readafew's few reads

Last year I totally hosed my thread about half way through, or did I even make it that far?

Anyway I'll try it again!

So Far this year I've read Abyss Deep which I thought was very good and enjoyable sci-fi. however he was very heavy on the science, especially biology.

Next was Red Rising and it was a sci-fi dystopia. Humanity has colonized the stars but on Mars there are millions of people who are slaves and don't even know it. It is an incredible read, though a little gruesome, it has hints of the Hunger Games.

And finally I am currently reading The Color of Magic finally. My first Discworld book, courtesy of my SantaThing Santa. So far I am enjoying it a lot.

I'm working on the reviews for the first two. Hopefully I'll do better this year keeping up.

Starred!

Happy 2014!

I tried reading The Colour of Magic many years ago, but couldn't get into it. Then I tried again last year and enjoyed it very much. Now I'll pick up any Discworld books that I see at book sales, but I haven't read any more yet.

Good luck with the journal this year! Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

Nice to see you back!

We miss you, readafew. Seriously... :o/

Oooh, Red Rising looked interesting! I'll be following your thread.

I'll try to stick around some more this year. My new job has been keeping me very busy, I want to spend some more time here on LT. I miss many of you too clam. I'll work on spending more time here, I promise! I really need to win the lottery so I can quit my job and get those 50 hours a week back for other pursuits!

The good news is I'm really enjoying my job, the bad news is, I'm so busy I don't have time at work to peruse LT.

Lunatic, I thought Red Rising was incredible. I've had time to write half my review for it. I plan to finish it tonight. I'll be putting my Abyss Deep up tonight for sure.

Wow, Red Rising has grabbed my interest as well. Looking forward to your review of it.

See? This is why I stayed away from the reading threads last year! Everybody reads such great sounding books. Red Rising sounds fabulous.

Ok, I got my review for Red Rising up, I don't think I did the book justice. But it's the first 5 star rating I've given a book in several years I think.

I also finished The Color of Magic. Very enjoyable, lots of fun, especially the gods playing D&D with the mortals. Normally I would say 'I'll eventually get to some more' but I've been under the impression that this one is the least enjoyable so I expect the rest to be better and better.

I'm already about 1/3 the way through Her Royal Spyness and I think these are great! I've only read The Twelve Clues of Christmas from this series (which is what got me started!) but even the first one seems to be just as good.

Quick synopsis of the series - Georgie is the 34th in line for the thrown of England (in the 1930's) and is penniless. These are English Cozy mysteries with a bit of comedy of errors thrown in. Georgie is always trying to make her way in the world but with so little training on real world skills it often has very funny results. I highly recommend these.

I finished Her Royal Spyness and I really enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't quite as good as the Twelve Clues of Christmas, but I think that Rys was still learning the characters herself. Great book, good mystery, highly recommended series. (Check them out Mrs. Lee if you haven't yet!)

I will be starting a review book The Field of wacky Inventions (Floors #3). It's a young adult book and looks fun. Haven't read any of the others and after reading this one I'll decide if I'm going to try to read the earlier books. Should be a quick read.

Finished The Field of wacky Inventions on Friday. It was a fun read and I in my opinion a very high quality YA book. I would say mostly aimed at Middle school age kids.

Yesterday I ended up reading all day, first time in a VERY long time I've done that and I started and finished Never go back a Jack Reacher book. Another book that captures your attention and doesn't want to let you go. I've listened to 3 of the other Reacher books all read by the same narrator and I heard his voice all throughout the book.

I got both these last 2 books for review so I'll be getting reviews up for them in the next few days.

Next read I'm starting today is The Emperor's Soul by our Brandon Sanderson, it looks like it should be a fun fast read.

I'm thinking you will love Emperor's Soul. If not, I might look askance at you. ;)

13,14: I'll join @MrsLee, @readafew!

Is looking askance at someone allowed by the TOS?

16: Nobody said they were going to look askance, @suitable1. Just that they might... *evil laugh*

#14, 15: Of course, if the ladies approach from opposite sides the skances will cancel out. But if they get together first that's two sckances, which would be SERIOUS!

I am enjoying The Emperor's Soul very much and should finish this evening. I also write reviews for another web site and my latest one is up. She is also having a give-away for the book, I think you might like it MrsLee, check it out (though you might have already read it!). http://luxuryreading.com/theharlotstale/

Oooooo, that looks good indeed! I may have to put it on my wishlist, I've never heard of that author before. Also, I knew there was never any real chance you would earn a skancy look from me. :D

# 19 - Great title for a blog!

>18 hfglen:: So if the skances are askew, there should be no problem?

I think it also unlikely I'd receive a skance from you MrsLee. Finished it this evening and the only thing I can say is, I'm disappointed. No really I am! The book was way to short. Hope he visits Shai again.

I'll try to get my review up tonight or tomorrow for it.

I have also started The Poisonous Seed another book I think MrsLee might like. I got the 3rd one in the series for review and I really liked it. It happens in ~1880. It has a very Sherlockian feel to it. The big twist is that the parts of Sherlock and Watson are women and hence have higher hurdles to jump to be able to perform their feats. Lots of fun. The 3rd one started out kind of slow but just kept gaining speed through out the book.

21> yes it is a great title and she posts new reviews almost every day, sometimes 2-3. Lots of book give-a-ways too.

Now what did I ever do to you that I should be receiving all these Book Bullets? *Trundles off to her wishlist. Again.*

24 > And this is the thanks I receive! ;)

I'm glad you liked it, too. I agree it was too short, and I thought the end seemed just a tad rushed, but oh, I loved it so. :o)

Great, going to have to add the first in that series (The Midwife's Tale) to my wishlist. LOL These threads are so dangerous. :o/

Clam I'm hoping to read the The Midwife's Tale soon (I got it for Christmas!), but the next one is The Counterfeit Agent which I received from Early Reviewers. I think I over Christmas I finally caught up in owning all of Brandon Sanderson's books in print, now I just need to catch up reading them.

I just finished The Poisonous Seed and while I don't think it was quite as good as #3 I still gave it 4 stars. I also think that this series should be started with #1. I'll try to get a review up soon. Still need to finish the one for Never Go Back.

27> I've just gotten into Brandon Sanderson's books. I enjoy them so far, but there length can be daunting!

I've currently read Mistborn and Elantris and am working on The Way of Kings. Which have you read?

28 > I have read all of Sanderson's books except for The Rithmatist, Steelheart and The Way of Kings, though all are sitting on my shelves right now. I think that's 15/18. I need to read The Way of Kings soon, because my Mother-in-law bought me the 2nd one for Christmas and I should be ready for it when it arrives in February.

29> I enjoyed The Rithmatist, but not enough to pick up another Sanderson book until a friend thrust Mistborn into my hands. The Way of Kings is good so far, though I'm only about 200 hundred pages in (of 1200 something pages).

I think Steelheart looks fascinating. New takes on the superhero genera tend to be fun.

I have to admit that the Mistborn series is my favorite so far, but Elantris and The Emperor's Soul are a close second. I got a great kick out of the Evil Librarians series but they aren't for everyone. I was also a fan of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and thought that he did a great job finishing it up.

31> I really enjoyed Mistborn but haven't gotten my hands on the sequel yet.

I read the first couple Wheel of Time books, but I couldn't really get into them.

28-32: The mistborn books are my favorite too! The emperor's soul was great as well, but a bit shorter.

There's a sequel to The Way of Kings? I really enjoyed the first Mistborn and keep meaning to get back into that series. I am really thrilled that he's found so much success. He's such a nice guy.

34 > yes the sequel of The Way of Kings is called Words of Radiance and I just looked. It will now be released march 4th. Gives me a little more time to get the Way of Kings read.

My review for Red Rising just showed up at LuxuryReading. http://luxuryreading.com/redrising/

Finished the Counterfeit Agent last night. Not bad. My review is up. If you like international thrillers you'll probably like it, if not, it's OK.

I started The Contractors tonight and it's starting off pretty good. I think this will be a fast fast-paced read. It's looking to be a little on the dark side, dealing openly with the the nastier parts of humanity. The opening scene has the main character beating up a pimp until he tells them where he's holding a 14 year old girl as a prostitute. I suspect things will only get darker from here.

(I suspect you WON'T like this one MrsLee!) ;)

Heh, you suspect right!

Finished The Contractors on Monday. Lots of action decent writing, not nearly as gory as I was expecting it to be after the start. The darkest part is the authors apparent view of humanity, that most people are just in it for the money and can be easily bought. I'll be writing up a review shortly.

The next book is The Regency Detective which takes place in England in the 1800's. The main detective is a gentleman still haunted by the murder of his father at the age of 12. Just getting into it so haven't formed a real opinion on it yet. It does have potential though. I'll let you know more later MrsLee! ;)

I have another review up at http://luxuryreading.com/propinquity/

Finished The Regency Detective last night. It was a good book, with lots of interesting things but as a detective/mystery, meh. It's like several different stories in parallel, and this is more of an episode than a book. It also has a lot of 'history' and trying to showcase the authors knowledge of the places and times. interesting but not a mystery. The book started with 1 mystery that appears to be an ongoing affair through the series (it's written like number 2 or 3, though this seems to be the first). Then we pick up a second mystery a little ways in. About 2/3rds of the way through the book we get the 'mystery' murder that needs to be solved in this book. The other two that so much time was spent on are pushed off to the next one.

It was good writing and the feel of the times was impressive. However, as a mystery series it is so-so.

Last night I started The Office of Mercy. It's a Sci-Fi, YA, dystopia. The name takes a clue from 1984, where the inverse of the name is more accurate. I have high hopes for this one. Now I need to take some time and write up my last 2 reviews...

Another review on Luxuryreading http://luxuryreading.com/abyssdeep/. Rereading it, it looks like I could have done one more round of editing...

and another one. http://luxuryreading.com/akamatsu/. this is a Graphic novel, a little strange.

Finished The Office of Mercy, wasn't bad but it felt meh for a dystopian novel. I suspect a lot of people will like it but the arguments supporting each side felt half baked to me. Some interesting ideas shown in the book but they weren't well supported and there was a little too much of the ideas to make this a 'fun' book. I'll be starting either The Moses Virus or Murder in the Afternoon next. haven't decided which.

Finished The Moses Virus found it a mix of very well done parts and very poor. Some dialog and situations were very well developed and then some where like a retelling of a conversation between to middle school kids. Very uneven writing quality though the book.

Starting Murder in the Afternoon supposed to be an English murder mystery, we'll see how it goes.

Well, you've been reading up a storm. :o)

It's been so cold this winter there isn't a lot of desire to do much else!

I understand. I end up diddling online a lot, myself.

I think this is the first time I've ever fallen for cabin fever.

review up at LuxuryReading. http://luxuryreading.com/thecontractors/

and another http://luxuryreading.com/nevergoback/ This is a Reacher book. Never go Back

A great YA series.

http://luxuryreading.com/fieldofwackyinventions/

I finished Murder in the Afternoon and while I felt it started out a little slow I think it was a very good cozy English mystery. (MrsLee! nudge, nudge, wink wink!) I'm behind on my reviews and so hope to catch up a little tonight. I am currently reading my ER book How Excellent Companies avoid dumb things. And so far it ain't too bad.

My next book will be Girl Genius 12. I love those books!

>53 readafew: When I read, "I finished Murder in the Afternoon... I immediately wondered if you were now looking for somewhere to bury the body.

Well my mother in law is currently visiting...

;)

I always had a soft spot for my mother in law. It was a bit of bog land near Kildare town.

:)

Murder in the Afternoon looks promising. :) Just yesterday we were commenting on why people tear the bottom cover off of the boxsprings in the hotel beds. Of course that's where we hide the bodies.

Read Girl Genius #12 last night, it was great, but now I have to wait for the next one again! :(

Finished How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things tonight I found it a pretty good read on how to implement changes in a company.

Just starting The Hero's Lot and I think I will enjoy it just as much as the first book A Cast of Stones. I thought the first was an excellent fantasy book and just recently looked and found both books 2 and 3 were out so I had to buy them!

I enjoyed The Hero's Lot just as much as A Cast of Stones definitely a great series. I'm going to take a break and read The Daughters of Gentlemen before I read a Draw of Kings. I'm still trying to catch up on my reviews, so in a few days I'll get this one posted.

Finished The Daughters of Gentlemen and enjoyed it very much. I'm going to have to keep an eye out for more of Linda's work.

Just started Draw of Kings and it starts off with a bang. I just hope the ending is worthy of the rest of the series. I really LIKE these.

The Draw of Kings was a great ending to the series, though I had predicted several of the 'reveals' long before they happened. Good series but unlike Jordan, Carr would decide to jump past parts of the story and give you a paragraph summary. Many will likely appreciate this as it speeds up the book, but now and then I wanted the details.

Tonight I started the latest Ethan Gage novel, The Three Emperors. Ethan is a walking comedy of errors, a real prodigy of Murphy.

You should change your username to readmorethanjustafew. :o)

:) just too many good books! It really depends on who you compare me to. Morphy can read 3 books to each of mine...

Finished the Three Emperors I thought this one was much better that the first Ethan Gage book I read which was the The Emerald Storm. Ethan just never seems to get a break. I also finished listening to White Space and while I think it was well written, it certainly isn't my style of reading. I'll be putting up a review for both sometime this week.

After 3 years sitting on my shelf (and getting the second book in the series as a late Christmas present yesterday!) I'm going to start The Way of Kings tonight yet. It's time.

>65 readafew: LOL, it certainly does require a bucking up to start The Way of Kings, a commitment. I enjoyed it, but haven't had the courage to invest in the second.

yes, over 2000 pages between the 2 books. I am happy to report that I'm just getting into it (~120 pages) and am really starting to enjoy it. Hopefully I don't wait another 3 years before I get to book 2.

My review for The Regency Detective is up here http://luxuryreading.com/regencydetective/

Sounds like it could be a good series, but I'll wait until you try the second one to find out. :) You make an excellent guinea pig. ;)

Yes! heh! hmm.

:P~~

Stay Tuned!

>69 MrsLee:

Always nice to have someone to take one for the team.

Finished The Way of Kings I really liked it and I hope find time to read the second one quicker than the first. For some reason around page 600 lasting to about 750 I was really ready for the book to be ending, then things started picking up and coming together. Trying to read shorter books right now and to try to catch up a little on my TBR pile...

I also have read Apocalypse a new book by Dean Crawford. The story was fast-paced and full of action like Steve Berry and his Cotton Malone books, but had just as many plot holes too. This one just barely eeked out a 3 1/2 star from me. The biggest problem I had with it was the physics. I don't think the author has a clue about physics other than what he read on the cover of a middle school science book. If that stuff doesn't bother you, you might rate it a bit higher than I did.

I started The Light Fantastic yesterday and so far have been enjoying it quite a bit. It has already jumped a bit in quality over the first book.

I haven't been reading as much this last week, since I am on vacation in Yellowstone and each little 'day' trip seems to take the whole day! Still it's beautiful out here and I am collecting a huge collection of great pictures!

Finished The Light Fantastic yesterday. I really enjoyed that book and plan to continue with the series! I hope to get my review up soon, but I'll be traveling tomorrow and into Sunday, on my way back home from beautiful Yellowstone National Park!

I've started reading Bridge of Birds and it was not really what I was expecting, but the farther I get into it the funnier it gets Page 46. "Phoenix Sporting in the Cinnabar Crevice" was a rather interesting euphemism...

I think I'm going to enjoy this book immensely.

;)

There's lots to talk about in Bridge of Birds. I've read it at least 2 or 3 times.

I did very much enjoy Bridge of Birds, there was a lot to think about besides the obvious story. And it had many, many funny parts! It was almost a Chinese Sherlock and Watson.

I think I'll try Black Lotus by K'wan which I got as a early reviewer book. It's fairly short, we'll see how dense it is.

Black Lotus is a light thriller, very fast read because of it's length, and I didn't like the main character for the first half of the book.

On to FaceOff which just arrived in the mail today. It has 22 stories featuring famous thriller characters showing up in the same story. Such as Lincoln Rhyme and Lucas Davenport, and Jack Reacher and Nick Heller. Many of the authors in the book I've only heard of, and some not even that much. So I thought this would be a good book to get a taste of some new authors and their thrilling creations.

Finished FaceOff a couple days ago. I enjoyed it and found a few more characters I'd like to read about and get to know better. My favorite story (and favorite character in the book) was also the longest one with Lucas Davenport. Be getting a review up soon.

I then went on to A Royal Pain The second book in the Royal Spyness Mysteries. These are a hoot, Cozy English mystery with a little Woodhouse style humor thrown in.

Working on my review for FaceOff right now and I'll follow that with my review for A Royal Pain which was a lot of fun.

Currently I'm working on Irenicon. It is an interesting read so far. Still at the point where there are many more questions than answers. It is a world we are unfamiliar with, one where Jesus Christ died at the hands of Harod, and a 'religion' of science seems (at this point in the reading) to be the major powerhouse calling all the shots. One of the blubs on the back called it 'castlepunk'. It's early days, but it has a good start, we'll see how the rest of it goes.

Finished Irenicon yesterday. I really like the story (this is 1st in a supposed trilogy), however I found the story telling to be inconsistent, parts were very engaging and other parts left you wondering when the end was coming. I suspect some of the foreshadowing was much more subtle than I was catching. It's a semi-historical story taking place in Italy, the main premise is the Christ child was slain with all the other 2 year olds in a purge by Harod. So history was a bit different. However on top of that there is quite a bit of supernatural/fantasy in the story which skews this a long way from merely a 'what-if' in history. I'll be trying to get my full review written and up in the next couple days.

After finishing Irenicon I started Sniper's Honor. So far so good. Up to this point I'm learning a lot about Russian sniper's during WWII. Have several different books in the short waiting list after this one is done, but I have a few days before I have to decide...

Finished Sniper's Honor and I was very impressed. For a thriller book, I found an author who can write, tell a great story and have a pretty solid plot. His writing is similar to Daniel Silva though not quite as brutal. Probably because Swagger is a sniper and not an assassin.

I am now reading an early reviewers book Custom Motorcycle Fabrication. It's interesting and is filled with beautiful bikes. However it appears to me to be really geared toward people who already have been doing customizing, not someone interested in learning how it's done.

My next book will also be an early reviewers book, Singapore Noir. It's a collection of short stories and the title tells you what about. Looking forward to it.

Finished Singapore Noir and it was certainly Noir. I thought all the stories were well written and showed a bit of talent. I might have to check out some more of the 'noir' series from Akashic Books. I don't think this is up your street MrsLee...

I started Royal Flush yesterday and Georgie has a way of getting herself into more trouble than you can imagine. Funny book and I might just finish it this weekend.

:) I like that you're looking out for me.

You did assign me as your guinea pig! ;) BTW Royal Flush I'm pretty sure is something you'd enjoy immensely. But I think I already told you about the whole series before.

Finished Royel Flush a couple days ago. Started Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane Taking me a little bit to get into, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it, I've liked all his previous books. Also started listening to The Dark between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson It's harder to listen to books with lots of strange names, than to just read them.

Another review is up. http://luxuryreading.com/faceoff/

I've given up reading short story collections for awhile. I used to enjoy them, but lately they seem like torture.

Maybe you'll like this one instead?

http://luxuryreading.com/threeemperors/

"He seems to be a Mr. Magoo crossed with Indiana Jones"

LOL, now THAT'S a description. :) It does sound fun.

:)

LuxuryReading seems to be catching up on my reviews! Here's another one

http://luxuryreading.com/officeofmercy/

>86 MrsLee: Interesting. Why so? I was on a short story binge for some time, reading my way through a decade's worth of "Best American Short Stories" collections, and then all of a sudden I burnt out. I wasn't sure if that had more to do with the fact that I like to live with a good book for a long while (and if it's not good, I don't want to read it at all) instead of having to reorient myself every eight or ten thousand words, or with the way the genre itself has changed. What do you think?

>90 Meredy: I'm not sure either, but the two unfinished books I have this year are short story collections. One of them had pretty darn good stories written from about the '30s to the 60s, the other, I can't remember so much. I think a lot of it has to do with my state of mind at the moment, and what my commitment levels are. You would think it would be easier to read short stories when you are exhausted, but I don't find it so. I can't get involved enough to want to jump from story to story. Even if I finish a good one, there is no motivation to start the next one. There are always duds in a short story collection. Always. In my present state however, I find it difficult to even read excellent writing, so I don't want to write short stories off.

>85 readafew: >86 MrsLee: >90 Meredy:

My preferred approach to reading short stories is a few at a time. If I am reviewing a collection I will read it through, but I believe there are a number of reasons short stories should be read in small doses. (Yes, I know what some of you will say.) As stated by @MrsLee in 91 There are always duds in a short story collection and if one reads a couple of those close together it can put one off the rest of the collection. However, I find that if I am reading a good collection with some very good stories in it I get worn out because of the concentration required. By its nature a short story needs to be quite dense with meaning. Words should not be wasted, so reading many short stories could be like running several sprints one after another.

Thus ends my contribution to what appears to have become a discussion on the short story and its merits.

While I've enjoyed working for my current company, they were recently bought by a bigger competitor. I was planning on waiting things out to see what duties they would be sticking me with, however, before things settled down, I was contacted by another company and made an offer. So I will be moving in the next few weeks and be starting a new career at the other end of the state. Wish me luck!

I suspect I will be vacillating between having nothing to do (during the work week before my house sells down here) and having so much to do I won't have time for internet or reading (weekends getting ready to move, commuting).

>93 readafew: Wow! That's a great outcome. It's so very nice to be wanted, isn't it? Best wishes on this exciting transition and your new start.

Ah, best of luck to you during these next few weeks!

>93 readafew: All the very best with the new job and the home move.

Thanks everyone! It's a bit surprising and I'm still trying to take it in, the fact that I'm actually moving for a new job!

The very best of luck and joy to you! I have this vision of you moving to "Pickax, Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere" (I've been overdosing on The Cat Who ..., courtesy the GD). Hope that image isn't too accurate!

For many people I'm working with, that is exactly where they think I'm going. :) I'm going to be just West of there ;)

That's exciting! And gratifying to know that someone was paying attention to your work.

It's great to think that, however, I suspect they found me on LinkedIn, saw I was in a company that was bought, noticed that I was originally from up north and thought I would understand that they have 'real' winters. Half my interview was gauging my understanding of what I would be getting myself into up north. Whatever the reason, I'm looking forward to it!

I wish you the very best of luck @readfew, and look forward to hearing of your adventures in your new home!

Congratulations on the new job, and all the best for the upcoming changes. Sounds wonderful, the way things worked out for you.

Thanks Sakerfalcon and sandragon, I'm looking forward to it.

Finished The Dark between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson. meh. I would like to believe that if I had read the first series I would have liked it more, but I don't think so. It's another book where the story line was pretty good, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

I'm published! (again). My wife was reading a copy of Private by James Patterson. She found a blurb in the front from LUXURYREADING.COM and it was a quote from my review of the book! Woot! So I've been quoted on at least 3 different books that I know about!

>106 readafew: Well done.

Terrific! Too bad they don't let you know when they are using your reviews, rather than letting you find out randomly.

Yes, it would be cool to know which and when they are being used. Still it's pretty cool.

Very cool, congratulations!

Finished The River of Souls I mostly like the book, but I didn't like the ending. With all the stress of getting ready to move, I think that might have colored my opinion of the book a little bit. Have almost finished Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane. He does an excellent job of bringing ancient Rome to life.

another review is up. http://luxuryreading.com/whitespace/

Started Queen of Hearts this weekend by Rhys Bowen. Looking to be another great story!

And another review at LuxuryReading! http://luxuryreading.com/apocalypse/

Here is an interesting site that I think could be enjoyed by many here. http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/63276/worldbuilding?referrer=dkM0AQAu1...

It's Worldbuilding forum were people can discuss plausibilities of different worlds, cultures and life.

We also got into Rhys Bowen's books through reading The Twelve Clues of Christmas . . .

Yep, that's where I started. I have them all, just trying to find the time to catch up!

Another review, this one is a little different from my others, it's a Cookbook!

http://luxuryreading.com/125bestchicken/

Finished Queen of Hearts last night, another great book in the series. Have you tried these yet MrsLee? Started the latest Gabriel Allon book last night too, The Heist by Daniel Silva.

Finished The Heist tonight. It was an excellent book! Daniel Silva is just getting better and better.

I also started Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd it's another Bess Crawford mystery and I really like them. This one has an excellent start!

I'm also listening to Half a King that I started on Saturday, I'm not sure if I like the main character yet or not, he vacillates between being way to whiny and being admirably stoic.

Charles Todd is one of those authors on my shelf which I save for days I need to read a book I know I will like. Sometimes it's fine to take a chance, other times you want to know you will be engrossed in a book. I haven't read his Bess Crawford books yet, although I have one or two on my Kindle. Glad to hear they are good!

This is the 6th book in the Bess Crawford series and it's the 4th one I'm reading. I got #3 as a review book and I've gotten the next 3 that way as well. I need to spend a little cash and get the first two. I'll try and watch for when you read them so see your opinion.

And another review is up! http://luxuryreading.com/irenicon/

Finished An Unwilling Accomplice and I must say it was another stellar book. Bess is really trying to get into trouble, by trying to get herself out of it... I should finish Half a King tomorrow as I drive up to my apartment at the other end of the state. I also started The Marco Effect which looks to be another gruesome international thriller.

Just found out I won An Unwilling Accomplice in the ER program! So, soon as I get it, it will be read. :)

Cool! I'll try to watch when you get it read!

And another review up on LuxuryReading http://luxuryreading.com/queenofhearts/

Another series which I have the first book in, but haven't got around to reading it yet!

What are you waiting for?! You know you'll like it!

http://luxuryreading.com/snipershonor/ us another review up at LuxuryReading

For those that might care LuxuryReading has a Kindle up for raffle http://luxuryreading.com/kindlewifigiveaway/

Finished listening to Half a King and I thought it was pretty good, have a review up for it, Finished The Marco Effect also have a review up for that, I thought the main story was incredible, however the main character was an asshole. I also started and finished Equal Rites I though it was great! Haven't gotten to reviewing it yet. Started Royal Blood last night but I expect this one to very, very funny.

I also discovered a VERY COOL used book store/antique store a block from my current temporary living abode. He has LOTS of older and classic books, some beautiful editions. I'm afraid I'll be spending too much time and money over there in the next few weeks. Hopefully one of my houses sell so I can buy one up here and move away from temptation!

http://luxuryreading.com/theheist/ the next Silva book.

Finished Royal Blood and enjoyed it. only two left and then I'll be caught up on that series. Then went and read Mort and found that to be a lot of fun, slowly working my way through the discworld books from the beginning. I also listened to Lock in and I really enjoyed that book, I thought it was well written and well read, the version I listened to was with Wil Wheaton reading. I also got The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as a freebee from Audible and listened to that, Now I know... the rest of the story!

Started reading To Die Fur, the second book in the Whiskey, Tango Foxtrot series. each a name of a character in the book, also for those used to the military phonetic alphabet, WTF. So I expect it to be rather interesting murder mystery book. It starts with Whiskey a 'ghost dog' and Tango a reincarnated cat who can both speak to Foxtrot (a woman and aid to a eccentric billionaire) telepathically. So far so good.

my review for the Marco Effect is up at http://luxuryreading.com/marcoeffect/

I also finished To Die Fur it was a fun book, I'm giving it 4 stars but it is really a 3.75. But it was fun reading so it got rounded up. Started reading Murder on the Île Sordou, the author seems to be decent, haven't gotten far enough to decide on the story.

and another LuxuryReading review is up! http://luxuryreading.com/murderintheafternoon/

I'm not sure how many of you know about Stack Exchange, it's a question and answer forum and they have different sites focused on different topics, Stack Overflow is for programming questions, and they have many many different ones. We just got a site out of private beta, called worldbuilding. http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions.

The purpose of this is to have a place for people building worlds, whether for a book or a RPG or a video game. The idea is to help make the worlds more believable. It's now open to the public and LT in general and I would think the Green Dragon in particular would have quite a few people interested in this. So I'm posting here and hoping a few will join (or at least check it out) and help make it a success!

136> Thanks for the link! I've already stumbled across some questions that I've been thinking about for my own world.

137> The more the merrier! Pass the word around

and another review up at LuxuryReading

http://luxuryreading.com/darkbetweenthestars/

Read Murder on the Île Sordou, and it was a very French cozy mystery. I figured out who dun it pretty early but was still a decent read. MrsLee what you might like about it is the talk of food, the meals all tended to feature large in the story telling.

Just finished The Wolf, a very fast paced thriller not sure what I really think about it yet.

Next one I'll be starting is Assassin's Game. Not getting as much reading done as I expected on this vacation!

>140 readafew: After reading the description and seeing that it takes place in a hotel, I am definitely interested. On the wishlist it goes!

>141 MrsLee: :)

My review of Hannibal at LuxuryReading http://luxuryreading.com/hannibalkane/

If any of you are woodworkers http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/61927/woodworking?referrer=dkM0AQAu12t... . We just started the commitment phase and are already up to %30. Stack Exchange is a cool place for question/answers.

I finished Assassin's Game and it wasn't too bad! I listened to Strategic Moves, Treasure Hunt, Confessions of a Murder Suspect and Mitosis (the last is/was a free Brandon Sanderson download from Audible). All pretty good. Sanderson's book was great and makes me want to move Steelheart up on my to read pile.

I also finished Midnight at the Well of Souls. I find Jack Chalker to be an interesting Sci-Fi author. I like his stories but they are more space opera or space fantasy, I think that it part of the appeal. However, his exposition can be a little ham-handed, especially early in the books.

Currently I am listening to Closer to Home my first Mercedes Lackey book. While I am enjoying it, I don't know what all the fuss is about with her, so far I'd say she's just a step above David Eddings (who I also enjoy but don't mistake him for a genius. I am also reading Bluebeard for review. I was under the impression it was a historical type novel about Gilles de Rais or Bluebeard. So far while I have found it to be full of interesting facts about everything going on around that time, including Joan of Arc, the 'story' being told is very disjointed and difficult to follow.

OH ya, I now have written 800 reviews here! Ya me! ;)

800 reviews! That's impressive!

A mass shooter of book bullets!

I'm impressed!

Finished listening to Closer to Home and I have to say it was pretty good. This was a first book in a new series, but the series was in the middle of a bunch of series, to there was a lot of back story I was missing, but not terribly needed.

Here's my favorite question I've asked on the Worldbuilding site http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/519/19. Anyone here want to try and answer? :)

Finished Bluebeard and while the information was very good and I learned a lot (like his nickname actually came from his prized Black Arabian horse) the story telling itself was very disjointed and hard to follow.

I will be starting a new detective series Sister Eve, Private Eye. A nun is the detective, the summary has promise, we'll see what I get!

and another Charles Todd review is up. http://luxuryreading.com/unwillingaccomplice/

Nice review!

Why thank you!

Finished Sister Eve, Private Eye and I think it is a great start to a new series. Sometime soon I should have a review up for it.

I then jumped into Sourcery and I have been enjoying it immensely. It's going by fast though! Not sure what I'm starting next, I have so many series that I've started and 'should' be next. We'll see what I feel like when I get there.

> I think the answers there cover it quite well. To be believable magic needs to be constrained some way otherwise the plots become difficulty overcome by magic, repeat. If you fully implement all the physical laws you're left with no magic. So it's then up to your imagination as to which rules you're going to break/bend and how far. And how interesting you can be with the side effects.

Throwing a fireball is the example you quote. Leaving a trail of frost is fun. Lowering the casters bodytemp is a more restrictive device. Syphoning heat out of a nearby volcano might work too - but how far can you syphon how well do you need to know the source, etc might provide limits.

157> yes they've done a good job. I agree, what makes magic interesting is the restrictions on how it can work. Brandon Sanderson is an author that is always playing with different ways magic is constrained.

Finished Sourcery and once again enjoyed the read. Started An Appetite for Murder, I find this series to be great, it's basically a female Sherlock and Watson duo.

Finished An Appetite for Murder, these just keep getting better.

I also have another review up at LuxuryReading.com http://luxuryreading.com/lockin/ I listened to the version read by Wil Wheaton.

Currently reading Wyrd Sisters

Finished Wyrd Sisters and I enjoyed it. I'm actually all caught up on my reviews right now, though I wasn't real impressed with my writing for Wyrd Sisters.

Anyway, currently reading an anthology Out of Tune, dark fantasy (so far most are a bit depressing) and each story is 'inspired' by an old ballad. Some more obvious than others. I'm still very impressed with the first story in the book, a retelling of Peter Pan, brilliant and chilling.

My next book will be another ER book belfast noir, I've read Singapore Noir and found it be pretty dark, but some incredible writers participated. Hoping for some more good writing in this one.

>161 readafew: Wyrd Sisters was my first Pratchett and I enjoyed it a lot. I read about four other Pratchetts and I did not find any of them to surpass the Sisters.

I read Dublin Noir and lashed it in my review. As Belfast is my home town I should track down Belfast Noir. I will be interested in your opinion of the book.

>162 pgmcc: Well stay tuned! I'll be putting my thoughts on it here in a week or two (holidays coming don't know how much reading I get to do)

I got a friend hooked on Pratchett by giving her Wyrd sisters - she's a huge fan of Shakespeare and loved his take on Macbeth. I think I like Witches abroad even better.

I started with The color of magic and I have been trying to read them in order, I've liked them all, but I think Mort is one of my favorites so far, and Wyrd Sisters might be number two. I'm starting be able to predict many things that are going to happen in the books. I still have 34 left to read though!

>165 readafew: to my mind they peak somewhere around mort continue on a long long high, but then start tailing off again somewhere around thud. The last few haven't had anywhere like the same biting satire or humour.

>166 reading_fox: good to know. But that still leaves me with 28 more good books!

finished the Out of Tune and it was OK. I think I was expecting more and was a little disappointed. The first story in the book was very impressive and one or two others were pretty good, I liked that last one too. but I gave it a 3.5 stars.

Got Girl Genius 13 and read that 2 nights ago. It's a story that keeps the pressure up non-stop. Still I like it and enjoy reading them. I think reading them all in order would stress someone out but a book at a time here and there is worth it. Fun art, fun story.

Started Belfast Noir last night and the stories seem to go pretty fast. The writing is decent and feels fairly authentic.

my review of Bluebeard is up at LuxuryReading http://luxuryreading.com/bluebeard/

Finished Belfast Noir not too bad. Some pretty good stories and some that left me scratching my head in parts because of the colloquial speech. Overall, it wasn't as dark as the Singapore Noir which actually made it a little more fun.

Currently I am reading The Unquiet bones by Mel Starr. It is a English murder mystery that happens in 1340's. The sleuth is a brand new 'surgeon' who has patronage because he helped out a Lord with a serious gash on his leg. It's well written and so far it isn't gruesome. So Mrs. Lee I think this one might be another for your TBR pile... ;)

>170 readafew: HA! I beat you to that one. Mel Starr is one of those authors I intend to pursue one day but haven't yet. I did enjoy The Unquiet Bones. Think I had it as an Early Reviewer book.

>171 MrsLee: So I was right! just late. I'm about half way through The Unquiet Bones and I'm still enjoying it a lot. Need to look at the other books in the series now.

>170 readafew: I read about half of the first story in Belfast Noir on the Amazon "See inside" feature. That, and your comment, intrigued me enough to order the book.

> 173 Cool, let me know what you think. In my opinion the first story is a pretty good representation of the book.

My review for sister eve private eye at luxuryreading. http://luxuryreading.com/sistereveprivateeye/

Finished The Unquiet Bones and enjoyed it a lot. Still need to finish writing the review. I then read Bloodstar which is a space opera. Ian Douglas likes his nanoTech and displaying his knowledge of human biology. Fun books, certainly not for everyone. I also got The Abbot's Agreement from Early reviewers and it is the 7th book in the Hugh Singleton series and it was very good too. Now I just need to read all the ones in between!

Here is a fun thread about Santa on the worldbuilding site.
http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/4953/19

@readafew Belfast Noir arrived this week. I have given it the tag "BB" for Book Bullet.

> 177 :)

>177 pgmcc: :)

Finished The Abbot's agreement and enjoyed that just as much as The Unquiet Bones so now need to read the 5 in between!

Almost finished with Naughty in Nice with Georgie. That girls naivety gets her into more trouble...

Going to work on catching up on my reviews this evening. Trying to decide what book catches my fancy the most for my next read.

Nice to know the Mel Starr books are still good. Yet another batch of books to look forward to. :)

Read Ancillary Justice, a SantaThing book and I was very impressed! I enjoyed it a lot and it was very interesting. The main character was an AI, but only a part of one. it was a 'human' soldier but was cut off from the rest of itself when the main ship was destroyed. I'll be writing a review in the next couple days.

Started Pyramids last night and so far so good. Actually made me laugh out loud a few times last night.

I also got the entire Batman TV series for Christmas with Adam West! Can't wait to start watching them!

Holy Christmas Score! *POW* Have fun watching those, very fond memories for me.

>183 MrsLee: I'm looking forward to it! Gives me something to do while sitting in my little apartment waiting for a house to sell, so I can buy one up here...

Another review up on LR http://luxuryreading.com/todiefur/

Wow, that one sounds a bit "out there" for me. :)

>182 readafew: I got my mum hooked on Discworld with Pyramids, and it's still one of our favourites. I really enjoyed Ancillary justice too and am looking forward to the sequel. Glad you had a good end to your year of reading!

>187 Sakerfalcon: Pyramids was good. So far it's looking like I'm going to like Guards, Guards! even better. I also read Wise Man's Fear Last week. Man that was a good book. I think it was better than the first one.

I'm reading Guards, Guards! right now (I got it for Christmas!) and I'm planning on reading The slow regard of silent things soon. That was also from my brother for Christmas. Too cold to do much outside right now.

Happy: we bought me a 24" flat panel TV for my apartment this weekend, (got a great deal because it was the floor model)
Sad: Laptop died the next morning :(.

I've also started taking blacksmithing classes to get me out of my little apartment during the week. So far it has been a lot of fun.

Oh and I forgot

http://luxuryreading.com/unquietbones/

giving away a free copy of The Unquiet bones!

Next years (2015) continued here! http://www.librarything.com/topic/186183