RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club Showing 751-800 of 2,932

[Soo]

Pick between Mouse and Ghost? Ugh. That's hard! But... I gotta go with Mouse too. He has magic. Magic is the extra that Ghost doesn't have.

[Laura]

Hi girls. Hope you don't mind me popping in. What are you reading nice?

[Narilka]

I'm slowly working my way through Joe Ledger #3.

[Choko]

Same here, as well as catching up on Harry Dresden ʘ‿ʘ

[Brian]

I’m on the most recent Dresden book now. I’m gonna hit the Ledger books next. Excited!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I still occasionally read Space Team... read Sentienced to Death recently...

I like watching these guys read Joe Ledger and Dresden... I did my Dresden re-read earlier this year, and read Ledger for the first time earlier this year...

Recently, I'm near finishing my unexpected Wheel of Time re-read... did Knife of Dreams the other day, and started first Sanderson one today...

Finished my Stormlight re-read is probably going to delay Rhythm of War...

Otherwise, I've been cycling between a Craig Schaefer re-read, an October Daye re-read, and the mentioned Wheel of Time books... spiced up with random books and Pendergast books...

Just did The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25)... seems to be Lee Child passing the torch to his younger brother Andrew, as writer... I thought it was a fair approximation of a Reacher book... less focus on how old Reacher is getting, bit heavy on noticing oddities and combat that explains what Reacher would normally do, followed by what he actually does... these ticks kinda got annoying by the end, but I enjoyed it overall...

[Choko]

I just finished Sentienced to death tonight and I looooooved it!!!! I missed Cal and Miz and the gang so much ❤️!!!

[Choko]

I really needed some Space Team fun and it made me feel much better! Poor wolf and shark people... And I once again hate the Earth Humans...

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "Joe Ledger #3... Interlude 19 ... OMG! Don't tell me [spoilers removed]"

I'm in Interlude 22 and just made that connection lol I feel so slow :)

This story is eerie given the state of the world. So much seems plausible, as if a group like the Kings could do exactly that.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

And you guys are only on book 3... worse things happen...

[Soo]

Miss you, guys! I got de-railed from books with The Library of the Unwritten. Technically, it should be a great story but I feel a distinct lack of original spin on religion, angels & demons that grates the wrong way. Plus, none of the characters are exciting. Though they SHOULD be if they actually embodied the idea vs the story told.

So, between crazy life stuff, I've watched a ton of NCIS. A lot of that were re-runs. In order to watch the latest seasons, I have the trail CBS All Access on Amazon.

Then I started Scorpion. Which has fun characters but the plot details and action are really goofy.

Thoughts on the shows:

NCIS: I love the core plot people and it's one of the most trigger happy, kill the bad guys ever. It's a fun mix of Bones with the gruesome death, action packed thriller plot lines, fun (real/fake) science, politics and a lot of love for the armed services. I liked the way current event conflicts are thrown into the show + popular culture on entertainment/gaming/change of tech affect on society.

Too bad about the dark cloud of how Tony & Abby left the show. Though, everyone were showing their ages because the show has been around for AGES!

Scorpion: Pretty sure several shows & movies have been loosely based on that Walter guy.

It's like a less exciting, modern adaptation of MacGuyver. Instead of having one really cool guy with cool side characters, it's a cast of smarties. I think Iain is the one that compared it to Mentalist and Leverage.

So, I think the show is kid-friendly version of "exciting".

Some of the way they portray the geniuses are cool and others are too cheesy.

I'm waiting for the show to match the potential. Heh

What are ya'll up to?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

NCIS is definitely a show that strains the believability of people staying in the same job for 15 years... and even I heard about the drama around cast exits, and I'm like 8 seasons behind on the show...

Scorpion is news to me, now I want to find it...

Been in my own bubble, lately... almost done with my Wheel of Time re-read... Towers of Midnight now... I'd forgotten how late in the series some of these developments are...

[Soo]

I finished Malazan and quit WoT because the narration irked me to no end. =)

More power to you for catching up on it!

Watching Scorpion while I have the CBS All Access on Amazon. Figure I'll get my "free" worth before I cancel it. I already spend too much money on Amazon/Audible.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

WoT audio let me re-read the series, where I'd never have redone the pages...

Scorpion: I watched 1-2 episodes at some point, apparently...

[Narilka]

I watched Scorpion when it was new and agree it's a goofy show. Some fun stuff, lots of eye rolling.

Not doing a lot of TV at the moment. The only thing I'm enjoying is Weather Gone Viral from the Weather Channel. I love how they show crazy real weather events and then give the science behind it. I think you can find it online free too.

Other than finishing Joe Ledger 3, the Brackenford Cycle and wanting to continue Finishing School as BRs, I'm like Iain and just reading whatever catches my fancy. Audio for Ready Player Two comes out soon and is targeted to be my next audio book. I also saw from that the audio for book three of Paternus should release soonish, which I'll cycle in after Ready Player Two. Then Joe Ledger 4 in.... hmm, January is my best guess.

[Soo]

Scorpion has good actors and fun characters. It's the actual event sequences that are eye-rolling. Some of the situations are just ridiculous and the way some of the "processing" aren't the kind I'd expect from those who are geniuses and have jump jack logic. =)

There's enough cool stuff to make up for the bad logic. lol

Like I said, great family show but not as great as MacGuyver. =)

Yeah! Ready Player 2. I'll probably do a re-read of RP1.

[Soo]

Scorpion:

Concept - Love it. The showing of genius people and how hard it could be for them to live/learn, etc.

I like how there's a lot of fun science involved from psychology, engineering, programming and more.

Stuff I don't care for:
- I don't like the show using the term "humans" as geniuses being "not human" and other people are human. A genius would argue that one on multiple levels. People are all human. It would have been better to use the term "normal" and argue how the aspect of normal is per individual and coined by society.
- I love all the nutty situations they have to fix but it's kind of ridiculous in how it happens. Contracted team that has no idea about military or fighting will not be sent into dangerous areas without a team to back them up. I love Cabe (the government handler) but he's like almost 60 and by himself to protect 6 people with no fighting or weapons experience. heh Cabe has his work cut out for him.

Also, I gotta finish up the show today because my free trial ends tomorrow and CBS doesn't have enough shows to have me paying $10 a month to watch it on Amazon.

Isn't it nice that you can either pay $5 (with commercials) bucks for shows we used to be able to watch for free on TV with an antenna. $10 bucks a month for without commercials. *eyeroll*

I learned Amazon Streaming is way more of a process hog than Netflix. Who is surprised? Not me.

[Soo]

Also, terrible love triangles to teach lessons about romantic relationships. Lame.

[Narilka]

Joe Ledger 3, Ch 54 (view spoiler)[Just got the reveal that Vox is undermining the Kings. He is sneaky! Seems he might be teaming up with Toys soon now that Toys has been rejected by Galt.

I'm glad all the interludes are done and it's present day for the rest of the story. At least I think so based on the last few chapters. It's time for the DMS to figure things out and let Joe go kick more ass.

I love Ghost. Best government agent ever. (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

Huzzah for Ghost! =)

[Choko]

Ghost is awesome! I love how he gets his own french fries and eats them one at a time without sharing! I used to have a dog, my favorite, whom I would take to McDonald's every evening and get her 2 cheese burgers for herself, and I would eat the french fries (✷‿✷). No wonder I have a humongous weight problem. I am the only vegetarian I know who is 400 pounds...

[Narilka]

That's a great memory of your previous puppy :)

I also love how Ghost is the perfect judge of character. As long as Joe follows his lead...

[Soo]

Agreed. That's a fun memory, Choko!

Well, sometimes, Ghost is more affected by environment and sense of danger than not. You'll see in later books.

[Brian]

Finished Battle Ground, the latest in the Dresden series. This by far to me was the best of the entire series. Every single side character was present, the pacing was at warp speed, and it is essentially a book long battle. Some major events happen as well that SHOCKED me but I will leave this spoiler free.

[Soo]

It was good right?!?! Though, I think you have to read both to really appreciate the insanity of events that happened in Battle Ground.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Battle Ground was great... most of my complaints come down to the many things I/we want answers to, and Butcher knows it, but says we have to wait for... and the (view spoiler)[this is unexplainably mind melty, when it comes to Outsiders (hide spoiler)]... and (view spoiler)[Murphy/Rudolph (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

The amount of mental cursing and emotional roller coaster for certain scenes were the same for me on the first and second read of the book. Heh

So much "WTF?!?!??!" and "OH! That's great!" moments.

[Soo]

I just finished Dark Jenny #3 of Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe. It was great!

The whole series is on Audible Plus. Fun, noir vibe fantasy series with a flawed hero that does good deeds. Well, mostly? lol

Solid writing, good action and fun mix of fables/etc.

[Narilka]

Has anyone started to think about BRs for next year? I think I'd still like to do Ryiria Revelations if you all are up for it.

[Soo]

I'm in for reading RR. =)

Do we need a series thread for next year or does that get talked about in the Buddy Read Invite thread?

There are several series I wouldn't mind adding to next year.

I'd like to finish Wheel of Time but a BR probably won't help me with that. I think I'll just continue from where I am and try reading with light audio input when I can't read. The narration aggravates me and detracts from the story so it's not a good option.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm well into the last WoT book now... I didn't remember that the Last Battle is it's own 200 page / 8hr audio chapter... it's a like a book within a book... rather than break it into smaller chapters, it's just all one big chapter... at least until (view spoiler)[Demandred is dealt with (hide spoiler)]

I'm not sure what I'm doing next year yet... but Riyria is a great bromance series... I'd probably do a re-read... also would be interesting, having read the prequels and the Legend of the First Empire, and knowing the truth behind the myths/histories...

[Narilka]

I will put a post in the BR Invite thread when we're ready. I think some who joined for Legends might be interested.

[Narilka]

What other series were you thinking of Soo?

[Brian]

I’d definitely do Riyrea next year. I’d also like to read John Gwynn’s series starting with Malice.

[Soo]

I'll do a deep dive into my TBR & make a list. I know I'll continue shelter in place until spring. Then I'm going to explore and see if I can get hiking back into my routine. Rules have been relaxed a lot or people are just not bothering to take precautions. So, there'll still be outbreak waves as things normalize in an not normal time frame.

I fell into the Punisher Season 2 rabbit hole. It's interesting how this one is more like a long movie vs short episodic plots that link. Ever wonder if we're all that intentionally blind? Would you do nothing if you saw someone with bloodstains all over them? Or think that maybe your imagining it?

I can't decide if I like the parallel story lines between the 3 men. It's cool and yet wacked.

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "Well, I just finished Joe Ledger #3 and it was soooo good! I was happy for picking up on some things really early, but now we have so many more scary possibilities left out there! This is one scary..."

I finished too. Choko, I agree, (view spoiler)[Nicodemus being free is NOT a good thing. Do you think Vox arranged it? Also Toys is still alive with Vox somewhere. That's an interesting duo.

Such a great reveal about Church, a little of his history. He's still completely mysterious! And strong enough to rip a door off its hinges. Wow.

I like that Joe seems to have made peace with his decision to stick with the DMS. That he's OK with walking the darkness to protect the light.

I loved how Vox set up Eris and Galt LOL They deserved that. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The US is definitely not taking it very seriously... I mean... so many store-side restrictions are lifting, even as the US has higher and higher daily confirmed cases every day...

Back in March/April there were gloves and one-way aisles, and blockades to stop people entering the store from mingling with people at registers and between entrance/exit doors, much lower capacity limits, etc etc etc... now it's mostly just wear a mask, have plexiglass at registers/windows, and hope for the best...

[Narilka]

@Brian - I think I have Malice in my TBR. I didn't buy the whole series though, can see how I feel after the first one.

@Soo Sounds good.

[Soo]

Joe Ledger:

Yah! That ending was great. Very apropos.

Also, I don't think Nicodemus is ever kept prisoner unless he wants to be kept.

COVID19:

There's a false sense of security in thinking that if the general spread has happened and more people are recovering, then:

a) It may not be that dangerous.
b) Once you recover, you're safe.
c) Lack of real understanding about the spread of viruses, what can actually protect a person and all leads to some odd decision making processes because it's endorsed by those who "should" be better informed.

People seem to forget that knowledge is learned in narrow & confined segments that don't necessarily link or cover minute details unless the person wants to learn about it enough to have a solid information base.

[Soo]

If you're in the mood for some dark humor or Twilight Zone-esque stories, I highly recommend Nights of the Living Dead: An Anthology.

Solid anthology and the audiobook has great narrators. I'll have to keep my eye out for some of the authors and check out their books. If they write books. =)

[Narilka]

Have any of you finished Rhythm of War yet? Does it end in a cliff hanger?? Ive been holding off on reading Stormlight, trying to wait for the first arc to publish and binge them, but I'm craving Sanderson and I'm starting to weaken. Help!

[Soo]

lol There are other Sanderson books you could read? Probably get them from the library.

I've only read the Way of Kings & enjoyed it. It remains unrated/reviewed because I forgot to do it when I read the book and figured I'll do it when I re-read/listen. I think I'll dive in next year.

Oy, just checked. I'll be reading it again because I do not want to torture myself with the audiobook. XD

[Soo]

Eep! I have to read 141 books in 41 days to reach 1001 books. I don't think that's gonna happen.

Hahahahha! Took too many breaks to watch shows.

[Narilka]

At this point I have Mistborn Era 2, which I think I read somewhere book 3 has a cliff hanger?, and Stormlight. Maybe I should consider a reread of Mistborn Era 1 to get my fix. Hmm.

141 is a lot. You could do it if you gave up everything else to read :D Not very practical though lol

Fun story. The local grocery store had copies of Ready Player Two available even though it hasn't released yet. I've already preordered the audio so waiting (im)patiently for tuesday :)

[Soo]

Is there a BR for Ready Player 2? I am SO down for that! =)

[Soo]

Mild chance of me getting 141 books if I try to do short books that are on Audible Plus or I already own the series by getting the bundle.

I don't want to sacrifice enjoyment for the #'s. I ditched a series I started because the writing was bad. Cool ideas but it was not well written. Which is weird because the author is a well established horror writer. *shrug*

Most of my KU books are ones I need to read vs listen. I do want to read them. Gotta find audios that I can listen to and read something else. It's a fickle balance. =D

[Narilka]

Soo wrote: "Is there a BR for Ready Player 2? I am SO down for that! =)"

I don't think so. Let me go check interest on the BR Invite thread.

I'm going to be a slow reader since I'm planning to do it on audio. Then again, with all day cooking fest on Thursday, I might push through faster than expected :D we will see! Really looking forward to Wil Wheaton's narration.

[Narilka]

Soo wrote: "Mild chance of me getting 141 books if I try to do short books that are on Audible Plus or I already own the series by getting the bundle.

I don't want to sacrifice enjoyment for the #'s. I ditch..."

Definitely do not sacrifice enjoyment for #s. You'll just get resentful and ruin your hobby.

[Narilka]

Great minds think alike! You beat me to the BR Invite thread :D

[Soo]

=D

Hm, I don't want to make last minute work for someone to make the thread.

We can easily BR the book here if no one else responds.