February Reading Thread

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Continuing with the collected set of Shirley Jackson, I am finishing up with the last section, called "Other Stories and Sketches," which consists of uncollected and unpublished works (although some have shown up in posthumous collections.)

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Reading Terry Pratchett: A life with footnotes, by Rob Wilkins.

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I'm trying Fearless by Allen Stroud.
A space opera featuring a female spaceship captain with no legs.....hmmmm, we shall see.

 

[Vertigo]

This morning I'm trying Fearless by Allen Stroud.
A space opera featuring a female spaceship captain with no legs.....hmmmm, we shall see.

I read this one as a Tchaikovsky recommendation and I have to say his books are much better than his recommendations! I did finish it but wished I hadn't.

 

[HareBrain]

I finished The Owl Service by Alan Garner.

This is probably in a tie with The Lord of the Rings for my most re-read book. Unlike his earlier work (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath and Elidor) it doesn't seem particularly a children's book; in fact I think adult readers would get more out of it. I also think it much better than the others. My only criticism would be that sometimes Garner leaves things too unclear -- not in terms of what something means or why it's happened, which is fine, but what is actually happening in the scene. But it's never anything that can't be puzzled out with a bit of thought, and anyway it's a small criticism to set against the book's mythic depths and great observations of human nature.

Now reading Castles, an overview of the castle in myth and fiction, based around some wonderful artwork by Alan Lee and with text by David Day.

 

[Danny McG]

I read this one as a Tchaikovsky recommendation and I have to say his books are much better than his recommendations! I did finish it but wished I hadn't.

My interest in the story is fading fast, probably be a DNF by tonight.
I have the sequel downloaded also but I can't see me ever reading it.

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I'm trying Fearless by Allen Stroud.
A space opera featuring a female spaceship captain with no legs.....hmmmm, we shall see.

Yeah, DNF.
Now I'm trying some courtroom drama by James Patterson

 

[Danny McG]

Ten Low by Stark Holborn.

Blurb from Goodreads:-

Ten Low is eking out a living at the universe's edge. An ex-medic, ex-con, desperate to escape her memories of the war, she still hasn't learnt that no good deed goes unpunished.

Attempting to atone for her sins, she pulls a teenage girl from a crashed lifecraft. But Gabriella Ortiz is no ordinary girl—she is a genetically-engineered super soldier and decorated General, part of the army that kept Ten prisoner. Worse, Ten realises the crash was an assassination attempt, and that someone wants Ortiz dead...
To get the General off-world, they must cross the moon's lawless wastes, face military hit squads, savage bandits, organ sharks, and good old-fashioned treachery. But as they race to safety, something else waits in the darkness. Something ancient and patient. Something that knows exactly who Ten is, and what she is really running from

 

[Danny McG]

I finished The Owl Service by Alan Garner

Check out this photo, some true fan posted it online.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Reading Terry Pratchett: A life with footnotes, by Rob Wilkins.

I didn't finish this.

 

[Parson]

I finished Portals and Plutonium by Laurence E. Dahners. Dahners is one of my guilty pleasures, not literary fiction by any stretch of the imagination, but interesting stories, likable characters who have a strong moral compass. All of this was true in this fourth of The Time-Flow Stories series. But this one seemed to me to be a bit tired and more formulaic than his other work.

Avoid --- Not Recommended --- Flawed --- Okay --- Good --- Recommended --- Shouldn’t be Missed

@Danny McG --- I've purchased Ten Low, sounded very interesting to me.

 

[Danny McG]

@Danny McG --- I've purchased Ten Low, sounded very interesting to me

I'm just over halfway through and I'm finally getting my head around all the backstory.
I much prefer getting such info in bits and pieces scattered through the story, instead a massive info dump that I know will zone me out.

 

[Dave Vicks]

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman full audio cast.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Also currently ROBERT ZUBRIN Non-fiction.

 

[Bick]

Also currently ROBERT ZUBRIN Non-fiction.

Doesn't tell us much. Such as the actual title and subject of the book, what its about, whether you're enjoying it and recommend it?

 

[Danny McG]

 

[AE35Unit]

Reading this biography of Mozart, its incredibly detailed, it deals at the start with his father Leopold 's life, and you realise just why Mozart was the way he was as an adult. He was seriously over protected as a child, wrapped in a protective blanket. So when he was set free, to become an adult, he went wild!

 

[HareBrain]

I "read" Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki: a set of pictures with accompanying text, but not really a manga. It was short enough that I read it in the bookshop, but afterwards I bought it anyway. It dates from 1983 but has only recently had an English language translation. Stylistically very similar to the Nauiscaa manga, but (obviously) much shorter. I didn't know he'd completed any other stories in book form so this was a real find.

 

[Elentarri]

Reading this biography of Mozart, its incredibly detailed, it deals at the start with his father Leopold 's life, and you realise just why Mozart was the way he was as an adult. He was seriously over protected as a child, wrapped in a protective blanket. So when he was set free, to become an adult, he went wild!

Which biography? There are quite a few.

 

[Danny McG]

Finished Blue Light by Walter Mosley. A thought provoking work that was well worth the read in my opinion

I've got The Wave by him digitally stored in my TBR file.
I've never read any of his SF, just a couple of his Easy Rawlings detective yarns