December 2020 Reading Thread

[pambaddeley]

I have much the same experience and attitude (though I do read ebooks almost exclusively now). I have found one or two self published authors who have produced a moderately professional product but so few that I'm loathe to try new ones. Books full of typos are one of my biggest grouches. Every time I hit a typo/missing word/muddled phrase it pulls me out of the story and, no matter how good the story, that will quickly destroy my enjoyment of it. The most annoying thing is that they seem to have normalised books with such typos now and I'm finding more and more traditionally published books with excessive typos; I'm currently reading Bone Silence from Alastair Reynolds and it has far too many copy errors in it.

Oh dear, a bit discouraging for those of us who have read and re-read our books before self publishing, until practically square eyed - I even put mine on an e-reader that reads aloud to try to catch any typos that I couldn't "see". Hopefully there are at least no mistakes in mine anyway!

 

[Bick]

Tonight I've started a crime thriller.
The eye thief by M K Farrar.
I'm trying to alternate every book I read, first a SFF and then a spy or crime thriller and then a SFF again

You're a crazy, maverick Danny
The Man Who was Thursday, would really screw with that system...

 

[Parson]

I deal much more in the spoken word than the written word, so I try to be tolerant. I know I'd be shattered if any grammatical or pronunciation errors would cause someone to stop listening. --- I do my best, but I also KNOW that they do creep in.

 

[dask]

I'm trying to alternate every book I read, first a SFF and then a spy or crime thriller and then a SFF again

I try to do the same thing, alternate between SF and non-SF. That way, before my time’s up, I’ll have read everything.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

I have been expecting this sort of reaction. I'm waiting to hear a few others to decide if I bother with it.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it. One was a coming of age story while two is a bit of a smack in the face from reality. It didn't have the sense of wonder that the first one had, but it's a worthy successor.

 

[Bick]

I’ve been reading Take Back Plenty, by Colin Greenland. I’m about 120 pages in, and considering giving up on it, but would appreciate others’ thoughts before I chuck it.

First problem - the blurb on the cover says that Plenty is a ‘ghetto planet’. This clearly leads one assume it’s space opera, set somewhere else in the galaxy, and that the story will be about the lead character somehow rescuing a planet. Not so, Plenty is a small space station orbiting Earth, and the story is all set in the solar system. The blurb lies, basically.

Second problem - the plot and secondary characters are soooo annoying, I’m not sure I can be bothered with it. When you spend every single page hoping everyone in the book other than the protagonist Tabitha will please just disappear never to return (or preferably that they die horribly), it’s a sign things are not well with the cast. Do the twins and Marco $&@# off and leave the story after a short while, or does the reader have to suffer them throughout the book? If it’s the latter, this one is for the op-shop I think.

 

[Vertigo]

Oh dear, a bit discouraging for those of us who have read and re-read our books before self publishing, until practically square eyed - I even put mine on an e-reader that reads aloud to try to catch any typos that I couldn't "see". Hopefully there are at least no mistakes in mine anyway!

It is sad and, of course, unfair to those that do a good job, but I have read quite a lot of self-published books over the last few years and I'm afraid the majority of them did not even get finished. Now I will only try a new self-published author on personal recommendation and even then it would seem my standards for this are higher than some of my friends. I'm not a writer but if I were I would pay a professional to give my work that final polish. I fully understand that such a cost might be difficult for an aspiring writer but anything less would, in my opinion, not be doing justice to my own labours. I'm sure many fast readers would be able to skim over many typos but I'm a slow methodical reader; I read every word as if I was reading out loud and I try to savour every word and every turn of phrase to get the maximum enjoyment from a book. A badly finished book destroys that enjoyment for me at least as effectively as a badly written book.

 

[Vince W]

I’ve been reading Take Back Plenty, by Colin Greenland. I’m about 120 pages in, and considering giving up on it, but would appreciate others’ thoughts before I chuck it.

First problem - the blurb on the cover says that Plenty is a ‘ghetto planet’. This clearly leads one assume it’s space opera, set somewhere else in the galaxy, and that the story will be about the lead character somehow rescuing a planet. Not so, Plenty is a small space station orbiting Earth, and the story is all set in the solar system. The blurb lies, basically.

Second problem - the plot and secondary characters are soooo annoying, I’m not sure I can be bothered with it. When you spend every single page hoping everyone in the book other than the protagonist Tabitha will please just disappear never to return (or preferably that they die horribly), it’s a sign things are not well with the cast. Do the twins and Marco $&@# off and leave the story after a short while, or does the reader have to suffer them throughout the book? If it’s the latter, this one is for the op-shop I think.

Sorry to hear that, Bick. I think I'm the one that recommended it to you. I agree that Marco and co. are difficult to take at times early on and the space opera aspect is not as large as it could be, but I liked Tabitha very much and things do change within the troupe.

 

[Vince W]

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it. One was a coming of age story while two is a bit of a smack in the face from reality. It didn't have the sense of wonder that the first one had, but it's a worthy successor.

Interesting. I haven't heard too many positive reviews so far. What makes it a worthy successor?

 

[Foxbat]

Currently reading James Holland’s Normandy ‘44. Very well written but with one slight side effect. There are certain points in the account of the battle for Normandy when scenes from The Longest Day pop into my head

 

[Parson]

I’ve been reading Take Back Plenty, by Colin Greenland. I’m about 120 pages in, and considering giving up on it, but would appreciate others’ thoughts before I chuck it.

Unfortunately, that's what I did. And I'm fairly sure I'll never be tempted to pick it up again.

 

[Danny McG]

Unfortunately, that's what I did. And I'm fairly sure I'll never be tempted to pick it up again.

Ditto

 

[vanye]

A ripping yarn of similar hue, and most enjoyable, is HMS Ulysses by Alistair McLean - if you can get a copy.

Indeed. Very sad, though.

 

[kythe]

I finally finished the third installment of The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. This is a fantastic series, and I think it is everything Game of Thrones should have been. I started reading GoT years ago, but got lost in the middle of the third book. The pacing was slowing and the entire story is full of gratuitous gore and rape. I stopped watching the TV show during second season for the same reason. GoT attempts to be a gritty fantasy where magic plays more of a background role than a focal point, but I found it too hardcore for my taste.

The First Law series strikes a perfect balance - as the story progresses, you gradually realize the main character perspectives the story follows are actually the villains. The pacing and characterizations hold strong throughout without resorting to excessive violence - even though one main character is a remorseless torturer for the inquisition.

I would also like to add that I have listened to this series in audiobook form, narrated by Steven Pacey. I have "read" several audiobooks this year, but his narration is my favorite. He really brings the story to life, and I enjoyed being able to tell each character apart just from the voice.

 

[Bick]

Regards Take Back Plenty:

Sorry to hear that, Bick. I think I'm the one that recommended it to you. I agree that Marco and co. are difficult to take at times early on and the space opera aspect is not as large as it could be, but I liked Tabitha very much and things do change within the troupe.

No, no worries Vince, I've had it in the tbr pile for quite a while, not sure anyone in particular recommended it.

Unfortunately, that's what I did. And I'm fairly sure I'll never be tempted to pick it up again.

Hmm, a nail in the coffin.

Ditto

Okay, coffin lid nailed shut and locked tight; op-shop it is.
Thanks for feedback guys.

 

[Bick]

It is sad and, of course, unfair to those that do a good job, but I have read quite a lot of self-published books over the last few years and I'm afraid the majority of them did not even get finished. Now I will only try a new self-published author on personal recommendation and even then it would seem my standards for this are higher than some of my friends. I'm not a writer but if I were I would pay a professional to give my work that final polish. I fully understand that such a cost might be difficult for an aspiring writer but anything less would, in my opinion, not be doing justice to my own labours. I'm sure many fast readers would be able to skim over many typos but I'm a slow methodical reader; I read every word as if I was reading out loud and I try to savour every word and every turn of phrase to get the maximum enjoyment from a book. A badly finished book destroys that enjoyment for me at least as effectively as a badly written book.

I'm the same way with reading - I read at the speed of speech, and I'm very conscious of, and intolerant towards, poor writing and typos. In every case that I've tried self-published works they simply haven't reached what I consider to be the minimum standard I demand. I think the benefit of a professional editor is probably not only finding the typos, but its also in improving and polishing the text itself. This is not to say self-pub writers on here do not or cannot produce great work with beautiful writing - I've not read works by everyone on here so couldn't specifically comment on that - but my disappointing encounters with the start of self-pub works to date mean I'm unlikely to spend time and money investigating them.

(There are published, popular authors who I think don't write well, so the chance of me appreciating self-pub amateur writing is very small, I'm afraid - but that probably means I'm not the target market for these books).

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

What makes it a worthy successor?

It wasn't a straight up copy of the first, expanded on some of the ideas put forth in the first and added some new ideas.

 

[Randy M.]

Currently floundering around. Until I decide what to light on, I'm reading short stories -- from Best Ghost Stories of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Hercule Poirot: The Complete Stories and The Christmas Card Crime.

Finished the latter -- enjoyable fluff, with a quite good ghost story, "Blind Man's Hood," by Carter Dickson (a.k.a. John Dickson Carr). Have read a few stories from Two-Handed Engine by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore and will probably return to that in the new year. Now off to The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly -- I seem to be in the mood for older mysteries.

Randy M.

 

[dask]

Finished the latter -- enjoyable fluff, with a quite good ghost story, "Blind Man's Hood," by Carter Dickson (a.k.a. John Dickson Carr). Have read a few stories from Two-Handed Engine by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore and will probably return to that in the new year. Now off to The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly -- I seem to be in the mood for older mysteries.

Randy M.

Mary Kelly? Is this a Jack The Ripper type mystery?

 

[Randy M.]

I noticed the name, too. Nope. Not J-the-R. From Martin Edward's introduction to the novel, Kelly appeared on the British crime scene in the 1950s, just ahead of P. D. James and Ruth Rendall. She wasn't active long, seemed restless with a series character -- her first three novels -- and finally ended her career after a final novel published in 1974. Seems she was taking up her pen again late in life, but ill health precluded finishing another novel.