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

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Captain Flandry by Poul Anderson, part of a Baen monthly bundle I bought back in October 2009 as well (but a different monthly bundle to the previous book).

An excellent set of stories from Poul Anderson, mostly concerned, naturally, with Captain Flandry. This is part of a series of books from Baen that collect all of Poul Anderson stories that cover his main future history. Good stuff indeed.


Next: Aliens edited by Martin H Greenberg.

I got this as part of a large order last May during a fictionwise 60% off sale.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: Aliens edited by Martin H Greenberg.

A mixed bag. One or two I liked a lot, but most were only so-so.

Next: Scardown by Elizabeth Bear

This is the second book in a trilogy. I bought this and the third volume back in 2008 after reading the first in the series (so I must have liked that), but I haven't got around to them before now. About time, I think!

[tecweston]

Just Finished:

- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - yes! All ready for the movie now.

Currently Reading:

- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (63%)

- The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (62%)

- Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (4%)

- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (~20%) [on hold]

[The Terminator]

I'm finished with A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway. 7/10 stars

It was fair, but being so short there wasn't a ton of details or long conversations. I'd recommend it but not if you're looking for a cheerful read.

[coderserdar]

agatha christie -
The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories

a good book but harley quin char appears just in one story

[WT Sharpe]

I just started a Stephen King short story that I won for taking a survey at Carnegie Mellon University: "Mile 81" (print length: 80 pages). Got an e-mail from the folks yesterday requesting that I take a follow-up survey, and since I'm guessing it involves what I thought of the story, now would be a good time to read it.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I completed my re-read of The Girl on the Dock and James Potter and the Vault of Destinies. When I completed them I then read the 47 page PDF (I made a MOBI out of it and put it in my Kindle) of James Potter and the Morrigan Web. It was released on G.Norman Lippert's blog and includes a letter to the readers explaining that this is what he's written so far and that he's decided to postpone the completion of the project for now and that it's incomplete and unedited. It gets a WOWZERS (Inspector Gadget's terminology) from me. Now on to these three in no particular order. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, and Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz.

I just finished A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison and really enjoyed it, particularly the 2nd half. I've got two more books still to be read on my TBRI (to be read immediately) list, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, and Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz and I'm adding another book to my TBRI list, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

[Yapyap]

I'm reading Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch. (I believe the original title is Rivers of London; why only the US version was available for me on Kindle when I bought it, I have no idea, but at least as far as I can tell the title is the only thing that's got changed; no obvious Americanisation of the writing, anyway.)

Anyway, 30% in and enjoying it a great deal so far - more than any other urban fantasy sort of thing with a male protagonist that I've tried previously. I have no idea yet where the plot is going, but the writing itself is so enjoyable that I'm not sure it matters!

[DiapDealer]

For the first time in a very long time... the first book of a series has inspired me to immediately start the second book. Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair (Book one of his Thursday Next series) dragged in a few spots (mostly because of "setting the stage" for the series), but overall I found it fun, witty and eminently readable. As silly as the premise can seem at first blush, it is still a mystery/adventure at heart and Fforde never lets it cross into the realm of total slapstick. The bad guy is really a bad guy... not just a mustache-twirling caricature of one. And Thursday Next makes a memorable protagonist. I'll let one of the editorial reviews of the book do most of the talking while I dive into Book 2 — Lost in a Good Book.

Spoilered only because of size:

Spoiler:

When I first heard the premise of this unique mystery, I doubted that a first-time author could pull off a complicated caper involving so many assumptions, not the least of which is a complete suspension of disbelief. Jasper Fforde is not only up to the task, he exceeds all expectations.
Imagine this. Great Britain in 1985 is close to being a police state. The Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing. The only recognizable thing about this England is her citizens' enduring love of literature. And the Third Most Wanted criminal, Acheron Hades, is stealing characters from England's cherished literary heritage and holding them for ransom.

Bibliophiles will be enchanted, but not surprised, to learn that stealing a character from a book only changes that one book, but Hades has escalated his thievery. He has begun attacking the original manuscripts, thus changing all copies in print and enraging the reading public. That's why Special Operations Network has a Literary Division, and it is why one of its operatives, Thursday Next, is on the case.

Thursday is utterly delightful. She is vulnerable, smart, and, above all, literate. She has been trying to trace Hades ever since he stole Mr. Quaverley from the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and killed him. You will only remember Mr. Quaverley if you read Martin Chuzzlewit prior to 1985. But now Hades has set his sights on one of the plums of literature, Jane Eyre, and he must be stopped.

How Thursday achieves this and manages to preserve one of the great books of the Western canon makes for delightfully hilarious reading. You do not have to be an English major to be pulled into this story. You'll be rooting for Thursday, Jane, Mr. Rochester--and a familiar ending.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

For the first time in a very long time... the first book of a series has inspired me to immediately start the second book. Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair (Book one of his Thursday Next series) dragged in a few spots (mostly because of "setting the stage" for the series), but overall I found it fun, witty and eminently readable.

I'm impatiently waiting for a follow-up to his very clever Shades of Grey. I enjoyed it more than the Thursday Next books.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Synamon

I'm impatiently waiting for a follow-up to his very clever Shades of Grey. I enjoyed it more than the Thursday Next books.

I've just discovered Fforde myself, so I'll keep that mind. Thanks!

[Stitchawl]

I have finally gotten around to starting a Ngaio Marsh novel, "Artists in Crime," and although only a quarter of the way into the book, will begin collecting all of the Inspector Alleyn series. What a wonderfully playful story!


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I have finally gotten around to starting a Ngaio Marsh novel, "Artists in Crime," and although only a quarter of the way into the book, will begin collecting all of the Inspector Alleyn series. What a wonderfully playful story!


Stitchawl

They're a bit uneven -- some seem to drag a bit -- but overall, I like them very much. And the TV Series with Patrick Malahide as Alleyn, and William Simons as DI Fox was also well done. There are Audible versions of these as well, with a couple of different readers. The ones read by Donata Peters (Wanda McCadden) are excellent.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Synamon

I'm impatiently waiting for a follow-up to his very clever Shades of Grey. I enjoyed it more than the Thursday Next books.

I liked Thursday Next, but I agree with you that Shades of Grey was better still. Loved it.

[WT Sharpe]

Yesterday I read the Stephen King short story "Mile 81" about a car—evidently an extraterrestrial in disguise—that ate people. As goofy as that premise sounds, I could have bought into the story had it not been for the even more ridiculously absurd ending.

I felt the story was too bloody and violent for children and too childish for adults.