Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1284

orangedotgreen · 03-17-2014, 09:40 AM

I finished the third Amelia Peabody book, The Mummy Case. It introduces Ramses, Amelia's son, who is terribly precocious. I think that if I'd have encountered such a character in any other book I would have abandoned it, but here he adds to the charm of his extraordinary family and makes things quite interesting.

I'm curious to see how he'll change as he grows up and what happens to 'de cat Bastet', but until I get to the next book I want to finish the books I'm currently reading: Second Foundation and The Information.

WT Sharpe · 03-17-2014, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orangedotgreen

I finished the third Amelia Peabody book, The Mummy Case. It introduces Ramses, Amelia's son, who is terribly precocious. I think that if I'd have encountered such a character in any other book I would have abandoned it, but here he adds to the charm of his extraordinary family and makes things quite interesting.

I'm curious to see how he'll change as he grows up and what happens to 'de cat Bastet', but until I get to the next book I want to finish the books I'm currently reading: Second Foundation and The Information.

Actually, Ramses was introduced in the second Peabody book by Elizabeth Peters, The Curse of the Pharaohs, but as they left him home when they started out on that trip, he only had a very minor role to play in the story.

MickeyC · 03-17-2014, 10:04 AM

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Could not stop reading it!

Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse.

Gazella · 03-17-2014, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent.

Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse.

I have suddenly been hearing a lot about this book and how good it is. I have to read it. Hopefully after I finish my two current reads.

alansplace · 03-17-2014, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

I finished reading Centurion's Rise a few weeks ago, after which I took a reading break to take care of some family business. Then I read The Missing Formula. I enjoyed them both a lot. On the day after it's release I began reading The Undead Pool but put it aside because my copy of J.K.Rowling: A Biography - The Genius Behind Harry Potter by Sean Smith arrived. I began reading it immediately. This book is unavailable as an ebook and so I had to buy it in hardback (a rare occurrence in recent times). I became aware of the book after seeing a Lifetime film called Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story that was based on it.

I Completed reading J.K.Rowling: A Biography - The Genius Behind Harry Potter and it was quite enjoyable. I recommend it to any Potter fans. Now I'm reading the very recently released Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs!

pilotbob · 03-17-2014, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella

I have suddenly been hearing a lot about this book and how good it is. I have to read it. Hopefully after I finish my two current reads.

ARGH! And my wishlist gets longer. Thanks MR!

pdurrant · 03-17-2014, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which certainly does have a lot of action in it (and I'm only 1/3rd of the way in), but the names are just as annoying as ever.

When I get too irritated by the names, I'm also reading Waldo and Magic, Inc. by Robert A. Heinlein, one of the books in the April Baen Monthly Bundle that has just been released (and is no longer for sale as a bundle).

Dazrin · 03-17-2014, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Could not stop reading it!

Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse.

Has anyone read both the old (self-pub) version and the new version of this? I read the old version and am considering the new one, but would like to hear if anyone else has read both and if there are any significant changes.

CRussel · 03-17-2014, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished Sword-Dancer, continuing The Autistic Brain, and now reading The Pharaoh's Curse (#2 in the Amelia Peabody series) and An Impartial Witness, the second book in the Bess Crawford series written by the Charles Todd duo.

Finished An Impartial Witness, and I thought it excellent. A solid 4 stars, shading to 5. This series has potential, though one wonders how many people can die outside of the actual WWI deaths to keep her investigating, but I'm sure the Charles Todd duo will find a solution.

Still poking into The Autistic Brain, and finding it fascinating. I always learn a lot from Ms. Grandin.

Also, still reading The Curse of the Pharaohs, an Amelia Peabody mystery from Elizabeth Peters, read excellently by Barbara Rosenblat. I haven't had much time to listen lately, so this is going slowly. But not for lack of interest or enjoyment.

Next up, Cauldron of Ghosts, the third book in the Crown of Slaves side-shoot of the Honor Harrington series. This was just released yesterday and was the anchor book for the April bundle.

WT Sharpe · 03-17-2014, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Could not stop reading it!

Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella

I have suddenly been hearing a lot about this book and how good it is. I have to read it. Hopefully after I finish my two current reads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

ARGH! And my wishlist gets longer. Thanks MR!

Ain't that the truth. I just bought a new iPod Mini especially for listening to audiobooks while I walk, and I've been downloading a ton of freebies from Librivox, but with all the buzz around The Martian I just had to break down and buy the author's original MP3/CD. When it arrives, I'll upload it to the iPod and go for a walk.

pilotbob · 03-17-2014, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Ain't that the truth. I just bought a new iPod Mini especially for listening to audiobooks while I walk, and I've been downloading a ton of freebies from Librivox, but with all the buzz around The Martian I just had to break down and buy the author's original MP3/CD. When it arrives, I'll upload it to the iPod and go for a walk.

If you buy the Kindle book, you can add the Audio book version for $2.99 extra.

Gazella · 03-18-2014, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella

Currently reading:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I'm 30% into The Shadow of the Wind and I'm finding it hard to get into it. It started off very promising; the first four chapters were good but then I started to lose interest the more I read and the more I began to learn about the two dimensional annoying characters in the story. The dialogue I found pretentious and I couldn't stand reading any more so I decided I should just stop.

orangedotgreen · 03-18-2014, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Actually, Ramses was introduced in the second Peabody book by Elizabeth Peters, The Curse of the Pharaohs, but as they left him home when they started out on that trip, he only had a very minor role to play in the story.

Ah, yes. I forgot about that.

din155 · 03-18-2014, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Could not stop reading it!

Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse.

I concur. This really was edge of your seat kind of book. I generally lose interest if author gets into too many details that do not add much to the story. But this is one of the very few books that I have read where story is in the details. I could not stop myself until it was over.

You have been warned! Again!

DrNefario · 03-18-2014, 09:37 AM

It's more than a month since I last posted here. I've got a lot of catching up to do.

The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula le Guin. The second Earthsea book, and I thought it was a better book than Wizard of Earthsea. This one is just one single story, whereas Wizard was a bit rambling and picaresque. It was also pretty short. I read it in a single afternoon, while ill in bed, as a break from the next book.

The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch. The third Locke Lamora book. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with this. It's still good, but not, in my mind, as good as the first two. The flashback story is great, but the present day stuff just didn't quite work for me.

Generation Loss - Elizabeth Hand. Atmospheric story about a has-been/never-was punk photographer and mysterious goings-on in Maine. The lead character drinks too much, takes drugs, commits petty acts of theft and mischief, and doesn't really seem to have much going for her, but is somehow still sympathetic. I just bought the sequel today.

Wool 3: Casting Off - Hugh Howey. I continue to make my slow way through the first Wool omnibus. It's solid enough, so far, but I can't help feeling that it's massively overrated because of its indie roots. I can make myself look thin if I stand in a crowd of fat people. Maybe the last two parts will change my mind.

Soulless - Gail Carriger. Not my usual fare, but I enjoyed this a lot. It's set in a version of Victorian London where vampires and werewolves are integrated into society, and the technology is a bit steampunky. Romance is a large element, but far from the whole of the book. Good fun.

The Riddle-Master of Hed - Patricia A McKillip. Enjoyable off-beat fantasy about a prince from a small island wandering about having strange encounters. It reminded me a bit of Wizard of Earthsea and Lyonesse. I'm very keen to get on with the sequel(s), but decided to space them out a bit.

A Door into Ocean - Joan Slonczewski. Another good one, an SF novel about a peaceful race of genetically-adapted women who live on an ocean moon, and the attempt of the nearby planet to assert control over them. How do you win a war when one side won't fight? Interesting, and a good story.

I'm currently reading The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie, which I should finish in the next day or so. I thought it had been a bit too long since I read anything from my growing TBR pile of Christie books. This one's a follow-up to Secret of Chimneys with some of the same cast. It's more of a thriller than a whodunnit, and I never seem to quite like those as much - they seem a bit more preposterous and cliched - but it's readable enough.

03-17-2014, 10:04 AM	#19248
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Just finished *The Martian* by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Could not stop reading it! Warning: Do not start this book if you have chores to perform over the weekend. If you ignore this warning and do that, you will be joining me in the doghouse. Last edited by MickeyC; 03-17-2014 at 10:07 AM.

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03-17-2014, 09:40 AM	#19246
orangedotgreen Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 82424 Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Romania Device: Kindle 3 Wi-fi	I finished the third Amelia Peabody book, The Mummy Case. It introduces Ramses, Amelia's son, who is terribly precocious. I think that if I'd have encountered such a character in any other book I would have abandoned it, but here he adds to the charm of his extraordinary family and makes things quite interesting. I'm curious to see how he'll change as he grows up and what happens to 'de cat Bastet', but until I get to the next book I want to finish the books I'm currently reading: Second Foundation and The Information.

03-18-2014, 09:37 AM	#19260
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,227 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	It's more than a month since I last posted here. I've got a lot of catching up to do. The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula le Guin. The second Earthsea book, and I thought it was a better book than Wizard of Earthsea. This one is just one single story, whereas Wizard was a bit rambling and picaresque. It was also pretty short. I read it in a single afternoon, while ill in bed, as a break from the next book. The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch. The third Locke Lamora book. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with this. It's still good, but not, in my mind, as good as the first two. The flashback story is great, but the present day stuff just didn't quite work for me. Generation Loss - Elizabeth Hand. Atmospheric story about a has-been/never-was punk photographer and mysterious goings-on in Maine. The lead character drinks too much, takes drugs, commits petty acts of theft and mischief, and doesn't really seem to have much going for her, but is somehow still sympathetic. I just bought the sequel today. Wool 3: Casting Off - Hugh Howey. I continue to make my slow way through the first Wool omnibus. It's solid enough, so far, but I can't help feeling that it's massively overrated because of its indie roots. I can make myself look thin if I stand in a crowd of fat people. Maybe the last two parts will change my mind. Soulless - Gail Carriger. Not my usual fare, but I enjoyed this a lot. It's set in a version of Victorian London where vampires and werewolves are integrated into society, and the technology is a bit steampunky. Romance is a large element, but far from the whole of the book. Good fun. The Riddle-Master of Hed - Patricia A McKillip. Enjoyable off-beat fantasy about a prince from a small island wandering about having strange encounters. It reminded me a bit of Wizard of Earthsea and Lyonesse. I'm very keen to get on with the sequel(s), but decided to space them out a bit. A Door into Ocean - Joan Slonczewski. Another good one, an SF novel about a peaceful race of genetically-adapted women who live on an ocean moon, and the attempt of the nearby planet to assert control over them. How do you win a war when one side won't fight? Interesting, and a good story. I'm currently reading The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie, which I should finish in the next day or so. I thought it had been a bit too long since I read anything from my growing TBR pile of Christie books. This one's a follow-up to Secret of Chimneys with some of the same cast. It's more of a thriller than a whodunnit, and I never seem to quite like those as much - they seem a bit more preposterous and cliched - but it's readable enough.