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

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I decided on The Armageddon Inheritance by David Weber. The second in the Dahak trilogy. I read the first part about three years ago and noticed the rest of the trilogy (Empire from the Ashes) was still on my ereader. Figured I'd complete and delete.

This installment was ok, perhaps, a little too predictable. Three battles occur in good detail and strategic development. Typical military sci-fi where one has to suspend belief to enjoy it. But that's fine with me. Visualizing the number and size of ships was difficult but that just made the climax more incredible and satisfying. Grade C [3 stars].

Next book TBD.

[WT Sharpe]

I'm currently reading Cheat Mountain by K.P. Hayden; the story of a young couple who buy a home here in my native Virginia that's haunted by the ghost of a Confederate soldier. So far it's a rip roaring tale with plenty of action and interesting characters.

[ReneAZ]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I just finished up with Mr. Kiss and Tell and found it to be an even better book than the first Veronica Mars Mystery Novel, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line!! I sure hope they get a new contract for more of these mystery novels.

Hi,

I'm looking forward to the Veronica Mars books. Currently, to get up to speed, I am watching the TV show (wow - what a lot of episodes in the first season!! - 22 I think) I am loving it though, and so glad I discovered it. I think there are 3 seasons, and then I will get to the books.

Right now I 'm reading David Baldacci's "The Sixth Man" (King & Maxwell series) and I really like it. I don't think I have ever NOT liked a DB book
I just finished "Saints of the Shadow Bible" by Ian Rankin, and loved it! Another of my fav authors. Both these guys can sure spin a tale!

Rene

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ReneAZ

Hi,

I'm looking forward to the Veronica Mars books. Currently, to get up to speed, I am watching the TV show (wow - what a lot of episodes in the first season!! - 22 I think) I am loving it though, and so glad I discovered it. I think there are 3 seasons, and then I will get to the books.

Right now I 'm reading David Baldacci's "The Sixth Man" (King & Maxwell series) and I really like it. I don't think I have ever NOT liked a DB book
I just finished "Saints of the Shadow Bible" by Ian Rankin, and loved it! Another of my fav authors. Both these guys can sure spin a tale!

Rene

There's 3 seasons and the movie. Great show... While the movie was ok, it seemed to lose something from what the shows had. I just can't explain what that was.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by ReneAZ

Hi,

I'm looking forward to the Veronica Mars books. Currently, to get up to speed, I am watching the TV show (wow - what a lot of episodes in the first season!! - 22 I think) I am loving it though, and so glad I discovered it. I think there are 3 seasons, and then I will get to the books.

Right now I 'm reading David Baldacci's "The Sixth Man" (King & Maxwell series) and I really like it. I don't think I have ever NOT liked a DB book
I just finished "Saints of the Shadow Bible" by Ian Rankin, and loved it! Another of my fav authors. Both these guys can sure spin a tale!

Rene

Also you should see the 2014 movie before attacking the books.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Also you should see the 2014 movie before attacking the books.

I second that, especially before reading the second book.

I've just finished the second Veronica Mars mystery, and don't quite know what I want to read next. I've got a terrible case of the flu, so something light I think.

As for the second VM novel, I really enjoyed it... don't know how much about it I can say without giving anything away!

[AstoundingBruce]

I just finished The Witch and the Changeling by Lynn E. O'Connacht. I'm not sure what I thought about it. On the one hand, the witch of the title and the setting were quite believable. On the other, the ending was so ambiguous it almost didn't seem like an ending. Maybe O'Connacht will write a sequel.

[DiapDealer]

Just had to pop in and join the Veronica Mars lovefest.

I'm into the home-stretch on Mr Kiss and Tell and agree that it's even better than the first. These books really capture the essence of the characters from the TV show, I think. Just spot-on. And I like that they don't try to force references to everything that happened in the show (in every book) like some tie-in novels do. Still... it's a very smooth transition from the show, to the movie, to the books. I was sorry to see the show end, but it's great that Veronica's story didn't.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

And I started reading The Golem and the Jinni at lunchtime today. About 10% into it and enjoying the book very much. Thanks for all who recommended it.

I want to shout out a great THANK YOU to all of you who recommended The Golem and the Jinni. I finished it about a week ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Since then I've read a set of four books for mid-grade kids -- an adventure story spread across all four books -- Series is called Return to Titanic and tells the story of two 8th-grade kids who are flung 100 years into the past to experience the sinking of the Titanic. Pretty good book.

I'm about 20 pages from the end of The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord. This is an outstanding science fiction novel that I highly recommend. After reading so many military SF novels over the past year or so, this is refreshing in that it really deals with clashing cultures.

I'm not sure what's up next -- probably The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters, book 5 in the Cadfael mysteries.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I want to shout out a great THANK YOU to all of you who recommended The Golem and the Jinni. I finished it about a week ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ditto. I'm really pleased I bought it and read it. Sometimes there's only hype, but this book was good.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Omega Egg by Mike Resnick et al. A round-robin novel that was created at Fictionwise. I bought it when it was still being produced chapter-by-chapter back in 2005. It's about time I read it and found out if was worth the money!

Unfortunately, I find I don't like the round-robin format. Individually, the writers are great, and each section is fine, but I just don't like the complete lack of any overall vision. I can see that it was fun to write, and could be fund to read if you enjoy seeing authors set each other cliff-hangers and how they move things on. But that's one level of abstraction more than I want at the moment. So, after five chapters I'm abandoning it.

Next up: 1636: The Barbie Consortium by Gorg Huff et al. I'm 99% sure I'll enjoy this, a collection of stories covering one group of youngsters in the 1632 universe. Bought yesterday, thanks to a Kobo coupon.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

And now I'm torn about what to read next. I have a fantasy book coming up for a book club in February, but that's still two days away, and I'm not sure I should start it yet, but that means I want something quick which is neither crime nor fantasy, and I'm struggling to make up my mind.

I decided to go for Winning Colors by Elizabeth Moon, the third Serrano book. Part of this year's quest to tidy away some omnibuses.

[speakingtohe]

I was a Mathew Scudder addict for many a year, and when I got my first reader kind of overloaded on Simon R. Green. Both are great authors but I should have not read so many in a row of either. Still a few I haven't read, but might be years before I can again enjoy them properly.

Helen

[Dngrsone]

Man. Finally finished Mary Stonewallcraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

I need something light, and definitely not set in the eighteenth century.

The next class assingnment is Japanese drama. We'll see how that goes.

[Luffy]

The Fourth Estate
by Jeffrey Archer - 5/5

It's been a long time in coming, but at last I've got my first 5/5 book of the year. Jeffrey Archer's books, unlike most authors', had always been available to me when I was growing up in the mid 90's. I remember those times. Curiously, though I had been aware of some of his writings (Kane and Abel), I naively thought that writers like him were common in the world. How wrong was I. So, instead of saving up my money to buy his books, I bought instead French and Belgian comics. Stuff like Gaston Lagaffe and Lucky Luke and Asterix.

I queerly don't regret the time I let elapse to discover Archer's works. I am now in a position to fully savor Archer's storytelling prowess. The Fourth Estate, throughout its length duped us into thinking that the struggle between two press magnates would end up in a draw - in the end, if not during their blow by blow account. The end was stunning. The wordsmith that is Archer has had me hooked these past few days when I was engrossed in reading this book. But it's not a universally acclaimed novel.

It's a novel that was maybe meant for people who appreciate raw, page turning fun. I appreciated the small cares gone into the book...such as giving some lines to describing Townsend's and Hoch's first sexual experiences, then ditching the lurid details as they grew up in maturity and sophistication. I liked how Archer made two unlikable characters be heroes of this book. I was not even once against these chaps and their actions. For me that happens very rarely. I enjoyed the chapters switching alternatively between Armstrong and Townsend, then merging these two arcs so that I had to pay attention as to what was happening. Most of all I liked the style of the book. I had once been physically sick while reading a book. Well, with the Fourth Estate, aesthetically, it was like having ice cream for every meal. Archer is fast gaining to become my favorite writer. Baldacci better beware. I need to ration these books so they don't get read too fast. Truly the 90's were a treasured decade for authors. Simply because the generation that saw out WW2, could have the conclusion of their lives based in that special decade. Can't wait to read more of Jeffrey Archer's books.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I was a Mathew Scudder addict for many a year, and when I got my first reader kind of overloaded on Simon R. Green. Both are great authors but I should have not read so many in a row of either. Still a few I haven't read, but might be years before I can again enjoy them properly.

Helen

Fortunately, it's been long enough that I can read them again. Though I admit, the hard drinking of the early Matt Scudder books is a bit much. But still, enjoying this first one. I'll likely pace them out - they don't lend themselves to binge reading this second time around.

Meanwhile, listening to A Symphony of Echos, #2 in the Chronicles of St. Mary series, and Foxglove Summer, #5 in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. I'm stretching out Foxglove Summer by only listening when I swim, giving me a strong incentive to hit the pool.