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

[orlok]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I just finished 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson - it was so intriguing that I read it straight through (I usually read 2-4 books simultaneously - alternating chapters). It's a very fresh take on the old saw about time travel:

What if you could go back in time and kill Hitler before WW II started?


With a whole new twist. Lots of new twists, in fact. Just when you think you've figured out Atkinson's plot, it changes ... over and over and over .... Atkinson has certainly read and thought a great deal about time travel, human nature, human fallibility, fate, and luck .... and created a fascinating melange that raises questions throughout the reading experience.

The plot centers around the premise "What if we had a chance to do it again and again ... until we finally did get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"


opposed to:

"We only have one [life] after all, we should try and do our best. We can never get it right, but we must try."

It's one of those books where you want/need to read it again, knowing what you learned during your first read through ....

Highly recommended.

I'm going to give it a go. Have you tried Replay by Ken Grimwood? Similar theme where the protagonist gets to relive his life over and over again, trying to do it better each time. Wonderful book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Heechee Rendezvous by Frederick Pohl. From a Pohl bundle from Baen I bought back in April 2011.

I liked it, although I found the style of the story-telling a bit irritating. It did cover a bit of the Heechee universe timeline I hadn't read before.

Next up: Shards of a Broken Crown by Raymond E. Feist.

[Stitchawl]

The plot centers around the premise "What if we had a chance to do it again and again ... until we finally did get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Wait a sec... You mean we don't?!?

Originally Posted by orlok

I'm going to give it a go. Have you tried Replay by Ken Grimwood? Similar theme where the protagonist gets to relive his life over and over again, trying to do it better each time. Wonderful book.

Climb aboard the Karmic Wheel. That's one way you can keep coming back until you get it right. But the drawback is that once you do get it right, you don't get to come back any more. Bummer...


Stitchawl

[Joy736]

Originally Posted by Joy736

Next up: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

What a great read! I didn't know if I would like a SF-ish read, but I'm sooooooooo glad I tried. This was awesome.

[Avalona]

Just finished Agatha H and the Airship City, and have moved onto Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess, both written by Kaja & Phil Foglio. This is after I got caught up on the Girl Genius webcomic.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by dreams

<snip> So, I picked up and have started Everything Howls by Christoper Lopez when it was offered for free just recently. from amazon - ""Everything Howls brings the Wendigo back with a vengeance, places it in its classic habitat and adds an Algonquin Indian to the mix in a way that makes the story ring true. The effect is a short, entertaining novel that fully engages reader."" This is listed as horror and apparently has a lot of gore, so depending on the type of descriptive gore, I will see how I do.

Originally Posted by caleb72

I picked that one up too. Tell us how you go.

I am about 80% through and so far the gore isn't too bad although a few places had me decide to put off eating my snack for a while. I'll see what happens and what I think when I have finished it.

Originally Posted by orlok

I'm going to give it a go. Have you tried Replay by Ken Grimwood? Similar theme where the protagonist gets to relive his life over and over again, trying to do it better each time. Wonderful book.

I read Reply Replay years ago and may still have it on my shelf. It's a book from the late 1980's and was one that I have continued to remember and think about over the years. I remember reading it more than once because I enjoyed it so much. I wonder if younger generation readers would appreciate the book as well?

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by dreams

I am about 80% through and so far the gore isn't too bad although a few places had me decide to put off eating my snack for a while. I'll see what happens and what I think when I have finished it...

Sounds like it could be used as a diet aid!

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I just finished Book 3 this afternoon, and it was a delightful farce! I, too, was a bit worried that I wouldn't like them now, some 25 years or so after I had read them, but Remo and Chiun are so far over the top that you can't help but laugh out loud at their antics.

Now it's time for some Sci-fi. I found a writer I'd never read, Timothy Zahn, and have started Cobra 1. Someone mentioned it, and I thought I'd give it a try.


Stitchawl

One of my favorite early ones was #13 Acid Rock. Remo and Chiun at a Woodstock type festival.
Apache

[orlok]

Originally Posted by dreams

I read Reply years ago and may still have it on my shelf. It's a book from the late 1980's and was one that I have continued to remember and think about over the years. I remember reading it more than once because I enjoyed it so much. I wonder if younger generation readers would appreciate the book as well?

I agree. I recently gave it to my 16 yo daughter to read, though she hasn't got round to it due to college reading commitments. It is a book I have revisited several times, and my enjoyment of it hasn't diminished.

Now reading The Innocent by David Baldacci. I do like stories about Hit Men .

[pilotbob]

Finally finished watching the Dresden File episodes on Netflix. It was just starting to get good... to bad it was canceled.

Now, if I do go to the books, are the shows based on the books? I know the Storm Front show was... what about the others?

BOb

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Finally finished watching the Dresden File episodes on Netflix. It was just starting to get good... to bad it was canceled.

Now, if I do go to the books, are the shows based on the books? I know the Storm Front show was... what about the others?

BOb

Nope, just Storm Front and it left out and/or changed so much of the book that reading the book is totally worthwhile. Also it was made as a pilot and they cut a lot to release it as an episode. The other episodes borrowed a concept and/or a character or two but the plots were all totally different. That fact was however a good thing since you can have seen the TV show and then read the books and you get the best of both worlds. Read the books in series order and get the short story collection, Side Jobs and read the stories in it where they fit in the time-line. The first one is set before Storm Front. Enjoy!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Read the books in series order and get the short story collection, Side Jobs and read the stories in it where they fit in the time-line. The first one is set before Storm Front. Enjoy!

Ok thanks... I have already read Storm Front, and it was ok, but didn't make me want to run out and read more. But, many have said they get much better. Perhaps I'll give book two a try soon.

BOb

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Killing Floor was so engrossing that I forgot to even begin reading Treachery in Outer Space so I'll read it along with my new selection, Vanishing Act, by Thomas Perry, the first book in the Jane Whitefield series!

Originally Posted by alansplace

Treachery in Outer Space was another fun Space Opera that I enjoyed immensely. Thomas Perry's Vanishing Act was really really great! I'm sure that I'll be reading more of these Jane Whitefield stories in the near future. Thanks a bunch to fantasyfan for posting this link to a freebie read of Michael Swanwick's short story, Slow Life. It was a good quick-read for between chapters.

Next up will be Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk (Nancy Drew #17) by Carolyn Keene and Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers #2) by C.E. Murphy.

Originally Posted by alansplace

Well I just haven't been able to get into Thunderbird Falls so decided I'd abandon it and read another Jane Whitefield novel instead, Dance for the Dead (Jane Whitefield #2) by Thomas Perry.

Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk was, as usual for a Nancy Drew story, a fun and nostalgic read! And Dance for the Dead was stupendous! Wow! What a story! What a character! This series wears me out reading each book and I've only read the first two so far!

Next up, Sabotage in Space by Carey Rockwell, the 7th and last book in Tom Corbett Omnibus. In addition to that, Cursed (Alex Verus #2) by Benedict Jacka!

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Next up is A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler, previously published as Rain Fall. I have been wanting to read some more action/thriller books for a while, so this should scratch that itch.

That was a lot of fun. I wish it had a happier ending, but then the series would have been harder to continue. Oh well.

Next up is John Rain book 2 - A Lonely Resurrection - by Barry Eisler. He has said the books are supposed to be mostly stand-alone, but I hope that doesn't mean he will re-hash a lot of the background he gave in the first book. So far so good at 10% in.

[DrNefario]

I finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood last night. I dragged my feet a bit, to be honest, but it was a decent read. I was wondering how anyone could possibly consider it lit-fic rather than SF, and then it ended on an inconclusive note and I thought, yeah, lit-fic.

It's a post-apocalyptic/bio-engineering story, essentially. It reminded me a bit of The Windup Girl and The Road, maybe falling somewhere between the two.