Book groups and author events and reading...lots of fun!

Hey everyone!  Hope you are all well and enjoying fall weather and reading.  R.I.P. XVI is almost at an end and I'll have a final post about that probably Monday or so.  However, today I'm going to share a bit about some book related things that I've been able to happily participate in.  

First of all, I attended the 'Talking Texas' Book Group this last Thursday and enjoyed a nice discussion with several members about Attica Locke's first Highway 59 mystery, Bluebird, Bluebird.  Set in East Texas, this book has an African American Texas Ranger protagonist, Darren Mathews.  There are two murders that Darren investigates and I think you can probably imagine that race relations, rural mindsets, and other complications play a part.  This Ranger is from East Texas and so he understands a lot of things that others might not, but he also learns things that he didn't know.  

The 'Talking Texas' group had an interesting discussion of the book and I enjoyed hearing opinions and thoughts from everyone.  A couple couldn't finish the book because the issues made them so sad or upset, but we all agreed that those feelings were not necessarily a bad thing.  There is a second book featuring Ranger Mathews, also set in East Texas, and including some legends and info regarding the Native American Caddo tribe.  That book is Heaven, My Home, and I read that one as well.  Both books gave me a lot to think about.  Not easy reads.  Good crime novels.  

Next, I attended a Zoom event with an Australian author, Virginia King.  She had been in contact with Gayle from the mystery group I attended while in Austin and they were able to set up a meeting with those of us who wanted to talk about Virginia's newest book, Planting Pearls.  This book is a prequel to Virginia's series featuring Selkie Moon.  It is a mystery, but with some metaphysical things included.  Set in Hawaii, there are legends and lore that come from the South Pacific part of the world.  I liked the book and enjoyed our talk with the author a lot.

I've also gone to several author events at my local library here in Kerrville in the last few weeks.  One I'll mention was with a local author, Joanne Kukanza Easley.  She has written a couple of books, one recently published called Just One Look and another previously published called Sweet Jane.  I got a copy of Sweet Jane and really enjoyed Joanne's talk about writing her books and also writing tips for those in the audience who asked questions.  I spoke with her after her talk and said that I'd love to have her share a guest post here if she'd like to.  We'll see if she and I can arrange that.  

There will be another author event in November that I'll talk about if I'm able to attend.  A mystery author no less!  Yay!  Her name is Skye Alexander and I've met and enjoyed talking with her at the library already.  Her book, which she will be featuring, is Never Try To Catch A Falling Knife.  More about that in a few weeks.

In other reading, I have finished the second book in Anne Perry's Daniel Pitt series, Triple Jeopardy.  I read the first book in the series for the mystery group November meeting.  I'll put together my thoughts on those books to send to the group by email.  I liked both books and enjoyed this 'second generation' Pitt protagonist.  There are a couple more books in this series so far and I suspect I'll be reading those soon.  By the way, Daniel Pitt is the son of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, protagonists of Perry's long-running series.  Daniel is a lawyer, so comes at things a little differently than his father, a policeman.

I just started Karen Cleveland's latest book, You Can Run.  I've read other books by this author and am hoping this one will be a good one.  And that's about all I have for today.  Have a good weekend and Happy Halloween!!