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

[Dngrsone]

Done with Rules of Engagement, now reading Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons form a Writing Life by Terry Brooks.

[Luffy]

Okay thanks for the recommendation. These days I don't post much, but I check the boards everyday.

[AndrewMowere]

Hello! This may be my first contribution here, glad to see everyone!
I am currently reading "The black company" and enjoying its grit.

Will probably start with multiracial monsters #1 next, my first romance after "the invisible ring." That book had too much erotica for this reader but I liked Daemon Sadi's life views.

[HarryT]

Just finished "The Fashion in Shrouds", by Margery Allingham. This is the 10th book in the "Campion" series, and was originally published in 1938. Campion gets involved in the world of fashion to try to solve the mystery of the mysterious disappearance of the husband of a famous actress. An extremely enjoyable book, as is all this series, but I was somewhat startled by some of the dialogue.

When his sister, Val, thinks she's lost the man she loved, Campion says:

'Oh,', said Mr Campion furiously, 'this is damned silly introspective rot. What you need, my girl, is a good cry or a nice rape - either, I should think.'

Val's laughter was spiteful.

'There's a section of your generation who talks about rape as a cure for all ills, like old Aunt Beth used to talk about flannel next to the skin,' she said witheringly. 'This mania for sex-to-do-you-good is idiotic.'

A somewhat surprising piece of advice to give any woman, that she should get herself raped to take her mind off her love problems!

Surprising dialogue apart, an excellent book.

I should add a warning that one of the characters in the book is a British Consul in an (imaginary) African country, and uses language that would be considered extremely offensive today to describe the inhabitants of that country, so best to treat the book as a product of its time.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

It feels like that quote will become permanent.

...

Next up in my wait for Judas Unchained is The Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler, the first published Dirk Pitt book.

Fairly fast paced book and not too bad although it certainly has aged a bit. This is my second Cussler book and I have been underwhelmed with both. I am probably not the right age group for these, I suspect they would appeal more to a YA reader or someone reading for nostalgia.

I listened to The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry last week and enjoyed it a lot. Very dry humor. It is normally listed as fantasy but don't expect fireballs and dragons. There is a much more subtle form of magic in the book and you really don't even begin to understand it or even realize it is there until after the midpoint of the book. It feels more like a noir mystery / detective novel than a fantasy novel.

I am currently reading Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg which is ok but won't make my favorites list.

Yes, I am still waiting for Judas Unchained.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Guardian by Jack Campbell. Third in his Beyond the Frontier series.

Which was most enjoyable. I do like his aliens.

Then I read The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer, A splendid romance.

Now onto Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

[ATDrake]

I had a batch of books to return to the library which, of course, was when I finally got around to reading them:

Girl Comics was a TPB of the eponymous Marvel Comics miniseries (the most recent one, since apparently they're reusing the name of one of their vintage 60s era romance comics), featuring their female superheroines and villainesses in stories written and illustrated by female artists.

It was mostly fairly cute, humorous stuff centred around the most popular heroes, but a few more obscure characters also got a spotlight, as did several of Marvel's female creators through the ages, such as Louise Simonson and Marie Severin, and others who got text-spotlight pages about their historical contributions to the company. On a more personally interesting level, there was a page on Tarpé Mills (Wikipedia), whom I don't know at all first-hand, but only from the updated revival of her 1940s-era creation, Miss Fury, whose newer adventures I picked up in those assorted Dynamite Comics bundles. And here I'd thought she was a modern retro-period creation.

Anyway, medium recommend if you're in the mood for a touch of superheroine fun with a dose of comics industry history. This was a pleasantly light-hearted and not overly fluffy read with some nifty stories and art by creators including Colleen Coover, whose work I've liked since her X-Men: First Class backup strips, and if this TPB should show up in the sale/discount bin at the local comicbook shop at some point, I'd be happy to pick it up.

Dexter Down Under by Jeff Lindsay with art by Dalibor Tajalic. This is apparently an out-of-continuity original graphic novel published by Marvel Comics that was meant to tie into the TV show and not the novel series which it adapts. I was wondering about that, since the story didn't seem to fit into either the TV-verse or the book-verse (which is very different, since they noticeably forked off sometime around Season 2-ish and went their own ways).

In any case, this was a standalone story about Dexter going on an Australian adventure as he's called in for his expertise to help the locals track down a serial killer who's been preying on immigrants. This ends up being a part-pastiche of The Most Dangerous Game (weirdly enough, I've kind of read at least 3 of them within the past month).

Mild recommend if you like pastiches of The Most Dangerous Game or the Dexter franchise enough to look up not-particularly-connected associated tie-in work that is at least written by the original author. It was an okay, but not particularly original or compellingly-told story, and worth a curiosity library read.

From the Fast Reads shelf, finished Jo Nesbø's recent crime novel, Blood on Snow, which were apparently originally written by him under a pseudonym, and which was indeed a fast read. This was advertised as a standalone on the cover blurb, but Wikipedia tells me that it's now been turned into the Olav Johansen series, with a few more installments yet to come, as well as a potential film adaptation. That does clear up some confusion I had about a few character fates in the ending, which I read as being of ambiguous and not particularly optimistic outcome.

The setup of this is of a uncommitted "fell into it for a lack of anything better to do and also an unpromising childhood upbringing" career hitman who one day takes what he thinks is a job for the wrong hit for particular reasons, which turns out to be a wrong hit for entirely different reasons. I'd say that Hilarity Ensues, but actually, it doesn't. The relatively short tale and uncomplicated first person narrative of this makes it seem like a simpler-feeling style of novel than his Harry Hole series or his Headhunters standalone, but it still tries with some twists and surprise revelations which Change Everything In Retrospect, or at least try to.

There were some interesting allusions to Les Misérables and some meta regarding the rewriting of stories within one's mind to get a story which feels truer to what one wants to see than what one actually gets, and how that trips up the narrator of the novel into missing certain things about this particular hit. But overall, this felt a bit too light and insubstantial compared to most of my previous Nesbø reads, although I will say that even with the pared down and simplified style which I'm not entirely sure I like, it is considerably more interesting than The Son, which was pretty much a flop for me (but then, overt Christ allegories don't really do it for me, even in Nordic crime novels).

Very mild recommend if you're curious as to what Nesbø's non-Harry Hole work looks like. The story is reasonably coherent and has a few interesting introspective moments, but is not particularly engaging, IMHO. Unless you really, really like ambiguously maybe-redeemable hitmen suffering crises of conscience which may or may not end survivably. That said, I am curious enough to have a look at whatever sequels come out, especially as to how they'll treat some apparent developments for the main character which I'd consider unexpected considering the apparent end of the 1st novel, but from the library again.

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by KyBunnies

On to Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed by Anna Campbell

I am thinking about what to start in audio. I can't decide what I want to listen to while I crochet a few things for Christmas gifts.

Finished Seven Nights was the average historical romance. A little predictable in places and near the end I felt the plot had been used before and the author just changed a few worlds. It could be a book I have read in the past and not remember.

Now on to Tame A Summer Heart by Cynthia Woolf

I still have not decided what I want to listen to on audio. I prefer mysteries when listening. Open to suggestions.

Oh and while I am thinking about it Merry Christmas!

[astrangerhere]

Just finished Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora . I did not feel like it quite lived up to the hype it got. Its also possible I just didn't like the characters.

Now I've moved on to Keigo Higashino's Malice: A Mystery, which was actually on the top of my January TBR pile. I really enjoyed his title Salvation of a Saint earlier this year.

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by KyBunnies

Now on to Tame A Summer Heart by Cynthia Woolf

I still have not decided what I want to listen to on audio. I prefer mysteries when listening. Open to suggestions.

Oh and while I am thinking about it Merry Christmas!

Well that was about a 15-20 minute read. I did not know it was a novella when starting. Well it was about 9 thousand words if you can call that a novella. To short and things seemed rushed.

Was going to read Nellie by Cynthia Woolf
but this is a book I have read in the past. After getting to chapter 4 I realized I have already read this. I do not know why I still have it on my Kindle.

Moving on to Madeleine's Christmas Wish by Ella Quinn

[Rumpelteazer]

I finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins last night. Although it seems a lot of people really liked it I just thought it was merely okay. My main problem with this book was the main character. I just couldn't like her or hate her. I was just annoyed by her and her choices. I saw it's often compared to Gone Girl, but in my opinion they are two very different books.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I am currently reading Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg which is ok but won't make my favorites list.

I could see this appealing to some readers but it wasn't my favorite. It is another example of how the Hugo's haven't changed to picking more literary works in recent years but have always chosen some.

Next up is Pitching in a Pinch by Christy Mathewson which is one of the options for the January book club.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now onto Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

Which was excellent. The 'first' of the prequels - that it, the first book that he set before the first of the Sharpe books, but written before the five other prequels that come (in internal chronology) before it.


Next up: Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell

The last of the prequels. clearly written after the other prequels, since it refers to specific earlier events that were only hazily alluded to in "Sharpe's Rifles", and that will probably not get a mention at all in the next novel, (Sharpe's Eagle) which was the first to be published.

Despite this, I think that internal chronological order is definitely the right way to read this series.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now onto Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was excellent. The 'first' of the prequels - that it, the first book that he set before the first of the Sharpe books, but written before the five other prequels that come (in internal chronology) before it.


Next up: Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

The last of the prequels. clearly written after the other prequels, since it refers to specific earlier events that were only hazily alluded to in "Sharpe's Rifles", and that will probably not get a mention at all in the next novel, which was the first to be written.

Despite this, I think that internal chronological order is definitely the right way to read this series.

Do you mean Sharpe's Gold?
Apache

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Apache

Do you mean Sharpe's Gold?
Apache

Ah - no. Sharpe's Havoc is the one I'm reading now. I'll edit my post.

Sharpe's Eagle was the first to be published, although now commonly listed as the 8th book in the series.