Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1879

MickeyC · 03-24-2019, 12:34 PM

Just finished Mark Greaney’s latest Mission Critical and it was very good. If you’re into thrillers, you should be reading him.

Next up, CJ Box’s new read, Wolf Pack

pdurrant · 03-24-2019, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now back to Analog and James Herriot.

I finished the Analog. An enjoyable set of stories as usual.

The James Herriott I'm leaving for lunchtimes at work.

I also read The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters - one of her Amelia Peabody series. I have it as Number 16 chronologically, but I beleive that a posthumously finished books comes just before this one in internal chronology, but I don't have it yet.

As usual, a most enjoyable yarn.

next up: The Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. The fourth in his King Alfred series.

Fbone · 03-25-2019, 08:54 PM

Decided to read Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson. The story was all over the place some of it nonsensical. Lots of red herrings. While the ending was the most exciting part, the villain's identity was purposely obscured by the author. Writing was ok-ish but unremarkable. Rated D [2 stars].

Next, TBD

RobertLCollins · 03-26-2019, 09:46 AM

Yesterday I started reading "The Fated Sky," the follow-up to "The Calculating Stars."

pdurrant · 03-27-2019, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The James Herriott I'm leaving for lunchtimes at work.

[...]

next up: The Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. The fourth in his King Alfred series.

I've finished "The Real James Herriott". While lacking in style, a very interesting book, and an enjoyable read. The story of a good man.

The Sword Song is proving to be most enjoyable, as expected.

ShortNet · 03-27-2019, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Just finished "The Witches of Karres" by James H.Schmitz, bought from Baen in 2005.

FYI, there was a pretty good sequel, "The Wizard of Karres" written by Eric Flint, Dave Freer, and Mercedes Lackey (2004). It was free on the Baen Free Library and was also on the Baen CDs.

Dngrsone · 03-28-2019, 11:01 AM

Finished The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein. Not quite what I had expected, but interesting nonetheless.

pdurrant · 03-29-2019, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

next up: The Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. The fourth in his King Alfred series.

Which was excellent, as usual.

I'm not sure what's next to come off my TBR.

But now I've chosen - the next in a series that I stopped reading in 2017 because I didn't have the next book. But it was on special offer this month, so now I have it! The Angel of Death, by Paul Doherty. The fourth in his Hugh Corbett Mysteries.

gmw · 03-29-2019, 10:19 AM

Physics: New Frontiers from Scientific American. Modern physics reads more and more like science-fiction these days, so I was pleased to find that at least two articles in this collection made clear how much speculation is involved. A lot of the other articles are the speculations, but interesting nonetheless.

The Shifting Fog (aka The House at Riverton) by Kate Morton. I find it very difficult to rate this book. As a work of historical fiction there is a lot about it that is really very good. But I found that parts of the book dragged. It seemed too long, and the conclusion too obvious. As a first novel I think it was a very good try, but Morton does much better later. Let's say: 3.5/5.

I was looking for something lighter, and definitely found it in:

A Robot Named Clunk by Simon Hayes. It has an awkward, dare I say clunky, start, but does eventually settle in to an entertaining read. The book is pretty much everything you would expect from the blurb: fast-paced, absurd, generally amusing and at times quite funny. This story is a bit too slapstick for my tastes, but even so I finished it with a smile on my face, so giving it: 3/5.

Kobo AU had a sale on, and now I've got a bunch more books to choose from. Choices, choices...

HarryT · 03-29-2019, 04:05 PM

I decided to read Josephine Tey's "The Man in the Queue" after reading several peoples' thoughts on it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ok, the way Grant calls the presumed murderer "The Dago" is a little jarring to modern sensibilities, but it was a common slang expression when the book was written, so Tey can hardly be blamed for that. I have the Penguin edition of the book; I note that some editions of the book, such as the one on PG Australia, substitute "Levantine" for the offending word!

One thing that did strike me as slightly odd is the way that, in several places in the book, the anonymous narrator who is telling the story in the usual third person ("Grant did such-and-such") suddenly switches to the first person and addresses the reader directly ("Grant did such-and-such, and I wonder what he was thinking when he did it"). That's an unusual writing style I don't recall having come across before.

An extremely enjoyable read for me.

gmw · 03-29-2019, 08:17 PM

As regards Josephine Tey's The Man in the Queue, my dislike wasn't founded on "The Dago". That didn't help, but mostly as it played part of the Inspector's attitude. You come closer to my dislike when you speak the author's inconsistency of voice. There was the strange and (it seemed to me) forced and thoroughly unconvincing way that Grant interacted with the police surgeon, there were the strained efforts to impart personality to Superintendent Barker and his "minion". It simply wasn't working for me, so I put it away quite early. I'm hoping Tey relaxed a bit in later books ... I'm about to find out as we read The Daughter of Time for the NLBC.

CRussel · 03-29-2019, 09:02 PM

I just started listening to the Derek Jacobi narration of The Daughter of Time and I'm already caught up in it. While this is a re-read, I honestly have no memory of it from my earlier read in the 80's.

Charlie.

Dngrsone · 03-30-2019, 10:31 AM

Finished The Mouse by Lauretta Hignett, a decidedly YA novel with just a little too much teen romance for my liking. It wasn't terrible, but somewhat predictable and because of that, along with the hormones, I am not going to pursue the sequel(s).

I am starting Downbelow Station as a palate cleanser before picking up something new, perhaps the latest Leckie novel.

CRussel · 03-31-2019, 12:50 AM

Just finished A Birthday Lunch and The Chocolate War, two shorter Bruno, Chief of Police stories-- both quite enjoyable, if really teasers because what I really want is the new novel, but that won't be out until June or July. Then, given that I was doing shorter works, I figured it was time to dig fairly far down my TBR to read Good-bye Mr. Chips, by James Hilton. I have, of course, seen the 1939 movie version, but I'd never read it, and it seemed time. Quite enjoyed.

HarryT · 03-31-2019, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Just finished A Birthday Lunch and The Chocolate War, two shorter Bruno, Chief of Police stories-- both quite enjoyable, if really teasers because what I really want is the new novel, but that won't be out until June or July. Then, given that I was doing shorter works, I figured it was time to dig fairly far down my TBR to read Good-bye Mr. Chips, by James Hilton. I have, of course, seen the 1939 movie version, but I'd never read it, and it seemed time. Quite enjoyed.

There's a sequel, "To You, Mr Chips" which is also worth reading. It's a collection of short stories about various events in Mr Chips' life.

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03-24-2019, 12:34 PM	#28171
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Just finished Mark Greaney’s latest Mission Critical and it was very good. If you’re into thrillers, you should be reading him. Next up, CJ Box’s new read, Wolf Pack

03-25-2019, 08:54 PM	#28173
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,296 Karma: 101697116 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	Decided to read Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson. The story was all over the place some of it nonsensical. Lots of red herrings. While the ending was the most exciting part, the villain's identity was purposely obscured by the author. Writing was ok-ish but unremarkable. Rated D [2 stars]. Next, TBD

03-26-2019, 09:46 AM	#28174
RobertLCollins Groupie Posts: 155 Karma: 1735704 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Kansas Device: iPhone	Yesterday I started reading "The Fated Sky," the follow-up to "The Calculating Stars."

03-28-2019, 11:01 AM	#28177
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	Finished The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein. Not quite what I had expected, but interesting nonetheless.

03-29-2019, 10:19 AM	#28179
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	*Physics: New Frontiers* from Scientific American. Modern physics reads more and more like science-fiction these days, so I was pleased to find that at least two articles in this collection made clear how much speculation is involved. A lot of the other articles are the speculations, but interesting nonetheless. *The Shifting Fog* (aka *The House at Riverton) by Kate Morton. I find it very difficult to rate this book. As a work of historical fiction there is a lot about it that is really very good. But I found that parts of the book dragged. It seemed too long, and the conclusion too obvious. As a first novel I think it was a very good try, but Morton does much better later. Let's say: 3.5/5. I was looking for something lighter, and definitely found it in: A Robot Named Clunk* by Simon Hayes. It has an awkward, dare I say clunky, start, but does eventually settle in to an entertaining read. The book is pretty much everything you would expect from the blurb: fast-paced, absurd, generally amusing and at times quite funny. This story is a bit too slapstick for my tastes, but even so I finished it with a smile on my face, so giving it: 3/5. Kobo AU had a sale on, and now I've got a bunch more books to choose from. Choices, choices...

03-29-2019, 04:05 PM	#28180
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I decided to read Josephine Tey's "The Man in the Queue" after reading several peoples' thoughts on it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ok, the way Grant calls the presumed murderer "The Dago" is a little jarring to modern sensibilities, but it was a common slang expression when the book was written, so Tey can hardly be blamed for that. I have the Penguin edition of the book; I note that some editions of the book, such as the one on PG Australia, substitute "Levantine" for the offending word! One thing that did strike me as slightly odd is the way that, in several places in the book, the anonymous narrator who is telling the story in the usual third person ("Grant did such-and-such") suddenly switches to the first person and addresses the reader directly ("Grant did such-and-such, and I wonder what he was thinking when he did it"). That's an unusual writing style I don't recall having come across before. An extremely enjoyable read for me.

03-29-2019, 08:17 PM	#28181
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	As regards Josephine Tey's The Man in the Queue, my dislike wasn't founded on "The Dago". That didn't help, but mostly as it played part of the Inspector's attitude. You come closer to my dislike when you speak the author's inconsistency of voice. There was the strange and (it seemed to me) forced and thoroughly unconvincing way that Grant interacted with the police surgeon, there were the strained efforts to impart personality to Superintendent Barker and his "minion". It simply wasn't working for me, so I put it away quite early. I'm hoping Tey relaxed a bit in later books ... I'm about to find out as we read The Daughter of Time for the NLBC.

03-29-2019, 09:02 PM	#28182
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I just started listening to the Derek Jacobi narration of The Daughter of Time and I'm already caught up in it. While this is a re-read, I honestly have no memory of it from my earlier read in the 80's. Charlie.

03-30-2019, 10:31 AM	#28183
Dngrsone Almost legible Posts: 1,457 Karma: 4611110 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: In a high desert, CA Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78	Finished The Mouse by Lauretta Hignett, a decidedly YA novel with just a little too much teen romance for my liking. It wasn't terrible, but somewhat predictable and because of that, along with the hormones, I am not going to pursue the sequel(s). I am starting Downbelow Station as a palate cleanser before picking up something new, perhaps the latest Leckie novel.

03-31-2019, 12:50 AM	#28184
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Just finished A Birthday Lunch and The Chocolate War, two shorter Bruno, Chief of Police stories-- both quite enjoyable, if really teasers because what I really want is the new novel, but that won't be out until June or July. Then, given that I was doing shorter works, I figured it was time to dig fairly far down my TBR to read Good-bye Mr. Chips, by James Hilton. I have, of course, seen the 1939 movie version, but I'd never read it, and it seemed time. Quite enjoyed.