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

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Having finished The Secrets of Station X, by Michael Smith, an excellent look at the code-breakers of Bletchley Park that was quite an eye-opener in many ways (who knew there were so many different variants of the Enigma machine?), a book nominated for the New Leaf Book Club War theme, I thought it would be fun and interesting to read about codes from the other side of the equation, creating them. So I'm currently reading Between Silk and Cyanide, by Leo Marks who spent the WWII years creating and deciphering codes for the SOE. I'm about 1/3rd of the way through it, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Yet another example of how the book club's focus on Themes, rather than Genres, is leading to wonderful discoveries.

Finished Between Silk and Cyanide. 5 Stars, and I have no idea how I'll follow this up. A fascinating read. And I almost began to understand coding by the time I finished, though that wasn't the primary purpose of the book. Leo Marks, whose father owned and operated Marks & Co, the bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Road, has written a captivating memoir of his years working for SOE Signals Division. Highly recommended!

[PurpleStar]

Just finished Rancher’s Dream by B.J. Daniels. This was more mystery and mild romance, but a good mystery it was.

Next up another mystery An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. Really liked this author’s other two books so I paid the regular price for this one.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by gmw

I just finished The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey. I really enjoyed this, which surprised me. It's not a genre I would normally pick up, but I came to it on a recommendation and knew almost nothing about it before I started reading. By the time I realised what it was, I was enjoying the ride and kept enjoying it through to the excellent conclusion.

Originally Posted by orlok

I really enjoyed it too. Have you considered the next in the series (not directly related to the first, but set in the same world, and actually a prequel of sorts), The Boy on the Bridge?

I finished The Boy on the Bridge a couple of days ago. It was very good. I'd have to say that I think the first book is better - or maybe it was just the surprise of it - but this second story in the same setting was also well done, with another set of great characters. This book, too, wraps up very neatly.

[gmw]

I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. With a title like that how can you not pick it up for a closer look? I loved it, the first half (to two thirds) in particular. In the opening stages I was reminded of 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (correspondence talking about books), but it evolves into its own very moving, sometimes tragic but often quite funny and delightful story. A wonderful cast of characters. The book reveals details about Guernsey during the second world war that I had never heard before. The final part turned into a more conventional romance, which was okay, but didn't have the impact of what went earlier (but didn't spoil it either).

[BenG]

I think Mary Ann Shaffer passed away while still writing the book and her niece Annie Burrows finished it.

[BenG]

I've been reading Cocaine Blues, the first Phryne Fisher mystery, by Kerry Greenwood which was an enjoyable read, and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes by Adam Rutherford about investigating history by way of the human genome.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BenG

I think Mary Ann Shaffer passed away while still writing the book and her niece Annie Burrows finished it.

According to the afterword written by Annie Barrows in June 2009, the book had been completed but the editor asked for some "changes that required substantial rewriting". Mary Ann Shaffer had fallen ill and requested her niece Annie Barrows (a published author in her own right) to do that work. Mary Ann Shaffer died in early 2008, and the book was published later that year.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just flew through Origin by Dan Brown. A real thriller although I got the feeling it hasn’t ended and the next Brown book will pick up where this one left off. Give it four and a half stars.

Well, what else would you expect from an origin story?

[Fbone]

Read Dead But Once by Auston Habershaw

I'm really enjoying this series. The wit, intrigue, action and plot twists really work for me. The author has found the right amount of each literary ingredient to have me craving more. Good job! Rated B [4 stars].

[Dngrsone]

Finished The Sculpted Ship by K. M .O'Brien. Pretty good, will read the sequel. My biggest problem is that there seemed to be missing words throughout the digital edition. I don't know if the file was somehow corrupted, or it was badly scanned, but yeah, kind of annoying.

Now reading Don't Tell My Parents I Have a Nemesis by Richard Roberts. (I skipped book four in the series because it is a prequel of sorts and I am anxious to read the latest book.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I think the next book I read will be Jack McDevitt's The Engines of God which was mentioned in a thread here and I recommended to my library.

Um, yeah. So I'm a little behind. By about 40 books. So I won't list them here. They're in my list post if anyone cares.

Currently trying to finish up a Tom Clancy re-read with The Bear and the Dragon but am a little side tracked with the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. I started these last Tuesday (8/21) and finished book 4 today. I will start the last book, Victory Conditions, on the way home.

It was recommended several places here by several different people, so to everyone who recommended it here and elsewhere. I have really enjoyed it.

I may have to force myself to wait a few days before starting the sequel Vatta's Peace series.

[CRussel]

They're fun, aren't they? I admit, I quite enjoy Ms. Moon's writing, and the Vatta series is excellent.

[Dazrin]

I've been wanting to read The Deed of Paksenarrion for a long time but haven't been able to get the ebook from my library. So when this one came up I figured I should try it. Very glad I did.

[gmw]

I just finished (well, not so much finished as stopped reading) Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson.

The writing is rich and deeply evocative, and it is very effective at pulling the reader back into the past - even the multiple layers of the past that Atkinson draws the reader through in the book. There is a huge cast of diverse characters, each well painted, believable and highly individual. But, for all that, I lost patience with it. I got to chapter 4 (about 1/3rd the way through) and skipped to the last chapter ... and nothing felt out of place. It was as if I had missed nothing, because - as far as I can tell - there was nothing much to miss. I don't think there is a story here as such, just a history, Ruby's extended family history.

Spoiler:

The intriguing opening (told through the "eyes" of the just conceived fetus) seemed wasted (to me) because this little piece of intrigue went nowhere and meant nothing - it was clever writing, but that was all. To me this seemed to be the main feature of this book, clever writing with little substance.

I prefer a bit more story or purpose. It doesn't have to be a lot, but a reason to keep moving on to the next chapter helps to give characters and situations a better context, a reason for the reader to care. Kate Atkinson definitely writes well enough that I will be looking at other books by her, but next time I might try one of her mysteries.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I've been wanting to read The Deed of Paksenarrion for a long time but haven't been able to get the ebook from my library. So when this one came up I figured I should try it. Very glad I did.

The first book is pretty inexpensive from Baen directly. Unfortunately, they still aren't on Overdrive. There used to be an omnibus edition, but that was dropped when they released the special anniversary edition of Sheepfarmer's Daughter.