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

[Graham44]

Just finished The Way Up is Death - written by Dan Hanks, published by Angry Robot Publishing ( you can purchase their books directly from their website).

The blurb: " When a mysterious tower appears in the skies over England, thirteen strangers are pulled from their lives to stand before it as a countdown begins. Above the doorway is one word: ASCEND. "

The thirteen soon discover it's a game, you have to work your way through each level of the tower before you can ascend to the next, but each level has a price that needs to be paid and what will they find at the top?

This could so easily have been just another adventure/ horror book being churned out but it turned out to be so much more, you end up really caring about the characters (or not) and the ending - even though you get to understand what is going to happen - is really well written. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and was genuinely sad to reach the end, I can see this will be one that I re-read many times to come. Can definitely recommend it!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was good, and reaches some resolutions and revelations. And is the end of the first half of this series! Wow.

Next I read The Beast of Littleton Woods by T E Kinsey, the 12th and latest in his Lady Hardcastle series. A fun read.

Next up: Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley. A biography. Good so far.

I forgot I also read A Blink of the Screen, A collection of Terry Pratchett's short fiction from 2012.

The Agatha Christie biography was fascinating. Very good indeed.

Then I read Something Blue by Emma Jamesdon, the third in her Lord & Lady Hetheridge mystery series. A light mystery/romance. I'm not so found of a recurring villain that seems to be on the go, but they're still fun.

And now I'm reading Platinum Pohl. A collection of his shorter works. All brilliant so far, as expected.

[sydmalicious]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Currently reading Patriot Games by Tom Clancy

Oooooh I might like this. I loved the video games based on some of his work, like the Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six series.

How are you liking it?

[sydmalicious]

I'm finally reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I was in the hospital for a while and someone brought in books for me to read. I sped through the first book in record time for me, like, a day and a half. I couldn't put it down. It was the first book in a long time that didn't feel like a slog to get through.

I will say that the Swedish translation of the book can have clunky wording that make some of the book hard to follow and therefore hard to believe some of the stuff that happens. Otherwise it was good.

The ending with Lisbeth on the motorcycle riding outside of the city felt rushed. In any case, I am going to start the second one tonight.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by sydmalicious

I will say that the Swedish translation of the book can have clunky wording

Swedish translation? I thought it was originally written in Swedish? Three years before the English translation according to the always infallible Wikipedia

[Karellen]

Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
I purchased this when the movie came out but never read it.
I'm not a fan of fantasy, but am somewhat enjoying it. Not enough, though, to read the other four books in the series.

[drofgnal]

I'm still in the Chronicles of Kings Series by Austin. I'm in Book 4 and nearing the end of that. Manasseh is off the rails. Enjoying this series an awful lot. Next up after book 5 is Table for Two by Towles or Familiaris by Wroblewski (sequel or prequel to Edgar Sawtell)

[Uncle Robin]

I'm currrently 13% into The Harvill Book of Twentieth-Century Poetry in English collated and edited by Michael Schmidt. At over 1400 pages it's one of the biggest and most expensive Kobo purchases I've made but I'm loving the exposure to poets I didn't know and I'm especially enjoying reading along as I play videos of some of them being read or performed on YouTube. This was the most recent one I watched, and I really enjoyed the presentation.

[sydmalicious]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Swedish translation? I thought it was originally written in Swedish? Three years before the English translation according to the always infallible Wikipedia

It was. But they translated it from Swedish to English, which is the version I read.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by sydmalicious

It was. But they translated it from Swedish to English, which is the version I read.

Ah, so when you said SWEDISH translation, you meane ENGLISH translation. Thanks for clarifying

[sydmalicious]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Ah, so when you said SWEDISH translation, you meane ENGLISH translation. Thanks for clarifying

Yep, that's what I meant.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm reading Platinum Pohl. A collection of his shorter works. All brilliant so far, as expected.

It was great. A good showcase of his talent.

Next was Witness as the Wedding, the sixth in Simon Brett's Fethering mysteries. The expected cosy murder mystery.

A Liaden Universe® Cosellation 5 was next. Another collection of short shorties by Lee & Miller set in their Liaden universe. Excellent.

Then a book group book: The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy.

The best thing I can say about it is that it was short. I found the poems to be trite. Not the excellent feminist reimagining of classic stories that I'd expected.

Now reading: Guilt by Definition by Susie Dent. A first novel, with a mystery in and around a thinly disguised Oxford English Dicionary.

[astrangerhere]

I'm slowly reading Between Friends: The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy, 1949-1975 and Mary McCarthy's The Group as a companion piece.

[drofgnal]

I just finished the 5 books of Lynn Austin's The Chronicles of King's Series. A good telling of the story of kings of Judah Ahaz, Hezikiah, and Manneseh. I thoroughly enjoyed the books. Up next? I'm not sure.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now reading: Guilt by Definition by Susie Dent. A first novel, with a mystery in and around a thinly disguised Oxford English Dictionary.

Which was fun. The changes in point of view were occasionally confusing. And sometimes it wasn't as compelling as I'd have expected. But overall, a good story and I enjoyed it.

Next up: The Way Home by Peter S Beagle. Two novellas in his Last Unicorn universe.