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

[MickeyC]

Just finished The Burning Room by Michael Connelly and it was very hard to put down. Typical Connelly; very well written.

[HarryT]

Finished "Curtain", by Agatha Christie, originally published in 1975.

Christie wrote "Curtain" - the final "Poirot" novel - in around 1940, and stored it away in a bank vault to be published after her death, along with the corresponding final Miss Marple novel, "A Sleeping Murder". In the event it was actually published a few months before Christie died.

Captain Hastings is invited to Styles Court - the scene of his first encounter with Hercule Poirot - and now converted into a hotel, to meet up once again with his old friend. He finds Poirot crippled by arthritis, confined to a wheelchair, and on the point of death from heart failure. Poirot tells him that he has gone there to conduct his final investigation: to identify "X", a mystery man (or woman) who has committed at least five murders, undetected by the police, and whom he believes to be one of the other guests. Crippled as he now is, he wants Hastings to be his "eyes and ears" in the investigation.

A wonderful book, written at the height of Christie's powers. I don't mind admitting that I had a tear in my eye as I came to the end of it. I've read every one of the Poirot books, in order, over the last couple of years, and I feel a real sense of loss at having come to the end. Very highly recommended.

[LovesMacs]

To celebrate Halloween, I've been reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. I plan on reading one of the Northanger Horrid novels next.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Shining Steel by Lawrence Watt-Evans. One of his stand-alones, as far as I know.

A story of a 'lost' colony of religious fanatics, from the viewpoint of one of the fanatics. It was OK, but not great.

Next up: The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures edited by Mike Ashley. I picked this up last December for £0.99. So far, it's very good indeed.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures edited by Mike Ashley. I picked this up last December for £0.99. So far, it's very good indeed.

I have about a dozen of the "Mammoth Book of <something>" series. They are all very good. I think I've picked them all up in Amazon sales over the years.

[DrNefario]

I finished Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes yesterday. (The U.S. title is Seven Suspects, I discovered.) A ludicrously over-complicated golden age murder mystery, but reasonably enjoyable all the same. It just lacks the easy readability of an Agatha Christie, and the more golden age crime I read, the more obvious it becomes why she is the Queen of Crime.

I've started Malice by John Gwynne now, which so far is looking like one of the most traditional fantasy epics I've read in some time. I'm predicting that the blacksmith's son will come into some kind of power. I'm enjoying it so far, though. Sometimes that's just what you want.

[mewmartigan]

Just finished Cauldron of Ghosts by Weber and Flint. I wonder if this is the end of this particular Honorverse offshoot as it has pretty well meshed into the main storyline by now. The previous books were more like back story or side story stuff but this one seemed to begin to collide with the main line story.

Up next, The Bonehunters, book 6 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Key Out of Time", by Andre Norton, the fourth and final book in her "Time Traders" series, and the second half of Baen's "Time Traders II" omnibus which I bought in around 2001.

...Meanwhile, Murdock is trapped in the ancient past of the water world of Hawaika, facing terrifying wizards in a kingdom he knows will soon be utterly annihilated by an alien empire that is bent on the conquest of the entire galaxy.

Pretty good - I enjoyed this book probably the most of any of the books in the series. Recommended.

[benham]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Burning Room by Michael Connelly and it was very hard to put down. Typical Connelly; very well written.

I am reading that one now.

[bfisher]

Finished Ben Aaronovitch's PC Peter Grant #3 "Whispers Under Ground". The series just keeps getting better and better. Just starting #4 "Broken Homes".

[Apache]

Originally Posted by bfisher

Finished Ben Aaronovitch's PC Peter Grant #3 "Whispers Under Ground". The series just keeps getting better and better. Just starting #4 "Broken Homes".

Number 5, Foxglove Summer, is available 11/13/2014 from Amazon UK. It will not be available until January 6, 2015 from Amazon USA.
Apache

[covingtoncat73]

Well, I finished Goblin Emperor, best fantasy-fantasy I've read in quite some time (just a note: I don't consider Magician's Land or Ocean at the End of the Lane to be fantasy-fantasy). Anyway, it was The Last Emperor meets Labyrinth.

I then read in quick order, The Wrong Shade of Yellow by Margaret Eleanor Leigh, a fun little memoir about a woman's mid-life-crisis bicycle ride across Europe to Greece.

Now, I'm reading King's Revival, which is quite a good King novel so far. I'm 20% in. A good King novel, well under 500 page long? Shut up and take my money!

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by benham

I am reading that one now.

Be sure and let us know what you think.

[bizzybody]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Key Out of Time", by Andre Norton, the fourth and final book in her "Time Traders" series, and the second half of Baen's "Time Traders II" omnibus which I bought in around 2001.

One thing she did in a lot of her books, especially ones involving the Forerunners, was people find ancient computer/city/whatever, explore it a bit, then something happens to destroy it.

I read most of Andre Norton's books years ago, I should find a list of them to see which ones I need to read.

[CRussel]

I'm taking a quick break from re-reading the full Foreigner series (I'm on #13, Intruder) to read The Many Deaths of Joe Buckley, a delightful little collection of all the many ways that Baen authors over the years have killed off Joe Buckley.

As the Baen site says: All proceeds from this collection will support two charities near and dear to our hearts, both founded, supported, and run by Baen readers: Operation Baen Bulk, which sends books, ereaders, and other supplies to our men and women in uniform, and ReadAssist, which allows disabled readers free access to Baen ebooks.

Further description:

Spoiler:

Who is the mysterious Joe Buckley, and why does he meet so many unfortunate ends in various Baen books?

Joe Buckley is simultaneously a real person and an unlucky figment of numerous Baen authors' imaginations. He's been drowned, shot, stabbed, turned into a werewolf, eaten by a shark, and put through a snow blower and had his atomized remains spewed into the air, just to name a few. He's been spindled, folded, mutilated, blown up, and autopsied.

Now for the first time we have compiled the many instances of Buckley meeting a bad end, with introductions by the dastardly authors--and one artist--who did him in. Find out who killed him first and why, and how the tradition grew. With bonus material: "The Buckley Alphabet" by Sarah Hoyt's Dinerzens, and a filk song, "The Twelve Days of Battle" (to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas).

So far, I'm quite enjoying it, as various authors over the years have tried to come up with new and ever more horrible ways to kill off poor Joe Buckley. If you've ever read a Baen book or two, by all means give it a try. It's only $2.99, and for a very good cause.