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

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Just starting: Great Sky River by Gregory Benford. The third in his Galactic Centre series. I read the first two way back in 2011, but somehow never got to the third one. Let see if I remember anything!

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It turns out to be pretty much a stand-alone. It was OK. A bit preachy at the end.
3/5

It is the start of a separate cycle. The connection back to the original two books becomes more obvious in the later books. From memory, my paperback copy didn't say it was part of a series. It was the next book that said they were following the original books.

I enjoyed the series and have read most of them twice. I agree that they can get a bit preachy which I think is why I haven't completed the reread.

[ReadingManiac]

About to finish my re-read of Joyland by Stephen King. Glad I decided to participate in the group read!

Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict is going very well. Really enjoying it.

[Uncle Robin]

3.5/5 for Project Hail Mary aka The Martian 2 - Macgyver IN SPAAAAACE, a paean to prodigiously polymath public school teachers.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Blarney by Steve Hockensmith. A collection of his earlier published short stories. A recent freebie.

And most enjoyable it was too. A good collection of crime/detection/mystery short stories.

Next up: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

[gmw]

After a book of many subtleties, it seems I chose one with none at all...

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter. Murder mystery/thriller. This was very well done. It felt a bit rough at first, but settled in quickly to a compelling story. The characters, while nothing too far out of the ordinary, are interesting and well drawn with some additional psychological insights attempted (with varying success). The plot is intriguing and the mystery remains quite well hidden. It is also quite an ugly story with very explicit sexual violence, making it quite uncomfortable reading at times. If you don't mind the violence it's probably a 4/5, but I felt it lacked enough other touches to counteract the effects, so I'm settling on 3/5.

[gmw]

The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. The non-fiction story of Belle Gibson, who convinced the world she had healed herself of terminal brain cancer by eating a healthy diet. Realistically, the people most likely to pick this up probably won't be surprised by much that they read here.

That said, I still found this to be an interesting book, not just for the story behind Belle Gibson, but also for the deeper look into problems surrounding the incestuous "wellness" industry. There is some exploration of the why Belle Gibson was believed, and why so many offering effectively the same sorts of unsubstantiated advice continue to thrive online, and it touches on the difficulties in verifying medical claims. The book includes some interviews with cancer patients and experts in the treatment of cancer.

The few attempts at balance in the reporting feel somewhat half-hearted, but there are some rather revealing (almost comical) interviews with her parents, and it does raise questions about how much responsibility should be carried by those that promoted Belle, and shared her story, without ever trying to check the facts.

A bit of a stretch maybe, but I'm giving this 4/5 ... because I'll be boring friends and family with quotes from it for some time.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by gmw

The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.

I found it interesting that her story "blew up" at the time of my peak Social Media usage, especially Instagram, and yet when the news broke, I had to look up who she was and what she'd done. I wonder if the authors of this book ought to have said "Western World", or whether, like many in that realm, they consider the descriptive qualifier superfluous.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I found it interesting that her story "blew up" at the time of my peak Social Media usage, especially Instagram, and yet when the news broke, I had to look up who she was and what she'd done. I wonder if the authors of this book ought to have said "Western World", or whether, like many in that realm, they consider the descriptive qualifier superfluous.

Or maybe "a few people here and there", or "those who are not cynical enough". These are all more accurate descriptions, but none have quite the same ring for a headline/book-title.

[DiapDealer]

I'm taking a break from Bear's Ancestral Night to read Becky Chambers' newly-released A Psalm for the Wild Built.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells. I thought this was a full novel. Disappointed that it's not.

This turns out to be a murder mystery in space. Interesting and fun. It adds more info into the "work contract" system and its abuses. Rated B- [4 stars].

Next tbd

[Uncle Robin]

Just started Il Gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Actually, by "just started" I mean, "I've worked through the lengthy foreword written by Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi", who consistently refers to the author of the work as "Lampedusa". He never once indicates the specific nature of their relationship, although he does allude to a growing emotional closeness between himself and Lampedusa in the closing years of the latter's life.

[OonaMistwalker]

I've been reading and laughing my way through Christopher Buckley's The Judge Hunter. It's set in the 17th century. Samuel Pepys is trying to get rid of his wife's clueless, pesky brother-in-law without pissing her off. He wants him to go to the Colonies to hunt down the last of the men responsible for sentencing and executing King Charles I. Buckley manages to get you to laugh at Balthazar de Saint Michel while also coming to be rather fond of him.

[Uncle Robin]

Finished part 1 of Il Gattopardo and although it was an ambitious choice for my first Italian novel, I'm really enjoying it so far. VERY evocative, and the more I read along with the excellent narration of the audiobook the more I get into the flow of the story and pick up the atmosphere, even though my vocabulary is not up to scratch.

[Uncle Robin]

I took a break from Il Gattopardo to read and listen to Le Petit Prince. I wanted to read it first, before ever reading "The Little Prince". I'm glad I did too, and was reassured that I'd followed most of it when my eyes moistened significantly in the final chapters.

[Uncle Robin]

Tackling another item on my 2021 MR Reading Challenge by starting American Notes