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

[WT Sharpe]

Just finished reading The Thin Man, written by Dashiell Hammett in 1934. Although Hammett was to live another 26 years, he never wrote another novel.

The strength of The Thin Man lay in its well-defined and interesting characters, and in the era in which the action was set. Nick Charles is a former detective who stored his gumshoes in the closet after marrying a strong, interesting, and wealthy woman named Nora. Both of these rather flirtatious and fun-loving characters seem to have devoted their current life to partying and flouting the prohibition laws from the moment they arise until their last breath before bed. The last thing Nick wants is to involve himself in solving a homicide, but that's just what the cards have in store for him as, against his will, he finds himself drawn into solving the murder of Julia Wolf, a conniving young lady who been found shot multiple times. All evidence seems to point to the thin man in whose employ she was at the time of her death, Clyde Wynant; an eccentric inventor generally regarded as a bit of a whacko. Along the way he has repeated run-ins with Wynant's ex-wife and daughter (both of whom desire him sexually), his son (a strange bird with very bizarre reading habits), and a host of criminals and over-zealous cops.

One thing is clear: none of the families mentioned in this story were the role models for the Anderson family on Father Knows Best.

[BenG]

I loved the movie so I'm excited to find that The Manuscript Found in the Saragossa by Jan Potocki is now available as an ebook.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I've got Water for Elephants on my TBR list, please let me know what you think of it. We seem to like a lot of the same books
I've seen the movie, and while it wasn't the best movie I've seen it was enjoyable and I would love to give the book a try.

yeah, I think you're into fantasy/thriller/adventure/children/YA/humorous... but certainly not sci-fi, are you?

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

And by the way, there's been a slight price increase since I bought my copy. The ebook is currently selling at Amazon for $46.36.

:-o ebook. $46.36. Gosh. If ebook is sold at $40 each, the 100 books in 2011 challenge would be down to 10

[Namekuseijin]

Not quite, pretty much all of my reading for that challenge comes from public domain books.

Could handle even a 1000 books on PD alone, aside from being a slow (and easily distracted) reader...

[pdurrant]

It's no good. I can't keep away from Mobileread. Here's what I've been reading over the past week:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Winter Moon by Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee & C. E. Murphy. Three fantasy novellas set during the winter solstice.

Three good fantasy novellas. Although probably even more fun if you know other books by the authors.

Next was: The Dark Intruder & other stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Interesting and fun early SF from MZB.

Followed by Murder of the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Even knowing the plot, it's a fun read.

next: F&SF Magazine, August 2002 by Spilogate Authors
An excellent issue. I really, really, like the story of the 'dinosaurs'.

and then: Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie
A very, very good book indeed. I love the little problems that Parker Pyne fixes, and the playfulness of the writing. Highly recommended.

and then: F&SF Magazine, September 2002 by Spilogate Authors
Another excellent issue. I especially liked "The Game is a Foot" and "Mr. Gaunt".

And now I've decided to start "The Hooded Swan" series of five novels by Brian Stableford. I got these in a recent fictionwise sale. If I like this first one, I'll probably go straight through all five.

Halcyon Drift by Brian Stableford

[siraks]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I finished the first book in the series, The Heretic, last night. I really enjoyed it, it isn't like most Templar books that are released at the moment (those are more adventure books in the vein of The Da Vinci Code). I'm going to get the other two books in the series soon.

I've been reading quite a lot of fantasy and horror lately so I'm going to take a break from that. I'm currently reading The Duke and I by Julia Quinn and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, against my own expectations.

glad you liked it, from the descriptions i figured i'd like it. when buying from his site you can buy each book separately for $2.99 or one ebook that contains all 3 books for $7.95. i took the three in one route.

i too have been reading monster / horror / fantasy lately, i don't think i'm going to jump off that train anytime soon either !

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

yeah, I think you're into fantasy/thriller/adventure/children/YA/humorous... but certainly not sci-fi, are you?

I do like sci-fi, but I haven't been reading much of it lately. I have been making up for it by watching a lot of sci-fi t.v. shows, though.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I do like sci-fi, but I haven't been reading much of it lately. I have been making up for it by watching a lot of sci-fi t.v. shows, though.

I find sci-fi movies interesting, but sci-fi books boring

I'm 60% done with H2O for Elephants, which prevents me from talking too much about it, but still...
If you want to understand about the movie, you know, get to know it at a deeper level, then go, read the book.
But if you want to save time for other better books, and there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of them, you shouldn't read it. You should read Kingkiller. Hunger Games. Tolkien's, if you haven't. Or Scott Lynch.
(wait, I just realized I only recommended fantasy/YA but you must cut me some slacks, I'm not a big fan of romance...)
I don't think it's anywhere near my definition of a "worth reading" book. I'm sure you know what I mean, I like it enough to finish it though I don't like it enough to enthusiastically finish it

[Ditchleyportrait]

oh heck wrong thread sorry folks

[orlok]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I'm 60% done with H2O for Elephants, which prevents me from talking too much about it, but still...

How are you finding it? I read the blurb a while back, and decided I wouldn't touch it with anyone else's bargepole, let alone my own. Really doesn't sound like my sort of thing.

[orange!]

Have started War and Peace for about the 3rd or 4th time in my long, long life. Gotten farther than ever this time, and it's actually starting to get kinda interesting, so maybe I'll finally finish it this time!

It helps a lot that I'm reading it on my brand new Nook STR, which I really like a lot!

I'm reading the Maude translation, so if I end up liking the book, I might have to run through it again because I've read that the Pevear translation reads better.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by orlok

How are you finding it? I read the blurb a while back, and decided I wouldn't touch it with anyone else's bargepole, let alone my own. Really doesn't sound like my sort of thing.

To be honest, it's not a siren call to me. I can easily stop in the middle of the chapter. Does that answer you question?

[orlok]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

To be honest, it's not a siren call to me. I can easily stop in the middle of the chapter. Does that answer you question?

I think it does .

I finished Charlie Muffin by Brain Freemantle last night. I found it an excellent Cold War espionage thriller. In his writing style and the type of characters he develops Freemantle reminds me a lot of Le Carré. The only problem with Charlie Muffin was that I was clued into the book from viewing a film adaption years ago. So I knew the basic twists and turns of the story. I am really looking forward to a blank slate with the book I just started, Comrade Charlie (another Charlie Muffin novel).

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

(wait, I just realized I only recommended fantasy/YA but you must cut me some slacks, I'm not a big fan of romance...)

I'm not a big fan of romance either

Kingkiller is next on my TBR list.