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

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Yesterday evening I finished reading The Fire Seekers! It proved to be a quite unusual, highly engrossing, creative and very exciting story!

Next I'm going back and attempting to begin again reading a freebie I found on Amazon in mid September (a limited freebie deal, it's $7.99 now), Fatal Debt (Dana MacKenzie #1) by Dorothy Howell.

Originally Posted by alansplace

Fatal Debt turned out to be kind of a fun yarn, even though the protagonist is terribly hard headed, constantly acts out of control and makes very stupid decisions. I'd be really upset if I hadn't gotten this book as a limited time freebie as it has many uncorrected typos! I did enjoy reading it however!

Next I'll be taking a shot at reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I said 'taking a shot' because I've not seen a happy comment here from any of the folks who've read it (the TV ads for the movie got to me and made me want to give it a try)!

Gone Girl turned out to be a very enjoyable read! I'm looking forward to seeing the movie as well!

Next, Generation 18 (Spook Squad #2) by Keri Arthur, an Urban Fantasy series set in Melbourn, Australia.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished Ghost Ship and Dragon Ship, and several stories in A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume One, now reading a few more in A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume Two while I wait for the eARC of Carousel Seas which should be available in the next day or so. Then it will be back to finsh off the current books in the Ava Lee series, with The Scottish Banker of Surabaya before my BC Library loan expires.

Well, Carousel Seas started a bit off, but finished very well indeed. I enjoyed this series immensely, primarily because of the characters rather than the magic. As to be expected from Ms. Lee.

Now, on to a different Ms. Lee, Ava Lee. Unfortunately, when I finish The Scottish Banker of Surabaya, I'll be out of Ava Lee books for a while, until Ian Hamilton writes another.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Now, on to a different Ms. Lee, Ava Lee. Unfortunately, when I finish The Scottish Banker of Surabaya, I'll be out of Ava Lee books for a while, until Ian Hamilton writes another.

No, you've still got #6 The Two Sisters of Borneo to look forward to after that. But then you'll have to wait until January for the release of #7 The King of Shanghai. (Apparently he's contracted until #10 or so.)

As for me, I recently finished the first three novels in Canadian author Melissa Yi's Hope Sze series of medical murder mysteries starring a newbie Ottawa doctor who's just moved to start her residency in Montreal and stumbles across murder, the way that newbie Ottawa doctors starting their residencies in Montreal tend to do.

I got these free as part of a Kobo contest tie-in (freebie offer for one book of your choice still valid until the end of the year, apparently), and decided to give them a try.

Code Blues was a decent introductory novel with, IMHO, way too much relationship drama (which fortunately got eventually resolved in the "yeah, we're not going to do this again" way, at least for that particular pairing), but enough of a reasonable setup for the main character and her apparent supporting cast that I was interested enough to continue with the 2nd.

I did like the linking of Hope's practice doing medical diagnoses under the tutelage of her supervising superiors to actually trying to figure out stuff from Clues™ for the murder case. And that rather than enabling her in her quest to Solve Crime® as people so often do for amateur sleuths, everyone pretty much gave her the "you're being weird and prying and nobody likes that and you really ought to leave it to the police but we'll put up with it anyway since you're kind of a friend".

Notorious D.O.C was a bit of an improvement in the relationship drama department, but kind of a step down in terms of the mystery plot, as I've never been fond of psycho killer does this gloaty 1st person inner monologue which is meant to drop Hints To The Gentle Reader interspersed throughout the regular text kind of thing because it's so often done really badly.

So, negative points for that. That said, I did like how Hope is suddenly 15-minutes-of-famous for solving the last case, and trying to live it down, and pretty much everyone around her is once again trying to discourage her from taking on the unsolved cold case and begrudgingly helps her out because she's a friend.

Terminally Ill was actually the best of the lot, with a rather clever setup and resolution to the main plot which involved trying to figure out who tried to kill someone who ended up surviving, which would have stood perfectly well on its own without the added extra murders which were apparently thrown in to make things more dramatic.

But it is a step up and hopefully the series continues this trend of improvement.

Mild recommend if you're looking for a newbie doctor settling into her residency in between solving crime sort of series, with bits of Montreal and Chinese-Canadian culture thrown in. Yi herself is an emergency doctor, so there's lots of accurate stuff on how hospitals and the Canadian health system works, and Hope rotates through different departments in each book as part of her residency which helps keep things fresh.

And the current promo freebie price of whichever book of your choice is certainly a point in its favour (by way of thanks, I'm planning to get the 99 cent follow-up novella which apparently retells part of #3 from one of the guilty involved parties' point of view from Kobo since it's cheap and couponable and I got 3 books free and I'm mildly curious as to how much hands-getting-dirty involvement that person had in it). It does help to read them in order, since these build on each other in terms of Hope's character arc and the relationship drama which puts her between two (or more) different love interests.

But despite that last and all the sexy thoughts about sexy sex, these are in no way romantically-inclined books, and it's actually kind of refreshing that the two love interests are both genuinely friendly outside of the attempted courtship and trying to be helpful with her in regards to both her personal issues as well as the sleuthy stuff.

That said, I kind of wish she'd just either angled for a polyamorous threesome with the both of them like she keeps thinking of, or given up on the distraction of romance during her residency and just invested in some sex toys instead, like she'd also been thinking of.

Anyway, now currently in the middle of James R. Benn's Billy Boyle series of WWII mystery/action thrillers starring a Boston cop turned special agent under his "uncle" by marriage General Eisenhower and thereby gallivanting all over the world solving murders in between enacting special missions usually related to and/or causing the murders.

We got the eponymous first of these free several years ago (it's currently on sale for $1.99 again), and I liked it enough back then to buy the next few at discount pricing, which I've finally gotten around to reading now. I'm really enjoying these (they come with nifty historical notes on the real-life background inspirations for the cases) and I'll probably getting the rest of the books out of the library.

[chookie2]

Finished another Repairman Jack (only three to go now but will wait a bit - savouring with distance) and have another F Paul Wilson early book to go. (Buckets).

Currently reading A.J. Aalto Marnie Baranuik series, finished one (Cold Company) and now on 2-Death Rejoices. Marnie is a klutz but gets the job done (the hard way).The dialogue is interesting as she talks to herself at the same time as others - fun light read. In between I added another Devon Monk to my finished list too. I do seem to be set in a rut of fantasy and magic just now but will opt out soon and go back to some mystery thrillers for while...when I am magik-ed out that is.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Turncoat. (Which I bought on 6 October 2012, just over two years ago, from Fictionwise for $1.36.)

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

I have this one as well; bought at Fictionwise on Oct 7, 2012 for $1.60 (along with Loot, my other Elkins standalone). Still waiting to be read ...

It was an interesting read. A mystery set in the early sixties, but concerned with the fallout from events in France in WWII.

In retrospect, the villain was obvious, but I didn't see it.

Hey - that was my 190th book of 2014!

Next up: Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. A doorstop of a conclusion to her Tawny Man trilogy. 739 pages!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by chookie2

Finished another Repairman Jack (only three to go now but will wait a bit - savouring with distance) and have another F Paul Wilson early book to go. (Buckets).

I'm currently working my way through the Repairman Jack books (via audiobook), listening to them back-to-back. I'm on #12 By The Sword, and don't want them to ever end .

Recently started reading I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. It has a huge number of 5 star reviews on Amazon (and quite a few 1 stars - how can people have such polar opposite views of a novel, especially as it is a genre - thriller - and those who don't like thrillers would presumably not bother in the first place?). I'm enjoying it so far.

Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn't exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence.

What begins as an unusual and challenging investigation will become a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion. Pilgrim will have to make a journey from a public beheading in Mecca to a deserted ruins on the Turkish coast via a Nazi death camp in Alsace and the barren wilderness of the Hindu Kush in search of the faceless man who would commit an appalling act of mass murder in the name of his God.

[bfisher]

Just starting "Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush" by Geoff Dyer. This is Dyer's latest book. It covers a two week period when Dyer was Writer-in-Residence aboard an aircraft carrier on deployment in the Persian Gulf.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

I plan to tackle An Infamous Army (by Georgette Heyer) next; I say "tackle" because I have a strong premonition I won't like this one much.

Last night I started Night Broken (by Patricia Briggs) and stayed up past the wee hours of the morning to finish it. The usual great stuff from Mercy & Co.; I now have a strong urge to start the series all over again.

I'm now a 1/4 way into An Infamous Army; so far I'm liking it more than I thought I would. The plan is to continue with it, plus one or two Hercule Poirots next or alongside.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by bfisher

Just starting "Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush" by Geoff Dyer. This is Dyer's latest book. It covers a two week period when Dyer was Writer-in-Residence aboard an aircraft carrier on deployment in the Persian Gulf.

Dyer mentions making airplane models as a kid, and imagining a Phantom being catapulted off a carrier. I did that too, and I also built carrier models (Enterprise CV-6 and Lexington CV-16), and of course, our first kid had the bigassest GI Joe toy the USS Flagg , so I was probably going to like this book anyway; he was living a dream for me, living on an aircraft carrier, and being able to see a large part of the life on the ship.

Beyond the bigger toys for bigger boys aspect, the most immediate feel I got for this was that it was like a Paul Theroux travel book, where he's describing what its like to travel in a foreign country at a level deeper than the Hyatt or the Starbucks; you are going to get some sense of what life is like in another culture. Also, unlike Theroux, there is a sense that he likes and respects most of the people he encounters, so that greatly adds to the pleasure. I did come away from the book feeling that I better understood why people would volunteer to serve in the US Navy, and why many of them would choose to make a life's work of it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. A doorstop of a conclusion to her Tawny Man trilogy. 739 pages!

But an excellent conclusion. And all the better for continuing the story part the climax to a satisfactory ending.

Next up: Origin by Stephen Baxter. The third in his Manifold series of alternate worlds.

[Rev. Bob]

I've been rereading Stephen King's Skeleton Crew, and fuming at the butchered formatting. The italics drop out at random in several places, and that's just the beginning. If a publisher treated my work this shabbily, I'd be raising hell with them.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

No, you've still got #6 The Two Sisters of Borneo to look forward to after that. But then you'll have to wait until January for the release of #7 The King of Shanghai. (Apparently he's contracted until #10 or so.)

Yes, I was fooled by my Amazon account, which is US based, and where #6 isn't yet available. However, the BC Library had #6, so I grabbed it and enjoyed it immensely. Though I admit, I'd be a lot happier if the level of personal abuse/violence to Ava were ratcheted down a bit.

I also read Carousel Seas (eARC), by Sharon Lee. I enjoyed it, as I've enjoyed this entire trilogy, though I admit the first 50 pages or so really dragged for me. But once I got past that, it went much better. I'll miss Archer's Beach, I've come to quite like the place.

Next up, and very nearly finished, Chris Haddfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. This book is about the lessons that Chris learned, sometimes the hard way, about what it takes to succeed as an astronaut. Which are all things we all could, and should, do better at. Interspersed with stories and commentary on his three trips to space, including the final one we all know about.

This is a very well written book, that has a lot for us to learn from, without being at all preachy. He says good things about many of his fellow astronauts, by name, while pointing out the ways that some were less successful but never by name. (Very Canadian.) He makes some compelling points about how to be successful in life that you won't often hear. Two of which resonated with me - "Sweat the small stuff", and "Aim to be a Zero". Astronauts are all over-achievers, but the ones that succeed do so not because they are aggressive about achieving, but because the plan, practice and take care of all the little things that make success possible, and they don't jump in before understanding what they're jumping into and what their impact will be. A highly recommended book, even if you don't have a whole lot of interest in the space program, but an absolute must read if you do.

Next up? No idea yet.

[CharredScribe]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I've been rereading Stephen King's Skeleton Crew, and fuming at the butchered formatting. The italics drop out at random in several places, and that's just the beginning. If a publisher treated my work this shabbily, I'd be raising hell with them.

Just finished Rose Madder and the formatting was the same - the one character's story was supposed to be all in italics but it would change at random times. I have the book in print - I know what it should look like

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Gone Girl turned out to be a very enjoyable read! I'm looking forward to seeing the movie as well!

Next, Generation 18 (Spook Squad #2) by Keri Arthur, an Urban Fantasy series set in Melbourn, Australia.

I really liked Generation 18. It was an interesting story set in a future time period and in an unusual (to me) location. It's late in the 21st Century (my guess is about 2070) in Melbourne, Australia. Also there are interesting characters and they live in an interesting society not that different than our western society of today. There are only 3 books so far in this series, which only leaves me 1 book to go so I really hope that there'll be more of them written and published.

Next, Going Dark (Silo 49 #1) by Ann Christy. Hugh Howey talks in the below quote about this book on his web site, including links to it on Amazon.

Silo 49: Going Dark (Ann Chsilo49risty) silo49

Silo 49 has never had it easy and things have just gotten a whole lot worse. Graham, the head of IT, has done many unsavory things in his life but everyone has a line they won’t cross. He just found his. With only his best friend, Wallis and a dying electrician, Grace, to stand by him, he is left with one clear and final choice. Does he do what is right or what the rules say he should? It is a race against time for the trio against the impersonal might of Silo One. Their only choice? Going Dark.

[pilotbob]

I finished The Rising: Volume 1 of the Flight Engineer by S. M. Stirling. This was a good hard SF story. Great reco Harry. I rated in 3.5 of 5 stars.

I started on Term Limits by Vince Flynn. It's starts really strong. I think this will be a good one.