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

[Yapyap]

After the disappointment that was The Thin Man, I turned back to YA.

First I read Model Misfit by Holly Smale, sequel to Geek Girl and just as much fun as the first book (contemporary YA really isn't my thing, and girl-turns-model definitely isn't my thing, but those books are just so much fun to read).

And tonight I finished Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis - a sort of post-apocalyptic (well... I wouldn't really call it that, just really hard times?) survival story, which was pleasantly grim and didn't go for the softer solutions more often than not, but although I did like it well enough, I suspect it's one of those books I'll have forgotten all about in the next few days.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Another excellent Isabel Dalhousie book, very much enjoyed. Next, the latest in the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson - Watching the Dark. I'd have had to wait to read this, but one of those 65% Kobo codes was gifted to me, so I used it well.

Oops. Looks like I missed the one before this one, Bad Boy. Well, another of my Kobo codes and it's down under $3.50. I'll jump on Bad Boy and read it first.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Now reading Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes as a nice introduction to the Hallowe'en season.

[CRussel]

Oooh, it's been decades since I read that. I should add it to the list...

[jersysman]

I am now reading Look to the East. It is the first book in The Great War series by Maureen Lang. I have already read book #2 in the series Whisper in the Wind, so I have to catch up.

[Synamon]

The last of my summer reads:

The Appeal by John Grisham was a rehash of a couple of his earlier books, combining a corrupt chemical company and a corrupt court system. Not his best.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was a charming yet dark fairytale. It was short and hopefully Gaiman will revisit the lane for a sequel, these characters deserve more exposure.

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler was a meandering look at life and relationships. The characters start out stale and two-dimensional, but grow on you as the story unfolds.

The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro was a well plotted thriller with the bonus of a fascinating glimpse into the art scene.

The Caves of Perigord by Martin Walker was a fanciful look at the earliest human art mixed with his usual theme of occupied France during WWII. Sounds like a stretch, but it works well. Walker is one of my current favourite authors.

Brutal Telling and Bury Your Dead (#5 and 6 of the Three Pines series) by Louise Penny were read back to back. I was very annoyed when the investigation in #5 of the series was rushed and wrong and a complete waste of time. The next book re-opens the case and starts over, plus they manage to save the world from terrorists. Yes, it is as lame as it sounds. I want my cozy Three Pines stories back.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer was fun! How can you go wrong with a tween genius ruling the world? Well, not the whole world, just the fairy world.

Never Go Back by Lee Child. There was no suspense and Lee Child obviously phoned this one in.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie was a bookclub choice and I gave up on it because I was missing most of the religious and cultural references. Shame, since the writing was lyrical and I did want to understand the weirdness.

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton is a collection of puzzles solved by the wisdom of you-know-who. A bit too much like Sherlock Holmes for me.

Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey was another bookclub selection. It was very readable, but the focus was on those Victoria interacted moreso than Victoria herself.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman wasn't for me. I didn't like any of the characters and the parables scattered throughout were annoying.

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen described the life of the family of the American ambassador to Germany in the years leading up to WWII and I couldn't put it down. The story was packed with experiences and chronicled the fear and impotence of those who witnessed early Nazi atrocities. This broke the streak of disappointing reads and I'm looking forward to reading his earlier book, The Devil in the White City.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Boy I sure enjoyed reading Murder On The Ballarat Train!

The next read is going to be Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2) by Stephen King which I'm looking forward to with great anticipation.

Doctor Sleep lived up to and far far beyond my expectations! I was frightened for the characters a lot!

Next I'll be visiting the world of Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook in Deadly Heat (Nikki Heat #5) by Richard Castle. I've been looking forward to this one a lot.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: The Sorcerer's Widow by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Another in the Ethshar series.

And it was a good read with interesting characters.

Next Up: FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer. I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles this. (A bargain buy from Diesel ebooks.)

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And it was a good read with interesting characters.

Next Up: FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer. I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles this. (A bargain buy from Diesel ebooks.)

I'm sure you'll like it, Paul. Not only is Robert J. Sawyer the multiple award winning author of one of my favorite series ("WWW"), but he's a MobileReader.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I'm sure you'll like it, Paul. Not only is Robert J. Sawyer the multiple award winning author of one of my favorite series ("WWW"), but he's a MobileReader.

I really need to put that on my TBR.

I finished Countdown City by Ben Winters, which was great and am now returning to The City in the Autumn Stars by Moorcock. I was sidetracked when I discovered Countdown City was available and also tried to re-read as much of The Not Yet as I could for the book club I go to.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I finished Countdown City by Ben Winters, which was great

Hey thanks for bringing this to my attention I didn't realise there was a sequel

[Cyclops]

Now reading The Tar Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster, in paperback. Its his first published novel from 1973 and chronologically his second book featuring Pip and Flinx.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Now on to The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett which came in at my library 5 minutes after I finished King Solomon's Mines. Good timing!

I am so glad that I have been able to get more library books recently, I have been enjoying most of these way more than I do the normal books I have been able to get a hold of. My main complaint is that the rest of the series isn't available at my library as e-books yet - and that he hasn't even finished it yet, so I will be taking a long break from this series and will probably re-read it when I get the rest of them.

Next is either The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver or Top Ten by Ryne Douglas Pearson. I am second in line for the Bone Collector, so I will probably read Top Ten first, depends on if it comes in tonight or tomorrow.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Synamon

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman wasn't for me. I didn't like any of the characters and the parables scattered throughout were annoying.

I liked this book, but I have to admit, I didn't enjoy it as much as American Gods.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Next up is another indie work. This time it's Noah's Ark by Andrew J Morgan. I believe it's in the Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic zone. I'm taking a bit of a risk with this one because I didn't read the sample before agreeing to review it. It could either be a pleasant surprise - or an unpleasant surprise. Wish me luck!

I finished this one today. I quite liked the story. I liked how the story slowly revealed itself and you were never quite at the resolution - each goal only revealing further complications and more tasks. It wasn't wildly unpredictable, but it was a plot worth having I think. I could imagine film makers being interested in this one.

My criticisms are more related to chapter structure and the writing itself. Firstly, the story is told from two separate POVs and I accept that you need to jump from one to another as the story progresses, but the author did this religiously on each chapter. The chapters were not long enough for you to really feel like you got a good go with either making progress a bit jumpy and annoying. With the writing, the author had obviously really tried to be descriptive, but it didn't feel natural; I sensed the effort. Descriptive writing only really works when you can't see the author in your head agonising over every word.

In my mind if a character needs to climb the stairs, just write that and move on. The pressure of each stair against the character's foot and the feeling of the handrail on the character's skin isn't usually interesting enough to bother with.

Anyway, I'm still giving this one 4 stars because I thought the story deserves a reward and the writing was not filled with errors, even if I felt that it needed the right type of editor to smooth out the more forced aspects of the prose.

I'm going to start on Black Swan Green now by David Mitchell. I bought this book on sale a while ago and was encouraged by the responses from the literary book club when it was selected back in September 2012. So I'm only a year late.