What we're reading, the MTS edition

gothicangel · Jun 14, 2013

I'm just starting The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. This is my first Le Carre, and I have high expectations!

vagough · Jun 15, 2013

gothicangel said:
I'm just starting The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. This is my first Le Carre, and I have high expectations!

I read that a long time ago -- let us know what you think of it!

onesecondglance · Jun 15, 2013

So I finished Lost River by Stephen Booth. Recommended reading, if only to learn how not to show your research. Page after page of acryonyms, police procedure, and geographical notes, just dumped in without any real relevance to the plot. At times felt like I was expected to be taking notes for a test later.

I mean no disrespect for the author, but I don't think I've ever shouted "GET ON WITH IT" so many times at an audiobook before. The characters didn't progress much further from my initial assessment (see up thread) either, which is a shame. When I read an author I haven't read before I'm looking to like their story, not to be critical. It's so much nicer to find good stuff.

Re: the noir thread, Mr Booth is described as a writer of rural noir. I think that for this book (without having read his prior ones) the only way this could tie up was with the theme of cost rural families having dark secrets. That must be the "noir" element, because stylistically I didn't really see much that I would describe as noir. He's got quite a good style (when he's getting on with the bloody plot), reminiscent of PD James, but not at all what I'd describe as noir. Maybe my calibration's off in that regard?

vagough · Jun 15, 2013

onesecondglance said:
So I finished Lost River by Stephen Booth. Recommended reading, if only to learn how not to show your research. Page after page of acryonyms, police procedure, and geographical notes, just dumped in without any real relevance to the plot. At times felt like I was expected to be taking notes for a test later.

I mean no disrespect for the author, but I don't think I've ever shouted "GET ON WITH IT" so many times at an audiobook before. The characters didn't progress much further from my initial assessment (see up thread) either, which is a shame. When I read an author I haven't read before I'm looking to like their story, not to be critical. It's so much nicer to find good stuff.

Re: the noir thread, Mr Booth is described as a writer of rural noir. I think that for this book (without having read his prior ones) the only way this could tie up was with the theme of cost rural families having dark secrets. That must be the "noir" element, because stylistically I didn't really see much that I would describe as noir. He's got quite a good style (when he's getting on with the bloody plot), reminiscent of PD James, but not at all what I'd describe as noir. Maybe my calibration's off in that regard?

Appreciate the review, OSG -- very helpful. It's always tricky to strike the right balance in providing details for the reader, but it sounds like Mr. Booth didn't quite hit the mark.

Russell Secord · Jun 19, 2013

Going through the Dexter series. To me it's a police procedural (serial killer subgenre) turned on its head and played for laughs. Once you get past the fact that the protagonist tortures and kills people, there's lots of gallows humor. Not much plot or characterization but still worth reading.

I can't compare it to the TV series because I've seen only two episodes, but I'd love to see more. Alas, the SO is squeamish about gore and so forth.

Kate Thornton · Jun 19, 2013

I'm reading SWAN PEAK by James Lee Burke - I love his poetic turn of phrase, something that gets on the nerves of some of my friends. Lots of violence, lots of introspection. Stuff I don't do very well, so I'm trying to learn from the master.

Kate

onesecondglance · Jun 19, 2013

Started reading Long Lost by Harlan Coben. First Coben I've read since Tell No One, many years back - but I loved that one. So far this one is great - such a voice.

vagough · Jun 20, 2013

I've never read anything by Harlan Coben, but several of you have mentioned him. Which of his books did you all like the best?

I'm still working my way through Karin Slaughter's books and find myself liking the MCs more and more.

MarkEsq · Jun 20, 2013

I'm reading a book I first heard about yesterday on NPR, one I just had to buy for research:

CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATH by M.E. Thomas. I know it's going to creep me out massively, and heaven knows how much is real, but I started it last night and it's fascinating.

heyjude · Jun 20, 2013

vagough said:
I've never read anything by Harlan Coben, but several of you have mentioned him. Which of his books did you all like the best?

Start with Tell No One. Still my favorite.

vagough · Jun 21, 2013

heyjude said:
Start with Tell No One. Still my favorite.

Will do! I'll be at the library this weekend anyway, returning a couple of Karin Slaughter books, and will pick that one out. (And yes, you read that time stamp correctly. I hate it when I'm on an insomnia jag.)

heyjude · Jun 21, 2013

Let me know how you like it!

(I'm frequently up that crazy early, too. It's self-defense against early-rising kids. I need a few quiet minutes before they get up!)

heyjude · Jun 22, 2013

Robert B. Parker, Perish Twice. This book didn't seem to have an ending. Otherwise very engaging.

onesecondglance · Jul 4, 2013

Finished both books I was reading this week.

Long Lost was good, though [spoilers] I wasn't hugely in love with the whole terrorist plot stuff. I thought it was better when it was a mysterious disappearance and a child thought dead. [/end spoilers]

A Quantum Murder was great. This is number two in the series and I'm looking forward to reading the last one.

So I've started Halfhead by Stuart B Macbride, which is a violent crime thriller set in a future Glasgow where criminals are lobotomised and surgically mutilated, then made to do menial jobs as an example to society.

muse · Jul 5, 2013

Shadow Creek by Joy Fielding.

A great read, enjoyed the characters immensely. One to curl up with and while away a few hours.

onesecondglance · Jul 6, 2013

For this month's in-car audio book, I've selected Edge by Jeffery Deaver. Never read anything of his before, so looking forward to it.

onesecondglance · Jul 26, 2013

Finished Halfhead yesterday. Very, very violent and gory stuff: it's sitting somewhere between thriller and horror, with an SF setting. At its heart is a murder mystery, if you look close enough (and wipe away all the blood and entrails).

It was well written, and there's an action scene near the beginning that I will be bookmarking for future reference - brilliant, heart-pounding tension. Overall, though, I found the nastiness a bit hard to stomach, and occasionally gratuitous. The first time you read about a crime scene that's a bloodbath, it's shocking. When every crime scene is a bloodbath, it just gets kinda icky, and slowly you get desensitised to it, so by the end the vile stuff isn't really shocking you. It reminded me a bit of the 90s, where everything had to be "darker" and "edgier", which resulted in ludicrously OTT nastiness masquerading as "gritty".

I did enjoy it. I just feel like I need to shower a couple of times more.

lizmonster · Jul 26, 2013

onesecondglance said:
The first time you read about a crime scene that's a bloodbath, it's shocking. When every crime scene is a bloodbath, it just gets kinda icky, and slowly you get desensitised to it, so by the end the vile stuff isn't really shocking you.

I was thinking a lot of Halfhead as I read Leviathan Wakes, which I finished last night. It, too, goes over the top often enough that by the end of the book - which includes some pretty important stuff - I'm shrugging off things I probably shouldn't be shrugging off.

I was also, because I've been reading a lot on the subject lately, very conscious of the reflexive sexism that is pretty characteristic of "hard" science fiction like this. On the one hand, I find if forgivable because a) it's a damn good book; b) the authors are both men; and c) what is done here is not atypical. On the other hand, as Introversion reminds me, "everybody does it" is not necessarily a reason to forgive it.

But despite my complaints, it was a great read, and a pretty good mystery in there with all the space opera. I liked how it ended enough to want to avoid the sequels, which probably isn't what the authors were going for, but it's kind of a compliment.

Russell Secord · Jul 26, 2013

Just finished Skin Tight, my first Carl Hiaasen book. I've since discovered it was his third. I can't wait to get my hands on more of them. If you've ever wanted to see Geraldo Rivera (here called Reynaldo Flemm) spend three days in a hotel room obsessing over his plastic surgery options, read this book. If you've ever wanted to see Travis McGee played for laughs (and killing several people in entertaining ways), read this book. If you want a Poirot-style mystery where all the clues come together ... don't read it. It's very funny.

vagough · Jul 26, 2013

Maybe because the New Hampshire trip happened so soon after our last beach trip, but I just realized I neglected to say anything about the beach books. I wrapped up the entire Karen Slaughter series, including her newest, Unseen. (Yes, I read fast.) They're a good read, but (and this is just an IMHO comment) there were inconsistencies and sometimes odd things that crept into the narrative. (Like referring to the magazine on a revolver.) But the stories were very interesting and engaging, the characters also very interesting and engaging, and I enjoyed reading them. There are some I liked better than others, but all in all, a nice read.

I also read "Tell No One", by Harlan Coben. Again, a very good read. I didn't guess the twist at the end at all, although it was hinted at in the very first chapter. Also thought the book was much better than the French movie of the story, which we couldn't get through at all. (And I lived in France and speak French! It should have been enjoyable, but wasn't.)

So, on to the next book. Several folks have recommended Michael Connelly, so I think that will be the next beach author.

Cheers, everyone.

heyjude · Jul 27, 2013

Russell Secord said:
Just finished Skin Tight, my first Carl Hiaasen book. I've since discovered it was his third. I can't wait to get my hands on more of them. If you've ever wanted to see Geraldo Rivera (here called Reynaldo Flemm) spend three days in a hotel room obsessing over his plastic surgery options, read this book. If you've ever wanted to see Travis McGee played for laughs (and killing several people in entertaining ways), read this book. If you want a Poirot-style mystery where all the clues come together ... don't read it. It's very funny.

I can only take one Hiaasen book every few years. He is funny, but it's a bit silly for me.

vagough said:
So, on to the next book. Several folks have recommended Michael Connelly, so I think that will be the next beach author.

Cheers, everyone.

Glad you liked the Coben. And Connelly is the master.

GailD · Jul 27, 2013

A couple of weeks ago I read the novel 'Best Seller' by Alessandro Gallenzi. It's not an M/T/S book, but I heartily recommend it for everyone who writes and wants to get published.

It's a funny, sometimes terrifying, and altogether fascinating story about a writer, with more than a dozen unpublished novels, who's been rejected by every agent and publisher he's ever approached and he's finally had enough it. He wants to get published and he decides to take matters into his own hands.

This book, while a novel, is almost an exposè of the nasty underside of the publishing industry. You'll laugh when you read it, but you'll also be nodding your head in agreement.

vagough · Aug 6, 2013

GailD, will have to check out that book!

Since my last post, I've read two books by James Patterson and was, well, a bit underwhelmed by both of them. They were "First To Die" and "Kiss the Girls." He seems to have kind of a pattern, where the MC portions are in the first person and the creepy criminal parts are third person. I know he's a best-selling author and all, but to me, they were both a bit lacking. No character development in the MCs (lots of tell but no show) and creepy stuff with the perps. (Maybe I'm just not into creepy sex killings.)

Have just started "Black Echo," by Michael Connelly, and I already like it more. Harry Bosch is an interesting character. We'll see how that one goes.

And I've gotten e-versions of a couple of Sue Grafton books from the library to read next. Her books are certainly familiar to me ("A is for Alibi", and so forth) but I've never read any of them.

What are you all reading?

Cluebird · Aug 7, 2013

I've been reading the Psychic Eye mysteries by Victoria Laurie. They are light mysteries featuring, yeah, a psychic. (I read all kinds of books, but I'm partial to light mysteries.)

As far as what her writing might teach me, it's fairly standard, decent writing. I like her pacing of the stories and her way of getting through a lot of dialogue without bogging the reader down with it.

What gets me, though, is how she effusively thanks her editors and others who help make her books what they are - when every book has several misspelled words. Her books are published by a traditional publishing house, so surely they can afford a proofreader or copy editor who knows how to do the job! It's as though someone put the manuscripts through a spell check without bothering to see if the spell check suggestions were correct - often the wrong homophone is used.

Naturally, I'm blanking out on most of the examples, but one is that Edgar Cayce's last name is misspelled as Casey - twice.

The other one had me laughing fit to burst: Because of the context, I know she's crying hard, but what it says is that she's "balling hard" ...

So, the lesson from this is to do my own proofing after the "professional" gets through with it.

muse · Aug 7, 2013

Just finished 11.22.63 by Stephen King. It's a monster of a book, running to 734 pages.

I'm not a big fan of time travel - it makes my head hurt - and this one was no exception. My head hurt, a lot! But no one does characters like King. Before I knew it I was sucked in and had to read on to see what happened to all those lovely characters.

What we're reading, the MTS edition

Toughen up.

Traveling down the Query Road...

pretending to be awake

Traveling down the Query Road...

nearly perfect

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere

pretending to be awake

Traveling down the Query Road...

Clever title pending.

Making my own sunshine

Traveling down the Query Road...

Making my own sunshine

Making my own sunshine

pretending to be awake

standing on head, typing one-handed...

pretending to be awake

pretending to be awake

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mom

nearly perfect

Traveling down the Query Road...

Making my own sunshine

Still chasing plot bunnies.

Traveling down the Query Road...

standing on head, typing one-handed...