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

[Rev. Bob]

Finished The Martian, and it was just what I'd hoped it would be. The movie was good, and the book is bigger and deeper, providing its own rewards. I highly recommend both.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Finished The Martian, and it was just what I'd hoped it would be. The movie was good, and the book is bigger and deeper, providing its own rewards. I highly recommend both.

I concur. Just watched the movie on DVD just the other night. My wife and son and myself have all read the book previously, so it was an interesting exercise for the son to learn how different a book and a film can be even with the same content.

I am about to delve into a biography. or a silly fantasy... not sure which right now, and the biography is again one of those with a long title which makes my fingers ache just thinking about typing. (I am being only slightly facetious).

[CRussel]

Finished a couple since the last post, but most recently, Patricia Wentworth's The Clock Strikes Twelve, #7 in the Miss Silver series of English Cozies. This is a classic English mystery where all depends on who was where when. And like all Miss Silver mysteries, it's really as much about the people and their interactions. These really are delightful little cozy mysteries, and available very cheaply if you don't live in a Life+50 country, or for free if you do, since they are PD in Life+50 countries such as Canada.

Next up, something completely different -- the latest Vorkosigan Saga book, Gentlerman Jole and the Red Queen, from Lois McMaster Bujold. This one covers the changes on Sergyar following Aral's death, with Cordelia continuing as Vicereine. But life goes in unexpected ways.

I'm about 2/3rds through this book, and enjoying it a lot. It's not at all like those early Mad Miles books, but Ms. Bujold is a master of her craft, and a witty writer who has kept my interest throughout. Highly recommended.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished a couple since the last post, but most recently, Patricia Wentworth's The Clock Strikes Twelve, #7 in the Miss Silver series of English Cozies. This is a classic English mystery where all depends on who was where when. And like all Miss Silver mysteries, it's really as much about the people and their interactions. These really are delightful little cozy mysteries, and available very cheaply if you don't live in a Life+50 country,

Can you elaborate on where they're available very cheaply, please? Most cost £5.99 at Amazon UK, which is somewhat over US$9. That doesn't strike me as being particularly cheap.

Thanks,

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

One thing I did not expect in watching the movie was how moved I was by the use of one specific song as the Hermes approaches Earth:

David Bowie's "Starman."

This forum REALLY needs a "like" button!

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "Conrad's Time Machine", by Leo Frankowski, bought from Baen in 2002. A very enjoyable story exploring the logical consequences that possession of a functional time machine could bring about. Recommended.

The only mystery to me is the title. There's nobody called "Conrad" in the book, and it's never explained why the book is called "Conrad's Time Machine" . The name never appears in the book itself. Anyone know why it's called this?

Conrad's Time Machine is a prequel to The Cross-Time Engineer, who's name is Conrad Stargard.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/leo-a-frankowski/
Apache

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Apache

Conrad's Time Machine is a prequel to The Cross-Time Engineer, who's name is Conrad Stargard.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/leo-a-frankowski/
Apache

Thanks. It would have been helpful if the book had actually explained this somewhere .

[Apache]

Yes it would have. I only know because I read the books in paper kin publication order a long time ago.
Apache

[bfisher]

I just finished 1635: A Parcel of Rogues

I've been waiting since 1634: The Baltic War (almost 9 years in real time for me) to catch up with Oliver Cromwell. I enjoyed it, but will I have to wait another 8 or 9 years for the next update 1636:Whatever ?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I just finished 1635: A Parcel of Rogues

I've been waiting since 1634: The Baltic War (almost 9 years in real time for me) to catch up with Oliver Cromwell. I enjoyed it, but will I have to wait another 8 or 9 years for the next update 1636:Whatever ?

Me too and I hope not.
Apache

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Can you elaborate on where they're available very cheaply, please? Most cost £5.99 at Amazon UK, which is somewhat over US$9. That doesn't strike me as being particularly cheap.

Thanks,

Amazon US has most of them at $6.15 including The Clock Strikes Twelve. Also, if I remember correctly, they were on Kindle Unlimited, though they aren't currently. I consider $6 a reasonable price for a book. Of course, living in Canada, I have taken advantage of our more rational copyright laws to acquire them for free.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I just finished 1635: A Parcel of Rogues

I've been waiting since 1634: The Baltic War (almost 9 years in real time for me) to catch up with Oliver Cromwell. I enjoyed it, but will I have to wait another 8 or 9 years for the next update 1636:Whatever ?

Originally Posted by Apache

Me too and I hope not.
Apache

Agreed. I sincerely hope not. Haven't finished it yet (got sidelined), but am currently reading.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The John Grimes series by A. Bertram Chandler. I bought these from Baen back in 2007, but I lost track of how far through them I read. So I'll be starting at the first one, and moving on to the next quickly once I remember reading it, until I hit one that I don't remember.

Well, I've definitely read the first two before, but I didn't remember the plots at all.

The Road to the Rim by A. Bertram Chandler
To Prime the Pump by A. Bertram Chandler

The first introduces us the John Grimes, and sets up the overall situation o the series. The second is an interesting little 'what if' story, although the planet as described couldn't exist in the universe described in the first story.

But enjoyable, quick reads. I shall continue with some more shortly.


But now I'm reading Ventus by Karl Schroeder. A freebie I got back in 2007, but, so far, well worth reading.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Amazon US has most of them at $6.15 including The Clock Strikes Twelve. Also, if I remember correctly, they were on Kindle Unlimited, though they aren't currently. I consider $6 a reasonable price for a book. Of course, living in Canada, I have taken advantage of our more rational copyright laws to acquire them for free.

A reasonable price, certainly, but I wouldn't personally consider it to be "very cheap"; more "mid range". Obviously, though, everyone's price points vary when it comes to these things!

[samhy]

I just finished a book well-known to many here, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
It was a really nice way to start this new reading year