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

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by samhy

Please let me know what you think of A Symphony of Echos when you're done. Thanks to wrong shelving at Kobo, I haven't been able to read it yet.

I'm only about 1/2 way through, so I'll hold out judgement. But my thoughts at this point are that it needs more history, less Max acting out. But I sort of thought that about the first book, and it didn't stop me using an Audible credit on this one.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Next up, the first (chronologically) in the Lawrence Block Matt Scudder series: When the Sacred Ginmill Closes.

Well, that was fun. And, in the continuing theme of old favourites, another in my pass through the oeuvre of Ross Thomas - The Procane Chronicle. This is the third of the Philip St. Ives books written under the pen name of Oliver Bleeck, and should be reliably fun, if I can actually find time to read it. Life is a bit hectic right now.

[covingtoncat73]

I've been having trouble settling on something, after really liking (finding very readable at least judging by how fast I read them) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, The Rosie Effect, and Making History. Right now I am trying The Man in the High Castle. I got both the eText and the eAudio, the prices were right and it seems to be sticking.

[mewmartigan]

Just finished Reaper's Gale, book 7 of the Malazan: Book of the Fallen. Good stuff as usual, only 3 books left in the series!

Break time though, I think I am going to start Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson. I'm a big fan of Robinson and this book seems like an interesting change of pace. Although his next book, Aurora, looks like it will get back to hard sci fi and I can't wait.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Death Of A Gossip (Hamish Macbeth #1)
by M.C. Beaton - 5/5

He is the most alive detective I've come across since Sleeping Murder's Jane Marple. ... I was very surprised by the quality of this book. And it seems, and I hope, that I have a lot of good things to discover of the Hamish Macbeth series.

I'm very fond of Hamish. There's a new book coming out this month, but I have nearly two dozen books to read to catch up to it.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman. A straight mystery story. I read it some years ago in paper, and I think I'll enjoy reading it again.

I read straight through Kemelman's books 10 years or so ago. Not only were these delightful mysteries, but I found that I was learning something as well.

[Lin2412]

I've put all my pending lists on hold because I just purchased Oprah's What I know for sure and because I'm more biased on Oprah, I plan on loving this book, but slowly indulging myself to a few chapters only per day. Haha.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'm very fond of Hamish. There's a new book coming out this month, but I have nearly two dozen books to read to catch up to it.

I'm glad that Hamish is so different to Agatha Raisin. Apart from Christie's works, I've never read two detective franchises by the same author. I hope every single Hamish book is a good one.

[alansplace]

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.

Now on to a freebie I got from Amazon not too long ago, No Game for a Dame (Maggie Sullivan Mystery #1) by M. Ruth Myers. I grabbed it up when it was free, but also because I like noir mysteries and because the PI, Maggie Sullivan is operating out of Dayton, OH, my birth city!!

Last evening I finished reading No Game for a Dame! It was an excellent noir mystery novel and very reminiscent of Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski but doing the noir genre one better by setting the story in the 1930s. Loved it!!

I just borrowed my monthly free selection for February from the Lending Library. I chose The Crazy Mixed-Up Corpse (Ed Noon #8) by Michael Avallone!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell. Another recent purchase, third in a series of which I'd read the first two and already had the fourth!

Another enjoyable book. Although I think a re-read of the first two would help me place it in better context, it is also stand-alone.

Next up: Death Turns a Trick by Julie Smith. A freebie that caught my eye this year. Let's see if I am right to give it a go!

[Dngrsone]

Finished The True History of the Elephant Man 3rd edition, by Michael Howell & Peter Ford; I think I will try The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley next.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well, that was fun. And, in the continuing theme of old favourites, another in my pass through the oeuvre of Ross Thomas - The Procane Chronicle. This is the third of the Philip St. Ives books written under the pen name of Oliver Bleeck, and should be reliably fun, if I can actually find time to read it. Life is a bit hectic right now.

I had no idea Ross Thomas wrote under a pen name. Will try to find these books.

Currently I am reading (among others) Out on the Rim, Artie Wu and Durant 2.

Many authors I enjoy as much as Ross Thomas but few better that I have come across. (My personal preferences of course).

Helen

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I had no idea Ross Thomas wrote under a pen name. Will try to find these books.

Currently I am reading (among others) Out on the Rim, Artie Wu and Durant 2.

Many authors I enjoy as much as Ross Thomas but few better that I have come across. (My personal preferences of course).

Helen

I agree, Helen. I am quite enjoying myself with these books, which I hadn't read in YEARS. And with many of them being on KU, I'm not even out any major $$.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Death Turns a Trick by Julie Smith. A freebie that caught my eye this year. Let's see if I am right to give it a go!

Well, probably not. A quick enough read, but nothing really special about the story, characters or events. I won't both getting any sequels.

Also, I found the depiction of some characters to be odd, and (minor spoiler)

Spoiler:

the idea that the mafia would be in favour of legalising prostitution laughable.

Now for Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters. Her 4th Cadfael book

[Luffy]

The Vicious Vet (Agatha Raisin #2)
by M.C. Beaton - 2/5

Reading this book proved to be a forgettable business. The author must have been inspired at the beginning and might have had severe bouts of writer's block at about the middle, where the plot began to run out of steam. IT's sensible to acknowledge that any decently written cozy looks exciting in the beginning. That's because the fan of the genre knows that the pieces on the board are being arranged and soon there will be murder, mayhem, suspects, wash rinse repeat.

The exact moment of me losing interest in The Vicious Vet was from the break in. From that moment, the book lost me. I also happen to think that on paper, the entire motives and hidden events of the murderer and his accomplice was humane enough. It's just that the author didn't fully tug on our collective heartstrings. There was some wasted potential there. I know lots of people must have enjoyed this book. But as someone who doesn't excuse uninspired writing and let it pass for 'fluff' or 'harmless fun', I must say I was disappointed. The only strong image left from spending three days with the book was where James was in the disco, waving his arms about and making his way towards a suspect. That was priceless. The book itself, not so much.

[HarryT]

Just finished "March to the Stars", the third book in the "Empire of Man" military SF series by David Weber and John Ringo. Excellent, just as the first two books in the series were. Now on to the final book, "We Few", which unlike the first three, I haven't previously read. Looking forward very much to the conclusion of this excellent story.