Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 645

thinkpad · 06-08-2011, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siraks

just finished mockingjay (3rd book in the hunger games trilogy)
glad i finished the series, book 1 was definitely the best but the other 2 rounded out the story.

richvalle · 06-08-2011, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Four chapters into Another Fine Myth. So far, so good. Hubby has been trying to get me to read this series for years.

Oh yeah, I love that series! At least the first... 4 or 5 books. The last one I had read wasn't as good as the others (I thought) and I've never checked to see he wrote more.

I love the concept of Demons in there too.

rv

Nyssa · 06-08-2011, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richvalle

Oh yeah, I love that series! At least the first... 4 or 5 books. The last one I had read wasn't as good as the others (I thought) and I've never checked to see he wrote more.

I love the concept of Demons in there too.

rv

According to my husband (and others), the 12 "original" books by Asprin himself are good, but the ones written by Jody Lynn Nye are not. In fact, I was warned to stay away from hers all together.

covingtoncat73 · 06-08-2011, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amward

Oh that's sad, I just love those books, she gets the Siamese just right. I particularly enjoy the audio books, the reader has the perfect voice for Quilleran.

As a lover of audiobooks, I concur with this and am saddened to hear of Ms. Braun's death, though she had a good, long run.

As it happens, I am listening to Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. The library had it on eAudio! I am really loving her concept of dragons. Also, the narrator is very good and I love the voice he does for Temeraire.

Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night is still my current read on my eReader and that is very entertaining as well. I hope I can be calm enough this evening to finish it up.

pdurrant · 06-09-2011, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

Thirteen good mysteries with Miss Marple. An enjoyable read.

Next: some more of my F&SF back issues.

F&SF Magazine, April 2002
Another good issue, although nothing that stood out for me.

Currently reading F&SF Magazine, May 2002

poohbear_nc · 06-09-2011, 09:21 AM

I'm finishing Jo Nesbo "The Snowman" - it's the second Nesbo book I've read/tried to read (got bogged down in Nemesis). I'm a real fan of Scandavian mystery writers - particularly the police procedurals. But Nesbo just seems to try to work way too much into the plots - introduce & then connect way too many characters/situations, etc. Harry Hole (I wonder what his name is in Norwegian - the unintentional puns/phrasings in the English translation with his name can be irritating) is an intriguing character fighting his personal demons while trying to keep his job on the police force. But his character is continually overwhelmed by the plot. And the plotting strategy seems somewhat derivative.

Spoiler:

orlok · 06-09-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I'm finishing Jo Nesbo "The Snowman" - it's the second Nesbo book I've read/tried to read (got bogged down in Nemesis). I'm a real fan of Scandavian mystery writers - particularly the police procedurals. But Nesbo just seems to try to work way too much into the plots - introduce & then connect way too many characters/situations, etc. Harry Hole (I wonder what his name is in Norwegian - the unintentional puns/phrasings in the English translation with his name can be irritating) is an intriguing character fighting his personal demons while trying to keep his job on the police force. But his character is continually overwhelmed by the plot. And the plotting strategy seems somewhat derivative.

Spoiler:

I've read the one about the Salvation Army members...The Redeemer?...and whilst I quite enjoyed it, I've not been tempted to try any others. Am I missing something?

Just starting "Monster Hunter International".

thinkpad · 06-10-2011, 01:35 AM

Game Of Thrones is picking up speed and it's now an exciting read, you only have to get past the first half and get acquainted with all the names and places

lestatar · 06-10-2011, 02:04 AM

^ You. Must. Stick. With. It.

A Song of Ice and Fire is incredible IMO. My greatest fear is that GRRM might not finish the epic. <knocking on wood>

BTW, the HBO adaption on right now is also one of the finest shows I have ever seen and wonderfully captures the story and spirit of GRRM's books.

thinkpad · 06-10-2011, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestatar

You. Must. Stick. With. It.

I plan to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestatar

A Song of Ice and Fire is incredible IMO. My greatest fear is that GRRM might not finish the epic. <knocking on wood>

I wasn't aware that the last book is not yet out. Usually I check before I start on a series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestatar

BTW, the HBO adaption on right now is also one of the finest shows I have ever seen and wonderfully captures the story and spirit of GRRM's books.

The TV-series looks interesting. I'll watch it when I'm done with the books.

DiapDealer · 06-10-2011, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

The TV-series looks interesting. I'll watch it when I'm done with the books.

Better settle in for a bit of wait, then. Two more books minimum—in addition to the one that's being released in July (and took over 5 years to write).

I'm abandoning newcomer Bradley P. Beaulieu's The Winds of Khalakovo. I read the first installment of a multi-part short story by him in the latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies and liked it quite well. It had a desert setting with a Bedouin/Arabic flavor (with ships that sail the desert!) that I'm just a sucker for. So since his first novel (Khalakovo) was/is free for a time, I thought I'd give it a shot. But the first book in this new series (shudder) is based on a Russian/Cossack culture (with ships that sail the sky!) that just isn't working for me. It's not the Russian culture per se, but rather the fact that it feels like a different culture is being shoe-horned into the story just to keep it from being European in flavor. The culture just feels ancillary and forced, rather than integral. And there's some very clunky prose/dialog in the early chapters (not to mention a nagging sense of "where the heck is this plot heading?" that has lingered for far too long now).

I think I'm going to turn back to Chandler for a bit of tasty noir... along with tracking down as many finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award (for the best short science-fiction of 2010) as I can.

thinkpad · 06-10-2011, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Better settle in for a bit of wait, then. Two more books minimum—in addition to the one that's being released in July (and took over 5 years to write).

5 years

this is what I don't like about series. You start to read enthusiasticly and by the time the series is finished you've forgotten half of the story.

DiapDealer · 06-10-2011, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

5 years this is what I don't like about series. You start to read enthusiasticly and by the time the series is finished you've forgotten half of the story.

Or you've re-read it six times.

It's exactly why I've given up on the "one story that spans many books" type of series. Also... have you ever noticed how series' are always written in whole book increments? Nobody ever needs five books and a novella... or 4 books and two short-stories to tell their opus.

$$$

Pookeysgirl · 06-10-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lestatar

^ You. Must. Stick. With. It.

A Song of Ice and Fire is incredible IMO. My greatest fear is that GRRM might not finish the epic. <knocking on wood>

BTW, the HBO adaption on right now is also one of the finest shows I have ever seen and wonderfully captures the story and spirit of GRRM's books.

I agree 100% I'm re-reading it now in preparation for the release of the next book in July

Iridal · 06-10-2011, 01:25 PM

I managed to finish The last four things by Paul Hoffman. It was a really weird book ... At times I felt nothing was happening for 50 pages, and then all of the sudden things went a little too fast. I also have a bit of a problem with the way it's written. There were some typos, some words repeated (for example: now he felt now that ...) and the writer has a pretty complicated writing style. I had to reread sentences frequently to understand what he was saying. I don't think I'll be reading the final book in this series.

Now on to The book thief by Markus Zusak!

06-09-2011, 09:21 AM	#9666
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,493 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	I'm finishing Jo Nesbo "The Snowman" - it's the second Nesbo book I've read/tried to read (got bogged down in Nemesis). I'm a real fan of Scandavian mystery writers - particularly the police procedurals. But Nesbo just seems to try to work way too much into the plots - introduce & then connect way too many characters/situations, etc. Harry Hole (I wonder what his name is in Norwegian - the unintentional puns/phrasings in the English translation with his name can be irritating) is an intriguing character fighting his personal demons while trying to keep his job on the police force. But his character is continually overwhelmed by the plot. And the plotting strategy seems somewhat derivative. Spoiler: Nesbo's technique of having Inspector Hole pin the crime on a series of suspects, one after the other, rearranging the evidence to "prove" their guilt, and then discovering they are innocent, reminds me of Hercule Poirot's calling together of suspects at the end of the book - to arraign the suspects one by one, and then exonerate them until only one guilty suspect is left.

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06-10-2011, 01:35 AM	#9668
thinkpad David Posts: 1,808 Karma: 8916183 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway Device: Kindle, E.Edge (sold), Irex Iliad (retired)	Game Of Thrones is picking up speed and it's now an exciting read, you only have to get past the first half and get acquainted with all the names and places

06-10-2011, 02:04 AM	#9669
lestatar LB's lolz Mutt Minion Posts: 2,902 Karma: 5700001 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Hong Kong now but NYC forever Device: Kindle3, GalaxyTab, BB Bold9700, BB 8300, Sony Clie, Palm Vx, Palm III	^ You. Must. Stick. With. It. A Song of Ice and Fire is incredible IMO. My greatest fear is that GRRM might not finish the epic. <knocking on wood> BTW, the HBO adaption on right now is also one of the finest shows I have ever seen and wonderfully captures the story and spirit of GRRM's books.

06-10-2011, 01:25 PM	#9675
Iridal Mysteriarch Posts: 1,422 Karma: 26606984 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: The land of impossible deadlines Device: iPhone 4, Kindle 3	I managed to finish The last four things by Paul Hoffman. It was a really weird book ... At times I felt nothing was happening for 50 pages, and then all of the sudden things went a little too fast. I also have a bit of a problem with the way it's written. There were some typos, some words repeated (for example: now he felt now that ...) and the writer has a pretty complicated writing style. I had to reread sentences frequently to understand what he was saying. I don't think I'll be reading the final book in this series. Now on to The book thief by Markus Zusak!