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

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Apache

Like a Mighty Army is due out in February.
Apache

But I won't be getting it until the paperback appears and the price drops. I paid $22.06 for the second volume at Fictionwise (on a 100% rebate deal, I admit), but now I'm not willing to pay more than £4/$6 for them. (I got volume 5 for $4.85 and volume 6 for $5.73.)

[JoelArnold]

I read Stephen King's Joyland over the Labor Day weekend. I enjoyed it (although I had a pretty strong suspicion about who the murderer was about 2/3's of the way through the book.) What I liked most about it was how King delved into the world of carny life.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Reading Chosen was a real treat! Now on to another new release, Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6) by Ilona Andrews!

I ordered the paperback of Joyland (I couldn't find an ebook ) from Amazon because I just couldn't get into Magic Rises even after reading 5 1/2 chapters of it! So I'm reading Joyland next and putting Magic Rises aside.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I ordered the paperback of Joyland (I couldn't find an ebook ) from Amazon because I just couldn't get into Magic Rises even after reading 5 1/2 chapters of it! So I'm reading Joyland next and putting Magic Rises aside.

Stephen King decided to not make Joyland available on ebook. I bought the book though and enjoyed it very much! I am sure you will too.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Meanwhile, I finished reading the first Anne McCaffrey Dragon book Dragonflight, and rolled right on to them second one, Dragonquest. It's interesting to read these now, many years later, and knowing what an impact these had on a whole generation of writers and readers.

Finished Dragonquest, on to White Dragon. I have to say, I'm enjoying this re-read. It's been years and years since I read these early Pern books and they have mostly stood the test of time.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by dreams

I had to flip through and start a few and found that I was continuing to read the one I was on, so decided to just keep reading. The Delphi Agenda by Rob Swigart.

Spoiler:

Publication Date: December 1, 2012
You thought the Inquisition was scary the first time around. Now they have modern technology!

Papyrologist Lisa Emmer’s world flips when the Surete meets her at her Metro station with news of the savage murder of the esteemed Paris historian Dr. Raimond Foix, her friend and mentor in the study of ancient documents. Horrified, Lisa finds clues at the crime scene left behind for her by her mentor—clues to a secret kept hidden for centuries. These clues make her a prime suspect in the murder investigation, and also put her directly in the cross-hairs of a deadly commando group that proves to be none other than a contemporary offshoot of the Inquisition.

They want an ancient document that reveals a secret so explosive it could change the world—a document they’ve been tracking for centuries. Led by a sadistic priest and a vicious but very accomplished nun with excellent military cred, their mission is to destroy the document—no matter what the cost in blood.

Desperate to clear her name and to stay alive, with the help of a handsome yet mysterious banker, Lisa must solve the clues and uncover the millennia-old secret before her adversaries can find and destroy it. Since she was a child Lisa had suffered from uncontrollable fugue states. Now she discovers just in time that what she always thought was a liability may in fact be an almost paranormal ability to see things in ways others cannot. The trail leads everywhere from ancient cemeteries and tombs throughout France to Istanbul and Greece, as Lisa and Steve desperately stay one step ahead of their enemies, solving the clues to a dangerous treasure hunt their lives now depend upon.

I almost didn't start it, due to the beginning, but I kept reading and found that I was still reading instead of looking for another book. I am about 30% in to the book and find it really interesting. I do want to find out what happens and I like all the extra bits of information. This is not a literary masterpiece, but it is a fun read, so far.

I can't believe I actually started this so long ago and still haven't finished it. So much has continued to come up that I have only been reading things that I can fit in here and there.
So, throughout the summer, I've read many a gardening book (square foot planting, companion planting, garden pest control: pesticide free, how to compost, etc.) and have filled in the other times with a lot of short history freebies from amazon; Mark Black and Charles Rivers Editors. None of which are memorable or worth rereads.

Hopefully the coming fall and winter will allow longer time periods for reading.

[covingtoncat73]

What did I read on summer vacation? The better question would be what didn't I read. 2 weeks without (much) Internet made me much less distracted.

1. I finished (I had already started it) Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A pirate queen kidnaps a chef and makes him cook for her.

2. I re-read The Hobbit.

3. I read Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. I had read the first three Books in the Earthsea series when I was a child and, given where I was reading this collection of short stories, well, it was very fitting. I espescially loved the first one.

3. Winterwood by Patrick McCabe I didn't enjoy. At all. It was very disturbing and at the same time quite difficult to figure out what was actually going on.

4. Fludd by Hilary Mantel. This was better than Winterwood but definitely not the best thing I read this summer. I enjoyed the little Irish Nun character.

5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. I loved this so much. There are supernatural elements but the real star of the show is 19th Century New York. The characters, even the non-human ones are quite well-fleshed-out.

6. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this. I loved it. Mr. Sedaris and I actually have a bit in common, I think.

7. The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss. Jane Austen and alchemy. It was fun but not Liss' best. I enjoyed The Coffee Trader, his non-supernatural historical fiction, which I read a couple of years ago, more.

8. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley. It was alright but not the best fracture fairly tale I've ever read. That title belong to either The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber or The Book of Lost Tales by John Connolly.

[bfisher]

Currently reading Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich. Some interesting bits (for example, discussion of the putative Pope Joan and the subsequent testicle check).

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished Dragonquest, on to White Dragon. I have to say, I'm enjoying this re-read. It's been years and years since I read these early Pern books and they have mostly stood the test of time.

Dragon Singer and Dragon Song are childhood favorites of mine. White Dragon is probably next on the list of my favorites in the Dragon series behind those two.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Cauldron" by Larry Bond, a "techno-thriller" describing a European land war in the 1990s (which was the future when the book was written). The basic story is that France and Germany form a coalition and invade the rest of Europe, with the US and Britain coming in on the side of the invaded countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, etc).

Well written and enjoyable, but marred by some irritating mistakes which could so easily have been avoided, such as referring to the "Labor Party" and "Ministry of Defense" in Britain (it is of course "Labour Party" and "Ministry of Defence"). 4 out of 5.

[Stitchawl]

How could they make such a glaring mistake? Preston and Child... These guys are better than that!
"Riptide." The doctor/main character complains that he left the jungle because he got tired of seeing people die of 'Breakbone Fever' for lack of Amoxicillin.

Breakbone Fever is common name for 'Dengue Fever,' and Amoxiclilin doesn't cure it. There is NOTHING that cures it. All one can take is acetaminophen and wait for it to run its course. There are three types of Dengue, and only one of them is 'sometimes' fatal, and is the least commonly seen form of the fever.

The Devil is in the detail...


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Dragon Singer and Dragon Song are childhood favorites of mine. White Dragon is probably next on the list of my favorites in the Dragon series behind those two.

Sadly, I am not seeing any of the Dragon Singer arc in eBook formats. There's evidence that they existed at one point (Amazon lists them in the Kindle store as "Not currently available for purchase".)

They were among my favourites as well.

[benham]

Relic by Preston&Childs

[MickeyC]

Just finished Thus Adonis was Murdered and what a great read. Special thanks to Belle Zora for recommending it. It was like modern day Shakespeare and damn hard to put down.

[tilia]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

<snip>
5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. I loved this so much. There are supernatural elements but the real star of the show is 19th Century New York. The characters, even the non-human ones are quite well-fleshed-out.

I just read about this a couple of days ago. I found the premise of the story fascinating, and put it on hold at the library (there are over thirty people in front of me, so it'll be a while till I get it)