Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1405

Hampshire Nanny · 10-30-2014, 04:20 PM

I just finished reading W is for Wasted, the 23rd and most recent book in Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries with PI Kinsey Millhone. Now I get to wait until the next volume is published.

I got onto the reserve list for The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe before its release date. So, I was the first one to check out this most recent entry in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Just started reading it last night, but I know it won't take me very long to finish it.

Rev. Bob · 10-30-2014, 04:41 PM

Still slogging through Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. Again, not a slog because of the content, but because of the hideously sloppy formatting of the ebook. The worst offenses are:

- Random lack of italics. Some individual words that should be italicized aren't, some that shouldn't be are, and it's more common to see an italicized passage have random parts de-italicized than to see it rendered correctly.
- Hyphens and long dashes treated interchangeably. Frequently, an aside will start with a long dash and end with a hyphen, rather than being bracketed by a long dash on each side.
- No smallcaps. None, period, end of story. Everything that should be in smallcaps is in regular caps, and any "long spacing" that should occur between groups of smallcap text (ie. to separate sentences) has been replaced with a single space.
- No proofreading of the scan...and it's quite obvious that this is a conversion from a scanned source. For instance, in "The Raft," a character named LaVerne is variously called LaVerne, LaVeme, La Verne, and laVerne. There are also stray periods (apparently dust on the source) and a few random paragraph breaks/unifications.

To remove any doubt, this is not a pirated or gray-market ebook; this is the official Signet/Penguin release, purchased at Kobo. King's work deserves much better treatment than this.

Apache · 10-30-2014, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfisher

Now reading Moon Over Soho (PC Peter Grant #2). Possibly even better than Midnight Riot.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I am eagerly awaiting Foxglove Summer, due out January 2015.
Apache

Apache · 10-30-2014, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I am eagerly awaiting Foxglove Summer, due out January 2015.
Apache

I just checked Amazon UK and will be able to get it November 13, 2014.

Aapche

Dazrin · 10-30-2014, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Still slogging through Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. Again, not a slog because of the content, but because of the hideously sloppy formatting of the ebook. The worst offenses are:

- Random lack of italics. Some individual words that should be italicized aren't, some that shouldn't be are, and it's more common to see an italicized passage have random parts de-italicized than to see it rendered correctly.
- Hyphens and long dashes treated interchangeably. Frequently, an aside will start with a long dash and end with a hyphen, rather than being bracketed by a long dash on each side.
- No smallcaps. None, period, end of story. Everything that should be in smallcaps is in regular caps, and any "long spacing" that should occur between groups of smallcap text (ie. to separate sentences) has been replaced with a single space.
- No proofreading of the scan...and it's quite obvious that this is a conversion from a scanned source. For instance, in "The Raft," a character named LaVerne is variously called LaVerne, LaVeme, La Verne, and laVerne. There are also stray periods (apparently dust on the source) and a few random paragraph breaks/unifications.

To remove any doubt, this is not a pirated or gray-market ebook; this is the official Signet/Penguin release, purchased at Kobo. King's work deserves much better treatment than this.

I am beginning to think that this is why Twitter exists*. A tweet of a particularly egregious page or a running total of ways that LaVerne is spelled directly to him with a note asking why there was no proofing for this book might get his attention and get it fixed. I have to believe that he just doesn't realize how sloppy they were in the conversion.

*I have seen many excellent customer service stories because of Twitter - a little negative publicity that they can easily turn into positive publicity makes it ideal for some companies.

bfisher · 10-30-2014, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I just checked Amazon UK and will be able to get it November 13, 2014.

Aapche

Kool. Just in time!

Rev. Bob · 10-30-2014, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I am beginning to think that this is why Twitter exists*. A tweet of a particularly egregious page or a running total of ways that LaVerne is spelled directly to him with a note asking why there was no proofing for this book might get his attention and get it fixed. I have to believe that he just doesn't realize how sloppy they were in the conversion.

I've tried that; no response. Maybe he's talking to them (or having his agent do so), and if so, public silence is the correct protocol while the negotiations proceed.

Then again, that's a pretty big maybe.

Dazrin · 10-31-2014, 01:10 AM

I started reading Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton yesterday. This was fully nominated a couple times for the book club last year and caught my eye then. The length, at almost 1100 pages, is daunting and one of the reasons it wasn't selected but at 10% in it has been excellent. Murder mystery, governmental corruption and intrigue, and a fight for the survival of humanity (well not that one at least yet.

) in an excellent nearish future world.

orlok · 10-31-2014, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I just finished the four books in David Aaronovitch's Peter Grant Series. I thought the were a very good read and especially loved the character's and the humor.
Apache

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfisher

Now reading Moon Over Soho (PC Peter Grant #2). Possibly even better than Midnight Riot.

Thanks for the recommendation.

You have piqued my interest, but I am confused. Having searched for David Aaronovitch on Amazon UK, the only book showing there is Voodoo Histories. There is a Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, with Rivers of London being the first in the series, and then Moon Over Soho the second, but it just doesn't jell with your descriptions. Midnight Riot is not listed at all (maybe different names for the US and UK releases?). But the fact it is Ben rather than David is the most mysterious issue...

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, Ben is David's brother...

orlok · 10-31-2014, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I just finished reading W is for Wasted, the 23rd and most recent book in Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries with PI Kinsey Millhone. Now I get to wait until the next volume is published.

I've been patiently waiting for X is for Xenophobe (or Xenophobia) for some time now... Due out some time in 2015, apparently. We will have to wait until 2019 for the series to complete - it's been a long and enjoyable journey, and I have to give Grafton kudos for sticking with it.

Loosheesh · 10-31-2014, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

You have piqued my interest, but I am confused. Having searched for David Aaronovitch on Amazon UK, the only book showing there is Voodoo Histories. There is a Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, with Rivers of London being the first in the series, and then Moon Over Soho the second, but it just doesn't jell with your descriptions. Midnight Riot is not listed at all (maybe different names for the US and UK releases?). But the fact it is Ben rather than David is the most mysterious issue...

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, Ben is David's brother...

The books are by Ben. If I remember correctly, a couple of the titles were different between the UK and US releases. You might have to check Goodreads to get them straight. I enjoyed the first two books but never got around to reading the others.

DrNefario · 10-31-2014, 09:25 AM

Yes, Midnight Riot is the US title of Rivers of London, which I will one day get around to reading. The second book has been on offer in the UK all month, and I picked that up too, so I hope I like the first one.

I finished E C Tubb's The Winds of Gath. It was a reasonably entertaining old-school pulpy planetary sci-fi story. I don't think I'm too bothered about reading the other 32 books in the series.

Instead of going back to Crown of Slaves, I decided to read my Kindle lending library book before I can borrow a new one tomorrow, so I'm reading the second Doctrine of Labyrinths book by Sarah Monette, The Virtu. It's a slightly twisted fantasy following on from the first book, Melusine, as the two brothers, wizard Felix and thief Mildmay head back to the city to try to fix the damage Felix did at the start of book 1. I'm finding this one a bit more teenaged than the first, as people misinterpret something someone says and then sulk for a hundred pages, but I still enjoy the richness and depth of the world. The third and fourth books don't seem to be available in the UK - I thought I'd wait until I'd finished book 2 before contacting the publisher in case books 1 and 2 shouldn't be available - but as I understand it this one does complete the first story. I should finish this in a couple of days, and then I'll be able to get back to the Honorverse and finish Crown of Slaves.

Apache · 10-31-2014, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

You have piqued my interest, but I am confused. Having searched for David Aaronovitch on Amazon UK, the only book showing there is Voodoo Histories. There is a Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, with Rivers of London being the first in the series, and then Moon Over Soho the second, but it just doesn't jell with your descriptions. Midnight Riot is not listed at all (maybe different names for the US and UK releases?). But the fact it is Ben rather than David is the most mysterious issue...

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, Ben is David's brother...

Do not ask me how I managed to get his first name wrong.

It is Ben and I am going to blame old age.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/ben-aaronovitch/
Fantastic Fiction lists both titles for any book with different names.
Apache

bfisher · 10-31-2014, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

You have piqued my interest, but I am confused. Having searched for David Aaronovitch on Amazon UK, the only book showing there is Voodoo Histories. There is a Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, with Rivers of London being the first in the series, and then Moon Over Soho the second, but it just doesn't jell with your descriptions. Midnight Riot is not listed at all (maybe different names for the US and UK releases?). But the fact it is Ben rather than David is the most mysterious issue...

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, Ben is David's brother...

Yes, it is BEN.
The book I read was titled Midnight Riot, that title may be the Cdn/US title only? Possibly the title is Rivers of London in the UK and the rest of the universe. Perhaps the US publisher thought the title sounded too much like a nerdish travel guide? The ways of publishers with titles is inscrutable

orlok · 10-31-2014, 12:39 PM

Thanks all - glad that's sorted. I now have Rivers of London lined up as my next read, after I finish my guilty pleasure of #3 in the YA zombie series by Charlie Higson, called The Fear. Somehow I managed to skip this one in the series and moved on to #4, so I'm addressing the issue before going on to #5, The Fallen.

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10-30-2014, 04:20 PM	#21061
Hampshire Nanny Guru Posts: 615 Karma: 8064562 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3 KB, iPad2	I just finished reading *W is for Wasted, the 23rd and most recent book in Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries with PI Kinsey Millhone. Now I get to wait until the next volume is published. I got onto the reserve list for The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe* before its release date. So, I was the first one to check out this most recent entry in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Just started reading it last night, but I know it won't take me very long to finish it.

10-30-2014, 04:41 PM	#21062
Rev. Bob Wizard Posts: 1,760 Karma: 9918418 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Here on the perimeter, there are no stars Device: Kobo H2O, iPad mini 3, Kindle Touch	Still slogging through Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. Again, not a slog because of the content, but because of the hideously sloppy formatting of the ebook. The worst offenses are: - Random lack of italics. Some individual words that should be italicized aren't, some that shouldn't be are, and it's more common to see an italicized passage have random parts de-italicized than to see it rendered correctly. - Hyphens and long dashes treated interchangeably. Frequently, an aside will start with a long dash and end with a hyphen, rather than being bracketed by a long dash on each side. - No smallcaps. None, period, end of story. Everything that should be in smallcaps is in regular caps, and any "long spacing" that should occur between groups of smallcap text (ie. to separate sentences) has been replaced with a single space. - No proofreading of the scan...and it's quite obvious that this is a conversion from a scanned source. For instance, in "The Raft," a character named LaVerne is variously called LaVerne, LaVeme, La Verne, and laVerne. There are also stray periods (apparently dust on the source) and a few random paragraph breaks/unifications. To remove any doubt, this is not a pirated or gray-market ebook; this is the official Signet/Penguin release, purchased at Kobo. King's work deserves much better treatment than this.

10-31-2014, 01:10 AM	#21068
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,729 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	I started reading Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton yesterday. This was fully nominated a couple times for the book club last year and caught my eye then. The length, at almost 1100 pages, is daunting and one of the reasons it wasn't selected but at 10% in it has been excellent. Murder mystery, governmental corruption and intrigue, and a fight for the survival of humanity (well not that one at least yet. ) in an excellent nearish future world.

10-31-2014, 09:25 AM	#21072
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,205 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	Yes, Midnight Riot is the US title of Rivers of London, which I will one day get around to reading. The second book has been on offer in the UK all month, and I picked that up too, so I hope I like the first one. I finished E C Tubb's The Winds of Gath. It was a reasonably entertaining old-school pulpy planetary sci-fi story. I don't think I'm too bothered about reading the other 32 books in the series. Instead of going back to Crown of Slaves, I decided to read my Kindle lending library book before I can borrow a new one tomorrow, so I'm reading the second Doctrine of Labyrinths book by Sarah Monette, The Virtu. It's a slightly twisted fantasy following on from the first book, Melusine, as the two brothers, wizard Felix and thief Mildmay head back to the city to try to fix the damage Felix did at the start of book 1. I'm finding this one a bit more teenaged than the first, as people misinterpret something someone says and then sulk for a hundred pages, but I still enjoy the richness and depth of the world. The third and fourth books don't seem to be available in the UK - I thought I'd wait until I'd finished book 2 before contacting the publisher in case books 1 and 2 shouldn't be available - but as I understand it this one does complete the first story. I should finish this in a couple of days, and then I'll be able to get back to the Honorverse and finish Crown of Slaves.

10-31-2014, 12:39 PM	#21075
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	Thanks all - glad that's sorted. I now have Rivers of London lined up as my next read, after I finish my guilty pleasure of #3 in the YA zombie series by Charlie Higson, called The Fear. Somehow I managed to skip this one in the series and moved on to #4, so I'm addressing the issue before going on to #5, The Fallen.