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

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Started the audiobook of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles for my commute and daily walk.

Started Mur Lafferty's new novel Six Wakes on my Kobo.

Finished both of these today.

Now reading Banana Yoshimoto's Moshi Moshi on the Kobo.

[ATDrake]

For Star Wars Day, read the library's copy of The Princess Diarist by the late Carrie Fisher, a partial memoir of her experience filming the first Star Wars film.

Actually, more of it is devoted to late adolescent recollections (from the titular diaries, which are represented by a photo of the pages and then some transcripted entries, which include the kind of bad poetry you write when you're 19 and in the middle of a dubious love affair, and very little about actual Star Wars filming) of the experience of being an aspiring young actress in her first major starring role and having had a rather messed-up Hollywood upbringing from being the child of two celebrities, and also having personal issues about self-confidence and discovering oneself while simultaneously having an affair on-set.

And TBH, those bits were pretty boring, although I do agree with her younger self that she should have had the on-set affair with Mark Hamill, instead.

But aside from that—which was a mild disappointment since those then-contemporary diary entries were supposed to have been the main draw of this—there are interesting bits and anecdotes about her Star Wars experiences, both then and in recent years. There's auditioning for and getting and preparing for the role (and how the famous hairdo came to be), and then the initial impact that Star Wars had on the actors as it started to get popular, and nowadays what it's like now that it's a cult classic with a massive fanbase, and the expectations that go along with it and the Princess Leia image and how it's affected her. In a way, it reminded me of Leonard Nimoy's original I Am Not Spock, though in a more upbeat manner.

Overall, this was pretty entertaining and a nice look into the SW franchise and one of its stars, though the stream-of-consciousness style of autobiography took some getting used to (but is probably a nice touch if she narrated the audiobook version), and I'll probably go on to read her other, earlier memoirs, which I picked up during a sale shortly after she died.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I am always so happy whenever I see someone starting a great Murakami read. Hard-Boiled was my very first read of his, and it always has a special place in my heart. My white whale is to read it in Japanese one day.

"White whale" - that's a new one for me . Good luck with that challenging ambition.

[HarryT]

Finished "Mars Inc.", by Ben Bova. A relatively recent Baen purchase about a businessman's attempt to organise a manned Mars mission. Enjoyable, and I hope a sequel is forthcoming.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by orlok

"White whale" - that's a new one for me . Good luck with that challenging ambition.

I refer to Melville's great white whale Moby Dick. I just hope I have more luck with it than Captain Ahab did. (Or at least less life-long obsession descending into possible insanity).

[kansaskyle]

I finished Red Mars, which was only a three-star read for me. I found it overly long, I didn't really care about the characters, and the in-depth descriptions of the Martian landscape and geological features got old for me. I will not continue with the second book in the series.

My loan came in on Ancillary Justice that astrangerhere recommended. So far I'm enjoying it although some of the terms are a little confusing as I'm waiting for more context to help me understand what is going on.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

I finished Red Mars, which was only a three-star read for me. I found it overly long, I didn't really care about the characters, and the in-depth descriptions of the Martian landscape and geological features got old for me. I will not continue with the second book in the series.

I had the same reaction to Red Mars. Just could not figure out what all the excitement was about, I found it a solid 2 1/2 stars. NOT worth reading any further.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

My loan came in on Ancillary Justice that astrangerhere recommended. So far I'm enjoying it although some of the terms are a little confusing as I'm waiting for more context to help me understand what is going on.

It's one of my favorites.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I had the same reaction to Red Mars. Just could not figure out what all the excitement was about, I found it a solid 2 1/2 stars. NOT worth reading any further.

I had a similar reaction, but I stuck with it, and the series does (to my mind) dramatically improve in "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars".

[HarryT]

Finished "Blood Sport", By Dick Francis. I must say I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous books I've read, although it's still worth reading, I think. The plot involves a British civil servant hunting for stolen horses in the US. The main problem I had with it is that I didn't find the protagonist at all likeable. A depressed man who spends half the book contemplated suicide really isn't my idea of a fun read .

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Analog SF, May/June 2017.

An OK to good edition.

The Novella was "The Girls with Kaleidoscope Eyes" by Howard V Hendrix. A rather unconvincing 'Midwich Cuckoos' type of scenario.
Three Novelettes, "To See the Elephant" by Julie Novakova which was interesting but also unconvincing for me, "The Final Nail" by Stanley Schmidt where I couldn't beleive the antagonist, and "Kepler's Law" by Jay Werkheiser, a colonisation story which I also found unconvincing.
15 (!) short stories, of which I'll only mention two. "The Chatter of Monkeys" by Bond Elam, a rather wonderful post-apocalypse story. "Ténéré" by Manny Frishberg and Edd Vick was an interesting cultural clash story.

Hmm... having reviewed the fiction, I think I must downgrade my rating to just "OK" this month. The longer works weren't good enough.

Then I read some fan-fic: "Draco Malfoy and the Practice of Rationality" by taogaming, a fan-fic followup to the fan-fic "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality". Despite the occasional typo, a story that rolled along merrily.

And now I'm reading Imperative by Steve White and Charles E. Gannon.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "Blood Sport", By Dick Francis. I must say I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous books I've read, although it's still worth reading, I think. The plot involves a British civil servant hunting for stolen horses in the US. The main problem I had with it is that I didn't find the protagonist at all likeable. A depressed man who spends half the book contemplated suicide really isn't my idea of a fun read .

I think I'll skip that one, then, as I work my way through them.

[Rumpelteazer]

Due to life, a new addictive computer game and a temporary reading burn-out it took me a week and a half to finish my reread of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It wasn't a slow read, yesterday I read 40% in only a couple of hours, I just wasn't in the mood to read much.

However, I loved the book even more than the first time around. I'm planning to read the sequel some time during summer.

Now a new to me series, DCI Kate Daniels, which is set in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area (at least the first book). I need a new series set in the UK and I'm planning a trip to Newcastle.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I started the Ellen Klages collection while the cable guy - who was neither Larry nor Jim Carrey - was here, and the first story reminds me a bit of Ray Bradbury. That's a good sign, even if not my usual fare.

Finished it a couple of hours ago now. It's both my first dead-tree and first five-star read of the year. A more complete review is on Goodreads, and I've also posted it on Amazon.

[Dngrsone]

Finished Betrayer by C. J. Cherryh. Started A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age by Daniel J. Levitin, but that is a book to be taken in in discrete chunks, so after the first section I have switched over to The Silver Strand by L. J. Clarkson which seems a bit derivative of the "yer a wizard" type, but it's... okay. Not enough to read the follow-on books to me (unless they are free, maybe).