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

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I am also listening to the second in the Barchester Chronicles - Barchester Towers.

Finished this yesterday whilst cleaning house. I will be taking a break before moving on to the third book. I did, however, appreciate a reference to one of the characters coming home and reading the latest installment of Little Dorrit in the daily paper.

[MickeyC]

Just finished C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. Typically good read.

And just started John Le Carre's new ( Yes, new!) novel, A Legacy of Spies and, although I'm only three chapters into it, it, so far, is as good as his original books.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. Typically good read.

You've a long road ahead of you . I'm part-way through Y is for Yesterday .

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by orlok

You've a long road ahead of you . I'm part-way through Y is for Yesterday .

I got bored and bogged down somewhere in the middle -- L or M, I don't remember which. I hear they got better again, but I'd lost interest by then.

Still reading A League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout. This has been a slog -- not because it's a bad book, but because it's such a horrible conversion. I ended up deciding to read and correct as a single pass, using Calibre's editor. Fortunately, I have an OpenLibrary PDF version I can use to verify what it should be. But it has slowed me down somewhat

While I'm slogging through that, I went ahead and started Michael Connelly's new book, The Late Show. This is the first of a new series featuring Renée Ballard, an LA detective. So far, it's a bit slow and not his best writing--rather choppy and stilted. But it is the first in the series and he's setting up a lot of back story, so it may improve. I'll give it a while longer.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I got bored and bogged down somewhere in the middle -- L or M, I don't remember which. I hear they got better again, but I'd lost interest by then.

The last few haven't been brilliant either, I must admit. However, I've made it this far so want to see it through now.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And most enjoyable it was too.

Next up: Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. Let's see if that special offer buy was a mistake or not...

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I'm hoping to start that one soonish. It was also a special offer buy for me, but long enough ago that it is now one of my oldest unread paid ebooks.

I apparently paid £1 for it on the 26th December 2010, just 2 months after I got my first Kindle. It's probably about time I read it. I'd guess I'm still about a month away from starting it, though.

I've finished it! That's a long book. Lots of characters, lots of events. Lots of (IMO) unnecessary scenes and elaboration. But a fascinating setup, and I do want to read the conclusion. But not yet!

OK, some of it is that I've lost some reading time by changing my commute. But goodness, that's a long book.

Next up: F&SF, September 2017.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've finished it! That's a long book. Lots of characters, lots of events. Lots of (IMO) unnecessary scenes and elaboration. But a fascinating setup, and I do want to read the conclusion. But not yet!

That's typical of Hamilton's "space opera" books; his standalones are a lot more tightly-plotted. Delighted to hear that you enjoyed it - you've got a lot of good reading ahead of you.

I'd particularly recommend his detective SF: that's the "Greg Mandel" trilogy, and the standalones "Great North Road" and "Watching Trees Grow". All excellent.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

The second book, Blood Curse, was already at the library so I picked it up.

I finished the second Comissario Ricciardi book last night in the hotel. This one was almost twice the length of the first and had more depth of character. I have requested the third be sent to my closest library and will likely start it at the end of the week.

I am now re-reading Winesburg, Ohio. I am not sure what I'll list to next, but it will likely be the Librivox version of Frankenstein or the unabridged full cast recording of Dracula. I've read both books before, but never listened to them. I've been seeing pumpkins everywhere, so I thought I'd get into the thematic reading. Should be a nice background to my continued sorting/organizing/prep for packing activities.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Still reading A League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout. This has been a slog -- not because it's a bad book, but because it's such a horrible conversion. I ended up deciding to read and correct as a single pass, using Calibre's editor. Fortunately, I have an OpenLibrary PDF version I can use to verify what it should be. But it has slowed me down somewhat

Well, that was fun. Not. The number of errors in the version I had was truly astonishing. Really unusable. But I went through the process and cleaned it all up as I read it, but certainly it slowed down my reading!

As for the book itself? Very much enjoyed, despite the casual misogyny, bigotry, and racism that is inherent in pretty much any books written in this period, and perhaps even more so in the early Nero Wolfe books. (Goodwin's character uses words and expressions many found questionable then, and certainly none would use today.)

I'll be reading the rest of this series over time, one or two at a time. For now, I'll move on to The Rubber Band, #3 in the series. Hopefully it's a cleaner copy.

[ReadingManiac]

Still reading Faerie Tale. Pretty spooky stuff!

[Dngrsone]

Broke down and started listening to an audiobook for my long drive: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Meanwhile I am also reading Covenant: A Superteam Novel by James Maxey; with The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marsano-Lesnevich (a true-crime book) on pause.

[Moe The Cat]

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Great North Road" ...

Great North Road is the only Peter Hamilton I've read and, while I agree with Harry that it was excellent, Amazon says it's 977 pages in hardcover. So, even though it's standalone, it's still a long book!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Still reading A League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout. This has been a slog -- not because it's a bad book, but because it's such a horrible conversion. I ended up deciding to read and correct as a single pass, using Calibre's editor. Fortunately, I have an OpenLibrary PDF version I can use to verify what it should be. But it has slowed me down somewhat

While I'm slogging through that, I went ahead and started Michael Connelly's new book, The Late Show. This is the first of a new series featuring Renée Ballard, an LA detective. So far, it's a bit slow and not his best writing--rather choppy and stilted. But it is the first in the series and he's setting up a lot of back story, so it may improve. I'll give it a while longer.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well, that was fun. Not. The number of errors in the version I had was truly astonishing. Really unusable. But I went through the process and cleaned it all up as I read it, but certainly it slowed down my reading!

As for the book itself? Very much enjoyed, despite the casual misogyny, bigotry, and racism that is inherent in pretty much any books written in this period, and perhaps even more so in the early Nero Wolfe books. (Goodwin's character uses words and expressions many found questionable then, and certainly none would use today.)

I'll be reading the rest of this series over time, one or two at a time. For now, I'll move on to The Rubber Band, #3 in the series. Hopefully it's a cleaner copy.

Still reading The Late Show, by Michael Connelly, and it's improving as we focus more on the story, and less on the back story. But I had to put it down for a bit, the eARC of NeoGenesis, the 21st book in the Liaden Universe® released yesterday, and I'm well into that already.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I finished the second Comissario Ricciardi book last night in the hotel. This one was almost twice the length of the first and had more depth of character. I have requested the third be sent to my closest library and will likely start it at the end of the week.

I am now re-reading Winesburg, Ohio. I am not sure what I'll list to next, but it will likely be the Librivox version of Frankenstein or the unabridged full cast recording of Dracula. I've read both books before, but never listened to them. I've been seeing pumpkins everywhere, so I thought I'd get into the thematic reading. Should be a nice background to my continued sorting/organizing/prep for packing activities.

Well, the library had the 3rd Comissario Ricciardi book, so I grabbed it and will start it as soon as I finish Winesburg, Ohio, which should be tonight.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. Typically good read.

I usually don't like the series much, but D is for Deadbeat is a very good book.