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

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

So the exclamation point (AKA One-Click Spam Report) is a way to tell someone else that I made a mistake and they should fix it?

There has to be a better way.

That's one of the purposes.

The main purpose, as I see it, is to report the spammers and the -very, very few - Members who abuse or forget the rules of our Posting Guidelines.

Also, you can always PM one of us.

Ok - BACK TO THE THREAD.


Don
(Moderator)

[obs20]

I'm currently reading Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

This was my first month using ebooks. I read:

Becoming Charlemagne by Jeff Sypeck
Wolf Hall By Hillary Mantel
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Infinities by John Banville
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut

It really is a better way to read.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by obs20

I'm currently reading Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

This was my first month using ebooks. I read:

Becoming Charlemagne by Jeff Sypeck
Wolf Hall By Hillary Mantell
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Infinities by John Banville
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut

It really is a better way to read.

I was thinking of getting Wolf Hall, what did you think of it?

[obs20]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I was thinking of getting Wolf Hall, what did you think of it?

I really liked it. It's about all the political drama surrounding Henry VIII told from the point of view of the lowborn Thomas Cromwell. It seems that Henry chose Cromwell in part because he was a commoner. Henry felt he couldn't trust any nobility because they all had designs on the crown. Remember this is just a generation after The Wars of Roses.

I hope you enjoy it.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by obs20

I really liked it. It's about all the political drama surrounding Henry VIII told from the point of view of the lowborn Thomas Cromwell. It seems that Henry chose Cromwell in part because he was a commoner. Henry felt he couldn't trust any nobility because they all had designs on the crown. Remember this is just a generation after The Wars of Roses.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks obs - I think I will get it now. I'm reading Alison Weir's biography of the last 3 months of Anne Boleyn's life at the moment so I'm on a 16th Century history roll

Lots of Thomas Cromwell in that so it would be interesting to see it from that point of view (albeit fictional).

[obs20]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Thanks obs - I think I will get it now. I'm reading Alison Weir's biography of the last 3 months of Anne Boleyn's life at the moment so I'm on a 16th Century history roll

Thank you! I'm also on a similar roll. I'm going to have to search for that book now and put it in my queue.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by obs20

Thank you! I'm also on a similar roll. I'm going to have to search for that book now and put it in my queue.

It's actually called The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn. Hope you find it and enjoy it.

[Dreamnine]

Originally Posted by cassidym

How was it? I've read a lot of Sanford's Prey books. Does this compare well?

Very good, thrill-a-minute stuff with exciting, layered villains

He's one of my favourite crime-thriller writers.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now for something I bought back in January 2007, and apparently never got around to reading. Tigra by R. A. Leahy. Science Fiction, with an excellent set of ratings at Fictionwise.

Well, it turns out I did read it back in 2007, but it wasn't memorable enough for me to notice until half way through, or remember the ending.

And it doesn't really deserve the excellent rating at Fictionwise. I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough for the major story arc. Not worth anyone's time really, and I'm sorry I wasted time reading it again — another good reason to keep track of what I've read! I just hoped the ending would be good, and it wasn't really. It also left one big element hanging, just begging to be explained in a sequel or two. I haven't bothered looking to see if there are any.

It's surprising how much more I find to say about poor books, compared to books I really enjoy!

Now onto Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers, uploaded by Patricia (since all of Dorothy L. Sayer's work is out of copyright in canada).

The Lord Peter mailing list/Yahoo group is doing a re-read and discussion of the Lord Peter novels, so this seemed like a good time to read them.

[WT Sharpe]

Today I finished two books, both humor.

The first was Lamb by Christopher Moore. Lamb is a humorous take on the life and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth as recalled by his lifelong best friend, Biff. It's a really funny and engaging book, but obviously not for everyone; although it's not nearly as irreverent as one might be led to believe. The author appears to have done his homework but he does—as he admits—take some liberties with certain historical timelines for the sake of storytelling.

The second was Steve Allen’s Private Joke File by Steve Allen. Also a wonderful book to read, but a bit uneven. The first part began as a typical joke book, with the jokes listed by topic. The latter part of the book contains humorous essays by Allen along with some bits from his TV appearances; including material from when he was host of The Tonight Show. I found that part to be the most satisfying.

[Trebro]

In my case, I'm working slowly on Dracula (the original), which is much better than I expected. Got a few ebooks, some from MR folks, to work on after this one. Can't read as much as I want, because I'm working on moving.

-Rob

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Trebro

In my case, I'm working slowly on Dracula (the original), which is much better than I expected. Got a few ebooks, some from MR folks, to work on after this one. Can't read as much as I want, because I'm working on moving.

-Rob

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a masterpiece of mood. It is chilling to the bone!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Trebro

In my case, I'm working slowly on Dracula (the original), which is much better than I expected. Got a few ebooks, some from MR folks, to work on after this one. Can't read as much as I want, because I'm working on moving.

-Rob

If only life didn't get in the way of reading!

[kennyc]

I'm currently (re)reading a fascinating little essay by Loren Eiseley called "Little Men and Flying Saucers" from his book The Immense Journey which I just keep going back to and re-reading. An amazing collection ... certainly somewhat dated, but the writing is simply incredible. The man is a poet and master essayist!

I found an on-line version here: http://www.american-buddha.com/little.men.htm but I'd encourage anyone interested in science essays to get The Immense Journey. It's a classic. Please remember when you read this it was written well before the Space program began....in the early 50's

I came to re-reading it because I'm also reading "The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing" edited by Richard Dawkins. Please note that this book is mostly made up of excerpts from longer works and does not include entire articles which was somewhat disappointing to me. That book ends with two classic excerpts though. the Eiseley work mentioned above and Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I'm currently (re)reading a fascinating little essay by Loren Eiseley called "Little Men and Flying Saucers" from his book The Immense Journey which I just keep going back to and re-reading. An amazing collection ... certainly somewhat dated, but the writing is simply incredible. The man is a poet and master essayist!

I found an on-line version here: http://www.american-buddha.com/little.men.htm but I'd encourage anyone interested in science essays to get The Immense Journey. It's a classic.

I came to re-reading it because I'm also reading "The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing" edited by Richard Dawkins. Please note that this book is mostly made up of excerpts from longer works and does not include entire articles which was somewhat disappointing to me. That book ends with two classic excerpts though. the Eiseley work mentioned above and Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

I wish those two were available in Kindle editions.