Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1410

Hampshire Nanny · 11-13-2014, 12:24 PM

I recently finished reading two 5-star books. First was Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Marketed as a book for mid-grades (grade 5-8, ages 10-14), it's totally enjoyable by adults. Second was As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, the seventh book in Alan Bradley's mystery series starring Flavia de Luce. Interestingly, the protagonist is about 10-12 years old when the series begins, but these are written for adults, not kids.

pdurrant · 11-13-2014, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures edited by Mike Ashley. I picked this up last December for £0.99. So far, it's very good indeed.

And very good it remained, with only one minor exception (I dislike science fiction intruding in an otherwise non-science fiction collection). But an excellent and well organised collection of new stories.

Next up: Infinity Blade: Awakening by Brandon Sanderson

Fbone · 11-13-2014, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, a steampunk, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves.

I really liked the world the author invented. Cities eating other cities. What is more cooler than that? However, I didn't care for the main protagonist, Tom. He wasn't fleshed out enough. Perhaps, he was edited to keep the page count down. Also, thought Hester was too flawed ... literally. How ugly can one girl become? Story contained several interesting characters that kept me in the book. A few illustrations would have been helpful as I had difficulty picturing a few things. Warning: No happy endings. Rated C [3 stars].

Next is a library book Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler. So far it's not working for me but I'll give it a little more time.

Hampshire Nanny · 11-13-2014, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, a steampunk, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves.

I've heard good things about this book. Adding it to a wishlist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next is a library book Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler. So far it's not working for me but I'll give it a little more time.

It's a slow start. I have notes from 2011 where I commented that it was an interesting book but it wasn't a "grabber". "I began to feel a bit guilty that I kept setting aside Full Dark House while I read other books, so as we were driving from Lancaster to Las Vegas, I pulled out Full Dark House and lost myself in London during the time of the Blitz in WWII." If you can keep with it, I think you may find that it's a very enjoyable book.

Fbone · 11-13-2014, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

It's a slow start. I have notes from 2011 where I commented that it was an interesting book but it wasn't a "grabber". "I began to feel a bit guilty that I kept setting aside Full Dark House while I read other books, so as we were driving from Lancaster to Las Vegas, I pulled out Full Dark House and lost myself in London during the time of the Blitz in WWII." If you can keep with it, I think you may find that it's a very enjoyable book.

Thanks, I'll give it the 50-page-treatment before deciding.

There are several sequels to Mortal Engines but I don't think I'll continue.

Hampshire Nanny · 11-13-2014, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Thanks, I'll give it the 50-page-treatment before deciding.

I'm pretty sure it took me more than that. Unless I'm really hating a book, I tend to give it 100 pages or more. (For example, Tom Clancy's books always seem to drag to me until about page 150 or so. He's spending so much time building all the background threads that it takes a while for me to get engaged.) Right now I'm reading an ARC of The Oblate's Confession by William Peak. I was sort of enjoying it, but wasn't feeling compelled to read it, and happily set it aside a couple of times to quickly read a high-interest book. Yesterday, I realized that the date when I need to post my review was coming up really quickly and I needed to buckle down and finish reading. Sometime last night I realized I was really caught up in the story -- and the Kindle was telling me that I was at 48% into the book.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

There are several sequels to Mortal Engines but I don't think I'll continue.

Any particular reason why you won't be reading more in the series?

Fbone · 11-14-2014, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'm pretty sure it took me more than that. Unless I'm really hating a book, I tend to give it 100 pages or more. (For example, Tom Clancy's books always seem to drag to me until about page 150 or so. He's spending so much time building all the background threads that it takes a while for me to get engaged.) Right now I'm reading an ARC of The Oblate's Confession by William Peak. I was sort of enjoying it, but wasn't feeling compelled to read it, and happily set it aside a couple of times to quickly read a high-interest book. Yesterday, I realized that the date when I need to post my review was coming up really quickly and I needed to buckle down and finish reading. Sometime last night I realized I was really caught up in the story -- and the Kindle was telling me that I was at 48% into the book. Any particular reason why you won't be reading more in the series?

I didn't enjoy the main characters enough to continue with the series.

After 50 pages or so if the book doesn't hook me in then I must abandon it. I have over 25 years of reading material in my TBR list so I can be very choosy if I so wish. Of course, this doesn't mean you won't enjoy Mortal Engines.

alansplace · 11-14-2014, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

The Alarming Clock was, as always for the Ed Noon books, an excellent reading experience. Next I'll be reading my freebie for November in the:

program, Ticker [Kindle Edition] by Lisa Mantchev, a fantasy concerning the adventures of Penny Farthing who, despite having a brass timepiece for a ticker, manages to lead a very active life. I'm really looking forward to this one.

I've read 3 of the 4 books in the Steampunk series, Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding. Lisa Mantchev is only the 2nd author that I've read who writes in the genre, Steampunk. Ticker was Steampunk but a lot different than the world of the Ketty Jay! It was fast-paced and exciting like that other world. The characters were likeable and interesting. It was overall, a quite enjoyable read.

Now I'm going back to an old favorite (not Steampunk) author, Patricia Briggs and her collected Mercy Thompson short stories, Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson.

bfisher · 11-14-2014, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

Number 5, Foxglove Summer, is available 11/13/2014 from Amazon UK. It will not be available until January 6, 2015 from Amazon USA.
Apache

Thanks for the info. Same release date in Canada as the US.

"His latest case involves the disappearance of children in the small _village_ of Herefordshire"
Who writes these blurbs? I guess that's why we need to have publishers mediating books for us, instead of some self-published slop.

chookie2 · 11-14-2014, 04:35 PM

Just completed Kate Forsyth's Dragonclaw, 1st in the Witches of Eileanan series. A good f,irst read, looking forward to tracking down the rest of the series over the weekend. Finished Evermor.e by Alyson Noel this week so will go on to book 2 of hers next......hope it holds me better than Evermore did, finished with enough interest to go for Blue Moon....but just, have the next two Shadowland and Dark Flame, as print books and ebooks so will probably stick until finished unless is slows too much. Only one more Repairman Jack to go now, am going to miss him.all in have read eight books this week..greedy huh?

Fbone · 11-14-2014, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next is a library book Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler. So far it's not working for me but I'll give it a little more time.

Read some more but still no attraction. Put on hold and returned to library.

Started another library book The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I enjoyed his book A Monster Calls and thought I'd go for TKONLG even with its 1000 pages. However, I'm not fond of his intentional misspellings (tho, yer, creacher) and was later warned "the book contains murder, misogyny, gore, violence against children, children doing brutal things and foul language." Put on hold and returned to library.

Now for something I bought (95 cents). Wilt by the recent departed Tom Sharpe.

MickeyC · 11-15-2014, 12:18 AM

Just finished Deadline by John Sandford and it was a great Virgil Flowers read.

Dazrin · 11-15-2014, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

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.

Excellent book if a bit on the long side. I still think it could have been trimmed some, but it was a great journey. Lots of different things going on in it. I am somewhat glad that it is a stand-alone book although I would like to return to that universe as some point.

This was my 66th book of the year and I crossed over my 24,000 page goal for the year, yay! I also happened to cross the 100,000 page mark since I got my Kindle and started keeping track.

Next up is either Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman or Harry Hole #1, The Bat, by Jo Nesbø for the book club. Both have become available recently at my library. The Bat actually arrived about 3 minutes after I finished Great North Road. Weird timing.

pdurrant · 11-15-2014, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Infinity Blade: Awakening by Brandon Sanderson

Followed quickly by Infinity Blade: Redemption.

They were interesting, quick reads, but limited by the fact that they are Video Game tie-ins, so although Sanderson did interesting things, the basic ideas weren't as well though out as in his own works.

Next up: Another recent (August 2014) purchase, Genus Homo by L. Sprague de Camp.

HarryT · 11-15-2014, 05:37 AM

Just finished "Sleeping Murder" by Agatha Christie, originally published posthumously in 1976. Like the final Poirot novel, "Curtain", Christie wrote the final Miss Marple novel in the 1940s, and put it away in a bank vault to be published after her death.

Newly-wed Gwenda Reed travels to England and buys a house which strongly appeals to her. She starts remembering all sorts of things about the house, and eventually discovers that it was the house in which she lived with her father and step-mother as a very young child. One day, while attending the theatre, she has a terrifying vision of a woman being strangled in the hallway of the house, while she watches from above. Is this a real memory, or just a nightmare? She turns to Miss Marple for help...

An absolutely excellent book. Thoroughly recommended.

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11-13-2014, 12:24 PM	#21136
Hampshire Nanny Guru Posts: 615 Karma: 8064562 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3 KB, iPad2	I recently finished reading two 5-star books. First was *Nightmares!* by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Marketed as a book for mid-grades (grade 5-8, ages 10-14), it's totally enjoyable by adults. Second was *As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust*, the seventh book in Alan Bradley's mystery series starring Flavia de Luce. Interestingly, the protagonist is about 10-12 years old when the series begins, but these are written for adults, not kids.

11-14-2014, 04:35 PM	#21145
chookie2 Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 648694 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: ipad mc7 16gig	Just completed Kate Forsyth's Dragonclaw, 1st in the Witches of Eileanan series. A good f,irst read, looking forward to tracking down the rest of the series over the weekend. Finished Evermor.e by Alyson Noel this week so will go on to book 2 of hers next......hope it holds me better than Evermore did, finished with enough interest to go for Blue Moon....but just, have the next two Shadowland and Dark Flame, as print books and ebooks so will probably stick until finished unless is slows too much. Only one more Repairman Jack to go now, am going to miss him.all in have read eight books this week..greedy huh?

11-15-2014, 12:18 AM	#21147
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Just finished *Deadline* by John Sandford and it was a great Virgil Flowers read.

11-15-2014, 05:37 AM	#21150
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Just finished "Sleeping Murder" by Agatha Christie, originally published posthumously in 1976. Like the final Poirot novel, "Curtain", Christie wrote the final Miss Marple novel in the 1940s, and put it away in a bank vault to be published after her death. Newly-wed Gwenda Reed travels to England and buys a house which strongly appeals to her. She starts remembering all sorts of things about the house, and eventually discovers that it was the house in which she lived with her father and step-mother as a very young child. One day, while attending the theatre, she has a terrifying vision of a woman being strangled in the hallway of the house, while she watches from above. Is this a real memory, or just a nightmare? She turns to Miss Marple for help... An absolutely excellent book. Thoroughly recommended.