Reading Books For Pleasure

[fun_size_sub]

I'm currently reading Diana Gabaldon's Written in My Own Heart’s Blood.

I am also currently reading Written in My Own Heart's Blood. While I love Gabaldon, I am always exhausted when I finish one of her books, so I will be looking for a quick read that I don't have to think much about next. My next read will probably be Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanonich. I read her for pure entertainment only. I have a ton of books queued on my Kindle, so I have plenty from which to choose.

 

[FurryFury]

The Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher 3.5/5

This one was harder to get into and I suspect one of his earlier works. By the end it was awesome as all his books are though.

From Amazon:

Willie is a top athlete, the star of the legendary game against Crazy Horse Electric. Then a freak accident robs him of his once-amazing physical talents.

Betrayed by his family, his girlfriend, and his own body, Willie's on the run, penniless and terrified on the streets, where he must fight to rebuild both his body and his life.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin 3/5

This one I read as part of a Summer Reading Challenge in my fetlife group The Kinkster's Book Club to read something written before 1990. For me it was readable but not great. I'm sure it was shocking back when but for me it was unsubstantial.

From Amazon:

First published in 1899, this novel shocked readers with its open sensuality and uninhibited treatment of marital infidelity. Poignant and lyrical, it tells the story of a New Orleans wife who attempts to find love outside a stifling marriage. Critics have praised it as a first-rate narrative and a forerunner of the modern novel. Newly available in this inexpensive edition, "The Awakening" offers modern readers superb characterization and an insightful portrait of a woman’s awakening to physical passion. New introductory note.

 

[IrisAlthea]

It's often a pain to have to wait for books to get translated, and many of the books I like to read, won't get translated, which is why about 75% of the books I read are in English. I have also read some books in Swedish, again because I didn't want to wait for the translation.

Just because I'm curious. have you read any books by Jussi Adler Olsen?

I read a lot in English too. Sometimes, especially when they are in a hurry, the translations are so bad it makes my skin crawl.

Yes, in fact that's one of the cases where I didn't wait for a translation.
I only read Flaskepost fra P though.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Reposted from Smiles/Laughs, because I almost never come in this thread:

For those of you lucky enough to have a Kindle, there's a great site that sends out a daily e-mail with listings of reduced price and *free* e-books in the genres of your preference. I currently have almost 400 books loaded to my Kindle, the vast majority of which were free


ETA: Oh, duh-me! The site is Bookbub.

ETAM: Most of them are decent time-spenders, a good number are good reading, and a fair minority are very good reads. I've only not-finished a small number.

 

[fun_size_sub]

Reposted from Smiles/Laughs, because I almost never come in this thread:

BookBub is the reason I do not foresee an end to my Kindle book queue anytime in the near future.

And, I second Sir Winston's assessment of the offerings.

 

[FurryFury]

46.) Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough 3.75/5

I'm still searching for the book about a noble and loyal cat. There are so many about dogs. This one wasn't bad.

From Good reads:

Pilot, navigator, engineer, doctor, scientist--ship's cat? All are essential to the well-staffed space vessel. Since the early days of interstellar travel, when Tuxedo Thomas, a Maine coon cat, showed what a cat could do for a ship and its crew, the so-called Barque Cats have become highly prized crew members. Thomas's carefully bred progeny, ably assisted by humans--Cat Persons--with whom they share a deep and loving bond, now travel the galaxy, responsible for keeping spacecraft free of vermin, for alerting human crews to potential environmental hazards, and for acting as morale officers.

Even among Barque Cats, Chessie is something special. Her pedigree, skills, and intelligence, as well as the close rapport she has with her human, Janina, make her the most valuable crew member aboard the Molly Daise. And the litter of kittens in her belly only adds to her value.

Then the unthinkable happens. Chessie is kidnapped--er, catnapped--from Dr. Jared Vlast's vet clinic at Hood Station by a grizzled spacer named Carl Poindexter. But Chessie's newborn kittens turn out to be even more extraordinary than their mother. For while Chessie's connection to Janina is close and intuitive, the bond that the kitten Chester forms with Carl's son, Jubal, is downright telepathic. And when Chester is sent into space to learn his trade, neither he nor Jubal will rest until they're reunited.

But the announcement of a widespread epidemic affecting livestock on numerous planets throws their future into doubt. Suddenly the galactic government announces a plan to impound and possibly destroy all exposed animals. Not even the Barque Cats will be spared.

With the clock racing against them, Janina, Jubal, Dr. Vlast, and a handful of very special kittens will join forces with the mysterious Pshaw-Ra--an alien-looking cat with a hidden agenda--to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction.

47.) Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke 4/5

Interesting book a bit dated but good. Left many questions I'd like answered. Loved that the overlords stopped bull fighting.

From Goodreads:

Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends--and then the age of Mankind begins....

 

[FurryFury]

48.) The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch 3.5/5

This one took me a bit to get into but by the end I was hooked.

Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at play. So begins The Hangman's Daughter--the chillingly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller from German television screenwriter Oliver Pötzsch, a descendant of the Kuisls, a famous Bavarian executioner clan.

Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman’s son—except that the town physician’s son is hopelessly in love with her. And her father’s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession. It is 1659, the Thirty Years’ War has finally ended, and there hasn’t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.

Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor to race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.

Taking us back in history to a place where autopsies were blasphemous, coffee was an exotic drink, dried toads were the recommended remedy for the plague, and the devil was as real as anything, The Hangman’s Daughter brings to cinematic life the sights, sounds, and smells of seventeenth-century Bavaria, telling the engrossing story of a compassionate hangman who will live on in readers’ imaginations long after they’ve put down the novel.



49.) The City by Dean Koontz 4.5/5

I LOVE Dean Koontz now. His books are full of the human condition, magic and really wonderful. I'm so glad I have him another chance all these years after he gave me nightmares.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Dean Koontz is at the peak of his acclaimed powers with this major new novel.

A young boy, a musical prodigy, discovering life’s wonders—and mortal dangers.
His best friend, also a gifted musician, who will share his journey into destiny.
His remarkable family, tested by the extremes of evil and bound by the depths of love . . . on a collision course with a band of killers about to unleash anarchy.
And two unlikely allies, an everyday hero tempered by the past and a woman of mystery who holds the key to the future.

These are the people of The City, a place where enchantment and malice entwine, courage and honor are found in the most unexpected quarters, and the way forward lies buried deep inside the heart. Brilliantly illumined by magic dark and light, their unforgettable story is a riveting, soul-stirring saga that speaks to everyone, a major milestone in the celebrated career of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz and a dazzling realization of the evergreen dreams we all share.

 

[seela]

I finished the third book of the Millennium trilogy. I liked the first book best, but it was an enjoyable trilogy all the way through.

I've just read almost 2000 pages in Swedish, I still can't believe it. That's about 1900 pages more than in my life until now. It's no doubt my greatest accomplishment this year.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I finished the third book of the Millennium trilogy. I liked the first book best, but it was an enjoyable trilogy all the way through.

I've just read almost 2000 pages in Swedish, I still can't believe it. That's about 1900 pages more than in my life until now. It's no doubt my greatest accomplishment this year.

Cool!
Perhaps keep going with Johan Ajvide Lindqvist?

I just finished reading the first book of The Chronicles of Prydain and now I'm kind of annoyed that I decided not to read them myself first. I haven't read them as an adult and I just want to race trough the whole series.

Other than that I'm still rereading Sue Graftons alphabet booksso I can read the last ones. I'm working on K is for Killer right now.

 

[KoPilot]

I got my first books from Scarlet Imprint, a boutique occult publisher and wow, Apocalyptic Witchcraft is one of the most powerful books I've ever cracked open so far, let alone among the manifestos I've read. It's just an all-out mental, philosophical, and poetic assault. I know already it's going to be a game-changer for how I pretty much look at... everything.

 

[seela]

Cool!
Perhaps keep going with Johan Ajvide Lindqvist?

I just finished reading the first book of The Chronicles of Prydain and now I'm kind of annoyed that I decided not to read them myself first. I haven't read them as an adult and I just want to race trough the whole series.

Other than that I'm still rereading Sue Graftons alphabet booksso I can read the last ones. I'm working on K is for Killer right now.

I have Kjell Westö's Drakarna över Helsingfors on my bookshelf. I bought it in Swedish when I was in highschool - I still haven't read it. So maybe now's the time. I love Kjell Westö, and this is the only book of his that I haven't read. Have you read anything by him?

I'm also reading Susanna Alakoski's Håpas du trifs i fengelset, not in Swedish though, and a book about violence within religious groups.

Every time you mention Sue Grafron, I get the itch to start reading them again myself, too, but there's so many other books I need to finish that I don't think I have time. Boo!

 

[IrisAlthea]

I have Kjell Westö's Drakarna över Helsingfors on my bookshelf. I bought it in Swedish when I was in highschool - I still haven't read it. So maybe now's the time. I love Kjell Westö, and this is the only book of his that I haven't read. Have you read anything by him?

I'm also reading Susanna Alakoski's Håpas du trifs i fengelset, not in Swedish though, and a book about violence within religious groups.

Every time you mention Sue Grafron, I get the itch to start reading them again myself, too, but there's so many other books I need to finish that I don't think I have time. Boo!

No, I haven't but I just googled and Drakarna över Helsingfors sounds interesting. I'll look for it.

I've only read Svinalängorna by Alakoski, exept for her non-fiction stuff.
I liked it but I still was a bit disappointed because it was so raved about everywhere that I expected even more.
I kind of wish I'd caught it earlier.

 

[FurryFury]

50.) Robot Dreams by Sara Varon 3.75/5

I don't like most pictures much. Too many pictures can freak me out. Too many pictures and not enough words really bother me. Yet this nearly wordless book is charming and kind of profound. I actually enjoyed this graphic novel.

Goodreads sez:

"Richly endearing and full of surprises, Robot Dreams follows an ill-fated friendship between a dog and robot. After a Labor Day jaunt to the beach leaves Robot rusty and immobilized in the sand, Dog, unsure what to do, abandons him. As the seasons pass, Dog tries to replace his friend, making and losing a series of new ones, from a melting snowman to epicurean anteaters. Meanwhile, Robot passes his time daydreaming, escaping to better places...Through interwoven journeys, the two characters long to recover from their day at the beach.

Although its adorable characters and playful charm will win over young readers, Robot Dreams speaks universally to the fragile nature of friendship, loss, and redemption."

51.) The One by Kiera Cass 3.95/5

This is the third book in the series and possibly the last. I liked all three even though they are the fictionalized version of The Bachelor only he is a prince and this is forced on him. Also different is that this book is set in a dystopian society.

I like America. I like that when she thinks she has screwed up, it's usually actually a good thing.

However some of the more interesting things in the books are merely hinted at and I want to know more! Not about America and the prince but about the world and how it really is or got this messed up.

From Goodreads:

THE SELECTION changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. Now, only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart…

It’s swoon meets the Hunger Games in the final instalment of THE SELECTION trilogy!

For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.

Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.

America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.

The breathtaking finale to THE SELECTION trilogy will make you swoon


52.) Transhuman by Ben Bova 4/5

Very intriguing book about scientific break thoughts that could cure cancer and aging. I don't remember reading Ben Bova before but this was pretty good. The ending was too easy IMO as was the scientific break through but it was good overall I just wanted more.

From Goodreads:

Luke Abramson, a brilliant cellular biologist has one joy in life, his ten-year-old granddaughter, Angela. When he learns that Angela has an inoperable brain tumor and is given less than six months to live, Abramson wants to try an experimental new therapy that he believes will kill Angela’s tumor.

Her parents object and the hospital bureaucracy blocks the experimental procedure because it has not been approved by the FDA. Knowing that Angela will die before he can get approval, Abramson abducts Angela from the hospital. He plans to take her to a private research laboratory in Oregon.

Luke has turned his old SUV into a makeshift medical facility, treating Angela as best he can while they are on the road, desperately trying to keep his granddaughter alive long enough to give her the treatment he believes will save her life.

Abramson realizes that he’s too old and decrepit to flee across the country with his sick granddaughter, so he injects himself with a genetic factor that has successfully reversed aging in animal tests.

As the chase weaves across the country from one research facility to another, Luke begins to grow physically younger, stronger. He looks and feels the way he did thirty or forty years ago.

But will he be able to save Angela?

 

[FurryFury]

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse by Diana Rowland 5/5

I loved, loved, loved this book. I didn't want it to end. I wish I had a highlighter and post it notes so I could share all the great thoughts and lines! Plus it's the third in the series but just as good or better than the first two!

From Amazon:

Our favorite white trash zombie, Angel Crawford, has enough problems of her own, what with dealing with her alcoholic, deadbeat dad, issues with her not-quite boyfriend, the zombie mafia, industrial espionage and evil corporations. Oh, and it’s raining, and won’t let up.

But things get even crazier when a zombie movie starts filming in town, and Angel begins to suspect that it’s not just the plot of the movie that's rotten. Soon she's fighting her way through mud, blood, bullets and intrigue, even as zombies, both real and fake, prowl the streets.

Angel’s been through more than her share of crap, but this time she’s in way over her head. She’ll need plenty of brainpower to fit all the pieces—and body parts—together in order to save herself, her town, and quite possibly the human race

The Trainer by Laura Antoniou 3.5/5

This one was better than the first, just about the same level as the second.

From Amazon: The third book in Laura Antoniou's THE MARKETPLACE series brings us into the house of Anderson, the Trainer of Trainers, where Chris Parker and a few clients are in residence. Michael LaGuardia loves being part of the Marketplace and loves the sex slaves he regularly trains. After a couple of years in California, though, Michael thinks he is ready for a step up, an apprenticeship with Anderson.

He's wrong.

Michael arrives at Anderson's Brooklyn brownstone with a chip on his shoulder and promptly trips over his own, oversized ego. There are some very important lessons Michael needs to learn, about humility, respect, and even sex. Fortunately for him, he's come to the one place where he'll get those lessons beaten into him (metaphorically, of course).

Also includes the all-new bonus short story, "California Dreaming," a flashback to the grand West Coast parties that Michael's former mentor, Geoff Negel, used to throw.


About the Author: Laura Antoniou is the award-winning author of THE MARKETPLACE series, as well as many short stories, and the editor of numerous ground-breaking anthologies of BDSM fiction.

 

[FurryFury]

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33958996-furryfury

Feel free to be my friend on goodreads.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

This is totally not that awesome, but I've started reading ALL of the L.Frank Baum Oz books. I found a super-cheap download with all of them to read at work on my phone, and I'm kind of reading them all the time now. ^_^ It may be simple writing, but there's a certain charm to it that makes me happy.

 

[FurryFury]

Why is it not that awesome? If you love them it's awesome! JMO.

This is totally not that awesome, but I've started reading ALL of the L.Frank Baum Oz books. I found a super-cheap download with all of them to read at work on my phone, and I'm kind of reading them all the time now. ^_^ It may be simple writing, but there's a certain charm to it that makes me happy.

 

[FurryFury]

Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter 4/5

This is the second book in this series. I really enjoy it even though it is Y.A.

Zombies stalk the night. Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls. Sadly, they've got mine...

Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.

After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.

She's never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her...from everyone. Now, with her best friend Kat at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole's secret and learn to fight the darkness.

 

[FurryFury]

56.) Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen 5/5

I love this authors books. As a skeptical person, I find the sweet magic in her books and warmth a very nice fantasy.

From Amazon:

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Garden Spells comes a beautiful, haunting story of old loves and new, and the power of the connections that bind us forever….

The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future.That was half a lifetime ago. Now Lost Lake is about to slip into Eby’s past. Her husband, George, is long passed. Most of her demanding extended family are gone. All that’s left is a once-charming collection of lakeside cabins succumbing to the southern Georgia heat and damp, and an assortment of faithful misfits drawn back to Lost Lake year after year by their own unspoken dreams and desires.

It’s a lot, but it’s not enough to keep Eby from calling this her final summer at the lake, and relinquishing Lost Lake to a developer with cash in hand. Until one last chance at family knocks on her door.

Lost Lake is where Kate Pheris spent her last best summer at the age of twelve, before she learned of loneliness and heartbreak and loss. Now she’s all too familiar with those things, but she knows about hope, too, thanks to her resilient daughter, Devin, and her own willingness to start moving forward. Perhaps at Lost Lake her little girl can cling to her own childhood for just a little longer…and maybe Kate herself can rediscover something that slipped through her fingers so long ago.

One after another, people find their way to Lost Lake, looking for something that they weren’t sure they needed in the first place: love, closure, a second chance, peace, a mystery solved, a heart mended. Can they find what they need before it’s too late?

At once atmospheric and enchanting, Lost Lake shows Sarah Addison Allen at her finest, illuminating the secret longings and the everyday magic that wait to be discovered in the unlikeliest of places.


57.) The Deep End by Chris Crutcher 4.5/5

Crutcher delivers again, deep issues and humor intermingle for a great book. I'm so glad he is my author this year.

Wilson Corder has seen some ugly things in his job as a therapist working with families in crisis. But he's about to be involved with a terrifying kidnapping and a shocking murder that will forever change his life. Chris Crutcher uses his own work as a family therapist to bring insight to this chilling novel of psychological suspense.

58.) The Bear by Clair Cameron 2.5/5

This book like The Room was told in the voice of a child. I don't care for that very much. I wanted more from the story after dealing with all that, the child's "voice", the falsity of what they would / wouldn't know.

A powerful suspense story narrated by a young girl who must fend for herself and her little brother after a brutal bear attack

While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, three hundred pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite -- and pouncing on her parents as prey.

At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe runs aground on the edge of the woods, the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a wilderness alive with danger. Lost and completely alone, they find that their only hope resides in Anna's heartbreaking love for her family, and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore.

This is a story with a small narrator and a big heart. Cameron gracefully plumbs Anna's young perspective on family, responsibility, and hope, charting both a tragically premature loss of innocence and a startling evolution as Anna reasons through the impossible situations that confront her.

Lean and confident, and told in the innocent and honest voice of a five-year-old, THE BEAR is a transporting tale of loss -- but also a poignant and surprisingly funny adventure about love and the raw instincts that enable us to survive.

 

[straypuss]

J. G. Ballard, dystopias, suburban landscapes, housewives spanked with hairbrushes and the great consumerist dream all rule OK.

 

[FurryFury]

Okay.

J. G. Ballard, dystopias, suburban landscapes, housewives spanked with hairbrushes and the great consumerist dream all rule OK.

 

[FurryFury]

Murders of Crows by Anne Bishop 3.75/5

I liked this book better than the first of her other series, the dark jewels. The names weren't quite as irritating and more utilitarian. I'm def curious about what happened in the first book in the series and next.

Amazon sez

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s “phenomenal” (Urban Fantasy Investigations) world of the Others—where supernatural entities and humans struggle to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules…

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader—wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

 

[seela]

I read Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work by Kitty Ferguson.

It was pretty good. Interesting tidbits about his life and his work explained in a way that's easy to understand. Ferguson is really good at explaining things at a "lay level", and I have enjoyed her other books as well. I thought this one was a little bit strange, though, a little bit all over the place. In some ways it seemed like it goes on and on and on, and in someways it felt like it skips all over the place and focuses on nothing.

It was a decent read though. I especially enjoyed the stories about how Hawking came to his theories. Now I really need to get my hands onto his autobiography, too.

Another book I finished recently was Revolutionary Iran by Michael Axworthy.

It was very, very interesting. It explained things very thoroughly but not so much that it would have turned into a collection of minor details. It was pretty plainly written, so it was an easy read and easy to follow even for one who isn't that familiar with the history or politics of Iran. The book also showed a lot of misconceptions we in the western world usually have about Iran, things I had absolutely no idea were misconceptions. I definitely got very intrigued about Iran after reading this.

Having read Ryszard Kapuściński's Shah of Shah the bits Axworthy wrote about the Shah's Iran before the revolution were paricularly interesting.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Having read Ryszard Kapuściński's Shah of Shah the bits Axworthy wrote about the Shah's Iran before the revolution were paricularly interesting.

I like Kapuściński a lot, but that is one I've missed.
I'll have to go look for it.

 

[seela]

I like Kapuściński a lot, but that is one I've missed.
I'll have to go look for it.

I like him a lot, too! I've read most of his books, but unfortunately only a couple of them have been translated here, so few people know about him. I always try to tell about his greatness whenever I get a chance. Spy or not, his books are really good.

Have you read anything by Anrdzej Stasiuk? His books are somewhat similar to Kapuściński's, but he writes about the very much forgotten rural Eastern Europe and its relationship with the West. He's a good writer, too. (And besides being a good writer, he's a really odd character. )