November 2019 reading thread

[Stephen Palmer]

I'm about to begin The Glass Bathyscaphe - a history of glassmaking. A few quid in my local Oxfam.

 

[Parson]

I don’t read as much SF as fantasy, but when I do I lean towards space opera, so your ‘exciting’ description caught my eye. I looked up the book on Amazon. It sounds like it would be something I’d like, but it is only available as a digital release. Is there a paperback available?

If there is, I can't find it. --- I finished it and have book 2 Star Kill queued up. But, the end was a bit disappointing. The book slowed a little and the end is a cliff hanger for book 2. Still highly recommended. But before I jumped went and read A Boy Between Worlds by Annejet Van Der Zijl. I had really liked another biography from her The American Princess and this A Boy Between Worlds was the book that made her famous in the Netherlands. So perhaps oversold, I was underwhelmed. But it was interesting enough to finish and it told a lot of interesting things about Holland and one family's struggles immediately before and after the war.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm having a go at this from 1990.
(a somewhat buxom young woman on the cover)

 

[Vince W]

I'm having a go at this from 1990.
(a somewhat buxom young woman on the cover)
View attachment 58148

A little different to the cover I have.

 

[hitmouse]

I'm having a go at this from 1990.
(a somewhat buxom young woman on the cover)
View attachment 58148

I enjoyed this one. Quite a lot of comment back in the day but has been a bit forgotten. Did he write anything else?

 

[Danny McG]

I enjoyed this one. Quite a lot of comment back in the day but has been a bit forgotten. Did he write anything else?

I don't know, I know he did a Plenty series but owt else I haven't a clue...I just tried to Google it on my phone but the app needs updating, I'll have to look once I get home

 

[DannMcGrew]

I finished it yesterday. Impossible to talk about The Second Sleep without spoilers.

Spoiler: Goodreads reviewers

Looking over at the reviews at Goodreads, most people were very disappointed with the ending. Initially, I have to say that I was too, but I've since come to realise that it suited entirely the point Robert Harris is trying to make.

Spoiler: The book's title

It also makes the title make sense too.

I just finished it. I'm afraid I must be counted among the disappointed. I've read every Harris book and was always pleased, but this one--- I 'm missing the message. I'll wander over to Goodreads and see what others have to say.

 

[Parson]

Just ordered Take Back Plenty, sounds like something I'd really enjoy.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I don't know, I know he did a Plenty series but owt else I haven't a clue...I just tried to Google it on my phone but the app needs updating, I'll have to look once I get home

There were three, iirc.
Colin was really annoyed that the covers portrayed the main character as white (she isn't).
The novels are great, I really enjoyed them.

 

[Danny McG]

Colin was really annoyed that the covers portrayed the main character as white (she isn't)

Yeah, she gives herself an inspection and frowns at the freckles on her coffee coloured skin

 

[hitmouse]

Didnt realise there was a trilogy. Will look it up.

 

[biodroid]

@dannymcg I decided to push through with The Institute by Stephen King and it is surprisingly good, well for me anyway, it's by no means his best but it is quite intriguing so far and the pace has picked up at around 45%

 

[Paul_C]

I finished Neptune's Brood and on the whole found it very enjoyable, nice to read a story where almost all of the "cast" are female and I reckon it's probably my favourite of the Stross books I've read so far.

Next up is The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson.

 

[tobl]

i finished craig alanson's series... it's entertaining. but never marked me.. now war eternal by m r forbes... the charles stross laundry series last books were disappointing. him and simon r green last books

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I am well into The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book (1994) by Vince Waldron, a lengthy and detailed look at that series, which we binge-watched not too long ago.

 

[Parson]

Finished Star Kill by M. R. Forbes. Like the first book in the series Star Fire this is a good old fashioned S.F. a likable hero, intriguing interplay between characters and enough action to be an Indiana Jones movie. Take Back Plenty is on deck. (and to use a baseball analogy) Winter World is in the hole.

 

[Danny McG]

the charles stross laundry series last books were disappointing

Agreed!

 

[dask]

I can recommend this if you're interested.

This sounds like just the book I've been looking for. Going to seek it out. Thanks.

 

[Toby Frost]

I read Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Well-written, with good characters and some good humour. It's also quite a bit darker than I expected, with a reasonable amount of death and gore. I work in London, and it's odd to read a book by someone who actually seems to like the awful place.

I'm back on War and Society in Renaissance Europe by J.R. Hale, which is my standard researching-things-for-the-fantasy-novel book and much lighter than it sounds.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I started reading Toby's Blood Under Water a while back, and then the roof (metaphorically, only metaphorically) fell in on my head, and I found I hadn't much energy for reading. Have now resumed and have reached the last few chapters. Love the world he conjures up: a combination of steampunk and Renaissance Italy, with lots of action and general weirdness.