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

[SeaBookGuy]

I am nearly finished listening to Bridget Jones's Diary on audio read by Barbara Rosenblatt -- every bit as hilarious as the first time several years ago!

I'm also enjoying Becoming Queen Victoria: The Tragic Death of Princess Charlotte and the Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch as my current e-book (library download).

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Thanks Jerry. I've read some of her articles, but not her books. She is this year's editor for The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 which is why I ran across the above..

kennyc, have you read Roach's Packing for Mars and, if so, what did you think?

I was contemplating this one but your review of her 2008 book has me thinking I might try that one first.

Thanks

Mike C

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by cassidym

kennyc, have you read Roach's Packing for Mars and, if so, what did you think?

I was contemplating this one but your review of her 2008 book has me thinking I might try that one first.

Thanks

Mike C

Mike, as above I've not read any of her full-length works, but I just bought Stiff and Packing for Mars.....Just read Chapter 1 of Stiff and am about to go buy a couple more....

I'm loving her work!

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Mike, as above I've not read any of her full-length works, but I just bought Stiff and Packing for Mars.....Just read Chapter 1 of Stiff and am about to go buy a couple more....

I'm loving her work!

Please give us a full report when you're done. Her work does sound interesting.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by cassidym

kennyc, have you read Roach's Packing for Mars and, if so, what did you think?

Not Kenny but I'll add my recommendation of any of Ms. Roach's books and Packing For Mars is no exception. She manages to ask questions and dig up answers nobody else would dare ask. Like how do you defecate in space. With sometimes too much detail.

[ATDrake]

On the fiction front, finally finished No Souvenirs by K.A. Mitchell, a contemporary m/m interracial erotic romance between a Korean trauma surgeon and a Texan redhead who meet during a scuba-dive, which I've been reading on and off since I bought on impulse in November, on the grounds that Samhain had been providing such cracktastic freebies with awesomely funny content warnings that I might as well repay them to some degree (which turned out to be around $1.20-ish after coupon and taxes).

This title got chosen because a previous book in the series had been offered free, and while the main relationship in that one was pretty annoying, the actual writing was pretty decent and I liked the supporting character who becomes the co-protagonist in this sequel enough to have a look at his story. Plus, I like hot redheads of any gender (I blame Heinlein and Darkover for this particular fetish) and it's uncommon to find redheaded male lead characters in any medium (excepting stuff involving Scottish Highlanders who are not Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod), so rarity value appeal as well.

The relationship in this book, thankfully, is rather less annoying, although some of the stuff about the neediness and trust and control issues made me roll my eyes. But aside from that, I liked the characters, who had surprisingly well-delineated personalities and motivations for acting the way they did, which provided a bit of plot to go along with the porn.

I'd have no hesitation recommending this to anyone wanting to read a steamy romance with a certain level of emotional depth and these particular setting/background elements, although I have to say that for erotic romance, the sex was actually pretty boring.

Sure, they do it at least once in every chapter, but it's always the same two basic acts in the same three standard positions. No frottage, no soixante-neuf, no toys, no props (well, except for the cowboy hat), no imagination. I am deeply disappointed that one of them is a medical professional and they never even once "play doctor".

On the non-fiction front, finished Oyster by Anglia Polytechnic University Professor Rebecca Stott. As mentioned upthread, this is part of Reaktion Books' Animal series examining the origins and relationships to human culture of various species.

This was a very informative and entertaining read, covering both a bit about the evolution and biology of the oyster, as well as a lot about how it's been used, abused, and perceived throughout history.

It had stuff on the pearl industry (the "blood diamonds" of yesteryear), the use of oysters and pearls in Dutch Masters paintings, the association of oyster-sellers with prostitutes due to aphrodisiac connotations, and a lot of other interesting trivia that was explored with surprising depth.

Apparently early oyster cultivation flooded the Victorian market making them ironically a food that was stereotypically for both the poor and the rich and how there was a backlash in both directions that was reflected in Lewis Carroll's poem "The Walrus in the Carpenter" and a play based upon it.

Also a lot of early anti-Darwinists latched onto the oyster to proclaim that they weren't descended from oysters (the way some modern creationists are said to claim that they didn't arise from monkeys). Thus the reciprocal degeneracy of mankind was latched onto, with oysters and other molluscs targeted as the eventual endpoint as people believed that the newly unveiled evolution would also work backwards, giving rise to tentacled creatures as scapegoat stand-ins for unwanted alien influences (a big theme with H.G. Wells, it would seem).

Highly recommended for people who like this sort of not-quite-pop science/culture/nature book which is basically high-brow edutainment (Reaktion is distributed in the States by the University of Chicago Press).

I expect I'll be finishing Snake, another book in the series, on my bus trip today, and see if I can find a few more of them at the library (which had a whole stack of them on the visit when I picked these two up).

[naql]

I started the Engineer series by K.J. Parker not too long ago and have gotten into the second book. Here are the links:

Devices and Desires
Evil for Evil
The Escapement

They are steampunkish fantasy books with a fair amount of intrigue and politics. All three are pretty long and so far the series has been interesting.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Phebe

Curious Story of the Dog in the Nighttime?

I LOVED it ---- read it twice, at once. Mean to read it again.

Finished Curious Story and enjoyed it. Very unique style.

It was very different than what I usually read and only noticed because of a recommendation from Goodreads.

Guess it pays to expand one's horizon.

[FranchiseBlade]

Thanks to the great library of books on Mobile Read I'm about to start Man In Black by Stanley John Weyman.

I love French History, and especially the period of mid 16th century to the mid 17th century. Before today and doing a search on these great forums I'd never even heard of Stanley John Weyman. Now I have a number of books from him.

This website has been extremely helpful.

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by Ste_95

Just finished Harry Potter 4
One word: Awesome!!

Welcome Ste_95! I just reread all the HP books, they get better and better. Enjoy the rest of the series!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

A nice take on elves (& other fey creatures) in a modern setting. I shall keep an eye out for Emma Bull. But she doesn't seem to have anything in the UK Kindle store at the moment. (A couple in the US store, but I can't be bothered to work around geographical restrictions any more.)

Next: The Magic Kingdom of Landover, vol. 1 by Terry Brooks. I've certainly read "Magic Kingdom for Sale — Sold!" before, a long time ago, but I don't think I've read the sequels, so I might as well start at the beginning again to remind myself of the setup.

I bought this in December 2009 in one of Fictionwise's 60% rebate sales. Net cost: $4.08. Goodness, I miss the old Fictionwise!

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Ste_95

Just finished Harry Potter 4
One word: Awesome!!

Welcome to Mobileread ....

[Latinandgreek]

I'm really enjoying "Poison Study". I think I'll be picking up the sequels, right away.

[Michael McLovin]

Currently re-reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
Just needed my Murakami fix until i can get 1q84.

[caleb72]

Just finished The Red Church by Scott Nicholson. I liked it - but not as much as I thought I would. The nature of what I was dealing with was a bit muddled; ghosts, demons, god, devil, saviours all jammed in there made it a bit confusing. Won't stop me reading his other books though.

Just started The Know Circuit by Gary A Ballard.

Regards
Caleb