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

[gmw]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Just finished Weapons of Math Destruction bu Cathy O'Neil. Highly recommended. Mathematical background not required.

Yes, I enjoyed that too (read it about 18 months ago). It probably should become required reading for software developers.

[bubblegirl11]

I'm currently reading the novel It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover. I'm almost finished however, and so far I think I discovered a new type of books I'd like. Has anyone read many colleen hoover books?

Also as I'm finishing this one I want to try some remote authors who aren't perhaps as popular but have great novels. Feel free to suggest me! I'm pretty new to reading ebooks, I want to get into it more.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: a random pick, Exile's Return by Raymond E. Feist. The third in his Conclave of Shadows trilogy.

Which was splendid. Most enjoyable Epic Fantasy.

Next I read my latest purchase: A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball by T. E. Kinsey. A locked room country house murder. Fun, although IMO the murderer was a bit too obvious.

And now a classic: Ringworld by Larry Niven. It's been many years since I last read this.

[ReadingManiac]

Revival turned out to be downright Lovecraftian by the end!

Just finished The Midnight Library by Tom Haig. OMG what an excellent story!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now a classic: Ringworld by Larry Niven. It's been many years since I last read this.

And very good it was too. Better than I remembered, in fact.

Next up, a random pick: Lightspeed Magazine #6. Which I got over ten years ago from Fictionwise. Time it was read!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up, a random pick: Lightspeed Magazine #6. Which I got over ten years ago from Fictionwise. Time it was read!

Which was OK, but no more than that.

Next up via random selection: The Prince of Darkness by Paul Doherty. The fifth in his Hugh Corbett mysteries. I liked the first three, but the fourth had a terrible anachronism. Hopefully not something that will happen again.

[gmw]

The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett. Contemporary (1997) fiction. This was a strange and at times quite morbid story, with the main character seeming to wallow in her grief. She finds comfort only when she immerses herself in her dead husband's previously hidden past. The women characters of the story are interesting and feel quite real, but the men are much less so. Even while reading it I wasn't sure I understood the point, but the narrative was compelling and I had no trouble reaching the end. But then it just stops. No sense of closure or completion; it's almost like you should be thankful it ended on a period and not a comma. And that really spoiled it for me. I stretch to 3/5 because I did really like the writing and I'm going to try some more of her books.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up via random selection: The Prince of Darkness by Paul Doherty. The fifth in his Hugh Corbett mysteries. I liked the first three, but the fourth had a terrible anachronism. Hopefully not something that will happen again.

Only a minor anachronism (that I spotted). It was an OK historical mystery.

Then I read The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers which was a good Lord Peter mystery set in Scotland

Next up was Dominion by C. J. Sansom. A horribly plausible alternative history. As with many such books, the real story is the alternative history background, not the events that happen to the characters in it, which only serve to show the changes.


Next up: Lost and Found by Alan Dean Foster. Another random pick, but hopefully a bit lighter. I bought this all the way back in November 2008!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Lost and Found by Alan Dean Foster. Another random pick, but hopefully a bit lighter. I bought this all the way back in November 2008!

Which was fun. I'll probably read the sequel shortly.

But next I read Tsar Wars by Stephen Goldin. A slightly unfortunate title, but a fun tale of inexperienced spies in an interstellar empire. At least there's a good reason they tend not to get shot by the baddies this time.

And now I'm starting on Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie. Her 74th novel, and the last with Tommy and Tuppence. A postern is a back or side entrance. A new one on me.

[Karellen]

Just started The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson

8 novels in the series, including the prequel Veiled Alliances (the novella, not the graphic novel)

I'll follow that with the 4 book sequel The Saga of Shadows

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm starting on Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie. Her 74th novel, and the last with Tommy and Tuppence.

A last adventure with Tommy and Tuppence. OK, but a bit too much cloak and dagger and coincidence for my liking.

Next up was Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood. The second of her Miss Phryne Fisher mystery novels set in 1920s Australia (Melbourne). Splendid stuff. I can't comment on the authenticity of the setting, but it works for me.

And now another recent purchase, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell. A stand-alone set in 1777 Philadelphia.

[Dr. Drib]

Currently reading "The Manse", by Lisa W. Cartwell. Pretty good so far, except for the high maintenance of one of the characters, what I term 'relationship relapse' that mars the story.

Bailed on good ol' Bronte's "Jane Eyre" after 100 pages. Like watching a turtle trying to catch a fly.

[db105]

The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein.

Since the novel starts in 1970 and then goes into the future, it's easy to forget that this was written in the 50s. Being written much before the computer era, and being set in the near future, which is actually our past now, it suffers from retrofuturism, like a lot of old science fiction. So of course expect no internet, no modern computers, no modern social values... So a modern reader has to be able to see beyond those obstacles in order to enjoy this fine story about time travel and the development of limited types of AI. In fairness to Heinlein, although he did not get the technological details right, the general idea about what kind of tasks AI can do is accurate.

Anyway, other than that, the story is interesting, very readable and fast-paced. It's told in first person by a very creative engineer, and it features industrial theft, various types of time travel, cats and a love story that is kind of creepy. There's a kind of optimism and charm in the way the main character is always inventing something, and cares much more about the creation process itself than about the business element. Being written during the early stage of Heinlein's career, the narration is tight and focused, and I enjoyed it, much more than his later work although it's not my favorite Heinlein novel.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up was Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood. The second of her Miss Phryne Fisher mystery novels set in 1920s Australia (Melbourne). Splendid stuff. I can't comment on the authenticity of the setting, but it works for me.

I agree, I was quite taken with the Phryne books. I've read the first 20 of them, and basically gave up hope that there would be more, but I see now that there is a brand new one, Death in Daylesford.

[kyrilson]

Originally Posted by db105

The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein.

Since the novel starts in 1970 and then goes into the future, it's easy to forget that this was written in the 50s. Being written much before the computer era, and being set in the near future, which is actually our past now, it suffers from retrofuturism, like a lot of old science fiction. So of course expect no internet, no modern computers, no modern social values... So a modern reader has to be able to see beyond those obstacles in order to enjoy this fine story about time travel and the development of limited types of AI. In fairness to Heinlein, although he did not get the technological details right, the general idea about what kind of tasks AI can do is accurate.

Anyway, other than that, the story is interesting, very readable and fast-paced. It's told in first person by a very creative engineer, and it features industrial theft, various types of time travel, cats and a love story that is kind of creepy. There's a kind of optimism and charm in the way the main character is always inventing something, and cares much more about the creation process itself than about the business element. Being written during the early stage of Heinlein's career, the narration is tight and focused, and I enjoyed it, much more than his later work although it's not my favorite Heinlein novel.

I love this book. This was my first Heinlein book, so perhaps that's why.