May Reading Thread

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The Judge

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Well, it's 1 May already, so what are you reading this month?

I've started the third book of the Long Price Quartet, and I'll be looking to read book four thereafter. No plans beyond that at present, though.
 
I've stepped away from sf/f/h for the moment. Currently reading Fer-de-lance by Rex Stout, the first of the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin novels. The ostensible narrator is Goodwin, and I'd almost forgotten how that voice draws you in. Or me, at any rate. Not as cynical or righteous as Philip Marlowe, not quite as ruthless as Sam Spade, Goodwin fills a spot somewhere between that's humorous, somewhat self-effacing, and not usually taken in by the Wolfe-ian bluster. And Wolfe is a distinctive, compelling character in his own right.

Also reading The Garner Files, a memoir by James Garner. I'm drawn to few celebrity memoirs, but Garner was a favorite from when I was growing up and saw reruns of Maverick to the run of The Rockford Files and pretty much everything I've seen of his between and after. The book captures his voice and while I feel there's some glossing over of some things, it's entertaining.

Randy M.
 
Finished reading Stonehenge by Mike Pearson Parker - probably now the definitive book on the subject. It's written in a popular and accessible way, so there's plenty of interesting archaeology without getting bogged down by the details. His The Archaeology of Death and Burial, on the other hand, is a fascinating but academic work I'm slowly getting through.

Looking back at TimeTeam, it's amazing how many leading archaeologists they actually had on the show. Mike Pearson Parker was one of the regular guests.

Absolutely no chance of getting into any fiction any time soon - I have a ton of ancient history, archaeology, and earth science texts to get through! Everything I read these days is related to some form or research, whether through study or for potential future non-fiction writing.
 
I'm struggling to get into fiction at the moment. I tried an old faithful, Susan Cooper's The Grey King, but though I love many things about it, the basic premise doesn't work for me these days.

So I've pulled Darkest Day by Christopher Fowler off my shelf for a reread. At least, I'm pretty sure it's a reread, but I can't remember anything about it and the prologue is unfamiliar. Blurb looks good though.
 
finished system apocalypse by tao wong. is an okay series. some interesting moments.
 
Finished reading Stonehenge by Mike Pearson Parker - probably now the definitive book on the subject. It's written in a popular and accessible way, so there's plenty of interesting archaeology without getting bogged down by the details. His The Archaeology of Death and Burial, on the other hand, is a fascinating but academic work I'm slowly getting through.
so, who built stonehenge for mike pearson and why?
 
Just finished the audiobook of A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and read by Stephen Fry. Fry does a wonderful job reading the book and even made the very dry Mormon section quite entertaining. If you are Sherlock Holmes fan I would recommend this version immensely.
 
I finished Creeping Jenny last night, very good (as were the previous two).

I read a couple of Karin Tidbeck short stories and now I've started Bête by Adam Roberts.
 
So as @dannymcg requested:

I've finished The Enigma Cube by Douglas E. Richards. I've read a few of his before and I'd say this was the weakest of them. But good enough to finish. The story itself was pretty interesting but I believe it was written for a 12 year old or so. He spent much more time than necessary on info dumping. Now, I generally like a good info dump, but these were almost all things about which I am aware. And I would guess almost anyone who reads S.F. to any degree would be. But, in some of these info dumps he is absolutely trying to get people to know stuff that is true but a lot of people wouldn't believe it. i.e. he talks about the steady progress of the human race in terms of education, less hunger, better health, less war, more equality, etc. which is all demonstratively true by statistics which the majority of people in the western world finds impossible to believe. So I give him some slack for that.

I've also finished The Girl Most Likely by Max Allan Collins a mystery/police procedural. I liked it very well. I read it because the author is from Iowa and he uses Iowa prominently in his works. I think next up will be his next book in this series: Girl Can't Help It.
 
Today I finished Girl Can't Help It by Max Allan Collins much like The Girl Most Likely it is a mystery/police procedural. Once again, I liked it quite a bit. My Iowa author is much more accomplished than I would have thought. He was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2017 and has earned an unprecedented 23 Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award nominations. (many other awards as well) His most famous work is not a Mystery. He wrote Saving Private Ryan. --- For me I was bug eyed when the book starts out talking about Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Arnold's Park Amusement Park. I've visited Arnold's Park dozens of time throughout my life and it's clear he'd been there too. (Discovered he was inducted into the Iowa R&R Hall of Fame twice. He was part of two bands that were inducted.) I suppose if you live in L.A., the Oregon Coast, New York, London, or some such this would not be so much of a rush. But it was for me. Iowa if mentioned, is where hopeless hicks live, or where cool kids have escaped from.
 
Today I read the kindle sample for Cold-Forged Flame, brought it, read it, brought the next one, stared at it and then realised I couldn't finish the series so quick.

It was okay, y'know?
 
Finished Chameleon by William Diehl, pretty good Asian martial arts/espionage thriller. Clockwork sex scenes, however, both explicit and useless. Fairly certain next book will be:
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Still working through David Weber’s Short Victorious War. I’m sure his writing improves significantly with every book and I’m enjoying it so much that I‘ve already decided to buy more of this series :)
 
That one takes me back a good few years, it struck me as a quickly published rip-off of The Ninja by Eric van Lustbader
Read some Lustbader in a magazine somewhere and thought it was really good. Never got around to any of his novels yet. Sounds like I'd better get on it. Is The Ninja pretty good?
 
Wow, that Space Police book.

That would've yanked my attention immediately when I was discovering sf.
 
Read some Lustbader in a magazine somewhere and thought it was really good. Never got around to any of his novels yet. Sounds like I'd better get on it. Is The Ninja pretty good?
The Ninja was awesomeness, well it was forty years ago..
I don't know if it still is, it could be hackneyed and lumpy dialogue by today's standards, a lot of the thrillers of that time seem that way nowadays
 
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