Just finished - just started Showing 12,601-12,650 of 13,832

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Actually, just remembered another I enjoyed considerably more than any of that Gregory stuff - The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers

[Patti (baconater)]

Thanks Nosemanny. I'll look at those.

[Jim]

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Yep, if I go Tudor, I go Shardlake"

simply the best :-)

[Jim]

Lisa wrote: "Yes, I always wanted to find out what happened next. :)"

yes, been there, done that

[Benjamin]

I've finished Emma Newman's superb Before Mars (which is, in part, a sci-fi novel about post-natal depression) and moved onto FG Cottam's haunted boat story, Dark Echo.

[Jud]

I just started Riven and all that has done is give me 14 more books for the TBR pile... I'm trying to clear it out not add to it, for goodness sake!

Realistically, I won't ever read the other 14 books but I would like to at least try the first one in the series, Left Behind since I've seen the film.

[David]

Just finished March Violets . Very good. Almost a 5 star job.

Just started Ready Player One. Hmm.

Just finished rereading The Drowned World . Not bad, but far from the best Ballard. Must have first read this sometime in the 1970s. So it was like reading it for the 1st time.

Just started rereading Pratt of the Argus by the more than great David Nobbs.

[L.A.]

I'm re-reading the CJ Box Joe Picket series and just finished and started . Really enjoying them yet again - he is great at bringing landscapes and the animals to life . Story lines are pretty good too.

[Pam]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Oh and I've started reading The Other Boleyn Girl

Not something I'd ever considered reading, in spite of my mother and sister in law mithering me to try Gregory for years.

So far I'm..."

One of the better ones. Hated that one in which she did a character assassination of the 13 or 14 year old Elizabeth in a complete 'blame the victim' mode (instead of the much older Thomas Seymour who was trying to groom her). Think it was called The Queen's Fool?

[Pam]

Catching up on some May reads - Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge - reviewed here - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2379070372.

[Pam]

Read A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2389312087.

[Patti (baconater)]

I've given up on The Other Boleyn Girl.

It was like reading about the art of watching paint dry.

[Pam]

Read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2389312252.

[Pam]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "I've given up on The Other Boleyn Girl.

It was like reading about the art of watching paint dry."

LOL - as I said Patti, that is one of the BETTER ones!

[Patti (baconater)]

Thank gawd I only downloaded that one.

[Pam]

Read Louise Cooper's The King's Demon and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Jud]

I loved most of Philippa Gregory's books but I don't think the Other Boleyn Girl was one of my favourites. It was the first one I read though.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Finished September Fair, trying to start Only Time Will Tell - will work on the phone, but kindle says no, and it doesn't come up on my app to send it to anywhere!! Hmm, once I restarted my kindle (for the first time since buying it!!), it downloaded straight away.

[David]

Just finished Ready Player One , which I liked more at the end than I expected to at the start.

Just started Play Dead.

[Kath]

Read No Remorse by Robert Crouch. I'm a fan of his Kent Fisher mysteries which are witty and very unconventional. This is the third but it could be read as a standalone.

http://ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Patti (baconater)]

Jud wrote: "I loved most of Philippa Gregory's books but I don't think the Other Boleyn Girl was one of my favourites. It was the first one I read though."

I'm surprised you read any more.

[Patti (baconater)]

I'm about 70% through Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Thought I'd give it a try because of the hype about the coming film and got hooked.
I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I am in spite of there being lots about it that should be making me hate it.

[Jud]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Jud wrote: "I loved most of Philippa Gregory's books but I don't think the Other Boleyn Girl was one of my favourites. It was the first one I read though."

I'm surprised you read any more."

I like her stuff, it's easy reading. They are pretty stories

[Pam]

Read Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1389233539.

[Pam]

Read Our Lady of the Snow by Louise Cooper and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2394394064.

[Pam]

Read Waking Nightmares by Ramsey Campbell and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2394463640.

[Kath]

Just finished The Hack by Will Patching. Free. So good I've downloaded (and paid for ) book 2.

http://ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Patti (baconater)]

You had me at 'paid for the second'. As long as the first one doesn't end on a blasted cliff hanger.

I've downloaded the freebie first one anyway.

Here's the link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

Speaking of cliff hangers...

Had a great conversation with the 9/10 year olds on the field trip yesterday. They're as angered and frustrated with cliff hangers as any of us.

I was so impressed with how eloquent they were in their discussion with one another about what makes them want to read the next book in a series.
The consensus was feeling engaged with the characters.

[Kath]

It doesn't. I hate cliff hangers. They're manipulative.

Edit - links are in my review.

[Jim]

I don't do cliff hangers for that reason
I'm writing a Benor story to be read across several blogs, and I'm still not doing cliff hangers!

[Pam]

Just read The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2394487674.

[Patti (baconater)]

Jim wrote: "I don't do cliff hangers for that reason
I'm writing a Benor story to be read across several blogs, and I'm still not doing cliff hangers!"

You do engaging characters.

[Patti (baconater)]

I finished Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

It was good, actually. A very linear plot and saccharine sweet but quite appealing.
The book equivalent of a commercial pop song.

I started Chocky yesterday.
Can't say I'm enjoying it much. It's so very dated and the characters of the parents are maddening, they're so pig ignorant.
I don't think the author intended his readers to want to smack them.
I think I've started reading it 20 years too late.
It's only short, so I'll probably finish it. Or throw my kindle at a wall...

[Jim]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Jim wrote: "I don't do cliff hangers for that reason
I'm writing a Benor story to be read across several blogs, and I'm still not doing cliff hangers!"

You do engaging characters."

some of whom are engaged and one or two even married!

[Jim]

Has Chocky just not stood the test of time? It's one of his books I haven't read

Indeed is he read much now?

[Patti (baconater)]

I loved his other books I read back in the day. Especially The Crysalids.
Watching The Twilight Zone has made me nostalgic for olde time pulp fiction, so I sought out a Wyndham I hadn't read.

Perhaps not the best choice.

[Patti (baconater)]

And I've not read the King short story yet.

I've got it open in a tab on my iPad and I keep looking at it with delight.

Think I'll wait to read it when I've got the house to myself.

[Jim]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "And I've not read the King short story yet.

I've got it open in a tab on my iPad and I keep looking at it with delight.

Think I'll wait to read it when I've got the house to myself."

In the Non-fiction section I've mentioned one I think Dave might like

The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

Not available as an ebook, I picked it up second hand :-)

[Patti (baconater)]

Cheers, I'll show him.

[Elizabeth]

Just finished Vampires Drink Tomato Juice by K.M. Shea. Light reading and a few good chuckles. Just starting the sequel - Goblins Wear Suits in the hope of a few more.

[Patti (baconater)]

I could with some chuckles. I'll look for those.

[Elizabeth]

Just beware that the main character is a 16 yer old at the beginning - although one with a fairly sensible and mature outlook. (Possibly just like us?!)

[Daniella]

Just finished "Death Below Stairs" by Jennifer Ashley

Here's my Goodreads review:
"Death Below Stairs" is a stylish and captivating mystery set in Victorian England that explores class distinctions as it stirs murder and a political plot against the Crown into the cauldron of trouble. Upstairs, Downstairs meets Sherlock Holmes to delight the imagination with an engaging puzzle. Kat Holloway, a cook, and man of secrets Daniel McAdam make a unique sleuthing team.

Just started "Blue Blooded" by Emma Jameson

[Natasha]

Just finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami--ALL THREE BOOKS. Hadn't realised I couldn't just read book 1, so accidentally roped myself into reading well over 1,000 pages. It was rather wonderful, though.

Just started American Gods by Neil Gaiman. ... Whoa ...!

[Patti (baconater)]

Ive got 8% of Chocky left but I've just downloaded the new Stephen King.

So, yeah.

[L.A.]

Not finished anything! Just starting Cos can't read my ipad outside in the sun and that's where the current book is!! (About to go out for a walk and sit down on a seat overlooking the sea to read for a while).

[Patti (baconater)]

You need to get a kindle, LA.

[Patti (baconater)]

I finished Chocky. Ended up giving it four stars. The ending redeemed it.
Then I read the King short story freebie, which was delightful.

Now I'm reading the new King. I'd like to pace myself so it lasts a few days at least but it's so good and I wanna know what's gonna happen!!!

[L.A.]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "You need to get a kindle, LA." Yep I know. Got one actually but the keyboard part gave up the ghost last year and doesn't work so can't really use it - although ........ maybe the library part does ....... well done Patti you may just have solved the reading on a screen problem!!

[Patti (baconater)]

The only time I read on my iPad is when I'm covering a boring secondary class and reading on my kindle would be too obvious.

I think everyone on the planet should have a kindle. :D

I'm reading this King way too quickly.

Bugger.