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

[astrangerhere]

East of West: The Apocalypse, Year Two by Jonathan Hickman [5/5]
The Iliad by Homer (translated by WHD Rouse) [4/5]

Short Stories/Articles:
"Ladies' Night: Circling the Bases on Okinawa" by Akemi Johnson
"I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking" by Jennifer Percy (nonfiction for the New York Times Magazine) - This peice about a man who learns to dive to search for his wife lost in the Tsunami is incredible.
"The Red Secretary" by Kameron Hurley

And started Neil Gaiman's American Gods, but in full dramatic audio. Reading Mary Beard's SPQR on my Kobo.

[kansaskyle]

I finished Finders Keepers (Book 2 in the Bill Hodge's Trilogy) and rated it four stars. It was a real page turner!

I started The Undergound Railroad and moved it into my Did-Not-Finish shelf on Goodreads. As someone who enjoys historical fiction, I couldn't handle all the inaccuracies -- starting with an actual underground train in the early 1800's and leading to skyscrapers, elevators, and the government 'owning' slaves in South Carolina. As a fiction novel, the author is welcome to envision the past however he pleased, but it was too jarring for me.

I moved on to A Cold Day for Murder, which is the selection for the April 2017 Mobile Read Book Club.

[ATDrake]

Finished The Swede (aka My Name is N) by Swedish author Robert Karjel, a political action thriller I got on sale for 99 cents a few days ago, 1st in his Ernst Grip series starring a Swedish security officer called to consult for the US, which I bought partly out of sheer morbid curiosity* (although it did get nods from Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and the Lambda Literary Awards).

This was reminiscent of also-Swedish author Joakim Zander's Klara Walldéen political action thrillers which I bought and enjoyed last year, which are topical ripped-from-the-headlines stuff exploring the darker side of compromises made in the current War on Terror global political climate (this one covered powers of detainment and the use of torture during investigations), but somewhat more action adventure-ish, with a less cerebral-feeling plot. There was something of a tendency to rely on surprise reveal connections and hyper-competent shadowy figures, but probably no more so than the average action thriller.

Overall, I don't regret spending my 99 cents. It was an interesting enough read and I'm mildly curious as to where the next book will go, given the uneasy power balance set up at the end, and how the main character will develop, given the decided moments of what TVTropes used to call What The Hell, Hero?! (they've probably renamed the page to something a lot less intuitive and more boring).

* I'm just going to mention that given the kerfuffle that was apparently made by Amazon reviewers complaining about this having an unexpectedly bisexual male hero in it when it was initially released in English and how that burned their tender eyes or whatever, I am disappoint that there wasn't even the obligatory spicy action thriller sex scene between the m/m characters. It was just normal old making unwise life decisions for the sake of the love interest relationship drama stuff with some suggestive hints and then fade to black.

A secondary character having f/m casual sex got a steamier love scene description. Twice. Honestly, idiot reviewers complain about the stupidest things.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A Wizard of Mars, New Millennium Edition by Diane Duane

Which was enjoyable, but little changed from the original, since the two time lines are converging.

Next up: Warleggan by Winston Graham, the fourth in his Poldark series, to catch up to where the TV series has got in the story.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

Next up, I have started Finders Keepers by Craig Childs.

Finished Finders Keepers by Craig Childs. A non fiction account of archaeology raising too many moral questions. To whom does the past belong? Is the archeologist who discovers a lost tomb a sort of hero--or a villain? If someone steals a relic from a museum and returns it to the ruin it came from, is he a thief? The author also asks the question if the professional archaeologists are part of the destruction of the early civilizations. With our storage and displays of the artifacts in museums throughout the world, are we really serving the history of these early peoples? There a huge storage facilities that a filled to the maximum with these treasurers from sites all over the world. Thousands of these items will never be studied or put on display for people to see. Is this theft as well?

A fascinating book, full of swashbuckling pothunters, FBI raids, greasy museum curators who don't really care and many, many other characters. Childs looks at moral issues from varied angles. Recommended read for the lovers of archaeology.

Now I am planning to read Private Royals by James Patterson, a crime thriller.

[HarryT]

Finished "Odds Against", by Dick Francis. A new author for me, and a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Francis was a former jockey, and all his 50+ books are crime novels set in the world of English horse racing. Not a sport I have the slightest interest in, but I really enjoyed this book. Its protagonist, Sid Halley, is a former champion jockey who is at a loose end after being forced to retire through injury. He's hired by a private detective agency as an advisor in their horse-racing cases, and gets involved in a case where a small racetrack is suffering a series of mysterious mishaps which put it at risk of takeover by a greedy property developer who wants to use the land for housing.

Excellent book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[CRussel]

They're good books, though I admit I get rather tired of waiting for the required severe violence that always happens to the protagonist to happen so that the book can continue. It's part of his formula, apparently. In spite of that, however, I read each of his books as soon as they came out.

[Strether]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "Odds Against", by Dick Francis. A new author for me, and a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Francis was a former jockey, and all his 50+ books are crime novels set in the world of English horse racing. Not a sport I have the slightest interest in, but I really enjoyed this book. Its protagonist, Sid Halley, is a former champion jockey who is at a loose end after being forced to retire through injury. He's hired by a private detective agency as an advisor in their horse-racing cases, and gets involved in a case where a small racetrack is suffering a series of mysterious mishaps which put it at risk of takeover by a greedy property developer who wants to use the land for housing.

Excellent book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

You've a lot of enjoyable reading ahead of you, Harry. If you avoid the last 4 or 5 novels, all the rest are worth reading, IMO. I've read them all many times. And unlike folks in the USA, you can get them all in ebook editions. Those by his first publisher only available in paperback here.

Jim

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Strether

You've a lot of enjoyable reading ahead of you, Harry. If you avoid the last 4 or 5 novels, all the rest are worth reading, IMO. I've read them all many times. And unlike folks in the USA, you can get them all in ebook editions. Those by his first publisher only available in paperback here.

Jim

Thanks, Jim - I look forward to reading them! Yes, I checked on Amazon UK, and they all do appear to be available as reasonably-priced ebooks. Most are £3.99, which I consider a fair price for backlist books.

I love British crime novels, so it's always a treat for me to discover a new author I enjoy, and to then discover that he wrote over 50 books! Heaven .

[DrNefario]

I've got out of the habit of commenting here, but since it came up recently, I thought I'd talk about The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin, which I finished this morning.

It took a while to get going. The works revealed quite slowly, and one of the viewpoints is second-person, which takes some getting used to, but once it draws you in it is gripping. Unusual, kind of dark, but really deserving of the plaudits.

Next for me is going to be A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which also has a sequel on this year's Hugo shortlist.

[Strether]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks, Jim - I look forward to reading them! Yes, I checked on Amazon UK, and they all do appear to be available as reasonably-priced ebooks. Most are £3.99, which I consider a fair price for backlist books.

I love British crime novels, so it's always a treat for me to discover a new author I enjoy, and to then discover that he wrote over 50 books! Heaven .

Francis didn't often use the same characters in his novels, but he wrote several featuring Sid Halley. The Fantastic Fiction site, as usual, is a good guide. At least starting out, I'd avoid anything published after 1997. 10 LB Penalty is good, but after that there's a noticeable decline in the quality, IMO. You should avoid the last Sid Halley book, at least until you've read all his others, so you have a good way of judging.

Jim

[HarryT]

I always prefer to read an author's books in publication order, so I've just bought the first three he wrote: "Dead Cert", "Nerve" and "For Kicks".

[Strether]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I always prefer to read an author's books in publication order, so I've just bought the first three he wrote: "Dead Cert", "Nerve" and "For Kicks".

Good idea. I'll stop giving you advice you don't want or need.

Jim

[HarryT]

Not at all, Jim. Always happy to receive advice about an author who's new to me!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "Odds Against", by Dick Francis. A new author for me, and a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Francis was a former jockey, and all his 50+ books are crime novels set in the world of English horse racing. Not a sport I have the slightest interest in, but I really enjoyed this book. Its protagonist, Sid Halley, is a former champion jockey who is at a loose end after being forced to retire through injury. He's hired by a private detective agency as an advisor in their horse-racing cases, and gets involved in a case where a small racetrack is suffering a series of mysterious mishaps which put it at risk of takeover by a greedy property developer who wants to use the land for housing.

Excellent book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I've read them all, and those by his son Felix. Like you, I have no interest in the horse-racing world, but really like his books. Those by Felix aren't as good, but still evoke that world and I still look forward to a new one being released.

You might want to try those by John Francombe as well. Another award-winning jockey, his novels are pretty good as well, if a bit "racier" (pun intended). Also set in the murky world of corrupt jockeys, owners and associated criminals.