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

[Dr. Drib]

Stitchawl, I'll go ahead and pick up the first one in the series and give it a try.

Thanks.




Don

[leanansidhe]

Just finished Dust by Hugh Howey. Excellent conclusion to the series I think. I really enjoyed it and will probably re-read the whole thing again sometime in the future.

Starting Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell. It's the first of the trilogy. I saw it mentioned here and had to give it a shot. I love historical fiction and I'm liking the way he writes so far.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well, that diversion certainly took longer than I'd planned. But it was a good read, and definitely better than the last couple of mainline Honor books. Now, back to War of Honor. And some Alice Munro short stories I managed to check out of the BC Library site.

Gawd, I've been reading these for too long, I'm losing track of where I am. Sigh. OK, so I finished At All Costs last night (or early this morning :yawn, and rather than go on to War of Honor, I'm ducking back into the Saganami side-series to read Storm from the Shadows. And as a side read of something completely unrelated, I'm reading The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro. This is a collection of short stories from a master of the form. Oh, and a Canadian Nobel Laureate, of course.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Stitchawl, I'll go ahead and pick up the first one in the series and give it a try.
Thanks.
Don

Let me suggest the first two books of the series, and read them as one. Although they are stand-alone, as are all of them, it will give you a much better feeling of how the characters develop. Besides, the first book of the series seems to me to be much 'darker' than all the others. As the series develops there is a lot more whimsy involved, not quite as serious all the time, as the characters become real people.


Stitchawl

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next is a recent purchase. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Abandoned after 100 pages. There were a lot of things that didn't work for me. The setting, the use of foreign words, political red tape, bribery, illogical greed and plot inconsistencies. Oh, and the prolonged sexual humiliation and forced rape. The book's premise was too apparent with the expected conclusion. I read the Wiki page as it was too tedious to continue. It would have made a better short story or novella. Hugo and Nebula winner? Really? I must admit I didn't care for and subsequently abandoned its co-Hugo winner for 2010 The City & the City by Mievilles. Must have been a bad SF year for me.

Next is The Final Descent by Rick Yancey.

[icycloudy]

My daughter and I suggest "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. It is one of the best romantic novels you can ever read

[WT Sharpe]

I was going to read 3001 by Arthur C. Clarke, but couldn't remember for sure whether I'd read 2061, so now I'm reading 2061. I did read it before, but forgot just about everything that happened except for this:

Spoiler:

A Europan "shark" ate one of the astronauts, then promptly got the mother of all cases of food poisoning and died ("totally alien physiology," one of the scientists remarked). After that, none of the other sharks bothered the crew.

I've heard that 2061 is the most forgettable book in the series, and in my experience, so far that's true. I have no problem recalling the major plot points of either 2001 or 2010, although that may be helped by the fact I saw both of the film versions as well.

Note to Apple's spellchecker: When I type the word well, I mean "well", NOT we'll. We had this same discussion over the words it's and its. I'm getting really sick of this shirt.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Let me suggest the first two books of the series, and read them as one. Although they are stand-alone, as are all of them, it will give you a much better feeling of how the characters develop. Besides, the first book of the series seems to me to be much 'darker' than all the others. As the series develops there is a lot more whimsy involved, not quite as serious all the time, as the characters become real people.


Stitchawl

Thank you.

With epubmerge, anything is possible!

I'll check on availability and price.




Don

[Dr. Drib]

Just finished "Journey to the Centre of the Earth," a 'translated' version with names changed and additional writing added. I wasn't really impressed, actually. I may go back and read a more standard translated version, or go to another Verne title.

------------------

I'm currently reading a public domain book titled "Ghost Gleams: Tales of the Uncanny," by W.J. Wintle. A nice little book so far.



Don

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Abandoned after 100 pages. There were a lot of things that didn't work for me. The setting, the use of foreign words, political red tape, bribery, illogical greed and plot inconsistencies. Oh, and the prolonged sexual humiliation and forced rape. The book's premise was too apparent with the expected conclusion. I read the Wiki page as it was too tedious to continue. It would have made a better short story or novella. Hugo and Nebula winner? Really? I must admit I didn't care for and subsequently abandoned its co-Hugo winner for 2010 The City & the City by Mievilles. Must have been a bad SF year for me.

Next is The Final Descent by Rick Yancey.

I abandoned it too. I cannot remember how far into it I was, but I believe I was about 100 pages in as well, perhaps even further. I really wanted to like it but there were many elements that did not work for me either and I found that I really had to force myself to pick it up, never a good sign with a book.

I am currently reading "The Valley of Amazement" by Amy Tan. I am perhaps a third of the way through. I am enjoying (or was) enjoying the plot overall but am currently wading through a largish info dump that should have been better incorporated into the plot. This is not to say that the book is not enjoyable, though.

[PurpleStar]

I have recently read a few books:

With the Lightnings by David Drake

The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan

Star Trek: The Fall : The Crimson Shadow by Uma McCormick


I liked the David Drake book and will continue with the series. Michael J. Sullivan is fantastic as usual. I've not really been enjoying the new Star Trek series. Too much political stuff and not enough sci-fi action for my tastes.

I've just started B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. So far so good!

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by orlok

Now reading Crashed by Timothy Hallinan, a Junior Bender mystery. Fun story about a career burglar for whom things do not always go to plan. Reminds me quite a lot of the Bernie Rhodenbarr stories by Robert Block.

Thanks for the Timothy Hallinan Crashed recommendation, and enjoyed it hugely. Not a boring page in the book. Starting to read the next in the series - Little Elvises.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by bfisher

Thanks for the Timothy Hallinan Crashed recommendation, and enjoyed it hugely. Not a boring page in the book. Starting to read the next in the series - Little Elvises.

Yes, I've not finished it yet, but have already bought 2 and 3 in the series. Hope it maintains the high standard throughout. I've also noticed that there are two other character series by Hallinan, Poke Rafferty and Simeon Grist, so I may give them a go when I've finished these.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: One from the October 2013 Baen Bundle, Phoenix Rising by Ryk Spoor

Which is an OK fantasy. Slightly too many characters introduced all at once, who are obviously going to tie together eventually, and do so.

This novel does have a minor resolution at the end, not just a cliff-hanger, but obviously there's a longer story arc waiting for sequels.

I'll read the next one if it's in a Baen bundle, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find it.

Next up: The Elvenbane by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton. Another start of a fantasy series. We shall see.

[PurpleStar]

I flew right through B Is For Burglar by Sue Grafton. Excellent book!

Next up, Lt. Leary Commanding by David Drake.