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

[Uncle Robin]

Now into A Very Private Enterprise by Elizabeth Ironside. I am intrigued by a debut novel that was apparently very well received yet was not followed up with another for 12 years so.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Another random pick: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman. A freebie I picked up at Amazon back in 2016. Let's see if it is worth my time.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I enjoyed that one enough that the sequel is still on my wishlist.

A most intriguing contemporary fantasy, although it took some time for the strands to get pulled together. I too have added the sequels to by wish list.

Next up: The Riddle of the Third Mile by Colin Dexter. His sixth Inspector Morse novel. (Another pick thanks to calibre's random book function.)

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Greg Call (Illustrations). Looking forward to this. I loved the previous book in series.

I thought this book wasn't as cleverly written as the first one. It started out well but then became a chase-run story. There were several eye-rolling moments. Still, it was great fun, entertaining with originality. I'll definitely read the next installment soon. Rated C+ [3 stars].

Next TBD.

[Uncle Robin]

Halfway through reading (NOT studying) The Earliest English: An Introduction to Old English Language. It's actually a textbook for students, but because it is at introductory level, It's a fascinating and informative read. Plus, it's fun seeing how much some German helps with OE comprehension

[Uncle Robin]

4/5 for The Earliest English, especially for teaching me that the switch from synthetic to analytic was well under way LONG before William the Bastard turned up. Now on to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to make sure I've read the book before watching the movie. I didn't even realize it was epistolary, looking forward to seeing how that translates to the screen.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Now on to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to make sure I've read the book before watching the movie. I didn't even realize it was epistolary, looking forward to seeing how that translates to the screen.

I’m going to be interested to see what you think of this, because for me it was one of the worst books I’ve read in my entire life.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Another random pick: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman. A freebie I picked up at Amazon back in 2016. Let's see if it is worth my time.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I enjoyed that one enough that the sequel is still on my wishlist.

I've loved the books (4) in Newman's SF "Planetfall/Atlas" series, but I've not read her other works.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I've loved the books (4) in Newman's SF "Planetfall/Atlas" series, but I've not read her other works.

I put all her other books on my wishlist too.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I put all her other books on my wishlist too.

For anyone curious, the Atlas books share a common backdrop, but each book stands entirely on it's own. The connections between them are worthy, and I recommend experiencing them as a whole, but it's not necessary in order to enjoy the books individually, in my opinion.

[Apache]

I am finishing up South From Corregidor by John Morrill and Pete Martin.

At the outbreak of the Second World War U.S.S. Quail was in the Philippines sweeping mines to provide access for American shipping to South Harbor, Corregidor. Damaged by enemy bombs and guns during the Japanese invasion of the island John Morrill and his fellow men decided to make the decision to scuttle their ship rather than allow it to be captured.


This led them to begin one of the most daring escapes of the Second World War.


Lieutenant Commander John Morrill and sixteen fellow sailors took a thirty-six-foot diesel boat nearly two thousand miles through Japanese controlled waters. They moved mostly at night, with a homemade sextant, some salvaged charts, with little fresh water and food, but even despite these difficulties they eventually made their way to Darwin, Australia.

I am enjoying this book, which shows what men can accomplish when they cooperate against adversity.
Apache

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’m going to be interested to see what you think of this, because for me it was one of the worst books I’ve read in my entire life.

It's the Phantom Menace of books.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’m going to be interested to see what you think of this, because for me it was one of the worst books I’ve read in my entire life.

I didn't mind it. I have no experience reading epistolary books, so I don't know good from bad, and maybe I cut it more slack than it deserved. It seemed very disjointed and stilted, but I assumed that was a consequence of the epistolary style.
It's more likely that I gave it a pass for teaching me things I hadn't known about what happened in Guernsey during the war, and because its descriptions of life in Belsen and Dachau made me think of "friends of friends" I knew who'd been in those camps, and much closer friends whose stories were similar to those told in the book of the Guernsey occupation.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Riddle of the Third Mile by Colin Dexter. His sixth Inspector Morse novel. (Another pick thanks to calibre's random book function.)

It was OK. Some interesting background on Morse's time at Oxford, which is different to that given in the TV series. But Morse doesn't really show much brilliance here, although he seems to think he does, as bodies drop like flies around him, as usual. 4/5

Next up: Rumpole at Christmas by John Mortimer. A collection of Christmas stories, one previous published in an earlier collection of stories, but the other six previously uncollected in book form. As I count them, the sixteenth book of Rumpole stories, but this is a series where reading out of order causes no problems. Bought yesterday.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

4/5 for The Earliest English, especially for teaching me that the switch from synthetic to analytic was well under way LONG before William the Bastard turned up. Now on to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to make sure I've read the book before watching the movie. I didn't even realize it was epistolary, looking forward to seeing how that translates to the screen.

I loved the Guernsey book but didn't like the movie very much. The main character seemed much more whiney on the screen.

I am still reading Lawrence Wright's God Save Texas. I like the other books I've read of his, but this one has some snooze chapters about the state legislature persistently trying to pass bathroom bills (because of their fear and bigotry about transsexuals) and whittling away women's rights, including the anti-abortion bills. Also more gun carry laws to encourage it. I heard enough about these when they were in the news. So far there are two chapters about it and they seem to be the longest. I'm on page 285 of 355 and was considering dropping the book. The author lives in Austin and grew up in or near Dallas, is liberal, but from the book he has a soft spot for what I consider willful ignorance.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I didn't mind it. I have no experience reading epistolary books, so I don't know good from bad, and maybe I cut it more slack than it deserved. It seemed very disjointed and stilted, but I assumed that was a consequence of the epistolary style.
It's more likely that I gave it a pass for teaching me things I hadn't known about what happened in Guernsey during the war, and because its descriptions of life in Belsen and Dachau made me think of "friends of friends" I knew who'd been in those camps, and much closer friends whose stories were similar to those told in the book of the Guernsey occupation.

The things I didn’t like about this were legion, so I’ll limit it to a few. An advantage of epistolary books is that it gives the author different voices, but the voices here were all the same (and nothing at all like immediately post-war Britain). Moreover, a limitation is that you really can’t use them as info dumps with any credibility; you have to give up the third-person omniscient author voice.

The heroine was ridiculous, a perfect person universally adored. And the history was exploitative; it was used to give the story heft, but there was no reality to it. Akin to Holocaust stories with the same fatal flaw — oops, the author went there too. Where didn’t she go?

But I acknowledge mine’s a minority opinion!