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

[thinkpad]

I'm hooked on Elizabeth Chadwick. I'm currently reading To Defy A King. Loosely attached to the William Marshal saga.

http://www.elizabethchadwick.com/Books/tdak.html

[richvalle]

I finnished "Men at Arms" on the Nook. I have to say, the first Discworld books are... ok. Not great but decent. By this time in the series Mr. Pratchet has hit his stride and is putting out really good books.




I also finished up "God's War". Since it was a free book a while back I'm curious as to what others thought about it. For me, it was a strange book. I finished it, and I'd try something else by the author, but I'd have a hard time recommending the book to someone else.

I think the book might have been better off as a straight fantasy. The 'tech' in there just didn't work well I thought in a sci-fi setting. Of the two abilities given in the book one was poorly explained (pheromones? At range and upwind?) and the other (shifting) not explained at all. And the first 100 or so pages were very hard to get though. Lots of names of people, countries, places (no map) thrown at you. You're also trying to figure out the culture references and what/how the tech/magic is and how it works. I almost gave up but it gets better after the initial flood.

But still, an ok read.

I've started:



2nd book in a series and it starts off well.

On the Nook I've restarted:



The 3rd book in the Culture 'series'. I put series in quotes because it's not really a series but a collection of books that takes place in the same setting. Very far future and high tech.

[maianhvk]

I finished Catching Fire earlier today and am almost done with Mocking jay.

Then... I'm reading nothing next week. No, I'll read the textbooks. Term is about to over soon. Tests are cominggggg!!!!!

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

How about two out of three? I won't spoil it for you, but there's a tie in between Amelia and Vicky in later books. You have to really look for it though.

Oh, you do not! It's pretty obvious in a couple of places!!!!! I thought that was so fun!

[DiapDealer]

I just finished Jack London's The Sea Wolf. Like his other stuff, I should have read this long ago. A nautical Man vs. Nature with a touch of psychological thriller thrown in for good measure. Wolf Larsen--the amoral, sociopathic captain of the Ghost--is one of the most fascinating creations I've come across in literature.

"Feet with which to clutch the ground, legs to stand on and help withstand, while with arms and hands, teeth and nails, I struggle to kill and not be killed."

I've started reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. I've long been a hard-boiled, noir fan, but I've neglected the sub-genre's roots. I'm not very far into it, but I've already noticed what I can only assume are references to people/events from previous Philip Marlowe novels. To anyone who has read Chandler: should I read some of the previous novels to acclimate myself, or will this novel ultimately stand on its own?

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I finished Catching Fire earlier today and am almost done with Mocking jay.

Then... I'm reading nothing next week. No, I'll read the textbooks. Term is about to over soon. Tests are cominggggg!!!!!

I used to feel your pain. I was so happy when I discovered audiobooks. They were my lifeline when I was going to grad school in Baton Rouge (over an hour W. of St. Tam), working in St. Bernard (over an hour E. of St. Tam), and living in St. Tammany.

I still drive, though not quite that much. Heh. I am listening to Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars on audio and just started the last story when I got to work. I think "Fair Extension" is my favorite of the 4 stories, though 1922 was a corker, but will reserve judgement until I finish the last story.

I am only 20% done with the book I am reading on my Kobo, Anatomy of Ghosts, because I am been so frantic the last couple of days, it has been hard to sit down and read but I am enjoying it.

[edbro]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I've started reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. I've long been a hard-boiled, noir fan, but I've neglected the sub-genre's roots. I'm not very far into it, but I've already noticed what I can only assume are references to people/events from previous Philip Marlowe novels. To anyone who has read Chandler: should I read some of the previous novels to acclimate myself, or will this novel ultimately stand on its own?

It was a MR book club selection last year. See here for discussion:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...t=Long+Goodbye

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Oh, you do not! It's pretty obvious in a couple of places!!!!! I thought that was so fun!

LOL!! Okay, I had to look for it. Or maybe it's just I didnt' believe what I was reading so I had to go back and double check!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

I'm hooked on Elizabeth Chadwick. I'm currently reading To Defy A King. Loosely attached to the William Marshal saga.

http://www.elizabethchadwick.com/Books/tdak.html

I think I had her on my to-read list long ago, wonder what happened since she dropped out of sight... Will have to look for her again. Found out today that Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke is finally out as ebook, so that will probably be up first.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Oh, you do not! It's pretty obvious in a couple of places!!!!! I thought that was so fun!

Well, if they're sprinkled throughout, I think I may have just run into one of them. I just finished The Mummy's Case, and one of the suspects for the "Master Criminal" who's been stealing antiquities is a young man of a particular colouring and build from an apparently upper-class background who tends to run away at the prospect of physical violence, who's rather similar to an established character who steals antiquities and is a young man of a particular colouring and build from an apparently upper-class background who tends to run away at the prospect of physical violence.

Ancestor or red herring, who knows?

Before that, also read the 3rd Vicky Bliss Silhouette in Scarlet, which I rather liked because it's a) set in Sweden and I have this inordinate fondness for cultures which produce dragon boats and b) practically a non-murder mystery heist caper in which no dead bodies are stumbled across to provide extra drama. I like that for a change of pace.

I'd gotten a bunch of assorted Bliss and Peabody mysteries out from the library, which seems to have the lot along with some more obscure non-series Elizabeth Peters mysteries (even if I had to dig in the surprisingly well-stocked Large Print section for some of the older ones; who knew that people with vision difficulties loved their lurid mystery/crime thrillers that much?) with the intention of seeing how many I could read in order until I hit a gap.

I'd been intending to alternate between Bliss and Peabody volumes so as not to burn out on them, but then I went and read The Curse of the Pharoahs and The Mummy Case in short succession.

You know, I don't mind if there are inordinately precocious children showing up in adult-level books. I don't even mind really all that much if they're inordinately precocious children upon whom their parents dote and never really restrain who wreak destructive havoc upon their surroundings and make extra work for their actual put-upon caretakers who have to both tidy up after them and answer to the parents when the kids disappear off onto another adventure.

I'm willing to say that I can even tolerate it when said inordinately precocious children upon whom their parents dote and never really restrain end up wreaking destructive havoc which conveniently saves the day on a number of occasions, and helpfully turn up the answers which have evaded the silly adults who have foolishly been ignoring this inordinately precocious savant of a child. Although I prefer that to happen in YA/kids' books where it reads more naturally as a wish-fulfillment fantasy.

But I cannot even in the least put up with any child, no matter how precocious and day-saving and savant-like, who employs an adowable lithping speech defect to emphasize their adowable pwecocity.

It is at that point where I begin to believe not in the Victorian notion that "children should be seen and not heard" since technically that's all the appearance they're making in a print novel, but rather the notion that "children with twee speech defects should be packed off post-haste to the faraway boarding school and not be seen or heard from again until they are fully grown and the twee speech defect has been beaten out of them".

It's probably too much to hope for that they start leaving him at home during the digs.

Anyway, usual recommend for Silhouette in Scarlet if you like nice "To Catch a Thief"-like how-to-foil-the-heist-caper mysteries.

Very, very, mild recommend for The Curse of the Pharoahs and The Mummy Case if you enjoy Plucky Victorian Egyptologist murder mysteries.

Actually, since there appear to be nearly 2 dozen of the Peabody books, I think I'd skip TMC unless determined to read the series in order. You can always go back and read it later, after reading the ones where the kid is apparently grown and maybe childhood scrapes will seem more entertaining in retrospect.

TCotP had only a minor appearance and was fairly fun in other respects, although the copy I read came with additional commentary in the form of a previous Gentle Reader who left inane remarks written in pen, along with the occasional typo correction.

I think I might as well read Lion in the Valley next, since that seems to continue the "Master Criminal" plotline and it's a lightweight paperback and it's a nice, sunny day and I don't have to worry about it getting rained up on while waiting for the bus.

But after that I'm definitely cleansing my palate with Trojan Gold in the Bliss series.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Ea

Found out today that Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke is finally out as ebook, so that will probably be up first.

I tried to listen to this as an audiobook, and had to give up. Found it silly and boring, but then I have to admit to not being much into wizards and magic (though I do like Terry Pratchet and Rincewind).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by edbro

It was a MR book club selection last year. See here for discussion:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...t=Long+Goodbye

Thanks. I'll definitely save the link for after I've finished. But right now, I'm not really looking for any actual plot discussion which may contain spoilers. I'm just wondering if there's events/people in the previous novels that would be considered "required knowledge" before reading The Long Goodbye. The question may be moot, as I've not run into any puzzling references lately.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by richvalle

I finnished "Men at Arms" on the Nook. I have to say, the first Discworld books are... ok. Not great but decent. By this time in the series Mr. Pratchet has hit his stride and is putting out really good books.

I've been reading Discworld and the book Maskerade (#18) really put me off for a bit. It's a witches book but it felt kind of forced and while there were some smiles here and there, there was no LOL and it wasn't all that good overall. The next book in published order is Feet of Clay which I have to fix up and then I can put it on my 650 to read next month.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

LOL!! Okay, I had to look for it. Or maybe it's just I didnt' believe what I was reading so I had to go back and double check!

I *did* go back and double-check some things from other books. I was wishing I had read them closer together because I had that feeling I was missing some of the "inside" jokes!

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by orlok

I tried to listen to this as an audiobook, and had to give up. Found it silly and boring, but then I have to admit to not being much into wizards and magic (though I do like Terry Pratchet and Rincewind).

I gave up on this book halfway through (paperback).