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The Official Novel Thread -What Are You Reading?

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  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    Just Finished book 3 of the dresden files Grave Peril. Things just got real.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    mwhitt80 said:

    Just Finished book 3 of the dresden files Grave Peril. Things just got real.

    Oh just wait!

    It gets realer and realer!
  • Fade2BlackFade2Black Posts: 1,457
    edited March 2013
    luke52 said:


    If you're into Pratchett check out the below link, bbc are currently airing an audio drama called Eric...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0zb9

    I am a Pratchett fan, and I would have totally missed this had you not posted the link. THANK YOU! It looks as if today is the last day one can listen to part one, so if anyone is remotely interested in listening to this dramatization, I suggest doing. (Note: there is a one in a million chance that my computer's screen capture software (which includes audio capture) may have been running in the background while I listened to the episode. ;) )
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,750

    luke52 said:


    If you're into Pratchett check out the below link, bbc are currently airing an audio drama called Eric...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0zb9

    I am a Pratchett fan, and I would have totally missed this had you not posted the link. THANK YOU! It looks as if today is the last day one can listen to part one, so if anyone is remotely interested in listening to this dramatization, I suggest doing. (Note: there is a one in a million chance that my computer's screen capture software (which includes audio capture) may have been running in the background while I listened to the episode. ;) )
    The actor who has read every Pratchett audio book I’ve listened to—and I’ve listened to at least half a dozen—is one of the best narrators I’ve heard. It makes Pratchett’s book all the more enjoyable.
  • chriswchrisw Posts: 792
    In my quest to read the complete works of Mark Twain I've finally finished his first book, Innocents Abroad.

    It's an account of his travels to Europe and the Middle East. I'm a little surprised that for a guy who has a reputation for being ahead of his time when it came to racial issues, he was flat out hateful towards Muslims. So much that I can't even justify it as being part of the times he lived in. He basically makes them sound like animals.

    And the craziest part is that the final paragraph of the book talks about how everyone should travel, because it broadens your mind and teaches you to be more tolerant of different people.

    Oh well, one of the drawbacks of reading someone's complete works. You end up wading through some some crap.

    Next up: something much lighter and more enjoyable: True Crime by Max Allan Collins, the second in his Nate Heller series. I read the first one, True Detective, not too long ago. It was a little like James Ellroy lite - lots of period stuff, but not so heavy of a read.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314

    The actor who has read every Pratchett audio book I’ve listened to—and I’ve listened to at least half a dozen—is one of the best narrators I’ve heard. It makes Pratchett’s book all the more enjoyable.

    Nigel Planer?
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,750
    WetRats said:

    The actor who has read every Pratchett audio book I’ve listened to—and I’ve listened to at least half a dozen—is one of the best narrators I’ve heard. It makes Pratchett’s book all the more enjoyable.

    Nigel Planer?
    No, Stephen Briggs. Planer’s done a few, but I haven’t heard any of those yet.
  • John_SteedJohn_Steed Posts: 2,087
    Stephen Briggs :x
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314

    WetRats said:

    The actor who has read every Pratchett audio book I’ve listened to—and I’ve listened to at least half a dozen—is one of the best narrators I’ve heard. It makes Pratchett’s book all the more enjoyable.

    Nigel Planer?
    No, Stephen Briggs. Planer’s done a few, but I haven’t heard any of those yet.
    I haven't heard any of Briggs' narrations.

    Last Discworld audiobook I listened to was an atrocious American edition of Night Watch, with multiple narrators, including Harlan Ellison doing incredibly unfunny "funny" readings of the footnotes.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    I'm a liar.

    I HAVE listened to several of Briggs' narrations (Going Postal, Making Money, Unseen Academicals).

    Yes, he's quite good, far less silly than Planer.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    Though I enjoyed Planer's silly ones as well.

    "They looked at the drinks. They drank the drinks."
  • luke52luke52 Posts: 1,392
    luke52 said:

    WetRats said:

    mwhitt80 said:

    I think I've read more in the last 2 months than I did all of last year
    Wyrd Sisters - Terry Prachett (I've only read two of his books but they have been fun)
    Gathering Storm & Fool's Moon - Jim Butcher (I decided to try the Dresdin files and blew threw the first two books)
    The Last Good Kiss - James Crumley (it was great)
    Rum Punch - Elmor Leonard (this is a solid read, Jackie Brown did the book justice)

    Pratchett, Butcher & Leonard are three of my favorites.

    I'll need to check out Crumley based on the company he keeps.
    If you're into Pratchett check out the below link, bbc are currently airing an audio drama called Eric...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0zb9
    Check out the audiobook thread for a new Neil Gaiman audio drama from the beeb! I'll update that thread with any more audio dramas that may be if interest to everybody.
  • Chuck_MelvilleChuck_Melville Posts: 3,003
    Just starting volume 12 of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion saga -- Corum: The Prince With The Silver Hand.
  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803
    About a third of the way into Looking for Alaska by John Green. I figured that since nearly every GIF on Tumblr (the ones that aren't Doctor Who or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, anyway) is taken from Green's vlog, I'd see what he was about.
  • kiwijasekiwijase Posts: 451
    Just finished reading 'The Left Hand of Darkness', by Ursula K. LeQuin. The first half was pretty tough going, then half way through the book, the story opened up for me and I was hooked. It's only 200 odd pages but it's a good, involving read.
  • hauberkhauberk Posts: 1,511
    kiwijase said:

    Just finished reading 'The Left Hand of Darkness', by Ursula K. LeQuin. The first half was pretty tough going, then half way through the book, the story opened up for me and I was hooked. It's only 200 odd pages but it's a good, involving read.

    I had a similar experience reading it in a SF lit class in college. One of the pieces that I ultimately got the most out of in that class. Otherwise, my big takeaway is that there is a lot of SF that academia considers to be canonical and that fell flat for me. End result, I now tend to be canon-averse.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,750

    About a third of the way into Looking for Alaska by John Green. I figured that since nearly every GIF on Tumblr (the ones that aren't Doctor Who or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, anyway) is taken from Green's vlog, I'd see what he was about.

    His latest, The Fault in Our Stars, was pretty good. The main characters feel a bit too smart and knowledgeable at times—something I’ve heard is typical in his books—but he’s got a good handle on human nature and emotion, which gives the story the genuineness it requires.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    Done with my latest book (#7 this year)
    Len Dieghton's Berlin Game, the first book in the Bernard Samson Trilogy. It's a 1980's spy novel featurig MI-6 and set in Berlin (which is a great city to have a spy novel).
    It was really good. I'm looking forward to finishing off the trilogy (Mexico Set and London Match) then trying out his WOOC(P) series (IPCRESS File, Horse Under Water etc.).
    At the current moment however I'm not sure what I shall read next.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    @WetRats
    Have you had a chance to start Last Good Kiss? I'm very interested in hearing what you think about the book.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    mwhitt80 said:

    @WetRats
    Have you had a chance to start Last Good Kiss? I'm very interested in hearing what you think about the book.

    It's next in my queue.
  • John_SteedJohn_Steed Posts: 2,087
    James Herbert dies aged 69

    Thanks for the nightmares. R.I.P.
  • KilmarockKilmarock Posts: 174
    Inkdeath by Cornelia Fünke - final book in the Inkworld trilogy; great read; this one focuses on Mo and Resa, Meggie's parents more than Meggie although she still gets some "screen time"; probably not for everyone; some of the twists and turns seemed a bit improbable but I didn't have any trouble accepting them; for as long as the series is I wish there was more to it

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkheart_trilogy
  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803

    About a third of the way into Looking for Alaska by John Green. I figured that since nearly every GIF on Tumblr (the ones that aren't Doctor Who or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, anyway) is taken from Green's vlog, I'd see what he was about.

    His latest, The Fault in Our Stars, was pretty good. The main characters feel a bit too smart and knowledgeable at times—something I’ve heard is typical in his books—but he’s got a good handle on human nature and emotion, which gives the story the genuineness it requires.
    That's a fair assessment of Looking for Alaska thus far, too. The main character is obsessed with the last words of historical figures and heads off to boarding to school to find "The Great Perhaps" and the book's major happening is telegraphed pretty early on... definitely a feeling that I've heard this song before. But it's important to remember that his intended audience for this is the YA crowd, and I'm sure it reads MUCH deeper at 14 than it does at nearly 37. It's not bad, though, and were I 14, I'm sure I'd be eating this up with a spoon. Familiar territory, but he's treading it decently, especially considering this was his first book.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    I just finished the "Dick Stivers" 1984/1985 classic Able Team #11 Five Rings of Fire

    Over the last 3 years I've slowly turned into a fan of the action/men's adventure genre, mostly through Warren Murphy's Destroyer Series. I have a knowledge of the way these books work, and I really enjoy reading them. But...

    I'm still pretty new at it and have yet to pick up a Mack Bolan Executioner book. I was unsure of a good place to start with the Executioner series (Destroyer I started with #1). I've got about 10 Mack Bolan books coming from ebay so I will give the archetype a shot, and I'm just going to dive in.

    This is the second Able Team book I've read. There is no plot, just gun fights surrounded by 10 pages of "filler". This was the case in both Able Team books. I'm not sure how these are recieved by Bolan fans, but I wasn't overly impressed by the Able Team. I didn't hate it, and I'll even finish the handful of other Able Team books I own. Who knows I might change my mind as the series progresses.

    If you are into the Mack Bolan/Stony Man books let me know good places to start, and your feelings on the Bolan/Phoenix Force/Able Team.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    JamieD said:

    WetRats said:

    Just devoured three post-Robert Parker novels (two Jesse Stone, one Cole & Hitch).

    All three were enjoyable and nicely-paced.

    All three noticeably lacked Parker's verve.

    Can't bring myself to try the post-Parker Spenser.

    Thanks for the review, I love Robert Parker but have stayed away from the new books
    Read the Spenser novel.

    My instincts were right.

    So much of Spenser *was* Parker, that no other writer can truly inhabit the character.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    mwhitt80 said:

    @WetRats
    Have you had a chance to start Last Good Kiss? I'm very interested in hearing what you think about the book.

    My friend, you can recommend good reads for me any time.

    Haven't quite finished, but the excrement has well and truly hit the rotating blades.

    Damn fine book.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    I'm glad you enjoyed it. I blew through the book, got to the end, and it kicked me in the gut. It fit the story, but it took me a day to shake off the ending. I'm also going to name a dog Fireball Roberts; he's a soldier of a bulldog (for most of the book anyway).
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    mwhitt80 said:

    I'm glad you enjoyed it. I blew through the book, got to the end, and it kicked me in the gut. It fit the story, but it took me a day to shake off the ending. I'm also going to name a dog Fireball Roberts; he's a soldier of a bulldog (for most of the book anyway).

    That gut-kicking was inevitable. Noir never ends pretty.

    I particularly liked the slow revelation of the protagonist's backstory. He was as much of a mystery as his case was.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,641
    @wetrats
    I'm currently reading Richard Stark's The Dame (the second Alan Grofield book). The Dame picks up right after The Damsel (which spins directly out of the great Parker novel The Handle).
    That part is neither here nor there, I've got 2 books from Christmas that I'm excited to read. James Crumley's Wrong Case (it's main character is Milo, which I think is CW's old PI partner), and George Pelecanos Firing Offense (which is the first of his Nick series). I'll let you know how those are.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    Dimensional Games by Robert A. Cerio

    Got this at Coast Con from the author. Had been to 3 or 4 panels he hosted the past couple of years. So went by his table to thank him. He started describing the book to me. "Well someone figures out a way to goto alternative realities,and the main hero is sorta a cop. Who polices the various realities." Plus then he told me he was very inspired by Douglas Adams. So I grabbed it. Fun book,quick read,the only drawback is cause it was self published this 238 page book is like 15 bucks. But worth reading.
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