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

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Next up: Mission of Honor (Honor Harrington 12) by David Weber. It has been almost a year since I read the previous one so this sounds like fun.

Well that was interesting enough, and ended in enough of a cliff hanger, for me to start and finish the next one A Rising Thunder in 2 days. July is off to a fine start. Too bad we have to wait till November for the next main line book. I haven't read any of the Honorverse books yet though, so maybe that could tide me over...

Next up: The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy. An old favorite re-read. After that will be Something New (also called Something Fresh) for the book club.

[mackles]

Currently reading the Kite Runner, brilliant so far.

[orlok]

Just started My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. It's my selection for a 20th Century classic challenge category.

[Dngrsone]

I was in a bit of a bad place, and needed something fun to cheer me up, so I reread Don’t Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

ANext up: F&SF, July/August 2016 edited by C. C. Finlay

And I continue to enjoy the story selections of C C Finlay. I had been considering dropping my subscription, but no longer.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Also reading Three Faces of Asprin by Robert Asprin. Actually three of his books in an Omnibus. But since I counted it as one when I bought it, I'll count it as one when I read it!

Which I'm reading during lunchtimes at work.

But for other times I've just started Mercury's Light by Leigh Brackett. One of my few remaining pre-July 2008 unread purchases.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But for other times I've just started Mercury's Light by Leigh Brackett. One of my few remaining pre-July 2008 unread purchases.

Now abandoned. A collection of short stories supposedly set in the solar system as understood in the 1930s. I can ignore the settings not being factual - it would be possible to have set them in another solar system that matched the descriptions without a problem.

But the thrilling-wonder-story sensibility just doesn't do it for me. Also discarded six other similar volumes.

So, now reading Three Faces of Asprin by Robert Asprin

[Rev. Bob]

In what many may regard as an ill-advised move, I've been reading the infamous Spider-Man "clone saga" this week. I got a good deal on the big digital collections that cover about the first half* of the storyline, as well as the much shorter "real clone saga" collection that's a stripped-down retelling of the original concept, so I've been chugging through those.

I was kind of peripherally aware of the storyline as it was being published, and of course I've heard the horror stories of how awful it was and how it dragged on forever... but so far (middle of CCSE 4), I'm enjoying it more than I expected to. Maybe the reorganization-for-compilation process helped; it's a refreshing change from the disorganized collections of more recent Big Marvel Events that I've seen lately.

* The "Complete Epic" collections are around 480 pages each, presented in a chronological-in-story form instead of chrono-by-publication sequence. Thus, some backstory published late in the storyline kicks off Volume 1, and the individual arcs are more coherent because you're not hopping back and forth between them. At five bucks each, these six compilations - "Real" plus "Complete Clone Saga Epic 1-5" - were a pretty solid value. There are six more compilations that finish the storyline - "Complete Ben Reilly Saga Epic 1-6" - but those are still in the process of being released digitally. I'm hoping there's another sale once CBRSE 6 comes out.

[Dngrsone]

Finished Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World by Amir Alexander. Very interesting, in a sixteenth- to seventeenth-century kind of way. Inspired me to finally go and find some other mathematical history books to read.

Meanwhile, I am going to start Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome on the recommendation of Dr. Drib.

[WT Sharpe]

Just finished the absolutely hilarious Something New (AKA Something Fresh) by P.G. Wodehouse, and now it's on to The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by the always fascinating Robert Wright.

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Finished Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World by Amir Alexander. Very interesting, in a sixteenth- to seventeenth-century kind of way. Inspired me to finally go and find some other mathematical history books to read....

Very interesting because just this morning I was thinking it was a good time to get a bit more knowledge under my belt about math, so I decided to begin with a book on mathematics to brush up on my college algebra. I went with CLEP College Algebra 1 Exambusters Flash Cards which I downloaded to my iPad.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Very interesting because just this morning I was thinking it was a good time to get a bit more knowledge under my belt about math, so I decided to begin with a book on mathematics to brush up on my college algebra. I went with CLEP College Algebra 1 Exambusters Flash Cards which I downloaded to my iPad.

I never made it past Intro to Trig, myself (I think I took that course... maybe?), and learned just enough Calc for electronics; but I do wish I knew a little more.

Problem is, I love math when I am actually doing it (ie for class), but not so much when I'm not doing it (the rest of the time). I'm too lazy to pick up an actual textbook and teach myself.

... and I'd probably have to relearn algebra first...

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Just finished the absolutely hilarious Something New (AKA Something Fresh) by P.G. Wodehouse.

I'm reading that next, and looking forward to it. But first, I need to do a re-read of Master and Commander for the new Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin Book Club.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Well that was interesting enough, and ended in enough of a cliff hanger, for me to start and finish the next one A Rising Thunder in 2 days. July is off to a fine start. Too bad we have to wait till November for the next main line book. I haven't read any of the Honorverse books yet though, so maybe that could tide me over...

The offshoot trilogy that starts with "Crown of Slaves" actually catches up to the current situation in the mainline books by the end of the third book. They were a good read.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

The offshoot trilogy that starts with "Crown of Slaves" actually catches up to the current situation in the mainline books by the end of the third book. They were a good read.

Agreed, they were a good read. In fact, I thought somewhat better than Mr. Weber has been doing on his own lately. Eric Flint is a tighter writer.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

So, now reading Three Faces of Asprin by Robert Asprin

Which was an omnibus of three separate unrelated books. The first was a near-future where corporations fight wars with each other. The second was a distant past look at an alien race through one individual. The third was a far-future exploration of a mercenary fleet and its leader.

All were good, and I enjoyed reading them. I think I've read the last one before.

Next up: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. I've been meaning to read this series for some time, but never got around to it. The new book club read has prompted me to start now.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Agreed, they were a good read. In fact, I thought somewhat better than Mr. Weber has been doing on his own lately. Eric Flint is a tighter writer.

I thought Crown of Slaves was poor, myself, but the various side-stories and spin-offs tend to feed back into the main line, and as a result I'm inclined to read in publication order across all three "present-day" series, and probably the anthologies, too. I guess the storylines set in the past don't matter so much.