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

[Care]

I started Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods 5), but I just wasn't into it. I then started Naked In Death hoping the change would get me out of my reading funk. I have hardly been reading lately.

[jkeene]

Just finished World War Z, gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. The multiple short viewpoints style worked very well for me. Haven't picked my next fiction book yet, have to scan a few sample chapter ones to find something. My current non-fiction book is The Guns Of August, somewhere around a third complete, enjoying that one quite a bit.

[Crusader]

Finished Flood by Stephen Baxter. A very interesting concept, but it got tedious at times and my reading pace went way down. Near the end the immensity of the human plight really sets in and drives the whole point of the novel home.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Analog for January 2011

And that was fun as usual.

Then I read William Campbell's Awakening. It seems to be fantasy, but of an odd almost sf-like kind.

I'm interested enough in how he's going to explain or resolve the situation/universe he's set up that I'll probably buy the second in the series. But not before the third one is published! I've got to the second volume of a trilogy too often to wait again for the third volume.

And now I'm reading the second part of the D'Artagnan romances, as prepared by HarryT. It's interesting to see that in nearly 400 years the French haven't changed: protests and near-riots about changes in the tax system were going on even in the mid 1600s!

[Mortis]

Just finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, I'm going to reread the Well World series by Jack L. Chalker.

[Rakgi]

Currently reading The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène
Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc and King of Foxes by Raymond E. Feist.

[Nyssa]

I'm currently reading Book 3 of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" series (called The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma).

The whole series is about a group of highly-intelligent children, their unusual gifts and their even more unusual adventures. Although the books are meant for children (ages 9 - 12), my husband and I have found them to be quite entertaining.

We have the physical 3 book set, but the series is available for both the Nook and the Kindle. In fact, you can buy it either as a set (all 3 books at once) or individually.

[Iridal]

I've been pretty busy the last few days: read the Age of the Five Trilogy by Trudi Canavan and watched the entire first season of Lost ...

Can you tell I haven't really left the house since Christmas ?

Next up: Affinity by Sarah Waters. And the second season of Lost

[din155]

Finished "The day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham, quite a gripping and chilling plot. Loved the way he writes, have got "The midwitch cuckoos" in my TBR list.
Currently reading "Foundation and Empire" and cursing myself for not trying it before.

[jgaiser]

One last book for 2010. "The Stainless Steel Rat" by Harry Harrison. A quick bit of SF fluff, but a fun little read. Read it years ago and found my copy a couple of days ago. Somewhere I've got a couple more of the series. Looks like I need to do a little digging.

[soloist66]

Taking advantage of the holiday slow down, vacation time and snow to catch up on some reading both in physical as well as e-book form. Read-a-thon so far includes:

1. "The Hangman's Daughter" by Oliver Potzsch. Thriller taking place during the 1600's in Germany. I found it for 99 cents on Amazon. I was pleasantly surprised -- and found it to be an entertaining read.
2. "High Crimes" by Michael Kodas. A look at how greed and lack of oversight lead to tragic consequences during the 2004 and 2006 climbing season on Everest. Having already read "Into Thin Air" as well as "The Climb" I nevertheless found this to be fascinating tale of people (climbers, guides, outfitters and others) who for whatever reason take life threatening risks: e.g., skimping on costs, stealing equipment from others, misrepresenting climbing accreditation and experience, in the pursuit of Everest glory and dollars. I couldn't put the book down.
3. "Dance with the Devil" by David Bagby. I won't say too much about this except that if you are familiar with the documentary "Dear Zachary" -- then this book is written by Andrew's father. It's a great companion piece to the documentary. If you haven't seen the documentary -- I'd recommend you watch it instantly on Netflix!
4. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese. I was a little wary about starting this but have gotten hooked almost immediately and now feverishly racing through the chapters....

[DixieGal]

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Hangman's Daughter also.

I just finished Terry Pratchett's Jingo, Discworld #________. It was the second book in the series that I disliked, the other being Unseen Academicals. Jingo is about politics, and the other is about basketball.

I plan to knock out The Middle Passage today and tomorrow, then be ready to start Hitchhiker's Guide for the MR book club.

[Paul Levine]

Started Michael Connelly's "The Reversal." He uses the technique of first-person POV for lawyer Mickey Haller, then third-person for other characters, including Harry Bosch.

I've done this once and found it to be a distracting. These days I either stick to first person as in most of the Lassiter series, alternating first person between two characters, as in the "Solomon vs. Lord" series, or pure third person, shifting POV, as in "Illegal."

Anyone out there have opinions on shifting POV from first to third and back?

Paul Levine
Author of "Riptide"
"To Speak for the Dead"
"Mortal Sin"

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Hangman's Daughter also.

I just finished Terry Pratchett's Jingo, Discworld #________. It was the second book in the series that I disliked, the other being Unseen Academicals. Jingo is about politics, and the other is about basketball.

I plan to knock out The Middle Passage today and tomorrow, then be ready to start Hitchhiker's Guide for the MR book club.

How is you've already read one book in 2011? Are you a time-traveler? I always knew you were ahead of the curve!

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Just finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, I'm going to reread the Well World series by Jack L. Chalker.

I hope to get to this book at some point in my life... did you like it?

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I'm currently reading Book 3 of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" series (called The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma).

The whole series is about a group of highly-intelligent children, their unusual gifts and their even more unusual adventures. Although the books are meant for children (ages 9 - 12), my husband and I have found them to be quite entertaining.

.

I've read the first two and agree- quite entertaining. I enjoy nicely-done books for this age group as well as more "adult" titles. I didn't realize a third was out. They were impulse pick-ups at the local library.

Originally Posted by Paul Levine

Started Michael Connelly's "The Reversal." He uses the technique of first-person POV for lawyer Mickey Haller, then third-person for other characters, including Harry Bosch.

I've done this once and found it to be a distracting. These days I either stick to first person as in most of the Lassiter series, alternating first person between two characters, as in the "Solomon vs. Lord" series, or pure third person, shifting POV, as in "Illegal."

Anyone out there have opinions on shifting POV from first to third and back?

I generally like Michael Connelly's stuff. As far as switching POV, if it's done well and things are consistent in two POV, I can easily adjust and I don't mind. Sometimes it even adds to the story to get a little more complete view of how other characters are feeling and what they are doing when the "main" character isn't in the picture. But when it's done badly... UGH!

I just finished J. Daniel Sawyer's "And Then She Was Gone"- a "hard-boiled" detective mystery. I like it, overall. Of course, I also reviewed it...