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

[jersysman]

I just started reading the 5th book in the Penny Parker series by Mildren Benson called Clue of the Silken Ladder.

[HarryT]

Finished "Steel", the 4th book in the "General" series by S.M. Stirling and David Drake, published by Baen. This is in the "Conqueror" omnibus, published by Baen in March 2003.

Raj Whitehall continues his quest to unite the planet Bellevue 1000 years after the collapse of an interstellar civilization, aided by the ancient sentient battle computer called "Center". Excellent military SF.

[Apache]

I read Craig Ferguson's Autobiography American On Purpose: A Memoir. I thought this was a funny and great read on the foibles of humans. How this man survived long enough to straighten out his life was a miracle.
I read Jack Cambell's (John G. Hemry) entire Lost Fleet Series, including Lost Fleet, Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier and Lost Stars. This is actually three interrelated Series totaling eleven books with a twelfth due out May 6, 2014. This is an excellent Military Fiction series that does not suffer from the usual loss of quality. I highly recommend this series and now have to wait until May to read the next book.
I am now reading the first book in Michael Arnold's Civil War Chronicles, Traitor's Blood. I am half way through it and find it an enjoyable read. I will be picking up the other's in this series to read also. This is a Historical Fiction book about the English Civil War not the American one.
Apache

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Raising Steam was very good indeed. The graphic novel is quite fun so far, and I expect to enjoythe rest of it.

Next I'll be reading my most recent Asimov's SF magazine.

The graphic novel was good. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic work so well together as one book, I wonder if that was always the intention.

The drawings were fun. I thought Twoflower was particularly good.

Next gift book is Terra by Mitch Benn, which I'll be reading at lunchtimes.

(Unusually, I'm going to be having two books on the go - one at lunchtimes, and one at other times of the day.)

[DrNefario]

I finished my 1986 vintage TBR, A Taste for Death by PD James. It didn't really wow me, but I didn't dislike it. I'm not very bothered about reading any more of the Adam Dalgliesh series.

I think my next-oldest TBR is probably Don Quixote, which I must have bought in late 1993 or early 1994. I have no real intention of reading that just yet. I'll give it another few years. In fact, I should probably get rid of the paperback and download an ebook, although I'd need to check the translation.

Right now I'm a couple of hundred pages into Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, which I am enjoying a lot. Although I have a few things by Sanderson, this is the first novel of his I've read.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Right now I'm a couple of hundred pages into Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, which I am enjoying a lot. Although I have a few things by Sanderson, this is the first novel of his I've read.

Some people dislike his detailed world-building, but I've enjoyed everything of his that I've read. I think he's probably my favourite living fantasy author. He's certainly the only one on my "automatic buy" list.

[Tarana]

I've given up, for now, listening to Colour of Magic and instead am reading it on my kindle instead. Going better. Today, while cleaning and repairing stuff, I'll be listening to the Shining by Stephen King in anticipation of Dr. Sleep. I'm second in line for the ebook at the library now , so should be available anytime soon so I gotta get this reread done!

[bfisher]

I'm midway through a sports book, A Great Game : The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey by Stephen Harper. Harper is the current Prime Minister of Canada; it's a bit of a first for Canada, since the few books written by Canadian politicians tend to be self-serving memoirs written after their exile from power. I found it interesting in the description of the turn of the (19th) century battle between the forces of amateurism and professionalism - the Athletic War. It's a bit Toronto-centric, but would still be of interest to anyone interested in the origins of professional ice hockey and the genesis of the NHL.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The graphic novel was good. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic work so well together as one book, I wonder if that was always the intention.

The drawings were fun. I thought Twoflower was particularly good.

Next gift book is Terra by Mitch Benn, which I'll be reading at lunchtimes.

(Unusually, I'm going to be having two books on the go - one at lunchtimes, and one at other times of the day.)

Off topic, sorta. I have read all but the last two of Terry Pratchett's books, but haven't seen the graphic novels yet. I'll have to check them out now. But, have you seen the movie Color of Magic? If so, did you enjoy it, and the way the characters were portrayed?
Just curious
S

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'm really not enjoying this. I broke off to read some Georgette Heyer just to clean my palate. The book itself is well written, and I can see the appeal. But I really have no desire to spend my life reading about torture, brutality and gore. (Don't get me wrong - there's some MilSF I like quite a bit, such as the Empire of Man series. But gratuitous violence, torture, rape, and lingering gore are things I avoid.)

Abandoned Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. Life's too short to spend it reading about torture. I very much doubt I'll ever read another Abercrombie.

Moving on to The Cuckoo's Calling by J. K. Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith). I've had this on my wish list for ages, but finally broke down and bought it. If I waited to get it from the library, it would have been another year, at least.

[jgaiser]

Finished Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie this morning. A very challenging book, as the Goodreads ratings show. People either hate it or love it.

The protagonist is a self-aware AI. It is both a troop ship and thousands of ancillaries (reanimated human bodies). The first few chapters were especially hard when the perspective changes, sometimes paragraph to paragraph, between various ancillaries. Then there's the gender thing. Everybody is 'she' even when maybe they're 'he'.

The first 1/4 of the book was a struggle, but things really come together by the 1/2 way point and end with a bang. 5 stars.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Off topic, sorta. I have read all but the last two of Terry Pratchett's books, but haven't seen the graphic novels yet. I'll have to check them out now. But, have you seen the movie Color of Magic?

I haven't seen the Colour of Magic movie. I have seen one of the others, and I thought is was well done.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by orlok

...it (1632 by Eric Flint) has been a fun ride (nearing it's end as I had a good couple of hour's worth of reading time yesterday) and I will read some more of the series this year...

Well I went straight on to 1633 (even longer at 673 pages). Pretty much a straight continuation of the story, although there has been a gap in time (a couple of years?), with a bit more medieval politicking than the first one.

[Rumpelteazer]

I just finished Virals by Kathy Reichs, the first in her YA series Virals. It tells the story of Temperance Brennan's niece, who is living in a research community in a remote area. She and her friends often visit a research island. There they get infected with something. Of course they also have to solve a mystery of a missing girl.

It was an okay read. Not as good as the Temperance Brennan books IMHO and not good enough for me to continue the series.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by orlok

Well I went straight on to 1633 (even longer at 673 pages). Pretty much a straight continuation of the story, although there has been a gap in time (a couple of years?), with a bit more medieval politicking than the first one.

One year, surely?