What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just Started:

Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....aj4wr3%2BL.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Still reading:

http://i66.tinypic.com/4g0qrn.jpg

I've been reading this collection of stories slower than anticipated; some stories take a bit to get into and others I want to better absorb the prose so it is taking longer. I have enjoyed Harte's stories, especially Salomy Jane's Kiss and Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished City of Mirrors (Justin Cronin) and started Finders Keepers (Stephen King)

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just started:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...e%20Search.png

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Still reading Agent X by Noah Boyd. Recently I was wondering why he hadn't released another book since this one, which came out in early 2011. Learned that he died later that year. :(


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just finished these 2 books on vacation:

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...size=300%2C454

and

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1467210264l/25251757.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

The Passage is one of my favorite SciFi books but The Twelve really went downhills. City of Mirrors was okay but it felt like Cronin was writing for a screenplay. Some of the characters got stupid and did things only to advance the plot. I am glad I finished it but it was okay.

I finished the Way of Kings by Sanderson. WOW. I really like most of the characters. . I hope the next book is just as good.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Doing a western trifecta this month:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg

Funny, Ed Harris & Viggo Mortensen are the guys that I envision in these novels since they played Cole & Hitch in the Appaloosa flick based off of the series. Ed Harris' co-writer of that film was picked by the estate of Robert B. Parker to continue the adventures of Cole & Hitch in these new adventures.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1461354277l/18966806.jpg

Fantastic series! Whatever I read next will be hard pressed to top this. I forget which poster it was, but I agree that I liked the 2nd and 3rd books more than the first (less derivative, more focus on space opera world-building).

I see a movie is in development. On paper, this should make for 3 outstanding movies (the writing style is very cinematic). Marc Foster is attaching to direct which seems a good choice. The challenge will be to not make it appear too derivative of Hunger Games, and have people not familiar with the books write it off at the start.

Is this considered YA? I see it grouped like that at some places. Even though the main characters are YA (aging from 16 to 22 over the series), the content is hard-R (very graphic violence, sex, perversity, obscenities). I always thought part of the YA genre is that they are generally considered appropriate for junior high (and above) teen readers ... no more than PG-13 level.

Not that it matters to me :D Just trying to understand what it means when I see a book labeled YA (maybe meaning I could expect a more adult-level content than what I previously thought).

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

^ I'm about 60% through this one, too.

The YA label has been throwing me off on this, too. I went into the series expecting YA and end up with rape, murder, brutal warfare, etc. I don't think I'd want my kid reading this any earlier than about 15-16 y/o.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

yeah the Passage was great. The Twelve wasnt as bad as I remembered it the second time through. City of Mirrors was a fine finale, though.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just finished:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1zi7ev-p7L.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350740525l/15034320.jpg

Never saw the tv series, and fortunately was able to go into reading this completely unspoiled. Knowing this was a trilogy, I was pleasantly surprised the main mystery was explained by the end of this. That may be a negative for the other books in the series. But while the main mystery is solved, there are plenty more things that can happen in this world.

I can see I need to tread carefully on goodreads ... just marking my vote and getting the book cover image, I'm seeing comments by people who just can't help themselves talking about the rest of the books, comparing everything to the tv show, and giving away huge spoilers left and right.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

I had a couple of flights last week so that helped with my reading time. I read:

I'm Not High But I've Got A Lot of Crazy Stories about Life as a Goat Boy, a Dad, and a Spiritual Warrior (Jim Breuer)
Psych: A Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Read (William Rabkin)
Shortened Seasons: The Untimely Deaths of Major League Baseball's Stars and Journeyman (Fran Zimniuch)

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1qiKdXjebL.jpg

It's a very interesting experience reading this book. I read a bit of background on it and apparently the marathon swimming community does not view her kindly. She wants to call this an unassisted swim but people put sunscreen on her, helped her put on and off her jellyfish protection suit, had a streamer to guide her, had a shark defense team, etc. I agree that it should not be call unassisted and it matters because if one person ever does it without all those aids they should deserve the title of the "first" one unassisted.

There's also the issue of how fast she was going and whether she held on to the boat or not, but this will probably never be known for sure.

And apparently she wasn't transparent. Her independent observer had never done this before and was wearing a team Diana shirt. People wonder why the swim wasn't trackable. She keeps saying "we followed the rules" but won't say what the rules was. And enough people have said that she wants her opponents to fail to believe that she really has said it. And she has called people who worked for her and then help others traitors because they take knowledge and experience gained while helping her in order her opponents (and the crew who are competent to help marathon swimmers are not that numerous).

She is slammed all over marathon swimming bulletin boards. But Amazon reviews are stellar over what an inspirational and awesome person she is. Such a disconnect between both words.

About 60 pages from finishing (about a fifth of the book). She's winning me over (I almost wrote she's swimming me over :lol:) against my better judgment. People who do what she does have to be a bit self-centered, I guess. She does so much as confirm that she didn't want her opponent to come to harm but she wanted her to fail because this is HER (Diana's) dream and no one else should take it form her.

I wish I had read it just knowing "She swam 100 miles" and then found out everything afterwards. Knowing all the background info has made me drag a bit on reading the book.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just started:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...ull/presto.png

Big Penn fan - so this was a no-brainer. Though this book is ostensibly about his wacky weight loss regime it's a pretty funny read so far.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

I just finished these two books. They were fun reads, with the vamp book being both sexy and sad, and hugely entertaining, that I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/phot...48-300-500.jpg


http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328047596l/2625515.jpg

I'm nearly finished with this one, and it's a re-read, the second time since high school. It's interesting seeing my opinions on the book now vs then. It's still Ellis's best book in my opinion. Hilarious, dark, offensive satire that's also incredibly disturbing.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ition_1991.jpg

And I just started this one.

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364852893l/15841837.jpg


I'm slowly making my way through The Bible. I just finished the Book of Ruth and it's going to take forever to get through the Old Testament. So I just read it sporadically one chapter/section at a time.

http://g.christianbook.com/dg/produc...w163/29505.jpg

These three have been put on the back burner, since I have a bad habit of starting other books before I finish one, and so I direct my attention to one over the other. They're good books so far, I just got caught up in other material. Ann Frank diary is depressing, obviously, and since it's not a actual book and just slice of life diary entries. I'll just read one chapter at a time when interested in it again and eventually finish it.

https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.ne...789946.0.m.jpg


http://www.dickrussell.org/images/theykilled.jpg

http://www.slj.com/wp-content/upload...definitive.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts when you finish. I like Crouch, Wayward Pines and and Run (in particular) were fun reads. I'm considering downloading this.

I'm in between books right now, after finishing Morning Son by Pierce Brown. I want to start King's Firestarter, but my paperback is at my dad's. It's one of the only old-school King book I never got around to. I've got Duma Key and Ransom Rigg's Miss Peregrine trilogy next to me, but not sure I'm ready to delve into those quite yet.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

I read the Wayward Pines trilogy and I disliked the final book of that trilogy and for awhile I was unsure if wanted to read another Blake Crouch book. I was glad I read this. I finished it earlier tonight because I couldn't put it down. It was pretty good and got me hooked right away. I liked it except for how couple of supporting characters' roles were handled in the book. I'll probably run some of Crouch's other books later on.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Love the cover of this. I've always liked the R.L. Stine approach to fiction. He and Christopher Pike, both.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Full disclosure: I never got around to reading the last WP book, although I enjoyed the first 2. I figured there wasn't much point after watching the show which adapts the entire trilogy in season 1. I do recommend Crouch's book Run. I remember really enjoying it, just turn your brain off and don't expect a scientifically rational explanation for the event that triggers the book's events.

I found my copy of Firestarter! So I'm putting Duma Key to the side for now.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

I love the covers for the Fear Street series. It always caught my attention, but I was never allowed to read them as a kid. Reprints of the series have awful bland new covers and fonts that don't do them justice at all. So I do my best finding original copies at used book stores when I see them.

Here's a good side by side of the original vs reprints. The originals get your imagination running and draw you in with great teaser taglines and eye catching artwork, and the font used just has an eerie look to it, that it's perfect. The reprints on the other hand look so generic and nothing that makes you wonder what the stories contain and so forth. It's just "meh, another skull image,a dead rose, nothing of interest here, no real personality."

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/06...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1plbgluM-L.jpg


https://cheapthrillsbookblog.files.w...pg?w=500&h=417

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:

https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.ne...l/17920175.jpg

You guys are making me nervous about the third book, but I'm going to read it next nonetheless. I don't know anything about the tv show except that many seem to not be liking season 2 compared to season 1. And if it's following the books, it's easy to see why:

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just finished:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_b...ce2a22c47e.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:

https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.ne...l/20423680.jpg

Fast reading, but I think I enjoyed each book in the series less than the previous one.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...he_Partner.jpg

this doesn't grab me like his other books, don't know why.

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Just started:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...l/21928954.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.../Star_Born.jpg

Star Born - Andre Norton

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:
https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.ne...091l/10979.jpg

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Finished:

https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.ne...l/22557272.jpg

So I guess I've spoiled myself for the movie but that's ok. I like reading the book first. I quite liked this. Sometimes I wonder why I don't break out and read more non horror/sci-fi/fantasy books since I'm sure there are so many great books that I'm just skipping by.

A good movie can be made from this, though I can see it easily becoming a generic mystery if not handled properly. Director Tate Taylor doesn't have any track record for this kind of story, so I guess we'll see. I love how they cast the frumpy overweight main character with Emily Blunt. What a real fatty she is, right? :rolleyes:

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

Re: What Are You Reading? (August 2016)
 

TC Boyle - Stories II - Taking forever

van Name - Slanted Jack - Fun sci fi romp; current "into it" series. Can't go wrong with sarcastic mercenary-owned space assault vehicles

misc - Zombie Raccoons and Killer Rabbits - like most anthologies, hit or miss, but generally good.

Riggs - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - just started

someone - The Chronothon - free kindle 'book 1' giveaway. Good idea, a little slow, hoping it picks up.