Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you READING?

SECRET HISTORY's great- can't say the same about the same author's later work. Then again, I never finished it- so maybe it got better towards the end.

If you like I, CLAUDIUS, UJ, seek out the MASTERPIECE THEATER production, which is on DVD. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I think it's one of the best TV productions I've ever seen, though it pales to the more recent ROME in visual pageantry, it more than holds its own in human spectacle.

I did pick up "Secret History" from the library - so it better be good or I am gonna get really snotty.

Finished Hearts in Atlantis.

Now onto Dune.

Cool Lance. Let me know if you like it.

Dev, I was looking through my basement boxes a few days ago, and I didn't see my copy of Dune. I purged a lot of my books about 12 years ago, so I might have gotten rid of it. I loved the first Dune book, but I could never get into any of the sequels.

I did finish The Secret History over the weekend. It was..um..I guess I wasn't terribly impressed. It was ok, I suppose, but I'm glad I didn't pay anything for it.

Anyway, I had to dig, but I did locate my copy of Red Planet. Off I go to get reacquainted with Willis and the gang.

Lance's realm, to each his own i guess. It was in Time's 100 best books of the 20th century. I went down that list and tried to find something i'd like. But I'm a sucker for that Ivy League/North Eastern Universtiy stuff though.

I've never read Dune but I've always wanted to. I might check it out soon.

I'd be interested to know what you think of Dune.

Let's see, I finished Red Planet and am working on The Rolling Stones. After that, I think I might take a crack at Dracula, since I have never read it.

I actually did read Dracula - I don't recommend it. Reading it was like trying to run through molasses - very plodding. Since there have been so many movies, books, tv shows, etc. based on vampires, I just had to see what actually happened in the most famous of vampire novels. Now I know, and I won't be re-reading that one anytime soon. Or ever.

Currently I am reading Gary Jenning's Spangle. I highly recommend all of the author's books.

To whet my appetite for the new "V" series next month, I'm reading "V: The Second Generation", a novel by "V" creator Kenneth Johnson which is basically a prose version of the script for what would have been his sequel to the original mini-series (disregarding "The Final Battle" and the weekly series, which Johnson had nothing to do with; FYI, Johnson has no involvement in the new weekly series, either.) So far, it's good.

There is going to be a V series? I didn't know anything about this.

As to what I am reading, I finished Spangle and am currently reading the first Tarzan novel.

Finished "Tarzan" and Heinlein's "Beyond This Horizon." I am now reading Alan Dean Foster's "Sentenced to Prism."

"Monster" by A.Lee Martinez. Lightweight fun.

I'm with you on the potential of rereading Dracula. Defiintely not something I plan on.

I've read several great books in recent weeks I need to report on...will do that shortly. I'm currently reading Slaughterhouse Five, which I've never read before. Its really different than I thought it would be--and a lot better! Its hilarious and incredibly moving at the same time. Its science-fiction with a wink. And its about the tragedies of war, and anti-war literature of its finest.

I was in Key West about 6 weeks ago for a week, and it was glorious—actual relaxing accomplished, and a lot of that had to do with reading by the pool. I’ve also been traveling a lot and reading books on the planes. Almost all of them have been excellent—I planned it that way .

Some books I’ve read recently:

Farewell My Lovely – by Raymond Chandler featuring Phillip Marlowe – I’ve never read a Chandler novel before this, and wanted to try some real hard-boiled noir fiction, and I figured I might as well start with the master. “The Big Sleep” has been one of my favorite films since I was a pre-teen (Bogey is my favorite actor of all time since I was a kid—it was his version of the character), so I had some familiarity with Marlowe. Well, I read it, and as I suspected, it was awesome. Chandler really shows why the term “hard-boiled” became associated with noir through him. I’m amazed at the seedy side of life he showed, and am reminded that grim and gritty didn’t start in recent decades but has a long history in literature. Marlowe is a great character and I’m looking forward to reading more of Chandler’s novels featuring him; Chandler also does a great job introducing the various characters who make up the book, from the thugs, cops, strange killers and enemies, corrupt people and femme fatales, to the regular people who lend him a hand—usually for something in return. He also evokes the depression era so well, that you really feel it immediately even if its unsaid. Perhaps his best trait in writing is the snappy dialogue that he uses—its funny yet tough, and its totally engrossing.

Dolores Claiborne – by Stephen King – I raved about this on facebook when I read it, and now I feel guilty that its not recent enough in my memory to give this the praise it deserves. Let me try anyway. This book is a pure MASTERPIECE. Stephen King outdoes himself beyond belief with this book, and in fact, I’d say its one of the greatest books he ever wrote, if not the actual greatest. Its certainly a contender. With Dolores, King gives a fully developed, in depth character the likes I’ve hardly seen. By the end of the novel, you relate to her in a way you hardly ever have with another character—its like a bond you feel with someone you’ve known your whole life. King also is able to use the minutiae of a regular day to pull together the tapestry of a lifetime and then give you some poignant thoughts on friendships, relationships and “little battles” you fight every day of your life. And being the master of scaring the hell out of people, there is one sequence in this book that is as chilling as anything I’ve ever read, and it does not involve vampires, monsters, or serial killers—it involves two people who hate one another fighting for their lives. This was the highlight of all the books I’ve read in 2009. I can’t recommend it enough. And it has a very odd and original format: one long, 400 page chapter; it’s a continuous narrative with no chapters breaking it apart, and it flows so naturally that you find yourself reading it at clips of 100 pages at a time.

Death on the Nile – by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Perot – I had never read Agatha Christie before until last year when I read the acclaimed “And then There were None” on my honeymoon. I liked it a lot and picked up this book to try another, and to give her legendary character Hercule Perot a try as well. And wow, it did not disappoint. I can see why Agatha Christie is the most read author of all time: here she shows her mastery of mystery, shocking twists, interesting characters, fascinating interactions that move the plot along, and amazing settings for the mystery to unfold. And above all, its completely fun and engrossing. Now I know from here on, a vacation won’t be complete without one of her mystery novels; they’re just too fun to pass up and trying to solve them as the book goes is part of that.

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis – I’m not the biggest fan of Warren Ellis and generally avoid his comic books. But I do the same with Brad Meltzer and read one of his novels a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised. I saw this on sale at the book store and it had high praise wrapped around its cover, so I was intrigued. Plus I was on a mystery kick, so I figured I’d give it a try. Well, its completely nothing like I expected. And its pretty raunchy. In fact, its downright crossing lines, breaking boundaries and getting plain nasty in places. Here, Ellis takes things as far as they can possibly go to shock or appall the reader, making sure no topic is taboo. You name it, its in here, including fans of Godzilla dressing like the monster and having a bukake (don’t know what that is? Be thankful). And that’s not the worst of it. And yet, at times, the two main characters can be really relatable, and can make some great points about life and people. One super-liberal character visiting Texas realizes that “people are the same everywhere; there are good ones and assholes”, as they discuss the differences in political view that permeate the US. Would I recommend it? I think anyone who wants a good detective story with some pretty shocking crazy parts would like it. But if you don’t like gross-out humor, stay away. I enjoyed it while I read it a few weeks ago but looking back on it, I have no intention to reread.

Cobalt, Key West is awesome. Check out Irish Kevin's, Hog's Breath, or Sloppy Joe's? Knowing you probably all of them.

Thanks for the update on the pulp/mystery novels. I always wanted to read Chandler (or Hammet) and Agatha Christie as well. I actually own Death on the Nile but haven't read it.

I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and have all his books (by Conan Doyle and others) I've never read any other mystery books.

I love the pulp genre and figured I would like those. I want to read Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, Nero Wolfe books, Agatha Christie, etc.

You're right on Jorge, I went to all 3 . It's actually my third time in Key West, I love it there (proposed to my wife there). I always hang out in Sloppy Joes and Irish Kevins--love those places! Our dog has a Sloppy's t-shirt via my wife.

You should check out Death on the Nile, you'll like it. Incredibly entertaining. I'm just getting into Chandler and Christie and like you, want to check out those other authors too. I haven't read a Holmes book since the 4th grade and think it's time I did--probably way overdue!

I always need at least one mystery on vacation to really enjoy being completely distracted from everyday life while I try to solve it.

Agatha Christie's worth checking out, but among her family of writers (Christie, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Dorothy L. Sayers, Georgette Heyer when she's not doing Regency romances) she's probably the least literary. After you've found your feet with some of Christie's stuff you may want to check out some Sayers and watch her show Christie how it's done.

Two particularly good ones by Christie were "Murder on the Orient Express" (aka Murder in the Calais Coach) and "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd".

I'm also a big fan of the Nero Wolfe books; about ten years ago I made a point of hunting down each and every one of them in used bookstores.

Matthew tracking those old books in used book stores is half the fun right?

Someone else recommend Sayers to me. She said her detective stories about Lord Peter Wimsey and Montague Egg(sp? i forgot his name) were quite good.

They also recommended works by Anthony Berkeley, Ruth Rendell, and I want to say Edward Lee?

Matthew have you (or anyone else here) read anything about those last three?

I want to say they also suggested Leslie Charteris and Douglas Preston. The person that suggested it was a big mystery fiction buff.

I prefer the Lord Peter Wimsey stories to the Montague Egg ones. (And one thing about Sayers is that she gets better as she goes along; the later books are noticeably superior to the earlier ones. Not that there's anything wrong with the earlier ones.) Have His Carcase is one of my favourite mysteries ever.

I'm not even sure I've heard of Berkeley or Lee (or Preston). I've certainly heard of Rendell, but I couldn't tell you if I've ever read anything by her.

I like Leslie Charteris's early stuff a lot, but after the first, oh, let's say ten Saint books it starts to feel like he's going through the motions. I wouldn't call it "mystery", though; they're more action novels or spy novels or thrillers or what have you.

It is. You should see the spreadsheet I've got of all the books I'm still looking for in used bookstores: dozens of Agatha Christies, Ngaio Marshes, Erle Stanley Gardners (there's something you can try: Perry Mason. Nothing could be more formulaic, and yet Gardner manages to keep every book fresh), Encyclopedia Brown books, Three Investigators books, Danny Dunn books, Ed McBain, Ross Macdonald, John D. MacDonald, Lawrence Block... and those are just the mysteries!

I didn't think anyone but me loved Nero Wolfe! I've reread those books about every 10 years. They're not even in the public libraries around here anymore. There was also a series of radio plays on the CBC, I think back in the '80s, which were quite good.

Douglas Preston - I hadn't read any of his Pendergast novels, but picked up The Monster of Florence, a true crime book. The Monster of Florence was the murderer on whom Hannibal Lecter was based. The real Monster has never been found, although theories abound regarding his identity. Preston went to Italy and wound up working with a crime reporter on this story. It became incredibly personal when both the reporter and Preston were arrested themselves. It's also a very interesting tale of how personalities get in the way of prosecutions.

Fat Cramer, a good friend of mine read Monster of Florence and said it was real good. I didn't put two and two together...didn't realize he was the guy that wrote the Pendergast novels. Need to read his works asap. I'm interested in both The Monster and the Pendergast stuff.

by the way guys not sure if I mentioned this before here but there is a good website called

www.goodreads.com

It's kind of like a myspace or book club. It helps me keep track of what I read and what people have suggested, etc.

I am currently reading "Methuseleh's Children" by Heinlein, and before that I read the third Tarzan book, which was preceeded by David Brin's "The Practice Effect," which was kind of a snoozer.

Okay, I bit the best seller bug and read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It's a real adventure/page turner, with pretty shallow characters. Also, I think he credits the Freemasons with much higher thinking than they actually practice, but what do I know.

The most interesting aspect for me was the description of all the symbolism (and its history) which has been incorporated into American architecture, city planning, rituals, language, etc. I haven't read any interviews or reviews, but I'm assuming this is factual, or mostly factual.

Lisa Lutz's Curse of the Spellmans. Second book of a series. Like the first book, it's hilarious.

The Flash: Stop Motion