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

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Sadly, none of Russell's other books ever lived up to my enjoyment of this trilogy. Not sure why, as they're all pretty much the same in tone, character, setting, etc...

I've heard that from others. It's a big part of the reason I've never even attempted any of his other works.

[Ravensknight]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I've been meaning to read McKillip for a long time. I think I'd rather start with something older though.

I'd recommend "The Tower at Stony Wood" or "The Book of Atrix Wolfe" as start offs. If you don't like them, you probably won't like the rest of her stuff. If you want a more traditional "story" from her, try her Cygnet duology.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Still undecided. I started a Temeraire book, but I'm not sure I care enough any more. Might have to find something else.

Well, that was definitely a "why bother". I quite 25% into it. I think I'm done with this series. Just not working for me any more.

So, looking for something to read in the pool, I went with the next up in Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series. I've read them all in eBook or DT format, and some of the audio versions, but I'm working my way back through them as audio books, narrated by Marguerite Gavin. These are perfect for the pool, though what I really want there is for this Kickstarter project to get funded. That will give me my Audible app while I'm swimming and I can stay synced across devices.

Now reading The Novel Habits of Happiness, an Isabel Dalhousie novel from Alexander McCall Smith. Not quite sure why I like these so much, but somehow they work for me. In a quiet kind of way.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That's what I'm doing with it. When I finish Queen Lucia on my Kindle I'll listen to the audiobook so I'll be fully prepped for the MobileRead Book Club discussion.

Do what I am doing. It will save time and be more enjoyable. I'm reading along with the audiobook. It will save you the time it takes to read the book. Besides, in this case, it's more enjoyable to listen to the audiobook than to just read.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Cecelia and Kate Novels by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Syevermer

I've finished the first book in this omnibus, Sorcery and Cecelia, and I must say I'm very pleased with it indeed. I woudl never have expected to give a 5/5 to a novel told in a series of letters, but it is excellent.

I've expanded the omnibus into the three separate books to record accurately.

Straight on to the second, The Grand Tour.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've finished the first book in this omnibus, Sorcery and Cecelia, and I must say I'm very pleased with it indeed. I woudl never have expected to give a 5/5 to a novel told in a series of letters, but it is excellent.

Lots of excellent "epistolary novels" around, of course, the most successful of which is perhaps Bran's Stoker's "Dracula".

[Ravensknight]

Spiderman 2099 #1-3
Peter David, et al
3 Stars

Time to get my Comic Groove on!

[Rev. Bob]

For some time now, I've kept a good-sized graphic novel or two on my iPad. This is for those times when I don't bring my Kobo with me for some reason, but there's some possibility that I'll get stuck waiting for some reason and need reading material.

For the past few months, that's been Elseworlds: Batman, Volume 1. As a big collection (500+ pages) of multiple very different stories, it was practically tailor-made for the purpose. However, it has now been retired; I finished it on Friday while waiting for roadside assistance. I tossed a coin between Batman: Black & White and the final volume of the Spider-Man "Clone Saga" as the next book in the hole, and Spidey won out. Here again, it's a big volume of mostly-unconnected stories, save for the basic "Ben Reilly is Spider-Man, Mary Jane's having a kid with Peter Parker, and they all still think Pete's the clone" continuity thread.

The Batman Elseworlds compilation scored a solid three stars from me. I like alternate takes, and I like Batman stories, but some of these just didn't really click for me. I'm especially not a fan of the device where the story uses fancy lettering in an attempt to set atmosphere, but instead merely renders the words hard to read... and there were several of those in here.

So far, the Spidey collection also appears to be headed for three stars. There's not much happening with the big arc so far, and the individual stories are serviceable but forgettable. That's not really anybody's fault - on the contrary, that's how a collection of half a dozen monthly titles should go - but it does induce a certain "will you get ON with it already?" weariness as the eleventh 450-page volume in a series. Four thousand pages in, one begins to yearn for resolution...

On the prose side, I'm still chugging along with the Big Sigma books, being halfway through the third novel. After that, I've got my choice of several different books crying out to be next, not the least of which is a two-book series I just picked up about a superhero whose power is manipulating dairy products. I imagine it'll get pretty cheesy.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

Now I'll go back to fiction again, so I've decided to take The Dead Stay Dumb by James Hadley Chase published in 1939.

Finished The Dead Stay Dumb by James Hadley Chase . The author should be credited to have depicted a real bad character in the novel who certainly has no morals at all. This however has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now I'll proceed with The Bethlehem Scroll, book 1 of the Brian Sadler Archaeological Mystery Series containing four books, which I bought yesterday. This will be my first read from the author, Bill Thompson.

[Dngrsone]

Finished Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. I liked this book quite a bit-- it is a well-written memoir, but interspersed with very interesting facts about the way plants and trees live that I had never heard about.

... and as a result, the author has inspired me to read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, which is queued up in my tablet.

[JSWolf]

I've finished Star Trek: DS9: The Long Mirage by David R. George III. It was enjoyable.

Now onto Ruler of Beasts by Danielle Paige.

When the Cowardly Lion set off for the Emerald City in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Dorothy and the others, he sought courage above all else. This is the Lion’s story after he got what he’s always wanted.

The Lion’s wish has finally come true—he is the courageous ruler of the forest and all of its beasts. But the Lion is bored—he misses the days of his adventures with Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, and the Scarecrow. When Glinda the Good Witch shows up unexpectedly and tasks him with a mission back in the Emerald City, he jumps at the chance to do something exciting, even though he knows she’s not telling him the entire truth.

[kansaskyle]

I finished J.R.R. Tolkien's Tales from the Perilous Realms, and gave it three stars. I'm not big on poetry or short stories.

I started Michael Crichton's Rising Sun, which I'm enjoying. It is a fast-paced detective story set in LA with a strong Japanese culture influence.

[CRussel]

Currently reading In This Grave Hour, the new Maise Dobbs book from Jacqueline Winspear, and quite enjoying it. Also reading Stiff, by Mary Roach, and that's been the perfect book to read while sitting in a restaurant, eating my solitary meal while I'm on the road this week. (Really - makes a great conversation starter!)

[mewmartigan]

Just finished up Brian McClellan's Powder Mage Trilogy. I thought it was quite good. Not sure what to read next....maybe I will go for Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've finished the first book in this omnibus, Sorcery and Cecelia, and I must say I'm very pleased with it indeed. I woudl never have expected to give a 5/5 to a novel told in a series of letters, but it is excellent.

I've expanded the omnibus into the three separate books to record accurately.

Straight on to the second, The Grand Tour.

Which was a most enjoyable fantasy adventure, carrying on from the previous volume, but with a different plot. I'm going to save the third novel for later, now that I've decided to record the omnibus as separate volumes.

Next up: The Snake, the Dog and the Crocodile by Elizabeth Peters. The seventh in her excellent Amelia Peabody series.