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

[Dngrsone]

Nearly finished with Salt: A World History... very informative, and gives me insight to things I never considered in other history books.

And, for that matter, the apocalypse: the biggest (okay, maybe second-biggest) survival item will be ways to preserve food. Salt is first and foremost on that list.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I loved the first Cordelia Gray mystery, having given it 4 stars. But the sequel eked only 2 stars from me.

Well, I've gotten sidetracked for the moment by A Mortal Bane, a 12th Century mystery by Roberta Gellis, which is narrated by one of my absolute favourite narrators, Nadia May (aka, Donada Peters, real name Wanda McCaddon).

[JSWolf]

I finished Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations: Shield of the Gods By Christopher L. Bennett and really enjoyed it.

Now onto Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I've read all of the prequel novellas and this is the first novel. I like the novellas and expect to like this too.

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a road of yellow brick—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I've been trained to fight. And I have a mission: Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage. And—Dorothy must die.

[Tenzin_la]

I'm reading one of the fictional pieces by Haruki Murakami, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8716774-underground. It's actually been quite since I've read any fiction that really 'touches' me. I've avoided it for the wrong reasons. I have even more respect for Mr. Murakami now because of the way he described setting out to do each interview, writing it up, sending it to the interviewee to remove / change anything. Mr. Murakami might re-write and resubmit to them. But, in the end, the interviewee had the final say. As important a story this is, from a culture that is not normally seen as ones who complain over much (I could be very wrong about that. I'll apologize in advance for any mis-information. This is a story that needs to be written and discussed.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Now onto Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I've read all of the prequel novellas and this is the first novel. I like the novellas and expect to like this too.

It still baffles me why all of the novellas are prequels, but they were mainly released in between novels. I intend to catch up on the series - I think I need the last two books and three novellas - but funds are low and prices high.

I'm binge-reading some graphic novels while my comiXology Unlimited trial's still active. What frustrates me is how they choose what is and isn't in the Unlimited library - for instance, Ultimate Spider-Man has the first three volumes and, I think, numbers six and thirteen. Similarly, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (the post-Ultimatum series reboot) has the first three of four volumes available, omitting the Death of Peter Parker collection - and then the first Miles Morales volumes are available, but again they omit the last one. I don't regret the free trial, and the omissions would make sense for a promotion, but I won't pay for continued access to a collection with such frustrating gaps.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

It still baffles me why all of the novellas are prequels, but they were mainly released in between novels. I intend to catch up on the series - I think I need the last two books and three novellas - but funds are low and prices high.

You might be able to get the Dorothy Must Die series at your library via Overdrive. What I don't get is why the prequel novellas were released in-between releasing the novels. This makes it difficult to read in order. But I waited and can read in order. I read the Novellas in order and now onto the novels.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

Now taking up Chase Baker And The Lincoln Curse by Vincent Zandri, next book in Chase Baker series, a cozy mystery.

I finished Chase Baker And The Lincoln Curse by Vincent Zandri yesterday and I wonder why did I not abandon it in the middle. Not impressed with the plot and the presentation. Earlier two books in this series were promising. However, I still have four more books on the series already purchased so I'll skip another two and read Chase Baker and the Da Vinci Divinity. If I do not find this book up to my taste, I'll abandon the whole set from my TBR.

[HarryT]

I've been away on a course for two weeks, and read lots of books in that time. Among the SF/Fantasy books were:

"The City and the Ship" by Anne McCaffrey and S.M. Stirling. A Baen omnibus of two novels set in Anne McCaffrey's "Brain Ship" universe: "The City Who Fought" and "The Ship Avenged". Excellent SF. Highly recommended.

"1634: The Galileo Affair" by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. The fourth novel in the "1632" universe. This one's set in Venice. Enjoyable.

"The Reality Matrix" by John Dalmas. Dalmas never disappoints for me, and this one was no exception. Hard SF with a plot vaguely similar to that of the "Matrix" movies (ie the world is not what it seems to be). Very enjoyable.

"Gods and Androids" by Andre Norton. A Baen omnibus of two novels: "Wraiths of Time" and "Android at Arms". I must admit that I find all Norton's books somewhat tedious, and these were no exception. I keep on reading them as I plough through my Baen backlog hoping that I'll find a gem amongst them, but it hasn't shown up yet. Don't waste your time with this one!

And in between the Baen books I've been reading Dick Francis novels, which I'm enjoying enormously. They're all set in the world of horse-racing, but he manages to find so many different angles to it that they never get dull.

"Bonecrack": A racehorse trainer is threatened by a mobster that his racing stable will be ruined unless he agreed to take on the mobster's son as a jockey. A slightly silly plot, but extremely well-written.

"Smokescreen": A famous actor with a love of racing agrees to travel to South Africa to investigate why the horses owned by his dying aunt are failing to live up to their potential.

"Knockdown": A syndicate of bloodstock agents (the people who buy and sell racehorses on behalf of clients) tries to force agent Jonah Dereham to join their conspiracy to defraud owner, and when he refuses to do so, things get unpleasant. This is absolutely excellent, with a real heart-breaker of an ending. The best I've read in the series so far.

"High Stakes": Steven Scott owns horses but does not know much about them. He sacks his trainer because he suspects underhand dealings going on. He is soon to find out that moneymaking drives some people to manoeuvering and they will go a long way to protect themselves.

"In the Frame": Charles Todd makes a living as a painter of horses. However someone is making a fortune forging paintings by the masters and then selling them to people who usually end up dead. Charles arrives in Australia to investigate and is immediately on the trail of the fraudsters. Another absolutely excellent book.

"Whip Hand": The second book in the Sid Halley series. Sid is now a successful private detective in the racing world, and is asked to investigate why a number of horses who started their racing careers promisingly suddenly performed very poorly in big races. Another excellent read.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Tenzin_la

I'm reading one of the fictional pieces by Haruki Murakami, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8716774-underground. It's actually been quite since I've read any fiction that really 'touches' me. I've avoided it for the wrong reasons. I have even more respect for Mr. Murakami now because of the way he described setting out to do each interview, writing it up, sending it to the interviewee to remove / change anything. Mr. Murakami might re-write and resubmit to them. But, in the end, the interviewee had the final say. As important a story this is, from a culture that is not normally seen as ones who complain over much (I could be very wrong about that. I'll apologize in advance for any mis-information. This is a story that needs to be written and discussed.

I am admittedly a substantial Murakami stan, but Underground was only the second book of his that I read. And I adored it. It was fascinating and relatively unflinching. It was definitely in my top 10 the year I read it. And now you are tempting me to re-read it.

[Dngrsone]

Plowed through Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon, now starting Boundary Lines by Elizabeth Moon.

I'm catching up on my reading during this little vacation, but I will be happy to go to work (new job starts in a week).

[astrangerhere]

Finally finished the Wonder Woman Omnibus Vol. 1 by George Perez, which was absolutely fantastic. The majority of the issues were written during the Reagan era, but the book was pleasantly progressive. My fifth 5/5 book of the year.

I also finished listening to the audio of The Girls of Atomic City. I was less pleased with this because I felt the story was disjointed. I knew it was going to be anti-nuclear, which was fine, but I felt like the book was just not as much about the women of Oakridge as I was hoping.

Now listening to Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway and reading Lindsey Davis' The Silver Pigs.

[HarryT]

just finished "Risk" by Dick Francis. An accountant, who is also an amateur jockey, is kidnapped and held prisoner shortly after winning a big race. A wildly implausible plot, but enjoyable, nonetheless. A quick and easy read. Certainly not one of his best books, but entirely readable.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, The Pericles Commission is the first in a fictional series by Gary Corby, who will take me to Ancient Greece to determine who assassinated Ephialtes. It's one of the most exciting times in their history.

A pleasant cozy mystery set in Ancient Greece. Humorous and well researched with a mix of real and fictional people. The killers were rather easy to pick out. A bit lighter than I was expecting, still, I greatly enjoyed this. Rated B [4 stars].

Next TBD.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Fbone

A pleasant cozy mystery set in Ancient Greece. Humorous and well researched with a mix of real and fictional people. The killers were rather easy to pick out. A bit lighter than I was expecting, still, I greatly enjoyed this. Rated B [4 stars].

Next TBD.

I tried to read the first book in the series, but stopped after the introduction of Socrates as a little child. Somehow that ticked me off.

[HarryT]

Finished "The Second Coming", by John Dalmas, which I bought from Baen in 2004. Excellent SF novel about a "New Age cult" in an early 21st century US in the middle of a second Great Depression. The cult leader is believed by many to be the promised Messiah. Could it be true?

Really excellent book. Unfortunately it appears that Baen no longer have the rights to it, because not only is it no longer for sale to new buyers, but they've taken the unusual step of removing access to it for people who'd bought it previously. Fortunately I did of course have a local (and remote) backup of it, as I do with all the books I buy! I've no idea if it's available from a different publisher.

EDIT: Yes, it's available as an ebook from Amazon published by an outfit called "Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC", whoever they may be. It apparently has a sequel called "The Signature of God", published by the same company. That's definitely now on my "must buy" list!