What Are You Reading Right Now? ( Hwæt béon ðu bocrædung?) Showing 2,801-2,850 of 10,105

[happy]

Richard wrote: "Revelation by Sansom. That is in the Shardlake series.
Very excellent Tudor mystery fiction"

Excellent series - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

[Lariela]

Started a re-read of this fine tome. When Christ and His Saints Slept Borrowed a hardcover copy from the library, so it's a bit doorstop-ish.

[Linda]

Good read.

[Bobby]

Penman is top notch.

[Nate]

I really liked that one, Lariela. She's a great writer. Poor England.

[Eileen]

Nate wrote: "I really liked that one, Lariela. She's a great writer. Poor England."

I think it was as tough a time in England then as the blitz was during WWII. When Christ and His Angels Slept really brought that home to me.

[happy]

That was the first Penman I read - excellent

[Bobby]

and

[Lariela]

happy wrote: "That was the first Penman I read - excellent"

It was my first Penman as well. I want to read the series again before King's Ransom comes out.

[Mark]

[Jane]

Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History: a day-by-day almanac of historical events--most not well known. Many trenchant observations are given by the author, Eduardo Hughes Galeano

[C.P.]

C.P. wrote: "Currently seeking refuge from my research on Tatars ... while gloomily contemplating the necessity of finishing (Bryn will understand) Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tukles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition."

And I finished it! It really was very useful. I am so glad I persevered. I read the first two-thirds ages ago, but the last third is more relevant to my current book (and my next, as he got the swan maidens in there, too). I'll write a review eventually, but right now I need to revel for a while.

EDIT: Got my act together. Here is the review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

Next up, another tome: The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania: International Diplomacy on the European Periphery (15th-18th Century). a Study of Peace Treaties Followed by Annotated Documents. (an incredible 1045 pages plus maps and facsimiles, but that year-by-year chronicle on Crimea that I was searching for), and Natasha Fijn's Living with Herds: Human-Animal Coexistence in Mongolia. Both of these are absolutely unaffordable, so I send a huge bouquet of flowers to the great academic libraries. May they never perish from the earth!

Still reading Hilda Reilly's Guises of Desire as leavening. After that, I have, in no particular order, Gillian Hamer's The Charter, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life (group read), Georgette Heyer's The Spanish Bride (group read), and Leo Tolstoy's Hadji Murad (genre read for August). So I will be late to or missing from the Raven: Blood Eye discussion, alas.

[Linda]

Just finishedCaesar's Sword by David Pilling and wrote review. Starting The Betelgeuse Oracle by Joseph Macchiusi.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Oh C.P, :(
That's a shame about the Blood Eye read. Hopefully it is the former (late) more so than the latter (missing).

[Jane]

Finished Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History. Liked it and wrote review.
Now reading Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.

[C.P.]

Terri wrote: "Oh C.P, :(
That's a shame about the Blood Eye read. Hopefully it is the former (late) more so than the latter (missing)."

Thanks, Terri. I'm going to try! The book looks really interesting, and it's nice to have the author join in (hope the poor man has nerves of steel). ;-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Haha. Yep. I hope he can hack the honesty of our mob.
I am proud of our mobs honesty though. :-) Wouldn't have it any other way around here.

[Darcy]

He's doing great so far.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I have been trying to work my way through all the new posts that happened while I was asleep. I am nearly at the Raven thread now to check the discussion out. :-)

[Jane]

But I think "our mob" is pretty polite.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Me too. :-)

[[deleted user]]

Terri wrote: "Haha. Yep. I hope he can hack the honesty of our mob.
I am proud of our mobs honesty though. :-) Wouldn't have it any other way around here."

Me neither. Even though I haven't read Wounds of Honour yet, I thought the conversation was fascinating. I know it got a little negative at times, and my laughing at certain comments probably didn't help, but that's just life. I love reading the group read threads, even when I'm not reading the book. Especially when the author participates.

[Jane]

If you ever do read it, your impressions should be interesting.

[[deleted user]]

I still plan to Jane. Actually, as Simona had mentioned, the different opinions by the members here makes me more interested in it. I'm curious as to what I'll think about it.

[Jane]

That was my point, Derek. Opinions were so divergent and people felt so strongly one way or the other.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Derek wrote: "
Me neither. Even though I haven't read Wounds of Honour yet, I thought the conversation was fascinating. I know it got a little negative at times, .."

Only because the author wasn't seeing all the positives. Once he realised what he'd been missing by doing that, everything came good..

[Jane]

Yes, your tactful post on that steered him in the right direction. I won't hesitate in recommending his stuff to people I think might like it, but it's just not to my particular taste.

[Elaine]

Bobby wrote: "
and
"

" I just read it--thought it was just interesting for the first third or so, then I couldn't put it down.

Now I'm reading Cornwell's The Last Kingdom.

[Jane]

I was 29 on a waiting list for Life after life, so I thought I'd wait a few months.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jane wrote: "Yes, your tactful post on that steered him in the right direction. I won't hesitate in recommending his stuff to people I think might like it, but it's just not to my particular taste."

Same. Not my taste either, but obviously appeals to many others.

[Paul]

Current reads: The Last Hero by Hilary Green and The Spear of Crom by Tim Hodkinson...

[Jane]

Started a fascinating one last night: Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. It's pretty exhaustive and scholarly but easy to understand. There is so *much* info I don't know how much I'll remember; but I'm only concentrating on the two groups meaningful to me.

I'm marking time until The Far Shore
I ordered recently arrives. I love that series and hope this one will be as good as the other two in the series. I must pick up books I have on reserve at the library and take back ones I've finished..

Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad is still enjoyable. I'm now at Part II, where the Russian final pushback comes--and, the Russian winter...

[Linda]

ooo

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Paul wrote: "Current reads: The Last Hero by Hilary Green and The Spear of Crom by Tim Hodkinson..."


Nice to see you reading 'our Tim's' books, Paul.

The Spear of Crom

[Lariela]

That looks like a Roman legion novel.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I don't think Tim will like me saying this.....but I also think by the blurb that it could be historical fantasy more than historical fiction. So if a reader likes their historical fiction straight up realism, just be aware there may be a little of the fantastical to the book. For those that don't care, it doesn't matter if there is some of the fantastical there.

If I am wrong, please Tim let us know..

[Tim]

Well, yes and no. If this tips into spam feel free to delete.
Without giving too much away, the Spear that appears to be "magic" in the book has a scientific explanation, though as referenced in another thread on this group, I found it genuinely hard to convey the scientific explanation through the characters while sticking to the scientific knowledge they would have had at the time. I'd be interested in any comments as to whether I succeed or not.
However, while not "fantasy" in that respect its probably not "heavy" HF and has some speculative elements - e.g. there's a sickle chariot in it that owes more to combination of Cuchulain's chariot in the Tain and a design by Leonardo da Vinci, than to the statue of Boadicea in London.
I did put a lot of research into it and a recent rather nice 5 star review on Amazon commented "If you like Dan Brown and Preston & Child, this book will deliver for you" - so maybe that gives you an idea of the tone of it: Maybe more Ian Flemming than Bernard Cornwell. A 2 star reviewer perhaps put it differently: "for some reason the author let his imagination run riot...the book is farcical ,unbelievable ,far fetched". :-)

Lariela: It is indeed a Roman legion novel, though focused on an allied cavalry regiment rather than the legionaries.

Paul: Thanks for the mention and I hope you enjoy it

[Darcy]

Tim wrote: "there's a sickle chariot in it that owes more to combination of Cuchulain's chariot in the Tain and a design by Leonardo da Vinci, than to the statue of Boadicea in London. "

Bless you for that!

[[deleted user]]

It sounds interesting, Tim. I'm going to try & get ahold of it. Speculative elements don't generally bother me.

[Bobby]

Not a bad price...$4.25. About 50% off

http://www.amazon.com/THE-LAST-HERO-e...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Well you know the more active the author in the group the greater the leeway on spam. :-)
Nicely done Tim on including positive and negative comments from reviewers. Very fair.

[Paul]

Finished The Spear of Crom by Tim Hodkinson...good story-good characters-good period of history..what else could you want?
Review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jane]

Finished Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad last night, and have started something that appears to be a bit lighter, Food for the Fishes, a Roman historical mystery. I'm one chapter in; it is entertaining and quite a change from the former book I mentioned!

[happy]

finished Hell or Richmond

excellent - a suburb look at Grant's overland campaign in the Spring of '64.

Starts with Grant's mgt with Meade and end with the Battle of Cold Harbor.

[Candace]

I just finished The Last Kingdom and immediately ran out and bought book 2. However, I like to break up my series with at least one book so I don't get burned out on them so I picked up Blood Eye for this month's reading. While it seemed like it was an excellent book, I kept thinking I was reading the sequel to The Last Kingdom! Apparently, I have to space my Viking books apart also. Now I have finally settled in with Medicus and a book I won here on GRs The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

[Lariela]

That's a great series, Candace. So far, Sword Song is my favourite.

[Candace]

Lariela wrote: "That's a great series, Candace. So far, Sword Song is my favourite."

I'm so glad to hear it! So many series go downhill. And as much as I loved Uthred, I don't want that to happen!!

[Paul]

Finished The Last Hero by Hilary Green:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jane]

Until I pick up The Winter King I'm reading The Kingmaking. It's going fast and I'm enjoying it so far. I have the other two in the Pendragon banner trilogy to read.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Hi Candace,
Even I, who loves my Vikings, has to break them up. I would struggle too if I read Blood Eye straight after The Last Kingdom.