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

[MelC]

Just finished The Woman in White which I enjoyed but I came away with the distinct impression that Wilkie Collins didn't think much of women.

Now reading Laurie Notaro's Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club and funnily enough I'm not sure she has a very positive impression of women either...sigh...

Mel

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by MelC

Just finished The Woman in White which I enjoyed but I came away with the distinct impression that Wilkie Collins didn't think much of women.

Collins had unconventional relationships with women, but I think he had an appreciation of them.
I'd recommend 'The Law and the Lady' - it features maybe the first female detective in English fiction, and she is a strong character.

[KindTrish]

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
8th Confession - James Patterson
Excuse me Your life is Waiting - Lynn Grabhorn
Distant Cousin: Repatriation - Al Past

(Parallel reader)

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by MelC

Now reading Laurie Notaro's Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club and funnily enough I'm not sure she has a very positive impression of women either...sigh...

Mel

I love Notaro's books. Don't you think the sarcastic impressions of women are directed mainly at herself and her close friends? I find her hilarious ... and feel like we are living parallel lives! We both have that sort of odd view of looking at the world through clown colored glasses.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by KindTrish

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
8th Confession - James Patterson
Excuse me Your life is Waiting - Lynn Grabhorn
Distant Cousin: Repatriation - Al Past

(Parallel reader)

Oh My Goodness! That's quite a diverse reading list!

[benham]

On my brand new BLUE 505 I am reading The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly!

[Sweetpea]

Just finished Intervention by Julian May.

I so much love her Galactic Milieu Trilogy, and Pliocene Exiles Saga, I'd start all over again if only I didn't have other books to read

Naturally, what she wrote in Intervention has been overtaken by now, as that book starts in 1945 and ends in 2013.

But one thing struck me last night:

My mention of the great innovation in communication struck a sour note with the publisher. The programmable liquid crystal reader-plagues had already spelled the doom of printed periodicals and paperback ephemera; and the newer large-format plagues with improved colour-imaging that had just come out of China were bound to take a nasty bite out of conventional book publications.

This book was written in 1987. So, she's not that far off with her predictions (as the point in the story where that is said is in 2013).

I'll finish a few more short stories (by Robert J. Sawyer mostly), and then move on to the Galactic Milieu Trilogy, starting with Jack the Bodiless.

Edit:

forgot to say why I love the stories:

All characters are down-to-earth, they can be anybody you meet on the street. The "hero" of the story isn't a hero at all, he's rather somebody who just want to live his life.

I also like the writing style she uses. You're not an all-knowing reader, but sometimes you do know a bit more because she goes back to events that already happened (but on a different location). And there are places where you must really think the story through before you really comprehend what is going on.

The last four books (Intervention and the Galactic Milieu Trilogy) are written as some sort of biography, but with some parts "told" by others. So, part of the book is in first-person, others are "supplied" by a third-person and written as such. It also enhances the fact that you are not an all-knowing reader, you know as much as the one writing the story. You will learn things at the same time he does (as he is told part of the story by that third-party so he can write it down).

[poohbear_nc]

I've been reading through the Ian Fleming James Bond canon - lotsa dated & sexist stuff - but it's been fascinating to refresh my memory and compare the novels with the grotesqeries (is this a word?) that the movies have become.

The latest 2 movies (with Daniel Craig) seem to follow the original plot lines the closest since the original Sean Connery flicks.

And yes, Pussy Galore was a real character in the novels - not a Hollywood gimmick. But the movies did leave out the giant squid from Dr. No - maybe they couldn't lease Disney's after it was killed by Captain Nemo.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I'm currently reading the various H Rider Haggard anthologies that Harry uploaded here

[Verencat]

I'm reading La Condition Humaine (Man's Fate) by André Malraux and I'm loving it!!!

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Verencat

I'm reading La Condition Humaine (Man's Fate) by André Malraux and I'm loving it!!!

I should read that too. Is it difficult like analysing each sentence?

[desertgrandma]

"Strangers in the Universe, 11 Science Fiction Stories" by Clifford Simak.

Hardback, published in 1956. First Ed yet.

And the preprinted price on the dust cover? $3.50

[Verencat]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

I should read that too. Is it difficult like analysing each sentence?

No, it's actually a novel! A really well written novel, set in Shanghai, that gives an interesting perspective on oriental philosophy.
Food for thought WITH action, that's what I'm talking about!

[radamo]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I've been reading through the Ian Fleming James Bond canon - lotsa dated & sexist stuff - but it's been fascinating to refresh my memory and compare the novels with the grotesqeries (is this a word?) that the movies have become.

The latest 2 movies (with Daniel Craig) seem to follow the original plot lines the closest since the original Sean Connery flicks.

And yes, Pussy Galore was a real character in the novels - not a Hollywood gimmick. But the movies did leave out the giant squid from Dr. No - maybe they couldn't lease Disney's after it was killed by Captain Nemo.

I just finished "From Russia with Love" and it was really a great read. Nice to see the full story and not the "Movie" version.

Now I am reading:
The Coffin Dancer - Jeffrey Deaver
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Coffin Dancer is second in the Lincoln Rhyme series. It is a serious page turner.

RA

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Verencat

No, it's actually a novel! A really well written novel, set in Shanghai, that gives an interesting perspective on oriental philosophy.
Food for thought WITH action, that's what I'm talking about!

Thank you!