# So, what are you reading? (2014 edition)



## Linjeakel

For reference:

The 2013 thread

The 2012 thread

The 2011 thread

The 2010 thread

So, what are you reading this year?


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Thanks for starting the thread, Linda -- and great idea to add links for previous years.

I'll start.

I was in the mood for a short last night and found  lurking on my device. I'd gotten it a while ago. It's a short in the Julia Grey/Nicholas Brisbane series. Enjoyed it. 

Still reading  and also started .

Oh, and I finished a memoir as well:  Bishop deRoo is the last living English speaking participant who was at Vatican II 50 years ago. His insights are very interesting.


----------



## LauraB

I reread the Harry Potter series every year or two just for fun. Reading Order of the Phoenix now.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this last night  and really enjoyed it, so I am on to the next one 

I love when a series already exists and I can just continue reading through them without waiting on the next one for a while.


----------



## Nancy Beck

Still re-reading The Hobbit (25th Anniversary edition).

Also reading:



And I didn't just buy it because the author has the same last name as me, lol.  I'm hoping it will help me dig deeper into why I have blocks about certain things - and confirm a couple of things too.


----------



## mima

I just discovered the Steph Rowe series.









I cracked up when one of her reviewers called them black dagger brotherhood books. Yeah... that. I set the series aside at book 3 but I bet I'll come back. Lots of angst.

I tried this title based on a board discussion rec, but it was a big DNF. whoops on not trying the sample.









Then to clear my mind from that, I reread my fav book of last year for the fifth time.









awww. my images don't look nice. I don't know how you guys did that...


----------



## Linjeakel

Mima, if you go to the top of the page and choose the drop down menu for either 'readers' or 'authors', you'll find 'linkmaker'. 

Just put in the ASIN for the book you want and the linkmaker will provide the code for both a text and an image which will also be a clickable link to the product page on Amazon.


----------



## Tony Richards

About a year back I read _Paradise Lost_ and really loved it ... one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read, albeit that it's actually a great big poem. So now I'm giving Dante's _The Divine Comedy_ a crack. So far, so good.


----------



## TiffanyNicole

I'm reading 'Legend' by Marie Lu. I'm only halfway through, but I'm loving it.


----------



## Heffnerh

I'm reading Angelfall by Susan Ee and Wildefire by Karsten Knight. I think I started reading Angelfall at the right moment because the sequel just came out


----------



## beckyj20

So far I have read Edenbrooke and Blackmore by Julianne Donaldson.  They were both really good.  Now I'm reading The Goldfinch.  I'm only 9% the way in, but so far I don't see what's so special about it.  The run-on sentences are driving me crazy!  I'm going to stick with it though.


----------



## writeisescape

Just 2 days ago, I finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen(I reccomend to all lovers of classics, Jane Austen and amazing romantic reads!) I'm reading Nothanger Abbey by Jane Austen ad Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.


----------



## Carrie Rubin

I'm reading . Really liking it so far. It's a follow-up of sorts to 'A Time to Kill' though it isn't really a sequel. Same lawyer with a new trial three years later.


----------



## LauraB

I am about 55% into *The Blessing Stone* and am enjoying it.


----------



## m.rees

Heffnerh said:


> I'm reading Angelfall by Susan Ee and Wildefire by Karsten Knight. I think I started reading Angelfall at the right moment because the sequel just came out


I loved Angelfall and it's sequel, World After. One of the best series, in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm currently reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It's a retelling of a childhood classic, but it's set in the future and... read this carefully... CINDERELLA IS A CYBORG. Interesting.


----------



## Carol (was Dara)

At the moment I'm reading these two nonfiction books:

 

Feeling Good is basically a study of cognitive behavioral therapy, while the Negative Trait Thesaurus is a reference for writers. I know. I have exciting tastes.  But both books tie in with my new year's resolutions.


----------



## heidi_g

I'm reading: 

uhm&#8230; today I bought:







and


(heehee now, that I know how to use the linkmaker I'm going to go nuts, lol)

Anyway, looks like the theme for January is shaping up to be: Dark and Heavy


----------



## Nancy Beck

When I pick up a how-to write book, I generally like to read at least one of the author's books, to see if she has the chops.

Well, I sampled this book



and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it and wanted to know what happened next. (I don't normally read romance, but, whatever. ) It's got a bit of a fantasy or paranormal element to it, which is probably why I like it so much, because fantasy is my usual go-to for reading.


----------



## FrankZubek

Reading this but its slow going ( but in a good way)


Have read this one- very short story but very good


----------



## Ergodic Mage

Right now I'm reading Hugh Howey's Dust


After that I have to revisit my overly large tbr list.


----------



## VictoriaP

Reading:



This series is the most addictive paranormal that I've read in a while.

Listening via Audible:



I probably never would have discovered or tried this one on my own as I don't do zombies, but the audiobook was recommended to me by a friend and I've actually enjoyed it enough to use Audible credits on the rest of the series.


----------



## bordercollielady

Well - I just finished Burden of Proof - by Scott Turow. Very disappointing .. I loved Presumed Innocent and its recent sequel Innocent - but this was not a "legal thriller" -- very little court action at all - most of the book spent reading about the main character's thoughts, and his past. About 40% through - I decided to stop reading it - but my curiosity wanted to know how it ended.  You know someone needs to create a website with all the endings to books when people don't want to finish them. I googled, read a lot of reviews, but could not find out how it ended.. so I had no choice but to keep reading. From then on - I just skipped thru lots and lots of pages that didn't move the plot along. And now I know how it ended. But I still didn't like it. Wonder why - this was Turow's second book - he strayed so much from his first success. 

Maybe I've just been reading too many "action" books.. 



Next? I am thinking of reading the Divergent series...


----------



## BradleyRite

I can't seem to find any decent book to read this year! I've read so many books that I've run out of options  i need to go find a book that someone recommends! I do love most of what you guys are reading!


----------



## Jaasy

I am rereading J D Robb's In Death series, just finished book 11, Witness in Death.

Just started Stuart Woods new book, Standup Guy, but I'm still thinking about the in death series so will probably stop and go back to it...

Next up is


----------



## heidi_g

FrankZubek said:


> Reading this but its slow going ( but in a good way)


I keep seeing The Goldfinch and wondering&#8230; I get the slow going (but in a good way)  Little, Big was too


----------



## Janni

Enjoyed Joseph Bruchac's Killer of Enemies late last year (post apocalyptic sf with an Apache protagonist), so now am trying his Wolf Mark.

 

(There--got image links working!)


----------



## Eric Mazzoni

Oryx and Crake

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse)

The Atlantis Gene: A Thriller (The Origin Mystery, Book 1)

The Abominable: A Novel
It sounds a lot like The Terror, except on a mountain. I am hesitant but will probably give it a try.

****** Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice


----------



## KindleGirl

Working my way through the Fatal series....finished  and have started


----------



## Valley

Warhorn Sons of Iberia by J. Glenn Bauer, Historical fiction, not the normal Greek or Roman scenarios, breath of fresh air, really draws me in.


----------



## SLGray

Kind of like I fail at being able to do one of ... just about anything (thank you, magpie-like nature), I usually read more than one thing at a time, too.

Right now I'm reading 
, which is book 4 of the October Daye series. I love each book a little more.

I'm also reading  Sometimes Tad Williams gets a little too involved in word-love for me, and I get lost, but as I sometimes have that problem myself, I understand it. And when it works for me, it really works. Besides, smart-mouthed angels? Yes please.


----------



## MarilynVix

I've been on an 80s memoir kick for the last few months. 
I just finished: 


And started the drummer's memoir from Ratt:


----------



## KevinH

I have on my reading list the most recent novel in Richard Kadrey's incredible _Sandman Slim_ series, and the last two books in the Harry Connelly's _Twenty Palaces_ series.


----------



## Linjeakel

I don't seem to have a lot of time lately to get much reading done, so much so that I missed my free borrow for December. 

I did manage to finish  over Christmas. Not as good as some in the series, but they're all pretty lightweight reads anyway. I just love reading about the dogs!

In a complete change I then made sure of my January borrow and read  which is a fictionlised account of the months following the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940. Britain appeared to be on the brink of defeat with her armed forces depleted to dangerous levels and morale slipping daily. But was it all an elaborate hoax on the part of the British government to persuage Hitler to invade the country earlier than he wanted to, before he had time to mobilise all the resources of the countries he'd already conquered and a not so down and out Britain could still beat him? It's always been assumed that an invasion was dreaded, but did the Brits want to force what they saw as inevitable to happen when they wanted it and not when Hitler wanted it? Fascinating interpretation of real-life events.

Next up a biography:


----------



## Ann in Arlington

That _Hitler_ one looks good -- on my wishlist. 

I just gave up on .

It's the sort of thing I usually like. Long book -- but that's usually o.k. But I kept finding myself internally screaming at it, "get on with it already!" and, externally, finding excuses NOT to pick up my kindle . . . or starting other things instead. Sure sign it's boring me. So, can't recommend it. Supposed to be dealing with some Swiss Bank takeover drama in the late 1990's coupled with a mystery surrounding the MC's father's death. I found I couldn't care any more. 

I did finish up  -- always a good read -- and a couple of shorts in series I'm reading  and 

Also, in the midst of searching for something to do rather than read the Christopher Reich book, I stumbled upon . It's a bit contrived; sort of a cross between a Dan Brown novel and the Indiana Jones stories, and started a bit slow and cumbersome. But I'm at around 70% and it's definitely picking up. I expect I'll finish it.

And then I should get to my January borrow:


----------



## anguabell

The First Excellence looks interesting - sample downloaded, despite my Huge TBR pile!

I have embarked on a long journey with the Romance of Three Kingdoms.

It is completely fascinating but I must read it on my iPad Mini because I need to look up a lot of characters in Wikipedia. There are hundreds of them. This will be my slow read for a few months to come!

For "regular" reading, I just finished another Phryne Fisher mystery, fun as always: 


And I am reading The Moveable Feast, which I didn't like a few decades ago. This is a new, restored and expanded edition, with the bits that were deleted out of the previous version.


----------



## ElleChambers

I'm reading _The Chocolate Kiss_ by Laura Florand, but may just drop it and go back to reading Shirley Jackson's short stories. I think I took too long of a break while reading the former - I'm not as into it as I was a couple weeks ago.


----------



## mlewis78

beckyj20 said:


> So far I have read Edenbrooke and Blackmore by Julianne Donaldson. They were both really good. Now I'm reading The Goldfinch. I'm only 9% the way in, but so far I don't see what's so special about it. The run-on sentences are driving me crazy! I'm going to stick with it though.


I'm reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and have mixed feelings about it. 73% into it, so I hate to give up on it now, but the story is implausible to me. It oozes with run-on sentences and occasionally a made up word (for example, "fubsiness"). After about 50% I realized that I didn't like the main character, who is also the narrator (1st person). It got some rave reviews, including two in the NY Times. The Times has it as one of the 10 best books of 2013. Can't imagine why.


----------



## SLGray

I finished  (and had all the feels).

I've now added  to the queue. As someone said elsewhere, Tybalt and Atticus back-to-back. Mmm.


----------



## Nancy Beck

Still reading



It's a self help book that's really making me think (a good thing ). Don't know when I'll be thru with it, but I really don't want to rush it.

I'm also reading this in between the above book:



Yeah, blurb help. Need lots of help with that, and it's a short ebook. So far, so good (tho the typos are annoying).

Anyway, I've set up the next book (fiction) I want to read:



I read The Winter Sea despite the price (US$9.34 or something). It was a very good read, but I'm not going to make it a habit to read novels at that price. (Egads! ) So I set up Reader IQ or whatever it's called to alert me to when most of her books are on sale, and snapped up Shadowy Horses (missed the sale on, I think, The Rose Garden. Or was it Firebird? Can't remember.)


----------



## sstroble

Just finished The Golden Dragon
http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Dragon-Alf-Mapp/dp/0819178071/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389810132&sr=1-1&keywords=the+golden+dragon+by+alf+mapp

Now reading The eye of the Hunter
http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Hunter-Frank-Bonham/dp/0345365275/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389810258&sr=1-1&keywords=the+eye+of+the+hunter+by+frank+bonham


----------



## Maverick

I'm currently reading The Ghosts of Varner Creek by Michael Weems. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised considering the author calls himself a hobby author and only wrote two novels. He has a knack for writing a good story but he nevertheless is in need of a good editor. Both of his novels have been given high ratings on Amazon and can be had for free. I hope to see more from him in the future.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Robert Stanek

So far read a few...










It's dystopian fiction of the teen variety and an okay read. The five factions are the more interesting aspects, more so than the characters. I liked the setting as well--it's in a future Chicago.










It's a standard "Dan Brown" puzzler starring Robert Langdon. Not as deep a mystery as his books can be, but okay overall.


----------



## A. Rosaria

I'm reading 

So far so good. Not have had a lot of time to read, but slowly reading page by page, day by day.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished the 3rd one in the series last night  and on to the next. A novella, book 3.5 

Started listening to this one the other day....so far so good, but a bit depressing as expected.


----------



## Thomas Watson

Started the New Year by reading an anothology:  As is often the case, there were a few really good stories, a couple of duds, and a bunch that made for okay reads.

Went from that to  Very well done! Highly recommended!

Next up will be a Hugo Winners short story anthology (volume 5).


----------



## Paula Cappa

Lots of short stories actually. But for novels, I'm trying to read all the Susan Hill books. I really liked Woman In Black and The Small Hand. She writes quiet horror, which I'm finding to be my favorite now.  Brian Evenson "Windeye" a collection of literary short stories. Excellent!


----------



## Maverick

I'm currently reading William Landay's Defending Jacob.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2


----------



## SunshineOnMe

Snow Child, and I only know how to do a link? You guys have talent AND good taste.


----------



## Linjeakel

I've finished  which was a bit slow going to begin with, but got more interesting as it went on, more so in respect of the insider's view of the army, than for how his being gay changed his experience. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Next up I'm reading  which is full of small but pithy chapters on a myriad of subjects, which mostly serve to inform you that everything you thought you knew about, well _everything_, is wrong. An interesting and amusing read based on the successful QI TV show.

More the sort of book you want to dip into now and then though, so I could start something else in the meantime, I just need to decide. I have a huge pile of non-fic books gathering virtual dust on my TBR shelf so I really should read some more of those. Decisions, decisions .....


----------



## Geoffrey

SunshineOnMe said:


> Snow Child, and I only know how to do a link? You guys have talent AND good taste.


At the top of the page, in the menus, to to Profile and select Linkmaker.

http://www.kboards.com/link/

I just book mark the linkmaker page then I have it whenever I want to create one. It's pretty self explanatory. You put in a title or author, press search, then select the 'make a link' hyperlink next to the correct book and you'll get a text link as well as an image of the cover.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Last night I finished . I enjoyed it. Everything wasn't tied up in a neat package at the end -- but it mostly took place in China, so maybe that's not entirely unexpected. It was well written and I'll probably look for more by the author. Definitely worth it as my January borrow.

Then I started  which is by Diane Setterfield who wrote The Thirteenth Tale which I really liked. This one is definitely different -- keeping me reading so far, but only about 13% in.

I also decided to read a short I'd picked up some time ago: . It's by the author of the Lady Julia Grey/Nicholas Brisbane series, but unconnected, I believe.


----------



## James Everington

Just finised Alan Ryker's _Dream Of The Serpent_. First five-star read of the year.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

I recently discovered Jasper Fforde and I'm currently reading  in my quest to read his entire catalog so that I can hurry up and wait for his new releases.


----------



## LiterallyJen

I just finished _The Selection_ by Kiera Cass and have started on _At the River's Edge_ by Mariah Stewart.

And then I will hopefully be starting on _Ordained_ by Devon Ashley.


----------



## Nancy Beck

I'd forgotten I'd downloaded one of Suzanna Kearsley's books - it was on sale a few weeks ago (regularly $9, on sale for $1.99), so I picked it up, and have finally started in on it:



I enjoyed her Winter Sea very much. I'm hoping I'll like this one too.


----------



## KarinaR

I'm reading Stephen King's_ Four Past Midnight_, because he's an amazing writer and I haven't really ever read his brand of horror before. It's&#8230;interesting. Also picked up Jayne Anne Krentz's _Dawn in Eclipse Bay_ for a floofy read. Got lots on my 2014 reading roster, and I keep adding more daily! Kindle is an enabler! I can read five books at once and not have to drag them all around. I especially can't wait for Kristen Britain's _Mirror Sight_ coming out in May&#8230;I'm so excited for the next installment in her Green Rider series.


----------



## Dee J. Stone

I'm currently reading:

 and I plan to read this next:


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished Bellman & Black: A Novel  last night.

I did not like it as well as _The Thirteenth Tale_ but it was good. She's very good at setting mood. I found this a bit darker. Still very mysterious -- though, not a mystery. Hard to define, actually.

Now into something a bit shorter, Whispers of the Stones (A High Country Mystery) 

So far appears to be a pretty standard murder mystery: questionable relatives and kooky neighbors, a mysterious missing object, determined local sheriff with uneven love life. It's set in Wyoming and concerns, as well, a Shoshone legend of the _Nimerigar_ or "Little People". It's good enough so far, though has a fixed typeface that is a rather 'thin' serif font. Not my favorite. Also, no chapter breaks so I can't see how far to the next chapter. 

I'm also dipping into The Seer's Fortune (The Seer Series)  which was on my Basic Kindle when I picked it up for some reason . . . . I think I got it when it was free or 99¢ some time ago. Some paranormal elements -- we'll see how it goes.


----------



## LiterallyJen

Ann, I was unable to make it through *Bellman & Black*. I adored The *Thirteenth Tale*, even bought myself a kindle copy when it was on sale for $1.99. I also bought the ebook at full price as a Christmas gift for my best friend one year. And I was so excited to find out she had a new book coming out! I just got&#8230;bored, I guess?


----------



## Kristine McKinley

I finished  and now I'm on to 

Didn't think Shades of Grey was as good as his other series I've read but I'm still impatient to read the next one, I have a long wait though.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

LiterallyJen said:


> Ann, I was unable to make it through *Bellman & Black*. I adored The *Thirteenth Tale*, even bought myself a kindle copy when it was on sale for $1.99. I also bought the ebook at full price as a Christmas gift for my best friend one year. And I was so excited to find out she had a new book coming out! I just got&#8230;bored, I guess?


It was a bit slow in the middle . . . . . . picked up a bit more at the end.


Spoiler



You never do _really_ find out who 'Black' is. It's kind of left to the reader to decide.


----------



## Geoffrey

I started reading Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy) at lunch today. This is book 1 in a trilogy and it's set in an alternate earth in a time equivalent to our late 18th Century and opens with a coup. (that's chapter 1 page 1 stuff so no spoiler there) There's magic and guillotines and I think I loves it.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

But are there magical guillotines? 

And it's only $1.91 right now...picked it up.

I'm reading the third in a Finnish mystery series that I've discussed in my 2014 book thread. Enjoying this one the most of the three, I think the author is finding her stride. I love that she sneaks little references to major mystery writers in--Agatha Christie, for one, and Sara Peretsky for another.



Betsy


----------



## LiterallyJen

Ann in Arlington said:


> It was a bit slow in the middle . . . . . . picked up a bit more at the end.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> You never do _really_ find out who 'Black' is. It's kind of left to the reader to decide.


I don't even think I got to the part where


Spoiler



Black was introduced.


 :-(


----------



## Ann in Arlington

LiterallyJen said:


> I don't even think I got to the part where
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Black was introduced.
> 
> 
> :-(


Really? That was actually quite early


Spoiler



when his mother died and he saw him out of the corner of his eye


. He shows up at various other times during his life


Spoiler



when friends or family die.


 The narrative turns to a completely different purpose when


Spoiler



nearly his whole family is killed by a fever that's running through the village


. Everything is also all mixed up with


Spoiler



the rook he killed as a boy -- they're somehow connected to Black


.


----------



## rosewynters

Since Lifetime did a remake of Flowers in the Attic, I'm actually rereading that... It's been years since I read that series, so I'm going to go through the entire series.


----------



## bordercollielady

I just finished Divergent - the first in a series about a future Dystopian world - in Chicago - which was kinda neat. The book was ok - but don't have the need to immediately dive into the next one in the series (as I did with Hunger Games). I thought the characters were kinda flat, and there was more violence than I thought was necessary. But I will read the next books eventually.



In the meantime, I want to read another Linda Fairstein novel - Likely To Die:


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Finished _Copper Heart_



Now a golden oldie for me, that I got for free in October 2008, Talking with the Dead, about a psychic taking a vacation in a small town in Indiana and getting caught up in a murder. Think Allison Dubois in Medium. Though this psychic is a guy, and the sheriff is a woman.

Betsy


----------



## LiterallyJen

Ann in Arlington said:


> Really? That was actually quite early
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> when his mother died and he saw him out of the corner of his eye
> 
> 
> . He shows up at various other times during his life
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> when friends or family die.
> 
> 
> The narrative turns to a completely different purpose when
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> nearly his whole family is killed by a fever that's running through the village
> 
> 
> . Everything is also all mixed up with
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> the rook he killed as a boy -- they're somehow connected to Black
> 
> 
> .


Yeah. None of that is sounding familiar. The last thing I remember reading was about the dyeing and some girl he liked


Spoiler



getting engaged to someone else.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Oh. You quit really early.


----------



## LiterallyJen

I got really bored.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished listening to this one the other day. Good book, but guess I was expecting more because of all of the rave reviews. Rather depressing book, as expected I guess, but was hoping for a little sunshine within.

Also finished reading this one last night and loved it! This series is awesome if you like romantic suspense books. 

Onto the next one. I only have this and another left before I have to wait until March for the newest one. Really hate to be approaching the end of the series....


----------



## CrissyM

I just finished this one a couple weeks ago: 

I am half way through this one:


They are similar threads. Witch/wizard that fights bad guys to keep their cities alive, slowly getting more powerful, and picking up worse enemies, as the series progresses. Love them both, and read everything by these authors.


----------



## PaulLev

I just started John Dixon's  - inspiration for the CBS series Intelligence. So far - excellent!


----------



## SLGray

I finished reading . I'm not going to be reading the next book in the series, probably, because this one didn't move me to continue, but it wasn't a bad read.

Added  to the queue because lots of people suggested it was worth the time. I agree.

I'm also reading an ARC of another book so I can review it before it releases this weekend.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

PaulLev said:


> I just started John Dixon's  - inspiration for the CBS series Intelligence. So far - excellent!


I'm kind of liking that show so far . . . might check out this book.

I'm currently reading  which is a Rizzoli and Isles book. Only just started, but it is as I expected it to be, which is good.


----------



## 67499

Richard Stark. His Parker stories. When I'm really down and wish I could just punch the world in the face, I open Stark and let Parker do it for me. Right now that means I'm following Parker through _*The Man with the Getaway Face*_...


----------



## Linjeakel

So I eventually got through the QI Book of General Ignorance, which was very enjoyable  and moved on to two pretty quick reads.

First  which is a novella in Scott Mariani's _Ben Hope_ series. I don't normally go for shorts but as I've been following the series I got this one. Very good, fast paced thriller that takes us back to the beginning of Ben's post SAS career.

Then  an interesting (non-fiction) look at the life of a trainee nurse / midwife in the late sixties.

Now I don't know what to go for next. I'm trying to choose between a fairly eclectic bunch:
_Longitude_ , _Where Are You Now?_ , _First Grave On The Right_  and _The Blood Gospel_ .

At least two of those are the first book in a series. Do I really want to start another series?


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Last night I finished . Enjoyed it, as I expected I would. Less of Isles and more of Rizzoli in this volume. Also had a short story featuring the pair at the end.

Still working on . It's not moving too fast, and I'm at around 33%. I've not been binge reading, which often does make things feel like they're moving faster, but, still, nothing much has happened yet except we've met the main character and he's accepted a well paying job to find some missing kid.

Not sure where I'll go from there.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

PaulLev said:


> I just started John Dixon's  - inspiration for the CBS series Intelligence. So far - excellent!


I thought the TV series would grab me, but it hasn't so far...maybe the book will. *puts it on wish list.*

Just finished this by Julie Garwood: Murder List


And starting 12 Years A Slave that I picked up for $0.99 (still $0.99) after seeing the movie. Really good. Written in the style of the time (published in 1853) but still very readable, and not a long read at 138 pages. This is the first in my February genre selection.



Likely will finish up Atomic Girls after 12 Years a Slave. I started it, and was enjoying it, but got sidetracked.

Betsy


----------



## Thomas Watson

Still reading The Hugo Winners, Volume Five. (I'm not really a slow reader, but time for reading has been hard to come by of late.) It's been a trip down memory lane. I picked up the book "just because," and only after starting to read realized that all the Hugo winning stories in it are tales I read years ago, when they were newly published in various magazines. I even cast Hugo votes for a few of them! The good old days!


----------



## Tommie Lyn

I'm re-reading _The Day of Small Things_ by Vicki Lane.....again....


----------



## Natasha Holme

The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith. Very quaintly English and funny.


----------



## anguabell

_*Day Watch: Book Two*_ by Sergei Lukyanenko was rather a disappointment after _*Night Watch*_. Not much of a plot, long-winded dialogs and monologues, feeble characterization ... I don't quite see Book Three in my future. 3 out of 5 stars.

On the other hand, _*The Immorality Engine (Newbury & Hobbes)*_ by George Mann was a pleasant surprise and perhaps the best book in the series so far (I haven't got to The Executioner's Heart yet). Pros: bad things are happening all the time to everyone. Like - really bad and imaginatively horrific. Great description of all sorts of devices, good pace, interesting plot developments. Cons, as always: it is rather cold and detached. We watch the characters go though all sorts of adventures but it is difficult to see them as real people, and we are left with the feeling that something was missing. Still - a good read. 4 out of 5.


----------



## No One Here

For Science Fiction fans, I just finished a very old one by Murray Leinster, "The Runaway Skyscraper."  I knew it would be very campy, so what I found was not unexpected.  It was sparely written, especially the characterization and the background and emotional reactions. You can credit it as being an early work, a Science Fiction forerunner, but Jules Verne and H. G. Welles were even earlier pioneers in the genre, and took far more pains to immerse the reader in the story, and as a result produced much better works. My impression is that Leinster got carried away with the idea and cranked it out as fast as he could to get the idea on paper, which was perhaps necessary in those times in order to make a living at it, but he really needed an expansive rewrite to make it an acceptable story. Another restriction is that it probably had to fit within the word limit set by Argosy Magazine, where it was originally printed. Still, it reads like the early draft of an idea, and not like a finished work. I try not to judge yesterday's works by today's standards, but even by earlier standards it seems to me that my 3-star rating is probably generous.


----------



## No One Here

Another oldie is an H. G. Wells classic, "What Is Coming? A Forecast Of Things After The War."  It was written in 1916, during World War I.  I gave it 5 stars, mainly for the clarity and intelligence of the writing, the ability and desire to tackle a huge subject, and enough knowledge of the 1916 world around him to achieve such prescience in his observations. His predictions of the ascendency of non-European "races" was remarkable, but his admiration of the Russians and his predictions of Russian inclusion in the world community of that time were almost immediately rendered moot by the Russian Revolution in the following year. He also underestimated the continued militarism of the German people, and their willingness to throw support behind a charismatic leader (although he wisely hedges his bets in that regard as well). You shouldn't read this unless you're a historian needing a first-person reference point of the time, or you're interested in the political machinations of World War I.  Otherwise it can seem to us overly detailed in its discussions of the minor problems peculiar to that time. It is a historical jewel, but I would not recommend it to the average reader looking for entertainment


----------



## No One Here

Have started reading "Wander Home" by Karen A. Wyle, a self-published author.


----------



## Winter9_86

Im reading The Snow Child :



Good book, enjoying it quite a lot. Though I am longing for that book that sucks you in akd don't let you go .. Any suggestions?


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished . It wasn't really very good. Not so bad I quit reading it, but that's about all I can say. Thin plot. Flat characters. 2 stars at best.


----------



## JRTomlin

I am reading this:



I read earlier ones in this series and this one looks good. Can't say much more than that since I just started it.


----------



## Lorelei Logsdon

I just finished reading  and enjoyed it very much, though I liked it better at the beginning than at the end. It reminded me of  because of the weirdness/crazy factor. I think  is next on my to-read shelf.


----------



## Jude Hardin

What are you currently reading? It must be good, or you wouldn't be reading it, right?

Tell us about it.


----------



## cinisajoy

Gennita Low's Warrior.  James Bruno's Permanent Interest.  Rosalind James Just for you.  I don't know what else.  Oh and to the OP, Rattled was good too.


----------



## Guest

Thanks for this thread!

I'm happy to report that the book I'm currently reading, *Good Eats* by KBoards participant Elle Chambers, is excellent so far!

Blurb: "The Haitian-Creole people, their religion, Vodoun, and the rumors of hoodoo rituals have brought esteemed cultural anthropologist Michael Crawford, his nine-year-old daughter Libby, and his Haitian-Creole nanny, Virgine Santiago, to the area. Michael's a skeptic of the Vodoun faith and hoodoo in general-until the day his daughter is discovered lifeless at the bottom of a creek. Devastated and unable to let go, Michael makes a deal with the local bokor (sorcerer)-bring his daughter back and the bokor's debts will be paid for life. Two days later, Libby returns. The question is: as what?"

34,000 novella

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Eats-Elle-Chambers-ebook/dp/B00HL6XSAU


----------



## The 13th Doctor

I'm almost halfway through 'The Last Human' by Rocky Grede. It's a vampire story but done in an interesting way.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Last-Human-Vampires-Rule-ebook/dp/B00E74EAEM


----------



## 60169

Reading _The Book Thief_ because the book club I started on my FB page is discussing it tomorrow. Also reading _Veek as in Wreck_ because my editor recommended it to me.


----------



## Paul Kohler

I am currently reading Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant. It's good stuff!


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Finished  took longer than expected because I was doing my best to retain everything. Awesome book.

Reading


----------



## lukas dvorak

Reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It's my first read from him.


----------



## Christopher Bunn

William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Great stuff.


----------



## Marcella

Stephen R. Lawhead's "The Skin Map" (Bright Empires Series #1).


----------



## PatriceFitz

About 90% done with "My Notorious Life," which is the fabulous story of a real notorious woman from 1800s New York.  Highly recommended.  Not short, and not necessarily easy, but riotously entertaining.  I am loving it.


----------



## Jerri Kay Lincoln

Grain Brain . . . about how grains, in particular wheat, are affecting our brains.  Alzheimer's is starting to be considered "Diabetes type 3."  The book is fascinating.  (Authored by a neurologist/nutritionist . . . Dr. David Perlmutter.)


----------



## Redacted1111

I hit a wall with my free BookBub downloads, and now I'm reading the free sample of "Write, Publish, Repeat." It isn't fiction but it's a nice change of pace, and maybe I'll learn something. I might actually buy it. I even looked at my public library's ebook selection this morning, only to find my card is expired! I admit, I'm cheap.


----------



## Writerly Writer

I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I just realised that Tim Burton is making a movie out of it in 2015.


----------



## colegrove

Christopher Bunn said:


> William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Great stuff.


LOL I'm reading that right now, too! For the fourth time.


----------



## Tommie Lyn

I'm re-reading (again) Vicki Lane's _The Day of Small Things_.

I had given away my last copy of _The Education of Little Tree_, so I ordered another. By the time it arrives (I ordered a paperback), I'll be finished with the story of Miss Birdie, and I'll re-read Little Tree again. Those are two books I can't get enough of.


----------



## Vivi_Anna

I just finished reading Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, now am reading the Hate List by Jennifer Brown, about a girl that survives a school shooting that is perpetrated by her boyfriend, and how the some at the school think she was in on it.


----------



## DashaGLogan

I'm reading John le Carré's "A Most Wanted Man" which is set in my hometown of Hamburg and which has just been made into a movie with Philip Seymour Hoffman... makes it so weird because I had pictured him in his role where he continues to be alive while the actor sadly passed away in the meantime.


----------



## Christopher Bunn

colegrove said:


> LOL I'm reading that right now, too! For the fourth time.


Fourth time! Wow! Great minds think alike..


----------



## ecg52

I'm reading Snow Wolf by Glenn Meade. It's a paperback my brother gave me during the holidays. It's about a plot stop Stalin and his plan to throw the world into nuclear chaos. Not my usual type of book, but my brother said it was good. Still reserving judgment until I'm done.


----------



## Randall Boleyn

Just finished The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell.  I would read it between trying to finish my WIP and he makes writing look so easy, the action scenes simple and dynamic. And then I'd get back to the keyboard...only to be disappointed I couldn't work the words or make the action pop quite the way Cornwell does— but still inspired none the less.


----------



## B Sheridan

Just started The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin, about the dynamic between Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, and the press. Fascinating stuff.


----------



## BokkenRecord

Recently finished:

The Cuckoo's Calling (Galbraith/Rowling)
The Shape of Water (Andrea Camilleri)
London Falling (Paul Cornell)

and The Collected Bartleby and James Adventures (Michael Coorlim) - has a distinctive voice which captured the feel of the age nicely - very enjoyable.

I'm currently reading (and loving) a number of books:

Sky Hunter (Chris Reher)
Emperor's Edge series (Lindsay Buroker)

Also picked up 'A Taste of Tomorrow - The Dystopian Boxed Set' last week, sampling for new writers (and wow was that a good buy!)
from the collection I have started -
Yesterday's Gone (Sean Platt and David Wright)
Apocalypse Drift (Joe Nobody)
Artificial Evil (Colin F Barnes)

I have a hunch multi author boxed sets will become the new perma free. To be honest I bought this set with the hope of picking up perhaps a couple of new writers - thought at worst I would have the Sand short. Just impressed.


----------



## Lyoung

*New Current Reads:*

1. The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft - _audiobook_
2. The Beast in the Cave by H.P. Lovecraft - _audiobook_
3. Debt Collector serial by Susan Kaye Quinn - _ebook_
4. Pierced by J.C. Mells - _ebook_
5. Compliance 101 by Troklus and Warner - It's for work  - _print book_
6. Side Jobs by Jim Butcher - _audiobook_

*Slowly re-reading:*

1. Lips Touch Three by Laini Taylor - _print book_
2. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher - _print book_
3. The Electric Church by Jeff Somers - _print book_

*Just Finished Reading:*

1. Angel's Blood - Nalini Singh - _audiobook_
2. Dark Lover - J.R. Ward - _audiobook_
3. Covet - J.R. Ward - _print book_


----------



## Lyoung

Oh! I forgot the "Tell Us About It" part... I'll just choose one. 

Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn is about a group of people who can suck out the remainder of your life (a way to pay your debt) and redistribute it to people who have the potential to contribute greatly to society. It's a very interesting concept and the story is written well. Great pace, solid characters so far, and intriguing enough to keep me turning "pages."


----------



## Jason Eric Pryor

Paul Kohler said:


> I am currently reading Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant. It's good stuff!


I'm going to read it a second time. I'm not gonna lie. When the audiobook version of it comes out, I'll be buying it too. Great book for self-publishers!

I'm currently reading a collected volume of Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Next on deck is The Hunger Games. I haven't seen the movie, but I want to read the book.


----------



## Joseph Turkot

History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. And, I too attempted Shirer's Third Reich. I bought the audio book from Audible, which I recommend. I made it past the putsch and into the part where Hitler is finally in power. Then the school year started and I haven't been back. Another tome I put down and need to get back to is The Making of the Atomic Bomb.


----------



## AngryGames

Just finished "Old Man's War" for the third time (Scalzi). Working on "The Ghost Brigades" (sequel, also by Scalzi).

Going to be reading "Lines of Departure" which is the second book from Marko Kloos' "Frontlines" series. Good military/dystopian scifi stuff from fellow self-pub.


----------



## JV

The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. Hands down, the BEST fantasy stuff I've ever read. Blows George Martin out of the water.


----------



## daveconifer

My dad's been trying to get me to read this series. I finally dove in. Book 1 was pretty good, but this one, book 2, really hooked me.

Even if you don't care for the history, the approach to the mystery aspect is much like a modern novel. In fact, that's one of the things that pops up a lot in the reviews -- anachronistic this, anachronistic that.

Who wouldn't love a hunchback lawyer-detective traipsing around London working for Thomas Cromwell ?










http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Fire-Matthew-Shardlake-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0024NP560


----------



## Harriet Schultz

I'm reading, or more correctly devouring, Mimi Strong's third Peaches book, Starfire.


----------



## mlewis78

I'm reading *The Harper's Quine* by Pat Mcintosh. It's a 15th c. Glasgow mystery. Borrowed with Amazon Prime.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=digital-text&tag=kbpst-20&field-author=&field-title=the+harper%27s+quine

I am also 25% into *Winter's Tale* by Mark Helprin (movie coming out next week) but decided to take a break from it to read the other book.


----------



## deckard

Finished Five Days at Memorial  about the deaths at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans after Hurrican Katrina.

Now reading Irregulars  about a missing boy during the Irish Civil War.

Deckard


----------



## SunshineOnMe

Snow Child


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Turns out it's second in a series . . . . features a ghost who can talk to a medical examiner type and they solve crimes. Not bad so far . . . . . .


----------



## crebel

Ann in Arlington said:


> Turns out it's second in a series . . . . features a ghost who can talk to a medical examiner type and they solve crimes. Not bad so far . . . . . .


Sounds like an interesting, fun (?) premise, so I bought the first one and started it about an hour ago. I'm enjoying it. The translator must be very good, I haven't noticed anything odd or stilted even though it was originally published in German.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

crebel said:


> Sounds like an interesting, fun (?) premise, so I bought the first one and started it about an hour ago. I'm enjoying it. The translator must be very good, I haven't noticed anything odd or stilted even though it was originally published in German.


I agree . . . . I didn't even realize at first that it must have been published first not in English until I realized the setting was Germany -- and lots of German names.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Ann in Arlington said:


> Turns out it's second in a series . . . . features a ghost who can talk to a medical examiner type and they solve crimes. Not bad so far . . . . . .


Ann, I have the first in the series if you want to borrow it...

Finished _Twelve Years a Slave_--absolutely fantastic book. Blew me away. Sad and fascinating and a story of human survival as good as any of I've read. Lots of versions out there...

Starting _The Savage City_, also non-fiction, about a ten year period in New York City 1963-1973, a period, as the product page says, of "fear, racial violence and turmoil" in the city.

 

Betsy


----------



## Avis Black

Station Life in New Zealand by Mary Anne Barker. Written in the mid-1800s, it's her account of pioneering with her husband on a sheep ranch. It's long been considered a classic of early New Zealand life, and it's pretty good. Project Gutenberg also has it.


----------



## BookflyDesign

I just started _Rough Edges_ by V. J. Chambers. 
You know a book's good when it makes you late for work!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Ann, I have the first in the series if you want to borrow it...


I think I might have it too -- not sure why I started with the second. Whatever!


----------



## crebel

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think I might have it too -- *not sure why I started with the second*. Whatever!


*shudder*


----------



## tdeaderick

I'm reading a Dean Koontz book, Innocence. I really like the premise for the story, a boy with a face so horrific that it causes anyone who sees him to violently attack him. He leaves the image to the reader's imagination, by describing the reaction of other characters to his face rather than the face itself. Nicely constructed.


----------



## H.S.Bajwa

I have been reading Joe Hill lately. 
His first novel, Heart Shaped Box, is a very good read. Scary, spine chilling stuff.
Rating 4.5/5  
His second novel, Horns,  is well written but it has a ton of crime fiction blended with dark fantasy. I loved the dark fantasy part. Can't comment much on crime fiction. Overall I enjoyed reading it. Rating - 3.5/5


----------



## Linjeakel

I've finished _Longitude_  but it wasn't as interesting a book as I'd hoped - not so much the subject matter but the rather dry and haphazard delivery. I must admit, although it's only a short book, I skimmed most of the second half. 

Now I'm reading _Where Are You Now?_  which is my first Mary Higgins Clark book. I'm only 15% in so far but enjoying it - I'm not sure about the swapping from 1st to 3rd person POV though.


----------



## deanblake

Right now, it's Wolf Of Wall Street


----------



## Thomas Watson

Rereading


----------



## alawston

I'm currently alternating between an awful Doctor Who novel and Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics).

Need to up my 2014 reading game, to be honest.


----------



## KindleGirl

Getting ready to start this one today from the ebook section of our library...looks good!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished  and it was o.k. I didn't care much for the 'voice' of the narrator, who's a ghost, and since this is number 2 in the series, I'm thinking it's probably no better in number 1 -- sorry, don't mean to give anyone palpitations but, yes, I read #2 first.  Anyway, if I have #1 already, which I think I do, I'll probably read it sometime. If I don't I probably won't. And don't anticipate going on.

Then read a short I'd gotten a while back:  It wasn't bad -- basically the prequel/set up to a series about a woman who helps people search for lost kids, etc. Good enough that I'm considering checking out the first full length book of the series.

Then got started on  which is the latest of a series I've been reading that's quite good. All are available through KOLL. Just started it, but I anticipate it living up to the others.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I'm well into _The Savage City_, non-fiction, about a ten year period in New York City 1963-1973, a period, as the product page says, of "fear, racial violence and turmoil" in the city.



It's very good. It covers a case where a young African-American teenager was coerced into confessing for a crime he didn't commit; a case that was widely covered at the time. It follows three people--the young man who was accused, a policeman who later achieved noteriety by informing on the corruption in the NYPD and another young African-American who (at the point of the story I'm at now) is in prison.

I'm having a hard time putting it down to go enjoy the sunshine.... 

Betsy


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I'm having a hard time putting it down to go enjoy the sunshine....
> 
> Betsy


See, if you were still here, you'd have no choice but to keep reading because outside is only cold and snow and ice. 

(And dark. It's currently dark.  )


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Just finished 

Starting


----------



## Nancy Beck

I was searching around for some free stuff - have to watch the $$ until my taxes are done - and decided on KB's own Joe Vasicek's Star Wanderers:



Just started reading it. So far, so good.


----------



## Linjeakel

I finished Where Are You Now?  which I enjoyed, though there seemed a lot of characters to get to grips with at the beginning and I'm not keen on the changes of POV from 1st to 3rd. I'll probably take a look at some others by the author.

Now I'm on to  which is a crime thriller with a sci-fi twist. Basically the main character, who is a private detective and police consultant, has a head start on investigating murders as she's also the grim reaper and therefore able to see and talk to dead people - it helps when the murder victims can help you track down their killers! It's the first in a series but as I'm only 8% in yet, I have no idea if I'll want to read any more.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Last night I finished  which is the latest in the "Bone Secrets" series by Kendra Elliott. I started this series as a KOLL borrow and really enjoyed the first book. So I borrowed the 2nd and since then have just bought them. They're published by an Amazon imprint so not too expensive and are quite well done. Good stories. All are set in the same general area but the various stories focus mainly on different members of the ensemble cast. There's generally an aspect of romance as well, though they're mostly thriller/mystery novels. I like 'em. 4 stars. 

And I've just started my February KOLL borrow:  This was originally published in 1978, so there's some not quite politically correct behavior and language. I've only just started it though, and the crassness is mostly coming from NOT the main character, so I'm hoping he'll rise above it.


----------



## No One Here

Reading "Mind's Eye" by Douglas E. Richards.


----------



## bordercollielady

Just finished Likely To Die by Linda Fairstein. Great plot and characters.. But they left some threads hanging.. hope they pick them up in a later book.



Not sure what next - I bought some of the Murder Club books by James Patterson.. Unless I change my mind - I want to start the first one next:


----------



## Ann in Arlington

FWIW, I like both Fairstein and the Murder Club books. With Fairstein, it always felt to me like it was only the most minor of threads left loose -- just enough that if they want to get back to it they have a way but if they don't it's not a big deal. I've read all of them so far.

The Murder Club books are also good -- of course the first one just introduces people but after that one or the other of the Club members seem to take the forefront in the investigations. The initial collaborator is Andrew Gross; with book 4 it changes to Maxine Pietro who is a bit better I think. The latest couple (11 and 12) though, have been a bit uneven . . . . .

I just finished . Only o.k. Kind of got past the late 70's vibe -- which is when it was written -- and the story idea was good, but the execution wasn't great. Dialogue didn't feel natural and the whole book felt disjointed -- different POV's in different chapters. Which would have been o.k. except sometimes they jumped back and forth in time slightly, too, which I felt was weird. It's like they took the manuscript from when it was written, edited each chapter as a separate file, and then put the book back together in slightly the wrong order. And the ending was fairly sudden and not particularly satisfying. So, 3 stars.

Will start next:  which comes _highly_ recommended by Betsy. So. We'll see.


----------



## adanlerma

"Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate)" by Amy Thomas.  Fun, true to Paris (and sweets), with nice comparisons of NYC & Paris.  About 1/2 through.

Ann, finished Matthew Iden's "The Spike" about a month ago, and thought it was super.    And have read three of his shorts I thought were really good, so yeah, I bet "A Reason to Live" is too.

Waiting to get caught up a bit, then on to # 3 of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.


----------



## crebel

adanlerma said:


> Waiting to get caught up a bit, then on to # 3 of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.


I'm almost jealous that you are still early in the Evanovich series. They are still laugh out loud funny and original for several more books before they start becoming repetitive and a little forced.


----------



## adanlerma

crebel said:


> I'm almost jealous that you are still early in the Evanovich series. They are still laugh out loud funny and original for several more books before they start becoming repetitive and a little forced.


That's good to know ;-) I'd heard/read that happening a few places, anywhere from 1/2 way through the series til further where it's now.

Right now they're pretty much fun. I'm actually impressed with how well Janet's mixed real feelings of violent threat w/the humor. Really well done. The romance, even from book 1 to 2, I thought should have, well, progressed a little more smoothly by then ;-) But then, that wouldn't be Stephanie, or Morelli (not to mention Ranger!).

The movie of the first book has such mixed reviews, I'm holding off on it for now, but pretty sure I'll give it a shot eventually. I held off on the Tom Crusie movie of Lee Child's first Jack Reacher book, and it came out better than I'd hoped.

Thanks Crebel ;-)


----------



## Avis Black

Madison and Jefferson by Andrew Burstein.



I've grown interested in the political fights that occurred in the wake of the American Revolution, and I wanted to see how Madison and Jefferson worked together as a team to kneecap the Federalists. A lot of people these days aren't aware of how dirty politics was back then.


----------



## bordercollielady

Ann in Arlington said:


> FWIW, I like both Fairstein and the Murder Club books. With Fairstein, it always felt to me like it was only the most minor of threads left loose -- just enough that if they want to get back to it they have a way but if they don't it's not a big deal. I've read all of them so far.
> 
> The Murder Club books are also good -- of course the first one just introduces people but after that one or the other of the Club members seem to take the forefront in the investigations. The initial collaborator is Andrew Gross; with book 4 it changes to Maxine Pietro who is a bit better I think. The latest couple (11 and 12) though, have been a bit uneven . . . . .


I'm really enjoying Fairstein too .. Not too much gore but really interesting plots. And I really like the Chapman character. Just was wondering what was going on with that


Spoiler



DuPrez guy who wandered away and also her new love interest whose wife died during surgery by the murdered doctor.


 Hoping she will pick it back up later. I used to read a lot of Alex Cross so I'm hoping I enjoy the Murder Club books too. So many books to read!


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this one last night. Very good!

Onto this one from the library...


----------



## Nancy Beck

So I decided I like the first book in the Star Wanderers series that I sprang for the omnibus edition - I think it's a steal at US$2.99 for 4 books. True, they're novellas, but sometimes I don't feel like reading a really long novel.


----------



## Linjeakel

I've finished  which was OK, but not spectacular. The constant sarcastic banter style of the heroine's narration, which was quite amusing to begin with, did start to grate after a while. I felt it was slightly overdone. The romance parts were a bit Mills and Boon for my taste and I also felt the ending was rather abrupt - but then I'm always complaining about the endings, aren't I? 

Next up I've decided to get back to the _Dresden Files_ series by Jim Butcher. I read the first three of these way back - I think when I got my first Kindle they weren't available for Kindle here in the UK and I kind of forgot about them. There's about 16 in the series so far which means I have a fair amount of catching up to do! 
Book 4 is _Summer Knight_


----------



## Carrie Rubin

I'm currently reading The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice Hoffman for a book club. Having to slog through it a bit. Hope it picks up.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I read this over the weekend because (a) I'd left my PW at work and (b) it was on my basic K. I think I got it free a while back -- short story of which there are 3 earlier novels in the series. I liked it well enough that I'll probably read the others.


----------



## Alessandra Kelley

I'm about halfway through  by Mary Robinette Kowal.

It's the first in a series of Regency fantasy novels, almost a pure Jane Austen tribute, except there's magic.

I'm enjoying the strong Austen flavor.


----------



## adanlerma

Slowly working my way through "Five Hundred Buildings of Paris" by by Kathy Borrus (Author) & Jorg Brockmann (Photographer).  It's 600+ pages of B&W photos of buildings in Paris dating from a thousand years ago to within the last few decades.

Broken down into arrondissements, with a tiny intro about each area, a fairly finely detailed image is presented, along with the address, and the year(s) it was built or modified or repaired.

Despite the overwhelming similarity, there is something different about a bldg from 1600, or late 1700, or end of the 1800s, some kind of feeling, and it's kinda neat to imagine the folk from that time period, milling around the front (sidewalks? doubt it huh   ) gossiping and whatever.

I've seen a few bldgs in the book my wife and I saw from our stay in Paris (5 1/2 wks), but I'm only about 1/5 through.  As I say, "slowly" enjoyably taking my time wandering down the the pages.

Color photos would be nice also, but that'd be another experience of the place I think.


----------



## Alessandra Kelley

adanlerma said:


> Slowly working my way through "Five Hundred Buildings of Paris" by by Kathy Borrus (Author) & Jorg Brockmann (Photographer). It's 600+ pages of B&W photos of buildings in Paris dating from a thousand years ago to within the last few decades.
> 
> Broken down into arrondissements, with a tiny intro about each area, a fairly finely detailed image is presented, along with the address, and the year(s) it was built or modified or repaired.
> 
> Despite the overwhelming similarity, there is something different about a bldg from 1600, or late 1700, or end of the 1800s, some kind of feeling, and it's kinda neat to imagine the folk from that time period, milling around the front (sidewalks? doubt it huh  ) gossiping and whatever.
> 
> I've seen a few bldgs in the book my wife and I saw from our stay in Paris (5 1/2 wks), but I'm only about 1/5 through. As I say, "slowly" enjoyably taking my time wandering down the the pages.
> 
> Color photos would be nice also, but that'd be another experience of the place I think.


Oooh, that sounds fantastic!

I have a book of Parisian architecture whe the author is cursing the zoning changes of the 1960s and 1970s. Yours sounds a lot more fun.


----------



## adanlerma

Alessandra Kelley said:


> Oooh, that sounds fantastic!
> 
> I have a book of Parisian architecture whe the author is cursing the zoning changes of the 1960s and 1970s. Yours sounds a lot more fun.


yes, sounds like it!  mine's nearly all visual, has buildings and fountains, who built them etc; let me know if you have trouble finding it, there's usually an ebook and paper version avail, i'm doing the digital


----------



## darias

'Turn Down The Lights' an anthology from Cemetery Dance. Very good!


----------



## KindleGirl

Starting this one tonight....


----------



## mphicks

I borrowed Barry Eisler's latest John Rain novel, "Graveyard of Memories", from the Kindle Lending Library earlier this week. I'm about 80% finished and liking it quite a bit. I've always liked his Rain books and think this one is a pretty solid entry. It's a prequel to all the others and it's kinda neat to see a younger, much less seasoned version of the character.


----------



## Jane917

I am reading 

Next up will probably be


----------



## michaelwlayne

Felt like kicking it old school. Reading some Dick Laymon. Not always in the mood for a Laymon book, but when I am, there really is no substitute.


----------



## mphicks

Just started reading THE BIRD EATER by Ania Ahlborn. It was one of the March Kindle First picks, and I couldn't pass up what sounded like an awesome, free horror book. I'm not too far in, but so far it's pretty good and has a great atmosphere.


----------



## Daniel Dennis

I recently started reading through Divergent a second time. The first was 2012. I recently finished Allegiant. I'd like to finish reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It's been an on-again off-again read for a while. I'd like to finish it even though it hasn't held my attention.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

It's a little freaky given that it deals with Ukraine's vs. Russia and what should the US be doing.  Sometimes I hear things on the news or read in the book and think, wait, that sounds familiar! Started out a little slow, but that's fairly usual with these sorts of books -- got to set the many stages which all eventually become one. Definitely picking up at 30% plus . . . .


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this the other day. It was ok, but nothing spectacular. Glad I borrowed it. 

I think this one is up next since I also have it from the library


----------



## Nancy Beck

On Sunday, picked up and started reading:



I have a history of high blood pressure and strokes in my family, so I thought it would be a good idea to pick this up. My day job is very stressful - way too stressful - so on my seemingly neverending quest to get healthy, I think this is something I could actually do as an ongoing thing. I've already started with extra calcium, etc., that the doctor recommends, and I think it's beginning to work. I even like the foods he suggests (other than fruits & veggies) much better than another book I recently picked up. The earlier book touts a fruit & veggies lifestyle (he doesn't specificaly say vegetarian or vegan), which is fine - but I kept finding excuses not to go that route. I mean, he didn't even like the idea of having fish on a weekly basis! And I love my salmon.

Which is why I think this may be something I can actually stick with.


----------



## Avis Black

Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans by Winston Groom



I thought the author did a very good at portraying the battle, as well as illuminating the panic and chaos of the British invasion. The story of how the pirate Laffite 'went good' and decided to aid Jackson was also interesting, although there doesn't appear to be much historical documentation about him, unfortunately. He was naturally secretive about the details of his life because of his employment.


----------



## Alessandra Kelley

I finished Mary Robinette Kowal's _Shades of Milk and Honey_ and have started the sequel, _Glamour in Glass._

_Shades of Milk and Honey_ was a strong Jane Austen homage with magic stirred in. So far _Glamour in Glass_ is reading a little more like _The Scarlet Pimpernel._


----------



## bordercollielady

Just finished First to Die by Patterson. I really enjoyed it. Forgot how much I enjoy Patterson's short chapters and the pace of his books. Lots of plot twists. Love knowing that there are so many more books left in this series.



Next- I want to read one of the Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston's books - Reliquary:


----------



## Thomas Watson

Somehow managed to miss, all these years, that this was an Uplift novel!


----------



## Nancy Beck

Just finished Brandon Sanderson's _The Emperor's Soul_. Fantastic novella, with the typical Sanderson interesting tweak on the magic front. 

I bought a fantasy story bundle a few days ago, with the above as my first read. I'm now onto the next one, by Kris Rusch:


----------



## mphicks

After enjoying THE BIRD EATER, I decided to check out Ania Ahlborn's other work. Given the unrelenting winter we've had in my area, and my love of arctic/winter horror, I went with THE SHUDDERING. And thanks to the snow-day today, I was able to finish it. Dug the hell out of it, but have no idea what to check out next...


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished . Not a bad story. A little slow in places but overall a good story.

Also reading a kindle single . Basically a treatise on the identity of Shakespeare and why the people who think he's someone else are wrong. 

And working on  which is a Sherlock Holmes story . . . takes place during his retirement on the Sussex Downs.


----------



## michaelwlayne

I'm giving The Martian a try.  Guy goes up to Mars as part of now routine manned flights to Mars, but gets left behind when his crew mates think he dies in an accident.

I was very excited about this book initially. I am a little ways into it, and...well, it IS very interesting, but so far it's reading very much like a word problem from some advanced placement test in science. The book is written as entries from the stranded guy's diary.

Paraphrasing..."I am on Mars. Now I need to think about the details of how many cubic centimeters of water I will need, how many molecules of hydrogen I must create, etc." But this has been going on for a while now in the book. I am hopeful and excited about more of a "story" starting any page now.  Either way, I am learning quite a bit about why I could never be an astronaut...

UPDATE:
OK, After the first 45 pages or so, it's starting to get much better. I'm hooked. Glad I stuck it out...So far


----------



## Ergodic Mage

Started reading _Like a Mighty Army_ the newest book in David Weber's _Safehold series_. 20% in and it is a faster pace than the previous book in _Midst Toil and Tribulation_, which got bogged down and dragged way too much.


----------



## LauraB

I just finished Longbourn , it is Pride and Prejudice from the servants prospective. A good read. Now reading  Peyton Place. I'm only 15% but like it so far. A very character driven novel so far.


----------



## Russell Brooks

I just finished reading GRAVEYARD OF MEMORIES by Barry Eisler (4.5 stars) and DRAGONFLY LANDING by Lisa Martinez (5 Stars).


----------



## bordercollielady

Had insomnia last night so decided to pull out my kindle and I finished Reliquary. Lots of action, and I adore Pendergast. I liked this one a lot more than Relic.



I think I will read a Phillip Margolin novel: Fugitive:


----------



## LauraB

I finished Peyton Place and am now reading Raiders of the Nike the new one by Steven Saylor


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Yesterday I finished  A Slight Trick of the Mind which was only o.k. Meant to be a Sherlock Holmes story, set in his 90th (or later) year, but it was mostly just disjointed and not very satisfying.

So then I started  30 Pieces of Silver which is my March borrow from the KOLL so it's about time I got started on it.


----------



## bordercollielady

Where are all the posts for this thread? Guess the reading bars are taking its place. I miss reading what everyone thinks of what they are reading. Oh well.. I just finished The Fugitive by Phillip Margolin. Very exciting altho the ending was hurried. With so much building up to it - I think he was in too much of a hurry to end it:



Next I am going to read the Athena Project by Brad Thor. Its not a Scott Horvath book but it did get good reviews!


----------



## Alan Spade

I'm reading Martin's A Storm of Sword in paper, and on the advice of the author Joe Konrath, De Becker's The Gift of Fear on my Kindle.


----------



## LauraB

I am reading The Robe on paper because the kindle reviews show a lot of errors and too many distract me.


----------



## Harriet Schultz

I just finished the poorly edited This Man trilogy and as an antidote I'm now reading Mating Rituals of the North American WASP, which helps to explain the behavior of some of my friends!


----------



## anguabell

I just finished _*The Liar*_, and cannot really comment on that - there were some great moments, some terrific writing, and I love the author but the book was not really my cup of tea in terms of its structure. Also, the ending was a little bit flat.



As an antidote I am re-reading and enjoying tremendously _*Watership Down*_. I thought it would be difficult to reconcile the original with the translated version that's been in my head for many years but it's not a problem at all. What a book.


----------



## sstroble

Linjeakel said:


> For reference:
> 
> The 2013 thread
> 
> The 2012 thread
> 
> The 2011 thread
> 
> The 2010 thread
> 
> So, what are you reading this year?


Went to the library yesterday looking for books on Buck Owens. Was stunned that they did not have a single one in their catalog. Guess will have to hunt one down on amazon.


----------



## CecilyKane

Anguabell, I think I re-read _Watership Down_ about once a year. All I have to do is open it to some random page and, y'know, nothing else is getting done that day. 

Currently reading Aliette de Bodard's _Servant of the Underworld_. It's a good book, an easier read than I'm used to, and wins a lot of boldness points. It's a genre bender -- part mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

On Saturday I finished  30 Pieces of Silver: An Extremely Controversial Historical Thriller (Book 1 in the Betrayed Series)

O.K. I didn't really think it was 'extremely controversial' and find that part of the title to be kind of silly. Maybe trying to make it 'extremely controversial' by calling it that? Whatever. It's fiction. I didn't believe any of it as anything real. It was certainly an interesting premise, and I supposed there might be some close minded folks who would really object to it but, again, it's fiction. Duh!  As to the book, there were some disconnects where it seemed like people knew things they shouldn't have and there were an awful lot of flat out coincidences, and there were one or two scenes that just seemed to come out of nowhere. I couldn't see the reason behind the action. Still, overall it was a good yarn. A decent piece of fiction.  I'd say 3 stars, maybe 3½, and I don't expect to pick up any thing further by this author.

And I've not completely decided what I'm going to read next . . . . . . .


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Last night I finished  In the Dismal Swamp which was not bad. It was sitting there on my home page and was one of the shorter works I had -- I think I might have picked it up free recently; not sure. It started out a little rocky -- the style was unpolished and I wasn't sure how long I could keep reading without getting annoyed. But once it got going it really improved. Dialog struck me as somewhat inauthentic in places, but the story was pretty good. There were one or two scenes that I didn't see the point of at all as they didn't seem to every circle back to the main plot. And I did NOT like that it had a fixed typeface that was NOT the one I prefer to use; or that there were no chapter breaks so my 'time left in chapter' function didn't work. So maybe not quite 4 stars, but more than 3.


----------



## Avis Black

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

The book starts a little shakily--the author admires the Mongols almost gushingly--but it improves from there. He makes a good case that the Mongols created the first 'international' culture. They made no real attempt to force their own culture on their conquered territories, but instead adopted those of others. The Mongols were very practical-minded, and when they saw a good idea or a better way of doing something, they spread it every corner of their kingdom. To give you an example, though the Chinese invented printing, it was the Mongols who spread it west all the way to Europe.

The author also includes a good description of Mongol military tactics, which can be pretty blood-curdling. When they captured a city, they'd start by killing all the warriors. Then they'd kill all the aristocrats, though they seem to have spared the women. Then they'd round up everyone who had a useful profession, from lawyers to craftsmen to musicians, and ship them to other cities where their talents could be put to use. As for those not lucky enough to be in the above categories, the Mongols turned them into cannon fodder. These people would be herded en masse towards the next city, where their huge numbers would swell the population and help starve the next target into submission, or they'd be shoved into the city's defensive ditches to fill them and make a human bridge for the next Mongol attack, or they'd serve as human shields while the city was being stormed.

It's a very interesting book in its own way.


----------



## CecilyKane

^ I remember enjoying that book a lot when I read it a few years ago.

Right now I'm reading _Natural History_ by Justina Robson, a science fiction book set in a far future in which humans have created and bred cyborg-like creatures for navigating space. The borgs are unhappy, and the book is written from their PoV.

This book is lyrically written, has outstanding prose and a very cool premise, is weird, and is the hardest sci-fi I've read in... maybe ever. Between that and few reference points between our earth and social systems and this future, it's hard for me to follow. I'm scientifically literate, but getting there took a lot of work on my part; it doesn't come naturally.

I hope I can manage to read this whole book and understand at least most of it, because it's really entertaining. I fear the author is really close to losing me though, just due to my confusion.


----------



## elizabethorr

I've just finished Morton Bain's 'Fraternal Affairs'. It's a creepy tale about a guy who 'steals' the life of his identical twin - who he only discovers he has when he's in his forties.
I thought it was better than the author's previous book, Psychopath!, which itself was really good.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

For no particular reason, last night I started My First Murder (The Maria Kallio Series) . I'm enjoying it so far -- at 29%. Not a difficult read but an interesting story. Finnish murder mystery, basically, so that's new for me. The "Finnish" part, I mean.  It's the first in a series and unless it goes way downhill I anticipate I'll check out further numbers . . . . .


----------



## Mark Feggeler

Am reading a book titled _Haunted Heartland_ for inspiration on future ghost stories. I absolutely love these kinds of collections of stories, particularly when the book sticks with stories from a specific region.


----------



## bordercollielady

Just finished The Athena Project by Brad Thor:



I didn't like it. The 4 female characters were interchangeable - had no unique personalities - it was like 4 cartoon characters. I compared them to the four women in James Patterson's murder club - where I cared about each one and grew to know each one. Too bad - I love most of Brad Thor's books but he needs to stay with Scott Horvath. The plot was kind of interesting - or I would have quit reading it awhile ago.

So now I'm reading a Kathryn Dance novel by Jeffery Deaver: The Sleeping Doll


----------



## Wiserthanthou

I'm reading Odd Apocalypse. Bit behind with the Odd Thomas series so I'm trying to catch up.


----------



## mistyd107

hoping to start late tonight or in the morning my goodreads book group loved it


----------



## paf2011

- 81% in, loving it!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Ann in Arlington said:


> For no particular reason, last night I started My First Murder (The Maria Kallio Series) . I'm enjoying it so far -- at 29%. Not a difficult read but an interesting story. Finnish murder mystery, basically, so that's new for me. The "Finnish" part, I mean.  It's the first in a series and unless it goes way downhill I anticipate I'll check out further numbers . . . . .


Kay, I really liked this one! Solid 4 stars PLUS. I ordered the next in the series.

And then picked up  The Gauguin Connection (Genevieve Lenard) which I am enjoying very much. I sort of want it to move faster, but given the character it's really the right pace as is. I HATE that it's got a fixed font that I can't change, but fortunately that hasn't, so far, impacted my enjoyment of the story.


----------



## anguabell

Ann in Arlington said:


> And then picked up  The Gauguin Connection (Genevieve Lenard) which I am enjoying very much. I sort of want it to move faster, but given the character it's really the right pace as is. I HATE that it's got a fixed font that I can't change, but fortunately that hasn't, so far, impacted my enjoyment of the story.


I liked that one, it was a really smart book. I was also a bit annoyed by the repetitive bits and slow pace here and there but that's really based on the main character's unusual mind. I'm looking forward to reading other books in the series.


----------



## MitchAlbright

Currently reading 'Dear Silvia' by Dawn French. I loved 'A Tiny Bit Marvelous' so have high hopes for this one.

Once I've finished it I might reread the Adrian Mole series in honour of Sue Townsend  RIP Sue.


----------



## LucyAslan

I'm currently reading Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. Although I tend to skew towards 'kick-ass' characters in my fantasy, this one's more intellectual. I'm really enjoying it.


----------



## Meb Bryant

In preparation for the lunar eclipse April 15, I read FOUR BLOOD MOONS by John Hagee. I found the historical information interesting.



I'm currently reading and enjoying INFERNO by Dan Brown.


----------



## CecilyKane

I just finished  The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. It's delightful, like Terry Pratchett meets literary surrealism.

Now I'm reading  The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan. I'd read Kiernan's The Red Tree a few weeks ago and it was my favorite book in at least a year. I don't like this book as much as I like that one, but it's still really good. Very weird dark fantasy.


----------



## balaspa

Horns by Joe Hill.


----------



## Elizabeth Black

"Hauntings", edited by Ellen Datlow.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Blood Ties 

Again this is one where the author has, inexplicably, LOCKED the font. Please, people, don't do that!  And, in this case, it's a fairly thin lined serif style that is actually kind of hard for me to read. The contrast just isn't there -- the print looks really washed out and faint.

It's a shame because the story is not bad so far -- set on an island in the Chesapeake bay -- but I get tired reading much faster than with my preferred typeface.  I may see how I do on my HDX, though I generally don't prefer reading on it. It may end up being DNF because of the typeface.


----------



## deckard

Quick, fun read.

Deckard


----------



## bordercollielady

Just finished Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver.. Loved it.. Plot twists thru the last chapter! And Kathryn Dance is a hoot.. A Kinesian investigator - very attuned to body language - called a living lie detector. Looking forward to more Dance books:



And now - I want to read the next Jack Reacher book in the series - The Enemy:


----------



## JeanetteRaleigh

Just finished Night Broken by Patricia Briggs.  She's still got it after 7 books (in this series).   Awesome urban fantasy series


----------



## LauraB

I just finished The Robe and am now reading


----------



## ericaroswell

I'm reading Night Film by Melissa Pessl . I really can't get into it, although a lot of people in my real-life book club liked it, so I'm trying to keep going and hopefully it gets better. I'm at 31 %. I'm also reading Family Interrupted by Linda Barrett.  I'm only 7% in but so far I really like it.


----------



## mphicks

I started "Pines" by Blake Crouch over the weekend. 

I'm about half-way through and completely digging it. It's got a terrific "Nowhere Man"/"The Prisoner" vibe to it. Apparently M. Night Shyamalan is bringing this to FOX this summer as a mini-series.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished Blood Ties . I'd call it three stars. Worst thing is it had a fixed font that I found difficult to read compared to my preferred kindle typeface. The story was o.k. but a bit rambling. I felt like there were a few things that were never explained at all and some others where the solution was on the order of, "oh, look, I found it, problem solved," with no logical connection. And it turns out it was the second of two and I hadn't read the first one. Still, I don't think that would have helped, and I've no desire to do so now. Also it didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be a myster/thriller or a romance. 

Next, I started  Murder as a Fine Art which has a very Victorian/Gothic feel to it so far. At 13%, it's quite promising.


----------



## Krista D. Ball

Finished the re-read of Dresden Files, as there's a new one out next month. 

Not sure what to read now.


----------



## KindleGirl

Started reading this the other day. It's been on my TBR for a long time. 
Haven't had a lot of time to read so I'm not real far into it, but so far so good.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished  Murder as a Fine Art. It was very good 4 stars plus, if not quite 5. But very close to 5. Arguably, closer to 5 than 4. 

Will now move on to  Her Enemy (The Maria Kallio Series) which is the second of the series. I enjoyed the first and this is my borrow for April so I figure it's about time to get to it.

Also still reading  Jesus: A Pilgrimage which I'm also enjoying. I really like Fr. Jim's style: informative and faith-filled without being overly preachy. Plus, he's the official chaplain of _The Colbert Report_.


----------



## moirakatson

I'm starting into . After hearing rave reviews from SciFi readers, I was intrigued to see that the Hugo committee apparently felt the same way - looking forward to reading it!

I'm also trying to choose between  and .


----------



## Leslie

I started listening to this as an audiobook, then at 16% switched to the Kindle book at finished it in one day (I was traveling--it was great for the plane). If it was a movie, I think it would be _Men in Black_ in the UK with a female main character. There was a lot of very subtle humor. My favorite line:


Spoiler



I didn't dye it, I'm hungry.


 Five stars, highly recommended.


----------



## deckard

Finished  earlier this week.

Started reading  because I homebrew beer and I am interested in wild and sour beers. Yea, I know, it's not for everybody.

Started  this morning. So far, 6% into the book and intrigued. Looks good.

Deckard


----------



## Avis Black

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

It's solid historical account that covers the reigns of Henry III of England and Louis IX of France, both of whom got into a lot of trouble (Henry with the baron's revolt headed by Simon de Montfort, and Louis on crusade). The monarchs were married to a pair of the Provencal sisters, and the royal ladies ended up facing far more upheaval than they ever anticipated.


----------



## bordercollielady

I finished The Enemy by Lee Child last night:



It is a prequel to the earlier Jack Reacher books. It was so-so.. Seems that a lot of the book was spent traveling here and there - driving, flying. And then Reacher suddenly figured out the who-done-it.. He had an explanation for everything - but it wasn't obvious how he got there. If I recall - in an earlier book - that happened too. I hope its not a trend. since it isn't satisfying to find out the ending but not follow his logic. Its almost like Child got tired of writing. 

So - now - I want to read the last book in Chris Farnsworth's President's vampire series - Red, White, and Blue:


----------



## balaspa

Harbinger by David James Bright. Brand new. Out this weekend and his debut novel.


----------



## No One Here

I'm reading "The Supreme Moment" by C. G. Garcia.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this the other day and thought it was really good. So now I'm reading book 2


----------



## Nancy Beck

Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy, by KB'er Steven Campbell:



Got it on a Countdown deal - sounded like fun. It is.  I liked Dumb and Dumber because it never pretended to be anything but gross out comedy. This is the same: it's meant to be funny, entertaining, and unbelievable. (Hard SF people need not apply. ) So far, it's right on the mark!


----------



## balaspa

Harbinger by David J. Bright


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Just finished Her Enemy (The Maria Kallio Series)  Really enjoyed it -- 4 stars. Will definitely pick up the third in the series.

Moving on to Faithful Place: A Novel  which is actually the first of this series by Tana French that came to my attention. But when I found out it was #3 I had to read the first two first.  So I've had this on my TBR list for some time.


----------



## mphicks

Working my way through "Wayward," book 2 of the Wayward Pines series.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished Faithful Place: A Novel . Enjoyed it very much. The way this series works is that a secondary character in the first book, became the main character in the 2nd. And a secondary character in the second was the main character in this one, the third. And I'm pretty sure which secondary character in this one will be the MC in the 4th. 

This one's set in a fairly gritty, working class neighborhood of Dublin and deals, initially, with a near 30 year old disappearance . . . and goes from there.

Moved on to The Ghost of Blackwood Lane . I chose this as my May borrow from the Prime KOLL because (1) the premise seemed interesting and (2) it's priced regularly at $7.99 so I figured it was a good one to borrow. Don't recall how it came to my attention, but definitely a 'new to me' author.

It IS an interesting idea: guy is hypnotized as a kid and the 'key' phrase to unlock the memories is lost. He has no idea this ever happened, let alone why. All he knows is bad stuff happened in St. Louis so he and his dad moved to California. And now he's having nightmares and raging headaches.

It's the style I can't get into: there's just too much boring and repetitive narration of character's thoughts. Every time it switches to a new character, there are a couple of pages where you're listening in on their thoughts -- and it's almost always the same tape running. So far none of them have had any very original or new thoughts.  Also, there's excessive detail about things that, while important, don't merit 5 pages of exposition -- I don't need a history of NYC mobs to get that there's a mob presence in St. Louis that's going to be instrumental to the story. But the author wanted to make it clear he'd done his research.

Really, I'm skipping large portions and, though I've made it to 47%, I'm not sure I'll finish. I don't think I care what happens to the guy, and the 'girl he left behind' made a really stupid and fundamentally illogical choice after he left so I've not got much sympathy for her either.  So, I'm glad I didn't spend money on it -- though I'd never have paid that price, given I have no experience with the author -- but sorry I've essentially wasted my May borrow.


----------



## mlewis78

I'm reading *Fogg in the Cockpit: Howard Fogg-Master Railroad Artist, World War II Fighter Pilot* by Richard P. Fogg and Janet Fogg. The heart of the book is the WWII diaries of Howard Fogg, who was in the 359th Fighter Group based at Wretham in England.

http://www.amazon.com/Fogg-Cockpit-Fogg-Master-Railroad-Fighter-ebook/dp/B005AUG53G/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399445919&sr=1-1&keywords=fogg+in+the+cockpit










I came across this after I looked for a photo online of my father in uniform for my nephew (and his wedding with family history). I searched in google images and found a group photo on a plane. The man next to my father was Howard Fogg. Found a facebook group for the 359th Fighter Group and posted the photo there. The administrator for the FB group is Janet Fogg. She posted another pic there of my father alone in pilot gear in front of a P-51.

I love that this book is giving me some idea of day-to-day life where my father was during his service in WWII. Haven't reached a point in the book yet where there is mention of my father (Wilbur Lewis), but I did a search for Lewis and found several references when Fogg names who went out on each mission by last name.

This is the group photo where my father is standing on the left and Howard Fogg is next to him sitting on the wing (sorry the photo is so large--I simply copied the photo URL and pasted in insert image):










Recently finished reading *The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History* by Robert M. Edsel.

http://www.amazon.com/Monuments-Men-Thieves-Greatest-Treasure-ebook/dp/B002LHRLNE/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399447245&sr=1-1&keywords=monuments+men


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished The Ghost of Blackwood Lane last night and it never got any better. I really did mostly skim the second half. Bottom line: I didn't see any real solution to his headache/memory issue -- it just sort of fixed itself, I guess.  And other 'conflicts' in the book were resolved very predictably -- aside from a few choices by the characters that seemed . . . off. Plus, I'm still not exactly sure what the title is supposed to me. I mean: I get the reference, but that was a very small part of the overall plot.

Anyway: not recommended, especially not at $7.99 and there are many better options for your monthly Prime book as well. I reserve 1 star for books I can't even finish, and I did finish this, but wouldn't rate it even as high as 2 stars.


----------



## Krista D. Ball

Catching up on my Star Trek novels ATM. DO NOT JUDGE ME.


----------



## alawston

I'm approaching the end of Aisles, by Paul Magrs. I'm loving it, but then it's back into space with some Peter F Hamilton, I think.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Krista D. Ball said:


> Catching up on my Star Trek novels ATM. DO NOT JUDGE ME.


No judging . . . people can read whatever the heck they want. 

Last night (after the baseball game which the Nats won -- YAY!) I started  The Ice Princess: A Novel which I'm pretty sure I saw first in someone else's signature here. I've had it on my TBR list for a while and decided it was time. Only got to about 4% before being too sleepy to continue -- but it's definitely started out well.


----------



## Avis Black

Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome

Although the author doesn't have the benefit of a huge number of resources, this is an interesting biography. Hadrian was a lover of Greek culture (and boys), a fanatical builder, a poet, a successful soldier, a relentless traveler who made other emperors look like homebodies (he apparently detested the city of Rome), and a very capable emperor. Unlike many of his predecessors, he had a better grasp of the basic realities of empire, and he decided that Rome had gone beyond its spacial limits of governability. Despite the fact that his policy was not popular, he quietly gave up distant lands that he thought couldn't be ruled, then spent much of his time on the scene giving the remainder of the empire his personal oversight.

Some of Rome's emperors come across like truly demented people, but Hadrian not only seems completely grounded, but much more modern and practical in his outlook. He became Trajan's ward, and later heir, when his own father (Trajan's cousin) died. In some respects, he seems like a carbon copy of Trajan, being both military-minded, able to get along well with both the Senate and the people of Rome, competent at his job, and gay.


----------



## bordercollielady

Just finished Chris Farnsworth's Red White and Blood about Cade - the President's vampire.



Enjoyed it - such an imagination! And the ending left enough unfinished to add to a new book.. So - Chris, other than the short story, where is the new book??

And now I'm reading a book that I saw recommended on my Facebook page: Dog Tripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers.. About a couple that decided to move cross country with 25 dogs. I usually will not read a book where the dog dies - but it was a very short chapter and the dog wasn't the main character, so I didn't get too upset. Its ok so far, a bit disjointed.



Later: That was a fast read (just finished it) -especially for me who usually takes weeks to read a book. It was fun! Any dog lover would really appreciate this book.. One section I could really relate to - was how much he hates commercials with someone ringing the doorbell.. since it kicks off an orchestra of dog barking. David Rosenfelt has also written a mystery series (Andy Carpenter - lawyer) that includes a Golden named Tara. Like myself, his readers are adamant that Tara never be hurt or pass away - so he keeps her under age 9. I will check them out someday.

But for now - I've never read any Steve Berry - so I'm going to read The Templar Legacy:


----------



## Craig Allen

Just finished . A very well written book with a creepy premise. Strongly recommended. It's a two part novel, though. I'll read part two as soon as I finish . Can't go wrong with Ellison.


----------



## anguabell

I finished *Tales from Watership Down*, another wonderful rabbit book by Richard Adams.



On a less happy note, the "simplified" and "lightened" French recipes presented in _French Classics Made Easy_ did not work for me. I am sorry but vinegar DOES NOT replace butter and cream. Why not simply eat less of good and real stuff? Apparently, other readers don't think so, as the reviews are mostly positive.


----------



## CyberAuthor

Currently reading, .

I'm finding it to be a really well written vampire story. It is not one of those sparkly types. 

I like it enough that I'm waiting for the next book coming out by the same indie author.


----------



## Krista D. Ball

Re-reading the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne, as there is a new book out in June.


----------



## Mark Feggeler

_Dad Is Fat_ by Jim Gaffigan.


----------



## AnnetteL

Really enjoying I Shall Be Near to You.


And because I always have more than one book going at a time, I'm also enjoying something contemporary, Between Sisters, by Kristin Hannah:


----------



## Caddy

I am currently reading Dirty Deeds by Rhys Ford. It's book 4 of the Cole McGinnis series and I love this series! It's both mystery and gay romance. I'm a straight woman, but I enjoy gay fiction and read it regularly because I find it often has more angst in the story. I don't like a story that doesn't have some drama, some raw, dark emotion to it.


----------



## sstroble

Omerta by Mario Puzo


----------



## darias

Currently reading 'The Strain' by Guillermo Del Torro.


----------



## Meb Bryant

Reading NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles


----------



## CecilyKane

Didn't realize Iles had published another Penn Cage book. He's a hometown dude, so I try to keep up with his work even though it's not my genre (though his books are very good). /Mississippi native

Right now I'm reading _The Other Half of the Sky_. I don't read many short story anthologies but the premise of this one was so intriguing I could not help myself. It began with a call for science fiction with female protagonists but ended up being so much more than that; the editors asked that submissions ignore colonization "Manifest Destiny"-type narratives, heteronormativity in culture, and patriarchal modes of societal organization. So the resultant stories are incredibly inventive.

It also includes Aliette de Bodard's "The Waiting Stars," which was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards this year.


----------



## KindleGirl

I'm finishing up this one from the library  It's the second in a series and enjoyable, as is usual from Harlan Coben. I believe it's considered YA...only because it involves Myron's nephew and he is the main character who does the "investigating".

On to this one from the library next I've found this series going downhill a bit, but since it's free from the library I'm game.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

KindleGirl said:


> On to this one from the library next I've found this series going downhill a bit, but since it's free from the library I'm game.


I've felt the same about the series -- #12 was just so . . . rambling.  Definitely wouldn't want to pay for #13 so will likely go the library route also.


----------



## Meb Bryant

CecilyKane said:


> Didn't realize Iles had published another Penn Cage book. He's a hometown dude, so I try to keep up with his work even though it's not my genre (though his books are very good). /Mississippi native


Cecily,
I've been waiting five years for this release and wasn't disappointed. Since reading his books, visiting Natchez is on my bucket list. How fortunate you are to live in the area.


----------



## Nancy Beck

I'm reading 2 books.

This one is about 50-60% done, still has flashes of humor, which I like:



This one I'll be starting in "whole hog" this weekend. I've started in with some of the basic things this week, but not fully there yet:



I bought & tried 2 (or was it 3?) other diet books because I know I'm out of shape, have chronic pain, etc. The others bored me or didn't sit well with me with their options for healthful eating. The above is the second Paleo Diet book I bought. I returned the other one within the 7-day refund window because while it started out with a lot of humor, I felt it soon degraded into a YOU MUST DO THIS preachiness/yelling session that p.o.'d me. The book above is more moderated and calm, more to my liking.


----------



## CecilyKane

Meb Bryant said:


> Cecily,
> I've been waiting five years for this release and wasn't disappointed. Since reading his books, visiting Natchez is on my bucket list. How fortunate you are to live in the area.


Natchez is lovely. I recommend The Briars as the place to stay whenever you can make it. Not nearly as pretentious (or expensive) as better-known B&B's in the area and the breakfasts are fantastic. (Seriously, it's been well over five years since I last visited, and I still can taste the baked peaches with pecan streusel topping.)

I haven't been during the Spring Pilgrimage, but April is the best time to visit whether during or after (though early May may be a cheaper viable alternative), and also I recommend to take a haunting tour (I have zero belief in the supernatural, but you get such a great oral history this way) and to bring mosquito repellent and Benadryl spray.

And if you're into anthropology at all, Natchez has the second largest burial mound in the U.S./7th largest in the world. I once got stung by several fire ants atop it. Like I said: Benadryl spray.


----------



## Meb Bryant

Cecily,
If I get the opportunity to visit Natchez, I'm using your post as a travel guide. I LOVE IT! At one time in my childhood when Daddy worked in the pipeline business, we lived across from the Mississippi River outside of New Orleans. The levy and a country road weren't more than 100' from our backyard. 

We would sit on the levy (only if a parent was present) and watch the barges, freighters, and random tree glide by. Occasionally, we would ride a company boat while Shad, an oilfield employee, harvested oysters, shucked them, and offered them up to eat. Then, I couldn't imagine anything more gross than a raw oyster. Now, I'd carry my own hot sauce.

I surely miss the romance of Old Man River. Greg Iles' writing fills the void for a short time.


----------



## Harriet Schultz

I've had it on my Kindle for a while and finally read KB author Gennita Low's Big Bad Wolf. It's not my usual read, but I couldn't put it down!


----------



## Meka

Starting Sycamore Row by John Grisham, the sequel to A Time to Kill which I loved.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


----------



## Linjeakel

It's been so long since I posted here this may be a longish list - so I'll try to brief!

 _Chasing time_ by Travis Hill. A solid time travel novel, the story told by a very snarky government operative, sent to retrieve an errant traveller. Not bad, but I'm still looking for a TT book that really grabs me.

 _OMG_ by Bob Kat. Part of a YA time travel mystery series. It was OK, but I doubt I'll bother to ready any more of the series.

 _The Rebellion of Miss Lucy An Lobdell_ by William Klaber. Most of the interest in this book comes from knowing it's based on a true story - but it's pretty slow going in parts and in the end I was glad to finish it.

 _Crimes Against Magic_ by Steve McHugh. A sort of magical thriller. A Prime borrow and I enjoyed it enough to consider reading more of the series.

 _The Crown_ by Nancy Bilyeau. Another 'first in a series' stories - this one a mix of historical, thriller and murder mystery. Not bad, but not as good as CJ Sansom's _Shardlake_ series.

 _the Summer Queen_ by Elizabeth Chadwick. I seem to be starting a lot of series - this one a purely historical though fictionlised biography of Alienor (Eleanor) of Aquitaine. Though she's not portrayed as an angel, the author clearly wishes us to be in sympathy with her 'heroine'. She comes across as a very intelligent and capable woman who was raised to be a ruler and was never going to be an acquiescent consort - which meant her life was always going to be full of conflict. I'm undecided if I want to continue with the series or not.

 _The God Complex_ by Murray McDonald. A kind of sci-fi technothriller. Pure hokum - inventive in places, but hokum nevertheless - I think I laughed in a few places where it wasn't supposed to be funny.... but since it was another Prime borrow, rather than a purchase, I didn't mind so much.

 _Missing You_ by Harlan Coben. A good solid thriller, with a few twists and turns I didn't see coming. I'm not into his Myron Bolitar series, but other than that, one of the few authors I'll buy without sampling first.

 _Glory and B*llocks_ by Colin Brown. On to some non fiction now - a look at the truth behind the 10 most defining moments in British history. Very interesting, though I'm only about 20% in so far. I think Amercians would be particularly interested to read the chapter on the Magna Carta though.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Thanks for posting those Linda! A couple I'd been looking at but were undecided and your comments helped me decide. A couple of others looked intriguing! I've put Crimes Against Magic (The Hellequin Chronicles) on my prime lending wish list and it turns out I bought The Crown last year sometime. So I guess I'll move that up my TBR. 

I'm coming to the end of  and am enjoying it enough that I'll likely continue the series.

Not really sure where I'll go after that. So many books, so little time.


----------



## Avis Black

Drinking: A Love Story

This came out a few years ago, but I've only gotten around to reading it now. It's a very good book on the subject of alcoholism, and it's considered to be a classic in the field.


----------



## Harriet Schultz

THE WEDDING CONTRACT was a very fast, engaging (no pun) read, complete with another one of Holly's hot Ferro men.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab 

So this is a public domain book . . . . a few anomalies of the conversion but really, they've done a pretty good job. It's a detective story from sometime in the late 1800's set in Australia. Written by a New Zealander and, apparently, a big deal when first published. I'd never heard of it before.  I'm enjoying it. This edition is free; there are several others priced from a $1 to $10.


----------



## Natasha Holme

I'm a quarter of the way through The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Rather enjoying it.


----------



## Shelley_Watters

I just finished JR Ward's Lover Reborn (LOVED IT). 

Now I'm on to Julie Kagawa's The Iron Queen.


----------



## 67499

Just today rescued from a used book barrel a paperback copy of Elie Wiesel's *The **Oath *- about a man searching across the planet for someone to release from an oath to the dead to keep silent about the destruction of his village in the Holocaust. Wiesel's books are always excellent, but the first paragraph of _The Oath_ says it will be exceptional.


----------



## Ergodic Mage

_Verdant Skies_ by Steven Jordan

The story is about a habitable satellite around Earth when Yellowstone erupts. It portrays what I imagine a realistic scenario of how such an event could affect Earth and future habitats. The writing is decent and pace does keep me interested with a minimal of techno-bable. My only complaint is the amount of sexual content which is a turn off for my reading tastes.


----------



## Ergodic Mage

Linjeakel said:


> _Chasing time_ by Travis Hill. A solid time travel novel, the story told by a very snarky government operative, sent to retrieve an errant traveller. Not bad, but I'm still looking for a TT book that really grabs me.


If you get a chance, check out our own Paul Levinson's _Plot to Save Socrates_. It is more complex than most time travel books and has a good story behind it. It does not get into any physics or techno-babel, though it does handle (and even embraces) paradoxes and resolving them.


----------



## NogDog

Reading _Moby Dick_ for the first time since it was required reading for me roughly 40 years ago. It's going surprisingly well so far (the Pequod has just set sail), as I find Melville's style easy to read, unlike some of his contemporaries whose writing can seem like a pool of molasses the reader must struggle through.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I finished . It was good -- not too predictable but with some things you could figure out so as not to feel totally stupid.  Definitely a book 'of its time'.

Then decided to get a fix of the Doctor with . It's a novel of the 2nd Doctor re-released for the 50th anniversary. Quite good so far!


----------



## Norman Crane

I've decided to read more contemporary fiction. I finished Akhil Sharma's *Family Life* (recommended!) a few days ago and I'm about halfway through Nnedi Okorafor's Nigerian scifi novel *Lagoon*.


----------



## sstroble

Kangaroo Notebook by Kobo Abe


----------



## KindleGirl

About halfway thru this and really enjoying it. Looking forward to finding out how all the separate stories fit together. I always enjoy a Harlan Coben book!


----------



## Linjeakel

Linjeakel said:


> _Chasing time_ by Travis Hill. A solid time travel novel, the story told by a very snarky government operative, sent to retrieve an errant traveller. Not bad, but I'm still looking for a TT book that really grabs me.





Ergodic Mage said:


> If you get a chance, check out our own Paul Levinson's _Plot to Save Socrates_. It is more complex than most time travel books and has a good story behind it. It does not get into any physics or techno-babel, though it does handle (and even embraces) paradoxes and resolving them.


Thanks for the recommendation - but I already read that one sometime ago - or I should say I listened to the audiobook. I agree, it was complex, but a good story.


----------



## Nancy Beck

Innocence Lost, by KBoards' Patty Jansen:



Picked it up off an eSoda email (at SW rather than Amazon). I don't know if it was on sale or not, but 99 cents worked for me.  It's a fantasy with a kind of Dutch flavor to it (Dutch-type names, etc.). I think I'm up to about the 5th or 6th chapter, and it's quite good.

Will probably get the next in the series.


----------



## Nancy Beck

Did buy the next in Patty's series, Willow Witch, but not reading it yet.

Started in on this one:



It's an end of the world/dystopian story, with some romance that looks as if it will roll in at some point.  And I just found out it's a series. The beginning was compelling enough that I bought it after only reading the first page. The story's feeling of loneliness kind of overwhelmed me yesterday, so I had to put it down, but I'll be picking it up again today.


----------



## mphicks

I started reading fellow KBoard member Jason Gurley's ELEANOR. He sent out advanced reading copies to his mailing list subscribers, and the book is currently up for pre-order. I'm only about 20% through, but it's a terrific read so far!


----------



## Norman Crane

I read kboarder Steve Vernon's *Hammurabi Road* and am now re-reading Alfred Bester's *The Stars My Destination*. It's been a damn good stretch of reading.


----------



## Cactus Lady

I'm just starting Midnight Tides, book 5 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson  which I'm reading in paper. On my Kindle, I just finished Wonderfully Wicked by C.J. Burright  and next I think I'll start The Wind from Miilark, book 3 of the Norothian Cycle by M. Edward McNally . I'm usually reading one book in paper and one book on my Kindle.


----------



## Atunah

I had started

And I am about 20% in. But I had to put it down. I am really concerned about this one. Seems like outside of the narrator at the moment, everyone is despicable in the story and those that aren't are being horribly treated, hurt emotionally and also physically. I see the book got a lot of good reviews and also from those I follow on goodreads and trust, but I am really not sure I should continue. I don't enjoy reading about horrible people/kids treating others like this. Especially with such devious joy at it. I just feel like there is more and more of this stuff coming. And I have to say I expected a totally different book. Did not know it was going this direction at all. Not an inkling.

I'll finish my current historical romance first


then maybe I have enough cages around my emotions to deal with horrible people again.


----------



## balaspa

Stephen King's new one - Mr. Mercedes.


----------



## Nancy Beck

Although I'm still reading Dust and Kisses, it kind of gets to me emotionally from time to time, so I'm interspersing it with:



Another of Susanna Kearsley's books. Enjoyed her Winter Sea and Shadowy Horses. She's my new fave author. 

But I'll finish Dust and Kisses first, because I'm already about 65% in...


----------



## Ann in Arlington

The last few I've read are in my signature.

_The Red Tree_ was gothic-y and odd. Unreliable narrator. Interesting enough. I don't remember what the impetus was for me to buy it.

_Twelfth Night_ is a Lady Julia Grey short. Good story as usual. Wish she'd write another full length novel, though. 

_Revelation_ is a Matthew Shardlake mystery -- set in the waning years of the reign of King Henry VIII. Quite enjoyed it.

And have recently dug into my 'borrow' for June: _House of Bathory_. It's one of those where things are happening in two completely different places and time periods and they're weirdly connected. Good so far.


----------



## sstroble

A Court for Owls by Richard Adicks


----------



## Norman Crane

<Slate-suggested embarrassment>
*The Fault in Our Stars*
</Slate-suggested embarrassment>


----------



## Ergodic Mage

I'm re-reading (close to 20th time) _The Silmarillion_ as part of a Google+ reading and discussion community.


----------



## jaspertyler

The Fault in Our Stars

Unsouled (from the Unwind series)


----------



## simonz

I heard that author Joe McGinness passed away earlier in 2014 on NPR. They talked about his controversial book on Sarah Palin which sounded like a good read. I purchased and it was an eye-opener to how close we came to having a know-nothing second in command in our government. A great read, despite what some critics say.


----------



## JPKeel

Books on my agenda this year are Steven Brust "Hawk", Steven King "11-22-63", Patrick Rothfuss "Name of the Wind", Douglas Hulick "Sworn In Steel", Mord Mcghee "Ghosts of San Francisco", Tolkien "The Children of Hurin", Steve Alten "Loch Ness", Mackenzie Brown "The Lost Boys",  Philip Dick "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep",  George Kosimaki "D-Day Screaming Eagles"
I'm still selecting maybe 1 more science fic and I'd love to find a decent pirate themed book. Anyway, this is just my last haul from Half-Price Books and a couple from facebook suggestions. This is my first post. Hi


----------



## derrekw

I'm currently reading Dune by Frank Herbert. I'm really enjoying it so I'll probably move to the next book in the series once I finish this one. I also started the _Dresden Files_ series by Jim Butcher earlier in the year and will be returning to that once I finish up with Dune. I'm also in a holding pattern waiting for the next Song of Ice and Fire book to arrive, but I know I could be waiting a while


----------



## balaspa

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.


----------



## bordercollielady

I've been away for awhile - but now that I'm officially retired, I am reading a lot. Amazing how much reading you can do when you don't have to work/commute anymore..

First - I finished Steve Berry's "The Templar Legacy":



I enjoyed this.. A lot like Dan Brown with more of a historical bent - rather than art history. Lots of action.

Then I read the first book that wasn't on Kindle since I first bought a Kindle in 2009. - "Three Dog Nightmare" by Chuck Negron. THis all started after seeing a US Bank commercial with Shambala playing. I started listening to 3DN music, and found out about this book. Fascinating.. I never knew that Chuck got so involved with drugs - he sold his gold albums for heroin. And then he beat his addiction and is today touring. Wonderful book.

After that - one of my friend convinced me to read "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein:



I have been avoiding this book for years because it really upsets me when a dog dies. The book was very sad, but the end was wonderful. Enzo the dog was amazing.. Definitely worth getting over my fear.

After that I read Alex Berenson's "The Ghost War":



I really like Berenson - his plots are so interesting and this one was as well. Great read.

Today - I just finished David Rosenfelt's Open and Shut:



I had previously read his non-fiction about crossing the country with 40 dogs - but hadn't tried his novels. Wonderful - reminds me a lot
of Harlan Coben as far as his humor. And very good plot. Didn't hurt that the main character has Tara - a golden retriever that doesn't die.

Later:

Next I'm going to read Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (Rizzoli and Isles)


----------



## Lyoung

I don't even know anymore! The only one that I know for sure I'm reading is Laini Taylor's Dreams of Gods & Monsters.


----------



## Harriet Schultz

Cowboy romances aren't my thing, but I bought one by Kboarder Elle Casey anyway and am glad I did!


----------



## Avis Black

Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician

This is the second biography I've read by Anthony Everitt, and it's quite good. Cicero wrote a ton of letters to a friend who carefully preserved them, and they give an intimate view of the nasty mess of Roman politics from the bloody dictatorship of Sulla to the murderous rise of Augustus, the latter being the man who would order Cicero's death. It's not a time period a normal person would want to live through, but it makes for fascinating reading.


----------



## Thomas Watson

Recent readings include:

Sword-Bound: A Novel of Tiger and Del *****
Peacemaker: Foreigner #15 *****
and
Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens ****

Currently reading:

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
and 
The Man in the High Castle


----------



## ronvitale

Alessandra Kelley said:


> I finished Mary Robinette Kowal's _Shades of Milk and Honey_ and have started the sequel, _Glamour in Glass._
> 
> _Shades of Milk and Honey_ was a strong Jane Austen homage with magic stirred in. So far _Glamour in Glass_ is reading a little more like _The Scarlet Pimpernel._


I'm about 1/3 of the way through "Shades of Milk and Honey" and am really enjoying it. I had heard some really good things about the series and, so far, I am enjoying the build up. After I finish, I'll have to see about whether I want to read the other books.


----------



## mphicks

Started reading SEVERED last night. So far, so good!


----------



## mlewis78

I'm reading *Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St. Mary's Series)* -- somewhat humorous time travel to history sites. A few people on MobileRead forums recommended it.

http://www.amazon.com/Damned-Thing-After-Another-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00EUIEKA4/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1402953779&sr=1-4&keywords=jodi+taylor

Read the intro (and will continue) to *Armageddon: The Battle for Germany* by Max Hastings about the last year of WWII/Europe.

http://www.amazon.com/Armageddon-Germany-1944-45-Max-Hastings-ebook/dp/B000FC2N7Q/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1402953944&sr=1-5&keywords=armageddon


----------



## JFHilborne

Currently reading  which has a great plot, but is in dire need of a good edit.


----------



## Norman Crane

I'm reading Stephen King's *It*.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Just finished  The Page Turners: Blood (The Page Turners Trilogy).

So this was the first book. Seems aimed at teens -- definitely features young teens -- kind of a fantasy thing, but pretty dark. All the kids involved are angsty or angry (or both) and bullied and basically just having a REALLY hard time of it. Totally not my thing -- I got past that in HS and have no desire to revisit!

That said, the story is inventive and well written so, if it IS your sort of thing, I think you'd probably like it. Boys find an 'old book' and read a 'spell' out of it. They think nothing has happened but, of course, they're wrong. There were some random threads/characters that didn't seem to go anywhere but, as it's the first of a trilogy, I expect if you stick with it, you'd eventually learn all.

Full disclosure: I learned about the book from a friend on FB who I had known when we lived in the UK 20 years ago. She and her younger son (who was my son's age and in his class in school) were in our choir. Her older son I didn't know so well but she'd shared on FB that he did the copy-edits on the book (and named in the back-matter as practically a co-writer) so I picked it up in support. Not sorry I did, though I'd not have gotten it without that endorsement.

And now back tot he Doctor: Doctor Who: Last of the Gaderene: 50th Anniversary Edition (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection) . Features the Third Doctor and written by Mark Gatiss.


----------



## balaspa

Started reading a novel called Bird Box - post-apocalyptic novel about something that drives people into murderous rages if they see it.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Ann in Arlington said:


> And now back tot he Doctor: Doctor Who: Last of the Gaderene: 50th Anniversary Edition (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection) . Features the Third Doctor and written by Mark Gatiss.


Finished this last night. Not bad.

Moved on to . Same author as  which I quite liked. Different characters mostly, but I think some of the ones from that book will show up. At least part of the setting is the same. I'm sure I'll enjoy it in the end . . . I'm at 14% and pretty much had to force myself to put it down last night to SLEEP!


----------



## Nancy Beck

Ann in Arlington said:


> Finished this last night. Not bad.
> 
> Moved on to . Same author as  which I quite liked. Different characters mostly, but I think some of the ones from that book will show up. At least part of the setting is the same. I'm sure I'll enjoy it in the end . . . I'm at 14% and pretty much had to force myself to put it down last night to SLEEP!


Ooh, Ann, I'm reading The Firebird too! Loved the Winter Sea, and yeah, a couple of characters from that one shows up in The Firebird. And like you, I had to force myself to stop and go to sleep! LOL! Susannah Kearsley is one of my new faves.

If only her books were a little cheaper. Though I guess that's what eReaderIQ is for.


----------



## Harriet Schultz

I just started 

I read The Other Boleyn Girl a few years ago and when I searched for this one on link maker I realized how prolific Ms. Gregory is!


----------



## bordercollielady

I finished Vanished by Tess Gerritsen.. Very good - but I kept thinking the book seemed familiar.. I think I once read it pre-Kindle days.. hah! Now I'm OCD about reading books in publish order. Back then I wasn't. But one of the advantages of getting old is that I didn't remember the ending so I enjoyed it again:



Then I read the Kraken Project by Douglas Preston:



One of my friends told me about it and even tho it is "out of order" - suggested I read it since I was a computer programmer. While its REALLY far fetched it was still enjoyable. And the ending was cool!

Now I've decided to get back to some trilogies I never finished - before I forget what I already read.. So I'm reading Ann Aguirre's Outpost - second book in the Razorland Trilogy - The first book of the trilogy is "Enclave". So far - I like the second one more than the first:


----------



## Natasha Holme

Just finished A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen, lovely memoir by a recovering heroin addict in London whose life is turned around when he finds and looks after a homeless cat.

Just started The Stranger by Albert Camus.


----------



## sstroble

Ardabiola by Yevgeny Yevtushenko


----------



## anguabell

Reading *The Summoner* by Layton Green. Some usual clichés (what's with all those "troubled but essentially saintly" main characters in the U.S. thrillers) but very readable, fast paced and - last but not least - really interesting. The author has apparently done a great deal of research but he is not trying to force-feed it to the reader on every page. Well-balanced writing. I might pick up his other books while they are on sale.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

anguabell said:


> Reading *The Summoner* by Layton Green. Some usual cliches (what's with all those "troubled but essentially saintly" main characters in the U.S. thrillers) but very readable, fast paced and - last but not least - really interesting. The author has apparently done a great deal of research but he is not trying to force-feed it to the reader on every page. Well-balanced writing. I might pick up his other books while they are on sale.


I've read all of his -- I think there are 3 so far. Enjoyed them all -- though they do get a bit graphic . . . . .


----------



## Maverick

I am currently reading *Gone with the Wind.
*


----------



## heidi_g




----------



## Linjeakel

_Search Terms: Alpha_ - a time travel short by Travis Hill. My own fault for not reading the blurb properly - I thought it was part one of a series, but it's actually the first part of a single book, the remainder to be published later this year. I have no idea why anyone would want to publish like that or why anyone would _deliberately_ choose to read half a book, knowing the rest wasn't available yet. It wasn't riveting enough that I feel inclined to buy the second half.

 This is the fourth book in Rhys Ford's _Cole McGinnis Mysteries_ series. I listened to the first two on audio books, but I found the preponderance of Korean names hard to follow when I couldn't see them written down, so switched to Kindle for the second two. Pretty convoluted mystery plots, sometimes excessively so, but good, unusual characters. Be warned, there's a fair few f-bombs and pretty explicit sex (and with the central character being gay that means of the m/m variety). I enjoyed them.

 _In The Blood_, the first of the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series by Steve Robinson. Lots of plot twists and turns as you'd expect from this sort of book and I didn't see all of it coming. I'll probably read some more in the series.

 _Weird Things People Say In Bookshops_ by Jen Campbell. The title tells you exactly what you're getting here - a short read but very amusing - sometimes laugh out loud funny. Appropriately, there's a few mentions of the Kindle along the way, including the lady who wanted to know whether she should get paperbacks or hardbacks to put on her Kindle ......

 _The Nemesis Program_ - the most recent in Scott Mariani's _Ben Hope_ series. You don't _have_ to have read the others first, but I think it helps if you know the main character's history. A good solid thriller.

 _The Protocol_ by J Robert Kennedy. Every book I pick up lately seems to be the first in a series - not necessarily a bad thing, but it means for every book I read I gain another half dozen for my ever increasing TBR list. I'm about half way through this one and it seems pretty good so far.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished  on Thursday evening. It's by the same author as . I enjoyed it and will probably read the other of this group as well . May even look for others of hers generally.

Moved on to  which I picked up last August when it was free. At about half way it's fine so far. I'll finish it, but I'm not sure I'm inspired to read any others of the series. This was the first.


----------



## JFHilborne

One third of the way through  and enjoying it. Good, tight writing, intriguing plot.


----------



## RJMcDonnell

I just started on The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer. I enjoyed reading his Beecher White series. This is my first time reading one of his stand-alones. Except for the tiny print, I'm drawn in by the opening.


----------



## KindleGirl

Started this new series that was recommended to me. So far I am really liking this author. The dead friend was just found, so we'll see how it goes from here!


----------



## alawston

I've now given up on Halting State, and have switched on to Elmore Leonard's Out of Sight. Loving it!


----------



## sstroble

The Novel by James Michener


----------



## inuyashatokikyo

I just finished reading Princess Bride for the first time. Really liked it, but I had to skip the torture part, not really my cup of tea.


----------



## Meka

50% into The Secret History by Donna Tartt, really enjoying it, she is a very talented writer.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


----------



## JFHilborne

I just started  and enjoying it so far


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished  which I picked up last August when it was free. Didn't really care for the main character. Mystery was not too predictably or fantastically solved. It was o.k. 3* but I definitely won't bother with more in the series. Glad it was free.

Next picked up White Fire (Pendergast)  which I've also had for a while. Started a little bit slower than usual but then picked up. I'm very interested to see how at least 3 (maybe 4, depending how you count) different threads all come together at the end.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

Just finished Denise Grover Swank's _Thirty-One and a Half Regrets_. I am totally addicted to this series.



Now reading Andy Weir's _The Martian_. Love the humor! Very hard to put down.


----------



## Marilyn Peake

I'm currently rereading all the *Wool* books by Hugh Howey.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished White Fire (Pendergast) . A little different than previous Pendergast books -- he's almost a side character here -- but enjoyable. Definitely 4 stars and I'll watch for the next one.

I think I'll move next to The Beggar King: A Hangman's Daughter Tale (US Edition)  which is the third in the "Hangman's Daughter" series. It's about folks in a small Bavarian village in the 17th century, specifically the town hangman and his daughter. Generally murder mysteries . . . surprisingly, not too much described-in-detail gore. I think they're all in the Kindle Lending Library. I actually borrowed the first one and liked it well enough to buy the subsequent books.

And, speaking of borrowing, I also need to get to The President's Henchman (A Jim McGill Novel Book 1)  which I borrowed for July.

And To Kill a Mockingbird (Perennial classics)  was delivered to my kindle today as well. Betsy, when's that book club going to start?


----------



## EC Sheedy

I've been on a Jojo Moyes reading kick. It started with *Me Before You*--a brilliant, sad, sometimes funny book about a difficult topic. Loved that book! Thought about it for days after I finished it.

Now I'm reading Moyes' latest, *One Plus One*, and at 1 o'clock this morning, I was laughing out loud--mostly because of a farting dog. But still...


----------



## mphicks

I received an ARC of Blake Crouch's latest in the Wayward Pines series, The Last Town.


----------



## Avis Black

Starting on 
Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution

This was a hand-me-down from one of my relatives who was cleaning out her paperback collection. It's holding up well, and the two French characters (the playwright and the spy) are absolutely nuts.


----------



## Dalia Daudelin

I just started  and am loving it so far.

I also have a few Harlequin books to go through, specifically


----------



## mphicks

Started in on Chuck Wendig's latest, part 2 of the Heartland Trilogy, Blightborn.


----------



## Atunah

I am reading the 3rd in the Lady Darby series. Its a historical Mystery with some gothic tones and some macabre. I love it. 


The first in the series is 


the 2nd 


I don't want the 3rd one to end and I am already 60% through. Who knows when I'll get another one.


----------



## Russell Brooks

Waking With Enemies by Erick Jerome Dickey.


----------



## balaspa

House of Cards by Michael Dobbs - the book that the original BBC and Netflix series is based on. A political thriller.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished The Beggar King: A Hangman's Daughter Tale (US Edition)  which is the third in the "Hangman's Daughter" series. It's about folks in a small Bavarian village in the 17th century, specifically the town hangman and his daughter. Generally murder mysteries . . . surprisingly, not too much described-in-detail gore -- though this one was a little more graphic in the depictions of 17th century torture. Not horrible though -- and not too much, so easy to skim. I think they're all in the Kindle Lending Library. I actually borrowed the first one and liked it well enough to buy the subsequent books.

Have started The President's Henchman (A Jim McGill Novel Book 1)  which I borrowed for July. Not far enough in to have an impression but the set up is clever: The president's husband, a former detective/cop, starts a PI firm in DC to keep himself busy while his wife is running the country.

And To Kill a Mockingbird (Perennial classics)  is still waiting for Betsy: when's that book club going to start?


----------



## A.E. Williams

Ian Fleming, in ebook form. The formatting is atrocious!

Past two weeks,  so far, in no particular order:

For Your Eyes Only Collection
Moonraker 
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Diamonds Are Forever
Thunderball

37% through Live and Let Die. Probably finish tomorrow. I never had read the books...go figure.


----------



## adanlerma

Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner.

Just started it, had just finished The Easy Way to Write Thrillers by Rob Parnell.

Similarities of course, but interesting differences of approaching much of the same info (so far).


----------



## KindleGirl

Got this from the library so I'm reading it. Won't buy them anymore, but for some reason I can't stop reading the new ones either....I guess I keep hoping they'll go back to the way they were.


----------



## mphicks

Finished up Wendig's Blightborn and am now onto Iain Rob Wright's just-released book, Soft Target.


----------



## israelsanchez

Reading Half Way Home by Hugh Howey and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I'll probably review both of them for my video review channel! [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwJkWk9J_0/youtube]


----------



## A.E. Williams

"Naked" by David Sedaris.  

For like the tenth time. It's funny as hell.  

A.E. Williams


----------



## mphicks

I'll be starting this one on my lunch break this afternoon:


----------



## anguabell

I spend nearly 2 weeks reading* Atlas Shrugged*. While I am definitely not buying Rand's political philosophy, which seems oddly one-sided and naive for someone with her background, but I enjoyed the book very much. Great strong female character, all those tall, lean, steel-jawed industrial men, villainous villains, pirates... . A lot of bits and pieces were quite relevant today, for a book written nearly 60 years ago. I give her a few stars for fearless writing. Nice to read something that was not obviously calculated to please readers or publishers.


----------



## KindleGirl

Started this one last night...good, as I expected it would be.


----------



## Guest

Purchased my first Michael Bunker book today  and that´s the one I am starting to read in about five minutes, while having a nice cup of coffee too. Skimmed some of the one-star reviews, and even I had made up my mind already, this one quote pushed me finally to hit the one-click button.

_ On top of all this, the tone of the book is very much as would be written by a Russian mindset. Bleak, fatalistic and as though life is a tragedy in the making._

I love my Tolstoy and since Bunker already looks a little bit like him, I hope he delivers what I am looking for. I have not really any idea into what kind of book I get myself into, but I am very curious and excited now.


----------



## Emm Oh

I am 15% through the Kindle version of the King James version of the Bible.  So far it's all about property deeds from on high and what to do with an unfaithful wife .


----------



## mphicks

Candy Girl Miranda said:


> Purchased my first Michael Bunker book today  and that's the one I am starting to read in about five minutes, while having a nice cup of coffee too. Skimmed some of the one-star reviews, and even I had made up my mind already, this one quote pushed me finally to hit the one-click button.
> 
> _ On top of all this, the tone of the book is very much as would be written by a Russian mindset. Bleak, fatalistic and as though life is a tragedy in the making._
> 
> I love my Tolstoy and since Bunker already looks a little bit like him, I hope he delivers what I am looking for. I have not really any idea into what kind of book I get myself into, but I am very curious and excited now.


I've had my eye on this one for a while, even though I've not yet gotten around to reading Pennsylvania. Let me know how you like Wick.


----------



## Linjeakel

I pre-ordered Diana Gabaldon's _Written in My Own Heart's Blood_  about a year ago, but when it arrived on my Kindle last month I put off reading it. This is book 8 of the 'Outlander' series, all of them huge (800-1100 pages / 20-24k Kindle locations) and book 7 ended on a real cliffhanger.

Trouble is that was four years ago! (In fact it might have been the first book I ever read on Kindle). I felt like I'd gone off the boil about it, so to speak, like it would be a slog to get back into it and get through book 8 after all this time. In fact, I needn't have worried; within just a few pages, I was fully re-immersed into that world. I sped through the book very quickly and was frustrated when it ended. Not quite a cliffhanger this time but clearly there's more story to come - the author says there's _at least_ one more. I think the books are, if anything, improving as the series goes on, which all too often isn't the case as authors try to stretch successful series beyond their natural life. I just I hope I live long enough to find out how it all ends!

Right now I'm reading _To Kill A Mockingbird_  by Harper Lee, finally released on Kindle. I should say _re-_reading it as this is about the third or fourth time - though the last time was over twenty years ago. Strangely, I'm surprised by both how much I remember _and_ how much I've forgotten. I'd also forgotten how easily accessible her writing style is, though it was penned almost fifty-five years ago. There are so many layers to this book, which emerge only as Scout (the narrator, looking back on her 9 year old self) begins to understand things herself. It's pretty much a fictionalised version of her own childhood and given it's success you can't help wondering why she never wrote another novel. Apparently she said _"I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again."_ Fair enough.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished The President's Henchman (A Jim McGill Novel Book 1)  which I borrowed for July. A decent read. I may continue with the series.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Perennial classics)  Book Klub will be beginning soon (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/board,84.0.html), so I'll get going on that.

And started, as well,  which is part of Tess Gerritsen's "Rizzoli and Isles" series. Different to the TV series, but I like both.


----------



## Atunah

Just finished 


and I read the 2nd in that series right away also


I am not usually big on reading young adult stuff and this is distopian. But it had such good reviews and I ended up loving them. I read both in 2 days and then I panicked because the 3rd won't be out until mid 2015     

Wahhhh

This has some really dark scenes in it. Maybe its because I don't normally read YA so I don't know if that is normal. I read plenty of dark stuff in my days but that was usually adult stuff. Total page turners those books are though. What a crazy world that was build.


----------



## KindleGirl

Atunah said:


> Just finished
> 
> 
> and I read the 2nd in that series right away also
> 
> 
> I am not usually big on reading young adult stuff and this is distopian. But it had such good reviews and I ended up loving them. I read both in 2 days and then I panicked because the 3rd won't be out until mid 2015
> 
> Wahhhh
> 
> This has some really dark scenes in it. Maybe its because I don't normally read YA so I don't know if that is normal. I read plenty of dark stuff in my days but that was usually adult stuff. Total page turners those books are though. What a crazy world that was build.


My daughter is a big YA reader so I asked her about these and yep, they are are on her TBR list. I just sent myself a sample as well. Looks good!


----------



## Avis Black

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

I've been binging on Rome lately, and this is the 4th Anthony Everitt book I've read so far. It's a solid work that starts with the Civil War in the wake of Julius Caesar's death. Augustus, Caesar's heir, has a lot of popular support, but he nonetheless ends up with one big black cloud hanging over him. He and Mark Anthony perpetrate one of the worse mass murders in Rome's history.

When the pair seize power, they post lists of thousands of people, declaring them to be 'enemies of the state.' This includes much of the Senate and most of the equestrian class. This was something called proscription, and it meant Augustus and Anthony would pay a bounty to each private citizen who killed any man on the list. The estates of the victims would of course be confiscated, and in one stroke the new regime would enrich its own coffers and liquidate its political enemies. Most of Rome's old nobility and most of its republican stalwarts died in the convulsion.

I've become convinced that the reason Rome fell was because its rulers offed so many of their political enemies (and anyone else who annoyed them by standing out too much), that the damage to their breeding stock became too detrimental to be overcome. Reading about Rome is like watching a Pol Pot-style regime operating in slow motion. After enough generations of killing, the best and most promising citizens of Rome didn't survive to pass on their genes, so the people living at the end of the Empire were an unremarkable lot easily destroyed by the barbarian hordes.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

It's been a while since I posted in here, but after catching up I've added several books to my TBR pile.

I recently finished  which I thought was better than the first in the series. The first one focused too much on the paranormal and not enough on romance, but didn't go full blown paranormal and I thought it seemed stretched thin. This one, on the other hand, was back to the Nora Roberts formula that I know and love.

Now I'm reading  I've been on a cozy kick lately and I'm really liking Jenn McKinlay's books.


----------



## Guest

mphicks said:


> I've had my eye on this one for a while, even though I've not yet gotten around to reading Pennsylvania. Let me know how you like Wick.


I´ve skipped Pennsylvania for the moment, but I signed up for his mailing list, so I got the first part of it as a little ´Thank You´, which was a nice surprise. Definitely going to check it out at some time, even the Sci-Fi elements of the story still scares me a bit.

re Wick: So far from the little I´ve read I am really impessed. His long run-on sentences are challenging, still easy enough to follow since Bunker waves everything together very skillfully. The beginning is mainly to establish a backstory in the days of Katrina. It shows, however, that Bunker writes with an agenda. I think not many writers can do this, that is put in their own strongly hold believes into a fictional story, Bunker can. Totally understand when probably *some* people lump him together with some conspiracy theorists, but that would be a mistake. Michael Bunker doesn´t drive from some nutcase scenario, but well-thought out ´what ifs´. Right now it doesn´t feel all too bleak, though, but there is an intensity in the book I haven´t read in a long while.

There are also lots of references to literature, quotes from Tolstoy, Whitman or Thoreau and it shows that he is well-read and knowledgeable. One can actually _feel_ his strong personality in the narrative. A very charismatic writer for sure.


----------



## Atunah

Reading the 4th in the St. Cyr historical mystery right now

It is soooooo good. I just flew through the first 45%. Holy moly what a page turner. I flove this series. And Hero Jarvis is my heroine. I want to be her when I grow up.

I am trying to read these books on a slow schedule as I don't want to run out to fast. I wish all books I read were like these where my mind just sinks into it. I can hear the horses hoofs on the cobblestone with these. Gets me right into the scenes. Pretty awesome. Highly recommend this historical mystery series. I am still trying to find more HM that is as good as this.


----------



## mphicks

Candy Girl Miranda said:


> I've skipped Pennsylvania for the moment, but I signed up for his mailing list, so I got the first part of it as a little 'Thank You', which was a nice surprise. Definitely going to check it out at some time, even the Sci-Fi elements of the story still scares me a bit.
> 
> re Wick: So far from the little I've read I am really impessed. His long run-on sentences are challenging, still easy enough to follow since Bunker waves everything together very skillfully. The beginning is mainly to establish a backstory in the days of Katrina. It shows, however, that Bunker writes with an agenda. I think not many writers can do this, that is put in their own strongly hold believes into a fictional story, Bunker can. Totally understand when probably *some* people lump him together with some conspiracy theorists, but that would be a mistake. Michael Bunker doesn't drive from some nutcase scenario, but well-thought out 'what ifs'. Right now it doesn't feel all too bleak, though, but there is an intensity in the book I haven't read in a long while.
> 
> There are also lots of references to literature, quotes from Tolstoy, Whitman or Thoreau and it shows that he is well-read and knowledgeable. One can actually _feel_ his strong personality in the narrative. A very charismatic writer for sure.


Glad to hear! Thanks for the feedback on Wick; I suspected I would like it, and this definitely helps sells it to me.


----------



## mphicks

Now reading and ARC of Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes.


----------



## sstroble

Gold of Kings by Bunn.


----------



## JFHilborne

Just finished  and am now reading  A departure from the usual Grisham and not sure I like it.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Finished  loved it so I've moved on to the next in the series


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this last night and loved it. Of course, I pictured Matthew McConaughey the whole time as the lead since he played Mickey in the movie.


Starting this one from the library tonight. First book I've read from this author. She seems to get rave reviews so we'll see.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

To Kill a Mockingbird (Perennial classics)  Book Klub is ongoing (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/board,84.0.html), so the first 6 chapters are 'due' this week. 

Just finished  which is part of Tess Gerritsen's "Rizzoli and Isles" series. Different to the TV series, but I like both.  There's also a short as part of the kindle book which I've still to get to. But, in the meantime, my hold on  Unlucky 13 (Women's Murder Club) came up at the library so I'm reading that. It is, more or less, as expected -- currently a lot of apparently disparate plots and I'm really wondering if they'll all eventually connect.
[/quote]


----------



## Atunah

I just finished

And it was a really nice surprise. Its a paranormal mystery with a former cop that "died" and now she can see and talk to ghosts. She is a paranormal private eye basically. Its a series with 13 books. It had just the right amount of quirkiness and humor combined with mystery and case solving for me. I am really looking forward to reading the rest. I love it when I come across something by chance and like it and then find out there is more of it. 

And now I am on to the 3rd in a great series about a rock band. There are a lot of rockstar romance novels out there, many of them though are in the new adult genre, which I am a bit tired off. So this is adult contemporary romance and I highly recommend the whole series to those that like interesting contempo romance with really great characters. This author is autobuy for me. The first is called "Lick" and I am reading the 3rd now


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Atunah said:


> I just finished
> 
> And it was a really nice surprise. Its a paranormal mystery with a former cop that "died" and now she can see and talk to ghosts. She is a paranormal private eye basically. Its a series with 13 books. It had just the right amount of quirkiness and humor combined with mystery and case solving for me. I am really looking forward to reading the rest. I love it when I come across something by chance and like it and then find out there is more of it.


Looks like I bought that almost 4 years ago. I should move it up my TBR queue.


----------



## Atunah

Ann in Arlington said:


> Looks like I bought that almost 4 years ago. I should move it up my TBR queue.


Yes, move it up. . Its a quick read and I found it very entertaining. I wonder when you bought it 4 years ago if the other books were even out. If you like it now, you'll have 12 more to read. 

You remind me that I need to go way back too and read something that I bought way back. I have been making a fluid reading challenge where I will read at least 1-2 books each month that I already own and paid for with one of those being one of the oldest in my library and the other one of the newest. I am reading a lot on Scribd and KU right now, but I need to work my way through my owned kindle books at the same time. I might make it 3 owned books per month. 
With that rate I should be caught up with my owned pile in 2032, not counting the paper books.


----------



## Sean Sweeney

I'm on my second read of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.... then I have a few books to read before I get back to work.


----------



## alawston

I'm about halfway through Doctor Who: Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor's Last Stand - picked it up to pass a half hour while waiting for my fiancee in Wimbledon last week. Jolly good fun.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Finished Book, Line and Sinker now I'm moving on to 

Really liked Book, Line and Sinker but the library doesn't have the next in the series so I have to wait. Jasper Fforde is great, though, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Thursday Next


----------



## TWErvin2

Technically I'm not reading, but listening to *Origins of a D-List Supervillain* by Jim Bernheimer. I really enjoyed the first novel (*Confessions of a D-List Supervillain*) and am enjoying this prequel as well.

Jim Bernheimer has done a great job with the prequel...one can start of with it or the original and enjoy both.


----------



## deckard

Reading To Kill a Mockingbird 

Not the copy I have but same book.

Deckard


----------



## mphicks

Finished Broken Monsters and now onto In the Kingdom of Ice!


----------



## JeanetteRaleigh

My next read will be a couple of Lynn Kurland's historical/modern romances.  She has a series where someone from our century goes back in time and falls in love.  They're clean romances and unique.


----------



## MnemosyneMuse

I'm only in the first few chapters but I love it so far!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Artful: A Novel by Peter David. It's my borrow from KOLL for August. It's a vampire riff off Oliver Twist -- but moving really slowly so far. Though, perhaps that's to be expected as the author is definitely writing in Dickens' style. Perhaps it'll pick up soon . . . . . .


----------



## Avis Black

Frederick the Great (New York Review Books Classics) by Nancy Mitford

I just finished this and enjoyed it, since the book is written in a breezy, light-hearted fashion that's fun to read, but felt it needed more weight. Frederick the Great had an abusive childhood, and after he became an adult he spent almost a decade up to his eyeballs in battles, and a lighthearted narrative works against this sort of subject matter. Mitford's book really needs to be read in conjunction with a second and a more serious-minded book about Frederick. Nonetheless, it was still a good read.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Finished Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde, it wrapped everything up which was nice. I was surprised to see there are books after it. Anyway I devoured  I love Rainbow Rowell but I was hesitant to read this, I should never have doubted her. It was great, cried through most of it.
Now I'm reading  I'm not much of a Stephen King fan but it sounded interesting.


----------



## Natasha Holme

Wonders of The Universe by Brian Cox. Mind-blowing.


----------



## Avis Black

Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa. Written by the well-respected Japanese film director, I found this enjoyable reading, though it only goes up to about 1948. He spent much of his youth annoying his teachers and obsessed with martial arts. He saw the destruction of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and includes some potent rants against the censorship that the Japanese military inflicted on filmmakers.


----------



## mphicks

I'm currently working my way through Close Reach by Jonathan Moore. Definitely a white-knuckle suspense read!


----------



## Not Here Anymore

Reading a new cozy 
 that I picked up on sale the other day and the next Alix London book, , which opens with a funny scene of the main character reading on-line reviews of her new book. 

The Robert Galbraith books are on my TBR list as well as the Jasper Fforde. Have to move them up.


----------



## derekailes2014

Besides my brother's latest short stories.  I'm reading Strange F**king Stories A Strange Anthology.  I met one of the writers, MP Johnson, at Flashback Weekend in Chicago at the beginning of this month.


----------



## Linjeakel

I'm in an historical mystery series phase at the moment - just finished reading Cut to the Quick: Julian Kestrel #1 by Kate Ross  - this is the first in a new series for me and I enjoyed it enough to to want to read more. My TBR list grows ever longer ... 

Right now I'm reading Heartstone by C J Sansom.  This is book five in the excellent _Shardlake_ series and I thought I'd better get on and read it as #6 will be released in October.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I have both of those! Should probably move 'em up on my list. 

I'm currently reading  It's the third in the Maria Kallio series -- set in Finland.

Will probably then move on to  as it's my KOLL borrow for September. It's by the same author who wrote  which I very much enjoyed.


----------



## Kristine McKinley

I went on a reading binge over the holiday weekend and read the first eight books in the Sullivans series by Bella Andre. I'm going to take a break from romance I think. lol


----------



## madelyneld

I'm reading This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong (I love saying the full title out loud, for some twisted reason). There are some very creepy moments, which combine well with the author's excellent prose and twisted sense of humor.


----------



## KindleGirl

I am in the trial period for the 30 days of KU, so I'm trying out some books that look interesting while I can for free. Finished this one last night  It's part of a series but I'm not sure I'm interested enough to continue. It wasn't a bad book. It held my interest enough, but there are so many books I want to read, not sure I want to spend more time on these.

Started this one last night. Supposed to be lots of humor, so we'll see. So far so good, but I'm not too far in.


----------



## Kirkee

Avis: Love the films of the late, great Akira Kurosawa.  

Finished reading Grain Brain (The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar––Your Brain's Silent Killers) By David Perlmutter, MD.

This book mainly goes into the many ways that gluten harms & outright ruins our health. Incredible book. Anyone having trouble losing weight (even though you eat right & exercise), gluten, more-than-likely, is the culprit. Gluten, high fructose, sugar. The info here is priceless.

Reading presently: Keep the Aspidistra Flying, novel by "Big Brother" himself, George Orwell.


----------



## KTaylor-Green

I am reading 2 books....something I rarely ever do. Reading Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon and Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.


----------



## CherieMarks

Loving Rachel Gibson's just released, WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU. Just about finished and don't want it to end because I love the characters and the story so much. http://www.amazon.com/What-Love-About-Truly-Idaho/dp/0062247395


----------



## mphicks

I'm currently reading and am almost finished with Michael McBride's SUNBLIND. Next up will be John Connolly's upcoming release, THE WOLF IN WINTER.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Well, I bailed on . Billed as 'historical fiction' it was more like a history book with some fictional stuff thrown in than a story told against the backdrop of a particular era. That era was Yugoslavia during the 'breakup' in the late 80's. Nothing much was happening with the fictional characters and it was difficult to follow the historical stuff as it wasn't explained well. I was disappointed because I really liked . I don't know whether the problem was a different historical era that was perhaps harder to capture, or whether it just wasn't written as well or whether, perhaps, the translator (which was a different person) just didn't do as good a job. Shame. 

Not sure where I'll go next . . . . stay tuned.


----------



## Avis Black

The House Of Medici: Its Rise and Fall by Christopher Hibbert

The family started out with interesting characters like Cosimo and Lorenzo, but then began to produce people with nothing remarkable about them and the Medici went downhill fast.


----------



## CherieMarks

Yep. Finished Rachel Gibson's WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU. 

Now I'll start Sarah Combs', BREAKFAST ANYTIME. 

Excited about this read because she lives close to me, and I can't wait to tell everyone about this book!


----------



## Kirkee

Ann: Look up Stoner by John Williams.


----------



## amy666666

My friend recommended a book called "An Eye for a Tooth" by Vincent Charles, and at first I was slightly apprehensive as comedy is a sticky genre and the writer is not well known. For the writer to be able to make the reader 'laugh out loud' through the power of only words, is a credit to their use of the language. I was however, pleasantly surprised by this book. It had me in stitches throughout and the premises of the story was very original - well worth a read! Especially if you are looking for something funny and unique. Made a nice addition to my 2014 book collection. On top of this I also decided to give `The fault in our stars' a read due to the recent film release and am thoroughly enjoying the read, although unfinished!


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

KindleGirl said:


> I am in the trial period for the 30 days of KU, so I'm trying out some books that look interesting while I can for free. Finished this one last night  It's part of a series but I'm not sure I'm interested enough to continue. It wasn't a bad book. It held my interest enough, but there are so many books I want to read, not sure I want to spend more time on these.
> 
> Started this one last night. Supposed to be lots of humor, so we'll see. So far so good, but I'm not too far in.


I enjoyed 28 1/2 Wishes. I think the series gets even better as it goes along. It's the first time in a long while that a series has held my interest for so long. I finally caught up with Thirty-Two and a Half Complications: Rose Gardner Mystery #5 and am anxiously awaiting the next. Team Mason!

Currently reading Crazy Little Thing (A Bell Harbor Novel). It is HILARIOUS!

Can't remember if I mentioned this one the last time I posted here, but this summer I read Andy Weir's The Martian. If you like SciFi with a dose of humor, it's a fabulous book. 

And Paul Reid's When Shadows Fall was an enthralling post WWI love story set in Ireland.


----------



## mphicks

Currently reading A Vision of Fire, but am finding it to be only so-so...


----------



## michaelwlayne

Going old school. Reading Odd Thomas. Fun and spooky.


----------



## 5711

_*The Shanghai Factor*_ by one of my favorite espionage writers, Charles McCarry. A young American wanderer becomes a double agent in modern China and back in the states. It's lighter than McCarry's earlier work but works for me.

Also _*Des Teufels General*_ (The Devil's General), a play from 1946 by German émigré Carl Zuckmayer. The main character is based on WWII Luftwaffe general and WWI ace Ernst Udet. It's serious and comical at the same time, and gives good insight into the mindsets of various Germans in powerful positions. Good stuff. Made into a West German movie with Curd Jürgens and it's on YouTube.

It's in German, but apparently there's an abridged translation in a compilation called _*The Devil's General/Germany: Jekyll and Hyde*_.


----------



## 67499

Just picked up _*I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly*_, by Mary Ladd Gavell - a posthumous collection of short stories that bite but with a gentle fang.


----------



## Kirkee

The Cleaner by Mark Dawson, KB member.  

Looks pretty good so far. I have a feeling am going to be buying a few more
of this author's titles.


----------



## Avis Black

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

I haven't gotten far into this yet, so I can't make a judgment call about it. Part of his thesis is that the Indo-Europeans were the prehistoric people who invented the art of horseback riding, and once they did so, they became the first people to conquer the 'how to move fast over long distances over land' problem and both their language and culture began to spread exponentially compared to other cultures.


----------



## JeanetteRaleigh

The next book on my list is Heather Graham's Beneath a Blood Red Moon.


----------



## KindleGirl

This has been on my TBR list for a while now, and on the recommendation of my daughter, I decided to read it now. Really enjoying it so far. Like the humor.


----------



## Adrian P

I'm reading The Snowman by Jo Nesbo.
It is an interesting mystery novel.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

On vacation.  So I took along some PAPER books I'd been meaning to get to -- ones I figured I wouldn't have any great desire to keep when finished and I figured I could leave them at the cabin we're staying at. 

 is actually the second of a series -- I didn't read the first and there was no loss of continuity. The story stands alone. Basically a big Dan Brown/Indiana Jones type adventure. Features, for a change, a strong female adventurer with a useful male sidekick. Not a bad story, though the overall rating is pretty low. There was a lot of 'willing suspension of disbelief' required but a decent vacation read. NOT deep and meaningful or great literature. Surprisingly, zero romance. 

The other was You've Got Murder which had a unique concept: AI Program who is near sentient notices her programmer has gone missing and starts looking into it with the help of a couple of humans who recognizes there's more to the 'program' than just code. I enjoyed it -- just sorry it wasn't on Kindle. The link is to the paper book. There are 4 in the series (this was the first); if they were on kindle I'd definitely keep reading but I found I didn't much care for the font/size in the printed book. Such a First World Problem!


----------



## Kirkee

Ann: Got another one for you. "The Professor and the Madman" - A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester.
You'll need a strong stomach for certain passages, though. Could induce nightmares.    

Ya got your heads-up.


----------



## mphicks

Haven't started it just yet, but up next is The Deep, Nick Cutter's next horror release.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished  which is the next in the series after Lucifer's Gospel earlier. Same Main Character, different boy sidekick. . . . a couple of plot oopsies but generally enjoyable. Good vacation read. 

Will be starting  shortly. The kindle edition is priced way to high so I have it in paper. Number 5 of an ongoing series.

Also had  delivered to my Kindle Tuesday, so I'll probably get that up pretty soon.

Oh, and I finished the latest Galbraith/Rowling story  which I very much enjoyed. Got to take it in small doses, however, as there were some rather gruesome descriptions.

Forgot one: I was looking for something a bit short and completely different after the Galbraith and before the Hill, so I picked  which was a Kindle First offering this month. Comes out for real Oct 1. I'm about half way -- it's fine so far; definitely a palate cleanser!


----------



## Kristine McKinley

Just finished  and I LOVED it! I'm a fan of Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs and this was right up my alley. Was a great quality story and writing. So happy I've got a new series to devour.


----------



## Joseph J Bailey

I tend to read a few books at once. If one captures my fancy more than others, I will go through it faster than others. In no particular order, I'm reading:

 I'm really excited about _Revelation Space_ as I have been enjoying SF quite a bit lately.
 _Somatics_ has given me quite a bit of good information on releasing tension in various parts of the body.
 Two of my favorite subjects in one book!
 _Everpresent Origin_ is a book I never got to read in college so I'm working on it now.

_Body Flow_ by Scott Sonnon is a good primer on natural movement.

_Systema Manual_ by Komarov provides quite a bit of depth on a martial art (Systema) that does not have much material available in English.

From here, I'll be exploring some space opera and Eckhart Tolle.

Happy reading!


----------



## Cleo Derse

Currently listening to N.K. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms on audio book!  Really loving it, too.  What a great high fantasy story!


----------



## KindleGirl

Started this one last night...new author for me.


----------



## Guest

Just finished "Personal" by Lee Child. I love to see how Jack Reacher figures things out and dispatches the bad guys.


----------



## mlewis78

Just started Eleanor Roosevelt Volume 1 1884-1933 by Blanche Wiesen Cook in paperback, which I've had for about 10 years. While watching the Ken Burns series about the Roosevelts, I got this out. Pages have darkened, especially around the edges.  I just can't see spending $13 for the kindle version when I already have it in paper.










http://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Roosevelt-Blanche-Wiesen-Cook-ebook/dp/B00AFW4V8U/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1411328855&sr=1-3&keywords=eleanor+roosevelt

Just finished *The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven* by *Sherman Alexie*, a set of related short stories that were 1.99 a few months ago as a kindle book monthly special. I'm still reading *Ultrametabolism *by *Mark Hyman, M.D.* (bought in paperback for some forgotten reason -- tired of carrying this around). http://www.amazon.com/Ultrametabolism-Simple-Plan-Automatic-Weight-ebook/dp/B000GCFD6I/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1411329330&sr=1-9&keywords=mark+hyman


----------



## Nancy Drew

So far, so good, can't put it down!!

http://tinyurl.com/suicideflowers


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

This book is completely sucking away all my spare time:



It's about a young woman who's the seventh wife of an older man in religious society of polygamists, how she views outsiders, and the secrets she harbors. I'm totally absorbed and can't wait to see how things unfold.


----------



## Geoff Jones

Big thumbs up for _Pines_ by Blake Crouch. I had never heard of him before, but I loved it. Great thriller with sci-fi elements. It reads like The Fugitive + Twin Peaks + The Twilight Zone.

Excited to start up on the 2nd one (_Wayward_).


----------



## KindleGirl

I'm in the middle of this one....second book in the trilogy...

Very good...maybe even better than the first one!


----------



## Atunah

Reading the second in a Steampunk romance series right now.



Love this world. I find it a different take on vampires, weres and the aristocracy.


----------



## Sarah_Brownlee

Right now I'm reading 'Year of the Tiger' by Lisa Brackman. It's not my usual genre, but it was a birthday gift (I suspect it had something to do with me being a tiger in the Chinese Zodiac!). I'm still at the beginning, but I find it quite intriguing and also very witty - the author really knows how to make fun of people in a clever way! Haha


----------



## Avis Black

The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton

I just finished this and enjoyed it quite a lot. It's very good overview of the literary work of the time.


----------



## WHDean

1. Just finished _The Sisters Brothers _by Patrick DeWitt. I was surprised that I liked it so much. I may read it again. (That's saying something for me because I only finish about 1 in 10 books the first time around).

2. Finished _The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements _by Sam Kean. Okay, but I thought it could've been better than it was. I was also annoyed by the author's embrace of the "jokey style," which only ever works for that narrow subclass of people who share the same cutesy sense of humour.

3. Read James Gleick's _The Information_, too. This was first-rate piece of nonfiction.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson

I've just finished reading _The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. _

http://www.amazon.com/Guernsey-Literary-Potato-Peel-Society-ebook/dp/B002R88G4U/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1412239875&sr=1-2&keywords=the+guernsey+literary+and+potato+peel+pie+society+kindle

A gentle touching story written in the form of letters. Loved it.


----------



## mphicks

About a quarter of the way through The Black by Paul Cooley.


----------



## Jennifer R P

Random issue of Bastion SF Magazine somebody sent me. It's more Asimov's than Analog, I think... (Fairly new zine).


----------



## Ann in Arlington

So, I finished . 5th of the series and very satisfying. 4 star. Only issue is that the kindle version is priced quite high; but I found a paperback for a reasonable price and read it instead. (Couldn't find it via the library either.  ) Will definitely continue the serires.

Moved on to a 4th Doctor book: one of a series of titles reissued for the 50th anniversary.  I was disappointed. I think I got a third of the way in, or maybe a bit more, and just found the writing to be fairly pedestrian and the story too confusing. It's 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey' and, while that works pretty well on the TV show, the guy just didn't pull it off in the book. When there's popping back and forth and crossing timelines, a reader has to be able to know which 'version' of the doctor and companion is which and he just didn't do that well. So, I gave it a courtesy 2 stars only because I did get fairly far in, but, really, as a DNF my usual rating would be 1. 

Then, looking for something fairly short I picked up . I'd gotten it as a Kindle first one month. First 15% and the characters were not interesting to me at all. And the structure was confusing with the odd chapter about characters one hadn't met yet with no clear explanation of how they fit. And the chapter didn't make it clear either. It's a technique I've seen used effectively by others but it wasn't working for me. And the style left me cold. So, another DNF, 1 star. 

So finally went with one I'd had on my list for a while by an author I know well: . I've only read about 6% but that's enough to know I'll not be giving up on this one.  Only problem is that I realize, in looking it up for the link just now, it's the 2nd in a series. Turns out I do have the first  so I'll probably put that in the queue to get to sooner rather than later. No problem so far, however, following things.


----------



## SidneyW

I'm reading Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach. Interesting thriller with three red-haired women who band together once they learn they're being stalked by the same serial killer. He's planning their deaths as his big, final event.

It's not my favorite by Katzenbach, that would still be In the Heat of Summer, but it's still a pretty nice psychological thriller.


----------



## KindleGirl

I started this one the other day...good so far.


----------



## Natasha Holme

I've just read Wonder by RJ Palacio. Enjoyed it so much that I'm now on the 'extra chapter' book for Wonder: The Julian Chapter by RJ Palacio.


----------



## Jennifer R P

Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton.

It's...okay, but I'm starting to think that the corporate clone thing is becoming too much of a fad.


----------



## mphicks

Started in on Factory Town this morning. Very surreal and trippy.


----------



## Russell Brooks

Currently reading THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown. So far it's interesting even though I find that some parts are dragging.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this the other day....awesome book. 

Onto this one


----------



## Avis Black

The Cattle Queen of Montana by Elizabeth Smith Collins

I like read old West memoirs from time to time, and though this started slow, it picked up and became quite dramatic. Though it shares a title with the Barbara Stanwyck movie, there doesn't seem to be any real connection between the two works.


----------



## Natasha Holme

I'm 7% into The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Really rather enjoying it.


----------



## Avis Black

Child Life in Colonial Days by Alice Morse Earle

The author has written several works of cultural history, and I find them very interesting and useful for doing period research.


----------



## Jane917

My book from the Lending Library this month. I am really enjoying it.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Gee -- it's been a while, let's see what I've been up to

I did finish . As I mentioned, it was the 2nd in a series and it turns out I do have the first . Had no trouble following the action; I'd give it 4 stars and will definitely read the first as well. . . . and later numbers if she goes on with the series.

In the meantime I moved on to the latest in a series I know well and enjoy, . Quite satisfying, definitely 4 stars. Main plot all tied up with just a few thin threads of hints of things to come.

Next up was  which I'd gotten a while back; it's a re-issuing of a book from the 'golden age' of British mystery. Sort of a locked room mystery, with some Christie-like elements. Enjoyable read, 4 stars.

For a change, I moved on to  by our own Mike Hicks, he of Kreelan fame. This is, apparently, the first in a series that's a sort of alternate WWII history. I liked the set up premise, and, as always, it's well written, but went a little too far in the direction of 'horror' for my preferences, so I'd call it 3 stars.

Most recently I finished  which is a gothic-ish romance. Paranormal elements but nothing too weird. Friendly like.  I've enjoyed quite a few titles by this author and will, no doubt, read her again. 4 stars.

And I'm now well into  in the Matthew Shardlake series. Though a long book, it reads quickly because it's well written and interesting to me.


----------



## DMBaillie

I'm Currently Reading:



I've started reading the Sookie Stackhouse series this year, after watching the TV series from start to finish, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I've found the storylines to be pretty similar to the TV series, the producers obviously sticking to a good formula although some of the characters are different, obviously due to who works well on the screen.


----------



## anguabell

I finished _*Thrilling Cities*_ by Ian Fleming, a book of travel essays by the author of James Bond books. The first half was interesting and fun, in a dry British humor manner. A bit dated, perhaps.


I am now reading _*The Ghost Bride*_ as my Halloween reading. It is an interesting book that takes place among Chinese immigrants in Malaysia in 19th century and tells a romantic and ghostly story of a young girl betrothed to a dead man. Many ghosts in various stages of decay, a lot of interesting food. No gloomy and drastic socio-historical lectures are involved (so far, I am in the middle), so it's a pleasant relaxing read. Nice cover, isn't it?


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

Currently reading a non-fiction title and a novel simultaneously:



^Really getting a LOT out of this book. If you've ever been called 'shy' or 'introverted', or consider yourself contemplative, creative, or a deep-thinker, this book will help you reframe those traits in a positive light.



A light love story involving a dog. About halfway through and liking it so far.


----------



## BRONZEAGE

Just started The Luminaries, a daunting size ! 

Favorites in historical fiction recently: All The Light We Cannot See, The Daughters of Mars, and Transatlantic. As to the latter, I've met Colum McCann; nice fellow and great sense of humor.


----------



## NogDog

_A Night in the Lonesome October_, by Roger Zelazny -- unfortunately not enKindled.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

One of my KU reads this month: _I Am Spartacus__ by Kirk Douglas



Enjoying it very much. Douglas produced the movie Spartacus, and it was the first film to credit a blacklisted Hollywood scriptwriter (or other artist) under his real name. Google is your friend if you're not familiar with the Hollywood Blacklist or the McCarthy witchhunts._


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Does he address the infamous scene where one of the slaves is wearing a wristwatch?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Ann in Arlington said:


> Does he address the infamous scene where one of the slaves is wearing a wristwatch?


Well, I don't know how infamous it is...it's an anachronism...happens in a lot of films. But at any rate, they haven't started filming yet.

Betsy


----------



## inuyashatokikyo

I'm reading Sara 1, 2, 3 by Esther, Jerry and Abraham Hicks. I really enjoy reading these books.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished up  over the weekend. It's part of the Matthew Shardlake series. Though a long book, it reads quickly because it's well written and interesting to me. I'd give it a solid 4 stars.

Then, for something different, I started  which is a Tom Clancy book. But, I'm pretty sure he didn't write most of it.  His name is big on the cover, but there is another author credited. I'm giving it 1 star because it's a DNF for me . . . . . I got to about a third of the way in and nothing much had happened except page after page of descriptions of weapons with on or two short bits of action. Just dull. It's the 3rd in the Jack Ryan Jr series, of which the first 2 were o.k. But I'm done with it now because it's not worth my time any more.

So . . . . I think next I'll move on to  which I picked up about a month ago. It's a historical set in 17th century Amsterdam. So, we'll see!


----------



## mphicks

Just started in on an ARC of Bill Nye's UNDENIABLE


----------



## Avis Black

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart

I've been rereading an old classic fantasy series. Whenever anyone asks me for a fantasy recommendation, I always pick this book.


----------



## lehelvandor

I've been re-reading a lot of Borges and Philip K. Dick, but it seems the year will probably end with the reading of one of Ray Bradbury's last books, Greentown Tinseltown. It is thin and many little gems in it, so just waiting for winter holidays to be in the right mood (and peace and quiet... says he who hopes).


----------



## markhealy

I'm working my way through The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.  I don't read much fantasy these days but I've heard so many good things about this one I had to give it a try.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished up  and quite enjoyed it. A 4 star read and cheaper now, I think, than when I bought it. Basically country girl is married to an Amsterdam trader who needs a wife. The time period is late 1600s. Feels a bit like Du Maurier's _Rebecca_ at first but the story soon goes in a much different direction.

Read a couple of shorter works that had come to my attention:

 is a Lady Julia Grey mystery. A short novel. Enjoyable as always, though I'll be very happy to see another full length novel in this series! 4 stars.

 is a Kindle Single by Anthony Horowitz. It's a new Sherlock Holmes short story. Horowitz has been blessed by the Conan Doyle estate to write Holmes and I think he does a very good job of capturing the style of the original. It was a clever mystery and did not disappoint. 4 stars.

And then last night started  which is a Kindle First book -- officially released the first of next month but one of 4 available free to Prime Members (or at a discount for others) in November. It's steam punk -- not quite young adult but not completely grown up either. So far there's a girl with a clockwork heart that's failing, the doctor who designed it is being tried for murder, and her parents have been kidnapped by some group that wants their designs for other clockwork prosthetics. She and her brother and their friends have to find 'em before they're killed, and/or she dies. It looks like it will be fun! This is a full length novel, but not as long as what I often read.


----------



## mphicks

I'm approaching the half-way mark of The Three Body Problem.


----------



## EC Sheedy

I'm at the 70 percent mark on Sheila Riley's THE BLACK MADONNA. Lots of history in this book about the English Civil War--along with a good romance. Enjoying it.   

Oh, and this is the first in a trilogy, methinks...


----------



## NogDog

mphicks said:


> I'm approaching the half-way mark of The Three Body Problem.


How's the translation? I read a couple of his short works that were pretty good, though a bit dry feeling -- but I wasn't sure how much to attribute that to the translator.


----------



## mphicks

NogDog said:


> How's the translation? I read a couple of his short works that were pretty good, though a bit dry feeling -- but I wasn't sure how much to attribute that to the translator.


Some of the dialog feels a bit stilted (I'm chalking that up to the translation), but overall I'm enjoying it.


----------



## 67499

I'm re-reading Donald E. Westlake/Richard Stark's hard-nosed crime series about a thief named Parker, reading some beautifully covered 1960s paperbacks I bought years ago. Parker's fierce but he's also a self-aware sociopath, which makes him interesting as well as frightening. I'm working on _*The Hunter*_ now (as *Point Blank*, it was made into a Lee Marvin movie, very good because the actor's rough-edged look is much as Parker is described in the books).


----------



## balaspa

Strings my Allison Dickson


----------



## RJMcDonnell

I'm reading The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. A couple of years ago I read an article that listed the Top 10 favorite novels of various mystery writers. The Black Dahlia appeared on the list of three of my favorites. It's told from the POV of an LA detective and takes place in 1946/47. My father was a Pennsylvania State Police Detective during that era, so I'm connecting with the period dialogue and other unique cultural features.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Well, I finished  which is a Kindle First book -- officially released the first of next month but one of 4 available free to Prime Members (or at a discount for others) in November. It's steam punk -- not quite young adult but not completely grown up either. I enjoyed it . . . good amount of adventure, a hint of romance. You are just sort of thrown into the world -- but it's not hard to figure out what's going on. I give it 4 stars.

Following that I read . It was o.k. 3 stars. Decent story, but there was a lot of repetition of back story. We were told multiple times about the scars a character had from an accident and why she wasn't a doctor really. There was at least one case of "well, that's incredibly convenient for the plot" at which I sort of rolled my eyes.

And then I started . Wow. I'd heard good things but I still started it with some skepticism. (I've learned that I tend to be more critical than many.) Call it Robinson Crusoe mashed up with ApolloThirteen: It's the story of a guy who's part of a mission to Mars in the not-too-distant future. A storm forces the team to depart early and as they're moving to their escape craft, he gets hit by flying debris and is believed dead by the rest of the crew. Spoiler alert: he's not! But they've left and he's stuck there. He has to figure out how he can survive until the next planned mission arrives AND how he can get to where that mission is supposed to land which isn't exactly close to the current site. Plus there's: what are the rest of the crew doing and how does Mission Control react to the situation. Really, really interesting -- I stayed up way too late to finish it. I'd give it a rare 5 stars.

I am now currently reading . Historical fiction coupled with secret organization conspiracy intrigue. Told from the point of view of Mozart's older sister who's trying to work out if his death was really natural causes, and, if he was poisoned, who did it and why. Enjoying it so far.


----------



## Natasha Holme

Write. Publish. Repeat. I'm finding it massively repetitive, which is most frustrating.


----------



## Thomas Watson

Currently reading *The Wanderer *by Fritz Leiber, and *A Conscious Stillness *by Edwin Way Teale and Ann Zwinger.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Natasha Holme said:


> Write. Publish. Repeat. I'm finding it massively repetitive, which is most frustrating.


Well, it's got "Repeat" right in the title!


----------



## Linjeakel

Ann in Arlington said:


> And then I started . Wow. I'd heard good things but I still started it with some skepticism. (I've learned that I tend to be more critical than many.) Call it Robinson Crusoe mashed up with ApolloThirteen: It's the story of a guy who's part of a mission to Mars in the not-too-distant future. A storm forces the team to depart early and as they're moving to their escape craft, he gets hit by flying debris and is believed dead by the rest of the crew. Spoiler alert: he's not! But they've left and he's stuck there. He has to figure out how he can survive until the next planned mission arrives AND how he can get to where that mission is supposed to land which isn't exactly close to the current site. Plus there's: what are the rest of the crew doing and how does Mission Control react to the situation. Really, really interesting -- I stayed up way too late to finish it. I'd give it a rare 5 stars.


I've had this one on my 'maybe' list for a while but couldn't make my mind up whether to read it or not - I may have to push it further up the list if it's really that good.


----------



## bobbic

After watching some more Jeeves and Wooster DVDs from the series, I decided to go to the source and read some of the original Wodehouse stories. This one isn't in the Jeeves series, but another of his.


----------



## Natasha Holme

Ann in Arlington said:


> Well, it's got "Repeat" right in the title!


Silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly silly me.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Linjeakel said:


> I've had this one on my 'maybe' list for a while but couldn't make my mind up whether to read it or not - I may have to push it further up the list if it's really that good.


You and I seem to like many of the same things so, while I can't promise, I think you'll enjoy it. If you don't, I'll buy you dinner next time you're in DC.


----------



## sstroble

autobiography of the most humble man in uniform I ever met:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Great-Thou-Walter-Richardson-ebook/dp/B003T0GGBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416097206&sr=1-1&keywords=how+great+thou+art+by+walter+richardson


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

Ann in Arlington said:


> And then I started . Wow. I'd heard good things but I still started it with some skepticism. (I've learned that I tend to be more critical than many.) Call it Robinson Crusoe mashed up with ApolloThirteen: It's the story of a guy who's part of a mission to Mars in the not-too-distant future. A storm forces the team to depart early and as they're moving to their escape craft, he gets hit by flying debris and is believed dead by the rest of the crew. Spoiler alert: he's not! But they've left and he's stuck there. He has to figure out how he can survive until the next planned mission arrives AND how he can get to where that mission is supposed to land which isn't exactly close to the current site. Plus there's: what are the rest of the crew doing and how does Mission Control react to the situation. Really, really interesting -- I stayed up way too late to finish it. I'd give it a rare 5 stars.


Epic, isn't it? One of my all-time favorite Kindle reads.


----------



## Natasha Holme

The Martian by Andy Weir is by far my favourite read of 2014.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Natasha Holme said:


> The Martian by Andy Weir is by far my favourite read of 2014.


Yes -- I'd say that's true for me as well.


----------



## bobbic

That one's got "movie" written all over it.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

So, I've just been binge-reading the first five books in the Karen Vail series by Alan Jacobson on Kindle Unlimited. She's a serial killer profiler for the FBI and the author had been a profiler, apparently. The first four were good--not great, but good. I enjoyed them. The fifth required such a great suspension of disbelief that I just couldn't do it. Oh, well. I finished the book, but I think I've now finished the series.

So now, I'm reading 

House of Cards, also on KU.

And I'm going to borrow The Martian from Ann tomorrow. 

Betsy


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

bobbic said:


> That one's got "movie" written all over it.


I heard that's in the works. Sure hope it happens.


----------



## bobbic

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> I heard that's in the works. Sure hope it happens.


Knew it! Hope it does, too. Looks good.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

All I'm saying is Don't Wait For The Movie. Read the BOOK!


----------



## KindleGirl

Finished this one the other day 

and now it's time to start a Christmas book  or life will get too busy and I won't get any read. Good so far and I think it will be a quick read.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I finished . Historical fiction coupled with secret organization conspiracy intrigue. Told from the point of view of Mozart's older sister who's trying to work out if his death was really natural causes, and, if he was poisoned, who did it and why. I liked it well enough. . . . . didn't have quite the deep thriller feel I was sort of expecting, but that is probably a fault in my expectations rather than in the book's presentation.  Had a lot of Mozart references (duh) and music commentary which I rather liked. 

Moved on to . I've had this for quite a while and figured it was about time to dig in. I'm at just about 14% and feel like it's developing _very_ slowly. Not ready to throw in the towel, yet -- still interested to see where it's going -- just wish it would start moving a bit faster.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Just finished _The Martian_ 


that I borrowed from Ann (by borrowing her backup Kindle with the book on it--thanks, Ann!). Didn't love it as much as Ann did, but I'd call it a definite four stars. I definitely enjoyed it. I found the log entries at the beginning kind of jarring without context, but got used to them as the context developed. There were two passages set on Mars late in the book that I found kind of weird as they were in 3rd person when all the rest were first person log entries....but a minor nit. If you like science-based science fiction, I think you'll enjoy this suspenseful novel. There were some lines in it that made me laugh out loud, so it's got humor as well as suspense.

While I've got Ann's PW,  I'm going to read Cold Grave


which was also on the PW.

She doesn't have a collection labelled "things I'd rather people not know I read" so that part hasn't been fun at all. 

Betsy


----------



## Ann in Arlington

We can get together next week, Betsy, so you can give me back my back up kindle.  Read all you want until then . . . . . If you dig around my cloud you might find some interesting stuff. 

I finished reading A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy Book 1)  last night. I was somewhat skeptical as I'm not into the whole 'vampires are sexy' thing . . . . but it's handled well. What appealed to me is the 'ancient manuscript with secrets' bit. But mostly, it's a romance. Maybe not mostly, but definite romance elements. I liked it well enough that I'll read the 2nd of the trilogy at some point, I expect.

And then moved on to No Wake Zone (Marley Clark Mysteries Book 2) . It's the second of a (so far) 2 book series. The first is Dear Killer (Marley Clark Mysteries Book 1) . It features a retired female Army officer who's based on the woman who has been my boss at HRB for the last half dozen years. It's written by her best friend from forever. I'd read the first because of the connection to my boss, and it was good -- so I'm reading the second one now.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Just finished _The Martian_
> 
> 
> that I borrowed from Ann (by borrowing her backup Kindle with the book on it--thanks, Ann!). Didn't love it as much as Ann did, but I'd call it a definite four stars. I definitely enjoyed it. I found the log entries at the beginning kind of jarring without context, but got used to them as the context developed. There were two passages set on Mars late in the book that I found kind of weird as they were in 3rd person when all the rest were first person log entries....but a minor nit. If you like science-based science fiction, I think you'll enjoy this suspenseful novel. There were some lines in it that made me laugh out loud, so it's got humor as well as suspense.


It's on sale for $3 right now, for anyone still pondering it.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> It's on sale for $3 right now, for anyone still pondering it.


That's a good price! I think I paid $4 or $5 but saw it at $9.99 a few days ago . . . . .


----------



## hamerfan

My first time ever reading this novel (and I've only seen parts of the movie):



I'm up to chapter 7 and liking it so far.


----------



## Geoff Jones

I just started Flight of the Silvers. I'm intrigued but not completely hooked yet. 

Has anyone here read it? What did you think? Should I stick it out or try something else?


----------



## anguabell

I finished *Jackaby *- a nice, rather simple book of Victorian-era adventures of a plucky young heroine and a male protagonist who is kind of a cross between Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoyed it. The author did not feel compelled to engage in lengthy demonstrations of his historical research, so it's moving forward without spoon-feeding the reader with all props and attributes of the times. I'll definitely look for his next books.



I am now reading *Time and Again*. For some reason I find it deeply disturbing, not necessarily in a bad way, but disturbing nonetheless. Too early to say what exactly bothers me, I am only at 20%. We shall see.


----------



## mphicks

Geoff Jones said:


> I just started Flight of the Silvers. I'm intrigued but not completely hooked yet.
> 
> Has anyone here read it? What did you think? Should I stick it out or try something else?


Stick with it! Frankly, I loved the heck out of it. I read it at the start of the year and am eagerly waiting for the next one.


----------



## Geoff Jones

Thanks - will do!


----------



## 67499

Re-reading for the millionth time C. S. Lewis' *Out of the Silent Planet*, the first sci-fi I ever read and still think the best! About a man kidnapped onto a space ship and sent off apparently as human sacrifice to the very strange planet of Malacandra.


----------



## Atunah

I just finished a great American Historical Romance by KBoard member Ellen O'Connell


I think this was her first HR. Highly recommend this one. So so good. I tried to write a review over on goodreads, but as usual I can't really put in words how it felt. I described it as feeling authentic. There is such a realness to it with the characters and their interaction. Glad she has a few others now I can read.

I think this is it means to find a gem in the sea of gazillion books out there.


----------



## Linjeakel

Well, after all the recommendations here, I finally got around to reading Andy Weir's _The Martian_.



I found it a little slow right at the very beginning and it took me a while to start really caring about Mark and how or if he was going to survive. The story quickly gathers momentum though and his sense of humour had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, even in what were really dire situations. The part where he


Spoiler



accidentally superglues his hand to his helmet


 is one that springs to mind. I think I also began to enjoy it more when


Spoiler



we started to find out what was happening on Earth and on board the _Hermes_ too


 - it added another dimension to the story.

I'm in total awe of the author and the amount of research that must have been necessary to write such a book and his ingenious twisting and turning as one idea after another doesn't turn out quite as planned. I thought it might seem unrealistic, but I was totally convinced that it would all be possible. A very enjoyable read.

Edit:
1. Just read that this is Andy Weir's first novel (Wow) and that it was self-published. (Go Indies!)
2. It's been picked up by Fox with a view to taking it to the screen. Not sure how the humour (a hugely important part of the book) would transfer.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Linjeakel said:


> Well, after all the recommendations here, I finally got around to reading Andy Weir's _The Martian_.
> 
> 
> 
> I found it a little slow right at the very beginning and it took me a while to start really caring about Mark and how or if he was going to survive. The story quickly gathers momentum though and his sense of humour had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, even in what were really dire situations. The part where he
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> accidentally superglues his hand to his helmet
> 
> 
> is one that springs to mind. I think I also began to enjoy it more when
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> we started to find out what was happening on Earth and on board the _Hermes_ too
> 
> 
> - it added another dimension to the story.
> 
> I'm in total awe of the author and the amount of research that must have been necessary to write such a book and his ingenious twisting and turning as one idea after another doesn't turn out quite as planned. I thought it might seem unrealistic, but I was totally convinced that it would all be possible. A very enjoyable read.
> 
> Edit:
> 1. Just read that this is Andy Weir's first novel (Wow) and that it was self-published. (Go Indies!)
> 2. It's been picked up by Fox with a view to taking it to the screen. Not sure how the humour (a hugely important part of the book) would transfer.


Yeah -- on the one hand, it seems _made_ to be a movie. . . . on the other hand, there's a lot of one guy talking to himself and that could get really old. His journal entries are a little bit stream of consciousness and that could be hard to pull off on film. People want to see action but the most interesting parts, for me, were when he explained how he made something work. I mean, he didn't ask a computer for help -- he had ideas and did the math and it worked, or didn't.


----------



## I&#039;m a Little Teapot

I've been meaning to read The Magicians (Lev Grossman) since 2009, and I'm just now getting around to it. I have no idea why I put it off for so long, because I'm loving it. 

Well, mostly loving it. The protagonist is ... I wouldn't say unlikeable, but it's as though he's not even really there. Which I suppose is fitting, given his own opinions about himself. There's a certain transparency to him, as though at least one of his parents was a window. 

The writing is sublime. It's been quite some time since I read anything beautifully written (as opposed to functional), and this definitely delivers.


----------



## KindleGirl

I got this from the library the other day, so tonight this is what I'm starting. I've enjoyed the others in this series, so I expect this one will be just as good.


----------



## Gertie Kindle

I've been watching Inspector George Gently on Netflix so I thought I'd try the books. They were written in the 50's and 60's and use British terms from the mid-century. I read a lot of British authors, but some of the terms Alan Hunter uses have me stumped. Still, I'm enjoying the books very much. At the beginning, he tells you quite firmly that he doesn't write mysteries. It's all about solving the crime and how Gently goes about it.

Four book omnibus $8.99


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Recently finished up No Wake Zone (Marley Clark Mysteries Book 2) . It's the second of a (so far) 2 book series. The first is Dear Killer (Marley Clark Mysteries Book 1) . It features a retired female Army officer who's based on the woman who has been my boss at HRB for the last half dozen years. It's written by her best friend from forever. I'd read the first because of the connection to my boss, and it was good -- so I'm reading the second one now.

I think I liked this one better than the first . . . so that bodes well for additional entries in the series. I'd give it 4 stars. Satisfying mystery and interesting characters. Cozy-ish but not completely so.

Am now reading Blue Labyrinth (Agent Pendergast series)  which is the latest in the series. Lots of disparate threads that I expect will start to come together soon . . . . .


----------



## sstroble

From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury.


----------



## sstroble

[quote author=Ann in Arlington link It features a retired female Army officer who's based on the woman who has been my boss at HRB for the last half dozen years. It's written by her best friend from forever. I'd read the first because of the connection to my boss, and it was good -- so I'm reading the second one now.]

Ann: Curious as to how your boss reacted to having a book based on her?


----------



## Ann in Arlington

sstroble said:


> [quote author=Ann in Arlington link It features a retired female Army officer who's based on the woman who has been my boss at HRB for the last half dozen years. It's written by her best friend from forever. I'd read the first because of the connection to my boss, and it was good -- so I'm reading the second one now.]
> 
> Ann: Curious as to how your boss reacted to having a book based on her?


She was cool . . . this was her very best friend from kindergarden, after all. And I think she got to read it before it was published.

My impression: after reading the books . . . the character isn't really HER . . . . just shares some similar backstory.  But my boss is mentioned by name in the acknowledgements.


----------



## bobbic

Just finished When Elves Attack by Tim Dorsey. I found it a bit disjointed and it read almost like a screenplay. Lots of incomplete sentences. Maybe that's just because it's a special Christmas book (shorter). Can't say, since I haven't read any of his other work. Everybody says how funny they are, but I didn't see much funny in this one except for the idea of lots of crazy people eventually meeting up at the same place.

When Elves Attack: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Nutbars of the Sunshine State (Serge Storms series Book 14)


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished up Blue Labyrinth (Agent Pendergast series)  last night. Over all quite enjoyable -- some 'suspension of disbelief' type elements but I expect that in the Pendergast series. Still a fun read.

I also recently finished Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life  which I also quite enjoyed. Fr. James Martin S.J. (official chaplain of the Colbert Report  ) explains why being religious/spiritual doesn't mean you have to be all doom and gloom.

Next up is my prime borrow for this month The Thief Taker . I started it late last night and then forced myself to put it down as it was already fairly late and I could see it was going to be a book that would keep me up if I let it. So that's a good sign.


----------



## mphicks

Started in on the new Clancy/Greaney book yesterday, and am about a third of the way through.



Greaney's a natural successor to Clancy, and I do believe this franchise is in good hands. So far, it's shaping up to be a great read.


----------



## Jane917

Ann in Arlington said:


> All I'm saying is Don't Wait For The Movie. Read the BOOK!


I am convinced! Just ordered it sent to my voyager!


----------



## martyns

I'm reading 'Nation' by Terry Pratchett. It kind of doesn't feel like discworld - but it feels like Pratchett. I'm absolutely loving it though, it had me laughing out loud last night. The interaction between Ermintrude and Mau is amazing, it's just brilliant!


----------



## bobbic

martyns said:


> I'm reading 'Nation' by Terry Pratchett. It kind of doesn't feel like discworld - but it feels like Pratchett. I'm absolutely loving it though, it had me laughing out loud last night. The interaction between Ermintrude and Mau is amazing, it's just brilliant!


I'll try that one. Everybody tells me to READ PRATCHETT! and I've tried, but can't seem to get into them. I love British humor, so it's not that. And I like that kind of fantasy, so it's not that, either. LOL. I did just start Witches Abroad, so hopefully I can finish it. maybe I should start with others and work my way up to it?


----------



## I&#039;m a Little Teapot

I wound up reading the whole Magicians trilogy (Lev Grossman) like a crazed fiend. I can't recall the last time I read better world-building or more delicious prose. And the characters I didn't care for in the first book so much all redeemed themselves. These are definitely going on my reread list!

Now it's time for something different, so this evening I started the newest Lee Child book, _Personal_. It's Reacher, so I know what to expect.


----------



## KindleGirl

A friend recommended this one and it's good so far...


----------



## mphicks

Working through some holiday horror!


----------



## JeanneM

I'm on the last few pages of "Run" by Blake Crouch.  It is pretty action-packed, but not what I thought it was going to be.


----------



## KindleGirl

Time for another Christmas book....


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished up The Thief Taker  which was my Prime borrow for December. It was quite good . . . . basically a murder mystery set during the time of plague in London. Well done, I thought -- I'd give it 4 stars -- and would read more by this author. I think this was her (his?) first.

Moved on to Touchstone: A Stuyvesant & Grey Novel (Harris Stuyvesant Book 1) . It's the first in a new series by Laurie R. King who also has the _Mary Russel_ series -- she's the wife of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is in the books, but the feature detective is Mary. Anyway, this is completely different . . . . I inadvertently read the second one first (so I have a tiny bit of 'spoiler' knowledge  ) and liked it well enough to check this one out. There's a lot of exposition and 'characters in their heads' because it's the first in the series. I'd be happy if the story moved a little faster -- but it may also just be that I haven't had as much time to read these last couple of weeks!


----------



## alawston

I made a start the other night on Sarah Pinborough's Beauty -  - going back to the series some time after reading  and . It's brilliant.

(I've got the set of three hardbacks with much nicer covers than the thumbnails above. All three are signed by the author, and I'd forgotten that Sarah had written "Hope all your fairy tales come true!" in my copy of Beauty - given that I'm now organising a fairy tale wedding in the south of France for next year, they do seem to be!


----------



## srf89

Shadowland by Peter Straub. Horror novel based on a magician's magic. It's going to be made into an NBC TV show, expected release Fall 2015. .


----------



## mphicks

I'm three stories into this anthology:


----------



## mphicks

Just started The Last Passenger, this month's Kindle First title.


----------



## Gertie Kindle

Desiree by AnneMarie Selinko

It's the story of Napoleon's first love (and his sister-in-law). First published in the early 50's. Very simply written, but I'm enjoying the story.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished Touchstone: A Stuyvesant & Grey Novel (Harris Stuyvesant Book 1) . It's the first in a new series by Laurie R. King who also has the _Mary Russel_ series -- she's the wife of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is in the books, but the feature detective is Mary. Anyway, this is completely different . . . . I inadvertently read the second one first (so I have a tiny bit of 'spoiler' knowledge  ) and liked it well enough to check this one out. Overall, I enjoyed it . . . . I'll definitely watch for more in this series. . . . . .

Then read a short I'd picked up: The Private Wife of Sherlock Holmes (Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes novella Book 0) . I'd read the rest of the series -- it features Irene Adler as the sleuth and Holmes as a peripheral character. On the Zon this is listed as book "0", but on fictfact they show it as 9, but it's definitely a short.

Next I finished The Story of the Trapp Family Singers . This is the book, by Maria Augusta Trapp, on which _The Sound of Music_ was based. But it goes much beyond the movie into their life when they first arrived in the US as itinerant musicians/refugees. It was quite interesting. We'd actually visited Stowe briefly this past September; now I'd like to go back now that I know a bit more about how they came there.

Today I started the latest in the Maria Kallio seires by Leena Lehtolainen Snow Woman (The Maria Kallio Series Book 4)  which was just released in the last few weeks. Looking forward to a good read. . . . .


----------



## Natasha Holme

Maurice by EM Forster, for my Queer Book Club.


----------



## Tommy Muncie

I'm reading _Good Sex, Great Prayers_ by Brandon Tietz. It's not for the faint hearted but certainly for anyone who like transgressive fiction and isn't too worried about everything being decent and clean.

Also reading Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton. Reading his stuff is like a great big epic comfort blanket to me.


----------



## mphicks

Received an ARC of this one, and so far it's a great read!


----------



## D/W

I'm reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. It's a free borrow if you have Amazon Prime or a Kindle Unlimited subscription.


----------



## Avis Black

Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II by Joseph E. Persico

I've been gradually working my way through this book, and it's pretty good. The author focuses on the interaction between FDR and his military chiefs, and it gives an overview of how and why the high command made the decisions they did. If you want to know why the war went in certain directions and not others, this book is for you.  There's a certain mythology (as well as nonsense and outright conspiracy thinking) in the popular mind that surrounds the military decisions of World War II, and the book is useful for setting things straight.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Finished up the latest in the Maria Kallio series by Leena Lehtolainen Snow Woman (The Maria Kallio Series Book 4) . I enjoyed it . . . maybe not quite as much as earlier ones . . . the mystery seemed a little more disjointed and the solution a little more 'rabbit out of a hat'. One thing to be aware of when reading this series: the names of people and places are all Finnish. Well, the AUTHOR is Finnish and it's set in Finland!  Which is fine, but because of the unfamiliarity I find I have to pay a bit more attention or else those proper nouns all look the same and I end up hopelessly confused. 

Haven't completely decided what to read next . . . got a few things in the queue.


----------



## JPKeel

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23572347-murder-red-ink?from_search=true

Amazing science fiction. was a gift


----------



## Thomas Watson

Just finished reading 

If you are an amateur astronomer or a casual sky gazer concerned about light pollution, find a copy and read this book! I started out thinking I had a pretty good grasp of the issue, but discovered that there's a lot more to this than the visibility of stars at night. A beautifully written personal account of a man trying to understand what natural darkness means, and to understand its value.

If you've never felt any particular need to gaze at the night sky, and wondered what the issue of light pollution was all about, read this book. You might be surprised by what you learn, and quite likely the word "glare" will have a very different meaning when you're done.


----------



## KindleGirl

Finally time for the latest in the Michael Bennett series....


----------



## lorieadair

Excavation by Wendy C. Ortiz


----------



## Tommy Muncie

Still reading the last two I posted about, but in between I've just finished _The Rabbit Ate my Homework_ by Rachel Elizabeth Cole and started _The Wind up Bird Chronicle_ by Haruki Murakami.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

A little over a third of the way through AG Riddle's latest. Talk about a page-turner. You never know what to expect in his books. And here I thought this was going to be just another plane-gone-down survivors' story.



Just finished Anatomy for Runners, which I actually bought for my husband, but when I sampled the first page, I couldn't stop reading. Totally geeked out on biomechanics. For those of you who are runners or serious athletes, this book is an absolute must for pinpointing why you get injured and figuring out how to correct your imbalances:


----------



## soyeljefe

I just started reading Tom Clancy's _Threat Vector._ I really enjoy all of his work


----------



## Thomas Watson

Just starting  First read by this author. He comes highly recommended.


----------



## Gertie Kindle

Just finished



Alan Hunter wrote about 40 of the Inspector Gently books and I'm only on Book 5. The other 35 or so should keep me busy for a while.

Just started


----------



## Reader-Poet

I am reading EASY by Tammara Webber and I can't put it down. I really enjoy reading the New Adult genre with a contemporary setting. I got a bunch of NA books for Christmas. _Yay!_

Any recommendations for good NA books?


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson

Reader-Poet said:


> Any recommendations for good NA books?


Two that have stuck with me are Colleen Hoover's _Hopeless_ (just $2.99 right now) and Jasinda Wilder's _Falling Into Y_ou:


----------



## MichelleB675

and The Walking Dead Compendium 1.


----------



## cinisajoy

Conspiracy by Lucian
The Heart Thief by artofstu
Terminal Reset by AE Williams
and a couple of others.  Note I read mostly authors I find here.


----------



## MarilynVix

Nonfiction: Robin Williams: When The Laughter Stops
Fiction: Prince Lestat


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Moriarty

Holmes world -- but Holmes features at best only peripherally. Well written and a good mystery . . . . . .


----------



## adanlerma

Trying two different kinds of books via Kindle Unlimited :

Catch Me by Terra Kelley (Romance)



and

A Taste of Honey by Tom Benson (Thriller)



Probably read them alternately and see how it goes!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

2015 thread can be found here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,205739.0.html


----------

