Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[CRussel]

At that price, I simply won't buy it. If the library gets it, I might download it.

Fortunately, I have more than enough in my TBR to be hard on that. And it's not as if she were an author who needs supporting.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

At that price, I simply won't buy it. If the library gets it, I might download it.

Fortunately, I have more than enough in my TBR to be hard on that. And it's not as if she were an author who needs supporting.

I agree with everything you said except for 'simply won't'. I just can't be that positive (hmmmm....or is that I just can't be that negative?). Oh well.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Blood Rites was a great re-read. I loved every second of it (do I sound redundant?).

I'vev downloaded the Amazon free sample of The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. Since the price for the complete book is a bit steep I'm going to first read the sample and then decide if I want to finish the book bad enough to pay $17.99 for the privilege.

I finished the sample last night and the actual complete book is now on my Amazon Christmas wish list.

My short Dresden break turned out to be real short and I've now begun re-reading Dead Beat, number seven of The Dresden Files.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Now - time for a classic. I'm now starting Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

I enjoyed this one although it was sometimes a little difficult to grasp meaning in the narrative.

I was thinking while reading that there was a real echo of this novel in Apocalypse Now. OK - maybe it is a common fact for those more educated in such matters, but I was quite shocked after completing this novel to read the following under Apocalypse Now in Wikipedia:

The screenplay by John Milius and Coppola came from Milius's idea of adapting Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness into the Vietnam War era.

At least I wasn't so confused as to miss the similarity.

OK - another indie novel now. This time, it's David Michael's Gunwitch: A Tale Of The King's Coven. I've enjoyed the other books I've read from this author so I'm interested to see what effect this one has on me.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I am currently reading Hal Spacejock and hope it lives up to some of the hype I have seen where it is compared favorably to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf. So far it hasn't, but I will finish it.

I finished this on Tuesday, my opinion didn't change and I won't be continuing in this series, but I can't decide what to read next.

As a stop-gap I read a short story - The Death Clock by J. Rock - which was good. Then at lunch I saw The Feeling of Power by Isaac Asimov in the "Name this Book" thread, so read it too. Then when looking for the story I was asking about, I decided to read The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. I don't think I have read it before, but it was very good. I also started another Julius Katz short on my way home.

As for what to read next, I considered starting Cloudburst by Ryne Douglas Pearson, but that doesn't appeal right now. Maybe I will try to fill in a couple decades that I am missing and read something from 1900-1909 (Anne of Green Gables?), 1930-1939 (Little House on the Prairie? At the Mountains of Madness?) or 1960-1969 (Dune? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?).

[CarolineNH]

Just started "Wired" by Douglas Richards. The storyline so far is interesting, but some of the writing seems amateurish, with some long words (Chevrolet Suburban instead of Chevy, for instance, and "fake identification" used instead of shortening it to "fake ID" when we've already established what is being discussed.) The writing style at times seems like what I used to do in college to stretch the paper to the required number of pages when I didn't have quite enough material. I'm on Chapter 3, though, and it seems like it's starting to pick up. We'll see if the editing improves along the way.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Just finished Dave Bidini's Home and Away: In Search of Dreams at the Homeless World Cup of Soccer. Very good.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Another good set of stories, but nothing outstanding.

Next: Asimov's SF, October/November 2012 by Dell Magazine Authors.

Also entertaining, but again nothing outstanding.

Next: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett.

I finally couldn't resist an ebook offer. I'm pretty sure the hardback is around the house, but I just don't read paper any more.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I enjoyed that one a lot.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I finally couldn't resist an ebook offer. I'm pretty sure the hardback is around the house, but I just don't read paper any more.

I totally understand. I've also bought books that I know I have in paper here, but that I wanted to reread.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by CarolineNH

Just started "Wired" by Douglas Richards. The storyline so far is interesting, but some of the writing seems amateurish, with some long words (Chevrolet Suburban instead of Chevy, for instance, and "fake identification" used instead of shortening it to "fake ID" when we've already established what is being discussed.) The writing style at times seems like what I used to do in college to stretch the paper to the required number of pages when I didn't have quite enough material. I'm on Chapter 3, though, and it seems like it's starting to pick up. We'll see if the editing improves along the way.

I've read that one myself. It was a good thriller, but I had a couple of issues with it. Interested to read your opinion when finished.

[Stitchawl]

I'm right in the middle of 'The Bourne Identity' and marvel at Robert Ludlum's ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, even when you know what's going to happen! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.


Stitchawl

[Apache]

I just started The Last Eagle by Michael Wenberg.

Forced into a neutral Estonian port for repairs during the chaos of the opening days of World War II, the Polish submarine, the "Eagle" and her crew are betrayed by their captain and captured by Nazi sympathizers. The crew, however, isn’t content to sit out the war. With help from unexpected sources—a naval attaché with the British Embassy and a courageous American reporter and her photographer sidekick—they overcome their captors, regain control of the "Eagle," and escape. The German’s are convinced the "Eagle's" crew has no stomach for a fight and will seek refuge in Sweden. But the Poles have something else in mind—join up with the British Fleet and continue fighting against their homeland's Nazi conquerors. They face stiff odds. The "Eagle" has little food and water, few torpedoes, and no sea charts. And before she can rendezvous with the British somewhere in the North Sea, she must traverse the Baltic, which has become little more than a Nazi-controlled lake.

This story is inspired by the exploits of the Polish submarine, "Orzel," during the early weeks of World War II.

Winston Churchill called her escape from the Nazis “an epic.”

Apache

[DrNefario]

I finished I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. Pretty much the same as the other Tiffany Aching junior discworld books. Enjoyable enough.

I've started on The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham - the first Campion book (or maybe, more accurately, the nothingth, since he's not the main character) - and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Maybe I will try to fill in a couple decades that I am missing and read something from 1900-1909 (Anne of Green Gables?), 1930-1939 (Little House on the Prairie? At the Mountains of Madness?) or 1960-1969 (Dune? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?).

I'm missing the 1900s and 1930s too. I'm going to be reading A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh for the 1930s (and to complete my set of the Queens of Crime), and I'm thinking of trying to push on with Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M R James for the 1900s. This isn't a real challenge for me, though, just a bit of fun, so I don't really care if I don't get the whole set. I'm certainly going to be about 8 letters short of the alphabet challenge.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I'm right in the middle of 'The Bourne Identity' and marvel at Robert Ludlum's ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, even when you know what's going to happen! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.


Stitchawl

Read it when I was a much younger man, and for a while it was my fave thriller. Have fun with the rest. I am still reading the series, even though they are now written by Van Lustbader.