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

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

Ah, thanks! I was wondering what I was missing

If you want to get an idea what it's like, do a search for the #TolstoyTogether tag on twitter. That was the tag used for our spring and summer reading War and Peace.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Murder with Reservations (Dead-End Job Mystery, #6) by Elaine Viets:-

Spoiler:

Darla Crane is a pseudonym of a pornstar. I like her voice and her face. She acts well too, in the best sense of the word. Being about 50, she is too old to play this book's main character on TV. But if I were a producer, I would cast her as Helen Hawthorne, part time amateur detective.

It seems that writer Elaine Viets had gathered enough steam to steamroller through the writing of this book. It feels like an editor wasn't involved. It's all trim goodies. Not a word was wasted.

But in a way, these words are being wasted. The general public are missing on a terrific series. Viets has enough ratings here, but this series deserves more love. It's a pity that I will see what most people won't even know they've missed. At least I know.

I have the first book of this series on reserve at the library. It looked interesting.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have the first book of this series on reserve at the library. It looked interesting.

IIRC, I gave that first book 4 stars. The latest book I read is my favorite in the series.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I started Rebecca Makai's The Great Believers, a fictional account of the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 1980s. I don't know anyone my age or older who is a member of the LGBT community and not in some way touched by AIDS. Even now, I cannot give blood due to some of the relief work I have done. I have had this on the back burner of my TBR since it came out, and pride month seemed a good time to read it. I have not been disappointed.

I finished this last night. It will most certainly be in my top 10 this year, no matter what else I read. Makkai very cleverly connected the tens of thousands who died in the early stages of the epidemic in the 80s to the Lost Generation of World War I. She also drew the story forward to the lives of those left behind and what it means to be the keeper of the memory. 5/5 stars.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

If you want to get an idea what it's like, do a search for the #TolstoyTogether tag on twitter. That was the tag used for our spring and summer reading War and Peace.

Thank you! I followed them on Twitter. I wish I was around for War and Peace; I suspect a book club reading will be the only way I get around to it.

[covingtoncat73]

Let's see, I've been on kind of a Claire North kick. The Pursuit of William Abbey was phenomenal. I also re-read her First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

I loved Stephen King's The Outsider. I read that.

I re-read I, Claudius. Excellent, of course.

The Ninth House by Leah Bardungo was really good.

Right now I'm reading Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. I'm about 15% in and it is good so far.

I tried to start a couple of books I got from the library (Overdrive eBooks) but had to abandon because they didn't move me. One of really bad and I abandoned it 3 pages in. I won't trouble you with those titles, though.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A recent purchase: The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer. I really enjoyed the Artemis Fowl books. It'll be interesting to see how he does with different protagonists in this universe.

Fun, but it feels aimed at a younger audience, and I didn't like the styles as much. I probably won't bother with any sequels.

Then I read False Value, a recent purchase and the 8th in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. Wonderful stuff. Most enjoyable, and over too quickly. A very strong 5/5.

A random choice followed: Lone Start Planet by H. Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire. It seemed to me to be a classic Piper story with a competent man hero. At 30,000 words it's a novella rather than a novel. 4/5 at best.

Next up: Another random* choice, Tooth and Nail by John Rankin, the third in his Inspector Rebus series set in Edinburgh, which I bought back in November 2018.




*The actual random book was further on in the series, but this is first of the series that I haven't read yet.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Another random choice, Tooth and Nail by John Rankin, the third in his Inspector Rebus series set in Edinburgh, which I bought back in November 2018.

Which was very good. A hunt for a serial killer. I'm warming to Rebus. 5/5

Next up: Something completely different! Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer. Bought from Books on Board (remember them?) way back in August 2012. Her 42nd novel.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by gmw

So, since my last post, I've been continuing my re-read of Terry Pratchett, finishing Moviing Pictures, Reaper Man and Witches Abroad. Great fun as always.

I read Reaper Man for the first time a few months ago. Soul Music is awaiting my attention. Was there one more to the series?

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by gmw

So, since my last post, I've been continuing my re-read of Terry Pratchett, finishing Moviing Pictures <snip>

I was only skimming and I saw Moving Pictures and was disappointed that it was not Kathryn Immonen's excellent graphic novel.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I read Reaper Man for the first time a few months ago. Soul Music is awaiting my attention. Was there one more to the series?

One more? Maybe you are attempting to follow just the books that feature Death as a major protagonist? That would be: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time.

I'm re-reading in publication order ... just because I'm slightly(?) obsessive, and because it saves me having to make decisions, and because I think Pratchett just keeps getting better. (Although I do leave his books for younger readers to one side and read them in a separate sequence.)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Something completely different! Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer. Bought from Books on Board (remember them?) way back in August 2012. Her 42nd novel.

Which was, as expected, a charming Regency romance. 5/5

Next: Back to crime. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö. A freebie I picked up back in September 2010, the first of their Martin Beck novels. I hope I like it, as I bought the next 9 for £0.99 each back in December 2013!

[Luffy]

My 3 star review of Missing You, by Harlan Coben:-

Spoiler:

From the very start, Missing You, seemed a book I was liking instead of loving. I had its rating tagged at 1 or 2 stars, but the climax upped the final reckoning.

I'm more interested in Harlan Coben as an author to watch for. His latest efforts should be given a wide berth. I still will improvise when choosing and deciding what could be the writer's nadir.

This book's filler moments were not that bad. Else I would have ditched it. Also, it's 400 page length was conducive to a pleasant experience.

For me, Coben is better than Patterson and, say, Daniel Silva at their best and also better than my favorites of the genre at their worst. I demand a lot from my reads and I recommend this book.

[Fbone]

I finished Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. I'm enjoying the series. Rated B [4 stars].

Next I tried a free novella, Uncanny Collateral by Brian McClellan but realized early on that it wasn't my type of book.

[Luffy]

My review of The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1), by Rick Riordan:-

Spoiler:

I tried to read a newer book by Riordan in the recent past. It didn't stick. Now I have read this book, I feel that maybe I had been hasty with the previous book, the one with Kurt Cobain on the cover

This book didn't have jaw-dropping twists, but it was slightly more than okay. The kids spoke like people in their 20s. The mentors and the Gods had no scope to be memorable.

Truth be told, this middle grade novel reminded me of the Goosebumps series, by R.L. Stine. It had the same limited appeal, the same cap on imagination, the same tame endings. It's reminiscent of compartmentalisation. No biggie.