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

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Sorry, I know nothing about the movie. I read and enjoyed the novel back in 2008 and its protagonists were adults, not teenagers. It was similar in some respects to Puppet Masters (Heinlein). It was certainly not similar to Twilight (Meyer).

Ok, perhaps they were "adults" in the move preview... be we are talking 20 somethings. Or barely 20ish.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Ok, perhaps they were "adults" in the move preview... be we are talking 20 somethings. Or barely 20ish.

Yikes! I just viewed the trailer. All I can say is read the novel , forget the movie!

[ucfgrad93]

I am currently reading Flag in Exile on my Kindle.

[poohbear_nc]

I've started Joyce Carol Oates' The Accursed - I admit I was intrigued by a review that announced Oates had finally written a vampire novel. It's a very odd read - dealing with events that occurred at Princeton around 1905 - with "real life" characters, such as Woodrow Wilson and Upton Sinclair, and actual historical events -- with an added curse thrown in. The writing style is intentionally archaic -- much like her style in Bellefleur and The Mysteries of Winterthurn - and she can channel Henry James' elongated sentence syntax quite handily. The tale is related by an unreliable historian - and so far I've encountered lynchings, a spectral bride, a demon bridegroom, and numerous "vampiric" manisfestations of the dead. Not to mention Wilson's hypochondria and opiate addiction. Quite a fun & intriguing read!

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Frost Burned was quite good and was a really enjoyable read, as was The Mystery of the Ivory Charm.

Now onto the 3rd selection in the Tom Corbett Omnibus, On the Trail of the Space Pirates by Carey Rockwell and the 2nd of the Steampunk series, Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding, The Black Lung Captain.

I was quite impressed by On the Trail of the Space Pirates, as it turned out to be a pretty good space opera and still stayed within the parameters of the old TV show!

I also had a lot of fun reading The Black Lung Captain and its daemonic content got me in the mood to revisit Diana Rowland's Kara Gillian series with the 3rd book, Secrets of the Demon which is up next!

I'm also going to read the 14th Nancy Drew Mystery, The Whispering Statue!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Subterranean Scalzi Bundle by John Scalzi. An omnibus of some of his shorter works that I bought in November 2012.

I really enjoyed the fiction in this bundle. The collection of his blog posts on writing was OK, but not really something I'm interested in, so I skipped most of it.

Next up: World of the Starwolves by Edmond Hamilton. The third in this classic series that I bought from Baen back in August 2008!

The first two were OK to good. This one's looking good.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Gazella20

A beautifully written novel, the author's explicit way of describing the imagery and landscape is so beautiful. The ending was tragic and surprising yet fitting.

Succinctly and accurately put. And the answer to your question:

Spoiler:

It is Mattie's voice. It's the "twist" of the story.

[Xanthe]

I am really enjoying Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series, a mystery series about a female Sicilian anatomist set in England of the 1100's

[crich70]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This. No-one should study a Shakespeare play without first seeing it actually performed. Even if only a good film version.

My Mom would agree with you there pdurrant. When she was in High School she had to read Julius Caesar for class and thought it boring, then yrs later she saw a performance on TV of the play and it was a whole other situation.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I really enjoyed the fiction in this bundle. The collection of his blog posts on writing was OK, but not really something I'm interested in, so I skipped most of it.

Next up: World of the Starwolves by Edmond Hamilton. The third in this classic series that I bought from Baen back in August 2008!

The first two were OK to good. This one's looking good.

I agree Mr. Hamilton is a good read. I picked up a copy of his "City at world's end" when the library in the town I was living in at the time had a book sale (since have gotten an ebook version at Manybooks) and a few yrs ago there was a collection of his stories for free at Phoenix Pick that I got.

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Succinctly and accurately put. And the answer to your question:

Spoiler:

It is Mattie's voice. It's the "twist" of the story.

That's what I suspected but wanted to make sure. Thanks!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: World of the Starwolves by Edmond Hamilton. The third in this classic series that I bought from Baen back in August 2008!

Yes, a fun space-operaish adventure.

Next up: Lens of the World by R. A. MacAvoy. This was part of a mass fictionwise order in May 2011.

[carld]

Currently reading The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Six.

So far: The Case of Death and Honey by Neil Gaiman is an excellent bit of Sherlock Holmes fiction involving death and bees (somewhat obviously).

The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu is, as described in the title, also about bees, though more as metaphor for human society -- very good.

Tidal Forces by Caitlin R. Kiernan was too abstract for me, and I ended up skipping it after a few pages.

Younger Women by Karen Joy Fowler was a surprisingly decent and sinister take on the "young vampire in love" story.

It's been a good, but not yet excellent, short story collection, with Neil Gaiman's offering as a real standout.

[Joy736]

Originally Posted by Joy736

Next up: Spying in high heels by Gemma Halliday.

What an enjoyable read! It's the perfect combination of some of my favourite genres: chicklit, mysterie and romance. Next up: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Sorry, I know nothing about the movie. I read and enjoyed the novel back in 2008 and its protagonists were adults, not teenagers. It was similar in some respects to Puppet Masters (Heinlein). It was certainly not similar to Twilight (Meyer).

I agree that the novel Host by Stephenie Meyer has significant differences to her Twilight series - the characters are adult and the telling seemed directed at an older audience. However, it still did have a significant romance aspect, and ... let's just say she's not offering any surprises there.

I thought the book opened well, it is an interesting idea. Then I found it slow going for a while, but it finally picked up again in the last third. I'm not in a hurry to read it again, but not sorry to have read it once.

Guess it's not surprising that any movie adaptation would aim at a lower age bracket than the book - presumably targeting the audience that went to Twilight. When I read the novel I never got the impression that that was what Meyer intended.