What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed* Showing 3,951-4,000 of 13,523

[Anne]

John Christopher did a great YA sci-fi trilogy (very dystopic, before it was cool, LOL). The Tripods Trilogy. The first book is The White Mountains.

[mc]

I"ll have to see if I can find that in epub, Anne. On the B&N site, I saw White Mountains and For Love of a Butterfly.

I found a couple of Sturgeon's books pretty cheap: Blabbermouth and Abreaction and Beware the Fury (which sounds like a Bruce Lee movie).

[Calathea]

John wrote: "Incidentally, Season 1 of Sherlock is on Netflix now - so if you don't want to actually buy the disc you can watch them (and a bunch of other BBC/PBS Mysteries) on demand for $7 a month. I've been revisiting "Wire in the Blood" and "Waking the Dead" on there recently"

Thanks for the rec. This saved my evening. :-) I'm halfway through "A Study in Pink" and giggeling all through a murder investigation... Love it!

[Blaine]

Calathea wrote: "Thanks for the rec. This saved my evening. :-) I'm halfway through "A Study in Pink" and giggeling all through a murder investigation... Love it! "

Oh, I really like Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock.
Pity the series is so short ...
though ... I've heard they're filming the second one.
Can't wait!

[John]

Blaine D. wrote: "I've heard they're filming the second one.
Can't wait! "

Apparently BBC will air them in the UK "Autumn 2011," whatever that means. We got the first series on PBS pretty soon after it aired in the UK, so it might not take too long to get to us.

Lest y'all think I'm uniquely tuned into the world, I should confess I'm getting this info from Wikipedia. I'm actually quite stupid left to my own devices.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock... (you may want to cut and paste that full address into a browser - Goodreads is confused by the open parenthesis in the link).

[mc]

But, my friend, you know where to find Wikipedia...isn't that enough?

Feel free to mention it if you see a start date; I always seem to miss those. I've never seen anything else on Masterpiece Mystery, so maybe I need to check that out (of course, again, remember, I have no DVD player :))

[mc]

I just saw a recommendation elsewhere for MC Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series - I can take the ebooks out of my public library (free ebooks, yay!), so I'll give it a try.

[John]

mc wrote: "But, my friend, you know where to find Wikipedia...isn't that enough?

Feel free to mention it if you see a start date; I always seem to miss those. I've never seen anything else on Masterpiece Mystery..."

Well, I guess that's something. :) It's sad that all those years of expensive education have been superseded by "www.wikipedia.org"

PBS seems to have carved up the Sunday night lineup into Masterpiece Classic, Contemporary and Mystery, depending on the season. Summer is big for "Mystery", but my local PBS station has a scheduler with ADD; you never know what's going to be on when.

The last year or so they've broadcast some great shows. IMHO, the best were adaptations of some of Henning Mankell's Wallander crime-drama mysteries (really good stuff if you go for the angsty-nordic-brooding types). They will get repeated, but you just never know when. Wallander, alas, is not on Netflix yet. It's making me twitch.

(Incidentally, Henning Mankell is worth reading. The adaptations are good, but the books are better.)

[Anne]

John wrote: "Well, I guess that's something. :) It's sad that all those years of expensive education have been superseded by "www.wikipedia.org"."

What's sadder is how many kids try to get away with using Wikipedia as a legit source.

My husband LOVES Henning Mankell.

[Becky]

Netflix has the Kenneth Branagh (Masterpiece Mystery) version of Wallander and the Swedish TV version, but they're both on disc only. It would be nice if they'd get them for streaming. I've only seen one episode of the Branagh series, and it was excellent. But it's the kind of thing I have to be in the exact right mood for, and when I am I want it NOW, not in a couple of days.

[Antonella]

, The Rifter 5 by Ginn Hale is out today and it is dedicated to Josh.

This is what I'm reading now!

[Calathea]

Antonella wrote: ", The Rifter 5 by Ginn Hale is out today and it is dedicated to Josh.

This is what I'm reading now!"

I finished #4 yesterday and downloaded #5 only minutes ago. So, I know what to read tonight. ;-)

[mc]

So, is this a series? Is it better to wait until it's all completed? I'm dying to read it, but it will be so difficult to wait for new entries...thoughts?

[Antonella]

It's a book, coming out in 10 installments. For me this is a blessing: when I get excited about a book I tend to jump forward and/or to the end because I can't bear the tension, and only then I reread properly. I cannot do it in this case ;-).

I'm in the middle of the 5th book: it's wonderful. I can't imagine how Ginn managed to keep the different narration streaks together, but she did. I already know it will be one of those books I'll be sad to see finished.

More information here:
http://weightlessbooks.com/genre/fict...

BTW you save money if you get a subscription ;-)

[Calathea]

mc wrote: "So, is this a series? Is it better to wait until it's all completed? I'm dying to read it, but it will be so difficult to wait for new entries...thoughts?"

I had intended to wait until all parts are released. Unfortunately I caved in about three weeks ago and read part one to four. That leaves part five for today and maybe tomorrow. And after that it is waiting until next month. I really wish I hadn't done this. I like to immerse in the story and only come up for air when all is said and done. It's a fantastic story, no doubts about that. But I wish I had waited and read it as a whole.

[Blaine]

Calathea wrote: "mc wrote: "So, is this a series? Is it better to wait until it's all completed? I'm dying to read it, but it will be so difficult to wait for new entries...thoughts?"

I had intended to wait unti..."

I'm still holding on to that same thought ... and I haven't caved yet.
I will buy it ... I just don't want to start reading it until it's finished

[ns]

Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and a young prodigy of a physics professor (swoooon!), included references to real life events in the history of physics and science (oh my god, oh my god), and wasn't scared to talk about *physics* and do all of this in a wry, sophisticated and compellingly stylish way (pass out in excitement), it had a considerable effect on me.

I am now madly, deeply, crazily in love with Lucius Parhelion, whoever he is. An irrational, exuberant infatuation that will, should I read another excellent book from him, lead me to propose like an eight-year old. In fact, let me just take a few moments, if you'll excuse me ... [Dear Mr. Parhelion, if you're reading this, will you please marry me? Sincerely, Your Biggest Fan, NS]....

It's really, really, really rare to see fiction on this kind of subject matter with straight protagonists, never mind gay fiction. It's rare physicists are treated seriously in culture be it books or movies or tv (perhaps outside of science fiction). They're usually a ghastly caricature or unpalatable stereotype (the female scientists on the Big Bang Theory serve as an excellent role model to young girls who might be attracted to science, NOT).

This is a book written by a grown-up for grown-ups, doesn't condescend to its readers, nor does it treat them like idiots who need to be spared the task of intelligent thought.

Faster than the Speed of Light is set in post-war (1949) America, amidst a climate of McCarthyism (the good Senator was just getting started), the FBI spying on its own, particularly key scientists with "un-American" positions on arms control, and of course, the social intolerance towards homosexuality.

Yes, Edward Teller, the great physicist, really was an unlikeable, paranoid jerk by all accounts, and Robert "Oppie" Oppenheimer did collect a brilliant young cabal of young physicists at Berkeley, and was the poster child of "un-American" and liberal victim of McCarthy-era paranoia. But that's all just tangential colorful background to what is principally a story of the relationship between a physics professor and his student who prove to be remarkable in their abilities and remarkably human in their needs.

I loved the extent to which the author painted the unspoken communication between the two, free expression impossible given the complex constraints on their relationship.

There is a great supporting cast of interesting characters (fellow graduate students, professors) -- well drawn and laugh out loud funny in places.

Is it perfect? No, it's not. Some of the dialogue, turns of phrase sound much too contemporary. The author doesn't quite get the tone of a late forties era scientist convincingly, but in the grand scheme of things, where the author gets so much right on a cosmic scale, that's Angstrom-sized nitpicking.

I am grateful to the author for choosing to write about all of this. It's hardly a popular choice. Although he's done a fantastic job, I'm unable to tell how much the context and commonality of interests that I had kept me thrilled and emotionally involved, and how inaccessible or boring this might be to a reader without that context or shared interest. I feel it can stand on its own, and will be a great read for most (the ones not in need of pwp).

I hope it does, because I feel violent, violent love for this book and for this author, for choosing to write it.

ETA: I don't recall who it was who mentioned it on this list, but that's where I heard it and so thanks for the rec!

[Cleon Lee]

ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and ..."

Thanks for the rec, ns! I will definitely put his books on my to buy list. Anyway his name reminds me of Lucious Malfoy, so when I read his books I'll probably conjure up image of Lucius Malfoy. lol

[ns]

Cleon wrote: "Thanks for the rec, ns! I will definitely put his books on my to buy list. Anyway his name reminds me of Lucious Malfoy, so when I read his books I'll probably conjure up image of Lucius Malfoy. lol "

You're welcome, Cleon, I hope you like it! I'd be very interested either way in hearing what people think of it.

[Charming]

ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and ..."

I liked this one a lot too. And you are in luck, because he has a bunch of free, and very good shorts here:

http://www.e-fic.com/sundog/original....

The early hollywood ones are especially good, though the first one is so full of period and Italian slang that it takes some getting used to.

I read these stories first and bought the book on the strength of them.

[ns]

Charming wrote: "I liked this one a lot too. And you are in luck, because he has a bunch of free, and very good shorts here:

http://www.e-fic.com/sundog/original.htm..."

Hey, wow, thanks for that pointer!

[Cleon Lee]

Charming wrote: "ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics s..."

Thank you, Charming!

[Antonella]

ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and ..."

Thank you very much for the excellent review. I keep hearing of this Parhelion, I do have to read something from him!

And thank you for the link, Charming. Sometimes from the shorts stories I can guess if I like an author.

[mc]

ns, I love your reviews. Thankfully, I already own that book, though I haven't read it yet.

Charming, appreciate the link.

[Charming]

You all are welcome!

[Candice]

ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and ..."

ns--You're a nut. Mr Parhelion lives down the street fm me; mows my lawn now and then. Me fix you up.

Kidding. But the book sounds like it might be cool, if not so technical that I groan under its weight. Thank you!

[ns]

Antonella, mc, thank you! Candice, you had me going there for a second. Now my inner eight-year-old is just sad, sad, sad with big crocodile tears... ;).

[Josh]

(This persona thing is why, much as I like interacting with authors who ring my bell, I don't actually want to meet them in real life. Real life blows that persona thing all out of the water (for me, the consumer) - or becomes a impossible strait-jacket (for the author). And after all, we readers can be quite the stalkers, can't we? :)


:-D If I say this is as close as I want to get to my readers it sounds like I don't enjoy the fooling around and chatting online, and I do. I love interacting with you all here and on FB and LJ and Amazon discussions and all the other places. Does it sound contradictory when I say that I am actually quite reclusive by nature? Even a bit shy?

I think it's true for many writers and creative people. So for me this is the best of both worlds. I can interact and enjoy conversing with readers, but I can also retreat when I need to.

[John]

Josh wrote: "Does it sound contradictory when I say that I am actually quite reclusive by nature? Even a bit shy? "

Not a bit. I think everyone has a mix of gregariousness and reclusiveness. Within comfortable boundaries, the shyest of us can enjoy interacting with others; beyond that boundary the most extraverted will freak. There's nothing disingenuous about that. It's just matching the attitude with the context.

Internet interaction is a "safe zone" for me because I always feel I'm in control of the "off" button. In chat or e-mail, I seem a lot more gregarious than I really am; put me in a cocktail party and I'm the one hiding under the coffee table making a neanderthal sound eloquent.

[Kaje]

Me three. I love interacting here with people who share my tastes in books (and I can edit my comments before I post them). In real life, not so much although I can fake it. John, I'd be the person in the corner staring out the window and pretending to drink something.

[Cleon Lee]

ns wrote: "Faster Than the Speed of Light -- Parhelion

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. Some pages in, when I discovered that it was about a brilliant graduate physics student and ..."

I got this one and The Retrieval, ns! Thanks for the rec! :D

[ns]

Hi Cleon, enjoy! I haven't read The Retrieval yet. I have read the ones below.

o Silver Lining -- Very interesting short about two physicists meeting up at a conference, and the complicated dance they have to engage in to have their lives intersect. Chilling and sad when you think this was RL, but affects you as an action-adventure-spy story might. Fun. Besides, we're talking *physicists*! Automatic 5 stars, right? :)

o A Faint Wash of Lavender -- Funny, sweet, short post-war story of a gay ex-soldier who settles in a small town in California known to be a bit more eccentric and tolerant. He's visited by one of his fellow soldiers who is facing a few questions of his own.

o A Fine Cure from Fennel Seeds -- also a funny, short, rather charming piece about a drug shop owner in NYC. Not quite the second coming of the great O Henry, but really, no one has come closer in his voice. This was O Henry doing mm romance :).

o Peridot -- The reason why I'm posting all this. The first 95% of this book is one of the best m/m romances I've read. Very different, fresh, charming, funny and well-written. If you're a mm romance fan, you should read the first 95% and then stop there. I insist. Approx 95%. You'll know where. If you're a literary type, by all means, read on. If, like me, you're in that small bucket that falls in between, a literary romantic, you'll be reduced to wanting to meet the author behind the dumpster of the 7/11 parking lot so you can whale the tar out of him and scream. And there'll be lots to scream about. "AND I WAS GOING TO MARRY YOU, GODDAMN IT!!!". You have been duly cautioned.

[Cleon Lee]

ns wrote: "Hi Cleon, enjoy! I haven't read The Retrieval yet. I have read the ones below.

o Silver Lining -- Very interesting short about two physicists meeting up at a conference, and the complicated dance..."

Thanks for the rec, ns! I'll let you know what I think after I read his (her?) work.

[mc]

If, like me, you're in that small bucket that falls in between, a literary romantic, you'll be reduced to wanting to meet the author behind the dumpster of the 7/11 parking lot so you can whale the tar out of him and scream. And there'll be lots to scream about. "AND I WAS GOING TO MARRY YOU, GODDAMN IT!!!". You have been duly cautioned. Good Lord, that sounds like a scene from Misery.

See, ns, based on that, now I want to read the last 5%.

eta: just went to see more about the book, and I didn't realize it was so short!

[Jaime]

Josh wrote: "(This persona thing is why, much as I like interacting with authors who ring my bell, I don't actually want to meet them in real life. Real life blows that persona thing all out of the water (for m..."

When I was a child, we moved every year, sometimes more. I had two choices: sit in the back of the classroom and ignore everyone because I'd be leaving in 6-9 months, or walk up to kids, introduce myself and ask them to be friend. I went with option number 2. At first I got the strangest looks. But, by the end of the day, I had my new 3 best friends lined up for the coming year. :-) Needless to say, I'm as gregarious in person as I am on the internet. What you get in typed words, you get in face to face chats.

Having said that, I can see why chatting with readers and fans of your work is easier and probably more comfortable over the net. You have so many fans (*g*) that you'd never get anything done if you saw them in person! Plus, I'm sure it's nice to have the privacy, rather than have a bunch of relative strangers know all about your business. But, that doesn't mean we don't play the guessing game from time to time. ;-)

[Charming]

ns wrote: "you'll be reduced to wanting to meet the author behind the dumpster of the 7/11 parking lot so you can whale the tar out of him and scream. "

Thanks for the warning on Peridot. I've said before I want warnings about unhappy endings way more than just about any squick.

[ns]

mc wrote: "See, ns, based on that, now I want to read the last 5%."

You are quite, quite incorrigible, mc. Yes, when we tell you not to read something, that starts a reading itch in you. Tell you to read the simply superb Dark Tide after you've read the first four AE stories? Noooooooohh, not you! Quite, quite incorrigible. I have a sneaking suspicion it's half the reason we love you so much ;).

"eta: just went to see more about the book, and I didn't realize it was so short! "

Yes, it's only 14K words or so. Very short.

[ns]

Charming wrote: "Thanks for the warning on Peridot. I've said before I want warnings about unhappy endings way more than just about any squick. "

Absolutely in the same boat with you on that, Charming..

[Becky]

I finally broke down and did it. I bought a subscription to The Rifter. The first 5 episodes are on my computer, waiting to be side loaded and read.

In other news, I'm completely drowning in TBR and can't seem to finish anything I start.

[Antonella]

Becky wrote: "I finally broke down and did it. I bought a subscription to The Rifter.

In other news, I'm completely drowning in TBR..."

Wise choice, Becky! And aren't we all drowning? ;-)

[Murphy]

I feel the same way about unhappy endings. I hate them! It ruins me for weeks or until I read the next happy ending.

[Becky]

Disaster! I was loading The Shattered Gates onto my Kindle when the cord split. Amazon put a credit on my account to pay for a replacement, but they're estimating delivery for next Tuesday. My Kindle is two years old, and it won't hold a charge for a whole week. I'm really hoping they're able to ship the cable from their Indianapolis warehouse. If they do, there's a good chance I'll have it on Friday. Otherwise I'll be reading cereal boxes for the next week.

[Kari]

Becky wrote: "Disaster! I was loading The Shattered Gates onto my Kindle when the cord split. Amazon put a credit on my account to pay for a replacement, but they're estimating delivery for nex..."

You try Staples? They might be able to ship faster direct-to-store. Just an idea...

[Kaje]

I have to admit, I worry about having my reading dependent on technology. I just reread a book I bought in 1982. 30 years from now, will I be able to look at my e-book copy of Death of a Pirate King for the nth time, or will I have had to buy six new versions? I still buy my biggest favorites in paper.

[mc]

Kaje, don't make me bring up 8-track tapes I used to own :)

With respect to m/m, nearly my entire library, such as it is, is in ebook format.

By the way, I *really* enjoyed your HSD story, which of course isn't a surprise.

[Kaje]

Thanks (especially for the implied compliment). Those stories have all been a lot of fun, and I enjoyed writing mine.

Records, 8-tracks...Yeah, I have all these VHS videotapes... I'm a big one for rereading things so I fret over it a bit. There may be some people who don't care if they lose books down the road. My husband rereads maybe 2% of his books while I reread probably 70% and some of those repeatedly for decades. But with m/m the price and availability differences make e-books too good to pass up.

[mc]

My dad had bought one of the first Betamaxes, if you can believe it! And yes, I have VHS tapes, though no working VCR.

I have way too many 'mainstream' (it bugs me to use that word, but I don't know how else to put it) books in my house, many of which still need to be read, but I stopped buying books about 9 months ago, when I realized I was going to commit to an ereader at some point.

I still have an Italy guidebook for something like the year 1999 - why won't I throw that away?

And nothing implied about it - flat out, your work is memorable and touching.

[Cleon Lee]

I spend all my reading time reading lovely HSD stories!

[Kaje]

mc wrote: "And nothing implied about it..."

I meant the "which of course isn't a surprise" bit. Remember, I've been a published author for all of three months. It still amazes me (and does surprise me) that people can have that kind of confidence in my writing. My next book will come out either this Friday or next, and I'm having major anxiety about living up to expectations for it. So thank you so much for the vote of confidence.

[Ami]

Just like Cleon, I have also spent my time reading the latest release on M/M Romance Group's Hot Summer Days stories. ALTHOUGH, since I just finished James Buchanan's Hard Fall this morning, I am preparing to get the sequel, Spin Out, and read it