What Fiction are you reading this week, April 5, 2026?

[hermetic]

This discussion thread is pinned.

Still reading Get In Trouble by Kelly Link. This is some VERY unusual writing.

Listened to The Killing Code by J.D. Kirk. Funny, but then scary as hell. There is a whole series and I'm looking forward to it/them. Like I said: "Love Scottish crimes." Even more so when they're read by someone with a rich brogue.

Listening to Lost Birds by Anne Hillerman from 2024. "Exploring emotionally complex issues, Anne Hillerman delivers another thought-provoking, gripping mystery that brings to life the vivid terrain of the American Southwest, its people, and the lore and traditions that make it distinct." Great line: "Patriotism is love of country, not government."

Happy Easter

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. Washington Post.

[viva la]

2. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

Kind of weird post-apocalyptic novel set in Devon England. It starts out with characters in the 15th Century... only there are little clues that something is off (like they have 'plastic' and the King James Bible).
Then gradually the mystery is revealed.

It's pretty good, so I'm hanging in there to find out what the apocalypse was.

[rsdsharp]

4. I read that last summer; it's a departure for him.

The Fear Index is a look at AI in the context of the stock market, and is even more frightening (to me, at least) than The Second Sleep.

[viva la]

7. I've read his historical novels--

And I thought this was another of his, you know, the 15th C monk facing 15th C problems like the plague and religious politics. Nope!

[rsdsharp]

8. Well, there are religious politics; just not what you'd expect.

[rsdsharp]

3. I just finished Precipice by Robert Harris.

I took a couple of weeks to read this because it made me feel uncomfortable. I felt like a voyeur.

The novel takes place between July 1914 and May 1915, and focuses on the relationship between 64 year old UK Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, and Venetia Stanley, 27, largely through letters he wrote her.

The letters are real — more than 500 of them — and still exist. He destroyed her letters on his last day as Prime Minister, and Harris basically tries to recreate them.

The novel is silent as to whether there was a sexual relationship, but it is clear that Asquith was besotted, and even more shockingly, was sharing top secret war information with her, even mailing her telegrams which were intended to be seen only by Asquith and five other Cabinet members.

It’s an interesting look at the machinations of His Majesty’s government in the early days of WWI, and the personalities — including Churchill — who occupied the positions of power.

[hermetic]

6. Sounds amazing

Thanks.

[cbabe]

5. Also Anne Hillerman/Shadow of the Solstice

Navajo Grandmother saves the day. All the ills including uranium mining, kidnapped tribal members by Medicare scammers, solstice cult.

Grandmother is tough. Her age and speaking Navajo makes her invisibile to white bureaucrats.

Author’s writing is not great but I can go along for the ride thinking of her dad’s original works.

[Bayard]

9. Is Anne Hillerman related to Tony Hillerman?

I'll have to look her up. I wouldn't think the Navaho connection would be coincidental. As an aside, season ending for, "Dark Winds," was a nail biter this evening. I love this series--even the music.

I just finished, "Two Graves," by Preston & Child. Agent Pendergast on a very personal case involving his family. Didn't see this one coming.

Getting ready to start, "The Partner," by John Grisham.

P.S.--Anne Hillerman is Tony Hillerman's daughter, and is continuing his characters. I will definitely be looking for those! Thanks, DU! Thanks Hermetic for hosting this forum.

[hermetic]

11. You are most welcome.

My pleasure. I was just gonna log in and tell you about Anne and Tony but I see you found out the good news.

Thanks for the Two Graves info. Looks like I missed that one and now I have something new to look forward to.
Have a great day!

[yellowdogintexas]

10. The Seven Sisters by M L Bullock

This is a 13 book series, I just started Book 2
A haunted mansion. A forgotten family secret. A dreamwalker with the gift to see what the living can’t.

When historian Carrie Jo Jardine takes a restoration job at the abandoned Seven Sisters mansion, she expects peeling wallpaper and old floorboards—not ghostly footsteps, mysterious whispers, or vivid dreams that pull her into the past.

But Seven Sisters is no ordinary plantation.
Something inside its walls remembers.
Something restless.
Something watching.

Night after night, Carrie Jo slips deeper into the lost world of the former occupants—a grieving mother, a vanishing daughter, and a family torn apart by secrets buried beneath the magnolias.