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

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You've led a sheltered life, Jon .

Or he has FAR better taste in reading material!!

There's like and dislike with personal opinion involved and then there's just poor writing. That drivel is just poor writing! *shudders*

[carld]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Until now, I've never read the words...

50 Shades of Grey and excited in the same sentence.

I thought "excited" was the whole point of those books.

[pholy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Until now, I've never read the words...

50 Shades of Grey and excited in the same sentence.

Originally Posted by carld

I thought "excited" was the whole point of those books.

My thought exactly!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You've led a sheltered life, Jon .

The subject matter when done correct is exciting. But the way it's don in 50 Shades of Grey is anything but exciting.

[WT Sharpe]

I haven't read 50 Shades, but I do know that Jon is far from alone in that opinion. I've heard others make the comment that the book is less than stimulating.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was an OK edition, but nothing stood out for me.

Next I did something very unusual. I bought a book. You know - one made of cardboard and paper. In fact, a second-hand hardback of Silks by Dick Francis et al. for 30p ($0.50). While the ebook would have cost me £4.99 ($8).

I read it quickly. An average Dick Francis novel. Perhaps it's a bit harsh to say so, but almost a parody of a Dick Francis novel.

I would agree, it's more a parody than the real thing. Not at all satisfying.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Started Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. This is a re-read, but I decided to go right back to the start of this story arc in preparation for Dragon Ship which just released. (I read it as an eArc, but the final is now out. )

All of Lee&Miller's Liaden books are also due to be available on Audible on September 4th, but I don't have enough credits to get them all, so I'll settle for reading the Theo Waitley series and listening to the others.

Finished Fledgling, and now finished Saltation. Next up Ghost Ship I'm glad I did the re-read, I'm picking up stuff that I'd missed completely the first time through.

[Joy736]

I'm reading the first book in the Twilight-series and I totally love it! It might become my all-time favourite. I hope the rest of the series is just as good. Can't wait to find out.

[xg4bx]

The Remaining: Aftermath by DJ Molles. It's a zombie series.

"Nothing has gone according to plan.

To Captain Lee Harden, Project Hometown feels like a distant dream and the completion of his mission seems unattainable.

Wounded and weaponless, he has stumbled upon a group of survivors that seems willing to help. But a tragedy in the group causes a deep rift to come to light and forces him into action. In the chaos of the world outside, Lee is pursued by a new threat: someone who will stop at nothing to get what he has."

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Currently reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. I didn't realize it was written in 1994. Did it suddenly experience a resurgence?

Well, that one is over with. The ending was unoriginal and dull. Perhaps, Laurie R. King improves in her following books. Disappointing C- [3 stars].

[LucyLu]

Finished "Kindred" by Octavia Butler, a fantastic tale of time travel and history. Even though "Kindred" can be technically classified as sci-fi, it is a genre-bending novel that also incorporates elements of historical fiction blended perfectly by the author to thoroughly engross the reader in the story without going into distracting detail of the sci-fi component.

"Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is abruptly snatched from her home in California and transported to the ante-bellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, has summoned her across time to save him from drowning. After this first summons, she is drawn back, again and again, to protect Rufus and ensure he will grow to manhood and father the daughter who will become Dana’s ancestor. "

"Kindred" is a deeply disturbing book on multiple levels nevertheless it manages to challenge readers to think beyond the surface level.

Highly recommended.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Opening Night" (also published as "Night at the Vulcan") by Ngaio Marsh, the 16th book in the "Inspector Alleyn" series. Set, like so many of her other books, in the world of the theatre, in this book an actor dies on the opening night of a new play. Was it suicide or murder? Alleyn has to decide.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one (although I did guess the solution relatively early on in the book). It's not the murder that really "matters" with Ngaio Marsh's books, but the wonderful characters that she evokes, and this book is no exception to that. A complete contrast to the 2-dimensional "stock" characters one tends to find in so many of Agatha Christie's novels.

Highly recommended. Nothing too taxing here, but thoroughly enjoyable. One of the nice things about the Alleyn series is that it's not "frozen in time", and in this book, published in 1951, we see the reintroduction, as a young man, of a character we encountered as a child in the 1940 novel "Surfeit of Lampreys".

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next I did something very unusual. I bought a book. You know - one made of cardboard and paper. In fact, a second-hand hardback of Silks by Dick Francis et al. for 30p ($0.50). While the ebook would have cost me £4.99 ($8).

I read it quickly. An average Dick Francis novel. Perhaps it's a bit harsh to say so, but almost a parody of a Dick Francis novel.

Originally Posted by CRussel

I would agree, it's more a parody than the real thing. Not at all satisfying.

The books written by/with his son are slimy. The misogyny is ramped up in some attempt to mimic the period feel of earlier books and they completely lack the charm of Dick Francis' own books.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Opening Night" (also published as "Night at the Vulcan") by Ngaio Marsh, the 16th book in the "Inspector Alleyn" series. Set, like so many of her other books, in the world of the theatre, in this book an actor dies on the opening night of a new play. Was it suicide or murder? Alleyn has to decide.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one (although I did guess the solution relatively early on in the book). It's not the murder that really "matters" with Ngaio Marsh's books, but the wonderful characters that she evokes, and this book is no exception to that. A complete contrast to the 2-dimensional "stock" characters one tends to find in so many of Agatha Christie's novels.

Highly recommended. Nothing too taxing here, but thoroughly enjoyable. One of the nice things about the Alleyn series is that it's not "frozen in time", and in this book, published in 1951, we see the reintroduction, as a young man, of a character we encountered as a child in the 1940 novel "Surfeit of Lampreys".

I agree, I've enjoyed the Alleyn books a great deal. (There are also excellent Audible versions, BTW.) The characters develop over time, and are actually more than simple flat, 2-dimensional entities. I'm thinking it must be close to time to go back through them again.

[Kindoll]

Originally Posted by orlok

You are in for a treat. Have fun.

Thanks, I haven't had much time to read over the holiday weekend but am going to get a few hours in tonight.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: Skeleton Dance by Aaron Elkins

This is the last of the Gideon Oliver novels I bought in a Fictionwise sale back in April.

And another good tale it was too. A most enjoyable series of mystery stories.

Next up: Sunsinger by Michelle Levigne.

This one has been in my TBR pile since August 2004! Most unusually, I can't find my receipt from fictionwise for this book (and three others obviously bought at the same time). It will be interesting to see if Fictionwise can turn up a record at their end for me. So I'm not sure how much I paid for this one, or even whether it was a freebie.