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

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

On to The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. This is a library eBook that someone suggested I read. I can see why, but I'm kind of bogged down in the middle of it. The beginning was good, but it's dragging a bit right now. We'll see.

Well, no better than a 3.5, but I'll probably read later books in the series if I can get them from the library, as I did this one. Not sure l'd be willing to actually buy them.

Next up, a Bruno book, The Crowded Grave. At least I know Bruno won't disappoint.

[SouthernSun]

I read JK Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' in one sitting yesterday - it was really that good! Today I'm starting 'The Lord Of The Rings' by JRR Tolkien, which I'm saddened to say that I've never read!

[HarryT]

Just finished "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" by Agatha Christie. This was her 7th book, and the 4th "Poirot" novel, originally published in 1926. It's widely regarded today as the best of the Hercule Poirot books, and a masterpiece of crime fiction, although when it was originally published, critical opinion was sharply divided, with some critics says that Christie wasn't "playing fair". I won't explain why that is - it would be a spoiler for the entire novel (and please don't give it away, anyone), but I would say that if you enjoy detective fiction and you haven't read this, you really should; it's one of the true "greats" of the genre.

[DrNefario]

I've just finished The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, the fifth Poirot novel, and the first one without a narrator. I remembered this one from the TV adaptation, sadly, but luckily did not correctly remember who did it.

Before that, I read Heritage of Flight by Susan Shwartz, an SF novel about some refugees from an interstellar war trying to start a small colony on an uninhibited world. This was a random pick for my Women of Genre Fiction challenge, and although it sounded interesting it didn't really wow me.

It was an SF Gateway book, and and was a much better transcription than I expect/fear. There were barely any OCR errors, but it did seem to me that it might have been missing section breaks. There were scene changes and time cuts that were just not signalled in the text at all. It could be that the paper version was the same, but it felt a bit odd to me, and caused a few double-takes.

I have also been reading the short works up for the Hugo awards. I caved in and decided to vote again this year, but it was a late call - we're only ten days from the deadline - so I'm not going to attempt the novels. Maybe I'll read the start of each one.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished a long-overdue re-read of "A Darkness at Sethanon", the final book in the original "Riftwar" trilogy by Raymond E. Feist. Classic fantasy, and a worthy successor to "Magician" and "Silverthorn". I think in many ways it would have been a good idea for Mr Feist to stop at this post; some of the later books he wrote in the series are pretty mediocre.

I felt a little that way myself. I do make an exception for the Empire trilogy with Janny Wurts which I thought were brilliant.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Partly into "Deep Storm" by Jeffery Deaver.

Are you sure you don't mean Lincoln Child? Excellent though Mr Deaver is, I don't believe he's ever written a book with that title.

[jmilica]

After A. Trollope and T. Mann binge, I just finished Holy Orders, sixth in Quirke series by Benjamin Black (alias Booker Prize Irish novelist John Banville uses for his hard boiled crime novels).
Here is link from Irish Times
I love the series and can't wait to see the new BBC series based on the Quirke novels with Gabriel Byrne

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by SouthernSun

I read JK Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' in one sitting yesterday - it was really that good! Today I'm starting 'The Lord Of The Rings' by JRR Tolkien, which I'm saddened to say that I've never read!

IF you finish LoTR in one sitting you are much hardier folk than I.

BOb

[LovesMacs]

I'm almost done reading The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff. It's a history of the American Revolutionary War. I found the book very informative in parts and rather frustrating in others. The author writes well and at times uses witty turns of phrase. Unfortunately Middlekauff devotes almost a third of the book to the historical background behind the war, so the coverage of the actual battles feels rushed and incomplete.

Most surprising was the author's description of Benedict Arnold, a general who originally fought against the British but then switched sides. Middlekauff says this quite offhand with no explanation of when or why. There's more to the story here, and it's not to be found in this book.

I'm thinking of reading one of the histories by John Ferling to fill in some of the gaps.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Wizard's Bane" by Rick Cook, which I bought many years ago from Baen.

A computer programmer from California is transported to a world where two great powers are at war using magic. He uses his computer programming skills to invent a new form of magic that nobody's ever seen before. A fun read, but you need to be a programmer to understand all the jokes .

This is the first book in a series. All worth reading.

[bfisher]

I finished T.R.Pearson's Cry Me A River. It's definitely a book that I will want to revisit.

Now starting to read Georges Simenon's Monsieur Monde Vanishes (La Fuite de Monsieur Monde) (translated by Jean Stewart).

[fantasyfan]

I read The Goose Girl by Sharon Hale.

This turned out to be a very pleasant and interesting re-telling of the Fairy-tale. While remaining faithful to the original, Hale fills out the plot in interesting ways--for instance she adds a political dimension and creates ethnic social levels. The character of Ani develops in a realistic way as she encounters her many obstacles and the supporting cast are given vivid touches. The villains, for instance are nicely distinguished and some have reasonable motives for acting as they do. There is plenty of action and since we know how the story has to end, the author should be applauded for keeping us interested enough to keep turning those pages!

the novel is classified as "Young-adult and I feel the emphasis is more on the left side of the hyphen--but anyone who loves fairy-tales will get considerable enjoyment from this book.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Wizard's Bane" by Rick Cook, which I bought many years ago from Baen.

A computer programmer from California is transported to a world where two great powers are at war using magic. He uses his computer programming skills to invent a new form of magic that nobody's ever seen before. A fun read, but you need to be a programmer to understand all the jokes .

This is the first book in a series. All worth reading.

Hmmm. Unfortunately, it appears that later books in the series are no longer available. Not sure if Baen lost the rights, but if so, no one else appears to have picked them up and the author hasn't re-published them. I'm not sure I'm willing to even start on the series if I can't get the later volumes.

Meanwhile, I finished the Bruno, Chief of Police book I started yesterday. The Crowded Grave. An excellent book, this series just keeps getting better. Though there is one very tough moment near the end. But even with that, I really enjoyed it.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

I read The Goose Girl by Sharon Hale.

This turned out to be a very pleasant and interesting re-telling of the Fairy-tale. While remaining faithful to the original, Hale fills out the plot in interesting ways--for instance she adds a political dimension and creates ethnic social levels. The character of Ani develops in a realistic way as she encounters her many obstacles and the supporting cast are given vivid touches. The villains, for instance are nicely distinguished and some have reasonable motives for acting as they do. There is plenty of action and since we know how the story has to end, the author should be applauded for keeping us interested enough to keep turning those pages!

I read this one last year, I think. I'm now in the middle of book #4, Forest Born. I read all of this series via Audio books. They are done as "full-cast audio". Not a dramatization, but different readers for each main character so it's a very nice way to enjoy the books.

[discopig]

I finished "On Reading" and "From a Buick 8" by Stephen King, both amazing books.

Now I'm reading The Trial by Franz Kafka.