Sunday Salon: Reading In Spite of Lake Erie Water Disaster

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week.Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer; Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey, and Mailbox Monday each week.

We need a lot of heavy rain, winds, and lower temps to get rid of the toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie that are growing near the water intake for Lucas County, Ohio's water supply. Our water advisory started early yesterday morning and we were told not to drink, cook, or brush teeth with the local water. Now they are saying those with compromised immune systems are advised to not even shower or bathe in the water. And washing clothes in cold water will still leave some of the toxins in the clothes. Of course, boiling the water will only increase the concentration of the toxin in the water.

We drove a hour south of the Great Lakes to find bottled water yesterday morning. There was a drain on bottled water in all the stores starting 2 a.m. Saturday, and by the time people woke up to the news on TV, water was very scarce. We found bottles in Lima, Ohio, thank heavens. By today, the local stores had trucked in millions of bottles of water so there is no shortage. And free water is being distributed at points around the city and county.

How long will this water emergency last? One can only hope not too long. The neon green algae can be seen from outer space, it's so dense. Not all of Lake Erie is affected, just our shallow portion of the lake, on its lower west. The algae blooms have not congregated on other sides of the lake, so Sandusky and Cleveland's water supplies are safe this time.

What's the point of being near the nation's greatest bodies of water, the Great Lakes, when they can become so polluted and toxic?

In any case, the reading of books goes on. I was absolutely delighted to get these two mystery novels in my mailbox.

Paw and Order

Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn is a stand alone novel in the Chet and Bernie mystery series with canine detective Chet and his human partner Bernie. I just love Chet the narrator and his doggie's point of view.

In the seventh book in the brilliant New York Times bestselling mystery series, canine narrator Chet and P.I. Bernie journey to Washington, DC, and the dog-eat-dog world of our nation's capital.

The Bone Seeker by M.J. McGrath is the third Edie Kiglatuk mystery in the series and is a stand alone novel.

 The intrepid Edie Kiglatuk discovers one of her female students dead in a toxic lake in her third arctic mystery...

Toxic lake?  That sounds familiar, but this lake is in the Arctic.

What are you reading this summer weekend? 

Bought at the Book Store/Borrowed from the Library

I was only going to look to see what new books were at the bookstore yesterday. I came back with this.

I have been seeing The Firebird on lots of blogs and was getting very curious. I liked what I read on the cover and started reading, then had to buy it. I am loving it! The heroine with psychic abilities appealed to me, especially while she is trying to establish the provenance of an old Russian wood carving, the Firebird.

At the library, returning some overdue books, I also went browsing and came back with these:

The Hour of the Rat is a thriller set in Beijing, with an Iraqi war vet representing the work of a Chinese artist and dissident, who has recently disappeared. The disappearance is the result of a conspiracy that leads the main character further into the mystery and into a wild chase through scenic parts of the country.

Bad Blood A Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow was another book I found at the library. I have enjoyed the series and read most of the early ones. Bad blood between two native tribes in Alaska intensifies when a young man from one of the groups is found dead. Kate is called in to resolve the problem and find the murderer. I always enjoy the Alaska setting.

A Tale for the Time Being is one I almost bought but found at the library, conveniently. A diary by Nao, a sixteen year old girl in Japan documents the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun, who has lived over a century. After the Japanese tsunami of 2011, the diary is found washed up on the shores of a remote island in the Pacific Northwest by a woman named Ruth. By reading the diary, Ruth is "pulled into Nao's drama and unknown fate and forward into her own future." I couldn't resist a description such as that.

Great books! I wish the last three had been in my mailbox and that I didn't have to return them eventually to the library :)

What have you bought or borrowed recently?

French Mystery and British Suspense novel

Two new mystery novels in the mail, these from overseas. I'm looking forward to reading them.

The Nicholas Floch Affair by Jean-Francois Parot
is the third in the mystery series by the author, a diplomat and historian.

Publisher's description:
"Paris 1774. Commissioner Le Floch's lover, socialite Julie de Lasterieux, is found murdered in her bed, a victim of poisoning.

Nicholas retains the confidence of those closest to him, and is even sent by Louis XV to London on a secret mission. But a plot is afoot to implicate Le Floch in Julie's death, and he faces the roughest challenge of his career as he fights to clear his name and bring the real murderer to justice.

Venom by Joan Brady

Publisher's description:
"Physicist Helen Freyl has just accepted a job offer from a giant pharmaceutical company who are close to finding a cure for radiation poisoning. But when the mysteriously sudden death of a colleague is followed by another, Helen begins to doubt her employers' motives and realises that her own life is in danger, too.

Recently released from prison, David Marion didn't expect to find a hitman at his door. Warned that a powerful secret organization is after him, David goes underground and off the radar - waiting for the perfect moment to wreck revenge.

Venom brings David and Helen together as they fight for their lives against a backdrop of industrial espionage, corporate greed and human tragedy in this exhilarating and fast-paced follow-up to Joan Brady's bestselling Bleedout."

Brady, originally from California, now lives in Oxford, England.

I'm sure I'll enjoy these European mysteries!

Library Loot, Audiobooks Galore

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg @ ReadingAdventures and Eva at A Striped Armchair.

Here's what I got today at the library, to last for the next couple of weeks: lots of audio CDs.

1. Only one hardcover book, Whisper To the Blood, a Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow, the 16th in the mystery series. A mystery novel set in Alaska, featuring Kate Shugak of the Niniltna Native Association.

2. Two fiction audiobooks:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, about the world of the circus and the performers there, unabridged, 10 discs. Eleven and a half hours of listening!
Digging to America by Anne Tyler, unabridged, 7 discs.

3. Three crime fiction audiobooks:

R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton, mystery writer, unabridged, 10 discs.
Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer by Dorothy Gilman, a light mystery set in Africa, no. 12 in the Mrs. Pollifax series, unabridged, 6 discs
A Fine Place for Death: a Meredith and Markby Mystery by British writer Ann Granger, a light mystery set in the Cotswolds, unabridged, 8 discs

What am I doing with all these audio CDs? Getting ready for an eye procedure next week, during which time I'll be listening rather than reading while I rest and recuperate. Why so many CDs? If I get bored with one novel, I'll just switch to another. Or listen to several at different times, depending on my mood :)

Oh, I also won an audio version of The Swan Thieves. Hope it'll arrive just in time.

I think I'll start right now, though, with Mrs. Pollifax, that indomitable lady and secret agent. Why wait?