What Are You Reading? Part Deux

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Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
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i felt the need for a familiarity so i grapped a Christie. Sparkling Cyanide, I have actually only read this once before. Mostly with Christie i have read them numerous times. I think she was trying something here because it is a bit different than her usual.The plot is, as usual, faultless but her characterization does not reach her ordinary high levels. All in all it is good but not as good as her best. I will always admire christie for her plots. Nowadays plots are not really in the center of a story anymore. there are exceptions but mostly the crime is solved by the occurrence of a new witness, a sudden discovery or something similar.
 

Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
Moderator
Apr 12, 2006
15,304
44,712
Bremerton, Washington, United States
Let us know what you think, Shan! I'm assuming you made it past the first chapter? ;)
Yep. I'm at the part where Mary Terror has left the hospital with Laura's baby. A little past that. The first chapter is unbelievably brutal. I see comparisons to Misery thematically.
I started it a few days ago, too. I waited until I could read the first chapter during the day because of all the warnings. I'm a bit further along than Doc.
The first chapter wasn't so bad. Once it was made clear that the baby in question was a toy. But until that, I was horrified! I see Misery in this as well as Blaze.
 

morgan

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2010
29,353
104,579
North Dakota
I started it a few days ago, too. I waited until I could read the first chapter during the day because of all the warnings. I'm a bit further along than Doc.
The first chapter wasn't so bad. Once it was made clear that the baby in question was a toy. But until that, I was horrified! I see Misery in this as well as Blaze.
Maybe since I powered through MINE, I can finally finish Blaze. :a11:
 

Grant87

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2015
389
2,040
36
I finished Thinner over the weekend. I liked it, didn't love it. To me, it felt like a novella stretched out to novel length. That ending was dark, really dark.

Now, I'm reading The Silence by Tim Lebbon. A Netflix adaptation comes out tomorrow, and the trailer got me interested in checking out the novel. Similar premise to A Quiet Place, but The Silence was actually released in 2015, so definitely not a rip-off. Although, I'm sure many will say that when the movie comes out.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
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dublin ireland
:encouragement::clap: those were fantastic books - I love them too!

The Crystal Cave 1970

The Hollow Hills 1973

The Last Enchantment 1979

There was a 4th book (The Wicked Day) but I am not sure if I read that one

I do own one from 1995 called The Prince and the Pilgrim

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My Mom used to read this type of fiction and I read some of them when I was quite young
Well Holy Crap!!! I thought I'd meet anyone else who read these. Fantastic!
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
25,119
65
dublin ireland
I finished Thinner over the weekend. I liked it, didn't love it. To me, it felt like a novella stretched out to novel length. That ending was dark, really dark.

Now, I'm reading The Silence by Tim Lebbon. A Netflix adaptation comes out tomorrow, and the trailer got me interested in checking out the novel. Similar premise to A Quiet Place, but The Silence was actually released in 2015, so definitely not a rip-off. Although, I'm sure many will say that when the movie comes out.
I love Thinner. The film adaptation was ok,too.
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
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sweden
Reading Tamerlane . Known in history as The Scourge of God. His real name was Temur or Timur. Some, his enemies mostly, called him Temur the lame because of an injury in his hip he got in his youth in an ambush that caused him to limb slightly for the rest of his life. Didnt stop him from conquering every city in his reach From Ankara to Delhi to Samarkand and further east. A mongol but not descended from Genghis Khan but doing a good job of modeling his tactics on his great predecessor. It was Temurs descendants that founded an empire in India that lasted until 1858.
 

kelliblue

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2018
385
2,016
After by Anna Todd is really quite awful. I only read it because it was made into a film, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It's the worst book to come out since Fifty Shades of Grey. It started out as Wattpad fan fiction about One Direction, specifically Harry Styles. She later changed the names to avoid getting sued. All the One Direction fans were upset about the abusive way that Harry was portrayed. His name was changed to Hardin Scott in the published version for legal reasons. He is cruel and emotionally abusive, the absolute worst male character in English literature. His girlfriend Tessa Young is extremely stupid. She was appropriately named, because she is too young to be having that kind of a relationship, in my opinion. Much too young to be moving in with her boyfriend in her first semester of college. She is only 18, for God's sake. Usually when a new series comes out, I make an effort to read all of the novels, but in this case I stopped after the first one. The writing was sloppy, the characters were unlikable, and there was no plot. It was a complete waste of my time.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
….swerving out of my comfort zone, and this little girl fascinates me....
View attachment 30871
She is a fascinating person but all I can do when I think about Norma Jean is sigh, because of how she was turned into Marilyn Monroe, used by the studio system and used by many powerful men for their sexual conquests. She never stood a chance in life. She was one of the 'walking wounded' and the predators honed in on that, used her and discarded her without a second thought. I truly think that Joe DiMaggio was the only one who really loved her.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
She is a fascinating person but all I can do when I think about Norma Jean is sigh, because of how she was turned into Marilyn Monroe, used by the studio system and used by many powerful men for their sexual conquests. She never stood a chance in life. She was one of the 'walking wounded' and the predators honed in on that, used her and discarded her without a second thought. I truly think that Joe DiMaggio was the only one who really loved her.
...and I would agree with that wholeheartedly...she just makes my heart ache....
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
...and I would agree with that wholeheartedly...she just makes my heart ache....
Quite some time ago I read something that Arthur Miller has said about Marilyn- he was visiting her in her New York apartment, it was late afternoon and they were hungry but there wasn't anything in the fridge that they wanted so Marilyn suggested that they run down the avenue to the little store nearby and get something. Arthur was taken aback and said that she would be mobbed by fans that recognized her. Marilyn said no she wouldn't and she would prove it to him. She wrapped a scarf around her head, donned a sweater over her top and buttoned it up, pulled her shoulders inward and off they went out the door and down the street. She kept her eyes on the ground as they walked. They made it to the market without anyone noticing her. After they bought their food, they began walking back to the apartment. Arthur was just amazed that no one was even giving her a second look and kept saying that he just could not believe what was happening. They got to the front of the apartment building and she said 'Now watch this.' She raised her head, unbuttoned the sweater, pulled back her shoulders and instantly people were gasping 'It's Marilyn!'
 

urrutiap

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2009
324
1,017
The past weekend I read Star Wars Thrawn and Thrawn Alliances. Then I read Star Wars Rebel Rising and finished it yesterday.

Now Im reading Star Wars Lords of the SIth again since its a great book. Then sometime today in the mail Star Wars Coruscant Nights Book II arrives
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
Read The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. Great book. I miss the time when SF and crime authors wrote a book and it was usually about 200 pages long and they still contained more than many 600 pages stories today. Then I read Awakening by S.J. Bolton. Not bad, could have been trimmed a bit. Then i read another by her, "Now you see me" Which was a step down compared to her earlier, and better book Awakening,. Then i read Death of a Favourite Girl by Michael Gilbert. Also an author from another generation, it was written in 1980 but he has not caught the overlenght sickness. Its not his best but Gilbert is reliable, I think Gilbert started in the early 50,s and you could probably consider the first two decades his strongest period but he still spins a good story.
Now that i think about all these authors are english..., is that a coincidence?