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

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by amward

I just loved "The Stonor Eagles", it was the first book I ever chose when I joined a book club. One of the few books I have read several times.

I haven't read The Stonor Eagles, but I did read Callanish - about a golden eagle in a zoo. I remember I really liked this, but I have trouble remembering any of the details.

[WT Sharpe]

.....As Theo [Theodoor van Gogh, Dutch film director] cycled down the Linnaeusstraat, Muhammad Bouyeri approached. He pulled out his gun and shot Theo several times. Theo fell off his bike and lurched across the road, then collapsed. Bouyeri followed. Theo begged, "Can’t we talk about this?" but Bouyeri shot him four more times. Then he took out one of his butcher knives and sawed into Theo's throat. With the other knife, he stabbed a five-page letter onto Theo's chest. The letter was addressed to me.
..........— From Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

I just finished reading Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Because this is not the politics and religion forum, there is only so much detail I can go into here, except to say that this is perhaps the must important book I've read in years. It details the author's rise from a small Somalian village to her election to the Parliament in Holland and beyond. It focuses on her trials, tribulations, and struggles to liberate minds and bodies from oppression, especially religious oppression. The passages detailing female circumcision (excision) in the land of her birth are particularly chilling.

.....People ask me if I have some kind of death wish, to keep saying the things I do. The answer is no: I would like to keep living. However, some things must be said, and there are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice.
..........— From Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Read it. That's all I can say.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by taosaur

The last 2/3 of Snow Crash just didn't remotely live up to the expectations/potential set up in the first 1/3. It was a burst of creative brilliance trailing off into a mediocre action movie. I was put off Stephenson for years, but then Anathem completely drew me in and bowled me over.

Anathem is one of the reasons I finally bought an e-reader; the weight of the book killed my wrists! Fantastic book nevertheless.

Just finished reading Rule 34 by Charles Stross (SF). Very good. Started reading The Herring in the Library by L C Tyler (Murder/mystery); very funny so far.

[captkjaneway]

Two thirds through L J Sellers The Sex Club and it's ok. As some who likes the more procedural based stuff, I find the storyline a little weak and don't particularly like any of the characters that much.

I will finish it as it helps pass away the journey to the office but not sure I will buy anymore.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Started reading Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. After 70 pages it's not working for me. I'll give it some more time. Admittedly, it's not my favorite genre and at 652 pages it has an uphill battle. No pun intended.

Finally finished it. It had some good parts but no surprises. The ending was as expected. One main character was brought back to life. I prefer the dead to remain so. There were a few nice dialogues and some pleasant wit. Overall, the book was too long. Rated C [3 stars].

Next is Roman Blood by Steven Saylor. He is/was a writer of gay erotica who is also an expert on ancient Rome. This is his first historical mystery. Cicero is one of the main characters.

[dreams]

I'm staying with my goal for the 2012 Reading Challenge and doing a random pick of all the freebies in my large TBR list. A good way to force me to make the decision to keep or delete. **and not spend any more money on new books**

Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, 1st in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries by Lois Winston
free - posted in our Deals forum

Three chapters so far and I am thinking it is a "candy read" for me, basically a nice fun read. It reminds me a little of Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich or the Bubbles books by Sarah Stronhmeyer.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by dreams

I'm staying with my goal for the 2012 Reading Challenge and doing a random pick of all the freebies in my large TBR list. A good way to force me to make the decision to keep or delete. **and not spend any more money on new books**

Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, 1st in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries by Lois Winston
free - posted in our Deals forum

Three chapters so far and I am thinking it is a "candy read" for me, basically a nice fun read. It reminds me a little of Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich or the Bubbles books by Sarah Stronhmeyer.

The only way I could even begin to hope that I wouldn't spend any more money on new books would be to unsubscribe to this thread.

[captkjaneway]

Finished The Sex Club now having a Star Trek moment thanks to a thread further down!

Wasn't going to use my Christmas tokens quite yet but had to get some Trek on board my K3! Gone for James Blish's book of Charlie's Law (actual episode was called Charlie X)......famous for Uhuru singing a space version of Charlie is My Darling and Kirk trying to explain why men shouldn't hit women after Charlie has slapped Rand's 'arris.

KIRK: Me. I see. Well, um, er, there are things you can do with a lady, er, Charlie, that you er. There's no right way to hit a woman. I mean, man to man is one thing, but, er, man and woman, er, it's, er, it's, er. Well it's, er, another thing. Do you understand?

/geek alert

[xg4bx]

Forbidden the Stars by Valmore Daniels. i'm not far enough in to really have an opinion but i'm definitely compelled to continue.

[Todd Young]

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A Quest Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic edited by Margaret Weis. I'm pretty sure I bought this in back at the end of 2009, but (as occasionally happened at Fictionwise) I don't seem to have a receipt for it.

Yes, I did buy it in 2009, and Fictionwise support even turned up the transaction ID and price for me.

A good anthology of quest fantasy stories. I enjoyed all the stories.

Next: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 2005. Another of the backlog of issues that I snapped up during a fictionwise sale.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

01-01-2012, 02:43 PM

Wow another one I really really enjoyed. I was going to pick up the next book in the Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee Mystery Novels but I didn't, instead I put it off. And here's why.

My wife kept tuning in all kinds of really irritating (to me) content on the TV. I'd been noticing the TV ads for the release of a new movie version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo staring Daniel Craig. It looked interesting and I had picked up the book a while back, but had not yet read it.

So I poked around on my Amazon Prime free movie streaming account and found that the original Swedish movie version dubbed in English was available, so I asked my wife if it was ok if I played a streaming movie. She was OK with the idea. By then she was watching a movie on Spike and a Trojan condom commercial was playing at every one of the numerous commercial breaks, man-oh-man I was really ready for a commercial-less movie. So I switched the TV input to my Roku and played the movie.

Well it was really intriguing and now I'm beginning to read the book.

Wow! I really got a lot of enjoyment out of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo!! In fact so much so that I'm going to pick up a copy of The Girl Who Played With Fire and start it tomorrow. I've added the movie to the top of my netflix queue as well. Stieg Larsson is a winner!

[dreams]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The only way I could even begin to hope that I wouldn't spend any more money on new books would be to unsubscribe to this thread.

I've started to just make a list of interesting books and not be tempted to "just go check it out at amazon". Then, I am not tempted to just buy it. I was adding them to my wish list, but the list was getting too long and the temptation was still there. After 6 months, I'll see if I really want to read them. <-- I'm hoping that will help.

[Rumpelteazer]

I finished The Ghost Writer by John Harwood last night. It was an okay story at times, though, the short stories that the main character uncovers are more interesting than the main storyline.

On with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I haven't read The Stonor Eagles, but I did read Callanish - about a golden eagle in a zoo. I remember I really liked this, but I have trouble remembering any of the details.

I enjoyed Callanish, but The Stonor Eagles is a much more ambitious book. While The Stonor Eagles does have some of the anthropomorphic aspect of Callanish and Duncton Wood, it is really a story about an artist (James Stonor) and his influences. It switches back and forth between different parts of the artist's life and the story (legend) of the eagles themselves, each part feeding back on the other. It's very hard to explain, but it is very well done.