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

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

It's been on my radar for some time. (I keep one in the backyard.)

You have a radar in your backyard?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Renate

You have a radar in your backyard?

Doesn't everyone who reads?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths. The third in her Dr Ruth Galloway series.

Which was an enjoyable non-cosy crime.

Next up: Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. A fantasy I bought back in December 2008 and never got around to. Until now!

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Audio:
Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King - this series is really declining in quality. This is the last one she gets out of me. They are primarily my light car listening, but my patience is wearing thin.

Kobo:
I finished Private Rites, which I really enjoyed. Started Emily Tesh's Some Desperate Glory, which picked up a handful of sci-fi awards in 2023.

Paperback:
The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.

I dropped both King and Tesh so this is what I'm left with:

Audio:
Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe by Robert Matzen. I've been listening to Karina Longworth's old Hollywood podcast "You Must Remember This" for decades. This season, she is doing directors and she started with Capra. This biography is built around Stewart's war service and subsequent PTSD that gave him fits while he and Capra were filming It's a Wonderful Life. Very interesting pairing.

Kobo:
In-between. Planning to start Arnold Bennett's The Grand Babylon Hotel.

Paperback:
The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.

[Renate]

"Wifedom", Anna Funder

It certainly takes the shine off George Orwell, one of my favorite writers.

[Hasdrubal_Lector]

"The Third Horseman" by William Rosen. Catching up on my climate change disaster readings. "The Once and Future Sex" by Eleanor Janega. A recommend from a history blog I follow.
"Thud!" by Terry Pratchett. This is the year I finally finish the Discworld series.

[Solitaire1]

I plan to start reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes this week. Since I enjoy watching House, M. D. I want to read about the show's inspiration.

[Karellen]

Just started re-reading The Rho Agenda trilogy of nine books... trilogy of trilogies?
The author is almost ready to release the first book in another trilogy, so needed a refresher on the stories as I last read them about 4+ years ago...

Interesting collection. First trilogy starts off "Vince Flynn" style with a "can do no wrong" agent for hire, and the next trilogy moves into sci-fi and the third trilogy is off-world sci-fi. Really enjoyed them on my last read. Still enjoying now.

https://thesecondship.net/

[Joshua42]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

Well after finishing the last Shannara quadrilogy and a few Reacher books over the holidays, I'm reading A WWI historical fiction novel by Rhys Bowen, the Victory Garden. It's ok, not great. After this I'm thinking of a reread of Hugh Howey's Silo story. It's been a long time since I read it, and I'm currently watching the Apple TV+ series.

You are diving in some solid reads! RHYS Bowen's The Victory Garden seems like a good historical change of motion. A Silo Rered looks like a great idea, especially brings new enthusiasm with the show. It would be fun to compare the depth of the book for TV adaptation!

[Renate]

I just took out "A Woman of Substance", Barbara Taylor Bradford. I figure it represents something. My library has 50 copies of which 48 are now available.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Finished Pure Colour, by Sheila Heti. Recommended if you like experimental metaphysical fiction. Sorry, but there are no BEMs with tentacles wrapped around a scantily-clad female. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Now reading another novella: The Hole, by Hiroko Oyamada.

After that, I may start The Tunnel, by Ernesto Sabato. It's been on my radar for some time. (I keep one in the backyard.)

Finished The Hole. I thought it was a poor imitation of Haruki Murakama. The ending is way too abrupt, and the female character (strikes me) as very weak, very unintelligent, and very much lacking in insight.

Sabato would have been next, but I decided to re-read Jonathan Littell (The Fata Morgana Books) next, one I read when it first came out. I enjoy books that are rich and deep, and written in a 'modernist' writing style. Think Proust, Musil, Mann, et al. The book was a critical failure when it came out, but not for me.

I'm still amazed at how an author (Littell) can produce a piece of sci-fi crap at age 21 (?) and then produce a work of maturity and insight (and disgust) with a novel that, if not equal to the thematic content of his father's big novel, is certainly equal in length.

[drofgnal]

I was going to do a reread of Wool, but decided instead to read from my TBR list "The Book of Lost Names" By Kristin Harmel. A story of a Jewish girl who flees Paris with her mother in WWII and ends up working as a forger to help others escape into Switzerland. A nice book.
Yesterday I purchased an omnibus edition of the first three books of the Dragon Riders of Pern by McCaffery. Amazon had it for 1.99, so it will be next,

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I am currently reading/listening to...

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor

I've finished Mickey7 and Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings

I'm reading Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore. I'm 52% into it.

[BelleZora]

I'm reading Still Life with Woodpecker in fond remembrance of Tom Robbins who died this morning at age 92. I think it might have helped to have tried LSD to fully appreciate his wacky, wonderful novels. I never have so I was frequently puzzled. It in no way diminished my enjoyment of them. RIP Tom

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. A fantasy I bought back in December 2008 and never got around to. Until now!

And it was OK. Verging to good, but there was so much hidden back story, with absolutely no way to tell what hidden event/ability would surface next in the plot. Admitedly, this was the heroine's perspective too, but even so. More confusing that anything.

Next up: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters. My most recent purchase. I couldn't resist the combination of an SF apocalypse and a police procedural at £0.80.