing Trad Wife today (I can't put it down!) and then starting What Moves the Dead finally. I'm also listening to the audiobook of Nobody's Girl but I can only handle a little bit at a time so it's slow going.

The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith (YA)
2nd and finale novel of the "Rose Bargain" duet.

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd

I picked up Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and was instantly engaged. A woman I sat next to on a flight told me I had to read it and she was right! I'm only 50 pages into it and I've gone through a lot of emotions. This is a page turner even though sometimes I don't want to turn the page. I think this is going to be a great read.

More slowly, I'm rereading Beacon at Alexandria by Gillian Bradshaw about a young woman who wants to be a doctor when Justinian was the emperor. She disguises herself as a eunuch, and gets herself apprenticed to a Jewish doctor. It is, of course, a great little adventure story with a compelling historic backdrop.

A couple of days back I finished Flood, the first book in Andrew H. Vachss' 18-book Burke private-eye noir series. Because what I really need is another series to be in the midst of. This was an entertaining reading experience for me. I found the book quite enjoyable, though I think a reader needs to be wearing his/her/their "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" hat and have it fastened on firmly. This was a first novel, and it could have used some editing, I think. I have a few of the later entries on my shelves, and I notice that they get shorter deeper into the series, so that's a hopeful sign. At any rate, I enjoyed Flood, enough that I will sooner or later read on in the series. My longer review is on my Club Read thread.

I've now started Heart of Asia, a brief travelogue/philosophy work by artist/philosopher/peace activist Nicolas Roerich (1874-1947).

An Abundance of Katherines
John Green
3/5 stars
"When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself." Synopsis is from the book jacket but I enjoyed this book. 2006

currently reading Violet's Trial: The Children of Durmista its been a wild ride so far.