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

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser. Very interesting, funny and accurate.

Agreed. It's perhaps worth noting that all 12 books in the series are available in an omnibus edition which not only is very good value in itself, but regularly goes on special offer. I bought it for £9.99, which is only 83p per book.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Finally finished my re-read of Last Stand of Dead Men and am now halfway into Earth Flight by Janet Edwards, the final book in her Earth Girl trilogy. Really enjoying this a lot - so far it's been well worth the wait.

And finished it last night - it's a book full of stuff I'd generally sneer at (a very obvious "message" of racism/prejudice is bad, some rather corny-sweet romance - both of those things aren't exactly bad things obviously but I usually prefer more subtlety in my reading) but you know how sometimes the things you generally sneer at in other books just work? The Earth Girl trilogy is like that for me - I really ended up loving it.

It just felt so very refreshingly different from the recent generic "cocky girl is special and the fate of the world hangs on her but she meets handsome, mysterious bad boy and the rest of the plot is shoved aside from there on" trend in YA. Yes, there's romance, but with an actual nice guy, and the plot is never forgotten. Plus it was just nice to read a YA series that is set in a believable future (28th century Earth and Earth colonies) with plenty of fun but practical and realistic-feeling technology. There aren't a lot of books like these, especially with female protagonists.

I'm just sorry it was only a trilogy, but I'll be reading whatever the author writes next.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Meanwhile, on to Dinosaurs and a Dirigible by David Drake. One from the September Baen Bundle (no longer available as a bundle). A collection of five shorter works.

An enjoyable collection, although the last story is unconnected (apart from an obvious time travel theme) to the other four.

Next up: The third omnibus in Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series, The Revolution Trade

[bfisher]

Currently reading the Oresteia by Aeschylus. The translation I'm reading is by Robert Fagles. Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers were excellent; just starting The Eumenides. I wonder what this would be like as an audio book? I read this 40 years ago in a comparative lit course in college, but I can't remember which translation I read then. I'm enjoying it a lot more this time around. Thinking of rereading the Odyssey, as this is where I suppose that Aeschylus got his plot.

[Luffy]

I'm a reader that has been reading an inordinate number of cozy mystery books, followed by thrillers. Though I'm not tired of them per se, I'm seeking more acclaimed books. I haven't read most of the usual suspects, the famous titles that have been adapted into films. So I thought I'd try these books now that my reading challenge is over.

Tomorrow I'll be reading The English Patient. It's only 300 pages. I'm tentatively experimenting. I've a lot of ground to cover. Any mainstream books you name, I haven't read it.

[Rev. Bob]

Just finished Death Warmed Over, first novel in Kevin J. Anderson's "Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I." series, and have started "Stakeout at the Vampire Circus," the first novella in (and, apparently, loose prequel to) it. Pretty decent light reading, although I saw the big reveal in DWO coming several chapters early. Still, the humor's good, and it's always neat to see a recently-formed urban fantasy setting; in this case, the Big Uneasy that shifted the supernatural balance only happened a decade or so back, and our hero only died a few months ago. That gives him just enough time to get back into a routine, but not so much that he's really taking everything in stride. Plus, of course, the world's still getting used to supernaturals; the first novel features a cosmetics company trying to market a product line to them, with exactly the ham-fisted tactics and names you'd expect.

[Gazella]

I haven't been posting in this thread like I used to.

Anyway, I'm currently reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.


It is a literary non-fiction novel that spans the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also known as The "World's Columbian Exposition", which was designed to commemorate the landing of Columbus in America.

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, this spell-binding novel intertwines the true tale of two men; Daniel Burnham, the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair. And H.H. Holmes, the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death.

Very fascinating and engrossing so far. And I like how the book is written and presented in a novelistic style.

[DrNefario]

I've been having a very successful August, so far, reading-wise, and I'm now back on target for my TBR challenge having finished two books yesterday.

I was close to the end of The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, and decided to finish it last night. Sadly, the Real Page Numbers(TM) on the Kindle version were inaccurate, and it was a bit further than I thought, meaning I finished pretty late, but it was a very enjoyable read. I had a lazy weekend reading, so I made it through this thousand-pager in just 7 days; unusually fast for me. I'd kind of forgotten some of Name of the Wind, but it came back to me.

I have also recently got back to my Agatha Christie short story a day routine, and yesterday finished the Detectives and Young Adventurers collection which I've been reading on and off for months. This is one of three bumper collections comprising the Complete Short Stories. I won't be finishing the Poirot or Marple books until I've read a bit further in the novels, since I'm trying to stick to roughly chronological order, but the stories in this one were mostly written before the mid-1930s, with only one very late Harley Quin and the making-up-the-numbers religious Christmas stories written later.

Before Wise Man's Fear, I read Inverted World by Christopher Priest, which was a quick, engaging read and an interesting idea. It's about a city that has to keep moving, on rails, because... well, I don't want to give it away. This won the BSFA award in 1974.

Before that I read Harpist in the Wind, the third and final part of the Riddle-Master series by Patricia McKillip. This is an atmospheric and unusual fantasy series, not at all like a regular modern epic fantasy, but full of oddness that seems to make sense at the time. The nearest comparisons I can think of are Le Guin's Earthsea and Vance's Lyonesse. I've read the whole trilogy this year and liked it a lot, although I think the first book made the biggest impact. I read this last part in two days.

Before that I read Undertow by Elizabeth Bear. This is an almost old-fashioned standalone planetary SF novel, featuring an evil corporation exploiting the local alien culture, but with an extra layer of quantum-entanglement to make it a bit stranger. I liked it, but it's the only book I've been bogged down in this month, and maybe it's more promising and interesting than actually great itself.

And finally, only just making it into August, I finished Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler on the first of the month. This is the first Bryant & May/Peculiar Crimes book. It won a British Fantasy Society award, and is covered in quotes saying how hilarious it is. I have to say I didn't find it very fantastical - it hints at the supernatural - or very funny - there is some mild absurdity - but I did enjoy it as a crime novel. It's a murder mystery set in a theatre in London during the Blitz in WW2. I already have the second in the series, and I'm looking forward to it.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

And finally, only just making it into August, I finished Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler on the first of the month. This is the first Bryant & May/Peculiar Crimes book. It won a British Fantasy Society award, and is covered in quotes saying how hilarious it is. I have to say I didn't find it very fantastical - it hints at the supernatural - or very funny - there is some mild absurdity - but I did enjoy it as a crime novel. It's a murder mystery set in a theatre in London during the Blitz in WW2. I already have the second in the series, and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to read this right now and I've put it aside for the second time. I'm don't know if I'm not in the right mood for it or if the formatting is the problem (for some reason it has huge margins I can't override on my eReader and I'm too lazy to reformat the file), but it's not grabbing me. I agree that it isn't funny or fantastical. I gave up again last night at 14% and started After the Funeral by Agatha Christie.

For the past couple of weeks I've been reading mostly Kindle Unlimited books, first the 5th in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, A Dying Fall. I've enjoyed this series very much.

Then I read a couple of short stories, The Book Case by Nelson DeMille and The Apex Predator by Micheal Koryta. Both were great.

I gave Lord Peter Wimsey one more try with Unnatural Death, but he really annoys me. Dorothy Sayers isn't my cup of tea even though many others love her writing and that's my favourite genre.

I liked the first cozy mystery by Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins featuring the golfer Lee Ofsted, A Wicked Slice, enough to read all 5 of the series.

I gave up quickly on McNally's Secret by Lawrence Sanders, the chauvinistic attitude in the first few pages turned me off.

I started The Ninth Directive by Adam Hall and it's good so far.

I also bought some Whispersync for Voice audiobooks cheaply after borrowing the ebook for that purpose (Hugh Howey's Molly Fyde and Sand, Marcus Sakey's second in the Brilliance Saga).

There are only a few more on my wishlist so I'm not sure I'll keep the subscription much longer unless they bring one or more of the Big 5 publishers on board.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

or very funny - there is some mild absurdity

Anyone read Black Mischief? I had the exact problem with it. I spectacularly missed the humor in that book.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Synamon

I gave Lord Peter Wimsey one more try with Unnatural Death, but he really annoys me. Dorothy Sayers isn't my cup of tea even though many others love her writing and that's my favourite genre.

I think that's one of the weaker LPWs, but if you don't like the character that's it, then. He's not so silly ass in the later books as he is in the first few, but the essentials are unchanged.

[HarryT]

Just finished "The Rising" by James Doohan and S.M. Stirling (although I suspect that Mr Doohan didn't do very much, if any, of the writing!). Bought a long time ago (2000-ish) from Baen.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this. One doesn't really expect much from books supposedly "written" by TV stars (Doohan was, of couse, "Scotty" in the original "Star Trek" series), but this is actually very good indeed. In fact, it's excellent.

Peter Raeder became the Commonwealth's first ace pilot in the war against the secessionist Mollies. That battle cost him his hand-and his right to fly the nimble Speeds that had been his first love. Now he's Flight Engineer on the fast carrier Invincible, a crack new ship with a picked crew, ready to fight the Mollies who control the universe's richest anti-hydrogen mines, and the loathsome spider-like alien Fibians who have come to their aid.

There are only a few problems. The pirate raiders who attack the convoy taking him to his new posting, for one. And closer to home, the traitor onboard the Invincible who engineered the grisly death of Peter's predecessor, and who'll kill the entire crew unless Peter can stop him....

I look forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Before that I read Undertow by Elizabeth Bear. This is an almost old-fashioned standalone planetary SF novel, featuring an evil corporation exploiting the local alien culture, but with an extra layer of quantum-entanglement to make it a bit stranger. I liked it, but it's the only book I've been bogged down in this month, and maybe it's more promising and interesting than actually great itself.

Elizabeth Bear is an author that I particularly like. I tend to think of her as writing mostly in the fantasy genre, so I'm glad to hear of this SF novel. I'll have to check out its availability.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

And finally, only just making it into August, I finished Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler on the first of the month. This is the first Bryant & May/Peculiar Crimes book. It won a British Fantasy Society award, and is covered in quotes saying how hilarious it is. I have to say I didn't find it very fantastical - it hints at the supernatural - or very funny - there is some mild absurdity - but I did enjoy it as a crime novel. It's a murder mystery set in a theatre in London during the Blitz in WW2. I already have the second in the series, and I'm looking forward to it.

I discovered this series a year or so ago and purchased the first 3 books. They are definitely fun books, though I do find that it takes me longer to read one in this series than in other similar style mysteries.

Originally Posted by Synamon

I also bought some Whispersync for Voice audiobooks cheaply after borrowing the ebook for that purpose (Hugh Howey's Molly Fyde and Sand, Marcus Sakey's second in the Brilliance Saga).

Speaking of KU, do you get to keep the audio book after you return the Kindle book? Or does it get deleted from your Audible library when you're no longer borrowing the text version?

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "The Rising" by James Doohan and S.M. Stirling (although I suspect that Mr Doohan didn't do very much, if any, of the writing!). Bought a long time ago (2000-ish) from Baen.

I really liked this trilogy. I picked up The Rising as part of a Webscriptions bundle and liked it so much that I looped back to Baen and bought two other Webscription bundles that contained the other books in the series. I understand why they now limit the time that the bundle is available, but they miss out on opportunities to place additional books in a situation like this. I could have simply picked up the two individual books at a much lower expenditure, but the "bargain" nature of the bundles meant that I was drawn to buy those instead.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Speaking of KU, do you get to keep the audio book after you return the Kindle book? Or does it get deleted from your Audible library when you're no longer borrowing the text version?

There are two different things going on. Some of the KU titles come with matching audiobooks you can listen to for free while you have the ebook borrowed. When you return the ebook the audiobook will disappear as well. But others offer Whispersync for Voice audiobooks you can buy for a reduced priced when you have purchased the ebook (in the case of KU, borrowing them acts like a purchase from Amazon's perspective since the ebook shows up in your Kindle library). The audiobooks you buy will have download buttons in your Audible library and are yours to keep forever.

For example, I borrowed Sand for free with Kindle Unlimited, then bought the audiobook for $1.99 (the option pops up on the bottom of the page when you do the borrow), then I returned the ebook unread and will have the audiobook to listen to sometime in the future.

[Jae Author]

I'm currently reading Coming Home, a romance novel by Lois Cloarec Hart, and Write, Publish, Repeat by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant. I highly recommend both.