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

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Whoa...on chapter 4 and I remembered someone commenting that I should read the novella Beekeeping for Beginners between The Beekeeper's Apprentice and A Monstrous Regiment of Women. So I went looking on Amazon and found it for $.99! So I'm pausing at Chapter 4 to read the novella. "And so it goes." [KV]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well, Beekeeping for Beginners is one that you could read at any point, but it's interesting to read it in fairly close proximity to The Beekeeper's Apprentice, since they cover the same events, just from a different perspective.

Originally Posted by alansplace

I'm 3/4's through it and I'm leaning towards changing the series number from 1.5 to .5. By the way, assuming you are the 'someone' I remembered commenting that I should read the novella Beekeeping for Beginners,

Wow! Great story! The story concluded at 80% and I'll definitely renumber it in my library to Mary Russell 0.5. Now back to A Monstrous Regiment of Women.

[CRussel]

I think I was probably the one who suggested it to you, though I'd have to dig through the threads to be sure. But certainly, I have done so in the past.

As for renumbering it to 0.5? Interesting. I appreciate your viewpoint on it, since by the time I read this story, I was on Mary Russell [11.0]. However, I notice when I look in Calibre, I see Beekeeping for Beginners as Mary Russel [0.50], so I must have had the same reaction!

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

It was one of the best books I read last year.

I like the book, but I like a few changes the movie made. Fezzik is pretty stupid in the books, in the movie he isn't.

[Straycat1945]

Bill Pronzini??? Who is Bill Pronzini?

I just finished [I]Wasteland of Strangers[I] by this author, and it was one of the best all round books I've read in a long time. The form of telling the story is new to me, but I settled in soon enough. I challenge you to figure out who the perpetrator is before the end. I was convinced I had it solved half way through; I wasn't even close.

The Amazon.com review;

Here's a fine modern mystery that would have made a wonderful 1950s B movie. Robert Mitchum would have been perfect as the hulking stranger John Faith, who arrives one day in the faded Northern California resort town of Pomo with a mysterious agenda. Who but Paul Douglas could have played the tough but fair-minded police chief? And the part of Storm Carey, the gorgeous widow feeding her grief with rampant sex, would have been a natural for Jan Sterling or Elisabeth Scott. Bill Pronzini both uses and overcomes these film noir images as he skips from voice to voice to tell a tricky, compelling story.

Highly recommended.

Denny

[tecweston]

Currently Reading:

- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (72%)

- Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (27%)

- The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Titanic Tragedy by William Seil (19%)

- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (~20%) [on hold]

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Straycat1945

Bill Pronzini??? Who is Bill Pronzini?

I just finished [I]Wasteland of Strangers[I] by this author, and it was one of the best all round books I've read in a long time. The form of telling the story is new to me, but I settled in soon enough. I challenge you to figure out who the perpetrator is before the end. I was convinced I had it solved half way through; I wasn't even close.

Highly recommended.

Denny

Thanks for the review. My library has a copy. Added to my TBR list. Scheduled to read in Summer of 2018

[xg4bx]

day 3 of stopping&starting. everything i pick up just seems so trite and dumb. i don't even know what genre i'm in the mood for.

made a bit of headway into The Black Prism by Brent Weeks but the color based magic system got irritating pretty quickly and the youngster protagonist wasn't doing it any favors.

[Apache]

I am finishing Killing Floor by Lee Child. Then I will start Die Trying.
Apache

[AlexGrama]

I have finished To kill a mockingbird. Brilliant.

[thinkpad]

I finished the latest book in the Temeraire series: Crucible of Gold and got quite disappointed. It's gotten most 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon but for me it wasn't more than 3 stars.

I concur with the following Amazon review:

Crucible of Gold continues the saga of Captain Laurence and his dragon Temeraire. This novel lacks any gripping plot or drama for me. I found it boring, methodical and almost completely uneventful. The novelty of dragon characters has worn off by this the seventh offering in the series. Unfortunately, this story just drags on without any gripping action with the exception of a few brief scenes. Although still interesting, the development and interaction of the dragon and human characters was not enough to keep me intrigued with the story.

Another reviewer that sums it up:

I initially looked forward to each new book in the series with much anticipation but now I feel like I read them almost as an obligation.

[CRussel]

Sadly, thinkpad, I'm afraid I agree. I've got the latest one on my Kindle, but somehow it never makes its way to the top of my TBR. I'm beginning to suspect it never will.

Finished reading Paladin of Souls , by Lois McMaster Bujold, the second in the Chalion series. I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading the third in the series, which I have waiting in my TBR. But I think I'll take a break and read the new Maise Dobbs book by Jacqueline Winspear - Elegy for Eddy. This is number 9 in the series, and so far they haven't failed to please.

After Elegy for Eddy, it's time to read Harry Potter again, I think. Now that I have them in legal eBook form.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

....it's time to read Harry Potter again, I think. Now that I have them in legal eBook form.

I'm having trouble deciding whether to get the British versions or the American. I bought Philosopher's Stone from Pottmore instead of Sourcerer's Stone because the name change from the original (which was an important distinction, IMHO) always rubbed me the wrong way (I recently bought I bought Philosopher's Stone in hardback from an Amazon Marketplace vendor for the same reason). But since the Movie Series appears to be based on the American versions and that JKR appears to have approved of the changes and the fact that I really like Mary GrandPré's chapter heading drawings (her covers too), I'm still undecided. Well there's no hurry at least.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

day 3 of stopping&starting. everything i pick up just seems so trite and dumb. i don't even know what genre i'm in the mood for.

made a bit of headway into The Black Prism by Brent Weeks but the color based magic system got irritating pretty quickly and the youngster protagonist wasn't doing it any favors.

When I feel that way I switch to another form of entertainment usually movies. Visual stimuli instead of textual. Recently, I watched Rango because cartoon lizards are irresistible. And The Vanishing the original Dutch/French version because I wanted to yell at TV actors.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I'm having trouble deciding whether to get the British versions or the American. I bought Philosopher's Stone from Pottmore instead of Sourcerer's Stone because the name change from the original (which was an important distinction, IMHO) always rubbed me the wrong way (I recently bought I bought Philosopher's Stone in hardback from an Amazon Marketplace vendor for the same reason). But since the Movie Series appears to be based on the American versions and that JKR appears to have approved of the changes and the fact that I really like Mary GrandPré's chapter heading drawings (her covers too), I'm still undecided. Well there's no hurry at least.

Ah, well, my local library has the UK versions, so that's what I went with. Simple decision.

[pilotbob]

I finished the Valut. Its a good read. But, I still have to say, nothing is as good as Rouge Wave.

I think I will hit the 4 book thriller set I bought for $1.

BOb