Quick survey: What are you reading today? [Archive] - The Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club

vicki

06-26-2007, 03:03 AM

Wow--impressive reads!

Current nightly read with the kids: Rules by Cynthia Lord (Newbery Honor Book this year)
---it's about a 12yo girl and how her little brother's autism impacts her home and social life and her coming of age. Excellent so far (2/3 done)

My current read: Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
---this one is about web usability and making navigation as effortless as possible. It's very readable and based in common sense. I'm hoping this one will help me refine the VBC's organization as we go along. I'm also helping several non-profit groups with their online communications, so I hope I'll learn some stuff from the book that will benefit them.

Incidentally, if you have suggestions about the organization or navigation of the VBC or LRK's site, please don't hesitate to let me know. Some stuff we may not be able to change for technical reasons, but you may have good suggestions that we can easily implement.

redsun

06-26-2007, 03:31 AM

"Eldest" by Christopher Paolini. Finished "Eragon" a couple of nights ago.:D

vicki

06-26-2007, 04:12 AM

Are those good? Paolini came to a signing here a couple of years ago and it's a good thing the fire marshal didn't attend. The store was so stuffed with his fans that you could barely move.

Christina

06-26-2007, 04:40 AM

On the Paolini books, I really liked them all, but I HATED the movie! I was so waiting for that movie... it could have been so wonderful... but noooooo, they ruined it <wah!> I walked out half way through muttering under my breath… I think I continued to muttering for several days if memory serves.

On the current being read or just finished pile:
• The Dead Beat, Marilyn Johnson (GREAT HILARIOUS BOOK, just finished)
• Red Sea, Emily Benedek (An Advance Copy, author's first novel, just finished. I would be happy with the money spent if I had bought this rather than getting it for free. I recommend it.)
• Ominvore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan (GREAT, GREAT book! Cannot believe I have waited this long to read it. Not a fast read, for full benefit, it must be studied and savored, IMHO)
• Medicine for Mountaineering & other wilderness activities, edited by James A. Wilkerson,MD (A bit of a disappointment, not as much oriented towards high altitude as I expected, more just on emergency medicine)
• My Weeds, Sara Stein (Quite delightful, esp when to tired to expend much energy)
• Antler Dust, Mark Stevens (author's 1st novel, and pretty good, with a few accuracy slip-ups but nothing serious thus far)
• A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism, Bruce Newman (Very good beginner's guide, and as to me reading it... one can never, never study the fundamentals too many times.)

Good Grief! Am I really reading ALL that?!?

<sigh!> Unfortunately, yes.

Must be a pathological ;-)

Extreme Need-to-read-itis exacerbated by book-a-holism

Christina

Christina

06-26-2007, 04:47 AM

I forgot one:
The History of Last Night's Dream, Rodger Kamenetz
(Another advance copy, about dreamwork by the author of one of my very favorite books of all time The Jew in the Lotus and its follow up Stalking Elijah which is good but no wheres near TJITL IMHO. This book strikes me as being quite important, but it's no easy read, and I admit I have skipped around in it a lot and am now starting over determined to read from page 1 to the end and see if I can make more coherent sense of it. Dreamwork is an interest of mine.)

kitling130

06-26-2007, 07:22 AM

I usually start several books at the same time (for practical reasons like one is a paperback while the other is a large heavy hardcover). However I'm not making much progress since I'm studying for the MCAT.

So the current list:

Always by Nicola Griffith. Third in a great series. Check out all of her books, especially if you like interesting facts mixed into the story.

Requiem for the Devil by Jeri Smith-Ready

Marks of Our Brother by Jane Lindskold

Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce. Book 1 is Darkangel

vicki

06-26-2007, 08:18 AM

Ominvore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan

I've heard great things about this one--must add it to the teetering TBR stack.

kitling, what kind of stuff does Nicola Griffith write?

Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce. Book 1 is Darkangel

We discussed this trilogy in Readerville, and I really enjoyed it until toward the end, when I thought it not only went off the rails but also flew out of the asteroid belt. But a lot of participants adored the end and couldn't see it happening any other way. The opinions about that were really polarized, which was interesting. I'll be interested to hear how it strikes you.

kitling130

06-26-2007, 09:09 AM

kitling, what kind of stuff does Nicola Griffith write?

She writes a lot of sci-fi books, and the series that I mentioned, is not quite a mystery, probably more like a thriller. The series has been compared with Smilla's Sense of Snow, but I haven't read it yet so I can't say. I love the interesting facts Griffith puts into her books, like the lastest one features women's self-defense.

Her books are one of a few that features a lesbian character that I read, the Martinellis are the other (I didn't think that lesbian books would interest me, but I was wrong). She has won the Lambda award, I think multiple times, but I'm not sure, and a Nebula for her first novel Ammonite. I think she was nominated for Tiptree award too (I don't think I spelled it correctly).

Her partner also wrote a pretty good novel, Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge, another sci-fi.

Her website: nicolagriffith.com Kelley's: kelleyeskridge.com

We discussed this trilogy in Readerville, and I really enjoyed it until toward the end, when I thought it not only went off the rails but also flew out of the asteroid belt. But a lot of participants adored the end and couldn't see it happening any other way. The opinions about that were really polarized, which was interesting. I'll be interested to hear how it strikes you.

I'm actually rereading it. I remember the first time I read the ending, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I totally thought it was unfair to the main character and wished for a happy ending, but I loved it. Not every story can have a happy ending, and sometimes you have to sacrifice something for the greater good. She couldn't let the world wind down again, and then there was that not quite human, immortal thing too. I wish the author would write more, I heard she was writing a tetralogy but haven't seen anything about it.

Christina

06-26-2007, 02:43 PM

Vicki, if you're interested in The Omnivore's Dilemma (TOD), I suggest a couple of other books as companion volumes:

1) Blithe Tomato, Mike Madison, et al (a series of essays about farming, foods, and his fellow farmers at California farmer's markets. It's a wonderful book if you like essays that prompt deep thinking.)

2) Organic, Inc., Samuel Fromartz (how the "organic" market became big business, who the players were and are now, and where it seems to be going.... asks a really important question: "Does "organic" really mean anything anymore?")

I accidentally happened to read these two as I was beginning The Omnivores Dilemma, and I found them the perfect companions. BT was the cherry on top reward for slogging through some of the dry, but very necessary industry historical info in TOD and esp in OI. OI has the links between the players (USDA, Congress, farmers, private organic certifiers, Big Corporate interests, etc.) it's absolutely necessary to understand those links and how we got where we are in order to understand where the "organic" foods industry is going.

For me, personally and as a healthcare practitioner and educator, there is nothing more important for our health both individually and collectively, and especially for the health and the eventual longevity of our children than what we put in out mouths. Unless we understand what the legal term "organic" means, we cannot make informed decisions about our food choices and who profits from our choices.

Christina

2maple

06-26-2007, 05:15 PM

To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander by Georg von Trapp and Elizabeth M. Campbell

I realized after reading BEEK how little I really knew about WW I. Like how can one be a Navy Captain and from Austria? I always thought it was too bad that you have to take history in school when you are too young and don't care much about it (at least in my case) than later (like now) when time and perspective makes it interesting.

It was written in 1935, a memoir by a WW I sub-driver (yeah, it was really written by the same Captain from the Sound of Music) and translated recently by his grandaughter. But subs in 1915 were far more primative than today and most of the ideas and strategies were brand new. So, I am enjoying it and actually learning something too :)

irish

06-27-2007, 05:05 AM

Current reads.................

Happiest Toddler on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp
Monstrous Regiment of Women by LRK

Waiting for Harry Potter 7

Just Finished:

The Art of Detection (which is AWESOME!!!)

Irish

Great post by the way. We should make an effort to keep it updated!

alina

06-27-2007, 07:32 AM

Hmm...recent and current reads...

Recently Finished:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I loved it! I'm re-reading it, too! I'm so excited to see what I missed after the first time through!

Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: Fun fluffy read akin to The Count of Monte Cristo (which happens to be one of my favorite classic action books, even if it is almost as long as the Bible). Its description of the commedia dell'arte lifestyle makes me wonder why I didn't try out for the troupe at college...oh wait; I suck at improv. Right.

Currently Reading:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Quite enjoyable so far, though I've only finished part one. I enjoy a good Russian classic every once in a while; my comp lit professor got me hooked!

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks: I've actually already read it and didn't enjoy it. Then why am I reading it again? It's a long sob story that no one really wants to hear.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: I love Wilde. His plays are wonderfully witty. My friend and respected English literature obessor highly suggested this novel. Who am I to refuse the decadence?

And that's about it right now. Phew! And I plan on finally reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead this summer too! *prays for more time*

jtb1951

06-27-2007, 02:49 PM

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I loved it! I'm re-reading it, too! I'm so excited to see what I missed after the first time through!

An outstanding book! If you ever get the chance to meet Audrey jump at it; she is quite an interesting individual!

John.

Lady Natalie Bennet

06-27-2007, 10:25 PM

I really enjoyed Stephanie Mayer (sp) books Twilight and I can't remember what the other one is right now. Both of them were sooo good! I'm absolutely in love with Edward. It's one of those vampire books, and I love it! I'm waiting for New Moon, and Harry Potter 7, of course. I am also eagerly awaiting a new LRK book for Russell.

Carlina

06-28-2007, 01:10 AM

My dissertation...I kid you not...oh and uh...Disease and Distinctiveness in the American South by edited Todd Savitt and James Harvey Young and Death, Dissection, and Destitution by Ruth R. Richardson. The latter looks at the concept of medical dissection, cadaver procurement, attitudes toward death and how all this was affected by the Anatomical Acts in England...It's for my dissertation....really...I do read fiction...honest...I do...

pamstl

06-28-2007, 02:18 AM

I am trying to get through all the Spencer books by Robert Parker, so am reading 2-3 a week. I like the character!
Pam

jtb1951

06-28-2007, 02:30 AM

I am trying to get through all the Spencer books by Robert Parker, so am reading 2-3 a week. I like the character!

Thanks for the input, Pam! Would you recommend any particular Spencer titles to start off reading? Thanks!

John.

jtb1951

06-28-2007, 02:35 AM

The latter looks at the concept of medical dissection, cadaver procurement, attitudes toward death and how all this was affected by the Anatomical Acts in England...It's for my dissertation....really...I do read fiction...honest...I do...

As a physical anthropologist do you have any thoughts about the exploits of that TV forensic anthropologist, Temperance 'Bones' Brennan? It's one of the very few shows I will watch and I enjoy it immensely!

John.

pamstl

06-29-2007, 12:45 AM

John,
I am one of those readers who make every attempt to read a series in order, and I find the Spenser books read better that way. There are recurring characters, but they don't always appear in each book. The best way to follow logically, is to read them in order. I am listing the first few for your reference. I really do enjoy his character. Hope you do too!
Pam

ROBERT PARKER

Spenser
1. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
2. God Save the Child (1974)
3. Mortal Stakes (1975)
4. Promised Land (1976)
5. The Judas Goat (1978)
6. Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)

Ms. Kay

06-29-2007, 03:18 AM

I'm not Pam but, The Godwulf Manuscript then God Save the Child. Also, I'm rereading Lieberman's Folly by Stuart Kaminsky and To Play the Fool by You Know Who.

Ms. Kay

jtb1951

06-29-2007, 03:20 AM

Pam,
Thanks for the Spenser list; I'll be searching them out!!

John.

jtb1951

06-29-2007, 03:21 AM

Thank you, also, Ms. Kay!

John.

Strawberry Curls

06-29-2007, 07:22 PM

To put my 2 cents worth in I have to say I have read the Parker books for over twenty years now and love the earlier ones. Somewhere around the turn of the century he started phoning them in. Ms. King did a blog entry recently about "franchise writers" and Parker has become just that. His books are almost novellas now, short, huge print and simple stories. In an interview Parker says he writes four novels a year...one a quarter. You can't turn out masterpieces when you are churning them out that quickly. I still read them, but long for the more complex novels he once wrote.

My favorites are:

The Judas Goat
Looking for Rachel Wallace
A Catskill Eagle
Double Deuce
Small Vices
Potshot (OK this one was phoned in, but heck he brought all his great tough guy characters from past books into one location and had fun with them)

His Jesse Stone series is pretty good (got to love Tom Selleck playing that guy) and I enjoy the Sunny Randall's also.

pamstl

06-30-2007, 12:04 AM

Strawberry Curls

06-30-2007, 01:33 AM

Strawberry Curls,
I understand what you are saying about the "franchise writers," but I do enjoy the Spenser books anyway. They are an easy, light read; which we all need once in a while. I am re-reading A SAVAGE PLACE right now; I just like the humor, wit, and "class" of the character.
Pam

Very true, Pam, and I still read everyone he puts out, but I do long for something with more substance. He does write the most delightful banter between Spenser and Hawk and the sparks still fly between Spenser and Susan. I guess that is why it is called a franchise, the public still wants to read what these characters are doing.

The Grey Badger

07-01-2007, 04:24 AM

I just finished Book Two of Lois McMaster Bujold's duology - actually a single book the publishers made her split in half - "The Sharing Knife" Book One, "The Sharing Knife: Beguilement" brought together the Farmer girl Fawn Bluefield and the Lakewalker (think Tolkien's Rangers) Dag Redwing Hickory. Together they fought off an attack of the Malices, or Blight Bogles, creatures that suck the 'ground', or life energy, out of everything, leaving behind a barren wasteland. They also create monsters. Not only did they have to face those beasties, then ended up having to face Fawn's family. All of this is prelude to -

"The Sharing Knife: Legacy", which I just finished. Now they have to face Dag's people - his family, his patrol unit, the entire camp - and the malices are getting nastier.

I don't think it's really a spoiler to say that neither culture has much use for though or logical deduction as a primary means of knowledge. Fawn's family think she's a perfect fool because she asks questions and tries things out rather than going by what "everybody knows." Dag's people thinkt hat because she lacks groundsense, she can't know anything, and that her carefully reasoned conclusions were either Dag feeding her a compulsion, or a lucky fluke.

The physical setting is very much the United States Midwest, technological level roughly early 1800s, but post-holocaust. I understand there are two more books coming. There had better be!

Carlina

07-01-2007, 04:46 AM

As a physical anthropologist do you have any thoughts about the exploits of that TV forensic anthropologist, Temperance 'Bones' Brennan? It's one of the very few shows I will watch and I enjoy it immensely!

John.

Hi John. I hope I don't derail the thread with this. Apologies in advance. Bones...I'll be honest...haven't watched it. *waits for all the gasping and shocked looks to die down* Ok..well I saw the end of one episode, but still. I usually don't give an opinion on something prior to watching it, but I can say a few things about it based on what I have heard and know. The program is based on a series of novels written by Kathy Reichs, who is a real physical/forensic anthropologist. I swear there is something with us anthropologists...we all end up writing novels (eg Elizabeth Peters). Anywoo she is currently associated with the CME's office for the state of NC and also in Quebec. Website here:
http://www.kathyreichs.com/welcome.htm

She's a prof as well and has published much on forensic identification and what not so she knows her stuff and is the producer of Bones...so in that respect the anthropology is good on the show BUT...BUT...This is the real way it works...It is impossible to be simply a forensic anthropologist. Most "forensic" anthropologists are really academics with separate research agendas that hold Ph.D.s in biological/physical anthropology. They teach at academic institutions or work as curators. There are so few forensic cases that actually get presented to us. My pals in DC only get 2 or 3 a year at the most. So what do they do when not identifying deceased persons? They examine variation in the skeleton among certain populations; they study paleopathology; they look at the skeletal biology of prehistoric and historic groups, and so forth. Of course there are disasters, plane crashes, mass graves, and so forth that some of us get called on as well but it is not a year round thing (with the exception of 9-11 and the Pentagon which took some time). Nor do we have an FBI agent shadow us. Usually if we are needed by the FBI, they will contact us, provide the data and any necessary materials, and leave us to it. Nor do we get chased down by those that committed the crime…not yet anyway. The day that happens I will get myself licensed to carry a firearm.

In short, it is impossible just to be a forensic anthropologist…one would starve. In fact all the folks that I know that work in forensics hold jobs either in academia or museums. Hence, academia, museums, and research…unless of course you are Bill Bass and started the body farm, which receives a tremendous amount of funding from the FBI. However, Bill was a professor too and worked with prehistoric populations as well. There is a rather interesting story behind why he started the body farm…for another post though….

jtb1951

07-01-2007, 04:55 AM

"The Sharing Knife: Legacy", which I just finished. Now they have to face Dag's people - his family, his patrol unit, the entire camp - and the malices are getting nastier.

I also enjoyed Beguilement, and am looking forward to picking up my copy of Legacy Monday evening at a book signing by LMB. I've been reading her novels for years and am a big fan; this will be my first opportunity to hear her in person, should be fun! Thanks for the review!

John.

jtb1951

07-01-2007, 05:07 AM

In short, it is impossible just to be a forensic anthropologist…one would starve. In fact all the folks that I know that work in forensics hold jobs either in academia or museums. Hence, academia, museums, and research…

Thanks for all the info, Carlina! Watching the show weekly (and the DVD special features) the Kathy Reichs connnection is made clear, and one (at least this one) is left with the impression that the forensic cases were the exciting periodic interludes to the daily grind of physical anthrological research, albeit somewhat more often than you allude to in the real world (after all, it's TV; there has to be a case every week!) Anyway, your reply was enlightening and much appreciated; thanks for your thoughfulness! Bye for now!

P.S. I sincerely hope you don't ever have to pack a piece!!:)

John.

seslavie

07-02-2007, 02:39 AM

Hmm...recent and current reads...

Recently Finished:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I loved it! I'm re-reading it, too! I'm so excited to see what I missed after the first time through!
I read that book quite a while back. I agree that is was a really good book, but I have to say that I also found it a tad sad and depressing.

With respect to my current reads:
~ I bought "Locked Rooms" a few weeks back and enjoyed it so much that I decided to re-read the entire Mary Russell series in order (and also found this site). I've finished the first three and am now just starting "The Moor".
~ Just re-read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in anticipation of book 7 in July.
~ "Lean Mean Thirteen" by Janet Evanovich (just released). This is the 13th book in the Stephanie Plum series. When I discovered these books, I read the first seven books in four days and never laughed so hard in my life. I anticipate each new book in this series with great pleasure. They are not highly intellectual or thought provoking. They are just pure pleasure.
~ "Long Time No See" by Susan Isaacs. Sequel to "Compromising Positions"

KarenB

07-02-2007, 02:58 AM

currently working my way thru Kage Baker's Company books (thanks for the recommendation!)
Book 2 of the Sharing Knife is downstairs waiting for me - I just got home tonight from vacation
just finished the two new Robert Parker's - in the Jesse Stone series and the Sunny Randall series - good fun, but I'm getting tired of his take on love
and the newest Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris - love these, just plain fun

Peppermint

07-02-2007, 07:06 PM

I found a worn copy of Watership Down at the used book store last night, so I am about to start rereading that this evening. I haven't read it in at least 7 years!

Also just started: Bored of the Rings, which came recommended from a friend.

Lady Natalie Bennet

07-03-2007, 12:15 AM

I recently finished a Star Wars book called Allegiance, by Timothy Zahn. Also, I read New Moon and Twilight by Stephanie Mayer. They were both awesome! The last two are vampire related, which is one of my obsessions.

ivanova

07-03-2007, 01:41 AM

I just finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night. I'm reading Zodiac by Robert Graysmith, which I have to finish soon because I'm running a book discussion on it on Thursday. I just started one whose name I currently don't remember, but it's the first in a series about a vampire who is a spy for the U.S. government. I've also just started the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, it was recommended to me, but I'm not usually one for romances so I don't know how far I'll get. I also have a stack of advanced reader copies waiting for me.

jtb1951

07-03-2007, 02:58 AM

Also just started: Bored of the Rings, which came recommended from a friend.

Thanks to those nutty folks at the Harvard Lampoon this is (imho) one of the funniest 'poons you will ever read. I expect some LOTR fans may be offended (poor babies!) but I take my Middle Earth very seriously (in the background I hear my younger daughter chiding me, "Dad, it wasn't real!") and still go into laughgasms whenever I re-read the exploits of the Fellowship: Frito & Spam, Goodgulf, Arrowroot (Stomper), Moxie & Pepsi, Gimlet (son of Groin), Legolam, and Bromosel, in their quest to stymie the evil Sorhed and his noxious Nozdrul!! It's the best!:p

John.

jtb1951

07-03-2007, 03:21 AM

Book 2 of the Sharing Knife is downstairs waiting for me

I just got home from Lois McMaster Bujold's last stop on her book tour for The Sharing Knife: Legacy, and as usual she was very engaging. She will conclude The Sharing Knife with two more volumes, one complete, the other almost done, to be released in early '08 and '09, respectively. She has also contracted for one more Miles Vorkosigan novel in the indeterminate future. She was graciously going to stay and sign every book brought forth, and being that some folks brought their entire collection with, I expect one tired hand by evening's end! Definitely a fan's author!:)

John.

Kiyomi

07-04-2007, 12:23 AM

I just finished rereading 'Don't forget your spacesuit dear' an scifi/fantasy anthology in tribute to mothers everywhere. It's by turns funny, creapy, and just plain good writing. There are even a few surprises at the end of some of the stories.

KarenB

07-04-2007, 02:31 AM

John - you lucky dog!! I love her books and am very glad there are more to follow Legacy. It left me a little, mmm, not quite sad, but wanting more resolution than I got. Her Chalion books have led to some very interesting discussions with the Director of Christian Ed. at my church. Love looking at religion from various angles.

BTW, wasn't it you who recommended Kage Baker's Company novels? If so, thanks, I'm very much enjoying them.

Karen

jtb1951

07-04-2007, 02:46 AM

BTW, wasn't it you who recommended Kage Baker's Company novels? If so, thanks, I'm very much enjoying them.

You're most welcome; I think it's a great series, but like all good things, it must come to an end! The final Company novel, The Sons of Heaven, is due out on July 10. I'm sad that the end is nye, but I'm anxious to see how Kage will tie up all the loose ends and resolve all the dilemnas!:rolleyes: I'm glad you're enjoying them; I recommend them to all my reading friends.

John.

zoe52

07-04-2007, 07:18 AM

I Finished Rude Mechanicals by Kage Baker - a quick summer read in the Company series.

I rediscovered Lascaux: The Birth of Art by Georges Bataille (THE book I fell in love with in fourth grade - the photos of the cave paintings, AH!)

Georges Bataille: An Intellectual Biography by Michel Surya
(the facts I wanted to know wrapped in badly written sentences)

Walter Benjamin's Grave by Michael Taussig

Zen Shorts by Jon H. Muth (with the grandkids - perfect picture book!)

Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey

And I am waiting for Harry! with mixed feelings.

jtb1951

07-04-2007, 01:33 PM

I Finished Rude Mechanicals by Kage Baker - a quick summer read in the Company series.

With the end of the series at hand I'm hoping Kage will continue to toss us vignettes like Rude Mechanicals; there is so much left to learn!!:)

John.

Piper

07-05-2007, 05:36 AM

I'm another fan of Kage Baker's Company books, but I'm terribly far behind & haven't read them in ages. One of these days I'll catch up, I hope!

I've just finished Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. If you're a comic book fan, you'll love it. It's the story of Doctor Impossible, a supervillain who is in custody & plotting his escape, and Fatale, a heroine who has recently joined a team of superheroes.

Next up is the new Lois McMaster Bujold. John, did LMB say anything about more Chalion books?

jtb1951

07-05-2007, 12:51 PM

Next up is the new Lois McMaster Bujold. John, did LMB say anything about more Chalion books?

Thanks for the response, Piper! During Q&A someone asked LMB about the Chalion books and she said her plan was eventually to have one for each of the five deities, so three books down, two to go! I'm looking forward to them! Thanks, again!

John.

spudders

07-05-2007, 01:34 PM

Being recently retired has given me the luxury of being able to read not only more often but in peace and quiet without the background noise of airports and all other interruptions associated with travel :-)))
Last 3 books read were Matt Richtel, Hooked : Peter Pringle, Day of the Dandelion and The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz.
I will now re-read The Beekeeper's Apprentice so that I can at least follow the discussions :-))) best, spudders

jtb1951

07-05-2007, 01:40 PM

Being recently retired has given me the luxury of being able to read not only more often but in peace and quiet without the background noise of airports and all other interruptions associated with travel :-)))
Last 3 books read were Matt Richtel, Hooked : Peter Pringle, Day of the Dandelion and The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz.

Welcome, spudders, and thanks for the input! Sounds like retirement is agreeing with you already!:) It's a great crowd here, hope you join us often!

John.

A.E. Harbuthnaut

07-05-2007, 05:02 PM

Am currently reading A Letter of Mary, The Lord Peter Wimsey Anthology of Short Stories, and Son of the Shadows.
Have recently finished Bussman's Honeymoon, In My Father's House (which is young adult, but I love it anyway), Song for the Basilisk, and Daughter of the Forest (or something like it...I don't really remember what it was called to be honest).
Working where I do generally gives me a good deal of down time, which I use to indulge my shameless inner bibliophile. :D

Piper

07-05-2007, 05:13 PM

John, I'm glad to hear LMB is sticking to her plan of doing 5 books for the Chalion-verse.

kitling, I'm a fan of Nicola Griffith as well. I've put Always on my to be read list.

jtb1951

07-05-2007, 06:18 PM

Am currently reading A Letter of Mary, The Lord Peter Wimsey Anthology of Short Stories, and Son of the Shadows.

Thanks for sharing; lots of folks have recommended the Lord Peter stories so I guess I will have to break down and try to slip them into my to-be-read pile. Thanks again and welcome!:)

John.

vicki

07-05-2007, 08:34 PM

Lady Natalie--I saw this article (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6457455.html?nid=2286&rid=736178266&source=link) about Stephanie Meyer's Twilight in the PW newsletter today and thought of you. I read Twilight earlier this year (me love vamp books) and it was a real page-turner. I need to read the sequel.

lots of folks have recommended the Lord Peter stories so I guess I will have to break down and try to slip them into my to-be-read pile.

John, you have quite a treat ahead of you. If you're obsessive about reading series in order, as I am, you'll need this terrific Lord Peter chronology (http://www.leftfield.org/~rawdon/books/mystery/sayers.html). That's what I used as I skated through the series. The initial books are not nearly as strong as the later ones, but it's very rewarding to see the characters (and Dorothy Sayer's writing) develop and take shape.

A.E. -- how are you enjoying the Sevenwaters trilogy (Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, Child of the Prophecy). I really enjoyed it, although I have some issues with certain aspects of Son of the Shadows (mostly psychological stuff).

Re: Lois McMaster Bujold--where do I start if I've finished everything in the Vorkosiverse?

lkarol

07-05-2007, 09:16 PM

Reading: "The Navigator (NUMA Files)" by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

and

Listening to in the car: "The 6th Target" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

vicki

07-05-2007, 09:23 PM

Welcome, lkarol! I've seen several blockbuster authors publish collaborations like these, which are supposedly ghost-writers developing stories from the better-known authors' outlines (and likely with their editing and supervision, I would assume). That's an interesting development. I think Janet Evanovich has been doing the same thing for several years in the romance field.

Do these that you're reading now read as well as the books written only by Patterson and Cussler? Is there a noticeably different style?

jtb1951

07-05-2007, 09:35 PM

Re: Lois McMaster Bujold--where do I start if I've finished everything in the Vorkosiverse?

Thanks for the Wimsey chronology, vicki!:)

As far as more LMB goes, I would say go with The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt. Enjoy!!

John.

lkarol

07-05-2007, 09:50 PM

I haven't read much James Patterson but I do not think the Cussler collaboration is as good as his stand alone books. There is too much fluff and romance instead of the adventure/mystery I enjoy reading.

Have you read any of Rita Mae Brown's Foxhunting Mysteries? I am a horse lover who also live in VA.

vicki

07-05-2007, 10:14 PM

I haven't read any Rita Mae Brown, but I've heard great things about her. Where is a good place to start with her stuff? Re: great horses in literature, I don't know if you're much of a fantasy reader, but there is a horse named Talat who steals quite a few scenes in Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown, which is on my Beloved Bookshelf. RMc is a big horse-enthusiast and actually worked with horses at one time, so she writes horses realistically.

As far as more LMB goes, I would say go with The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt. Enjoy!!

Okay--I'm going to get Curse of Chalion for the stack. LMB really rocks. Here's some LMB/Wimsey crossing fun--many people liken Miles V. to a Lord Peter Wimsey in space, and Ekaterin's maiden name, Vorvayne, is a play on the name of Lord Peter's love interest--Harriet Vane. And LMB dedicates A Civil Campaign (one of my personal faves) to Jane, Charlotte, Georgette and Dorothy, the last of which refers to Dorothy Sayers, author of the Lord Peter books. Not too shabby!

Piper

07-05-2007, 11:02 PM

I've only read Rita Mae Brown's early work, and a few of the Mrs. Murphy mysteries. The animal books eventually got too cutesy for me, but the foxhunting books look interesting. I'll keep an eye out for them on my next trip to the library.

Vicki, you're in for a treat for The Curse of Chalion. I think it's one of her best.

jtb1951

07-06-2007, 12:23 AM

Here's some LMB/Wimsey crossing fun--many people liken Miles V. to a Lord Peter Wimsey in space, and Ekaterin's maiden name, Vorvayne, is a play on the name of Lord Peter's love interest--Harriet Vane. And LMB dedicates A Civil Campaign (one of my personal faves) to Jane, Charlotte, Georgette and Dorothy, the last of which refers to Dorothy Sayers, author of the Lord Peter books. Not too shabby!

I never cease being amazed by the cross-overs and character tributes existing in the literary world; I'm even more astounded that these connections are recognized and noted by many discerning readers! And I am especially gratified that many of them have taken up residence here in our VBC midst!!:) Many thanks and kudos to you all!!!

John.

A.E. Harbuthnaut

07-06-2007, 02:02 AM

Vicki- I'm not crazy about Son of the Shadows, although I really enjoyed the first one and most of the third one, so all in all I have to say I like the Sevenwaters trilogy.

Question for anyone out there- I saw-ages ago- on amazon.com that there's a short story somewhere about Holmes and Lord Peter and some others whose premise is a bunch of characters who's authors died before they wrote their characters' deaths. I don't remember what it was called (I saw it before I read Lord Peter and before I was obsessive over Holmes). Anyone read it/know where I can get a copy? I've checked amazon again, but it's possible I missed it. I'd appreciate any help you can provide...
Anna (that's what the 'A' stands for...);)

vicki

07-07-2007, 05:06 PM

I think it's one of her best.

Wow--it must rock the Casbah, then. I'd take one of LMB's grocery lists over the average work of fiction out there.

I never cease being amazed by the cross-overs and character tributes existing in the literary worldhttp://laurierking-com.w01.merchbox.com/vbulletin/images/misc/progress.gif

Lord Peter good. You read. </Tarzan>

Vicki- I'm not crazy about Son of the Shadows, although I really enjoyed the first one and most of the third one, so all in all I have to say I like the Sevenwaters trilogy.

I loooved Daughter of the Forest. It was a terrific fairy-tale reworking (I do love a good f.t. reworking). I liked a lot of the characters in SotS, and I liked many aspects of it, but it finally just broke completely out of the asteroid-belt of credibility, story-wise.

I saw-ages ago- on amazon.com that there's a short story somewhere about Holmes and Lord Peter and some others whose premise is a bunch of characters who's authors died before they wrote their characters' deaths. I don't remember what it was called (I saw it before I read Lord Peter and before I was obsessive over Holmes). Anyone read it/know where I can get a copy? I've checked amazon again, but it's possible I missed it.

Wow--that sounds way cool. Maybe you heard about it on some comments there? If it did see print, the Sayers estate probably pulled a whammy on it, unless they'd ok'd it beforehand.

ValentineWiggin

07-07-2007, 06:34 PM

Well, I'm in the middle of two things right now. I'm reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the new book being released and the movie on Wednesday (that is my at home book). On my daily train rides and lunch breaks, I'm reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Unabridged. I've read about 230 pages of the 1,463 or so pages. At least I'm making progress. Both books are wonderful. I read an abridged Les Mis in high school and I 've seen the musical, so I figured I'd go after the whole thing.

alina

07-07-2007, 11:18 PM

I read an abridged Les Mis in high school and I 've seen the musical, so I figured I'd go after the whole thing.

Ah, yet another book I must someday read! I'm still wading through Anna Karenina (though in truth I haven't touched it in a week).

I do love the musical dearly! I have the music somewhere in my piano bench...must find that and play it after I've got Wicked down.

ValentineWiggin

07-08-2007, 12:26 AM

Yes, the music from the musical is pure magic. I was lucky enough to see it live and it was an experience I will never forget. Luckily, Victor Hugo's writing is phenomanaly beautiful, even in translation, and it mkes reading that many pages worth it. I also have Anna Karenina sitting on my shelf with quite a few other long Russian novels I need to read. I'll get there eventually...

jtb1951

07-08-2007, 02:59 AM

Today I started reading Emperor by Stephen Baxter. It's an historical fiction, beginning in post-Julius Caesar Britain and focusing on a prophecy (in Latin) blurted from the lips of a dying, birthing woman (who didn't know a word of Latin) and hastily transcribed and passed down as an heirloom. A 180 degree turn from Baxter's hard science fiction that he is famous for; I'm anxious to see how works this alternate history!

John.

vicki

07-08-2007, 07:21 AM

must find that and play it after I've got Wicked down.

Must tell a funny story re: Wicked. Last year, my two sisters and their kids saw Wicked on Broadway. After the trip, we were all having a meal together and one of my nieces told us about the show. My DD turned to my 5yo nephew, who had been busy with his food, and asked, "Richard--did you see Wicked, too? He looked up from his plate with a sad face and mournfully replied, "No, I only saw Wicked One." Hehehehehe! Kids are so funny!

A lot of the Russian literature that's famous over here is pretty dark and heavy, which is hard for me to wade through. I thought it might be some quirk of how Russian translates into English, but then I read some Chekov that doesn't come across dark and heavy at all. It would be cool to be able to read the books in Russian to see how the translation compares.

It's an historical fiction, beginning in post-Julius Caesar Britain and focusing on a prophecy (in Latin) blurted from the lips of a dying, birthing woman (who didn't know a word of Latin) and hastily transcribed and passed down as an heirloom. A 180 degree turn from Baxter's hard science fiction that he is famous for; I'm anxious to see how works this alternate history!

Oooh--I looove alternate histories! Let me know how it turns out.

vicki

07-08-2007, 07:43 AM

I missed some of the comments upthread while I was getting the newsletter out. Evidently I need to be on this Kage Baker bandwagon, and I'm also taking note of the Nicola Griffith stuff.

Don't forget your spacesuit dear' an scifi/fantasy anthology in tribute to mothers everywhere.

Wow--this sounds like a lot of fun! I need to look at that one.

I rediscovered Lascaux: The Birth of Art by Georges Bataille (THE book I fell in love with in fourth grade - the photos of the cave paintings, AH!)

Thanks for mentioning this, Zoe. DS is a budding artist and would probably love this. And the Zen Shorts picture book sounds like something the kids and I would enjoy. I'll look for that. I'm so glad my 11 and 9 yo kids still like picture books--it's so much fun to read those aloud.

The Solitary Cyclist

07-08-2007, 01:54 PM

I am finishing up Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Van Gogh's Table at the Auberge Ravoux by Alexandra Leaf and Fred Leeman. I just began The Aeneid by Virgil and am re-reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice for, perhaps, the tenth time with my grandmother. :D

Piper

07-08-2007, 08:59 PM

Vicki,

Yes, you do need to get on the Kage Baker bandwagon! In the Garden of Iden is the first book, and it's a very enjoyable read. I like all of Nicola Griffith's work. Ammonite and Slow River are sf, and the Aud series (starting with The Blue Place) is a mystery/thriller. Your TBR stack just grew by a foot or so...oops!

Speaking of Russian literature, did you ever read Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin? It's a novel in verse, and it's amazing. His short stories are also amazing, particularly "The Queen of Spades".

dustywolf

07-08-2007, 11:37 PM

Hello,

I am reading Dragonflys in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. It is the second book in a series. The first is called Outlander. I love books set in a different time period.

vicki

07-09-2007, 12:00 AM

SC, that's cool that you're reading BEEK with your grandmother!

Your TBR stack just grew by a foot or so...oops!

I need another 2-3 sets of eyeballs...

Speaking of Russian literature, did you ever read Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin? It's a novel in verse, and it's amazing. His short stories are also amazing, particularly "The Queen of Spades".

<Looks up at ever-growing stack, sighs> ...or at least a good speed-reading course.

Hi and welcome, dusty wolf! I really enjoyed Outlander and Dragonfly--they were great! I loved the third book, Voyager, too. There are also a couple of other books in the series after that, I believe. Gabaldon has a companion book to the Outlander series where she talks about how she does historical research, which is interesting. You might enjoy taking a look at that.

dustywolf

07-09-2007, 05:02 AM

Hi Vicki, thanks for the tips! I will be sure to check out those books also. Thanks!

jtb1951

07-09-2007, 05:15 AM

A lot of the Russian literature that's famous over here is pretty dark and heavy, which is hard for me to wade through.

I have been starting and re-starting The Brothers Karamazov for the last 40 years and I still never got more than half-way through, yet Crime and Punishment was a breeze; you just can't tell! (I WILL finish Karamazov one of these years!!:rolleyes: )

John.

AmyLizzie

07-09-2007, 12:04 PM

jtb1951

07-09-2007, 02:00 PM

I am currently reading 'The Two Towers' by J. R. R. Tolkein. I amsuch a big fan of Lord of the Rings, one of my lecturers at Uni thought it was a bit dull and long, and I can see where I would have taken stuff out but overall I am totally in love with it. The writing is amazing and I have never read anything like it.

I think The Lord Of The Rings is one of the few books that can stand unlimited repeat reads. I've read it well over 30 times and I still am entertained, and continue to find nuances and different meanings that I never picked up on before! Probably my favorite book of all time, if I was forced to choose! Tolkien (not unlike Charles Dickens) gave us detail and minutiae that might seem excessive on the surface, but my experience has been that the richness of their stories depended upon it. Happy reading! and keep up with the Latin; you may not find it useful for conversing with many folks, but it will open up a tremendous world of vocabulary and language that should serve you well throughout a well-educated lifetime!!:)

John.

monxa

07-10-2007, 12:57 PM

Désirée by Annemarie Selinko

vicki

07-10-2007, 05:30 PM

Ameliorate

07-11-2007, 12:32 AM

I just unpacked my boxes of books and have already overfilled my 9x22 ft built in bookcase. It has been lovely, though, to get to revisit all my old friends. I finished all of my Laurie Kings in the first two weeks (though sadly my new puppy knocked coffee over one of the signed first editions) and have moved on to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje-- they balance one another nicely.

monxa

07-11-2007, 02:45 AM

I hadn't heard of that one, Monxa, but my google results say it was a huge international bestseller and was made into an A-list movie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e_(film)). A Time Magazine review (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820906,00.html) of it from 1953 criticized Selinko's lack of "verbal gusto," but book-buyers apparently disagreed. What do you think of it so far?

“Verbal Gusto” I don’t know. I wouldn’t say any of that for that book, but then, what do I know. For me books are, either I liked or not, is good or bad, that’s about it.
However, that I know, the American translation, which is the one that earn the bestseller of 1953 is the worst translation of all, and there pieces missing, the best will be reading it in German, but… otherwise the English Translation seems to be the best, the Spanish one so so, maybe that is the “ verbal gusto” thing.
I like it, it’s a novel of course, but the facts about Napoleon are very “straight”? I cant figure out a word for it right now, and of course the story is true, most of it at least, sometime one those learn better that way, sometimes.
I recommend it.

jtb1951

07-11-2007, 03:19 AM

It has been lovely, though, to get to revisit all my old friends. I finished all of my Laurie Kings in the first two weeks (though sadly my new puppy knocked coffee over one of the signed first editions) and have moved on to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje-- they balance one another nicely.

Welcome, Ameliorate! Love your moniker! Ender's Game and The English Patient really are bookends; terrific books both. If you like Michael Ondaatje you might look for his latest, Anil's Ghost; very enthralling! Thanks for posting!

John.

kahlan

07-11-2007, 04:33 AM

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

jtb1951

07-11-2007, 12:51 PM

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

Welcome to a member from the Bay Area (our home from 1976-87)! I googled this book and it sounds like the continuation of an interesting mystery series; have you read the first two books in the series? Thanks for posting!

John.

Strawberry Curls

07-11-2007, 04:08 PM

I googled this book and it sounds like the continuation of an interesting mystery series; have you read the first two books in the series?

John,

I have read all three of the Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear and found them well done. The Maisie character is complex and interesting. A bit older than Russell as she was a nurse during WWI then becomes a sort of dectective/psychologist which makes for an interesting take on detection. The time period is the 20's and we have another brilliant, well educated woman making her own way in a changing society. I enjoyed them all, Maisie Dobbs, Messenger of Truth and Pardonable Lies. Hope that helps.

jtb1951

07-11-2007, 06:33 PM

I enjoyed them all, Maisie Dobbs, Messenger of Truth and Pardonable Lies. Hope that helps.

It does indeed; they sound fascinating. At the rate I'm adding books to my to-be-read list pretty soon the list will be heavier than the books!:) Thanks for the info, Strawberry!!

John.

KarenB

07-12-2007, 02:48 AM

John - from what other books you have listed I would also recommend the Maisie Dobbs series. She has a psychological aspect that is quite unusual and rather intriguing.

jtb1951

07-12-2007, 04:26 AM

John - from what other books you have listed I would also recommend the Maisie Dobbs series. She has a psychological aspect that is quite unusual and rather intriguing

Thank you, KarenB! I very much enjoy fiction with a strong psychological bent, and your recommendation seems to reinforce that these are books that would appeal to me (now if I only had Hermione's Time-Turner, I would be all set!!:) )

John.

Kiyomi

07-12-2007, 04:36 AM

I would highly recommend the William Monk Series by Anne Perry for those who like psycological books. The first book is Face of A Stranger in which the protagonist William Monk awakens in a hospital with no memory of the man he was. His superior and most of his old colleagues are out to get him and he is running a murder investigation which he might be implacated in. He doesn't know what he did to make everyone dislike him so and he doesn't remember who his contacts are, or more importantly his enemies.

jtb1951

07-12-2007, 01:47 PM

I would highly recommend the William Monk Series by Anne Perry for those who like psycological books.

I have not read anything by Anne Perry before, so I guess I will have to put this series on the list (the ever-growing, super-sized list!) Thanks for the recommendation, Kiyomi!!:)

John.

jtb1951

07-13-2007, 12:51 PM

...finishing off re-reading H. P. and The Half-Blood Prince, in preparation for the last book next weekend! I am also starting a new compilation, by The Library of America, of Philip K. Dick's 4 outstanding novels of the '60's, The Man In The High Castle, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldrich, Do Androida Dream Of Electric Sheep, and Ubik! I haven't read these books in years, and they are classics! If you have never read Dick before, these are the ones to read!!

John.

jtb1951

07-13-2007, 01:30 PM

Speaking of Harry Potter... We saw the new movie, H. P. and The Order of the Phoenix, last night and enjoyed it a lot. Even though the movie was relatively short (2 hrs. 18 min.) the director did a great job of retaining the story flow and incorporating most of the important plot elements. Definitely a darker movie, but then so is the story! Pretty well done, in my book!:)

John.

azdolphin

07-13-2007, 02:10 PM

Hey John,

I, also, am re-reading Harry Potter book 6 in preparation for next Saturday... Four of us will be sequestered in our house, reading at the same time, with snacks already planned!

I am thinking, though, that maybe there is something wrong with the three of us who went to see the movie, because we were really quite disappointed. I loved the acting and the special effects. I found the storyline disjointed, though. I guess I was surprised that they took the longest book and made the shortest movie out of it. I know it would be incredibly difficult to condense everything, because it was certainly the most complex book so far, but I came away with so much "missing." But you're right, there were a lot of wonderful things about the movie, and it is still definitely worth seeing on the big screen....

jtb1951

07-13-2007, 03:11 PM

I, also, am re-reading Harry Potter book 6 in preparation for next Saturday... Four of us will be sequestered in our house, reading at the same time, with snacks already planned!

I can relate to that, except that for this book only three of us will be at home reading simultaneously, while daughter #1 (who is in grad school in Madison at the U. of WI) will be reading it up there so we can all be discussing it by Sunday!! (How nerdy can you get!!:) )

As far as the movie, I really have had to keep the books and movies totally separated as far as expectations go, and just enjoy the movies for what they are. With stories as rich as the Potter books are, a movie just can't capture what the mind produces from the written words. I guess that's just the inherent danger in making a novel-based movie. Thanks for the input!!

John.

azdolphin

07-13-2007, 03:59 PM

LOL! Well, nerdy it is then, and of course, we were all wondering the same thing -- is this too weird or goofy?!? :-) Our foursome will be a friend of ours who knows more Potter trivia than I know "regular" things, my 18-year-old daughter who has grown up with H.P. (off to Cornell next month), my partner, and myself. I'm afraid the dogs may end up "walkless" on Saturday. And yes, we have had this planned since we found out the release date...

I agree it's absolutely necessary to keep the movies and books separate -- just so hard to do sometimes! You're also right that books with that level of detail must seem nearly impossible to capture as a screenwriter. I was really thrilled, though, with the acting. It's been fun to watch those kids grow and mature as actors and actresses. I was surprised by how much Dudley had changed! Wow! But of course, there is probably the "selfish" aspect in always wanting more. I am anxious to see it again in the theater because now that I know what to expect, I'll enjoy it more.

Happy reading!

jtb1951

07-13-2007, 07:03 PM

kahlan

07-14-2007, 05:27 PM

Sorry just returned. Started new job this week. I am glad you were able to get the answers on Maise Dobbs.

There are four in the series. Hope you will enjoy.

kahlan

07-14-2007, 05:27 PM

oops Maisie Dobbs

kuttlewis

07-14-2007, 09:15 PM

Bujold has just started another series: Legacy. Protagonist is 18 and hero is 54 and they get married. Sound familiar? Her "Chalion's Curse" is something I reread just for the lovely theology.

Gilman is pure joy, not just her Mrs. Pollifax series (60 something lady offers her services to the CIA as a spy). I believe her "Caravan" is set in the same time period as Russell and Holmes.

Inge

jtb1951

07-15-2007, 12:57 AM

Bujold has just started another series: Legacy. Protagonist is 18 and hero is 54 and they get married. Sound familiar? Her "Chalion's Curse" is something I reread just for the lovely theology.

Bujold's Sharing Knife series (Beguilement and Legacy to date, two more to come) certainly has been interesting so far; Fawn and Dag have a relationship spurned by almost all their people, how they will survive as a couple is yet to be seen. Bujold's characterizations are always intriguing. And if you have enjoyed Chalion's Curse I hope you take the opportunity to read (if you haven't already) the next two volumes, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt, with two more volumes expected in the future.

John.

kahlan

07-15-2007, 01:06 AM

Is legacy the name of the new series? Sounds interesting.

Just went out and got the first in Anne Perry's Monk series. The stack of to be read books could be growing fast.

jtb1951

07-15-2007, 03:29 AM

Is legacy the name of the new series? Sounds interesting.

The name of Lois McMaster Bujold's new series is The Sharing Knife, and Beguilement and Legacy are the first two volumes in the series, with two more to come over the next two years.

John.

embee

07-15-2007, 05:55 AM

I'm glad Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs books have been mentioned. Beyond the pleasure of reading more about the time and place the Russell books are set in I've been attracted to the focus on the effects on WWI on those who served. Again we are in a time with people coming home touched profoundly by war. And touched in ways we at home aren't really familiar with.

I've just brought home Always by Nicola Griffith.

And a book to add to those mentioned. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Amazing! I imagined all graphic novels to be Biff! Pow! and Wham! Not Fun Home. It is a memoir by the brilliant cartoonist Alison Bechdel. It is painful in parts and all too familiar in parts. I'd highly recommend it. It was on the New York Times 100 best books for 2006.

jtb1951

07-15-2007, 02:52 PM

Another book which I have just started (can't have less than a half-dozen in progress at any given time:rolleyes: ) is one that's been sitting around here for awhile and I've finally gotten to: A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park. The tale has been described as one "filled with the nonstop action of J. K. Rowling, the dark complexity of Philip Pullman, the literary resonance of Gene Wolfe, and the luminous magic of his (Park's) own unique style." I'm anxious to visit another alternate world here, and in Park's followup novel, The Tourmaline! (Where did I put my Time-Turner?!)

John.

kuttlewis

07-15-2007, 10:23 PM

Eric Flint's Belisarius series - great twist on alternate universe.

David Weber's Honor Harrington series.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry series

Philip McDonald, author of The List of Adrian Messenger

Ms. Kay

07-16-2007, 12:45 AM

jtb1951

07-16-2007, 01:50 PM

I'm reading Tourquiose Girl by Aimee and David Thurlo. It's the newest (I think) of their Ella Clah series. Ella Clah started out with the FBI and is now with the Navajo police on a reservation in New Mexico. It's a good, well written police procedural series that includes a lot of info about Navajo Indians.

Thanks for the post, Ms. Kay! I love being introduced to such a wide range of books and reading interests that I would probably never come across otherwise. Thanks, again!

John.

monxa

07-16-2007, 04:50 PM

Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
It took me a bit at the beginning because of all the corporate language, but now I cant put it down.

jtb1951

07-16-2007, 05:08 PM

Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
It took me a bit at the beginning because of all the corporate language, but now I cant put it down.

I hadn't heard of this book before, but I looked it up on Amazon and it got good reviews. Another one to add to the list; thanks, monxa!!:)

John.

jtb1951

07-18-2007, 04:09 AM

Thanks to all of you who so highly recommended the Lord Peter Wimsey books; I just started the compilation of all the Wimsey short stories and am enjoying them immensely! Thanks to all!!:)

John.

Kiyomi

07-18-2007, 04:53 PM

Today I am rereading Exile's Honor by Mercedes Lackey. This is one of her best late Valdemar books. I think I especially like it because some of her later comming of age books are a little annoying and the main character in this book is already and adult and their own person when they get caught up in circumstances.

KarenB

07-19-2007, 02:21 AM

I've given up on my TBR stack momentarily for a re-read of the Harry Potters in prep for Saturday. Tell me I'm not the only one . . .:o

vicki

07-19-2007, 08:11 AM

note to vicki:
I finished Emperor by Stephen Baxter, but now I have to wait a few weeks before the next volume in this alternate history comes out, called Conqueror, volume 2 in his Time's Tapestry series. I enjoyed what I've read so far, although he covers several centuries in the book, and the story jumps ahead a few generations at a time. I'll reserve further judgement until I see what the next book(s) is/are like! But not bad so far!:)

Alternate histories are cool. I'll be interested to hear how it goes in further volumes. BTW--congrats on your entrance into the Wimseyverse! And just think--the shorts are good, but they can't hold a candle to most of the novels. You're in for lots o' treats!

Four of us will be sequestered in our house, reading at the same time, with snacks already planned!

Hehehehe--I love this! We'll get two copies, as DD will want me to read it to her after I finish, and DS will want to read it for himself while I'm working on my copy. Whee! I haven't read HBP in preparation, although now I'm thinking I should. I really need a speed-reading course.

We did see OOtP last weekend and I just enjoyed it to bits. I was in the right mood for it and the theater was full, which is always fun. But it was a fairly subdued crowd for an opening weekend matinee. I was the only one whooping, cheering and occasionally booing Dolores Umbridge (wasn't Imelda Staunton perfect?) there in the back of the theater, to my kids' alternating bemusement and mortification. Hehehe!

I am also starting a new compilation, by The Library of America, of Philip K. Dick's 4 outstanding novels of the '60's, The Man In The High Castle, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldrich, Do Androida Dream Of Electric Sheep, and Ubik! I haven't read these books in years, and they are classics! If you have never read Dick before, these are the ones to read!!

DADoES is on my need-to-read list. There was a piece about this LoA compilation in the NY Times a month or two back. It contained the most fabulous quote about the old Ace Doubles, (a format featuring two short SF novels in one volume), which quote I just found on wikipedia:

If the Holy Bible was printed as an Ace Double," an editor once remarked, "it would be cut down to two 20,000-word halves with the Old Testament retitled as ‘Master of Chaos’ and the New Testament as ‘The Thing With Three Souls.’

I couldn't stop laughing or ten solid minutes after I read that.

Re: the Maisie Dobbs series--I read the first two and enjoyed them a lot, although they didn't knock me down and call me Edna the way the Russells and a few other series have. Still, they're very thoughtful and well-done, and I like Maisie a lot. She's an interesting detective.

The Fionavar Tapestry books are in my Stack/Mountain, and I have a CD-Rom of the Honor Harrington books, which have been recommended to me enthusiastically.

I tried the first Monk book by Anne Perry, but it didn't click. I have a thing about rapidly shifting viewpoints. It's just one of my reading oddities, I guess. Interesting factoid: Anne Perry was one of two New Zealand teenagers convicted of murder several decades back, in a notorious case that inspired Peter Jackson's 1994 film, Heavenly Creatures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Creatures).

Kuttlewis, is Eric Flint the author who wrote a book about a city that is transported back from recent times into the 1500s or something to that effect? I thought that was an interesting premise.

The others mentioned here I haven't heard of, but will investigate. The Pollifax thing sounds like something my mom would love--maybe we could possibly do a tandem read.

jtb1951

07-19-2007, 01:30 PM

I've given up on my TBR stack momentarily for a re-read of the Harry Potters in prep for Saturday. Tell me I'm not the only one . . .

No, you are not the only one; my whole family has been feverishing re-reading the last few books to prepare for this weekend!!!:)

John.

Kiyomi

07-20-2007, 02:44 AM

Vicki, Eric Flint writes the 1632 Series, although that is just one in a series of Assiti Shards novels/series he has in the works.http://www.1632.org/ is the official homepage for that series. You can see a few tidbits about other Assiti Shards novels planned on this page http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/bibliography/ Eric also edits a lot of older works and gets them back in publication. I especially recommend 'Lord Darcey' and 'Med Ship' which he edited. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the 2nd link he answers some questions possed by people. Of his personal works in addition to the 1632 universe I highly recommend his BELISARIUS series which is a favorite ammong favorites written with great intelligence and humor.

jtb1951

07-20-2007, 02:02 PM

Anne Perry was one of two New Zealand teenagers convicted of murder several decades back, in a notorious case that inspired Peter Jackson's 1994 film, Heavenly Creatures.

I bought the DVD of this last year; what a creepy movie!! A young Kate Winslet did a fabulous job in this film! A Peter Jackson masterpiece!

John.

sigmagirl

07-20-2007, 05:19 PM

Just finished Ruth Rendell's new The Water's Lovely. I, too, have read and loved all the Maisie Dobbs books, and would like to encourage readers to try the Cyrus Barker/Thomas Llewelyn series by Will Thomas, starting with Some Danger Involved. The new one just came out last week!

Also, check out the Upper Marstone trilogy by Cynthia Mills. They're not by a major publisher and might not be in your library, but are worth reading.

jtb1951

07-20-2007, 06:07 PM

and would like to encourage readers to try the Cyrus Barker/Thomas Llewelyn series by Will Thomas, starting with Some Danger Involved. The new one just came out last week!

Thanks for posting sigmagirl, and welcome! I second your recommendation of the Will Thomas books with Barker & LLewelyn; I hadn't realized that the fourth novel (The Hellfire Conspiracy) had just been released. The first three, in order, are Some Danger Involved, To Kingdom Come, and The Limehouse Text. I found them all to be very enjoyable reads, now I have to go get the latest one!! Thanks, again!

John.

kuttlewis

07-22-2007, 01:16 PM

The Pollifax thing sounds like something my mom would love--maybe we could possibly do a tandem read.

Actually, I think Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax series is not limited to readers above the age of 60. No matter what age, everyone at one time or another, reaches a point where I ask myself, "What am I doing here? Is anything I do worth anything? What is my life all about?"

Another important message of the Mrs. Pollifax series is how much is lost and wasted, not just in America, but all over the world, if we do not learn from and use the wisdom and experience of older people. It's the most underused resource in the world. Tragic for us and our children and the world.

jtb1951

07-23-2007, 02:48 AM

I finished The Deathly Hallows earlier today (see comments elsewhere), and have begun Clouds of Witness, Wimsey novel #2. Greatly enjoying them so far (as expected!)

John.

KarenB

07-24-2007, 01:16 AM

Finished Deathly Hallows and now am working on Sons of Heaven, Kage Baker's latest and final? Company novel. After that, a reread of Time Traveler's Wife for a RL book club.

jtb1951

07-24-2007, 01:25 AM

Finished Deathly Hallows and now am working on Sons of Heaven, Kage Baker's latest and final? Company novel.

I just received my copy of Sons of Heaven in the mail today, and it's next on the docket for me!!

John.

cynthia

07-24-2007, 09:14 PM

Just finished Have His Carcase by Sayers. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I've liked any of her novels as much as I liked Gaudy Night. Am also reading Bleak House (for school- but, I like it!!) and The Nine Tailors (another Sayers- I guess I am hooked!).:)

I have to read one more book about the Civil War (before Sept. 2) but would like to have one more really great book to read at the beach. Any suggestions?? (I wish there was a new Russell book- I am trying to be patient!!;)

vicki

07-25-2007, 01:24 AM

Glad you're enjoying the Wimseys, John! And they just keep getting better. I really need to see what the deal is with this Kage Baker thing. Everyone is talking about those.

cynthia, you have lots of books going! HHC is my least favorite of the four Harriets. Still better than a good many of the non-Harriets, but not as good as the best of those, like Murder Must Advertise.

I'm coming down off of the HP binge and the attendant adrenaline/sleep-deprivation hangover (am currently in a bit of a post-HP-era depression), so I'll probably pick up the newest Thursday Next book, First Among Sequels, by Jasper Fforde. That'll ensure some laughs before I move on to a couple of Lois McMaster Bujold series that have been enthusiastically recommended to me many times.

would like to have one more really great book to read at the beach. Any suggestions??

Okay--if you want something with a good SF-with-great-characters-leading-into-a-long-series thing, try Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosiverse. Start with Cordelia's Honor and go forward. Great stuff! The Time Traveler's Wife, mentioned upthread by KarenB, is a wonderful book. Bring a kleenex box out on the beach for that one, though. Have you read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde? It starts with The Eyre Affair and is absolutely hilarious--any series where the love interest is named Landon Parke-Laine (think Monopoly) is worth at least a shot. I also loved The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, but it's got a lot of sadness in it, yet there is hope as well.

Does Regency/mystery/romance type stuff sound like your cuppa? Then try some Georgette Heyer. These Old Shades and The Devil's Cub are a great one-two punch. Or for some good vampire books, you might try the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, starting with Guilty Pleasures (but don't bother after book 9 or 10--the series jumps the shark by that time). Or the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris is also lots of fun--the first one is Dead Until Dark.

Oh, and if you want a good, dark mystery series with some interesting but messed up characters, try the excellent Mallory series by Carol O'Connell, featuring a drop-dead gorgeous, hugely smart, but sociopathic police detective. Mallory's Oracle is the first one. That's one of my favorite series.

jtb1951

07-25-2007, 03:05 AM

I really need to see what the deal is with this Kage Baker thing. Everyone is talking about those.

I enjoy all of Kage's work, but her most well-known belong to her series regarding The Company (Dr. Zeus Inc.) The novels and collections, in order, (and I would recommend reading them in order) are In the Garden of Iden, Sky Coyote, Mendoza in Hollywood, The Graveyard Game, The Company Dossiers: Black Projects, White Knights, The Life of the World to Come, The Children of the Company, The Machine's Child, Gods and Pawns, and The Sons of Heaven. For further info, see www.kagebaker.com.

The basic premise of the series revolves about a company (The Company) of the future known as Dr. Zeus, Inc., with the ability to move individuals backwards in time (but transfer information both ways), and the further ability to create a race of immortal (?) cyborgs (by choosing and scientifically manipulating young humans from historical and pre-historical eras), with the express purpose of tasking the cyborgs to collect and cache historically significant artifacts to be retrieved by their masters (The Company) in the future (which is mysteriously known only up to July 2355 A.D.), and the associated travails of said cyborgs and putative masters. But all is not as it seems!!

Lots of fun!

John.

lunamoth

07-25-2007, 03:27 AM

wow- my first post here...

i'm a bit embarassed to admit i am currently reading Voyager by Diana Gabaldoon (embarassed because it is classified a "romance"). the series is well written and reads more like historical fiction than romance... had to get my head into something after the harry potter craze...

irish

07-25-2007, 03:49 AM

In the middle of The Deathly Hallows. I started The Widow's War (the author escapes me at the mo') but then HP arrived. School starts August 22nd, so I have to get as many books in as I can!

vicki

07-25-2007, 04:07 AM

Hi and welcome to the VBC, lunamoth! There's no need to be embarrassed--there are a lot of folks who enjoy Gabaldon around here, myself included. In fact, one of her good online friends posts over here, too <waves to nkk>. From what I can tell from my years of surfing book-forums and other literary gathering sites, the LRK and DG fan bases have a broad area of overlap. A couple of things I like about the Russells are also things I enjoy in the Outlander series--there is a strong and interesting relationship between the central character and her significant other, and there is a lot to learn about history in the plot and details of the story. I enjoyed reading about how DG does her research in the companion book she did for the Outlander series.

I don't think you should be embarrassed of the books you like. Even if they're just fun brain-candy, that's okay. Maybe if someone came in and said his/her favorite author was Paris Hilton, I might wince just a tad, but I don't think we'll see much of that in the VBC. :)

Oh, for all the DG fans out there--she's going to be one of the Bouchercon guests of honor this year, so think about making reservations for Anchorage this September. And we'll even have a VBC event during the con, if we can get a group together.

<edit> Just saw your Kage Baker post, John. Wow--that sounds like an amazing series! Maybe I need to launch into that when I get done with my LMBs.

Also just saw your DH post, Irish--isn't it fabu?! I just loved it to bits! I just started reading HP1 to DD, and we're aiming to go through the whole series. I'm so looking forward to reading all the books with her!

Vilian

07-25-2007, 09:11 AM

Slightly ashamed, I have to say that a book for today is Justice Hall :o I finally got last two missing books (O Jerusalem and The Moor) on Friday and since I could start reading in proper order I'm now in the middle of 5-Russells-in-a-row marathon :D

vicki

07-25-2007, 09:18 AM

I finally got last two missing books (O Jerusalem and The Moor) on Friday

Congratulations, Vilian--woohoo! <Waves> Enjoy!

Vilian

07-25-2007, 10:34 AM

*waves back* Thank you, it is enjoyable experience! Although I found The Moor being a bit flat comparing to absolutely awesome O Jerusalem ;) Justice Hall seems to be better that The Moor too, but it's all a matter of personal taste I guess.
Apart of the Russells, to-be-read pile of mine contains of two books by Aleksandra Marinina (Russian ex-militia officer writing criminal stories about Anastasia Kamienska, Russian police officer. Very skilled author, although I doubt she ever got translated to English) and Veritas by Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti (third in a series, first two being Imprimatur and Secretum. Great hystorical stories on ~1700 Italy, France and Spain). I hope to put my greedy paws on them by the end of this week, as they're borrowed from a library and have to give them back soon :(

lunamoth

07-25-2007, 05:25 PM

Thanks for the welcome, Vicki. i have to clarify that i have the utmost respect for DG as her research and detailing is impeccable. i tend to shy away from anything classified romance out of social stigma, but i need to learn to get away from that- can't judge a book by it's genre, eh? i am really enjoying this community- there are so many like minded bookworms here, i am taking all sorts of notes on new books for my reading list :) also glad to see the there is a lot of overlap with Harry Potter readers as well. great company with great taste!

redherring

07-26-2007, 06:40 AM

Since I don't get time to read much of anything except textbooks during the school year, I am cramming as much as possible into this summer. I am currently working on two non-fiction: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster and The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar. The first is light, fun and very fascinating. The second actually qualifies as a text book (it's put out by Yale University Press) but nonetheless captivating.

My husband and I have a long-running tradition of me reading out loud while he drives, or just around the house. We have gone through all of the Russell series this way, and most of the Martinelli series. We got bogged down a few years ago while reading With Child and never finished it together (sorry, Ms. King!) but I recently went back and reread it, as well as Night Work in preparation for The Art of Detection. I filled my husband in on what he had missed and we are currently reading The Art of Detection together. As soon as that's done we are going to jump into the new Harry Potter book. I am also rereading The Beekeeper's Apprentice on my own to refresh my memory for this month's discussion.

Oh yes, I'm also reading A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens on the Project Gutenberg site. I'm hoping to finish all these and more by the time school starts up again. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it! :)

KarenB

07-26-2007, 03:57 PM

Oooooh! I remeber Madwoman in the Attic - really good! I miss those college and grad school seminars with the intense discussion of books and ideas. Perhaps I'll go back after we get the kids thru (she thinks longingly . . .)

VictoriaMisselthwaite

07-26-2007, 08:54 PM

The Solitary Cyclist

07-26-2007, 11:04 PM

Lately, I've been reading actual books rather than the manga I'd been very much into just previously -- I still love that stuff, but things seem to go in cycles for me...anyway, I've very recently read most of the Mary Russell series, and listened to most of them on CD as well...I'm listening to The Moor currently, after I'd read the hardcopy already...and it seems I get more out of it listening than only reading...I've only got to read/listen to Justice Hall, and that'll be all...

Of course, I'm reading as many spoilers as I can find on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I've read the first 140 some pages of the infamous leaked online copy, but I'm hoping to actually buy the book in the next few days and read it properly very soon!

Books I've read/obsessed about in the past have included Les Miserables, The Secret Garden and Jane Eyre...lovely stuff!!!

Oh, I love Les Miserables! I'm afraid I have yet to finish the book. Quite shameful, I know. I have yet to see the show as well, though I am in love with the music. I am glad to see it is back on broadway. I adore the book Jane Eyre. I pulled an all-nighter a few nights ago and watched the BBC series of it featuring Timothy Dalton (*swoon*). Have you read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde? I highly suggest it to any book lover.

jtb1951

07-27-2007, 01:09 AM

Oh, I love Les Miserables! I'm afraid I have yet to finish the book. Quite shameful, I know. I have yet to see the show as well, though I am in love with the music.

The book is a real challenge, but if you persevere you will feel well rewarded; it's a masterpiece! My wife and I have been fortunate enough to see the stage production twice in the last 18 years here in Chicago, and can't give it enough plaudits! On both occasions the stagecraft, the lighting, the acting, the music were all quite exemplary; a real treat (I like to think that Victor Hugo would heartily approve!):)

John.

Kiyomi

07-27-2007, 01:31 AM

Jasper Fforde's books are great! I especially like his 'special features' just click on the appropriate icon on his homepage (http://www.jasperfforde.com/).

VictoriaMisselthwaite

07-27-2007, 05:54 PM

Oh, I love Les Miserables! I'm afraid I have yet to finish the book. Quite shameful, I know. I have yet to see the show as well, though I am in love with the music. I am glad to see it is back on broadway. I adore the book Jane Eyre. I pulled an all-nighter a few nights ago and watched the BBC series of it featuring Timothy Dalton (*swoon*). Have you read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde? I highly suggest it to any book lover.

The book is a real challenge, but if you persevere you will feel well rewarded; it's a masterpiece! My wife and I have been fortunate enough to see the stage production twice in the last 18 years here in Chicago, and can't give it enough plaudits! On both occasions the stagecraft, the lighting, the acting, the music were all quite exemplary; a real treat (I like to think that Victor Hugo would heartily approve!):)

John.

The musical is most incredible! I've seen it both locally [Columbus, OH] and while on a trip to London in 2001, in fact, the musical is what got me to read the book, and I must confess, the same applies to The Secret Garden and Jane Eyre, and their respective musicals, as well as to The Scarlet Pimpernel series! Maybe more classic books need to be set to music so I'll actually read them! :D

jtb1951

07-28-2007, 03:36 AM

I've just finished reading The Sons of Heaven by Kage Baker, the wrap-up novel of her Company series. I was very pleased with her creative denouement detailing the events leading up to and including the last day of recorded history, and the final disposition of the human race, the immortals, and, of course, Dr. Zeus, Inc.!!

Next book up to bat, The Eight by Katherine Neville!

John.

kuttlewis

07-29-2007, 03:32 PM

Has anybody also read Peter May's Chinese thrillers or his Enzo McLeod books? They've just become available in the US: The Firemaker, The Fourth Sacrifice, and Extraordinary People. They're really good.

The Grey Badger

07-30-2007, 02:26 PM

If anyone wants an example of the unreliable narrator that is so blatant, Luna Lovegood could see it, try Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII." You start out by taking him more or less seriously, though the portrait of Anne Boleyn as a female Voldemort seems over the top. Then when Henry describes Anne of Cleves, basically, as a hideous, menopausal rhinoceros (there's a portrait of her by a known 'warts and all' realist. Sorry.) - at any rate, Henry's view of people gets more and more over the top as he ages and his medical problems worsen. Marvelous fun and a great example of crazy narrator.

jtb1951

07-31-2007, 12:44 AM

at any rate, Henry's view of people gets more and more over the top as he ages and his medical problems worsen. Marvelous fun and a great example of crazy narrator.

Thanks for the review! I bought this book on a whim a couple of years ago and just never got around to starting it. Your comments have at least resurrected this book from the depths of my TBR pile, bringing it much closer to the top. Thanks, again!:)

John.

Vilian

07-31-2007, 12:47 PM

Book for today: Locked Rooms. I'm already sad that there's nothing more in the series so far, even though I did not make it through yet ;)

jtb1951

08-01-2007, 04:06 AM

I have begun Sayers' Unnatural Death and am reading it alongside Katherine Neville's The Eight. vicki, I can start to see what you said about the evolution of DLS's writing style in the Wimsey novels. I'm having fun!

John.

sigmagirl

08-02-2007, 09:44 PM

vicki

08-02-2007, 09:53 PM

vicki, I can start to see what you said about the evolution of DLS's writing style in the Wimsey novels. I'm having fun!

She gets a lot better, too, and blows the top off when she hits Murder Must Advertise and Gaudy Night. Reading those made me feel like I should be sitting in a stadium of her fans, doing the Wave or something. Yowza! You're going to have fun with The Eight, too. I wasn't quite as gaga over it as some of my reading buddies were, but I liked it a lot.

By the way, I've put In the Garden of Iden in my shopping cart. The wrap-up/last-day-of-recorded-history/disposition-of-the-human race I hope the wrap-up isn't too depressing. I'm in the middle of The Road right now (for RL book group) and it really should be marketed with a bottle of Prozac. I mean, I really like most dystopian stories, but there's dystopian and there's dysto-o-o-o-pian. Whew.

vicki

08-02-2007, 10:22 PM

On a happier note, I finished the new Thursday Next book, First Among Sequels, (Solitary Cyclist, Kiyomi and Piper--have you read it yet?)and it was mucho fun. The Sherlock Holmes series is mentioned prominently, and there is a set-up at the end of the book for it to play a significant role in the next installment. Woohoo! And thanks for the special features reminder, Kiyomi. I've been meaning to look at those.

Hi sigmagirl! What kind of detective is Murdoch? 1896 is in the Holmesian era--are there any similarities?

Vilian, I hope you enjoy Locked Rooms--I enjoyed that one greatly!

Peter May's Chinese thrillers or his Enzo McLeod books? They've just become available in the US: The Firemaker, The Fourth Sacrifice, and Extraordinary People.

Kuttlewis, what are these about? I glanced at Peter May's website (http://www.petermay.co.uk/), but it sort of made my eyes cross.

Marvelous fun and a great example of crazy narrator.

Nutso unreliable narrators are fun! Must have a look at that one.

jtb1951

08-02-2007, 11:52 PM

By the way, I've put In the Garden of Iden in my shopping cart. The wrap-up/last-day-of-recorded-history/disposition-of-the-human race I hope the wrap-up isn't too depressing.

The series wrap-up in The Sons of Heaven was very satisfying (imho) and did a pretty good job of tying together the loose threads that pop-up throughout the novels and short stories. In The Garden of Iden you will be introduced to several characters/plot threads tied directly to the end-game! I hope you enjoy them all as much as I did!!:)

John.

vicki

08-03-2007, 02:30 AM

I'm looking forward to it--especially after the very brilliant but spectacularly depressing The Road, which is enough to drain the serotonin right out of anyone. Well, I'm actually going to the Lois McMaster Bujolds next, I think, then I'd like to read the most recent Keys to the Kingdom book by Garth Nix, which I'm overdue for. Then I'll get to the Kage Bakers.

KarenB

08-03-2007, 02:37 AM

I think you're going to love the Lois McMaster Bujold books. One of her Miles Vorkosigan books (which has thinly veiled references to Lord Peter Wimsey) had me laughing so hard I had to put the book down and wipe the tears away.
Kage Baker has a rather jaundiced view of humanity. Interesting, but not exactly uplifting. I wished she had written a character I liked, maybe Lewis, but even he was a little too wimpy. What do you think, John?

jtb1951

08-03-2007, 03:15 AM

Kage Baker has a rather jaundiced view of humanity. Interesting, but not exactly uplifting. I wished she had written a character I liked, maybe Lewis, but even he was a little too wimpy. What do you think, John?

Good question! I would probably characterize Kage's view of humanity as gimlet-eyed rather than jaundiced, but then again, there are times when I enjoy my fantasy fiction with a piercing edge that reveals the unsettling dark side of our species and where that might lead. The rather dystopic world of The Company illuminates the real-life flaws found in mankind (and their children, the immortal cyborgs), but in the end I think the power of love proves redemptive. As far as the cast of characters goes, Joseph and Mendoza and Lewis are the headliners, warts and all, but I really enjoyed Suleyman and Latif for their sheer cyborgian (is that a word?!) idealism. At times, darkly disturbing, but plenty of humor and hijinks to balance it. Just my simple opinion!!:) Thanks for the post!

John.

Renee

08-03-2007, 03:27 AM

In the house: just starting The Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is Killing Our Culture :rolleyes: by Andrew Keen
In the car (on CD): The Murder Room by P.D. James

jtb1951

08-03-2007, 03:43 AM

In the house: just starting The Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen

I read a good review about this book; maybe you can let us know what you think when you finish it! Thanks!

John.

Kiyomi

08-03-2007, 07:43 AM

I have not yet read the latest Thursday Next book, I wanted to see what other people thought about it first ;-) I'm glad to hear from your post that it was a good one! Thanks Vicki!

Today I am rereading Mercedes Lacky's 'The Last Herald Mage' Trilogy. I always am a bit apprehensive when I start rereading it, as if by rereading it the trilogy will not be as engrousing or entertaining, which is sily because I've worn out one copy of it already and it still gets me all excited and sad and triumphant.

The Grey Badger

08-03-2007, 02:55 PM

I'm currently reading "Magic Study" by Maria Snyder, the sequel to "Poison Study". "Magic Study" takes us to Sitia, a place which feels more like a real economy than the post-Revolutionary Ixia of "Poison" did. And different clans have different lifestyles, including a desert people whose shamans ... anyway, the tale of Yelena seems to be following a pattern similar to Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper series (Wolf Hunting, Wolf Blood, etc) - each book is set in a different culture and introduces the reader to the next culture down the line. Fun!

And Yelena is so stubborn and so insistent on playing Lone Ranger you sometimes want to shake her, but that's part of her personality. She's had to be. Fun for all.

The Grey Badger

08-03-2007, 02:57 PM

I read a good review about this book; maybe you can let us know what you think when you finish it! Thanks!

John.

Oh, yes. Waah! Those ignorant amateurs are ruining our noble craft! Anyone but me reminded of the early days of broadsheetprinting? When anyone who could afford a printing press (and they were apparently cheap) flooded the streets with leaflets and broadsheets and eventually began the very newspapers who are complaining now about the electronic equivalent of their Noble Founders?

kuttlewis

08-03-2007, 04:01 PM

Kuttlewis, what are these about? I glanced at Peter May's website (http://www.petermay.co.uk/), but it sort of made my eyes cross.

The Chinese series is about an American forensic pathologist (much like Kathy Reichs or "Bones") going to Beijing and teaming up with a Chinese policeman. The Chinese have made Peter May their only foreigner in the Chinese Association of crime writers. The East-West clash is really well-done. Both are fascinating characters.

The Enzo Mcleod series is like the DaVinci code without the religious overtones. Enzo must solve a series of clues in order to solve the murder mystery. The series takes place in France, mostly outside Paris.

sigmagirl

08-03-2007, 04:20 PM

Hi sigmagirl! What kind of detective is Murdoch? 1896 is in the Holmesian era--are there any similarities?

Not especially Holmesian. He's a police detective, has a tosspot for a superior, rides his bicycle to crime scenes, and doesn't seem to have any close male friends. In this book, anyway. He has a sweetheart who's a Modern Woman and a lady friend who's a doctor.

Smurrey

08-04-2007, 02:01 AM

Hello,
I just finished The Book Thief. It was a wonderful read, but broke my heart. I'll have to read it again to catch everything, but not right away, I'm still torn up.

vicki

08-04-2007, 04:35 AM

Hi over here, smurrey! I read TBT a few months ago and it made me do the water-fountain thing in a major way. :..( I really loved death's voice--he was an excellent and surprising narrator.

He has a sweetheart who's a Modern Woman and a lady friend who's a doctor.

Oooh--sounds cool. A guy who likes strong, modern women is always welcome on my bookshelf. Thanks for the heads-up, sigmagirl!

tosspot

What a great word. I just had to see it again.

Just finished The Road, which I found not only greatly moving but also extremely depressing. Reminder to self: in case of nuclear war, try real, real hard to be at ground zero.

I wanted my next read to be biblio-helium, but my TBR stack is a little low in that category right now (I really should have saved the new Thursday Next for after The Road). So I've picked up Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, the first in a series that I've been hearing great things about for a while. I freaking adore LMB's Vorkosigan books (Karen, I also laughed out loud while reading A Civil Campaign--it's brilliant), so I expect to click with these, too.

KarenB

08-04-2007, 06:42 PM

I still get giggles whenever I think of the butter bugs. Enjoy Chalion. There were some very interesting observations on religion in it and the next book that prompted an excellent discussion with a good friend of mine who is a Christian Educator.

Kay

08-04-2007, 08:57 PM

I picked up A Journeyman to Grief off the New Fiction shelf at the library. It's by a Canadian author named Maureen Jennings, and it's a murder mystery set in Toronto in 1896. I am enjoying it very much and, since I've learned that it's Number 7 in the Detective Murdoch series, I'll go back for the first six! Highly enjoyable.

I discovered these this summer and really enjoyed them. He's not Holmes, but very intuitive and somehow, very dear.

Someone mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife in a post a while back. A really great book.

Of course, all these are just fixes until LRK's next is out.

kay

embee

08-05-2007, 05:19 AM

I just finished the most recent in Alan Gordon's wonderful Fools Guild series, The Lark's Lament. If you love word play, if you love being written to as if you have a brain, if you love history, and if you have a sense of humor you will enjoy these books. And if you didn't you wouldn't love the Mary Russell books enough to be here.

It puzzles me why Alan Gordon's books aren't better known. It may have to do with lack of publicity and self promoting on the author's part. It is really too bad as these are such delightful reads.

The first in the series is Thirteenth Night which as you might guess concerns what happened after Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. There are now 6 out in the series. And all now back in print I believe. Hope you give them a try.

jtb1951

08-05-2007, 02:40 PM

The first in the series is Thirteenth Night which as you might guess concerns what happened after Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. There are now 6 out in the series. And all now back in print I believe. Hope you give them a try.

I had never heard of this series; I checked the reviews and comments on Amazon and they were favorable and interesting. Thank you very much for the post and suggestion; I'll have to add them to the stack!:)

John.

sigmagirl

08-05-2007, 07:49 PM

jtb1951

08-06-2007, 03:12 AM

I'm about halfway through The Hellfire Conspiracy, fourth in the Barker and Llewelyn series by Will Thomas, which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It reminds me why I loved the first three. I know that when I hit Page 311, I will be gutted because then I will have to wait months, if not a year at least for the next. Keep 'em coming, Mr. Thomas.

I'm glad to hear that The Hellfire Conspiracy sounds as good as the first three Barker/Llewellyn books because I greatly enjoyed them all. I expect that I will wait until the book comes out in paperback to buy it, that being the format of my other volumes.:) My TBR stack will keep me in business until the pb comes out! I'll be keeping my eyes open, in the meantime, for a signing event by Mr. Thomas!

John.

AmyLizzie

08-06-2007, 11:43 AM

jtb1951

08-06-2007, 12:49 PM

Still wading through Lord of the Rings...loving it but it's long...on the last book now though so there's light at the end of the tunnel!! And the sun's out and we finally have something like a summer so I'm happy!

I have yet to start my annual read of LOTR, as your post about reading it (is this your first read?) has reminded me. It is probably my favorite piece of fantasy writing and each time I re-read it I am excited anew.:) Glad to hear that you have some sunshine and summer!

John.

jfoster

08-06-2007, 02:06 PM

Hi, I'm new so patience if all of these have been listed and commented upon.

Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs mysteries are quite good and set in the same period as the Mary Russell books and have a similar blend of mystery and social commentary. There are four out now. My personal favorite is the third.

Another mystery series I enjoy is Peter Robinson's "Inspector Banks" novels.

I've also read Susan Cheever's "American Bloomsbury" and Mary Higgins Clark's "Kitchen Privileges." Both were not great but enjoyable because I like literary memoirs and history.

HP7 of course, with thoughts about starting the series over.

Jane

AmyLizzie

08-06-2007, 02:25 PM

I have yet to start my annual read of LOTR, as your post about reading it (is this your first read?) has reminded me.

Yep, very first time, and I absolutely love it :) I've wanted to read it for ages but it sort of got pushed to the back of the pile while I was at University, now I've graduated I can read what I want, and it was at the top of my list! xxx

The Grey Badger

08-06-2007, 04:42 PM

sigmagirl

08-06-2007, 08:21 PM

Well, I've finished The Hellfire Conspiracy, and I must say the plot is not up to Mr. Thomas' usual brilliance, but the quality of writing is. I would read a book about Barker and Llewelyn chasing litterbugs. The title is quite optimistic. Read it anyway.

jtb1951

08-06-2007, 10:27 PM

embee

08-07-2007, 06:02 AM

Grey Badger I wasn't sure if you were saying you need to read them all (makes sense to me<wink>) or if you were asking what the titles to all the books in the series are.

So here are the titles of Alan Gordon's Fool's Guild mystery series: Thirteenth Night, Jester Leaps In, A Death In The Venetian Quarter, The Widow Of Jerusalem, An Antic Disposition, The Lark's Lament.

I think they are best read in order but that might not be possible. However you read them they will be good.

jtb1951

08-07-2007, 01:38 PM

So here are the titles of Alan Gordon's Fool's Guild mystery series: Thirteenth Night, Jester Leaps In, A Death In The Venetian Quarter, The Widow Of Jerusalem, An Antic Disposition, The Lark's Lament.

I will also be looking for these books to read; thanks for posting the series, embee!

John.

jtb1951

08-09-2007, 04:20 AM

I just finished reading The Eight by Katherine Neville; as a chess enthusiast I enjoyed the premise and the plot was well developed, I found myself drawn believably into the story the author wove. I recommend it!
This evening I will start Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear as a diversion before I get back to the adventures of Lord Peter!:) Keep those suggestions coming!!

John.

jtb1951

08-11-2007, 03:28 AM

I finished Maisie Dobbs this evening; an intriguing character and I look forward to her development in the following books. Tonight I get back to Dorothy L. Sayers and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club; I am enjoying Lord Peter very much! Also received my new issue of Locus magazine and browsed through it quickly this evening; it will get a more thorough read-through later, especially the book reviews. If you are not aware of Locus magazine and you enjoy science fiction/speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, etc., this magazine is a must-read! I have enjoyed it for over 25 years, and it gets better all the time (and they can use your support; SUBSCRIBE!!!)
Sorry for the commercial!!:)

John.

embee

08-11-2007, 05:27 AM

Maisie Dobbs in contrast to Russell is more late twentieth century character I think. We grew up considering the psychological side of most things. LRK keeps her characters' awareness of these things more oblique. I think Holmes and Russell prefer seeing the world that way. They both seem more comfortable with the belief that head and heart can really be kept separate.

At that time the condition soldiers and support staff came home in forced society, that is English society, to treat the psyche as real. That adjustment is at the center of Maisie Dobbs but not MREG. This being my opinion!

The Grey Badger

08-11-2007, 02:28 PM

I'm rereading all of Steve Stirling's Nantucket Cycle - the "Island in the Sea of Time" trilogy followed by his "Dies the Fire" trilogy in anticipation of the book coming out in September, which is the first book in the last trilogy of the cycle, aka "Dies the Fire: NextGen".

I am avidly anticipating that this last trilogy will bring us back to Nantucket and explain what caused the splitting of the timelines and The Change, when explosives and any sort of power above the clockwork-and-windmill level failed to work on the Continent, while Nantucket went back to Bronze Age Earth.

I will be very disappointed if it turns out the entire thing was caused by the Nantucketers, now with a very long head start in tech development, protecting their own timeline! Logical objection: where's the entry point of this time loop? Moral objection: doing so would have caused the greatest massacre in human history.

And - it would be fascinating to see how Holmes and Russell would have handled such a crisis. Not that they appear in here, though a thinly disguised Heather Alexander does (open tribute).

Kay

08-11-2007, 06:02 PM

Does anybody out there know anything about Louise Erdrich? A friend mentioned how much she enjoys that author.

kay

KarenB

08-12-2007, 01:54 AM

Kay - I have read a few of Louise Erdrich's books (although it has been quite a while) and remember them as rich and evocative. She draws heavily on her Native American background in her writing. She has published novels, poetry and (I think) short stories. She was married to Michael Dorris ( I don't think any more) and he wrote an excellent book about raising a fetal alcohol symdrome child. This is a website that explains her work: http://dancingbadger.com/louise_erdrich.htm

This is her publisher's website page about her - not as detailed as the above.
http://www.harpercollins.com/author/index.aspx?authorid=2905

Hope this helps.
Karen

LJH

08-12-2007, 07:14 AM

Just finished Art of Detection. It took three months.
Also reading Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue II.
LRK writes great books to get my students interested in important issues.

Kay

08-12-2007, 04:42 PM

Thanks, Karen. I picked up Four Souls at the library last night. I read the Michael Dorris book on FAS many years ago. I did not realize there was a connection with L. Erdrich.

kay

jtb1951

08-13-2007, 12:54 PM

Beside reading the continuing adventures of Lord Peter Wimsey, I started the new novel by William Gibson, Spook Country, while I was waiting for his book tour appearance at the Barnes & Noble in Evanston, IL. It reads very well so far!

John.

Nara

08-14-2007, 11:10 PM

I've been enjoying the Robin Paige mysteries about Sir Charles Sheridan and Kate Ardleigh. They're well researched historical mysteries, usually featuring a real person from history - Beatrix Potter, or Marconi, etc. Lots of spying, very British, but a lot of fun too. Kate is very independently-minded, like Russell. There are 12 books in the series, and the authors decided to discontinue it, so if you want to read them, get them now!

On the non fiction front, I've been reading two books about the marriages and relationships between couples where each is an artist in thier own right. Really interesting for a nosy person like myself! :rolleyes:

Ms. Kay

08-15-2007, 03:28 AM

I'm reading Justice Denied by J. A. Jance (J. P. Beaumont series).

Ms. Kay:)

Tara

08-19-2007, 12:28 AM

A Monstrous Regiment of Women. :) I just got it in the mail. (Yesterday I was reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice.)

vicki

08-19-2007, 09:49 PM

I got behind here while we were getting ready for school, etc, so I have several reads to report:

--The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold--LMB strikes again! I didn't love it as well as the Vorkosiverse books, but it was very fine indeed. (One peeve--I didn't get a sense of why the protagonist was drawn to his love interest--she seemed pretty sketchy to me. Any thoughts?).
--Sir Thursday in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix and I'm now reading Lady Friday. It's good stuff, although Nix's Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) is still my favorite of his books.
--Under the War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliot, which was a great historical YA book about a young WWII pilot from Virginia. He was shot down and spent several months hidden by French resistance fighters. It depicts the huge risks taken by French civilians--even the very young and very old--to rescue downed Allied pilots and smuggle them to safety.

Tara, MREG is awesome--you have some great reading ahead!

John, how'd you like Spook Country?

On the non fiction front, I've been reading two books about the marriages and relationships between couples where each is an artist in thier own right. Really interesting for a nosy person like myself!

Oh, I've read about that one--it looks interesting. The subjects had some highly unconventional lifestyles. Whatever works, I guess, so long as the kids are loved and well-cared for. I need something a little more conventional and boring, myself. :)

Anyone reading Loving Frank? It's a novel written from the point of view of Frank Lloyd Wright's doomed mistrress, for whom he abandoned his wife and children. In spite of being an architecture nerd, I'd never read about the massacre at Taliesin, where she, her children and several others died. Eeek. I may wait and get that from the library or in paperback.

Tara

08-20-2007, 12:47 AM

Tara, MREG is awesome--you have some great reading ahead!

I finished it today. :D

jtb1951

08-20-2007, 05:43 PM

John, how'd you like Spook Country?

I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit for the review; we just got back from our yearly theatre trip to Spring Green, WI and five plays in four days at American Players Theatre, a magnificent outdoor theatre in the hills outside Spring Green. I didn't drag any hardcovers with me, so Spook Country stayed at home. I did, however, finish The Unpleasantness At the Bellona Club (they are getting better!) and Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon, which I enjoyed greatly, and which was highly appropriate for a weekend of theatre.

It's a novel written from the point of view of Frank Lloyd Wright's doomed mistrress, for whom he abandoned his wife and children. In spite of being an architecture nerd, I'd never read about the massacre at Taliesin,

Funny you should mention Taliesin, because it is located outside Spring Green, and we visit the Frank LLoyd Wright visitor center every year; our daughters both purchased counted cross stitch kits of a couple of his famous windows yesterday!

Two of our weekend plays were rained out (5 inches of rain just on Saturday), so we will be back later in September to catch them, maybe I can take some distance photos of the Taliesin grounds to post. One of these years we will lay down the big bucks necessary to go on the five hour tour of the grounds (only external photography allowed, nothing inside, only photography of the mind.)

John.

jtb1951

08-23-2007, 02:33 AM

Well, vicki, I finished Spook Country by William Gibson this morning (in our dentist's waiting room, as I waited for my YD's dental visit to finish), and I was not at all disappointed! I am, however, going to have to re-read it soon to pick up nuances that I'm sure I missed first time through!

For the first several chapters I kind of floundered, as I tried (and failed) to find the common context for the main characters, but I suspect Gibson did that on purpose, as a set-up. The story weaves, chapter by chapter, among three seemingly disparate thread plots, and as the novel progresses, he allows the reader, bit by bit, to see the connective tissue which eventually morphs the separate characters (and their missions) into a very satisfying exposition and denouement! Consciously or not, Gibson certainly drew upon his socio-political temperament to say something about the times in which we find ourselves, and yet make it entertaining. He isn't the most prolific writer, but his thoughts are well worth waiting for (IMHO)! Highly recommended!!

This evening I have started my next Alan Gordon novel, A Death In the Venetian Quarter; I am enjoying the Fool's Guild!!:)

John.

FerryPerson

08-25-2007, 07:15 AM

I am currently reading two books. "Jackdaws" by Ken Follett is my commuting book (paperback) and "The Goblet of Fire" by JK Rowling which is my, "read before going to sleep" book. I am in process of re-reading the Harry Potter series in reverse order. :cool: We are reading fiends at our house - never enough bookshelves!

slam32

08-27-2007, 03:58 AM

Moment in Peking-Lin Yutang
A Moment in Peking is a historical novel originally written in English by the Chinese American author Lin Yutang. The novel covers the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938, including the Boxer Rebellion, the Republican Revolution of 1911, the Warlord Era, the rise of nationalism and communism, and the origins of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945.

The author tries not to be overly judgmental of the characters because he recognizes that too many issues were involved in the chaotic years of the early twentieth century China. There are no absolutely right or wrong characters. Each character held a piece of truth and reality and a piece of irrationality. In the preface, Lin writes that "[This novel] is merely a story of... how certain habits of living and ways of thinking are formed and how, above all, [men and women] adjust themselves to the circumstances in this earthly life where men strive but gods rule."

While the author does not display hatred toward the Japanese, he does let events and situations affecting the novel characters to let the reader clearly see the reason the Chinese are still bitter about Japan's military past. The novel ends with a cliffhanger, letting the readers hope that the major characters who fled from the coastal regions to the inland of China would survive the horrible war.

Lin wrote the book English for a U.S. audience. He originally wanted the poet Yu Dafu to do the Chinese translation, but he had only completed the first section when he was killed by the Japanese in World War II. Lin didn't particularly like the first Chinese translation done in 1941.

In 1977 Zhang Zhenyu, a translator from Taiwan, created what is the most popular translation today. It was not available in mainland China until a publisher in Jilin issued a sanitized version in 1987. The current political climate permits Shaanxi Normal University Press to publish the full translation. Lin's son Yu Fei finished his own translation in 1991, but his version is not widely read.

Lin Yutang was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature for this book in 1975

emmaladyshadow

08-27-2007, 06:27 PM

I just finished Peter Pan in Scarlet. I highly recommend it!

jtb1951

08-29-2007, 02:55 AM

I'm back at my computer after being on the road the last five days. Darling wife and I successfully delivered our younger daughter (Valentine Wiggin), along with a dorm room's worth of stuff, to Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland for the start of her third year of college (only three more round trips till graduation!) After driving 1850 miles I'm ready to settle in to my 13 mile return to work tomorrow!! I did get some reading done evenings, however! I read The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas (keep those Barker & Llewelyn yarns coming, Will!), finished A Death In the Venetian Quarter by Alan Gordon (thanks, embee, for the Gordon suggestion!), and started The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (upon the recommendation of many, including both of my daughters and wife! Very entertaining!) Thanks, again, to all of you for sharing what you are currently reading, and keep it coming!!:)

John.

LadyBlakney

08-29-2007, 05:03 AM

I'm about half way through Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer.
Normaly, I'm not a fan of vampire love stories, but Stephenie Meyer's stuff is really good. Nothing obscene or overly bloody.

Smurrey

08-29-2007, 04:45 PM

Let me know what you think it when you've finished Lady B. I would love to discuss the book with someone (who was over 14.)

kitling130

09-01-2007, 12:59 AM

If you like vampire story, you should check out the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison. The first one is called Dead Witch Walking. Fun and Funny.

Also I mentioned Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce in an earlier post.

jtb1951

09-02-2007, 02:44 AM

I finished The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde; a very clever premise and I look forward to catching up on the following volumes; quite entertaining! Currently, I'm working on Birds Of A Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (the second Maisie Dobbs book), and my continued reading of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, The Five Red Herrings. Life is good!!!:)

John.

jtb1951

09-02-2007, 07:20 PM

Also, time to start re-reading To Play The Fool for this month's discussion!!!

John.

embee

09-06-2007, 07:50 AM

Another wonderful series that you might have easily missed....

Mas Arai Mysteries by Naomi Hirahara
1)SUMMER OF THE BIG BACHI
2)GASA-GASA GIRL
3)SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN (won an Edgar Award 2007)
Author's website http://www.naomihirahara.com/mysteries.html

Set in contemporary southern California Mas Arai is a Japanese-American gardener. He is a man of few words and many of those are grumbling. Somehow Naomi Hirahara has made him an endearing character in spite, or maybe because of that.

I love history twined into stories and this series does it beautifully. There is lots of flavor of the subculture Mas lives in. They are a complex group of people who are enjoyable to read about.

jtb1951

09-06-2007, 12:47 PM

Another wonderful series that you might have easily missed....

Mas Arai Mysteries by Naomi Hirahara

Thanks for the suggestion, embee! I'll have to look into them.

John.

mamaocllo

09-07-2007, 02:00 AM

I discovered this site a couple of weeks ago, which caused me to start re-reading the Holmes & Russell book. I've finished them through 'Justice Hall' and hope we see Ali and Mahmoud in some future book.

I was supposed to read 'To Play the Fool' next, but picked up a paperback of George MacDonald Fraser's 'The General Danced at Dawn' for a friend, made the mistake of opening it, started re-reading, and now it's a couple of days later and I've finished that and the second and third collections of his McAuslan stories, which are very funny indeed. They
feature the soldiers of a Highland battalion, mostly in Scotland and Nortn Africa, toward the end of World War II and after. Main characters are young Dand MacNeill, recently made a second lieutenant, and McAuslan, the dirtiest soldier in the world, also known as Private Piltdown or the Tartan Caliban. Now I really am starting 'To Play the Fool,' then on to 'The Game' and Locked rooms.'

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations - lots of names to take to the library and bookstore tomorrow, other books to move closer to the top of the TBR heap.

jtb1951

09-07-2007, 03:12 AM

I was supposed to read 'To Play the Fool' next, but picked up a paperback of George MacDonald Fraser's 'The General Danced at Dawn' for a friend, made the mistake of opening it, started re-reading, and now it's a couple of days later and I've finished that and the second and third collections of his McAuslan stories, which are very funny indeed.

These sound quite entertaining! (and the list of books to add to the TBR list is becoming unwieldy!!:))

John.

jtb1951

09-08-2007, 12:30 AM

Finished re-reading To Play the Fool last night (it was even better than I remembered), almost finished w/ The Five Red Herrings (how Sayers kept track of the plot elements, I'll never know!), and am starting King and Joker by Peter Dickinson (per vicki's recommendation). There just aren't enough hours in the day!!:)

John.

vicki

09-11-2007, 07:53 AM

I recently got finished with a recent Lois McMaster Bujold cycle set in a universe with a highly interesting theology, which plays a big role in the stories. I really enjoyed The Curse of Chalion--excellent protagonist, interesting culture and predicament (only one complaint--the love interest seemed somewhat 2-d to me). Good stuff! I *loved* The Paladin of Souls--great themes of redemption and rebirth, and the protagonist rocked. I liked The Hallowed Hunt, too, but it didn't strike me as strong as the other two.

Now I've finally gotten started on To Play the Fool, and it's even better than I remembered. It's a truly fabulous book.

and am starting King and Joker by Peter Dickinson (per vicki's recommendation).

Wooohooo! I'll be interested to know what you think. If you really like the Nanny character, I've got another great PD read for you.

Farmwife, I'll have to add Kellerman's The Garden of Eden to my list, along with Kage Baker's The Garden of Iden--it should be easy to remember both of those together!

Smurrey, I read Eclipse like I was full of ignited rocket-fuel. I could not put it down. But afterward, something about it clanged against me. I can't put my finger on it, though, which is bothersome. I think I may need to reread and/or read the sequel to get a better perspective on it. The Romeo and Juliet comparisons I've seen make sense to me.

picked up a paperback of George MacDonald Fraser's 'The General Danced at Dawn' for a friend, made the mistake of opening it, started re-reading, and now it's a couple of days later and I've finished that and the second and third collections of his McAuslan stories, which are very funny indeed. They
feature the soldiers of a Highland battalion, mostly in Scotland and Nortn Africa, toward the end of World War II and after. Main characters are young Dand MacNeill, recently made a second lieutenant, and McAuslan, the dirtiest soldier in the world, also known as Private Piltdown or the Tartan Caliban.

These sound like fun!

Embee, thanks for the heads-up on the Mas Arai series. I've never heard of it. Oooh--and one of them won an Edgar. Cool!

you should check out the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison. The first one is called Dead Witch Walking. Fun and Funny.

<Pricks up ears> A vamp-series I've never heard of before! <Takes notes> Thankee for the recommendation, kitling!

Also I mentioned Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce in an earlier post.

I really loved this series until the very end, when I felt like it took a left-turn and headed blithely off a cliff. We had a discussion of it at Readerville, and as I recall, the participants were very polarized about that ending. Some people thought it couldn't have possibly ended any other way and were completely satisfied and happy. Others of us sat there blinking and stunned, feeling as if we'd been thrown out of the actual book for bad behavior, and sent to a story-hell version. It was very weird.

jtb1951

09-12-2007, 03:29 AM

My poor eyeballs are probably going to pop out of my head, but in addition to my fiction reading selections I am trying out a new Bible Study program just starting out at my parish, so I'll be spending some directed quality time with my Bible again. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

John.

vicki

09-12-2007, 03:51 AM

Wow--you must be a serious power-reader, John. I'd have to sign on for the long-term program at Evelyn Wood's speed reading school to even come close to what you do.

What books are y'all doing, John? Our Sunday School class is doing a study of Luke, which looks to be interesting. But I'm afraid that I don't do a whole lot of reading out of class, so I don't get as much out of it as I should.

jtb1951

09-12-2007, 04:21 AM

What books are y'all doing, John? Our Sunday School class is doing a study of Luke, which looks to be interesting. But I'm afraid that I don't do a whole lot of reading out of class, so I don't get as much out of it as I should.

I don't know what the entire schedule is, since I wasn't available for the introductory session, but this week's assignment starts at the beginning with the first three chapters of Genesis, with a few pages handout of thought-provoking questions as food for discussion during the 2-hour session. I think the program runs for 30 weeks or so. A nice part of the program is that one can attend either Friday or Sunday evening, depending on one's availability. I'm interested in seeing how the first one goes (I'll be going on Sunday this week; haircuts Friday night!)

John.

The Grey Badger

09-12-2007, 02:05 PM

I wouldn't mind getting into a Bible Study program myself, either through UNM or through St. Thomas (of Canterbury - you know, 'that troublesome priest.' Good patron saint to have in times like these!)

If I were teaching a starter course, I think I'd start with the Gospels, and move on from there, except - then the students would need the background provided by the Hebrew Testament. Which has stuff in it (being from such an earlier period) that would totally hang people up. Hmmm... gotta think about that.

UNM's Religous Studies program offers them as separate courses.

KarenB

09-13-2007, 12:45 AM

Good luck with the Bible, John! I tried to read my way through it following a home program last year (3 chapters of old testament, then either a psalm or 3 chapters of new more or less) but gave up about 1/3 of the way through. It would have been better could I have been in a discussion group with a knowledgeable leader to fill in the historical and cultural context. I found the history section of the old to go quickly but then . . . althought the prophets are interesting. New isn't too bad, but the letters of Paul I found to be difficult. Let us know how you do! and you can always pull out the next Wimsey for a bit of relief!

jtb1951

09-13-2007, 01:49 AM

Thanks, Karen! My experience with the Bible has always been a dip into a section, Old Testament or New, and try to take something meaningful out of it. Sometimes that worked, sometimes, not. During the last ten years I have been involved with our church adult Christian Initiation program, and have been coordinator for the last five. Several years ago I completed a 2 year pastoral leadership program run by our diocese, and scripture study was one of the many valuable topics we experienced. It helped me tremendously as an adult catechist, and helped me become much more comfortable with the Bible. However, I had never really availed myself of a structured, formalized study. Our parish has been reinvigorating itself by trying some new programs to meet the spiritual needs of our community, and this Bible study program is part of that. Jeff Cavins, a noted theologian, has developed a program that focuses on 14 specific books that provide a timeline narrative throughout the entire Bible. One of the websites concerning the program is found here: http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/Jeff_Cavins_Great_Adventure_Catholic_Bible_Timelin e_Overview.html
I'll try to keep you all up to date; I'm looking forward to a terrific experience!

John.

Smurrey

09-14-2007, 02:24 AM

One of my favorite classes had us study the Gospels and Acts chronologically. We had a reference book that laid out the texts as they overlapped and it was really very interesting. I have studied it thematically and read it as a book, one chapter after another, but it was my first time reading it as it would have happened "in real time" from each of their perspectives simultaneously. It definitely gave me fresh insight. I also bought, The Message Bible, last year, which is in completely modernized, even colloquial language. It loses some of the beauty and I don't know how strict the translation is but I would say that from what I have read so far it is faithful in spirit and interesting in its own right. Not a translation for intense Bible study though, more for Bible reading on its own.

jtb1951

09-14-2007, 02:47 AM

One of my favorite classes had us study the Gospels and Acts chronologically. We had a reference book that laid out the texts as they overlapped and it was really very interesting. I have studied it thematically and read it as a book, one chapter after another, but it was my first time reading it as it would have happened "in real time" from each of their perspectives simultaneously. It definitely gave me fresh insight.

There are probably as many different ways to approach the Bible as there are readers, and I suspect each of us will have different optimal scripture study techniques depending upon where we are in our life and our faith formation (which is a life-long pursuit, to my mind!) It is great to hear about everyone's experiences and I really appreciate the sharing! Thanks!:)

John.

AmyLizzie

09-14-2007, 08:50 AM

Hi all,

I haven't posted for a while and I'm just browsing through all the wonderful discussions I've missed! I've been mega busy at work, trying to get the thousands of students who are starting courses enrolled! I've also just started doing a Latin GCSE and an Advanced Diploma in Local History with Oxford University, I had my student card come through a couple of days ago so I can now go and visit the Bodlein (spelt right?) Library and explore the University! I'm very excited, I also graduated from University this week, gaining my BA (Hons) in English and History, so its all been going on! Anyway now things are calming down a bit I'm hoping to get back in with all the discussions! So to start..I'm currently reading The Book of Lost Things, and its very good, a story of subverted fairy tales....very interesting. Hope you are all well.

Amy xxx

jtb1951

09-14-2007, 01:29 PM

I've also just started doing a Latin GCSE and an Advanced Diploma in Local History with Oxford University, I had my student card come through a couple of days ago so I can now go and visit the Bodlein (spelt right?) Library and explore the University! I'm very excited, I also graduated from University this week, gaining my BA (Hons) in English and History, so its all been going on!

Congratulations, Amy, on attaining your degree, and your upcoming student plans sound pretty exciting as well! Good luck on your endeavours! It's great to hear from you again, and hopefully, you can fit in some reading for pleasure!:)

John.

Smurrey

09-14-2007, 05:38 PM

John,The website that you posted was great by the way :)

Amy, Congrats on your academic success! The Book of Lost Things is a great read, dark and twisted as a good fairy tale should be.

AmyLizzie

09-14-2007, 09:06 PM

Congratulations, Amy, on attaining your degree, and your upcoming student plans sound pretty exciting as well! Good luck on your endeavours! It's great to hear from you again, and hopefully, you can fit in some reading for pleasure!:)

John.

Thanks :) Hopefully I will be able to, the dark winter nights are already beginning to draw in here in the UK so it might be a good time to start getting through my ever growing pile of books to be read!

Amy xx

jtb1951

09-15-2007, 03:08 AM

Just finished reading King and Joker by Peter Dickinson and enjoyed it immensely!! I must say that the Family Royal depicted is even more idiosyncratic and bizarrely unique than the current royals (which is saying a lot!!):) I did love the character of nanny Durdy, and her dying mental journeys back to her babies! All in all, quite satisfying! (Throw some more suggestions my way, vicki!)

John.

Elizabeth

09-15-2007, 06:21 PM

I've almost finished 'The Tenderness of Wolves' by Stef Penney. It's a murder mystery of sorts that takes place in 1867 backwoods Canada. I'm enjoying it greatly!

Younger Son

09-17-2007, 02:01 AM

In an effort to abate my spending on books, I've been going through parts of my library I haven't visited in a while.

Most recently, I returned to "The Most of P.G.Wodehouse," an anthology of P.G. Wodehouse short stories, and "Life at Blandings," three of his novels about the Earl of Emsworth. (To catch you up, Wodehouse wrote shorts and novels with musical-comedy plots, based on the manners of upper-class England of the 1920s. Very funny, in a rib-tickling sort of way. His most famous creations were Bertie Wooster [a dunderhead] and his man Jeeves [his ingenious valet]; you've probably seen them portrayed by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. Dorothy L. Sayers has a character in Murder Must Advertise refer to Lord Peter Wimsey as being, roughly, Bertie Wooster.)

I was so braced by this, I purchased two additional Jeeves books.

Currently, I'm reading The Wee Free Men, one of Terry Pratchett's juveniles. There are wizards and witches, but it's satiric -- and it's fascinating to read a satire gentle enough for children of ten. I am not the only person who regards Pratchett as the greatest living humorist.

I've got his next Discworld novel coming from Amazon.

I really have to figure out another way to economize on books.

jtb1951

09-17-2007, 02:15 AM

Most recently, I returned to "The Most of P.G.Wodehouse," an anthology of P.G. Wodehouse short stories, and "Life at Blandings," three of his novels about the Earl of Emsworth. (To catch you up, Wodehouse wrote shorts and novels with musical-comedy plots, based on the manners of upper-class England of the 1920s. Very funny, in a rib-tickling sort of way. His most famous creations were Bertie Wooster [a dunderhead] and his man Jeeves [his ingenious valet]; you've probably seen them portrayed by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

Wodehouse is a most enjoyable read, no matter the novel. Wooster and Jeeves are the archetypal upper-class twit and twit-protector valet, and the young Laurie and Fry are just too funny for words (if you are amused by British humor!); one of my favorite BBC comedy series ever! You've gotten me all hyped about moving Wodehouse back closer to the top of the TBR mountain!

And speaking of Terry Pratchett, his collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, is a classic!

John.

jtb1951

09-17-2007, 02:22 AM

I almost forgot; I finished Strong Poison, our intro to Harriet Vane, and am back into the rotation again with Have His Carcase. I chuckle every time Peter interjects a quick "Will you marry me" into just about every conversation or communication he has with Harriet:). Good stuff!!

John.

vicki

09-18-2007, 07:10 AM

I'm enjoying the Bible study comments--I haven't done a good systematic study in a long time. I look forward to hearing about the program you're doing, John!

AmyLizzie, congrats on your graduation!! You've been a very busy lady--school, work, more school (Oxford--way cool!), not to mention keeping up with your reading! I'll have to check out The Book of Lost Things--I love a subverted fairy tale!

I've almost finished 'The Tenderness of Wolves' by Stef Penney. It's a murder mystery of sorts that takes place in 1867 backwoods Canada.

That sounds cool, Elizabeth! Is it a French-speaking part of the country?

Hi over here, Fritz! <waves> I really need to get to Wodehouse. I've been saving the Discworlds for a time when I can bust through a whole bunch of them without much distraction. I did read Mort, which was a hoot! Good Omens is just hilarious, too. "Do not buy bettamax."

I really have to figure out another way to economize on books.

I tend to be a biblionomic enabler, but I'll be virtuous this time and point out the VBC book-exchange forum (http://www.laurierking.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=23). Maybe you can post there about any particular books you're looking for. Someone else might be willing to give up a copy for adoption, or at least to mail-lend it. :)

I almost forgot; I finished Strong Poison, our intro to Harriet Vane, and am back into the rotation again with Have His Carcase. I chuckle every time Peter interjects a quick "Will you marry me" into just about every conversation or communication he has with Harriet

You're almost to Gaudy Night! <Jumps up and down excitedly>

Elizabeth

09-18-2007, 12:00 PM

That sounds cool, Elizabeth! Is it a French-speaking part of the country?

It's in the backwoods near Toronto, but most of the characters are Scottish, with one Frenchman and a few Native Americans thrown in. I've finished it now and really enjoyed it.

Oooh, Strong Poison ... I must re-read (for the 87th time, LOL) the Wimseys ...

vicki

09-18-2007, 01:23 PM

I must re-read (for the 87th time, LOL) the Wimseys ...

When I'm feeling out of sorts, I sometimes reread my favorite scenes from Gaudy Night as a pick-me-up. My favorite is the bit in the antique store. I want that chess set!

Strawberry Curls

09-18-2007, 04:12 PM

When I'm feeling out of sorts, I sometimes reread my favorite scenes from Gaudy Night as a pick-me-up. My favorite is the bit in the antique store. I want that chess set!

I recently watched the Mystery production of Gaudy Night and although it is quite good, it left out the whole chess set theme and really didn't do the punting justice IMHO.( I too covet the chess set, Vicki) That book was so densely structured I guess it would be impossible to capture it on film even if you did a six hour length production. Sigh. I must pull out my worn copy and reread it...soon.

jtb1951

09-18-2007, 05:55 PM

You all are hyping Gaudy Night through the roof! I don't know if I'll be able to space out my reading through Murder Must Advertise and The Nine Tailors with the anticipation!:). Seriously, it sounds like I have some awesome reading ahead of me! Thanks for nothin';)

John.

vicki

09-18-2007, 06:52 PM

Mwahahahaha! </evil biblioevangelist>

Just finished reading King and Joker by Peter Dickinson and enjoyed it immensely!! I must say that the Family Royal depicted is even more idiosyncratic and bizarrely unique than the current royals (which is saying a lot!!):) I did love the character of nanny Durdy, and her dying mental journeys back to her babies! All in all, quite satisfying! (Throw some more suggestions my way, vicki!)

I'm so glad you love K&J! :D It's one of my all-time favorites. Peter Dickinson really has it going on. Next P.D. up for you--Some Deaths Before Dying, which is surely one of the most unjustly overlooked mysteries of the last decade, with a detective who will remind you in certain respects of Durdy. She's in her nineties, is paralyzed and can barely even speak. But she's an excellent detective. Dickinson is such a daredevil--not many writers would dream of tackling something like that. But he pulls it off in a huge way. Enjoy!

jtb1951

09-19-2007, 01:53 AM

Next P.D. up for you--Some Deaths Before Dying, which is surely one of the most unjustly overlooked mysteries of the last decade, with a detective who will remind you in certain respects of Durdy.

I'll be looking for it ASAP (am I a reading fool, or what?):):):).

John.

Elizabeth Chase

09-19-2007, 08:56 AM

I've just started reading Magyk, the first book of the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. Pretty good, so far.

jtb1951

09-19-2007, 06:38 PM

I've just started reading Magyk, the first book of the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. Pretty good, so far.

I've not read any of the Septimus Heap novels yet; I'll be interested to hear your review, Elizabeth!

John.

AmyLizzie

09-19-2007, 08:27 PM

I am now currently reading Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility, some good English romance to lose myself in....:)

Ms. Kay

09-22-2007, 07:35 PM

I read a lot of current popular fiction and I'm almost finished with You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. If you read Patterson and feel you need to read this, check it out of the library, but don't buy it! It's not a very good book! I'm feeling compelled to finish it to see if I'm right about what's going on. If you want to read James Patterson, read the Alex Cross books.
Ms. Kay

mamaocllo

09-23-2007, 12:21 AM

Thanks to recommendations in this thread, I took Kage Baker's In the Garden of Iden with me to read on the plane and really got hooked on her work. Now I have to find all the rest of the Company books.
For those of you who liked Peter Dickinson's King and Joker, there's a sort-of sequel with some of the same characters - Skeleton in Waiting.

Younger Son

09-23-2007, 12:36 AM

I was about to recommend Connie Willis at length, but I find she's been praised amply already. I guess it doesn't prevent my mentioning a thing or two:

To Say Nothing of the Dog is a hilarious Victorian novel that incidentally involved 21st-century time travel.
Bellwether is a social satire that comforts the geek in me.
Passage broke my heart.

-- F

mamaocllo

09-26-2007, 03:42 PM

Thanks to recommendations here, I'm reading Naomi Hirahara's Summer of the Big Bachi, first in her Mas Arai series, and enjoying it a lot. Gee, how did I ever find anything new to read before the LRK Virtual Book Club?

sigmagirl

09-26-2007, 05:38 PM

I just finished The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. While I am a staunch Agent Pendergast fan, I was quite disappointed in this book. It takes place mostly on an ocean liner, and the characters of Bill Smithback and Nora Kelly do not appear. Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, are the only continuing characters, and they interact only with some Tibetan monks and the ship's crew and passengers. I didn't care much about the mystery. I want my old Pendergast back, and less of Constance.

jtb1951

09-26-2007, 06:48 PM

I finished, and greatly enjoyed, Have His Carcase, by DLS, and am currently in the midst of Jasper Fforde's second Thursday Next novel, Lost In A Good Book. I have really become captivated with Fforde's cleverness and whimsy, and Thursday is an enjoyable protagonist.

John.

mamaocllo

09-28-2007, 03:51 PM

Yes, indeed, Jasper Fforde's books are wonderful. I'm just always puzzled over which names of people and things are dreadful puns that I'm supposed to work out (and groan over) and which are just weird names. Perhaps that, too, is part of his tantalizing game. His Nursery Crimes series (two so far) in the same alternate world is good, too.

kitling130

10-01-2007, 12:35 AM

I've recently read Homicide My Own by Anne Argula (or something very close to it). It's about this cop who is trying to solve his own murder which involves reincarnation.

I believe it either won an Edgar for Best First Novel or was a finalist. I may even be making that up, but it really is a good book.

jtb1951

10-04-2007, 03:53 AM

Well, I'm caught up in multiple reads at once, once again! I have started re-reading A Darker Place for the first time since it came out, am in the midst of The Well of Lost Plots, the third Thursday Next novel, am in the fourth week of my Bible Timeline Study (finishing Genesis this week and completing week two of the Patriarchs), and tomorrow evening am going to a lecture and book-signing (Nikita Khrushchev & the Creation of a Super Power) by Dr. Sergei N. Khrushchev, the son of the former Soviet Premier, presented by the Adler Planetarium as part of their Sputnik@50 celebration! As a kid turned on to a life-long love of space exploration by Sputnik and Echo and Gagarin and Shepard, this is a big treat!! Hopefully, pictures to follow!

John.

KarenB

10-04-2007, 01:59 PM

Just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Intense, harrowing, though-provoking . . .

vicki

10-04-2007, 03:36 PM

Just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Intense, harrowing, though-provoking .

Karen, is that the same author who wrote The Kite Runner?

Going back to before I was going bananas getting ready for Anchorage--

Thanks to Mamaocllo, I read A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow (the high priestess of B'con this year), which is the first entry in her Kate Shugak series, and it was excellent. I can see why it won an Edgar. I sent it back from B'con via UPS with my purchases and swag, so I'll offer it on to another interested reader when the box gets here. I'm looking forward to reading on into the series and checking out the Danamaniac group, of which our own Carolyn Bright is a member. <Waves to Carolyn> There was a group of Danamaniacs at B'con. Maybe we can do a fan-group meetup with some other such groups at B'con next year. That would be pretty cool.

Mamaocllo, how are you enjoying the Kage Baker books? Those are on my list, thanks to the raves of several VBCers. Same for the Mas Arai books.

For those of you who liked Peter Dickinson's King and Joker, there's a sort-of sequel with some of the same characters - Skeleton in Waiting.

I didn't enjoy SiW nearly as much as K& J, but YMMV.

John you're in multi-dimensional good reading country, what with an LRK book, the Wimseys *and* the Thursday Next series going. I love the Next books!! The most recent one--First Among Sequels, was a lot of fun, although I wouldn't say it was the strongest of the bunch. Fforde certainly does keep a lot of threads going in the series. I don't know how he keeps all his stuff straight! I love all the goofy stuff, like Thursday's stalker and the platoons of Mrs. Danvers drones. Crikey, that's a fun series.

and tomorrow evening am going to a lecture and book-signing (Nikita Khrushchev & the Creation of a Super Power) by Dr. Sergei N. Khrushchev, the son of the former Soviet Premier, presented by the Adler Planetarium as part of their Sputnik@50 celebration! As a kid turned on to a life-long love of space exploration by Sputnik and Echo and Gagarin and Shepard, this is a big treat!! Hopefully, pictures to follow!

Wow--that sounds like a great event! I'm looking forward to seeing your always-excellent photos in the Gallery! There is a documentary, Sputnik Mania (http://www.sputnikmania.com/), coming out soon, John. It should be playing in Chicago soon.

sigmagirl, I keep hearing about the Pendergast series and have been meaning to try that one. I need to get the first one, as I like to do series chronologically.

Homicide My Own by Anne Argula (or something very close to it). It's about this cop who is trying to solve his own murder which involves reincarnation.

Cool!!

I have Thomas O'Callaghan's "The Screaming Room" in my possession from the library. It's a mystery, and a cop that does the mystery solving. Bone Thief was the first in the series.

I've heard of the first one, but not the second. I'll be on the look-out for these. And how is the Reich series? I keep hearing about it and have been meaning to find out more about it.

mamaocllo

10-04-2007, 04:26 PM

John's eyeballs seem to be multi-tasking. I wish mine were still that durable.
Vicki - I'm so hooked on Kage Baker's works that when I got hold of the second and some subsequent books in her Company series, I abandoned Mas Arai in mid-chapter and
am going on reading about Joseph, Mendoza, and everybody. For anyone who has ever, dutifully, sat through a loooong screening of D.W.Griffith's 'Intolerance', there's a wonderful showing of it in 'Mendoza in Hollywood', with much commentary from Company personnel, some of whom hilariously tell just how much Griffith got correct about Babylon and other historic periods - from personal experience. Eventually I'll run out of Company and return to Mas Arai.

jtb1951

10-04-2007, 04:40 PM

And for those of us that can't get enough of Kage Baker and all things Company, she is planning to publish The Company Concordance through Golden Gryphon Press sometime in the future.

John.

KarenB

10-04-2007, 07:59 PM

Vicki - yup, same author as The Kite Runner. More Afghan history, but from a woman's perspective (albeit thru a man's writing). I can highly recommend both of them, although a bit of brain candy is needed afterwords.

vicki

10-04-2007, 08:13 PM

although a bit of brain candy is needed afterwords.

I know what you mean. I read the latest Thursday Next book just before I read Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and I really, really should have read those two in reverse order. It was like eating chocolate before meeting up with a dementor. Very wrong order.

Vicki - I'm so hooked on Kage Baker's works that when I got hold of the second and some subsequent books in her Company series, I abandoned Mas Arai in mid-chapter

:eek: (I've been wanting to use that smilie for a while--yay!)

For anyone who has ever, dutifully, sat through a loooong screening of D.W.Griffith's 'Intolerance', there's a wonderful showing of it in 'Mendoza in Hollywood', with much commentary from Company personnel, some of whom hilariously tell just how much Griffith got correct about Babylon and other historic periods - from personal experience.

Hahahahahaha! That is so hilarious!