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

[covingtoncat73]

I finished The Night Circus, which I enjoyed. I particularly loved the ending, though I did find the middle a bit of a slog.

I have now started on A Tale for the Time Being, which I actually listened to as an audio book and enjoyed enough that I wanted to read the text, because it is a complex tale about time, Zen Buddhism, physics, ocean gyres, bullying etc. which is told through the lens of a diary, letters, and a watch washed up in plastic bags on a beach in British Columbia. The diary is that of a bullied Japanese schoolgirl and the book goes between her story and the story of the person who found it, a writer named Ruth obviously based on the author.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by orangedotgreen

Last week I read the second Amelia Peabody book, The Curse of the Pharaohs. I liked it more than the first book and the ending wasn't quite as predictable as with Crocodile on the Sandbank (not that I'm complaining it's nice not to worry about everyone dying for a change).

Glad to hear that. I've got the second one queued up to read, just trying to decide if I'll listen to it, or read it on my Paperwhite. Probably listen, since I have several other ebooks lined up on the PW, and nothing more interesting to want to listen to. Unfortunately, this isn't a book that supports WhisperSync for Voice, since I have an omnibus edition of the first four Amelia Peabody books, not individual ones. Well, and I bought it from Kobo with a 50% off coupon. Gee, wonder why Amazon's Whispersync isn't working.

[poohbear_nc]

Creating a truly original character/premise/plot for a mystery novel is hard enough. Maintaining the freshness/originality/interest throughout a multi-volume series is daunting, and nearly impossible.

In 1995, Carol O'Connell created a unique addition to the police procedural genre with her sociopath with a heart of gold detective Kathy Mallory, and her outlandish cast of supporting characters. There have been a few stumbles in this series, but the latest -- It Happens In the Dark -- is Mallory back at full throttle - taking on outrageous murder plots, lying cops, lying suspects, and the glitz & garbage of NYC. This is the original Mallory - at her coldest & craftiest -- still learning to play well with others, or at least to better disguise her manipulation of others.

Highly enjoyable - with tongue planted very firmly in cheek!

[QuantumIguana]

I am reading The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker. It's a long book, but it is well documented.

[bfisher]

Ever since I saw Piero Della Francesca's "Resurrection" fresco on "The Private Life of A Masterpiece", I've wanted to know more about him. I'm currently reading Larry Witham's "Piero's Light: In Search of Piero Della Francesca : A Renaissance Painter and the Revolution in Art, Science, and Religion". The book does a nice discussion of his career in the context of the Italian Quattrocento.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Analog SFF for May 2014. (Yes, the May issue is out already!)

Not quite up to the usual standard, But an interesting article by Karl Schroeder about his LockStep story that was serialised ending last month.

Next up: Asimov's SF, March/April 2014

[Stitchawl]

Just into the middle of Joe Navarro's "What Every Body is Saying" and enjoying it immensely. It's another 'body language' study, but this time written by an ex-FBI investigator, and much more objective and detailed than some of the other kinisics studies. I've read quite a few different books on the same subject but this is one gives dozens more specific action clusters without feeling the need to pretend 'this means that!' Instead, Navarro goes on to give the possibilities of cluster meanings that lead to other lines of investigation. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has the need to interact with others and have a positive outcome. I guess that means just about everyone!


Stitchawl

[ccowie]

I just read The Cellist of Sarajevo.

Wow! What a fabulous book. It will be with me a long time.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by ccowie

I just read The Cellist of Sarajevo.

Wow! What a fabulous book. It will be with me a long time.

Hm, I'll put that one on my TBR list.

I'm rereading The Way of Kings in anticipation of the sequel being released on the 4th of March.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Asimov's SF, March/April 2014

Looking good so far. An interesting story with a (disguised) Doc Savage theme, and a lovely alternate history story where the alternate history just comes out as the story (which is not concerned with the alternate history directly) reveals itself.

But I've also started another book at the same time: Resurgence by Charles Sheffield. It's my earliest purchase in my TBR pile (from March 2004), and the last in a series, following on from Transvergence which I read last year. Also looking good.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But I've also started another book at the same time: Resurgence by Charles Sheffield. It's my earliest purchase in my TBR pile (from March 2004), and the last in a series, following on from Transvergence which I read last year. Also looking good.

Yes, it's a very good series. I enjoyed it when I read it.

[HarryT]

Read several interesting books in the last week:

"Hercule Poirot's Christmas", by Agatha Christie. This was her 32nd book, and was originally published in 1938. A classic "English country house" murder story. The tyrannical father of a dysfunctional family is brutally murdered, seemingly in a locked room. Poirot investigates. Enjoyable.

"Escape" by Ben Bova. SF set in the present or very near future. An urban teenage gang member is sentenced to an escape-proof prison, where, despite his best efforts to thwart the system, he is successfully rehabilitated. Very interesting read.

"The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie. The first book in the "First Law" trilogy. Rather dark and violent fantasy, but an excellent read. Difficult to describe other than to say that, if you like fantasy, you should give it a go. A new author for me, and I'm very impressed indeed.

[Rev. Bob]

Just finished Dynama, a small-press lesbian superhero romance novella that really should've been a novel. Some stories work in less than a hundred pages, but this one just felt rushed and compressed.

Now it's time for Killer Frost, the just-released finale (I think) to Jennifer Estep's YA urban fantasy series. It was pretty much a toss-up between that and Kim Harrison's new Hollows novel, but Estep gets the nod.

[Moe The Cat]

Originally Posted by HarryT

"The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie. The first book in the "First Law" trilogy. Rather dark and violent fantasy, but an excellent read. Difficult to describe other than to say that, if you like fantasy, you should give it a go. A new author for me, and I'm very impressed indeed.

I read the trilogy after a discussion on the use of torture in the book earlier in this thread. I enjoyed it very much. By all means, continue on to book 2 and book 3, Harry.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Moe The Cat

I read the trilogy after a discussion on the use of torture in the book earlier in this thread. I enjoyed it very much. By all means, continue on to book 2 and book 3, Harry.

I fully intend to! I have the omnibus edition of the trilogy.