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

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I just read it. It was just barely OK - now that I've learned to skim over the meetings.

I love the Honor Harrington series and don't mind the "meetings/infodumps" because I like the characters and universe.

I only made it through book 3 of Safehold. The characters/concept just didn't do it for me and that made the infodumps harder to get through.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Cocaine Blues", by Kerry Greenwood, which is the first book in the "Phryne Fisher" detective series. I found this to be mediocre at best, with (for me) far too much time devoted to minute and pointless descriptions of what people were wearing. I also found the behaviour of the protagonist to be unrealistic - casual sex is more the attitude of a 21st century young woman than one of the 1920s. Perhaps the book would appeal more to a female reader, but it's not my cup of tea at all. Disappointing.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Three books completed in the last few days:

"Chicks 'n Chained Males", edited by Esther Friesner. Compilation of fantasy stories involving women. Very enjoyable. Bought from Baen in 2002.

I have her first collection, Chicks in Chain Mail in paperback from circa 1996... I know there's been a lot of followup collections, but I haven't followed. Which volume is this in the series?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I have her first collection, Chicks in Chain Mail in paperback from circa 1996... I know there's been a lot of followup collections, but I haven't followed. Which volume is this in the series?

Number 3, I believe.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Cocaine Blues", by Kerry Greenwood, which is the first book in the "Phryne Fisher" detective series. I found this to be mediocre at best, with (for me) far too much time devoted to minute and pointless descriptions of what people were wearing. I also found the behaviour of the protagonist to be unrealistic - casual sex is more the attitude of a 21st century young woman than one of the 1920s. Perhaps the book would appeal more to a female reader, but it's not my cup of tea at all. Disappointing.

I enjoyed that one, perhaps the more for the unconventional attitude toward the social mores of the times displayed by the antagonist. And from the fact that this tale was situated within a time that came to be known as "the roaring twenties", I doubt she was the only young woman of the period who felt a bit more sexually liberated than did her female forebears.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I enjoyed that one, perhaps the more for the unconventional attitude toward the social mores of the times displayed by the antagonist. And from the fact that this tale was situated within a time that came to be known as "the roaring twenties", I doubt she was the only young woman of the period who felt a bit more sexually liberated than did her female forebears.

America's first sexual revolution.

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern

[BenG]

I recently read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, a great book with a lot of heart. The ladies of Cranford could sometimes be a bit silly, but you love them anyway.

I also finished The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean.
The history, science, trivia, and anecdotes behind each element of the periodic table. It held my interest throughout.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

And, I'm reading The Aeronaut's Windlass, first book in the new Cinder Spires series by Jim Butcher. Very good so far & I'm about 1/2 way in.

Finished reading in the wee hours this morning. I enjoyed it very much, though I kind of object to the "steampunk" attribute I saw in early reviews. I think Butcher has held too much back about the world. I have a lot of unanswered questions.

Spoiler:

What's the deal with wood? Why is there so much of it in Habble Landing and not elsewhere? Why the spires? When were they built? What happened to make the surface so dangerous?

Loved the POV of the cats. Liked the various characters, particularly the etherialists. All in all, a good book and I'm sad I have to wait so long for the next book. What surprises me, though is the number of negative reviews at Goodreads.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished reading Paula McLain's fictionalized biography of Beryl Markham, Circling the Sun. This was a combined eBook and Audible read, with the Audible version read well by Katharine McEwan.

Over the years, I've read a lot about British East Africa and especially Beryl Markham, with my interest really getting started by the absolutely superb narration of West with the Night done by Donna Peters (real name Wanda McCaddon) that Books on Tape had back in the early '90s. I approached Circling the Sun with a certain amount of skepticism, but ultimately it worked for me and was a solid 4 stars. The narrative stays true to the known facts, and fills in the blanks in a completely believable way. Is it truth? Well, no, probably not. But likely as close as we're going to get without Beryl around to correct us. My one complaint about the book is that there is just too little about the flying. But none the less, definitely recommended, and will no doubt get me to read The Paris Wife, her earlier book about Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife.

Next up, a quickie -- Welcome Home/Go Away, a Kris Longknife short by Mike Shephard. A fun and light bit of fluff.

Followed that up with I, Lucifer, the third of the Modesty Blaise books by Peter O'Donnell. Fast paced, and quite enjoyable. It's really too bad these have not ever been made available as eBooks -- I'd snap them up in a heartbeat.

Next was the first 3/4 of Come the Revolution by Frank Chadwick. I really shouldn't have read this, now it has me unhappily waiting for the rest of it. I'm seriously considering spending $15 for the eArc so that I don't have to wait the 22 days until the final eBook is ready. ARRRRGGGGGHHHH.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Followed that up with I, Lucifer, the third of the Modesty Blaise books by Peter O'Donnell. Fast paced, and quite enjoyable. It's really too bad these have not ever been made available as eBooks -- I'd snap them up in a heartbeat.

Next was the first 3/4 of Come the Revolution by Frank Chadwick. I really shouldn't have read this, now it has me unhappily waiting for the rest of it. I'm seriously considering spending $15 for the eArc so that I don't have to wait the 22 days until the final eBook is ready. ARRRRGGGGGHHHH.

And just finished Mr. Churchill's Secretary, the first of the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia Macneal. This is an historical mystery set at the beginning of WWII. The first couple of chapters I kept thinking I was going to abandon it, but I didn't, and then I got totally caught up in it. I could wish it was at a slightly higher reading level, and there are a couple of clankers in it where the word or expression used would not have been used by a British person of 1940. But I ultimately enjoyed it and bought the next in the series.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by CRussel

And just finished Mr. Churchill's Secretary, the first of the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia Macneal. This is an historical mystery set at the beginning of WWII. The first couple of chapters I kept thinking I was going to abandon it, but I didn't, and then I got totally caught up in it. I could wish it was at a slightly higher reading level, and there are a couple of clankers in it where the word or expression used would not have been used by a British person of 1940. But I ultimately enjoyed it and bought the next in the series.

My better half read the first four and enjoyed them. I believe #5 is due out soon.

[Chaiwala]

Reading Slaughterhouse-Five right now. Such a great book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was OK. But I felt the aliens weren't alien enough.

Now (re-)reading The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters. Brother Cadfael #7

Which was a delightful quick read.

Now onto Crosstime by Andre Norton. A Baen Omnibus of The Crossroads of Time and Quest Crosstime, that I bought back in 2007.

[HarryT]

Just finished "The Warslayer" by Rosemary Edghill, which I bought from Baen in 2002. The star of a TV show called "The Incredibly True Adventures of Vixen the Slayer", a sort of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" set in Elizabethan times, is brought by magic to another world to help defeat their enemies, in the belief that she really is the character portrayed in the TV show. Hardly an original idea ("Galaxy Quest", anyone?) but well executed nonetheless, and well aware of its derivative nature, with a lot of self-referential jokes about TV. A light but amusing read. Recommended.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by CRussel

And just finished Mr. Churchill's Secretary, the first of the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia Macneal. This is an historical mystery set at the beginning of WWII. The first couple of chapters I kept thinking I was going to abandon it, but I didn't, and then I got totally caught up in it. I could wish it was at a slightly higher reading level, and there are a couple of clankers in it where the word or expression used would not have been used by a British person of 1940. But I ultimately enjoyed it and bought the next in the series.

Originally Posted by bfisher

My better half read the first four and enjoyed them. I believe #5 is due out soon.

My wife loves this series. I have the fifth book preordered for her. It is out tomorrow October 27th.
Apache