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

[samhy]

I'm reading Sail by James Patterson (well, Dernière escale, the French translation). I'm about 30% through it and I'm far from impressed The story is nice (not a page turner, but nice nonetheless), but the style is kind of poor. Oh and for the very first time I've stumbled on a badly formatted ebook, which doesn't help.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by samhy

I'm reading Sail by James Patterson (well, Dernière escale, the French translation). I'm about 30% through it and I'm far from impressed The story is nice (not a page turner, but nice nonetheless), but the style is kind of poor. Oh and for the very first time I've stumbled on a badly formatted ebook, which doesn't help.

I agree. This is one of the Patterson collaborations that finally convinced me to give up on his books. Nothing intrinsically wrong with it, but there are so many better books out there, why waste my time on mediocre?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Judas Pair by Jonathan Gash, a recent purchase.

I'd forgotten how casually violent Lovejoy is depicted as being in the first scene. It doesn't really match his later actions.

However, that niggle aside, this was an excellent read, so long as you like little asides about antiques.

I shall save the others for later. For now, on to Enchanter Reborn by L. Sprague de Camp and Christopher Stasheff.

[maggietoussaint]

I'm reading Terry Odell's Rooted in Danger. It's a fast-paced blend of mystery and suspense. I'm reading it on Kindle, but its available on all platforms.

[samhy]

Originally Posted by orlok

I agree. This is one of the Patterson collaborations that finally convinced me to give up on his books. Nothing intrinsically wrong with it, but there are so many better books out there, why waste my time on mediocre?

Good to know it's not only me I'm reading it quite fast because I want to be done with it. Seems like I'll be following up with The Great Gatsby to get some balance.

[Stitchawl]

2/3 of the way through Jeffery Deaver's "XO," and it's just not up to the usual Deaver standards. For most of his work I just can't stop reading. This one... a chapter at at time is more than enough. Not bad. Just not grabbing me.


Stitchawl

[Apache]

I am reading Keane's Company by Iain Gale. It is a historical Fiction that I picked up from Amazon UK since the eBook seems to not be available in the US.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Apache

[samhy]

Originally Posted by samhy

I'm reading Sail by James Patterson (well, Dernière escale, the French translation). I'm about 30% through it and I'm far from impressed The story is nice (not a page turner, but nice nonetheless), but the style is kind of poor. Oh and for the very first time I've stumbled on a badly formatted ebook, which doesn't help.

Originally Posted by samhy

Good to know it's not only me I'm reading it quite fast because I want to be done with it. Seems like I'll be following up with The Great Gatsby to get some balance.

I've reached the last page of Sail! It never got better in my opinion, but I see that as a good opportunity to enjoy the next book. So now The Great Gatsby it is!

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Now I've launched into A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine. About 20% in and this is the usual slow burn Vine book.

Ah - the satisfying feeling of finishing another Barbara Vine book. I've never been that big on Crime/Mysteries but Vine's mysteries are quite different. They do quite often focus on a crime somewhere, but that's only ever part of the story.

She might lead with the news of a crime and even the perpetrator, but you spend the book wondering why, and in what context the crime was committed. Then comes the slow unwrapping of the gift.

Just my type of book.

I've also devoured Barry Eisler's A Clean Kill in Tokyo (originally released as Rain Fall). This one was mainly digested via audiobook, but I transferred back and forth between audio and ereading (love that Whispersync for voice).

It was a good story - fun, had a good pace and plenty of action. But it also had its issues for me. Excessive use of terminology and Japanese. Some of it made sense, but I tired of the judo terminology during the fight scenes. Also, there seemed to be rather big logic issues with the character, with his background in Japan and his perceptions of his anonymity, with the ability for him to hide other people but not himself. The author was doing some filtering of details that got in his way so he could herd the character along the story he wanted to tell.

But overall I enjoyed the story. Thrillers like this are hopefully fun - and this one certainly was.

Now I'm going to read another indie. This one is Cansville by Alan Flurry. This one seems to have a more literary style I think with less action, but hopefully no less enjoyment.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by caleb72

................ Also, there seemed to be rather big logic issues with the character, with his background in Japan and his perceptions of his anonymity, with the ability for him to hide other people but not himself.

Any foreigner who think that he/she has ANYTHING resembling anonymity in Japan is deluded themselves. Within 24 hours of moving into a building, every shop keeper, street vendor, housewife, garbage man, police man, and even the taxi drivers, within a 3km+ radius know exactly where you live, where you work and what you do. There have been many times when I've been trying to get home from somewhere relatively local, by taking a different bus and looking at the route map, that some stranger will come up to me and say 'Excuse me, but if you're trying to get home, you need to take the #XYZ bus from #ABC station.' I long ago gave up being surprised...


Stitchawl

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Any foreigner who think that he/she has ANYTHING resembling anonymity in Japan is deluded themselves. Within 24 hours of moving into a building, every shop keeper, street vendor, housewife, garbage man, police man, and even the taxi drivers, within a 3km+ radius know exactly where you live, where you work and what you do. There have been many times when I've been trying to get home from somewhere relatively local, by taking a different bus and looking at the route map, that some stranger will come up to me and say 'Excuse me, but if you're trying to get home, you need to take the #XYZ bus from #ABC station.' I long ago gave up being surprised...


Stitchawl

Wow! The book does touch on that a bit, but this guy was meant to have had plastic surgery and he was already half Japanese favouring the Asian side of his parentage. He also had false identification. However, given that he seemed to continue to go by the same name he had before he tried to lose himself in Tokyo, I couldn't really follow the logic.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by Apache

I am reading Keane's Company by Iain Gale. It is a historical Fiction that I picked up from Amazon UK since the eBook seems to not be available in the US.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Apache

That looks interesting. How does it compare to the Sharpe novels?

[Apache]

It is a good read so far, but I am only a short way in. So far I think the Sharpe books are better, but this one is good too.
Apache

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by JoelArnold

I recently read my first Chandler - The Long Goodbye - and love his prose style. The Big Sleep is certainly on my TBR list!

I have finished The Big Sleep and yes it was good. Well worth the read.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Gazella

I just finished reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. An outstanding play; clever, humorous and delightful!

You should read the sequel, The Importance of being Ernest P. Worrell