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

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I am now listening to Ragnarök: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt (from the Canongate series).

I think I will move on to JY Yang's novellas The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune on my Kobo.

I finished Ragnarök this morning and also listened to Jhumpa Lahiri read her short story "The Boundary" from the New Yorker Writer's Voice podcast.

Embarking on the audio of Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh now.

I expect to make a big dent in the Yang novellas this evening as it is a reading night with my wife.

[Dngrsone]

Finished The Road to Middle Earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology by Tom Shippey.

Not the most compelling read (it is, after all about writers writing), but I liked it. I am a quarter of the way through Planetfall by Emma Newman.

[latepaul]

Well I finished The Furthest Station so now I'm up to date on the Peter Grant books. I'm planning to start Three Men in a Boat next. It's partly because I think it'll be fun but also as pre-cursor to another book.

[PurpleStar]

I finished my re-read of A Is For Alibi by Sue Grafton. Will be reading a lot of those this year!!!! Next up I'm going to read Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Had it for who knows how many years, so it's about time I got to it.

[Dngrsone]

Finished Planetfall by Emma Newman.

Love this book. I mean, it was painful to read because the protagonist is suffering through mental illness the whole way through, but because of my own mental health issues (and me thinking, "there but for the Grace of God go I), it was a compelling and ultimately satisfying read.

It looks like Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is queued up next. We will see how that goes.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, something more grown-up, Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers. A freebie I picked up somewhere.

Not one of my favorite Wimsey novels. I was a little confused since there were two crimes committed and the going back and forth between them. The motive was weak and I dislike the reveal method. I believe she improved with each book afterwards. Rated C [3 stars]

I just noticed Hoopla now has Gerald Morris' Squire Tales so I'll start with the first, The Squire's Tale.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm starting on The Confession of Brother Haluin by Ellis Peters. The 15th brother Cadfael novel.

Which was a fun, quick read. I can't remember reading this one before (but perhaps I have). I certainly got to the answers a lot quicker than Brother Cadfael.

Next up: A Call To Vengence by David Weber. The third in his early Manticore navy series.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Well I finished The Furthest Station so now I'm up to date on the Peter Grant books. I'm planning to start Three Men in a Boat next. It's partly because I think it'll be fun but also as pre-cursor to another book.

I missed The Hanging Tree in that series. Is it worth going back? I was getting a little jaded with the series towards the end.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I missed The Hanging Tree in that series. Is it worth going back? I was getting a little jaded with the series towards the end.

I still enjoyed it but, here's the thing.

Spoiler:

The earlier books each had their own story and then you have little bits of the on-going story of the Faceless Man right?
(OK I suppose Moon Over Soho, where FM is introduced they are the same, but apart from that).
Well in this book I guess there's a separate story, but really a lot of the FM storyline is coming to the fore. Not only that but a lot of things about that storyline, new information, is still being introduced. So much so that it left my head spinning a little bit.

My based-on-nothing speculation is that Aaronovitch had a storyline for FM mapped out roughly in his head and was doling it out in bits in various books. Then at a certain point he realises that if he doesn't up the pace he'll be writing these books for the next 20 years. And maybe he wants to wrap it up sooner than that.

That said there were some well written sequences, a couple of new characters I enjoyed and some pretty badass magical action scenes. I still gave it a 4/5 on Goodreads.

[latepaul]

I've just finished Love May Fail by Matthew Quick (of Silver Linings Playbook fame). Not bad. Loses its way a bit toward the end I felt. Has a multiple pov structure and for my mind he could've lost at least one of those and pushed the relevant character into the background a bit more.

The said, one of the main characters is a High School English teacher with a liking for Albert Camus (after whom he names his dog). So my next read is The Outsider (aka The Stranger)

Edit:
In case anyone is apt to take my brief review as a recommendation I feel I ought to say that there is a brief sequence in Love May Fail which might be upsetting to animal lovers. I know some people care a lot about that sort of thing so, be warned.

[Dngrsone]

I ultimately gave up on Shatter Me. The premise was fine, and the plot was okay, but the first-person narrative of the main character was... well, the word that comes to mind is histrionic.

I mean, I understand that this is a YA book. But it's just a little too YA for this old guy at this point in time.

So I switched to a non-fic: Finding Zero by Amir D. Aczel. A much more satisfying and interesting read.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A Call To Vengence by David Weber. The third in his early Manticore navy series.

A fun space romp.

Next up: Deadly Election by Lindsey Davies. The third in her Flavia Alba series, which I bought recently when it was on special offer. (I had the fourth one already - I've been waiting to get this one for some time!)

[mewmartigan]

Just finished Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow Trilogy (Blood Song/Tower Lord/Queen of Fire).

They were quite good but reading books 2 and 3 back to back really shows how they shared the same story beats.

Might start The Night's Dawn trilogy next although its a bit daunting at about 1200 pages each. I have liked Peter F. Hamilton's other stuff though.

[bizzybody]

I'm finishing up the 8th and final book of the Breakers series by Edward W Robertson.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Nearly finished with my read of the Mercedes Lackey Griffon series. I just needed something to bury myself in, and it's working well.

Perfect of what it is. Not wonderful, but delivers on the promise. And what I needed for a bit.

Now reading Shattering the Ley, by Joseph Palmetier. Started well, but kind of fading as we go on. We'll see. Also re-reading The Old Man and the Sea for the New Leaf Book Club discussion starting Thursday.