The Fiction I am reading

[CanadianRocky]

(I looked for a similar thread and could not find it, if there is one please point me at it)

I thought this might be a way for us to find something interesting to read that we might not be aware of.

The basis is to describe (critique or not) the last book we read, the current one and the next one if you already know. The only rule is that it be fiction or historical fiction.

It is a good place to put in a critique if you have read any of the books posted.

I will start.

------

Last book. "The Persimmon Tree" by Bryce Courtnay.

Set in the Pacific in Southeast Asia and Australia in 1942. A love and adventure story between an Australian man and a woman of Javanese/Dutch ancestry. Well written and a view on a part of WW 2 that I had not read before. I enjoyed the characters and their adventures.

----------------------

Current book. "The Kindly Ones", by Jonathan Little.

It is a fictitious autobiography of a SS officer who was actively involved in the Holocaust. Although a best seller in Europe, it has had almost no following in North America.

Michael Korda - "You want to read about Hell, here it is. If you don’t have the strength to read it, tough shit. It’s a dreadful, compelling, brilliantly researched, and imagined masterpiece, a terrifying literary achievement, and perhaps the first work of fiction to come out of the Holocaust that places us in its very heart, and keeps us there."

This is not for the faint of heart and should not be picked up on a lark.

--------------------

Next book. "Drood" by Dan Simmons.

A fictionalized account of the last years of Charles Dickens.

[Rense]

Does it have to be fiction?

[brian.austin]

I'd prefer it stay fiction, personally. And the OP already stressed the rule was fiction.

Last book, Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

Another in the ever entertaining Mitch Rapp series. Flynn wandered away from his hard hitting action after action sequences a bit on this one, giving us a little deeper view of Rapp and his recovery from his wife's death. It was an interesting departure from his usual hardline tough guy persona with a look into Rapp's view of himself and what might have been.

Probably one of the better Rapp novels but not at the top of the list.

-------------------------

Current read: The Scourge of God by S.M. Stirling.

A science fiction/alternative history novel from the Dies the Fire storyline. Rudi continues his trek across the former US. Typical Stirling plots, with intricate personalities, layers upon layers of motivations, and lots of twists. This is part two in the second Dies the Fire trilogy, following The Sunrise Lands.

-------------------------

Next book: no idea. I rarely select my next read until I get there. My moods change too much.

[CanadianRocky]

I would like to keep it to fiction, but maybe a non-fiction threat to run concurrently with it would be a good idea.

I read both non-fiction and fiction and usually have two or three books going at any given time. Right now I have five books by my bedside with book markers in them. Some to keep me awake at night, some to make me sleep at night, and some to read if I wake up at 3:00am and cannot get back to sleep.

[Rense]

Well you can start the non-fiction thread as I'm barely reading any fiction.

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by Rense

Well you can start the non-fiction thread as I'm barely reading any fiction.

Ok, I will spark it up.

[Bob B]

I rarely read fiction. I could not put this book down once I started it.
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[swampler]

I like all the Lee Child books, though I just got done reading "The Bear and The Dragon" by Tom Clancy (same guy who wrote "The Hunt for Red October"). It was 1028 pages, but I couldn't put it down.

[cwhite]

Read the book "The Shack" by Cormac MacCarthy....amazing.

The biography of Daniel Boone by his 3rd great grandson...intricate and detailed, very interesting.

[CanadianRocky]

Originally Posted by Bob B

I rarely read fiction. I could not put this book down once I started it.
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steinbeck is my favourite American author.

I have a 1945 color illustrated Viking Press first edition of "The Red Pony" which I picked up in a used book store about 8 years ago.

The illustrations are by Wesley Dennis. My research tells me that this book was the best seller of any of books he illustrated.

I paid $10 for it. Today it would sell for $200 or so but not for sale, I will give it to my youngest daughter.

My eldest daughter gets the first edition of The Last Puritan, by George Santayana that i own. No idea what it is worth now, but I am thinking much more than the $35 i paid for it.

[cwhite]

I usually read 3-4 books at the same time. I am on only one now and it is the bio of Daniel Boone, quite lengthly, but well worth the read due to the details of history.

Someone please suggest a good fiction for me soon, as Daniel is beginning to think he is going to sleep with me forever!

Thanks!

[cwhite]

The fiction I have written----

Not deep, not scientific, but a decent flash fiction that was published.

Hope you like. Written in 2007 by carlylyn coe (my pen name)



Breaking Up Is Hard To Do



They say that breaking up is hard to do
Now I know, know that it's true.....


The lines of the song ran through Cat's mind all day, every day, relentlessly. After two days of this, she began to hum the words, much to the irritation of her co-workers. She didn't seem to notice when she began to sing them under her breath, until one of her friends mentioned that she seemed to be obsessed with the song.


"Well, I guess it's because of Gary," she said to Barb over quesadillas one Saturday afternoon after shopping.

"So you finally did it, huh? Bit the bullet and broke it off with him, am I right?"
Barb was her closest friend but Cat hadn't told even her the news of the recent break-up with her long time steady.

Cat bit into a cheesy chicken filled forkful and wiping her lips replied, "Yeah, he was getting too possessive. I couldn't even do something like this without asking his permission or making him mad."

"I didn't know he was that bad," answered Barb. "But then, I never did like him much. I always thought you could do better."

Cat thought about this and mentally agreed with her friend. She could do better, and next time, she would.


"So what did you say to him; was it painless or did he put up a fight?"
Barb always wanted details...



"Nah; he was okay with it. I think he had somebody else going on the side anyway. I overheard him on the phone one day, and then he went out later. Came back way later than usual."
Cat opened her purse, checking her teeth in the small mirror she carried.

"I'm a little surprised he didn't give you a hard time, if he was so possessive. He must've wanted out too."


Barb had the bad habit of picking out the smallest detail and making it an issue, thought Cat, as she looked at her friend across the blue tiled table top.


"Well, anyway, he's gone," said Cat, "Now, let's talk about you...what have you been up to these past few weeks? Any new guys?"


"Well, I am kinda seeing someone, but nobody you know. He works construction." Barb signaled the server for the check.

"In fact, I 'm meeting him later tonight, so I'd guess we'd better go."

Cat let her friend pay the check this time. Usually she got it; but today she said she would leave the tip.

They walked out into the bright day, donned sunglasses and said goodbye to each other.
Cat waved to Barb and yelled, "Bye! Have fun tonight and call me tomorrow, k?"


" K...we're going line dancing at the Lone Star with a group of his friends. I'll give you all the gory details tomorrow."

Barb adjusted her seatbelt, waved to Cat, and drove off, blending into the heavy New Mexico traffic smoothly.


Cat sat still for a few minutes with the air conditioning running, cooling the interior of her Jeep. She lit a cigarette, and inhaled heavily, blowing smoke through her nostrils and chuckling to herself. She pulled her heavy dark hair into a pony tail and began to cool off faster. Clicking her seatbelt, she backed out of the parking spot and drove out onto the highway, not ready to head for home quite yet.

She drove till she was outside of town, checked her gas gauge and found it nearly full, just as she had thought.

Twenty-five miles should do it, she thought. Distance between her and the city, away from the people, the stress and the constant song running through her brain all the damn time.

Thirty minutes later she turned her Jeep left onto a dirt road rarely used. Her mood had lightened already, she was calmer somehow, and the cool air in the car fanning her face helped her to relax.

She drove for three miles and turned once again, this time onto a long driveway. She knew she would find the shack at the end, with the abandoned truck out back and the shed still full of rusted shovels and other tools...some things never changed; for that she was grateful.


Stopping the Jeep, she turned off the engine and opened the door. The heat hit her hard, but she had expected it, and began peeling off her outer garments, until she was clad in only a tank tee and shorts.

She walked to the shed, pulling open the hinged door and found the long handled shovel she wanted.

Dragging the shovel behind her


Damn, it is freakin' HOT!

she opened the rear door of the Jeep and carefully peeled back the cover over the wheel well.


Her treasure was there, quietly waiting for her.

I do love to garden.

Cat lifted and hoisted the burlap bundle until she had pulled it from the deep wheel well and jumped back as it tumbled to the ground with a solid

WHAP!!

She dragged it to the side of the house.

She dug then, and it took longer than she wanted. Water was important she knew, and so she stopped for breaks to pull on the water bottle and swallow deeply.

She finished the digging near sunset and opened the burlap around the root ball of her latest shrub. It wasn't in the best condition, but it had been awfully hot the past few days. She rolled it into the hole and stood looking down at Gary. He was pretty dark now, and his face had an odd expression, like he wasn't sure where he was.

Cat laughed at herself and thought that was a good one---he didn't know where he was! And neither did anybody else; it was just too funny. She laughed harder.

Laughing loud and singing that song, Cat threw shovels full of dirt over poor dead Gary, who indeed had nary a clue.

Barb sat home all evening, calling Gary on his cell phone.

"That bastard." She thought, "I bet he's gone back to Cat."