What I’m Reading

I’ve finished several books since my last bookish post here on the blog and I’m excited to share them with you.

Recently Finished

I’ve been able to finish half a dozen books since the beginning of the year, which puts me quite a bit ahead of schedule for my reading goal this year

We Are Pirates by David Handler
We Are Pirates was so strange that I finished reading the novel, mostly through sheer determination. The book had an interesting plot, but the way the story was told was extremely awkward. There were lots of phrases like “at the time this story takes place” repeated throughout the book.

A boat has gone missing. Goods have been stolen. There is blood in the water. It is the twenty-first century and a crew of pirates is terrorizing the San Francisco Bay

Excerpt from the Synopsis via Goodreads

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
I’ve read Rushdie before, but found his work to be a bit dense, and it took me a while to read. This book, being written for a younger audience, was much easier for me to read, which made it easier to get into the story. I quite enjoyed this novel and will look for more.

Set in an exotic Eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Salman Rushdie’s classic children’s novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories inhabits the same imaginative space as The Lord of the Rings, The Alchemist, and The Wizard of Oz. In this captivating work of fantasy from the author of Midnight’s Children and The Enchantress of Florence, Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way, he encounters many foes, all intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

Synopsis via Goodreads

Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner
Nightshade City is the 1st of a trilogy of books about the mice who live in a large underground city. It’s a book written for middle grades, so it was a very quick read for me. It was a lovely little read that I would recommend for anyone who has enjoyed “The Secret of NIHM.”

Deep beneath Trillium City, a modern metropolis, lies the Catacombs, a kingdom of rats of extraordinary intelligence and ability. The once peaceful and democratic colony has become a harsh dictatorship ruled by the High Minister Kildeer and his henchman, Billycan, who runs the Kill Army and collects weekly Stipend from the terrified subjects. The two of them rule with iron fists. With most of the adult rats wiped out in Killdeer’s Bloody Coup and the subsequent great flood, orphaned young male rats are forced into the army and the females into servitude or worse. But change is coming. . . .

Excerpt from the Synopsis via Goodreads

I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive by Steve Earle
I know Steve Earle as a Nashville songwriter, so I wasn’t expecting the book that I got. I’m OK with that though. The book was beautifully written, if a bit dark.

Doc Ebersole lives with the ghost of Hank Williams—not just in the figurative sense, not just because he was one of the last people to see him alive, and not just because he is rumored to have given Hank the final morphine dose that killed him.

Excerpt from the Synopsis via Goodreads

The Circle by Dave Eggers
Eggers has recently become one of my favorite authors to read, as he seems to have an uncanny insight into the unnoticed parts of our world. In The Circle, parallels can easily be drawn between the plot of the book and our current technological world. While this book, like most of Eggers novels, didn’t have the ending that I hoped for, it did have the ending that was right for the story.

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world–even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.

Excerpt from the Synopsis via Goodreads

The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene
I always appreciate Nancy Drew mysteries for their ability to be a nice relaxing read. They’re a great choice if you are looking for something to read before bed.

Nancy, Bess and George visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras. While on vacation for the festivities, the three friends become involved with pirates, ghosts, and investigating an old showboat, rumored to be haunted, that must be restored in time for the gala celebrations. This book is the original text. A revised text does not exist.

Synopsis via Goodreads

Currently Reading

I’m getting ready to start reading The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan. It’s the 2nd novel in his Baby Ganesh Agency series, which features retired police inspector Chopra of Mumbai. This particular novel follows Chopra as he attempts to find the thief of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, one of the British Crown Jewels.

For centuries the Koh-i-Noor diamond has set man against man and king against king. Now part of the British Crown Jewels, the priceless gem is a prize that many have killed to possess. So when the Crown Jewels go on display in Mumbai, security is everyone’s principal concern. And yet, on the very day Inspector Chopra visits the exhibition, the diamond is stolen from under his nose. The heist was daring and seemingly impossible. The hunt is on for the culprits. But it soon becomes clear that only one man – and his elephant – can possibly crack this case…

Synopsis via Goodreads.

And you?

What have you been reading lately?