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

[kennyc]

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I'm reading the Subtle Knife from Philip Pullman. So far, so great

You are in for a real treat, I love that book, and I've read it many times over. I lent my copy to my cousin a long time ago and never got it back (he double and triple lent it!!!! Seinfeld would have something to say about that ) - I should get a new copy and do a re-read! I hope that you enjoy it as well.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie. Her third novel.

Poirot and Hastings are back. Hastings, as usual, falls for every pretty girl in sight. I liked this one. I got some of the answer, but not all of it.

I'm having fun with the Agatha Christie novels. I'm really pleased I snapped up the lot at a bargain price last year.

Next: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. Her fourth novel.

[Fbone]

Now will read Saturn's Children by Stross or Ringworld by Niven. Haven't decided.

[ATDrake]

Haven't had much free time to read this week, but finished up a few more library books that are due soon:

Jane and the Damned, an Austen-derivative novel by Janet Mullany, with Jane Austen as a vampire one of the Damnèd secretly fending off French soldiers during a Napoleonic takeover of coastal England. I kind of want to compare it to the other Austen-derivative where she's a vampire who's experienced writer's block for two centuries and is deeply annoyed at all those newcomers making money from shoddy spinoffs of her works and decides to take matters into her own fangs.

Frankly seemed kind of pointless, because it was full of Our Vampires Are Different (okay with sunlight, religious symbols, need not kill for blood, can turn invisible and communicate psychically, mere skin touch is intoxicate to humans, vampirism is reversible; I'm amazed they didn't sparkle) and everything is reset to the status quo at the end, only Jane now has direct models upon which to base Darcy (he's even named William ), Wickham, and the Bingley sister/Lady Catherine.

Why people who write these things can't give Austen enough credit for inventing her own characters, or at least using ones that didn't come from P&P, I don't know. The actual writing is okay and the story flows well enough, it's just that for something that says on the cover "It's more than her wit that's biting", this was really rather dull.

A far better and more interesting novel is implied by the alternate title suggestion given in the dedication, Austen Powers.

Seriously, the Regency was a time of relative sexual license, silly self-indulgence, and Napoleonic War paranoia with back and forth spying. It was practically the 60s of the 19th century and I'd far rather have read about Jane Austen: International Gentlewoman of Mystery than Jane Austen: Vampyre. Pride-adelic!

Also "read" Troublemaker: Part One, an original graphic novel written by comedy mystery author Janet Evanovich in conjunction with her daughter Alex Evanovich and artist Joëlle Jones.

This is part of the Alex Barnaby series by Evanovich mère which I keep meaning to read and it was a cutely cartoony adventure that had some funny points and a mildly entertaining mystery that ends at a decent to-be-continued point.

Very light and fluffily jokey, but fun enough that I'll track down the regular prose series this is based upon. From the library, of course, because it's HarperCollins and they deserve to have their non-expiring library use upped after the stunt they're trying to pull.

[maianhvk]

I finished The Subtle Knife - it's amazing!! It's much better than The Golden Compass.

Now, The Amber Spyglass

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie.

Somewhat reminiscent of The Secret Adversary but fun all the same. A satisfactory puzzle.

A change of genre now. Back to Fantasy with Fortress in the Eye of Time by C. J. Cherryh, the first of a five book fantasy series. (& I have all five books already, so I hope I like it!)

I bought this in December 2009 from Fictionwise. No longer available there, of course.

[amward]

Just finished "Started Early, Took My Dog" by Kate Atkinson, the latest in her Jackson Brodie series. I enjoyed it and she writes really well, but if I hadn't read the others I think I would have been a bit confused with Jackson's relationships. Her characters are larger than life and she has a wry sense of humour coupled with some interesting observations on life.

[morituri]

Just finished Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts. Now I'm itching to travel.

[Latinandgreek]

Re-reading Norwegian Wood (Murakami) and finishing off Magic Study.

[irina]

I've just read "Deaf Sentence" by David Lodge and now I'm reading "The Ladder of Years" by Anne Tyler, both ebooks.
Irina

[DanielKoehler]

http://www.amazon.com/Illumination-N.../dp/0375425314

"The Illumination" Kevin Brockmeier. Pantheon. An otherwise normal world where people's pain becomes visible as a flash, a glow, or a crackle of light on the affected areas of the their bodies.

Granta winner. Also O Henry award and Nelson Algren award, among others. I've met Kevin and he's terrific. Simple, fable-like prose style. Lots of great tropes.

[Jcas]

Just finished and thoroughly enjoyed my first Nevil Shute novel Round the Bend.

About to start Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.

[DiapDealer]

I'm reading the Arabian Night-ish debut adventure fantasy from Howard Andrew Jones called The Desert of Souls. So far it's been a fun romp through 8th century Baghdad; starring a protagonist duo (one brains, the other brawn), an evil sorcerer and a beautiful princess. Jones isn't reinventing the wheel or anything, but he's spun a pretty good yarn so far.

Just ignore the fact that Harriet Klausner is the only reviewer so far

EDIT: Thought I'd mention that it's a first-person narrative. I always forget that many people break out in hives when a story is told in anything other than third-person omniscient.

[Iridal]

I finished 'The Emerald Storm' by Michael J. Sullivan last night. At first it was really slow, nothing much happened. The ending made up for it though. Still, this one wasn't as good as 'Avempartha' or 'Nyphron rising'. I want to read the next one in the series (Wintertide) but I'm going to wait for the price to drop a little.

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Re-reading Norwegian Wood (Murakami) and finishing off Magic Study.

I had a look at the Study Series by Maria Snyder, and they look good. Maybe I'll try the first one soon. But first: Summer Knight (Dresden Files 04) by Jim Butcher.