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

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I don't do it. If I've forgotten a book, and it looks like it will be a good read, I'll read it again. Of course I'll remember the book after the first few pages or the first chapter, but if it was good, I don't mind re-reading it.


Stitchawl

This is what I do also.
Apache

[bookaho!ic]

Now on 2nd book in the game of thrones series loving it

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

One of the many things I love about Amazon, Kindle specifically. They add this message to all of your Kindle purchases:

This has helped me save more than a few extra dollars. They don't do that with everything you order, but thats understandable.

Yes, I actually only noticed this message for the first time this Christmas. But the book I bought for my wife, The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, was originally purchased from Waterstones, I think, and then Amazon this time. Even Amazon can't (yet) keep track of what I buy elsewhere .

[Yapyap]

I've been keeping track of my reading on Goodreads for the last few years, and I've been keeping track of my purchases (including a column for Read?) in a Google spreadsheet for the last two years.

I also have all my ebooks in Calibre.

Considering the amount of books I've been buying with wild abandon over the last three years or so, from Amazon, Kobo and BooksOnBoard but also a few from here and there outside those three, there's just no way I could even begin to remember what I've already bought without that (especially since a lot of titles seem familiar just because I've been considering them before). I find myself consulting the spreadsheet and the Calibre database quite often before buying a new book, unless it's a brand new release, and do find occasionally that I've already bought it a year or two ago...

Back on topic, I just finished The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis (picked thanks to my spreadsheet of books bought in 2012, or I'd probably have forgotten about having it!) and enjoyed it very much indeed - more so than Bitter Seeds, the first book in the Milkwood Triptych, which fascinated me with its ambitious take on alternative history but was a bit of a letdown in character appeal and thrill factor at times.

No such issues with The Coldest War - it wasn't quite a five star read but easily in my top twenty of the year.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Considering the amount of books I've been buying with wild abandon over the last three years or so, from Amazon, Kobo and BooksOnBoard but also a few from here and there outside those three, there's just no way I could even begin to remember what I've already bought without that (especially since a lot of titles seem familiar just because I've been considering them before).

You make a very good point - I have again very recently happened across a book by one of my favoured authors (Harlen Coben) that I was sure I had read, and by checking my GR listings I realised I hadn't.

Halfway through Wayward by Blake Crouch, and enjoying it almost as much as the first in the series, Pines (though, as the reveal was made at the end of Pines, it could never hope to deliver quite the same sense of intrigue).

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Still thinking about the next one.
[Edit]
Decided on a freebie by Jo Walton - The Rebirth of Pan.

Which was a very good story of magic, old gods and new gods mainly set in the Greek Islands. It switch viewpoint character every chapter, which was a bit confusing at first.

Next up: The Rebirth of Wonder by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Bought in September 2013 using a Kobo discount code.

[Yapyap]

As I again wasn't in the mood for anything specific, I picked the next unread book from my sorted-high-to-low-by-price spreadsheet of 2012 ebook purchases, so now I'm reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, bought on a whim in early 2012 after seeing a glowing review by a friend whose reading tastes are often similar to mine.

And after that I promptly forgot about it. Heh.

Anyway, a third of the way in and I'm enjoying it a whole lot more than I expected to.

(Also, I think I'll adopt that system of going for the next most expensive TBR book also in the future, whenever I don't have a particular book or specific genre in mind. It'll serve to both make me feel a little better about all the spending I've been doing and remind me of books bought some time ago, which I've otherwise forgotten about. It might also be helpful in getting me to read outside my comfort sphere, especially since all the books I have bought, I have considered them potentially interesting, at least on the day of buying them.)

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

As I again wasn't in the mood for anything specific, I picked the next unread book from my sorted-high-to-low-by-price spreadsheet of 2012 ebook purchases, so now I'm reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, bought on a whim in early 2012 after seeing a glowing review by a friend whose reading tastes are often similar to mine.

And after that I promptly forgot about it. Heh.

Anyway, a third of the way in and I'm enjoying it a whole lot more than I expected to.

(Also, I think I'll adopt that system of going for the next most expensive TBR book also in the future, whenever I don't have a particular book or specific genre in mind. It'll serve to both make me feel a little better about all the spending I've been doing and remind me of books bought some time ago, which I've otherwise forgotten about. It might also be helpful in getting me to read outside my comfort sphere, especially since all the books I have bought, I have considered them potentially interesting, at least on the day of buying them.)

1. The story sounds interesting, thanks for mentioning it.

2. I like your "Most Expensive" TBR idea! Thankfully, my most expensive ebook purchase to date, The Parasol Protectorate Boxed Set, already happens to be in my reading plans for next year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

2. I like your "Most Expensive" TBR idea!

I like that too. I think I might go for it occasionally as an alternative to my current methods, "first purchased", "next in a series", "last purchased" and "whatever catches my eye".

[CRussel]

I like the concept, if only as a feedback mechanism to one's own buying habits. (Which are, in my case, deplorable!) The catch is, I don't currently keep track of the source of where I got my books and how much I spent on them. True, it's somewhat easy, in that >90% of them are from either Baen or Amazon. And the Baen books (except for eARCs) will never be "the most expensive", even with the new pricing structure. But some books I get from Kobo, and some others from the Library. And I really don't know which are which.

Realistically, I don't see myself changing to be that organized about tracking my books. Just not going to happen.

[HarryT]

Finished what are probably my final two books of 2013:

The Anvil by S.M. Stirling and David Drake. The third book in the "General" series sees Raj Whitehall continue his mission to reunite the planet Bellevue, 1000 years after its collapse into semi-barbarism following the fall of an interstellar empire. This is the first of three books in a Baen omnibus edition called "Conqueror", which I see that I bought in March 2003.

Inferno by Dan Brown. Rather to my surprise, I really enjoyed this. An enormous improvement over his previous book "The Lost Symbol". A rollercoaster ride of a thriller set in Italy, and (as the title suggest) having as its central theme the epic poem "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. Highly recommended.

Paul - you said you weren't sure whether or not "The General" series had previous been released by Baen as eBooks. Checking back, I see that the first two books in the series were released as an omnibus called "Warlord" in Feb 2003, and the final three books as "Conqueror" in March 2003.

[Stitchawl]

I just finished James Patterson's "Ice Limit" and enjoyed it right up until the end. And if it had ended 30 pages sooner, I would have enjoyed it more. If you read it, skip the press releases at the end.

Time to spend some quality time with Miss Jane Marple in "A Caribbean Mystery." I haven't read Christie in a while!


Stitchawl

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I just finished James Patterson's "Ice Limit"

Do you perhaps mean the book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child? I don't believe James Patterson has written a book with that title.

[samhy]

For the last book of 2013, I chose Légion by David Forrest. For once, this is a French book and the action takes place in a city 5 minutes from where I live.

Edit: I forgot to add that I'm 72% in and it's quite nice even though I'm usually not into satanic cult members stories.

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Inferno by Dan Brown. Rather to my surprise, I really enjoyed this. An enormous improvement over his previous book "The Lost Symbol". A rollercoaster ride of a thriller set in Italy, and (as the title suggest) having as its central theme the epic poem "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. Highly recommended.

Harry, thanks for the reco I've been wondering about this one and whether to give it a try. Based on your review, it just went on my TBR list. In fact, will probably give it a go after the Robert Parker (Promised Land) I'm flying through at the moment.

Also, just finished The Dinosaur Feather by S J Gazan. A good read and science buffs would especially like it. I got it because the Wall Street Journal rated it as one of the ten best international mysteries in 2013.