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

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Which I just updated to include Bombshells & Skin Game.

I knew that you would.

[bfisher]

Just finished "The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832" by Alan Taylor. This was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2013. A very good discussion of how American slavery evolved after the Revolution, and particular emphasis on how the British campaign in the Chesapeake in 1814 affected slavery in Virginia.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

...I'm now reading 3 books at once!

...er make that 4 at once as I just started reading an Amazon freebie, Dance of the Winnebagos (A Jackrabbit Junction Mystery #1) by Ann Charles!

If Claire Morgan had known she’d be chaperoning a senior citizen sock hop, she wouldn’t have given up smoking. Yet here she was stuck in Jackrabbit Junction, Arizona, with an ornery old man, his smartass dog, and a parade of blue-haired babes.

When Claire’s grandfather and his army buddies converge in the Arizona desert, it’s her thankless job to keep them out of trouble with the opposite sex. But when she finds a human leg bone and partners with a reluctant geotechnician to dig up secrets from the past, trouble finds her. She’s losing her heart. Worse, if she doesn’t stop digging, she could lose her life.

[VictoriaP]

Turned out to be one of those nights where I started five books before I could settle into one. A reread of an old favorite finally managed to hold my attention: John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. I tend to reread this one every year or so, and as such, it's like visiting an old friend.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Murder in the Mews", by Agatha Christie. This was her 30th book, and was originally published in 1937. The book contains four novellas featuring Hercule Poirot: "Murder in the Mews", "The Incredible Theft", "Dead Man's Mirror", and "Triangle at Rhodes". It was published in the US with the title "Dead Man's Mirror", but without the story "The Incredible Theft". A very good book indeed. Highly recommended.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Eagle and the Nightingale by Mercedes Lackey.

Enjoyable, although the resolution was simpler than I expected.

Next: An anthology of all the unread James Patrick Kelly short stories that I bought from Fictionwise back in 2004 - some 22 of them, now counted as one book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters. The Curse of the Pharaohs is an Amelia Peabody mystery and the follow-up to Crocodile on the Sandbank, which was a former MobileRead Book Club selection.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of the Amelia Peabody series. I've seen it around, and I'm tempted, but I have to wait until February.... if the UK special offer lasts that long.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of the Amelia Peabody series. I've seen it around, and I'm tempted, but I have to wait until February.... if the UK special offer lasts that long.

I love it. They aren't the greatest detective stories, but the characters are wonderful, and the settings atmospheric. For me, of course, it has the attraction of being set in Egypt, my favourite place.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Murder in the Mews", by Agatha Christie. This was her 30th book, and was originally published in 1937. The book contains four novellas featuring Hercule Poirot: "Murder in the Mews", "The Incredible Theft", "Dead Man's Mirror", and "Triangle at Rhodes". It was published in the US with the title "Dead Man's Mirror", but without the story "The Incredible Theft". A very good book indeed. Highly recommended.

Instead of reading the canonical collections, I'm reading the three-volume Complete Short Stories set, which generally does an excellent job of putting things in proper chronological order, but not here. Some of the stories in Murder in the Mews are expanded from earlier shorter stories - "The Incredible Theft" is a reworking of "The Submarine Plans", for instance - and Poirot: The Complete Short Stories swaps the later version in without changing the order. The problem with this is that the continuity is all wrong. "The Submarine Plans" was from 1923, and "The Incredible Theft" from 1937 when Poirot's situation has changed (although in this particular case it's not all that relevant - there's no chopping out of Hastings, for instance. As far as I can tell, he wasn't in the original.). It's an inexplicable bad decision in an otherwise excellent collection.

I should add that the shorter versions are still collected in the three-volume set, but are tucked at the back of Detectives and Young Adventurers rather than being in Poirot: The Complete Short Stories.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I ended up reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was okay, but not as good as TLtWatW or Prince Caspian.

I'm now reading The Fairy-Tale Detectives, the first book in the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley (the author of the NERDS series). I liked it after just two chapters and ended up reading almost half of the book in one sitting. I was so hoping to sneak in some extra reading time at work today, but that was a no go.

I finished The Fairy-Tale Detectives yesterday! It was a little predictable by adult standards, but still a great read! It is a wonderful mix of action, adventure, folklore, humor, mystery and fantastic storytelling. A definite 5-star concept.

I will now be switching gears completely..well almost..it's still a mystery.
The Flights of Fantasy group over on Goodreads will be reading the complete Sherlock Holmes canon (or at least thats the goal), in publication order, starting with A Study in Scarlet. Discussion opens on Sunday (February 2nd).

[HarryT]

Yes, that's right. "Murder is the Mews" is an expansion of the earlier short story "The Market Basing Mystery", and "The Incredible Theft" of "The Submarine Plans". Both the originals are published in the anthology "Poirot's Early Cases". It's worth noting, however, that the novella versions in "Murder in the Mews" were the original book publications of the stories; it wasn't until many years later that the shorter versions, which had originally been published in magazine, were published in book format.

[bfisher]

Currently reading "Machiavelli: A Renaissance Life" by Joseph Markulin. It is a novelized biography of Niccolo Machiavelli. It starts with Machiavelli watching the execution by fire of Savonarola in 1498, and then does the back story from Machiavelli's youth before going on. I am at the point where the Florentines have sent young Machiavelli to spy on Charles VIII's army at the siege of Mordano, as Caterina Sforza exposes herself on the battlements to the French besiegers.

Quite well written and moves along briskly - Machiavelli's Excellent Adventures. I'll probably look for something a bit more rigorous later, but for now I'll just enjoy this ride.

[Chi Cygni]

Today I finished "To kill a mocking bird". What a fantastic book. Already in my favourite collection and I bet favourite of the year. Can someone recommend me something in that spirit? Or perhaps wrong place to ask?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: An anthology of all the unread James Patrick Kelly short stories that I bought from Fictionwise back in 2004 - some 22 of them, now counted as one book.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of the Amelia Peabody series.

Originally Posted by HarryT

I love it. They aren't the greatest detective stories, but the characters are wonderful, and the settings atmospheric. For me, of course, it has the attraction of being set in Egypt, my favourite place.

I've just found out that the C&R special offer will end on 31st January. So I have bought the first one, and I'm going to read it and decide whether to get the rest.

So, now also reading: Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters.

I should finish it before the end of the 31st, so I can decide whether to splurge or not.

[ccowie]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Today I finished "To kill a mocking bird". What a fantastic book. Already in my favourite collection and I bet favourite of the year. Can someone recommend me something in that spirit? Or perhaps wrong place to ask?

What comes to mind for me is:
Native Son by Richard Wright
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid
and a bit of a wildcard here - try Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt. This is a youth book that I read with my son when he was about 10 and it's really good.