Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 583

pdurrant · 03-28-2011, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I read Witch Week and adored it. I have a bunch of hers on my neverending TBR mountain, and was very sad to hear of her passing.

I've read many of her books, and I'm also very sad to hear of her death.

Cyclops · 03-28-2011, 07:36 AM

Couple of shorts from Lithuanian SF author Algis Budrys, The Citadel and Stoker and the Stars.

pdurrant · 03-28-2011, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I find I have read this before, although not since buying the ebook, I think, A Touch of Night by Sarah A. Hoyt and Sofie Skapski

I enjoyed it again, although I did read an earlier draft as it was posted. A fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek version of Pride and Prejudice set in Hoyt's Magical British Empire universe.

Next: Lyra's Oxford by Phillip Pullman. Bought in September 2010. I really enjoyed the His Dark Material trilogy, so I'll be interested to read this little bit of extra stuff.

bookworm50 · 03-28-2011, 08:00 AM

So far, I'm about 1/3 of the way in and am really enjoying it. One of those can't put it down books. Highly recommend it.

Cyclops · 03-28-2011, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Have I mentioned I'm easily sidetracked?

John Scalzi (The Old Man's War) posted on his blog yesterday of the death of YA author Diana Wynne Jones. I had never heard of her but after reading the multiple comments on John's blog and multiple, multiple comments on MetaFilter, I found that both Amazon and B&N both carry a few of her books as ebooks and picked up copies of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 2: The Magicians of Caprona / Witch Week and have almost finished the first book. Why couldn't these books been available when I was a youngster (Ok, the first wasn't published until I was 33, but still...). At the age of 64, the stories still rings personal bells for me. Seriously sorry she has died, but now that I've discovered her writings I'll continue reading what's available.

Neil Gaiman's remembers Diana Wynne Jones. So many authors were influenced by her.

Yea I saw this posted on facebook by David Langford. I'd not heard of her either but am curious now!
RIP!

pdurrant · 03-28-2011, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Lyra's Oxford by Phillip Pullman. Bought in September 2010. I really enjoyed the His Dark Material trilogy, so I'll be interested to read this little bit of extra stuff.

An interesting short story, with a set-up for something more which hasn't appeared. The extras aren't bad, for a Kindle edition, but of obviously much more legible in the paper edition.

Next: Angel Time by Anne Rice

This is the last of my 2010 purchases that I haven't yet read, apart from my Agatha Christie Collection. I must admit that I'd forgotten I'd bought this (from Fictionwise), although I had downloaded it.

I used to really like Anne Rice's books, but I'm not sure if my tastes will have changed - it's been quite a while since I've read one.

phenomshel · 03-28-2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bookworm50

So far, I'm about 1/3 of the way in and am really enjoying it. One of those can't put it down books. Highly recommend it.

Yeah, it was a can't put it down one for me too - until about 1/3 of the way in! Then the romance started getting in the way. Maybe you'll have better luck - I do plan on reading the second one though, whenever it comes out.

Crusader · 03-28-2011, 03:52 PM

Finished readign Wake by Robert J. Sawyer. I really liked it. Guess it was such a contrast to the previous YA novel (I am Number Four) I read that it really impressed me.

anijh · 03-28-2011, 06:19 PM

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

WT Sharpe · 03-28-2011, 09:02 PM

Finished two over the weekend. The first was The Oxford Book of Modern Quotations by Eizabeth Knowles. This is an excellent collection of fully sourced quotations that stands head and shoulders above most of the tripe that gets published in this genre.

The second was The Qur'an. I'd read it twice before, but this was my first reading of the Oxford World's Classics edition translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.

Now it's off to strange new worlds with the first installment of Hal Spacejock. If the first three chapters are any indication, this will be a most enjoyable book of Ψ-Φ humor.

pdurrant · 03-29-2011, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Angel Time by Anne Rice

A page-turning story, and interesting characters. But I hate it.

The worst kind of Christian fiction. People's prayers are answered, even to the extent of an Angel recruiting a 21st century hitman by direct revelation to restore his faith, and sending him back in time to sort things out. When the main problem could have been sorted by preventing a case of appendicitis in the first place. Incoherent, wishful thinking of the highest order, and implicitly saying that if bad things have happened to you it's because you didn't pray sincerely or hard enough.

I also hate it for one particular phrase. The time-travel bit is set in 13th Century Norwich. One character is taken to a room "high in the strongest tower of the castle". Norwich Castle keep was built in the 12th century, and to describe it as "the strongest tower" is weird. It's the only tower, but it's not a tower, it's a keep, set on the top of a man-made mound, and is 96 feet by 92 feet by 76 feet high. "high in the strongest tower" makes Norwich Castle sound like a Disney castle, not a real Norman Castle.

But it's mainly the incoherent world view I hate. I find Anne Rice has taken to writing Christian Fiction. I'm certainly not going to be reading or buying any more of it.

Next: Swords Against Death by Fritz Leiber.

The second in his Fafhrd ('Faf-erd') and the Grey Mouser series, that I bought back in December 2009. The first was interesting, and the second is also shaping up that way.

There are many references to this series in other fantasy books, especially "The Colour of Magic" by Tery Pratchett (which manages to refer an amazing number of other fantasies).

kennyc · 03-29-2011, 07:32 AM

Just finished The Kindest Cut by Larissa MacFarquhar the lead article from The Best American Science Writing 2010 - http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-...1398259&sr=1-1

The Kindest Cut by Larissa MacFarquhar.

An excellent and enlightening piece about organ donation, transplants and the emotional baggage involved.

Originally published in The New Yorker (if you have a subscription):

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...ct_macfarquhar

AlexSno · 03-29-2011, 07:43 AM

Just finished to read the "Man with no future" by Arthur Singin
Very good book that i recommend you to read

BenG · 03-29-2011, 10:46 AM

Just started Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry. It's the first book in the Berrybinder Narrative.

edbro · 03-29-2011, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexSno

Just finished to read the "Man with no future" by Arthur Singin
Very good book that i recommend you to read

And where would you find said book? Not on Amazon. Inkmesh search comes up empty.

03-28-2011, 08:00 AM	#8734
bookworm50 Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: kindle	A Discovery of Witches So far, I'm about 1/3 of the way in and am really enjoying it. One of those can't put it down books. Highly recommend it.

03-28-2011, 09:02 PM	#8740
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	Finished two over the weekend. The first was *The Oxford Book of Modern Quotations* by Eizabeth Knowles. This is an excellent collection of fully sourced quotations that stands head and shoulders above most of the tripe that gets published in this genre. The second was *The Qur'an. I'd read it twice before, but this was my first reading of the Oxford World's Classics edition translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Now it's off to strange new worlds with the first installment of Hal Spacejock. If the first three chapters are any indication, this will be a most enjoyable book of Ψ-Φ humor. Last edited by WT Sharpe; 03-28-2011 at 09:11 PM. Reason: Remove unnecessary comma.*

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03-28-2011, 07:36 AM	#8732
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03-28-2011, 06:19 PM	#8739
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03-29-2011, 07:32 AM	#8742
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Just finished The Kindest Cut by Larissa MacFarquhar the lead article from The Best American Science Writing 2010 - http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-...1398259&sr=1-1 The Kindest Cut by Larissa MacFarquhar. An excellent and enlightening piece about organ donation, transplants and the emotional baggage involved. Originally published in The New Yorker (if you have a subscription): http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...ct_macfarquhar

03-29-2011, 07:43 AM	#8743
AlexSno Connoisseur Posts: 74 Karma: 330 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	Just finished to read the "Man with no future" by Arthur Singin Very good book that i recommend you to read

03-29-2011, 10:46 AM	#8744
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