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

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: Ninety Percent of Everything by James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel & Jonathan Lethem.

A pleasant little novella, but just a bit of fun really.

Next, another long-standing unread from Fictionwise, a short story:
"The Fish Merchant" by Tobias S. Buckell
A very good short story, although the SF aspect is secondary.


And now, The Spartacus File by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

[Melon Soda]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Baldacci has two mystery/suspense series that I have very much enjoyed. The very first book I bought for my Kindle was Stone Cold, the 3rd book in his Camel Club series. I had just finished reading the paperback of The Collectors and my brand-new Kindle 1st generation arrived in the mail, so I quickly bought the next book.

The Sixth Man was very good. It "stars" Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, both former Secret Service agents now working as Private Investigators. This particular book featured hi-tech anti terrorism, rogue federal executives, lots of conspiracy. I think my favorite in the series, though, was First Family.

Thank you so much! I'll check out some of the titles you mentioned like the Sixth Man! It sounds intriguing and like it'd be a fast-paced story!

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Everything by Stephen Leather is very, very good. Mostly thriller and mystery. Of course my favorite though is his autobiographical account of the scam of meeting and living with his Thai 'bar girl' wife. This scam has been repeated hundreds of times by hundreds of people. So many, in fact, that Leather originally gave the story away for free on his website to try to prevent the scam from being run on others. I personally know three men who fell prey to it! A very interesting read!
Stitchawl

Whoa! I didn't know about that! I think the account of the scam meeting would be worth checking out! So far I've only read a book or two in his Jack Nightingale series and Dan Shepherd series and I'd love to check out the rest of the series!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now, The Spartacus File by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

A very good SF/Dystopia/Revolution novel indeed. I like it a lot. Come to think of it, I think I like everything of his that I've read.

And now: Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison. The third in her Rachel Morgan series. Unless things improve I won't bother with the rest. Rachel's whininess about her boyfriend troubles is irritating.

[Angst]

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
--Ron Ronson

About one out of every 100 people is a psychopath. You probably know one. Or two.

People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get what they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others.

-- Robert Hare, Ph.D

Scary stuff. Now I'm stuck trying to analyze everyone around me to see if they are a psychopath. (And watching as the author hilariously points out psychopathic characteristics in himself.)

Some interesting stories in the book. 'Tony', tries to get out of a modest prison sentence by pleading insanity. Twelve years later, and he is still being held indefinitely, and can't convince the psychiatrists he is sane.

The psychopathic population or prisons runs about 15% vs 1% for the general population, and 3% for business management.

I had to add another book, Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, to my reading list.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Hmm. No sign of the first one in the BC Library system, but a bunch of Howard Engle books. Unfortunately, the first one available is #5, A City Called July. Is this the sort of series that really needs to be read from the beginning? Or can I jump in at #5?

Well, that was quite a pleasure. The protagonist, Bennie Cooperman, is a bit of a zshlub, but quite Canadian. No shoot-em-up, no car chases, and really no violence.

[Namekuseijin]

I'm in chapter 69 of Dan Brown's Inferno, my first foray into the author's work. Builds up slowly and fully chichéd like a bad hollywood thriller, but it's gripping nonetheless. Part thriller and part tourist guide it's also partially a symbolic retelling of Dante's Inferno with Langdon almost in the same shoes of the poet... interesting.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by Angst

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
--Ron Ronson

About one out of every 100 people is a psychopath. You probably know one. Or two.

the description given sounds a perfect fit for my ex-wife

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I'm in chapter 69 of Dan Brown's Inferno, my first foray into the author's work. Builds up slowly and fully chichéd like a bad hollywood thriller, but it's gripping nonetheless. Part thriller and part tourist guide it's also partially a symbolic retelling of Dante's Inferno with Langdon almost in the same shoes of the poet... interesting.

Thanks I have not decided if I want to read this book. I think I will wait a little longer after what you stated.

[Melon Soda]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I'm in chapter 69 of Dan Brown's Inferno, my first foray into the author's work. Builds up slowly and fully chichéd like a bad hollywood thriller, but it's gripping nonetheless. Part thriller and part tourist guide it's also partially a symbolic retelling of Dante's Inferno with Langdon almost in the same shoes of the poet... interesting.

It's one of those book I have but haven't got around to reading yet! Ah... the backlog. I've read Dan Brown's other books before though, and they all makes good reads!

[HudsonSpike]

A very funny book by Adam Carolla, "In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks." Downloaded from the local Library. A good summer read that takes my mind off of the torrid weather we're having. Ought to be a great hurricane book too (Arthur).

[PurpleStar]

I finished B.J. Daniels' Rescue at Cardwell Ranch and Wedding at Cardwell Ranch. Nice light mysteries/romance.

Now reading a Star Trek novella, The More Things Change by Scott Pearson. It's about Christine Chapel and Spock!

Reading some short books since I don't have much time to read while helping my Mom move.

[bfisher]

Reading "Everything They had: Sports Writing From David Halberstam". This is a collection of newspaper columns and magazine articles on various sports, written by David Halberstam over a span of 50 years, and selected for book publication by Glenn Stout.

I've loved his baseball book "Summer of '49" for years, admired as his political and history work ("The Best and the Brightest", "The Fifties", "The Coldest Winter"), and didn't know that he had written so widely about sport other than baseball.

The organization of the book is by sport and theme, and all of the stories are short and stand-alone, so it is perfect for dipping into at random. Everything I've read so far is excellent - "The Basket-Case State" and "He Got a Shot in the NBA, and It Went In" about basketball, and "Homage to Patagonia" about fishing and watching "the Gigantes of New York play the Cuervos of Baltimore".

It's a great loss that we will have nothing new from him; he died in 2007.

[Melon Soda]

I'm stuck. I downloaded a batch of free e-Books from Kobo, and now that I've finished the Stephen Leather Hard Landing book, I don't know what to read next

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now: Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison. The third in her Rachel Morgan series. Unless things improve I won't bother with the rest. Rachel's whininess about her boyfriend troubles is irritating.

It improved a bit, but I still feel the characterisation is a bit patchy. I'm not convinced by the world-building either.

Next Up: GrantVille Gazette #54, edited by Paula Goodlett.

[WT Sharpe]

Weird Tales Vol. I by E.T.A. Hoffmann is what I'm currently reading. It was uploaded to MobileRead's Patricia Clark Memorial Library by crich70. Very strange stuff.

Vol.1: ePub / Kindle

Vol. 2: ePub / Kindle