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

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That cannot be true about BBC wanting to focus on original TV instead of novels as one of the more popular series that just ended season 1 is Call the Midwife based on the book. They've already commissioned to shoot season 2.

Maybe they've come back on their decision since, but they gave that as a reason a couple of years back when they cancelled several popular series based on books (I think that was why the Inspector Lynley series was cancelled, too).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Like Jon, I'm finding myself wondering if Cloud Atlas was fitting for a sci-fi month. Sure, parts of it take place in the future and involve advanced technology, but that certainly isn't the main thrust of the story. But unlike Jon, I couldn't see it as fantasy, either. It seems to defy classification. There is an undercurrent involving Eastern religious elements.

It feels more like a collection of different genres of stories. That's why the problem classifying it. It's not SF. But it's not fantasy. I would have to classify it as fiction. If I thought this was SF, I would not have fought so hard to get it disqualified. Nobody was able to persuade me that it was SF and any SF type awards it got were as wrong as Jethro Tull getting an award for hard rock/heavy metal.

What actually persuaded me to read Cloud Atlas was the extended trailer I saw. It looked good. But this book was not as good as the trailer.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cassidym

Just finished Frozen Heat by Richard Castle and it was excellent. More surprise twists than I would have imagined. Arguably the best of the Nikki Heat series.

I plan on giving the Nikki Heat series a go. I have eBook one on reserve from the library.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Thanks for the heads up on "Beggars." Bummer.

As to Cloud Atlas. I think most people do not read it correctly. Yes, you can read it as a reincarnation tale but what it is really about it story itself, how the stories we tell create our reality. It is also about how stories (or lives, if you like) can be connected and have an effect far into the future. What I took away was that Cloud Atlas was asking the question can we tell a story that elevates us from the eat or be eaten of the rest of the animal kingdom.

I found Cloud Atlas to be a miss-mosh of stories with a small thread connecting them together.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Maybe they've come back on their decision since, but they gave that as a reason a couple of years back when they cancelled several popular series based on books (I think that was why the Inspector Lynley series was cancelled, too).

I hope so. BBC can do some good work based on good books.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It feels more like a collection of different genres of stories. That's why the problem classifying it. It's not SF. But it's not fantasy. I would have to classify it as fiction. If I thought this was SF, I would not have fought so hard to get it disqualified. Nobody was able to persuade me that it was SF and any SF type awards it got were as wrong as Jethro Tull getting an award for hard rock/heavy metal.

What actually persuaded me to read Cloud Atlas was the extended trailer I saw. It looked good. But this book was not as good as the trailer.

From the comments I've seen, I would classify it as literary non-genre. Because what could possibly be a less contentious categorisation for a book?

I wanted to read it before I saw the trailer, but I really wanted to read it after the trailer. However, now I've shelved the idea (no pun intended) until a later date.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by caleb72

From the comments I've seen, I would classify it as literary non-genre. Because what could possibly be a less contentious categorisation for a book?

I wanted to read it before I saw the trailer, but I really wanted to read it after the trailer. However, now I've shelved the idea (no pun intended) until a later date.

The trailer is very well done. The book, not so. How it got an award, I have no idea. And whoever gave or nominated it for an SF award should be prevented from having anything to do with book awards. This is not SF and it's not award worthy.

[dreams]

I just finished listening to The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck performed by the L.A. Theatre Works. Loved it. It isn't the full book, but if you know the story, it was very good at portraying the people and time. I haven't read the book in a while and I have to admit I had forgotten the amount of prejudice so frankly expressed in that era.

I went to my bookshelf to find my copy, but it wasn't there. I would like to get another copy to read.

Does anyone know if the Penguin Classics version with the "detailed notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott" is any good?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Started Jet by Russell Blake in the rest of the time. Not sure what to think of it yet. Although it is very fast paced I am having a hard time getting into the writing style.

That was a very quick read, I enjoyed it, but will probably not finish the series. It had enough of a conclusion for me. It did feel a bit like a combination of Kill Bill and the Bourne Identity, as advertised, and was fast paced with lots of action.

Next is The Variant Effect by G. Wells Taylor. Horror/science-fiction/police drama it looks like. I have had it on my TBR list for a year and the premise of it keeps intriguing me, so I figured it was time to try it out.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I hope so. BBC can do some good work based on good books.

I think I've read that the BBC wanted to concentrate on "original drama" in an interview with Rufus Sewell, who plays Zen. I can't find it now. However on the wikipedia pages for the series it states it got axed because "there are enough male crime-fighters on tv".

It also states that the producers are looking if other tv channels are interested in the series.

[HarryT]

"Service of all the Dead" by Colin Dexter.

The 4th book in the "Inspector Morse" series. We're still in "pre-TV Morse" days here, and the book Morse will be surprisingly different to those who are only familiar with the TV series.

This book has Morse investigating a puzzling series of murders associated with the church of St. Frideswide in Oxford. The usual complex web of theories and counter-theories follow, which are the joy of all the Morse novels, before the solution is finally revealed. Perhaps not quite as surprising as some of the others, but still a truly excellent book which I thoroughly recommend.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

The Wise Man's Fear was great...Can't wait to read the third book, though I'm not sure when I'll get to it...

Well, I was looking at possible books to read next year, and found out the third book isn't even out yet and probably won't be anytime soon, so I'm now sure that it will be quite awhile before I get to it.

[Quake1028]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Move 11/22/63 to the top of your TBR pile. It's very good. Well worth reading.

This is 100000% the truth.

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by Quake1028

This is 100000% the truth.

Wow. So it's that good. Can't wait to get it!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Move 11/22/63 to the top of your TBR pile. It's very good. Well worth reading.

Thanks for the extra reco. I've heard such good things about it here. It is my next read once I finish A Clash of Kings. I generally don't buy an ebook until I am ready to read it. Unless it is a REALLY good sale on a book I know I want to read.

BOb