What are you reading currently?
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@FitMary202 -enjoy!
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I am going to finish up The Armor of Light by Ken Follett tonight I think. I have 5 hours to go.
Next up is the Murderbot novel, it is book 5 in the series (of the 7 that are currently written it is the only novel length one). I really like that series better the second time through, all the stories connect better than waiting a year between each and forgetting what went on in the previous storyline.
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I finished the Murderbot series, read a dime western, and now reading Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz. It is pretty good so far. I guess there is a tv show made from the series (two seasons available on Hulu)?
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Started Greek Lessons by Han Kang last night as a break from Solenoid…
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Greek Lessons is interesting, but a little goes a long way… I also started a very interesting nonfiction book by Salmaan Keshavjee called Blind Spot: How Neoliberalism Infiltrated Global Health. It's based on some fascinating work he did in post-Soviet Tajikistan.
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Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling *****
Also reads:
Collateral by Ellen Hopkins **
Imperfect Sword (The Lost Stars book 3) by Jack Campbell ****
Everything Happens for a Reason **** & No Cure for Being Human ***, both by Kate Bowler
The Witches of East End trilogy by Melissa de la Cruz ****
To the River's End (Jake Ransom, Man of the Mountains #1) by William W. and JA Johnstone ***
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Finished Greek Lessons. Oh, my goodness. What inspires someone to start—let alone finish!—a story like that? I'm going to have to head off in a completely different direction after that one!
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Reading Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaught. Interesting scientific "adventure" story about the author's work in Russia's Far East.
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Three Californias Triptych by Kim Stanley Robinson is really good. These are three independent novels written about Orange County in the future. The first is dystopic, and was good. The second is modern/futuristic, very good, and it is very character-centric. I'm finishing that one up tonight. I am looking forward to finding out what the third novel is about.
The Wild Shore
The Gold Coast
Pacific Edge
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@Catfish_Fan I started his Ministry for the Future but got distracted. I need to revisit Peak Not-yet-finished on Mount TBR…
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Hiya all! I am currently reading We Were Illegal by Jessica Goudeau and The Passion of Cleopatra by Anne Rice and Christopher Rice.
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I read The Passion of Cleopatra (and all the Anne Rice books excepting the religious or erotica ones) and I recall that I liked it and the sequel, The Reign of Osiris. They weren't the best Rice books I read (I loved The Vampire Lestat the best of all) but I was happy with them.
I just finished Sycamore Row by John Grisham, book 2 in his Jake Brigance series that started back at the beginning of his novels with A Time to Kill. This one took place a couple years after the first book, in the 1980s. I rated it 5 stars because of the entertainment value given the genre. It wasn't necessarily a stellar, knock a home run out of the park book, but I read all 21 hours of it in three days (immersion read with audiobook companion) and I rarely put that kind of time into a novel. For the genre, for Grisham (some of which I didn't really like and rated a 2 or 3), I thought this was a better one. I have read all of his novels from A Time to Kill in 1989 to Sycamore Row in 2013 (28 novels) pretty much in sequence. Someday I may actually catch up to the author.
I'm trying to do the same with Stephen King but I'm bogged down and haven't read a S.K. in two years, I have read all of King in order from Carrie in 1974 to Joyland in 2013. These are very long term projects!
I like to read a lot of different genres and I'm currently having a book hangover from Sycamore Row which is going to take the evening to digest, so I will stop for now. What is next?
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Hi @quietmousie - I've enjoyed Anne Rice's vampires and witches. You'll have to let us know what you think of The Passion of Cleopatra.
@Catfish_Fan - when suffering from a book hang over I usually go for something light and completely different from the book I can't get out of my head.
I'm still making my way through Southern Man by Greg Isles. I know that he rushed to finish this before his medical treatments, but parts of it are a mess. Other parts I see his great story telling technique going strong. It's what's kept me going on this one. I think if he'd felt he had the time it could have been 2 books.
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I read the memoire of Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band and found it to be disappointing. The whole thing was disjointed memories, many of trivial details, from his life. I learned a lot about the band and I respect the author as a person who writes great music, but he isn't an author.
After that I wanted a good book about music so I read Daisy Jones & The Six. This was fictional but was pretty awesome, written by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
I'm tentatively starting Imperium by Robert Harris tonight. I don't know what it is about exactly having read no reviews or storyline spoilers; I like going into new books that way.
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I agree with @Btrflydog. Sometimes ya just need to change the script completely!
Love the idea of going into a book without any preconceptions, @Catfish_Fan! I can't remember the last time I did that so I'm gonna give it a try "soon."
I'm still working my way through Hotel Lux. It's interesting history, but he occasionally becomes a bit too speculative.
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I started the brand new Terry Brooks fantasy novel Galaphile (The First Druids of Shannara #1) but I have it in hardcover and am immersion reading it with the audiobook. I want to continue my Kindle reading streak and so as not to break my over 900 day streak I am also starting a dime western, Stoneface Finnegan book 1, By the Neck, by William W. Johnstone and JA Johnstone. It has been a while since I read a dime western and I enjoy those as a break from heavy books.
Imperium by Robert Harris was good.
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Glad to get the review, @Catfish_Fan, and I love that the "dime western" is still a thing!!
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@FitMary202 - is that the Cowboy version of the Macarena?? LOL!
I finally finished Southern Man - Greg Iles - gave it 4* mostly because I really enjoyed the other Penn Cage books.
Now on to Starter Villan - John Scalzi - I needed something a little lighter.
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I am reading a strange "alternate history" science fiction book about space aliens invading Earth and attacking everybody during 1942 World War II. It's called In the Balance by Harry Turtledove. It is quite long and begins a four book series, I will see if it is worth continuing when I finish book one… I have had this one on my shelf for years (I think I got the series at a library book sale?) and I'm trying to move books off my shelf, even bizarre ones.
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So glad you are here, @Btrflydog and @Catfish_Fan ! You always bring me laughs and new information! ❤️❤️❤️
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More "complaints" about Hotel Lux. It's overwritten in places and spends too much time on mostly inconsequential events and people. I like the recovered history approach, but I'm 60% through the book and far, far, far from the hotel that's supposed to ground the story. Starting to look longingly at other destinations on Mount TBR… Nevertheless sticking with this til the bitter end so I can say I did.
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In the Balance by Harry Turtledove was strange, of course, but I expected that one to be weird science fiction… It begins a 4 book series and I will probably continue with book 2 at some point.
I'm reading White Fire (Agent Pendergast book 13) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I found the writing in the first couple of books to be weaker as characters were introduced, but the writing duo has gotten their stride by book 13 and the stories are quite entertaining, if you like Mystery Thrillers. The character development throughout the series is a strength, with recurring main characters other then just Pendergast, which makes this serial worth my time. I checked it out from the library.
I am immersion reading with the audiobook on my audiobook tablet and reading on my new Kindle Colorsoft Signature. It is a bit larger (7" screen vs 6.8" on my old Paperwhite really is noticeable to me), faster page turns and loading (they must have upgraded the hardware under the hood, besides adding color to the e-ink technology), but I have yet to test out the battery life to see if it is improved. I like it so far, I am waiting for a cover (backordered to next week) and a wireless charger coming tomorrow that came with the bundle. It has been 12 years since I first bought a kindle and they rewarded me with a 20% off coupon on the bundle that was already marked down 20% for a Mother's Day sale. And my Amazon credit card rewards me with 10% credit back on this purchase, which all together made this a better deal for me. 😊
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Ooooo, Colorsoft looks cool, @Catfish_Fan! I'm still thrilled that my "new" Kindle has a backlight so I won't be upgrading soon, but that looks great. Thanks for sharing!
I finally finished Hotel Lux and I've started The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich and I'm enjoying it so far. Hoping I can spend more quality time reading this summer…
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I agree @FitMary202 - it does look cool. I still prefer my real books though.
I finished Starter Villan- John Scalzi- 4 stars. That was the first of his stuff that I had read. I'll have to check out some of his other stuff.
Now reading I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith. It's been on my TBR list for awhile. Hoping to clear some of my backlog out over the summer. It gets hot here in Phoenix, so I'll be inside under a fan reading if I am lucky.
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The primary reason I switched from physical books to ebooks is the libraries. Not only can I carry 2000 books in one device (I started collecting 12 years ago, and they go on sales daily for $2 or $3 each if you pay attention to those), the public library in my very rural area is extremely limited in selection in a tiny building. I would have to drive to a city to get any kind of selection to choose from and still wait in hold lines for a lot of books. With the e-library system, which out here is pretty robust having 12 cooperatives in a reciprocal lending agreement (meaning I have access to all those libraries), and adding Queens NY, I can always find e-books and e-audiobooks to read and I don't have to leave home. When they are due they auto-return and I don't have to leave home. When I move I no longer have to lug 25 or more cartons of books and assemble them on bookshelves either.
When I lived in the city (Grand Rapids) I could walk four blocks to my Main library building and get tons of books, but I haven't lived there in 13 years. I got used to the e-book revolution.
The past few days I have been reading the second installment of Harry Turtledove's alternate historical fiction series about World War II. The various countries had to stop WW II and are having to work together to develop atomic weapons to fight off an alien invasion set on colonization. The aliens vastly underestimated humans, expecting human civilization to be at the Iron Age level, so they underprepared (which is sort of preposterous), and the spice ginger is a drug to the aliens (also weird), but it is entertaining so I will finish it.
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I love books of all kinds and formats, but there's no arguing against the portability of Kindle! I never expected to love it, but I do!
I Capture the Castle has been on my TBR for years so you just might spur me to get going on it, @Btrflydog !
Happy to see that James won the Pulitzer Prize!
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"I finished Starter Villan- John Scalzi- 4 stars. That was the first of his stuff that I had read. I'll have to check out some of his other stuff."
I recommend everything by John Scalzi. Try The Old Man's War series, it is great.
I started The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, immersion read and narrated by the author. It is pretty long, I just checked it out late last night from the library after finishing book 2 of the corny World War II alternate history story.
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@Catfish_Fan - thanks for the recommendation - always good to get some guidance when starting with a new author. I do read on my kindle app - mostly when I'm at an appointment waiting or something like that. It is convenient.
@FitMary202 - I saw that James won the Pulitzer as well. It's definitely on my list to read. So far I am enjoying I Capture the Castle. Will let you know when I finish it.
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The Mighty Red is going approximately 1000% faster than Hotel Lux! It's not her best writing, but still engaging. Looking forward to hearing your review of Capture the Castle too!
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Started reading My Friends by Hisham Matar. This was not the Matar book I thought I was getting, but I've decided to stick with it. How often do I get a chance to read about Libya and emigrants from there? If it goes well, I'll swing back and read his memoir, The Return.
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