Just finished reading Stuart Turton's The Last Murder at the End of the World (Goodreads page) and Turton is now 2 for 2 with me. Sticking with a murder mystery, the setting this time is a small island where a small group of survivors of the apocalypse are eking out a life for themselves, when the murder of a high-ranking elder throws the entire community into turmoil, threatening the very existence of the last remains of humanity.
Turton knows how to weave a compelling mystery and create engaging characters in an interesting setting and this one was very difficult to put down. I gave it four and a half stars in my Goodreads review.
Next up, I'm returning to the world of Krynn, with Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Goodreads page), the first new Dragonlance novel I've read in probably close to 30 years.
The very first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, holds the distinction of being not only the first fantasy novel I ever read, but also the first book I ever read in English at age 11. As such, the Chronicles trilogy has held a special place in the nostalgia chamber of my heart and I've read them several times since. I stopped reading new Dragonlance material some time in the 90's, so I'm curious to see if I'll enjoy these new stories. If so, I will continue to explore the various Dragonlance trilogies available out there
Very amusing incidents in The Deptford Trilogy thus far, all set in Canada, dunno if Robertson Davies was mandatory reading in your neck of the woods, @Jimmer-jammer ?
"(Music is) a purposeless play. This play, however, is an affirmation of life" (paraphrased) - John Cage
@Black_Swordsman No, Iāve never read it. Iāve always meant to read High Spirits (Iām a big fan of short stories) but havenāt gotten around to it!
āReason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.ā C.S. Lewis
Just finished the Dragonlance novel Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Goodreads page), the first in the "Lost Chronicles" trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
While it was fun to read a brand new (to me) Weis/Hickman story with these characters I so loved in my youth, this was a fairly weak entry. It has absolutely no value for those who hasn't read the original "Chronicles" trilogy, yet the first half was filled with exposition relating to the events in the first book in said trilogy. While I appreciate that many wouldn't mind having their memory refreshed, it still felt like wasted time. It picked up quite a bit in the second half, though, and I will continue with the second book later on.
Fine literature this ain't and I really cannot recommend the Dragonlance series to anyone who isn't either a young teen or an old-ish fart like me who grew up with these stories. I gave it three and a half stars in my Goodreads review.
Next up is a trip back to Michael Connelly's Bosch universe with the "double feature" of The Fifth Witness (Goodreads page), the fourth Mickey Haller novel and Suicide Run (Goodreads page), which consists of three Harry Bosch short stories.
Last couple of books I read were Brave New World and Lord of the Flies. I've just started The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, loved the culture series so I thought i'd dive into his other stuff.
It's been a lovely holiday weekend here in Norway and I celebrated our Constitution Day by spending the weekend with my sister and her family. She loves reading as much as I do, so many an hour was spent on their sunny veranda reading crime novels.
As as result, I finished both The Fifth Witness (Goodreads page) and Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories (Goodreads page), which were both solid entries in Michael Connolly's Harry Bosch universe. I awarded each a four star review on Goodreads.
Now I'll return to the Dragonlance series with Dragons of the Highlord Skies (Goodreads page), the second book in the "Lost Chronicles" series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I was bit disappointed with the first entry, so here's hoping that this one fares better.
@FuriousMachine that sounds great, we are getting some decent weather here in Scotland for a change. It's been nice to sit outside and read. I'm currently reading Sapiens, which is very interesting so far as well as various manga and comics!
@MightyDemon82 "Sapiens" is a very fascinating read, though it did my already dim view of humanity no favours
Glad to hear you're also experiencing fine weather over there; I'm hoping for many such fair days when travelling your lovely country for two weeks in August.
@MightyDemon82 We'll be travelling from Edinburgh to Stirling, then via Glencoe to Fort William. Visited both Stirling and Glencoe when I was over seven years ago, but the plan is to see more of Glencoe this time around. That place is simply stunning! Then we'll head to Inverness (my travel companions this time around haven't been to Loch Ness, so that's mandatory, naturally ), then we'll head to Ullapool to take the morning ferry over to Isle of Lewis. This will be my first visit to the Outer Hebrides and I'm really excited about that!
We'll explore Lewis and Harris, taking the afternoon ferry to Isle of Skye the following day, where we'll spend the weekend and celebrate my 50th birthday. I'm really lucky to have a few people coming over to help me celebrate, so that will hopefully be a weekend to remember.
After that, we'll head back to Ullapool, where we'll commence driving the North Coast 500 to Thurso, take a trip over to the Orkneys, where we'll spend a couple of nights, before heading back and completing the eastern part of NC500 down to Inverness and Speyside Bridge, before heading back to Edinburgh for two nights.
I've visited many of these places before, but i can't seem to get enough This will be my seventh visit to Edinburgh, a city I love dearly, and one really fond memory from my first and second visit in the late 90's was buying way too many fantasy novels in a huge bookstore on Princes Street (think it was a Waterstones). I had to persuade a buddy to pack some of them in his luggage and I still had to pay overweight fees for both of us.
(There, I managed to keep this tangentially on topic )
@FuriousMachine sounds like a fantastic birthday trip, I hope the weather is great for your travels. Maybe take a bigger case this time around incase you find yourself in bookstores again š.
@MightyDemon82 hehehe, considering the luggage fees airlines are operating with these days, that would be some expensive literature Thankfully, books are easier to come by today than back in the 90s (very few bookstores carried much outside books from Norwegian publishers in those days), so "peruse, then order when I get home" is probably a winning strategy here
Finished Sapiens, a fascinating read, I'm not a huge fan of our species as a collective and the book hasn't changed my mind. Started Upgrade and enjoying it so far!
Forums
Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?
Posts 881 to 900 of 1,081
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic