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

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I've decided to start "The Hooded Swan" series of five novels by Brian Stableford. I got these in a recent fictionwise sale. If I like this first one, I'll probably go straight through all five.

Halcyon Drift by Brian Stableford

A bit of a slow start, but it's beginning to grow on me, so I will go straight onto Rhapsody in Black by Brian Stableford

[Namekuseijin]

Besides "The lying carpet" on dead tree, I finally read "The curious case of Benjamin Button" in ePub.

Good tale! Particularly interesting how despite the effect of inverting age it has no significant impact on his developing relationships: he at first feels more at ease with his grandparent, then as he "matures" he is in good deal with his father, he has "teen" problems with his son, and when finally a grandpa, he's obviously in very good company with his grandson. Isn't it as it usually goes?

A very good tale, with a very poetic and truthful ending. No idea how they made it into full length movie, though.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

Besides "The lying carpet" on dead tree, I finally read "The curious case of Benjamin Button" in ePub.

Good tale! Particularly interesting how despite the effect of inverting age it has no significant impact on his developing relationships: he at first feels more at ease with his grandparent, then as he "matures" he is in good deal with his father, he has "teen" problems with his son, and when finally a grandpa, he's obviously in very good company with his grandson. Isn't it as it usually goes?

A very good tale, with a very poetic and truthful ending. No idea how they made it into full length movie, though.

It's that good? I watched the movie and to be honest, I didn't like it. Maybe Oscar movies are not for me!

[Todd Young]

I'm reading Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. He's Swedish writer. I'm halfway through and the book absolutely has me sucked in. Very unual, and almost impossible to put down.

Also just finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Excellent book about a dystopian future.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

Besides "The lying carpet" on dead tree, I finally read "The curious case of Benjamin Button" in ePub.

Good tale! Particularly interesting how despite the effect of inverting age it has no significant impact on his developing relationships: he at first feels more at ease with his grandparent, then as he "matures" he is in good deal with his father, he has "teen" problems with his son, and when finally a grandpa, he's obviously in very good company with his grandson. Isn't it as it usually goes?

A very good tale, with a very poetic and truthful ending. No idea how they made it into full length movie, though.

Originally Posted by maianhvk

It's that good? I watched the movie and to be honest, I didn't like it. Maybe Oscar movies are not for me!

I loved the classic story of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Francis Scott Fitzgerald (@ feedbooks). My friends went to the movie and, from what they told me, it was not like the book.

Just finished Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids (volume 1 of the Neanderthal Parallax) and starting Humans. Hominids kept me turning pages and I didn't want to put it down to go to sleep.

Spoiler:

From Publishers Weekly
In this polished anthropological SF yarn, the first of a trilogy from Nebula Award winner Sawyer (The Terminal Experiment), Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth, as both sides discover when a Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleoanthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer called a Companion implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. A computerized guardian spirit, however, doesn't eliminate cross-cultural confusion permanent male-female sexuality, rape and overpopulation are all alien to Ponter nor can it help his housemate and fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder. Ponter's daughter Jasmel believes in Adikor's innocence, but to prevent a horrendous miscarriage of justice (Adikor could be sterilized), she must try to reopen the portal and bring her father home. The author's usual high intelligence and occasionally daunting erudition are on prominent display, particularly in the depiction of Neanderthal society. Some plot points border on the simplistic, such as Mary's recovering from a rape thanks to Ponter's sensitivity, but these are minor flaws in a novel that appeals to both the intellect and the heart.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Todd Young

I'm reading Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. He's Swedish writer. I'm halfway through and the book absolutely has me sucked in. Very unual, and almost impossible to put down.

I have this as a DTB on my TBR pile for a while, but as I've not read anything paper-based since Christmas I have not got round to it. It has had brilliant reviews, and made an excellent film (Swedish version), which I have seen.

Might have to force myself to read a "proper" book again .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Snauzoo

Well, to be honest, I have just inherited about 5000 books from friends of my husband, and dumped them into a library that I am slowly digging my way out of. (nice grammar lol). I have SEEN a lot of books I would rather be reading than pruning with Calibre, but that said, I have The Borrower on my Kindle for iPad app and am enjoying it. It is quirky, and suspenseful enough to make you want to finish it.
Review:
Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

Unless these friends have died, you cannot inherit eBooks. Are these all public domain or creative commons? Any of them still in copyright? Because if any of them are still in copyright, you should not be sorting them. You should be deleting them.

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by Iridal

Just finished the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series by Karen Miller. They were very good, although I expected a little more battles and magic. But highly recommend nonetheless

Did you get the series as e-book or DTB books?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Rhapsody in Black by Brian Stableford

Still not really gripping. Interesting ideas in some places. Good enough that I'll go on to the next one, in the hopes that the series is something other than a series of essentially unrelated tales.

So, next up:Promised Land by Brian Stableford

[Nancy Fulda]

Recently finished reading "Take the Monkeys and Run" by Karen Cantwell and "A Modern Witch" by Deborah Geary. They were both a change from my usual style (I tend to prefer science fiction and fantasy) and I was pleasantly surprised. Fun, quirky stories with a lot of heart.

[DianNC]

Originally Posted by Snauzoo

...I have The Borrower on my Kindle for iPad app and am enjoying it.

Thanks! I just yesterday got that from my library...will start on it tonight!

[ATDrake]

Finished books 2-4 in the light fantasy series "Songs from the Seashell Archives" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. I picked these up @ 25% off during Read an EBook Week at Smashwords, and the recommended 1st in the series, Song of Sorcery, can currently be had at 60% off with this weekend's Fictionwise coupon.

These were all pleasantly enjoyable mildly comedic light quest fantasies which followed successive generations of practical hearthwitch Maggie Brown's friends and family.

The Unicorn Creed has Maggie trying to get rid of an unwanted crown (and the accompanying unwanted suitors) after having been made a princess by her brother-in-law while trying to find a balance between staying a unicorn maiden and her mother's dire warnings that a hearthwitch's magical powers are incompatible with virginity (or maybe she's just saying that so that Maggie will continue the family line).

Bronwyn's Bane features Maggie's niece who was given a terrible christening curse (boils, horrible pustulent boils… maybe) which is a liability for a Crown (Warrior) Princess (but potentially great for a merchant) and seeks to have it removed by tracking down the original caster who resold it to the ogress who resold it to her wicked uncle with the help of her cousin Carole, a gypsy prince, and a swan princess.

The Christening Quest has Bronwyn's brother Prince Rupert and songwitch Carole on the trail of royal baby-nappers in order to give the child the all-important protective christening gifts (sans curse) if they can't retrieve the kid from her current situation.

It's a shame the series never went beyond these 4 books, since I wouldn't have minded a follow-up to the stuff revealed in CQ which hints that there's a future Great Destiny in store for one of the characters.

Medium-high recommend for all three, if you want to read light-hearted mildly comedic quest fantasy; although the 1st and 3rd books are really the best (TUC actually has a better plot than BB, but BB's is much more fun due to the nature of the curse making for increased entertainment value).

You can read Song of Sorcery and Bronwyn's Bane each standalone without reference to the other books, but The Unicorn Creed and Christening Quest each kind of directly follow up on stuff that happened in the books immediately previous, so while you could read them standalone because the stories are self-contained, you'd be spoilering yourself for some major stuff that happened earlier in the series.

[Namekuseijin]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I dreamt, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I snoozed, nearly napping, suddenly there came a bipping, As of some one gently mailing, mailing me an unwanted email. "'Tis some spammer," I muttered, "mailing me an unwanted email —Only this, and nothing more."

In any case, I'm glad that spammer woke me up, as I went on to read Poe's "The Raven".

[orange!]

Just finished a reading break with T.R. Pearon's Warwolf. It's a page-turner, even thought it's gorier and more grotesque than I usually care for.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

Recently finished reading "Take the Monkeys and Run" by Karen Cantwell and "A Modern Witch" by Deborah Geary. They were both a change from my usual style (I tend to prefer science fiction and fantasy) and I was pleasantly surprised. Fun, quirky stories with a lot of heart.

They do sound fun. Added to my Amazon wish list.

I'm glad to say that the Hooded Swan series I'm currently reading by Brian Stableford is picking up a bit in book 3.