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

[astrangerhere]

Finished up Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death around 2:00 am last night. I was rushing through it so I could return it to the library. There are tons of holds on it. As it was, I waited 3 months to get it.

I also finished up CJ Sansom's third Shardlake novel Sovereign.

I think I will intersperse Dumas with Malka Older's Infomocracy. It's been on my TBR since its publication (when it was an impulse buy that I didn't immediately read - for shame!). I heard Older on NPR in her professional capacity as a disaster data researcher last week, and it reminded me of it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A freebie: The King's Justice. Set in 1176, during the rule of Henry II*. Looking good so far.

And it was good. A complete story, and I've added the next one in the series to my wishlist. An interesting look at late 12th century jurisprudence, with two interesting characters.

Next up: Nimisha's Ship by Anne McCaffrey

Not a lot of peril so far...

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I'm reading the 3 musketeers as well, and it's a reread!

I'm also reading The Three Musketeers, for the third time in my life.

The first time I read an abridged children's version. I read the full version about forty years ago. Reading it now, I feel that I'm really reading it for the first time.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I'm also reading The Three Musketeers, for the third time in my life.

The first time I read an abridged children's version. I read the full version about forty years ago. Reading it now, I feel that I'm really reading it for the first time.

Of course! 40 years is a lot of time. I wish I could live long enough to have 40 years of reading.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I'm also reading The Three Musketeers, for the third time in my life.

The first time I read an abridged children's version. I read the full version about forty years ago. Reading it now, I feel that I'm really reading it for the first time.

I frequently find that it's a revelation when I read a book that I last read in adolescence or early adulthood. I bring so much more to it now, in both understanding and appreciation of context.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I frequently find that it's a revelation when I read a book that I last read in adolescence or early adulthood. I bring so much more to it now, in both understanding and appreciation of context.

Indeed. Of course it goes both ways -- some of my old favourites haven't really stood the test of time. Perhaps the books really haven't aged well. Or, in many cases, my perception of them has changed and not for the better. But others have become so much more. (FWIW, our March selection, The Old Man and the Sea, was that way. When I read it in the 60's I was "yeah, OK. Good book." But when I read it a couple of years ago when it went PD in Canada, I could now see both the technical expertise and the poignancy in ways I really had no clue about in my youth!)

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by issybird

I frequently find that it's a revelation when I read a book that I last read in adolescence or early adulthood. I bring so much more to it now, in both understanding and appreciation of context.

Yes, the experience of reading is a fusion of our self with the author's creation; it will be a somewhat different experience for every reader, and since our selves may evolve, it is possible to have a radically different experience on a re-read.

That's the value of a good book club. Having a conversation with someone who had a different experience can modify your own experience.

I was just reading something like that in Ursula K. Le Guin : conversations on writing - Ursula K. Le Guin interviewed by David Naimon, where she describes the experience of a good book interview:
"It’s a conversation between people who have thought about what they’re talking about, and are thinking about it now in the light of what the other person is saying. This leads each of them to say things that they may be just discovering. They may not agree, may even have quite fundamental disagreements, but such differences, spoken and answered without belligerence, can take the conversation to a high level of intensity and honesty."

[Bookpossum]

What a great quote, bfisher. I'm a great admirer of Ursula Le Guin, and that's a good example of the way she thought and expressed herself.

I can't send you any karma at the moment, so here's a cheer squad for you instead.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

What a great quote, bfisher. I'm a great admirer of Ursula Le Guin, and that's a good example of the way she thought and expressed herself.

I can't send you any karma at the moment, so here's a cheer squad for you instead.

I can't either right now, so another cheer squad appears to be in order...

[PurpleStar]

I finally finished Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia. It was long, but fun!

I'm in the mood for Star Trek now and I picked Q-Squared by Peter David (re-read). Purchased at Kobo for regular price!

[RobertLCollins]

Yesterday evening I finished Waistcoats & Weaponry, the third book in Gail Carriger's "Finishing School" series. Lots of fun! I liked how the plot moved in one direction, then ramped up and took a turn in the last quarter of the book. The characters are great as well. I hope to start on the last book in the series this weekend.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Nimisha's Ship by Anne McCaffrey

Not a lot of peril so far...

Indeed, no real peril for the main characters anywhere. What minor peril there was, was easily avoided. It would have been a much better story following some of the other characters, IMO.

Spoiler:

And the incredibly cavalier treatment of the actual natives of the planet was astonishingly never explored.

Most disappointing.

I'm now in the middle of reading "A Talent to Amuse", Sheridan Morley's biography of Noel Coward. It really only covers his professional life, but it does that in an amusing way.

I'm also starting Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey. Another purchase from the Fictionwise days.

[Fbone]

Finished The Harbors of the Sun by Martha Wells. I believe this is the final book in the Raksura series. Didn't enjoy it. Too much wandering to keep my interest. Everyone seemed to be searching, running or waiting. The ending was quick and uneventful. I feel the series went downhill after the first book. Rated C- [2 stars].

Next TBD.

[HLS]

I am reading Salem's Lot and OMG it is good. Better than I imagined! I am about 60% into the book

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I am reading Salem's Lot and OMG it is good. Better than I imagined! I am about 60% into the book

I'll have to seriously think about reading it soonest.