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

[jgaiser]

First chapter is available on NYT book site. Turned up in top links when I googled title.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I'm reading a book that is very surprising. "The Book of Adam: Autobiography of the First Human Clone". It is hard scifi wrapped in a very human story. It is one of the discount books that Karen (Koland) does such a great job with in the "Kindle Freebies" thread. I got it free at iBooks just because I prefer the reading app. It's probably the same everywhere else as well

Finished it, loved it, highly recommend it.

Now I'm starting another book that is an old story but told from a unique perspective. It is The Last Days of Jericho by Thomas Brookside. I got it for the Kindle app because it is one of the freebies in the "Deals for Kindle" thread. It is a look at the fall of Jericho from the inside. I think it might be good.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Finished it, loved it, highly recommend it.

Thanks for the recommendation -- I just downloaded "The Book of Adam," after reading the sample on Amazon. It looks good. Also -- DRM free.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by bjones6416

Thanks for the recommendation -- I just downloaded "The Book of Adam," after reading the sample on Amazon. It looks good. Also -- DRM free.

Great! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Great! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm pretty sure I will -- the sample made me think of the Durona Group in the Vorkosigan books, a family with multiple identical clones who have very distinct personalities. One of the Duronas has a key role in the new book, "Cryoburn."

[Trebro]

Just finished Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Her writing is as sharp as ever, with that wandering narrative style that I've come to associate with her. The book is definitely science fiction, as she takes pains to make the future world seem real to the reader, though the science is of course, soft.

I thought the book was excellent, and I highly recommend it to fans of dystopian futures and character studies, which are the two main features of the book. This is a very cool take on the idea of being the last man on earth (sorta), as our protagonist is not the fellow you'd pick out of a lineup for the job.

Next up, since I'm alternating well known author with Smashwords author, is none other than Maisy May. I hear that one's not bad.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Just finished Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Her writing is as sharp as ever, with that wandering narrative style that I've come to associate with her. The book is definitely science fiction, as she takes pains to make the future world seem real to the reader, though the science is of course, soft.

Apparently Atwood doesn't like the idea of people thinking it's science fiction.

http://www.ansible.co.uk/sfx/sfx107.html
"Atwood prefers to say that she writes speculative fiction – a term coined by SF man Robert A. Heinlein. As she told the Guardian, "Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen.""

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Just finished Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Her writing is as sharp as ever, with that wandering narrative style that I've come to associate with her. The book is definitely science fiction, as she takes pains to make the future world seem real to the reader, though the science is of course, soft.

I thought the book was excellent, and I highly recommend it to fans of dystopian futures and character studies, which are the two main features of the book. This is a very cool take on the idea of being the last man on earth (sorta), as our protagonist is not the fellow you'd pick out of a lineup for the job.

.....

Excellent book as is The Year of the Flood -- the sequel!

[Libby Cone]

[QUOTE=Trebro;1051130]Just finished Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Her writing is as sharp as ever, with that wandering narrative style that I've come to associate with her.

I read Oryx and Crake several years ago, and still remember the power of the evil guy, and how the lines he spelled out with his refrigerator magnets became increasingly foreboding. I couldn't find my copy, and wanted to read The Year of the Flood, so I ordered both.

I'm 3/4 way through Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson; it's awesome!

[carld]

I've tried to read Oryx and Crake twice now and just can't get into the writing style. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough?

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Just finished Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Her writing is as sharp as ever, with that wandering narrative style that I've come to associate with her.

I read Oryx and Crake several years ago, and still remember the power of the evil guy, and how the lines he spelled out with his refrigerator magnets became increasingly foreboding. I couldn't find my copy, and wanted to read The Year of the Flood, so I ordered both.

I'm 3/4 way through Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson; it's awesome!

It sounds awesome! I just "Told the Publisher I’d like to read this book on Kindle!"

From Publishers Weekly:
.....In this unsettling, shimmering novel, the reader is immediately drawn into the world of a woman who has gone mad because she is the last surviving creature on earth. Sitting at a typewriter in a beach house day after uncharted day she keeps no calendar or clocks she pours out her thoughts on music, art and ancient Greek legends, and remembrances of her travels across the globe in abandoned cars, looking for other living beings. But after a while, some discrepancies creep into her rambling, compelling monologue: an accident that she first says took place in New York now occurs in Leningrad; memories become distorted by imaginings. Were they ever really memories in the first place? By the end of this seamless stream of consciousness, there is no distinction between fantasy and reality, past and present. Markson (The Ballad of Dingus Magee) keeps the reader off balance and finally unsure of even the foundation of his character's madness perhaps she is alone only because she believes she is.
.....Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

I don't read much fiction, but if this ever become available as an ebook, I hope someone will let me know. It sounds fascinating as all get-out!

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

It sounds awesome! I just "Told the Publisher I’d like to read this book on Kindle!"

From Publishers Weekly:
.....In this unsettling, shimmering novel, the reader is immediately drawn into the world of a woman who has gone mad because she is the last surviving creature on earth. Sitting at a typewriter in a beach house day after uncharted day she keeps no calendar or clocks she pours out her thoughts on music, art and ancient Greek legends, and remembrances of her travels across the globe in abandoned cars, looking for other living beings. But after a while, some discrepancies creep into her rambling, compelling monologue: an accident that she first says took place in New York now occurs in Leningrad; memories become distorted by imaginings. Were they ever really memories in the first place? By the end of this seamless stream of consciousness, there is no distinction between fantasy and reality, past and present. Markson (The Ballad of Dingus Magee) keeps the reader off balance and finally unsure of even the foundation of his character's madness perhaps she is alone only because she believes she is.
.....Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

I don't read much fiction, but if this ever become available as an ebook, I hope someone will let me know. It sounds fascinating as all get-out!

Yes, it does sound interesting, but apparently none of this author's books are available in e-form, except one, only in the Sony store, according to addall.

The reviews at Librarything are interesting, hard to say whether I would like his works or not, but I will look out for an opportunity to sample them.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Yes, it does sound interesting, but apparently none of this author's books are available in e-form, except one, only in the Sony store, according to addall.

The reviews at Librarything are interesting, hard to say whether I would like his works or not, but I will look out for an opportunity to sample them.

I wonder if David Markson has a thing against ebooks, like Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife)?

[HithNibth]

I've got a couple of books on the go just now. Paul O Grady's - "At My Mothers Knee and other low joints". and Margery Allingam's "Sweet Danger."

Paul O'Grady's Autobiographical series is easy and fun to read.

I'm also a great Albert Campion fan and love Margaret Allingham's writing style. Her books have really "Got the doings".

Bri

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I wonder if David Markson has a thing against ebooks, like Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife)?

I think Niffenegger has a thing for expecting to get paid for every person that reads her book. She said reading her novel in paper as a book was the way it was meant to be consumed.

(Oh, and getting that money to make it into a movie was nice too.)

Personally, the expectation that not having an official ebook version will keep protect a copyright is naive. Although sharing books has been allowed for every... at least paper books.

BOb