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

[Fbone]

I finished Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs. A solid installment in the series with emotion-heavy non-stop action. Rated B (4 stars).

Then I completed Charon: A Dragon at the Gate by Jack L. Chalker. Enjoyed this. Chalker keeps us in suspense by giving us more clues, but I still can't figure out the final reveal. The final book in the series is a must read. Rated B (4 stars).

Next is Foundation by Mercedes Lackey.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett. Stories published under a pseudonym when working as a journalist on a local paper in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Which was delightful.

Then I read The Ministry of Time which was an OK time-travel story, but not really concerned with time-travel itself.

And I followed that by A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer. A romance which centres

Spoiler:

on the falling out of love of one of the protagonists.

Very good indeed.

Next up: TBD

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I followed that by A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer. A romance which centres

Spoiler:

on the falling out of love of one of the protagonists.

Very good indeed.

One of my favourites -- a delightful Heyer.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I followed that by A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer. A romance which centres

Spoiler:

on the falling out of love of one of the protagonists.

Very good indeed.

Next up: TBD

I decided to go straight on to the next Heyer: The Nonesuch

[Karellen]

Just finished The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Disliked it immensely.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I decided to go straight on to the next Heyer: The Nonesuch

Which was also splendid, if a more conventional romance.

Next up:
Back to the Bedroom by Janet Evanovich. A freebie I got back in 2010!

[issybird]

The good news is that I have about half a book to go to complete all my challenges for 2024. The icing on the cake is that it'll make my ten-best list.

And yet. I posted earlier that I'd like to clear the decks heading into 2025, so having finished one hanging book, I started... three more! That is not the way. And it probably means that I abandon the Trollope novel I'm reading as a false start, but I can live with that. As long as I finish everything else! I've got eight days until my Christmas company comes; I can't get any substantive reading done when they're here.

That said:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I followed that by A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer. A romance which centres

Spoiler:

on the falling out of love of one of the protagonists.

Very good indeed.

Originally Posted by CRussel

One of my favourites -- a delightful Heyer.

OK, I bit. I also started An Ordinary Youth by Walter Kempowski, a bildungsroman about growing up under Hitler. I'm liking it. And, The Reef Girl by Zane Grey as an audiobook which was recommended to me by a neighbor. It's awful. I've only ever read Riders of the Purple Sage by him and I did like that. But this is horribly written to the extent that when I read a review suggesting that Grey's wife finished it/wrote it (it was posthumously published and about 40 years later) I thought that was plausible. But I'll keep listening for now, as it kills the time when I've got insomnia.

[Uncle Robin]

I'm currently reading Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods, the first of her 48 Antony Maitland mystery novels. Dean Street Press has commenced a reissue with the first five, of which I've bought four. I'm enjoying it a lot, the second of two new to me series I've started as part of Dean Street December, the other being E. R. Punshon's Bobby Owen mysteries - the first of which I absolutely loved.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Back to the Bedroom by Janet Evanovich. A freebie I got back in 2010!

Which was a quick, light read.

Next up: E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton. A freebie from Fictionwise back in 2010.

From my ratings, I liked the first one, and the next were OK. If I don't really like this once, I'll probably abandon the series.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton. A freebie from Fictionwise back in 2010.

From my ratings, I liked the first one, and the next were OK. If I don't really like this once, I'll probably abandon the series.

I liked this one. I shall keep reading the others over time.

Next up: The Midnight Folk by John Masefield. The first of his novels about Kay Harker, the second being The Box of Delights.

This was a book of delights. Kay has amazing adventures, told in a most matter-of-fact way, while trying to discover where an old treasure is buried.

A really good fantasy story. I loved the way the fantastical elements just happen with no explanation given nor needed.

HIGHLY recommended! And it's in the public domain in USA. I read the UK version from Farshore/Egmont:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006O7DRL2/


Next up: The last of Agatha Christie's works, While the Light Lasts, a collection of short stories that had not previously been collected in book form. Published posthumously in 1997.

[drofgnal]

I'm about to finish the final Shannara quadrilogy. It's been good. I've got a Reacher Christmas Story, Christmas Scorpion to read next. Then it's on to Hello Beautiful, which I picked up for 1.99 at Amazon a while back. I'm toying with also maybe going to Day of the Jackal original book after seeing the Peacock series. I've never read the book, but I've seen the original movie.

[Renate]

I just finished re-reading "The Stechlin" ("Der Stechlin"), the last book from Theodor Fontane. It's a very good-natured book where nothing much happens.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Renate

I just finished re-reading "The Stechlin" ("Der Stechlin"), the last book from Theodor Fontane. It's a very good-natured book where nothing much happens.

I liked his Effi Briest and Irretrievable very much -- English translations, obviously. Unfortunately, I'm just coming up with an eye-popping price for a pbook translation of The Stechlin! But I'll root around a little more -- perhaps there's a contemporary translation in the public domain out there. Not my preference, but $40 (I'm not making this up) is nuts.

[DJUNGELSKOG]

I'm about to finish "Gardens of the moon". It was a PITA but it's still one of the best books that I've read this year, so I have no regrets

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The last of Agatha Christie's works, While the Light Lasts, a collection of short stories that had not previously been collected in book form. Published posthumously in 1997.

Which was OK. Interesting to see the a couple of origina short stories that were expended to novellas.

Next up: The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett. The expect cozy murder mystery

Now: Death on the Downs by Simon Brett. the second in this series.