Friday Tidbits: A Reading List

Shamelessly giving my fellow summer camper, Vladimir Alexandrov, a shout out for his recently published book, The Black Russian

A found treasure: very beaten up, falling apart and in tatters but much loved, as much as a childhood teddy bear.

I've long wanted to do something with books on my blog. Yes, reading is difficult when you have so many "conditions," but we also have to keep in mind that the "use it or lose it" principle still applies to us as well.I'm sure we all know that we must read, for many reason: time goes by more quickly when you're down deep in book world; reading gives you the ability to travel the world. (Cliche but true nonetheless?)  Yet how do we get our minds to get around the barrier, the realism that we have to keep in mind: the naughty CFIDS/ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, severe insomnia, fibro-brain and those forsaken migraines which try to foil us at every turn!?? It's short-term memory: the pits. It's concentration: long gone. 

I'm been procrastinating - but of course!  Actually, I've not been anywhere close to taking on the chore of organizing books, working up the energy in order to climb up and down chairs to retrieving books (because a ladder would be too safe?), then washing down the shelves and climbing on a chair again in order to rearrange said books.  You get the pictures.  However, I'm not complaining.  Honestly!  Truly!

So I've lifted a few books I'd liked when I first read them. Then I tried to put them into categories depending on your ability and if you can comprehend anything you've reading on any particular day. I call this the "moody reading."  In the mood for mysteries? You've come to the right place. Chick flick book: I've got a few authors for you.  And so, here we go.

Series, though stand-alones as well.  

• J.A. Jance: the JP Beaumont series. You can start reading the series at any point but his back story is so good that you'll really like it if you start at the beginning of the series. Don't tell hubs, but I have a crush on him! ;)
• Harlen Cobin: I can't wait to read his newest, a stand-alone. 
• Elizabeth George and her Inspector Lynley.  She's amazing. Stellar reviews, a best-selling author.  She too has a new book about to come out. (Yippee, I'm set for a few weeks now!)
• Charles Todd: a mother and son team. Their series, An Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery, takes place after WW1. I love the novels because he has demons as a result of the war.

Chick Lit: Is this fiction category still going strong?  I'm so behind in my reading, but these are fun and easy to read!

• Marion Keyes
• Elinor Lipman: hilariously funny.
• Jane Green and babyville and Isabel's Bed are both a good way to stay in bed.  Funny. Good!

Historical Fiction

• The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simon, a trilogy which makes for a best-seller in Australia. It's a romance surrounded by some pretty heavy stuff: Russia during WW2. Get out the tissues. Very satisfying read.

Contemporary books which I think will, in time, become a classic.

• Yellow Raft on Blue Water by Michael Dorris about a Naive American finding her way. We read it in book club and everyone loved it.  Please: don't go by my description.

Good reads:

• The Kite-Runner by  Khaled Hosseini. Can't wait to get my hands on the newest, And the Mountains Echoed 

Mysteries:

• Thomas H Cook: Red Leaves
• Jill McGown (Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd & Judy Hill mysteries)
• Deborah Crombie (the Duncan Kinkaid/Gemma James series)*
• Jan Burke* (the Irene Kelly series)

Hopefully, this should get you through the weekend! ;)  What are your favorite books?  I'm hoping there will be a next time with books. I'd love to hear what you'd been reading (even if it's a small thing from People magazine.)  Please let me know what you'd like to "hear" from me.

As always, hoping all are feeling their very best - only better!  Caio and paka.



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*NOTE: In editing this post I inadvertently dropped "the Duncan Kinkaid/Gemma James series" and Jan Burke's name, thus making Deborah Crombie the author of the Irene Kelly series.  I'm so wrong and so sorry: it's Jan Burke who writes the Irene Kelly series.  Fibro-brain strikes again: how truly embarrassing.  Apologies to all.