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

[samhy]

Originally Posted by samhy

Now, I'm going to read Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.

The second book wasn't available on Kobo so I got in touch with the author to know whether a Kobo release was planned. Now that it's available and I've bought it, it's on the top 3 of my TBR

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by samhy

Now, I'm going to read Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.

Just read the synopsis. Seems like a pretty fun book. Added.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by samhy

The second book wasn't available on Kobo so I got in touch with the author to know whether a Kobo release was planned. Now that it's available and I've bought it, it's on the top 3 of my TBR

Good going. Let's see who reads it first . I am currently reading The Martian, but #2 (A Symphony of Echoes) may well be next...

[Apache]

I finished A Sword into Darkness by Thomas Mays the other day. This was an excellent First Contact Science Fiction book. It contained a few surprises towards the end. Well worth reading. The author is an 18 year veteran still in the US Navy and has two degrees in Applied Physics. Hard science and lots of action, my favorite. 4.5 out of 5

HUMANITY IS NO LONGER ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE. AN UNKNOWABLE THREAT APPROACHES EARTH . . . AND WE ARE COMPLETELY UNPREPARED TO FACE WHAT'S COMING.
Aerospace tycoon Gordon Elliot Lee cannot stand idly by while a mysterious alien presence from Delta Pavonis bears down upon mankind's only home. Shut out from NASA and military support, Gordon is forced to go it alone, to sow the seeds for an entirely new sort of planetary defense: a space-based naval force.
Joined by Nathan Kelley -- a bloodied naval warrior, scarred by his own actions in the waters off North Korea -- and Kris Munoz -- an avant garde scientific genius with more ideas than sense -- these three will scour the very edges of fringe science and engineering to attempt development of Earth's first space navy in time to oppose the Deltan invasion.
Beset by ridicule, government obstruction, industrial espionage, and their own personal demons, it will take a miracle just to get off the ground. But the challenges on Earth are nothing compared to what awaits them in space. Against an unknown alien enemy with vastly superior technology, a handful of human scientists and warriors must become the sword that holds the darkness at bay.
MISSILES WILL FLASH, RAILGUNS WILL RUMBLE, LASERS WILL BURN, AND DEFENDERS WILL DIE.
IF THEY FAIL, OUR END IS AT HAND.
“There are brilliant first contact stories, great space combat stories, and amazing stories of technological discovery. Rarely do you find all three in the same novel. Remember the name Thomas A. Mays. You’re going to be seeing it on the bestseller list.” — JEFF EDWARDS, Award-winning author of ‘SEA OF SHADOWS,’ and ‘THE SEVENTH ANGEL’
“Sharply written, suspenseful and tightly plotted, A SWORD INTO DARKNESS reads like the best Tom Clancy novels, with a science fiction heart provided by Arthur C. Clark. Can’t wait to read more from Thomas Mays!” — GRAHAM BROWN, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of ‘ZERO HOUR,’ ‘BLACK RAIN,’ and ‘THE EDEN PROPHECY’

http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Into-Dar...=UTF8&sr=&qid=
Apache

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

And now I started The Plague Forge - the last book in the Dire Earth Cycle by Jason M. Hough. As usual with sequels, it took me a bit to get up to speed again but now that I am, I'm enjoying it, like I did the first two books.

Finished that off the other night - I enjoyed most of it even more than the first two books, and overall, I think it was the strongest of the three, but while in many ways I found the ending fitting (and questions answered), I also felt somehow disappointed with it.

After that, I finally picked up Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, which a lot of my friends have adored, and just finished it tonight. I found it thoroughly charming, although the eventual romance didn't quite work for me.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by Synamon

My St. Patrick's day listen is the second in Adrian McKinty's DI Sean Duffy series set during Ireland's "Troubles", I Hear the Sirens in the Street. The Falkland's War has just broken out which will complicate the situation in Ireland when British troops are redeployed overseas. I enjoyed the first book enough to pick up the second and the recently released third of this series at Audible.

I started the third in this trilogy as soon as I finished this one, Sean Duffy is delightfully flawed and the '80s Irish setting is fascinating and horrifying at the same time, like watching a trainwreck.

I also listened to Scurvy by Stephen Bown/Dan Cashman, a pretty interesting look at "The Age of Sail" and the mysterious illness that claimed millions of lives.

I realized that I neglected to mention a few others I've finished recently, Lightning by Dean Koontz, Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood, and Daybreak by Viktor Amas Ingolfsson. The first was a little dull and I found it difficult to buy the premise, the second was flapper Phryne Fisher to the rescue which is always fun, the third was a tense murder mystery set in Iceland which focused on goose hunters, slow at the start, but it picked up momentum.

[PurpleStar]

Oops I posted coupons in here by mistake.

Well, for an update, still re-reading The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan.

[bfisher]

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.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just started reading it (10% in), and it is wonderful, I can't see being able to do anything else until this is finished.

[bert501]

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 waited quite a while for my number to come up at the library for The Martian then lost some sleep finishing it but WOW was it worth it!!

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by Gazella

Same here. I just started The Martian.

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.

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Be very interested in what you and Gazella think. I really liked it.

Just finished it! And boy, was that a thoroughly entertaining read. Wonderful story, perfectly paced, loved the main character as well as the secondary characters like Mindy Park (probably my favorite, even though she doesn't appear a lot in the story, maybe because she reminded me of a character that I love from one of my favorite TV shows). There were a lot of parts where I literally laughed out loud; I did not expect it to be funny at all; I thought okay, an astronaut stranded on Mars, that's a serious matter. But no, the main protagonist, Mark Watney, was very good natured and amusing. He spends his free time watching 70s TV and listening to disco music

Watney is an expert in Botany and Mechanical Engineering and uses the skills he possesses in those areas to solve most of the problems he faces on Mars. The author manages to make all the detailed technical and mathematical explanations interesting. And most of the narrative is told through the journal/logs of Watney's adventures on Mars. The ending ends abruptly, nevertheless, The Martian is a very engaging and fascinating story.

P.S. I agree with MickeyC, this book will basically take over your life until you finish it. So do not ignore his warning and do not start it unless you have nothing important to do.

[CRussel]

Hmmm. The Martian -- not couponable, and 9.99 at Amazon. Well, as great as this sounds, it's going to have to wait, since I just checked my Provincial library and it's not available as an eBook from them.

Probably as well that it's over my price limit - this sounds like the sort of thing I'd love and that would totally ruin my weekend plans.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

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.

Finished Cauldron of Ghosts. The writing in this side-series is way better than recent efforts from David Weber. There are still a few dead spots, which in some cases I know are his because they're copies of stuff he wrote in the mainline series. But the vast majority of the book is well written, and certainly exciting. I'd give it a solid 4.5 stars.

Next up? Not sure. I've got Waldo and Magic, Inc, or Outback Station, or a Miss Silver book, or the first of the God Stalker Chronicles, or the 3rd Harry Hole book from Jo Nesbo. Decisions, decisions...

[covingtoncat73]

I went on a bit of a "one-click" rampage on Amazon. It was mostly MP3s but I did get Stephen Fry's Moab is my Washpot. There is a reason Fry is at the top of my list for celebrity dream dinner guests. I am really enjoying it.

[bfisher]

Finished "The Martian", I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair for the last chapter. Amazing book. Also, makes me want to go read "Robinson Crusoe" again.

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by bfisher

Finished "The Martian", I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair for the last chapter. Amazing book. Also, makes me want to go read "Robinson Crusoe" again.

And I really liked the closing scentence.