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

[haertig]

I am finally reading a series I never got around to when it was popular. Harry Potter. I'm on the third book now. They are kind of fun to read. Quick, easy reads, targeted at the younger folk. But I hear they get longer and more mature as you get further along in the series. I have no trouble reading young adult books if I'm in the mood. Sometimes it is relaxing to just read for fun without having to think too hard about what you're reading. Just enjoy the ride, don't analyse it.

So far I'm having a good time reading these books, and I'm probably about as old as Albus Dumbledore myself.

[Aleron Ives]

Yes, the books get more complex. Harry grew up alongside the kids who were reading about him. Did you get the UK originals or the US versions? I remember reading some of the US versions at the time, and the localisation was terrible. It would say trainers on one page, and sneakers on the next, then jumper on one page, and sweater on the next. Whoever adapted it had no idea how to use "Find & Replace", apparently.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Did you get the UK originals or the US versions?

I am pretty sure they must be the US versions. I am reading eBooks checked out of my local (USA) library. But I don't recall any mention of "trainers" of "jumpers" in the books yet. I would have probably noticed that, because I would not have known what these words meant, except when given context (like in you post, where I learned that they mean "sneakers" and "sweater"). If I read an isolated sentence, "Hand me my trainers", I would not have known what they were talking about. I probably would have guessed sporting goods of some type, but other than that, I would have been clueless.

[Bookstooge]

Just finished up Seal Team 13: Liberation yesterday. Evan Currie has disappointed me for the last time I think.

[Dr. Drib]

Currently reading "Memories of my Melancholy Whores", by Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Bookstooge

Just finished up Seal Team 13: Liberation yesterday. Evan Currie has disappointed me for the last time I think.

It's hard, but sometimes you just need to let an author go. Occasionally, you can circle back a few years later, skipping a couple of them, and they will have recovered. But all too often not.

[Bookstooge]

Originally Posted by CRussel

It's hard, but sometimes you just need to let an author go. Occasionally, you can circle back a few years later, skipping a couple of them, and they will have recovered. But all too often not.

Yeah, I was big into his Odyssey One and Scourwind Legacy series, both which he's treated as a "when I feel like it' project. And Scourwind appears totally dead in the water. But letting go can be hard sometimes :/

[db105]

Originally Posted by haertig

I am pretty sure they must be the US versions.

It's pretty easy to check: If the first book is called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", you are reading the original UK version. If it's called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" you are reading the US version. Apart from the insulting assumption that American readers can't handle the word "philosopher", the differences are minor, just some words changed to the American version and things like that.

[Dazrin]

A friend recommended I try The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong about a year ago and, although it is not a genre I have ever considered before, I didn't have anything else to listen to on a couple road trips this week and it was immediately available from the library.

Wow, I'm glad I he recommended it and I actually listened.

This is a wuxia novel, a Chinese genre based on martial arts and adventure, think of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and you have a decent idea of what this could be. The first volume of this is A Hero Born, the first of 4 parts translated from the original serial novel.

After listening to it, I tried to read some on my Kindle directly and am very glad I listened to the audiobook instead. I doubt I would have made it past the first chapter if I was reading it; I don't have a good grasp of how to pronounce many of the names which would have caused me endless frustration.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Originally Posted by CRussel

Oh, my. I haven't read that in at least 45 years. I'll be curious to see how well you think it holds up.

I found it very slow going, not helped by the fact that I knew the major plot points, so there was little to no tension. The constant flashbacks to earlier points in their careers also didn't help me. I eventually abandoned it.

Then I read, very quickly, Skyward, Starsight and Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson. Good, fun YA SF.

And then I read The Farthest Shore, which held up very well.

And now it's Lightspeed Magazine #12 from April 2011.

[Tarana]

Currently reading Minute for Murder by Nicholas Blake. Nigel Strangeways series. This specific book is focused on a murder occurring during WW2 in the war offices in England. Very good so far. A long lead time to the actual murder and a lot of jargon, but enjoy the story. At bedtime, I'm reading M.A.S.H. by Richard Hooker which was recently on sale. Story moves well. Familiar plot, of course. What I didn't know was that this book was based on the author's personal experiences as a surgeon in a M.A.S.H. unit in Korea. That is cool.

Paul, I know you use the randomizer in Calibre to pick out books. Do you just run it and run again if you hit on a book you have already read? What if it is part of a series? Just wondering.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now it's Lightspeed Magazine #12 from April 2011.

Good SF short stories.

And now onto The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton. Second in a trilogy. I read the first one about a year ago, when I said:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

4/5 from me. I'm not going to move on to the second volume just yet, I think I need a week or two's break.

. Let's see how long I take to get back into the story!

[astrangerhere]

I'm reading Florian Illies 1913: The Year Before the Storm. It's been on my TBR for a while, and I like nonfiction in the fall and winter. I know he wrote a followup, but I don't think its been translated into English.

And because he is mentioned so much in 1913, I pulled a newish book off of our bookshelves to go with it - Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet: A New Translation and Commentary. This is the first time the letters have been translated by women. My wife loves Rilke, so when the new translation came out earlier this year, I picked it up for her. This will complete my "books recommended by my wife" challenge for the year.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio & Kaja Foglio

Great continuation in the series. Mechanicsburg is one crazy ... yet awesome ... city. And the inhabitants are a hoot. All so fascinating! The authors creativity makes me think they are a "construct". I hope there is a book #5! Rated B [4 stars].

Next, I'll finish up the Scholomance trilogy with Naomi Novik's Golden Enclaves.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Great continuation in the series. Mechanicsburg is one crazy ... yet awesome ... city. And the inhabitants are a hoot. All so fascinating! The authors creativity makes me think they are a "construct". I hope there is a book #5! Rated B [4 stars].

I've had the first book in that series since 2012, it's probably time for me to read it. I think my two older kids would enjoy it too from the description.