Books: What have you been reading?

[Lady Warp Spasm]

Just reread 'Salem's Lot after seeing the excellent 1979 mini series on cable the past couple of weeks. While I prefer the mini series for a lot of reasons, it's a good book.

Picked up the Warhammer 40k novel Prospero Burns - I don't follow the universe much these days, but I do like the space marine unit in this novel (Space Wolves.)

[Ghost Rider TheHellfireDemon]

An unexpected grace by Kristen Von Kreisler
The publishing date has it shown as December 31,2013
On the cover is a adult female golden retriever.

So far it's great as lila a aspiring artist but still working a office job survives a shooting rampage.
Why she became Afraid of dogs which she once loved is made clear early, she stays at her best friend's house in the recovery period. She wants to know the cause of why the man shoot multiple people at the office while her friend tells her a simple he's crazy. Lila is restless, and she won't accept a answer with no investigation.
A neighbor Adam saved grace a female golden retriever that suffered abuse through no fault of her own much like Lila which he'll point out.
As grace senses that Lila is afraid of dogs she keeps her distance from Lila only perking up for Adam which helps her to trust and Lila is being gently nudged to do the same.

So far it's kickass, and the whole inviting her that they her friend needed her at the best friends house by her woman friend, really no doubt it's for her to recover. Still it was genuine not one of those things said only for the purpose because it's what they want to hear.
Her best friend has dogged tenacity as she has repeatedly attempted to convince get over her fear of dogs, and won't rest until Lila adopts one.
Dogs are my favorite animal, I once had a male golden retriever. This made it hard not to look at the book, read the description and not buy it at a later date. I'm optimistic that this is one of those books with a great cover which I'm a sucker for and also has a great story to go along with the great cover. And again so far it's great no boring moments.
It's in San Francisco.

[Malvolio]

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

[Hellion]

Been reading James Rollins' SIGMA Force series of thriller novels. It's sort of a mesh between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Jason Bourne. Perfect for those who love science and history.

[Enigmatic Undead]

Ultimate World
by Hugo Gernsback



One of his few novels and while it's not his best work by any means, it may be worth checking out for those interested in his writings. Ultimate World depicts an alien invasion and the consequences it has on the human race. The aliens, who the humans name Xenos, are so advanced that the human race is utterly helpless against them however the Xenos are not hostile. Gernback remains strangely optimistic when it becomes clear the invaders are a scientific research expedition and their presence may be beneficial to the human race. The main characters, Dr. Dubious and his wife who we first experience the alien phenomenon with, lack any real characterization. They are merely the eyes from which we first see events unfold. Included are a plethora of fantastic inventions many of which exist is some form today. A trait the writing of Gernback is well known for. Another notable attribute common in his writing is sex, or the study of, which is also featured here including descriptions of sex in zero gravity. The Xenos begin abducting couples and force breeding them, using their genetic material to create an evolved race of super genius children who are vehemently anti war. The story climaxes when the Xenos are met by a rival and hostile alien race.

Here's a better look the Frank R. Paul wrap around cover artwork depicting the 10-Balls and the rival Spike-balls.

[Malvolio]

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

[Enigmatic Undead]

Quills
by Doug Wright



This award winning play was turned into a film back in 2000. The book contains graphic descriptions of sexual acts and other debaucheries often disturbing and horrific. It examines the effects the Marquis' writings had on readers, censorship and hypocrisy. Quills depicts the last days of the Marquis de Sade at the Charenton insane asylum. When it's discovered that confinement hasn't stopped the Marquis from writing Abbé du Coulmier is encouraged by Dr. Royer-Collard to take cruel measures to stop him. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the death of laundress Madeleine LeClerc and the Coulmier being corrupted himself in a most ironic way. The ending also features a very unexpected and memorable visual.

[Malvolio]

Curfew by Phil Rickman

[Expletive Deleted]

In no particular order:

California Bones by Greg van Eekhout. Urban fantasy. There are some cliches, but I'm a sucker for a good heist story and the worldbuilding (an alternate California where fossils are the source of magic powers and the La Brea Tar Pits are the equivalent of Fort Knox) is solid.

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. Political fantasy. Not as adventurous as some of Bennett's other work -- Mr. Shivers and American Elsewhere were both excellent -- but still very good. The slaves of an evil empire rose up and killed their tormentors' gods. Now it's a generation later, and the former slaves are a repressive occupying force, trying to rebuild the enemy country while keeping a lid on a violent insurgent movement.

The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan Howard. Horror/humor. A bit of a letdown after the Lovecraftian romp of The Fear Institute, but Howard's snarky narrator still appeals to me.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. Fantasy legal drama. Another one with excellent worldbuilding (magic is based on financial instruments) and a somewhat predictable thriller storyline. It's not bad, by any means, but I'm a bit puzzled why it's drawing so many rave reviews.

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer. Unclassifiable. Sequel to Annihilation and Authority, with a deeper look into both the origins of Area X and its future. I don't think either of the sequels quite matched the luminous weirdness of the first book in the series, but the whole thing is worth a read.

Lock-In by John Scalzi. Near future murder mystery. It's clever, funny, compulsively readable, and fell completely out of mind the minute I finished it. I have a fairly good memory for what I've read, and I'm drawing a complete blank other than a vague sense of enjoyment.

The Rhesus Chart by Charlie Stross. Stross abandons the spy pastiche of the previous Laundry Files stories and segues to urban fantasy parody. It's a lot of fun, with a devastating ending.

[Demonhead]

Great thread. Love to hear all these recommendations.
Currently reading Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

[Enigmatic Undead]

Redwall
by Brian Jacques



I'm not generally into fantasy but I really enjoyed this. It has lots of colorful characters, swashbuckling, a mystery steeped in its own mythology and a quest for a legendary sword. The quest is genuinely exciting and the battles are tense. I felt the ending was very touching. Not sure if I should read all the sequels in the series or just cherry pick the better ones.

[Malvolio]

Rose Madder by Stephen King.

It's one of his more realistic novels, about a woman trying to get away from her abusive husband.

[coveredinbees]

It's wheely good.

[Professor Moriarty]

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz.

the fallow up to House Of Silk by Anthony Horowitz.

[Mikekerr3]

The ring of Fire/1632/Assiti Shards series by Eric Flint including the Granville Gazettes re-reading from the beginning and am about half-way though. Well done serial fiction by multiple authoress and really strict editing to keep the series coherent