Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
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What are U reading these days? (PART NINE (2013) (ongoing thread for 2013)
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Jackie
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Oct 31, 2013 10:11AM
I have Saberhagen's first three Book of Swords. I did't realize he co-wrote Coils. I've got Thorn on my To Buy list.
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I was introduced to Berserker when I took a Univ. of Iowa correspondence course in science fiction in the mid-90s, and really liked it; I've not rated/reviewed it yet, but it would get five stars from me. (But I believe the Goodreads description of this book confuses it with a different book in the series; this is a story collection, not a novel!) I've also read and liked Berserker Fury, which I read out of series order.My favorite supernatural fiction from Saberhagen is Dancing Bears, which draws on the Russian folklore of werebears. That one got four stars from me (my review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/16094159 ). The only novel in his Dracula series that I've read is The Holmes-Dracula File, the second entry in the series (I didn't know it was part of a series when I read it). I liked that one enough to give it three stars (again, here's the link to my review, for anyone who's interested: www.goodreads.com/review/show/18416796 ).
I think the confusion is over the plural, Werner. Not sure. Could be a publishing duplication title too. I started to look into it to fix it, then got sidetracked. I recently listened to the short story collection. Honestly, I liked them better as scattered stories & in print form. They were still good, though.Jackie, there are a lot of stories associated with the Swords books. After it, there are the 'Lost Sword' books. Before it, there's a somewhat confusing set of stories including "Empire of the East". I'm too lazy to look it up now, but I think it was 2 books & a short story that were also published as a single book - possibly without the short story. I really liked them, even better than the Swords.
I have all of them, but have never gotten around to reading them all in order. I've read most at one time or another as I found them, but it was frustratingly out of order & separated by years. If you ever do want to read it, talk to me & see if you can find all the books. If not, let me know & I'll loan them to you.
Thanks, Jim, I'll see if I can find the Lost Sword and Empire books.
Jim, thanks for the added info.
Finally thorugh signing up with Facebook I got this to work again. Why??? In the meantime we are enjoying a glorious autumn. And I am in the midst of reading too many books. Can there ever be too many? Well, perhaps not. I just finished in two days, "The Painted Girls,by Cathy Maire Buchanan in spite of the bad grammer. And then went on to "The Last Night in Twisted Creek," by John Irving and now am into, "The Last Train from Liguria" by Christinia Dyer Hickey. Now I need to get some time for finishing my Memoirs and then supposed to start a Old Time Recipe blog...And when do I get time to mulch before cold sets in and in between this I have luncheons...Good food feeds starving guests..so it goes back here in KS
Nina, glad to see you are once again able to access Goodreads.You sure have a lot of energy! Tell me, what kind of vitamin pills do you take? I need some. LOL
I finished Coils a day or two ago, enjoyed it. Interesting concept, good story, good execution.I started Golden Trillium by Andre Norton. #3 in the series. I read the first one, Black Trillium, written by 3 authors: Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May and Andre Norton, about 3 sisters. Books 3 pick up directly after the events of Black Trillium, with 1 of the sisters. I also like that the prologue was a few pages about what happened in Black Trillium, I didn't have to go back and scan through the book. I like a refresher.
Jackie, would the "refresher" in the prologue be enough if the reader didn't want to read the previous book(s) in the series?
Joy. I only take a Multi-vitamin and vitamin E and three other pills including one for defibrulation problems. But so far, I am fortunate no hip or knee replacement. I don't go to a gym; I walk and I garden and do my own housework with the help of my husband so it's not too much to handle so far. Neither my husband nor I are ready or willing to go to assisted living.
PS-Jackie, in the GR description of Golden Trillium, it says:=======================================================
"Here they discover a portal leading to a universe of awesome darkness--an entranceway to a horror that threatens the very existence of "The World Of The Three Moons."
FROM: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
========================================================
It's interesting that the list of users' "top shelves" for that book doesn't include "horror" . See the list here: https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...
Just finished a Dr. Who novel, The Left-Handed Hummingbird. I am on a science fiction binge this month---now starting A King of Infinite Space.
The ladies who run our local bookstore, Hearthside Books, typically receive quite a few advance review copies of books from publishers they buy from, and they recently decided to make some of these available to their customers for free. On my most recent visit, I picked up one of these, The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud, on the strength of a rave review by a lady in the Book Review Exchange group. I started it yesterday, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Joy, yes it tells what happened in just a few pages but I wouldn't recommend it, you'd only miss out on a great story. It's the details that make a book great, a refresher can never bring that to a reader.This is definitely not a horror by any stretch of the imagination. In fantasy sometimes horrible things happen, sometimes we meet hideous-looking creatures, but that doesn't make it a horror story. Fantasy always has the fantastical element and that can take shape in a variety of unconventional ways. I haven't gotten to the doorway yet, but I will let you know what this supposed horror is. For me, it will probably be nothing out of the ordinary for fantasy. It's probably going to have hideous creatures, that's my guess.
Mary JL: thanks for the links.Werner: Enjoy that free book! I recently picked up several used books at the "free shelf" at our local town office building. They'll keep Eddie busy for a while. :) One is by Nelson DeMille. Ed will probably enjoy that one.
Jackie: Thanks for your reply. You always give articulate answers. I appreciate that. I wish I were as articulate as you in expressing my thoughts and ideas.
Ed and I had a busy weekend and were away from our computers for a while. I'm playing "catch-up" today. :)
Joy wrote: I wish I were as articulate as you in expressing my thoughts and ideas.And that's what I say to Werner all the time!
Nina wrote: "... Neither my husband nor I are ready or willing to go to assisted living."Nina, Ed and I feel the same way. So far we're able to manage for ourselves. I try not to think about the alternative. :)
Jackie, I feel the same way about Werner... and Jim too, and so many others. You all have interesting opinions which I enjoy reading about.
We have a city wide book club and this month's selection was "Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore," and it was an interesting book that I read about a year ago. Wondering if Werner or Jackie have read it. I think it might be up your reading alley so to speak.
I haven't read it but it sounds good.
Thanks for the kind words, Jackie and Joy!No, Joy, I haven't read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But I appreciate the heads-up!
Werner, I recommended the Mr. Penumbra book; it's a bit science fiction and also ancient book history; like a code. Try it.
Nina, sorry I didn't pay better attention to who posted that comment; thank YOU for the heads-up! I'll add it to my to-read shelf.
Links for reference: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin SloanSounds tempting. :)
PS-Here's an interesting GR review of the book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read "Penumbra" several months ago and loved it!
Hi Carol! Nice to hear from you. I will keep Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore in mind.I just started reading Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker (2013) by Jennifer Chiaverini. It's an interesting approach to historical fiction about the civil war era. So far so good.
Nina, I noticed that you wrote a comment under Ruth's review of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. You will find that Ruth's reviews are usually interesting. She speaks her mind and writes pithy reviews. I know her from the GR Constant Reader group. Here's her profile page:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Even her profile is pithy. :)
I just finished That Way Lies Camelot by Janny Wurts. It's alternate fantasy & SF short stories. I gave it a 5 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jim, thanks for the link to your review. Janny Wurts is full of imagination and talent! I see that audible.com offers audios of her The Cycle of Fire. I'm going to listen to the samples which can be accessed here: http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_h...
Her web site is also a great place to look for her stuff:http://www.paravia.com/
Click on Janny's name to see her stuff, although you won't go wrong checking out Don's, either. He paints their Xmas card to us each year. They're fantastic! Little works of art. I keep them with Janny's books. I have most of them in signed first editions plus reading copies.
Jim, that's quite a website! You could get lost in there! Very vivid and imaginative art! You must treasure those Xmas cards! Thanks for the link.
I do, Joy. One year, I bought us all coffee mugs with Janny's artwork on it. She's amazingly talented. In between writing & painting, she also rides, gives riding lessons, sails, & is an accomplished bagpipe player.
Jim, Janny is surely amazing. I wonder what she is like in person.
She & Mom had a good afternoon together when Mom was down her way once. They're both very intense & active.
I wanted a quick, entertaining read & found the Casca series on my shelves. It's been ages since I read any of them. If you're not familiar with the series,https://www.goodreads.com/series/5120...
it follows Casca, the legionnaire who killed Christ as he was dying on the cross. Christ cursed Casca to be as he was until they met again. Sadler wrote a couple of dozen books with Casca fighting as a soldier, usually some sort of grunt, in different time periods. He gets killed occasionally, but always comes back to fight another day, so provides a lot of adventure.
Since Barry Sadler died, another dozen have been published. I read one & decided it wasn't for me, but 3 different authors have tried their hand at them, so one of the others might be better. I didn't care too much for many of the later ones that Sadler did, though. I prefer it when the book concentrates more on the history than on how tough/cool Casca is. Sadler did that best with the first & the 20th century ones from WWI up through Vietnam, as I recall. Panzer Soldier is possibly the best, IMO. I gave it 4 stars & reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jim wrote: "She & Mom had a good afternoon together when Mom was down her way once. They're both very intense & active."Yes, I imagine Janny would have an intense personality. Does she talk fast too? Intense personalities are very stimulating but not very restful to be around. A sense of humor usually helps to relax the atmosphere. It's so hard to define a personality. Each one is so unique. Authors must find it a challenge to describe personalities. But it's an interesting challenge. "Type A" and "Type B" hardly cover all the aspects.
I'll bet you talk fast too. LOL
Jim, we discussed my daughter breaking her horse. She said she broke the horse, Dasher, slowly and he is part Morgan, part Persheron.
Jackie wrote: "Finished Golden Trillium, almost as good as the first one. 4 stars. Started Relentless."Oh, boy, Koontz! Thriller, horror, suspense, and mystery! I'd probably need a tranquilizer before I could read that book. :)
That's what I hear! After the suspense of Grisham's _The Firm_, I swore off that type of book. I can't take it the tension.
Jim, As you possibly read about my daughter breaking her horse as I reported she said she did it slowly. When you wrote a while back you mentioned out West they did it fast and with a different breed of horses. How far out West were you referring to? Just curious.
I could start an entire discussion by telling you I spent the morning cutting two cups of raisins in half and the same for dates, figs and cherries and pineapple for the much maligned fruitcake. I have been making this applesauce based fruitcake for over fifty years and have yet found anyone I cared to share it with to not like it. But, as I said, I might have started a rebellion..In any case, please everyone have a lovely Family Thanksgivng dinner, with or without fruitcake..Actually, mine sits for over a month once it is baked under a coat of sherry. Bon Appetit!
That's one reason I avoid fruit cakes - the alcohol. I always liked the ones my grandmothers made.
Nina, I wish I could have a slice of your fruitcake! Sounds yummy! Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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