What are you reading now?

[foxfire123]

Last time I read a George RR Martin book he killed three main characters on the dedication page.

All Starks too I bet! lol!

So fellow bibliophiles, I bought a copy of Arthur C Clarke's 2061: Odyssey Three at Goodwill and noticed a booksellers notation on the front page. "hx '92, 1st ed. $18.00/m95" when I went to start it this evening (just finished 2010: Odyssey two) On the copyright page it says "Copyright 1987 by Serendib BV" and lower down the page, "First Edition: January 1988".

So, did I find something rather cool here? I doubt it's worth anything more than novelty, but still, kinda fun to find out my little $1.00 purchase may be a first ed.... In good shape too, original dust jacket, and just a small ding on one corner. and since I bought 2010 at the same time, maybe I should check it... lol!

ETA: the copy of 2010 I bought is a first edition also-December 1988. Too bad a 1st Ed of 2001 would set me back about $200, be nice to have the complete Odyssey series in 1st Ed......

[Roy Tucker]

"Shattered Trident" by Larry Bond. Above average techno-thriller in the Tom Clancy vein.

Takes place in the South China Sea in 2016 where Vietnam, Japan, India, and a few others decide to go to war with China to pre-empt some oil-starved Chinese moves. The US is torn over how to handle it. Some good geopolitical insight into the near future. POV is mostly from a US attack nuclear sub trying to keep both sides from destroying each other while waiting for a diplomatic solution (sounds familiar?).

I used to read these kind of books all the time but fell out of the habit. Got it from the 14 day shelf at the Mason library and was a little surprised. Not at all formulaic and some thought went into it all. Ending was a little bit of a let-down, but not a bad resolution.

If you like this kind of book, it's pretty good.

[marcshoe]

Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman. I haven't gone the comic route in decades.

[Raisor]

"Shattered Trident" by Larry Bond. Above average techno-thriller in the Tom Clancy vein.

Takes place in the South China Sea in 2016 where Vietnam, Japan, India, and a few others decide to go to war with China to pre-empt some oil-starved Chinese moves. The US is torn over how to handle it. Some good geopolitical insight into the near future. POV is mostly from a US attack nuclear sub trying to keep both sides from destroying each other while waiting for a diplomatic solution (sounds familiar?).

I used to read these kind of books all the time but fell out of the habit. Got it from the 14 day shelf at the Mason library and was a little surprised. Not at all formulaic and some thought went into it all. Ending was a little bit of a let-down, but not a bad resolution.

If you like this kind of book, it's pretty good.

Larry Bond co-wrote The Hunt For Red October (unofficially) and Red Storm Rising btw.



Edit: Bond's work on HfRO was more as an advisor than as a true co-writer.

[medford]

"The Story of Edgar sawtelle"

I have no idea what to make of it, my mother in law passed it along to my wife, but with my wife currently reading 1 book for pleasure and 2 books as potential books to teach her students, she started harrassing me to dig into it. Just finished the 4th book in the Song of Fire & Ice series (or am I half way thru the 4th book???) so I jumped into it. Only 30 pages or so into, too early to say if I like it or not, but it feels like it will move pretty quickly. It does have an Oprah Book Club sticker on the front, but my mother in law rarely stares me wrong on movie/book selections so I'm guessing its not much of a Nicholas Sparks type book, we shall see.

Has anyone else read it? Should I keep moving forward? Shouldn't take too long, its only a few hundred pages long.

[NebraskaRed]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (the sequel to The Shining). It's not bad per se, but I'm having trouble staying interested. It just feels unnecessary.

I haven't read much King for a long time, probably since high school. I've heard 11/22/63 is good, anyone care to confirm that?

[RichRed]

I haven't read much King for a long time, probably since high school. I've heard 11/22/63 is good, anyone care to confirm that?

I really liked it, and I'm only a mild fan of King's work.

[foxfire123]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (the sequel to The Shining). It's not bad per se, but I'm having trouble staying interested. It just feels unnecessary.

I haven't read much King for a long time, probably since high school. I've heard 11/22/63 is good, anyone care to confirm that?

11/22/63 was good, more like his older books than the newer ones IMO.

[medford]

11/22/63 was excellant. Now it is a King book, which means it delves into touches of other King books at bits and pieces (sometimes this is a good thing as it brings back brushes w/ characters read long, long ago, sometimes its not so good) and at certain points, it gets plain weird, but the story telling and pace of the book is great, the concept is interesting, and since I read it around the same time I was reading "killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Rielly, the history behind the book (at least the parts that are not obviously fiction) comes across pretty solid.

Sounds like I'm like you, I read a lot of King in middle school and thru high school. Got back into a bit reading the Shining after college (I had owned it for awhile, but never rad it for whatever reason), but had not read much by him since the early 90s. I think it was Gerald's game that threw me over the edge and put him down for all that time. Based upon the recs here, I picked up 11/22/63 and vastly enjoyed it.

[marcshoe]

Reading: Dr. Sleep
Listening to: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

[WildcatFan]

Finally finished The Stand.

This may be controversial, but the last third of the book lost me a little. Too contrived, and it didn't do enough to explain why the Walkin' Dude lost his mojo.

I read the original version, not the extended one, though. Would have liked to hear more about Trashcan Man.

[foxfire123]

A friend loaned me his copy of Dr Sleep until he finishes The Shining.

It's better than I expected. A few reviews really trashed it, so I was going into it with a little trepidation. But I love the tweener girl heroine, and the story works pretty well IMO. Not as good as Kings early works, but better than the majority of his later ones (Cell anyone....?)

[Ravenlord]

Watership Down by Richard Adams

I read this 17 years ago, and I am amazed at how much of it I remember.

[CoachBombay]

Finally finished The Stand.

This may be controversial, but the last third of the book lost me a little. Too contrived, and it didn't do enough to explain why the Walkin' Dude lost his mojo.

I read the original version, not the extended one, though. Would have liked to hear more about Trashcan Man.

I could never finish it..im somewhere in the middle right now. Just lost interest.

Im starting Enders Game now

[marcshoe]

On deck: Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.