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

[WT Sharpe]

You're in for a treat, BOb!

I just finished reading listening to the Librivox recording of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, the Literary Book Club's January selection. It was a fantastic experience, and I've long felt that poetry was meant to be heard more than read. Nevertheless, I've also started reading the Illustrated and Annotated Death Bed Edition of Leaves of Grass as well. It will take me a while to finish, but Whitman is certainly one of the most enjoyable and accessible poets who ever lived.

[Crusader]

I've read and review The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind. It's the continuation of the (in)famous Sword of Truth series and seems as if it's the start of a new trilogy set in the world.

I wasn't too impressed. The plot has a few holes and overall the book has a rushed feel to it. Definitely not up to the standards of Goodkind's early SoT novels.

[Barry Barroldson]

Hi again Don,
Thanks for your positive feedback, and I'm looking forward to a few good chats on the site. I guess it shows through my writing that Douglas Adams is one of my favourite authors - his thought processes are well outside the 'box', and I would be the first to agree that my view of the universe is an eccentric one.
To fit in with this thread I just bought a whole pile of retro ‘Peanuts’ books from Ebay that I’m planning to delve through. There are a lot of dimensions to your average string of Snoopy cartoons, and I find Schulz’s work stimulates philosophical and abstract thought on a pleasant level.
I’m flattered you’ve re-jigged your reading list to put ‘Alien Chicks’ ahead of the pack – I hope you enjoy it,
Barry

[CRussel]

Finished Assassin's Apprentice, the first of the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. I would give it a 3 out of 5 on my personal rating. I finished it, but there were times when I was tempted to abandon it. I got it from the library, which is good, given my reactions to it.

Good things: The magic is interesting and moderately well thought out. The animals are a plus, as is his interaction with them. Overall pace is reasonable.

Bad things: The main characters are simply too dense and stupid. No one figured out anything about the bad guys before it was way too late. The Galen character is intolerable and not believable, on any level. The tension between Burrich and Fitz about the "wit" is artificial and not particularly believable, and very much distracts from the story.

Overall? I might read the second and third, but not any time soon. And not unless I can get them from the library. I can't see paying for them. And I definitely can't see starting any other books from her, since this is supposedly her best.

[SteveEisenberg]

After being a Kindle owner for over 16 months, today I bought my first eBook -- Sean Flynn's Economics for Dummies, 2nd edition. So far it's a page-turner, no irony implied. I've probably read hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and blog entries, about this recession/depression, that I would have understood better if I had read this first.

The Kindle edition price of US$7.99, lower than for any used copy, combined with lack of library availability, explains this personal first. And the fact that Prof. Flynn coauthored a leading college economics textbook that Amazon sells for $184.24 PB/$98.50 Kindle edition furthers my feeling of having gotten a good buy. Dismal science my foot

[jgaiser]

After reading a number of pretty good reviews, I'm trying to work through John Love's debut novel Faith. I have to say I'm not as impressed as some of the reviewers. I'm at about 40% through the novel and it feels like Mr. Love had a word count requirement to meet. Sections are very drawn out with little results for all the words. As we've finally met the alien spacecraft, I'll stick with it a while longer, but I'm beginning to feel that the comparison to Moby Dick may be correct. Long and tiresome.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I found her writing magical! This book contained so much vivid imagery & description, and lyrical descriptions juxtaposed with deeply ironical catastrophes! I highly recommend it!

Thanks for that. May have to reassess where this book is in my TBR list.

[HarryT]

An SF mystery/thriller by one of my favourite "hard SF" authors.

The book, written in the 1980s, is set in 2017, when the Soviet Union, about to celebrate the centenary of the October Revolution, is building a large orbital space habitat. They say it is for entirely peaceful purposes, but US intelligence suspects that it may be a disguised battle platform, and sends two agents, in the guise of journalists, to the station, to investigate.

This is an excellent thriller, with a real "twist in the tail". Obviously its political basis is now entirely undermined (who would have predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1980s?), but it's still a very good book. My only criticism of it is that it occasionally lays on the politics a bit thickly, and has a very simplistic "Soviet Union = bad, USA = good" viewpoint, but that doesn't detract from the story.

Well worth reading. Available as a very reasonably-priced eBook from Baen.

I'd give it 4 stars out of 5.

[coderserdar]

jack higgins - the killing ground

an excellent dillon sory too
all of you should read this dillon series

[HarryT]

I've now started reading "The Railway Detective", by Edward Marston (a pen-name of the British author Keith Miles). This is a new author for me; I picked up the book for £1 in an Amazon sale a few months ago.

It's the first in a series, and features Inspector Robert Colbeck, a detective who investigates crimes committed on the railways in the early 1850s. My first impressions are favourable.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've now started reading "The Railway Detective", by Edward Marston (a pen-name of the British author Keith Miles). This is a new author for me; I picked up the book for £1 in an Amazon sale a few months ago.

It's the first in a series, and features Inspector Robert Colbeck, a detective who investigates crimes committed on the railways in the early 1850s. My first impressions are favourable.

This sounds interesting. I think I will add it to my TBR.
Apache

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've now started reading "The Railway Detective", by Edward Marston (a pen-name of the British author Keith Miles). This is a new author for me; I picked up the book for £1 in an Amazon sale a few months ago.

It's the first in a series, and features Inspector Robert Colbeck, a detective who investigates crimes committed on the railways in the early 1850s. My first impressions are favourable.

Sounds good, I'll go and take a look at it.

[MickeyC]

Just finished DC Dead by Stuart Woods. Okay but not great.

Next up: Alien Chicks in Citrus Bras and Stalkers from Behind the Stars by Andrew Milne

[amward]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've now started reading "The Railway Detective", by Edward Marston (a pen-name of the British author Keith Miles). This is a new author for me; I picked up the book for £1 in an Amazon sale a few months ago.

It's the first in a series, and features Inspector Robert Colbeck, a detective who investigates crimes committed on the railways in the early 1850s. My first impressions are favourable.

I really enjoyed this book, which I think I got as a freebie last year. I think there are other in the series which I must look out for now that you have jogged my memory.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

It appears that I've already read Curses in addition to already having read AAAA Wizardry. But Even Hand and The Beacon both turned out to be top notch! And now I just may have to find myself some eBooks of some of Shannon K. Butcher's work.

I just finished reading Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey. It's a trio of novellas about strong females who use magic to do good things. There's Arcanum 101 featuring Diana Tregarde, a witch/guardian and Drums featuring Jennifer Talldeer,who is a native American shape-shifter/shaman and private investigator. These two characters she's written about before and both stories occur in the past. Then there's Ghost in the Machine featuring a new character, Ellen McBride, a techno-shaman. I enjoyed them all. I haven't decided what to read next.