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

[Apache]

My wife is Italian and thinks the Italian language is ugly sounding, compared to French and Spanish.
She tells me she is a pedigree and I am a mongrel.
Apache

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Apache

My wife is Italian and thinks the Italian language is ugly sounding, compared to French and Spanish.
She tells me she is a pedigree and I am a mongrel.
Apache

Yep, the aural aesthetics of languages are fascinating. What one person thinks is the aural equivalent of ambrosia is another person's idea of fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. Vive la différence!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I'm thinking I need to read more Feist. Let me know if this one's good!

I enjoyed it, a solid 5/5, but definitely the second part of trilogy. It doesn't end in a cliff-hanger, but I'd certainly recommend reading the first part first.

There are, of course, some 'spoilers' for earlier events in the larger series.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Blood Music by Greg Bear. I'm pretty sure I read this in paper a long time agin, but I think I'll enjoy an ebook re-read.

It was OK to good. Fantastic ideas, but perhaps a few too many for one story.

Next up: Galaxy's Edge Magazine #4, edited by Mike Resnick. Bought in February 2019 from Phoenix Pick in a bundle.

[cc_in_oh]

I finished the 10 Insp. Morse books my libraries carry. Very enjoyable and I thought Dexter did a fantastic job of ending the series in style.

Now I'm about halfway through the 2nd book in Baldacci's King & Maxwell series. His language seems a bit weak after Dexter and the characters are far too perfect for my taste but plenty of action to keep me interested so far.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next, a recent purchase, Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh. The author is a civil rights lawyer based in Dublin.

Not as good as I hoped. I enjoy police/courtroom thrillers, however, the plot details were very far-fetched practically incredulous. The ending was exciting and kept me turning pages. Eighth-inning reveals aren't my favorite. Still, this was quick fun ride although forgettable. Rated C- [2 stars].

Next, Bloom by Kenneth Oppel. A recent purchase.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Not as good as I hoped. I enjoy police/courtroom thrillers, however, the plot details were very far-fetched practically incredulous. The ending was exciting and kept me turning pages. Eighth-inning reveals aren't my favorite. Still, this was quick fun ride although forgettable. Rated C- [2 stars].

Next, Bloom by Kenneth Oppel. A recent purchase.

I agree. The premise sounded quite intriguing, but most of the book was so far-fetched, that it didn't live up to its hype.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Galaxy's Edge Magazine #4, edited by Mike Resnick. Bought in February 2019 from Phoenix Pick in a bundle.

Which had some good new fiction and some good reprints.

Next up: Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie. Her 73rd book (in my count, anyway!) I'm delighted to find it features Ariadne Oliver. This is one of the many I bought from Fictionwise way back in February 2010!

[j.p.s]

Just finished Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. It delivered on my hope that it would have more information on tree interaction than The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, but that was a low bar. The book is really a memoir, but is worth reading for that alone and going into some (slight) depth on Dr. Simard's research can be considered a nice bonus. Next up on actually learning about plant (not only tree) interactions (actually fungi-plant interactions) is Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrak.

[Uncle Robin]

In an excellent example of serendipitous timing, while reading Il Gattopardo in conjunction with an audiobook of it, I came across this excellent guide to getting the most out of such reading

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie. Her 73rd book (in my count, anyway!) I'm delighted to find it features Ariadne Oliver. This is one of the many I bought from Fictionwise way back in February 2010!

I certainly remembered the plot half way through, but whether that was from a TV adaption or from previously having read the book, I don't know!

An enjoyable read.

Next up: Strata by Terry Pratchett. A very recent purchase. I'm sure I've read this before, but not for many years.

[BenG]

I've been re-reading Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series in preparation for the release later this month of the final book Perhaps the Stars.

[Pjama]

I just read Mr. Strangelove, A Biography of Peter Sellers by Ed Sikov, and he was even more unpleasant than I was expecting him to be. I will never understand how someone who played two such sweet characters in Dr. Strangelove could be so appalling brutal in real life.

Now reading the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov again (previously i read about five of the series, now I have all seven, so this will be the first time reading all seven) starting with Foundation, rather than Prelude to Foundation. Inertia/indecision between which one to start with has prevented me reading the full series til now. I know Prelude comes before chronologically in book time, but was written years after Foundation, so I thought Foundation might be better to start with.

And I bought a paper book in a second hand book store which I have wanted to read for a long time, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, autobiography of the author Jeannette Winterston, the title coming from something her mother used to say to her all the time. The author wrote Oranges are not the Only Fruit, an autobiographical account of growing up a lesbian in a puritanical religious family in Northern England.

[mlewis78]

I am listening to The Great Bridge by David McCullough about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Audible.) I will probably eventually read it on kindle. I think it have it for kindle and I have a paper copy.

I am reading A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #1) by Ellis Peters on my kindle.

I have used up my credits on Audible and just cancelled my membership. I have enough to listen to for a few years, at least, if I want to. I was looking at the Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael series) book on audio when I saw the first book was available to read on kindle with my prime membership at no cost.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Strata by Terry Pratchett. A very recent purchase. I'm sure I've read this before, but not for many years.

And I have read it before. But long enough ago that I'd forgotten the major plot points. An absolutely wonderful book. Very impressive.

Next up: TBD

[gmw]

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. First of the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. The setting was interesting and neatly revealed, and the story was intriguing. I particularly liked the hints of sci-fi. But the narrative was overly long, sometimes felt repetitive, and rather lacking in direction. The prologue suggested the destination, but this book never gets close to that. While the ending does wrap up one minor aspect of the story, most of it is left hanging. This book seemed to have had so much going for it that I feel quite disappointed. Stretching to 3/5 for the good bits and because I'm interested enough to try the next instalment (mostly because it is already on my reader).

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence. Second of the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. This is a Did Not Finish. It's still trying to milk the clever prologue from the first book but I'm no longer buying it. It jumps forward a few years in the schooling but apparently none of the characters grew up in that time. And now there's a demon that has apparently been around since the end of the first book but wasn't worth mentioning, and it feels really out of place. Bite me!


Edited to Add: Another thought I had about this trilogy that I wasn't going to mention, but the more I think about it the stronger seem the parallels with Harry Potter. It's mostly a school setting (albeit run by an order of particularly violent nuns rather than mostly sweet and gentle old fogies), with four blood/race types (vs houses). An Abbess (school principle) that sort of takes the main character under her wing but also seems at times quite cruel. The one really harsh teacher/nun that doesn't seem to like our main protagonist. A main protagonist whose special skill reveals itself and convenient times to save their life but otherwise just causes trouble. I could go on. The difference being that I enjoyed Harry Potter.