What are you reading now?
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Having sort of enjoyed "All the Old Knives" series on Netflix (Amazon?) I thought I'd seek out some of the author's other stuff. Olen Steinhauer has written a series of books set in post WWII Europe. The books are not sequels, but separated chronologically with different plots and characters.
The first is set in the immediate period after the war in an unnamed Eastern European country struggling to become a communist paradise. It's the story of a murder investigation, and a bureaucracy.
I gave up halfway through. Too meandering, no focus, too many irrelevant characters. Bleecch.
So, instead, I started this.
Because Bosch.
I don't remember which season of Bosch this book is, but it's the one where the dog finds a child's bone...
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Recco for George?
"USA Today bestseller with over 2,900 five-star Goodreads ratings: Humanity’s survivors inhabit decrepit ships orbiting the planet. Teams collect vital supplies from the surface — but deadly terrors await them there. “You won’t be able to put this book down” (New York Times bestselling author Mike Shepherd)."
From the Amazon blurb: "More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search of a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to earth long ago. The only thing keeping the two surviving lifeboats in the sky are Hell Divers—men and women who risk their lives by skydiving to the surface to scavenge for parts the ships desperately need."
On sale for .99. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083G78K2T?
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Lotsa years ago I redd and loved horror, then I fell off. I've had a yen of late to dip into it again. Are there any horror fans here who can recommend authors?
I loved S.King and Robert McCammon, that sort. Peter Straub kinda bored me, and I disliked Clive Barker.
The horrorist book I ever redd was a book called The Ruins by Steve Smith. From my sporadic small survey, the reactions to this book seem to be of two extremes -- terrifying or yawn.
Anyway, it's interesting to me that over all the horror bigshots, I picked this one by a guy far fewer people have ever heard of.
Can you recommend, please? I like the subtle menacing kind of horror, the kind Ruth Rendell would have written if she'd written horror, and not so much the Michael Myers blood-and-gore screamers.
Thanks!
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Recco for Jolly
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WKM66E?
The Amazon blurb: "The newest edition of the Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook is perfect and practical for both soldiers and civilians. Nearly 140 comprehensive illustrations show the proper techniques for medical care, from basic first-aid and orthopedics to instructions for emergency war surgery and even veterinary medicine. Questions are listed so that the medic can obtain an accurate patient history and perform a complete physical examination. Diagnoses are made easier with information on the distinctive features of each illness. This straightforward manual is sure to assist any reader faced with a medical issue or emergency."
Kindle version is on sale for $1.99. PB $14.59.
732 ratings, 4.5 stars.
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Just finished the four Bobiverse books. I enjoyed the first two enormously, but they started getting a bit samey after that....
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Just finished the four Bobiverse books. I enjoyed the first two enormously, but they started getting a bit samey after that....
@Doctor-Phibes agreed.
It’s a clever concept, but as you say it’s almost like he’s running out of ideas on how to milk it. The fourth book, heavens River, is basically an adventure story into which he shoehorns the whole concept of “Bob “.
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@Doctor-Phibes agreed.
It’s a clever concept, but as you say it’s almost like he’s running out of ideas on how to milk it. The fourth book, heavens River, is basically an adventure story into which he shoehorns the whole concept of “Bob “.
@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
@Doctor-Phibes agreed.
It’s a clever concept, but as you say it’s almost like he’s running out of ideas on how to milk it. The fourth book, heavens River, is basically an adventure story into which he shoehorns the whole concept of “Bob “.
Concept
🤨 Story -
Because Bosch is so much fun...
I believe this is #9 in the series.
It continues to build on previous books. The one before this introduced Bosch's daughter, Madeliine. Other characters return as well.
In the book right before this, Bosch had retired from LAPD, and is working as a private investigator. Here, a former colleague's wife asks him to investigate her husband's death.
The previous book was written first-person. This one starts out as first-person, and then, after about 10 chapters, a seemingly-unrelated story begins to unfold, told in third-person, with a set of wholly new characters.
Then, it all comes together, with the stories merging.
So far (only about 100 pages left) it keeps the dichotomy between first and third-person narratives going.
Fun.
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Because Bosch is so much fun...
I believe this is #9 in the series.
It continues to build on previous books. The one before this introduced Bosch's daughter, Madeliine. Other characters return as well.
In the book right before this, Bosch had retired from LAPD, and is working as a private investigator. Here, a former colleague's wife asks him to investigate her husband's death.
The previous book was written first-person. This one starts out as first-person, and then, after about 10 chapters, a seemingly-unrelated story begins to unfold, told in third-person, with a set of wholly new characters.
Then, it all comes together, with the stories merging.
So far (only about 100 pages left) it keeps the dichotomy between first and third-person narratives going.
Fun.
@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
Because Bosch is so much fun...
I believe this is #9 in the series.
Actually #10.
Fun read. Typical Bosch. Lots of intertwined stories, with hearkening back to narratives told in the first nine novels.
Harry' retired, and he's approached by the widow of a former colleague who asks him to investigate his death. The trail leads to the pursuit of a serial killer, Las Vegas, Harry's ex-wife, and other connections.
Since it's (mostly) not set in LA, it has a different feel than the other stories.
Fun, popcorn, read. Nice twist at the end where Harry discovers what he thought was the basis of the case was not that at all.
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Time to jump back into some science fiction...
Gets good reviews.
The blurb:
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply "disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the "Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.
Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends, .
Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy butdangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the "Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.
"Could it be that Johansson was right?"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I'm quite enjoying this - sort of Steam/cyber-punky Space Opera. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
I was only joking
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YPOS2A?
Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition
Sizzling sauté pans. Screaming spectators. Television cameras. A ticking clock.
Fasten your seatbelt for the Bocuse d’Or, the world’s most challenging and prestigious cooking competition, where the pressure and the stakes could not be higher. At this real-life Top Chef, twenty-four culinary teams, each representing its home nation, cook for five and a half grueling hours. There are no elimination rounds—the teams have only this chance to cook two spectacular platters of food to be judged by a jury of chefs. Prize money, international acclaim, and national pride are on the line.
Knives at Dawn is the dramatic story of the selection and training of the 2009 American team, overseen by a triumvirate of revered culinary figures, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Jérôme Bocuse, icons portrayed here in intimate detail that only the author’s unparalleled behind-the-scenes access could yield.
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I'm quite enjoying this - sort of Steam/cyber-punky Space Opera. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
@Doctor-Phibes said in What are you reading now?:
I'm quite enjoying this - sort of Steam/cyber-punky Space Opera. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
Series?
I like a decent space opera.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in What are you reading now?:
I'm quite enjoying this - sort of Steam/cyber-punky Space Opera. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
Series?
I like a decent space opera.
@Jolly said in What are you reading now?:
@Doctor-Phibes said in What are you reading now?:
I'm quite enjoying this - sort of Steam/cyber-punky Space Opera. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
Series?
I like a decent space opera.
There's two books, it's the Eschaton series.
If you find steam punk annoying, it might not work - he's a British writer I hadn't read until I started this one.
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Time to jump back into some science fiction...
Gets good reviews.
The blurb:
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply "disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the "Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.
Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends, .
Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy butdangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the "Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.
"Could it be that Johansson was right?@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
Time to jump back into some science fiction...
Gets good reviews.
OK. Did about 100 pages yesterday. Totally engrossing. Interesting prelude that seems irrelevant to the big story, but...
Then, today, I did about 50 pages and was falling asleep. 50 pages of ... nothing, other than how terrible the "storm" was.
I'll do a bit more, but if ⅓ of this book is nothing but filler, I'll give up.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
