No, it seems that they don't want to let people inside the store because there's a lot of not-so-petty theft. People getting killed over anything is a daily occurrence these days.
What Book Are You Reading XV - The Pile Keeps Growing!
- Thread starter Ajidica
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I don't get the point of opening a store if you don't want to let anyone in to shop.
tjs282
Stone \ Cold / Fish
I have that one on my pile! Wondering if I should re-read Revenger first, though...?
Right now I'm about two-fifths of the way through the "SF Masterwork" edition of Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart, a cosy little tale of the last survivors of a super-plague which has killed 99.999% of humanity.
Right now I'm about two-fifths of the way through the "SF Masterwork" edition of Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart, a cosy little tale of the last survivors of a super-plague which has killed 99.999% of humanity.
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I guess you could call a 124-chapter fanfiction about the Borgias a novel. The author has posted 122 chapters so far, and I'm about halfway through. The author has included a number of interesting notes about language, literature, and history at the end of each chapter.
Synobun
Deity
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I would say no. I didn't like Revenger at all, though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. There's really only, like, three details you need to remember from the first book to wade into the second. If that.
Josu
Emperor
Ended Russka by Edward Rutherfurd
Good novel which is a simple introduction to russian history covering 2000 years. Interesting, indeed. However main characters are too good, antagonists are too bad and author shows too clearly with which sides he sympathizes.
Starting The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibañez
Good novel which is a simple introduction to russian history covering 2000 years. Interesting, indeed. However main characters are too good, antagonists are too bad and author shows too clearly with which sides he sympathizes.
Starting The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibañez
I've read some other books by that author. I have this one in my personal library but haven't felt like tackling it yet.
He's got stock characters (type, not specific characters) that appear in all his books. It's annoying.
Josu
Emperor
This has been this author's first book, I don't know if I will read more, IMHO these stock plain characters are the difference between an entertaining book and a brilliant book.
I've read Sarum by him. It followed the same pattern. Take half a dozen families from the area and follow them through history. it was OK, not great.
Yeah, Sarum... I remember some of that one. The bossy woman who got her comeuppance by being sacrificed at Stonehenge, the people who had no clue about the Black Death and did everything exactly wrong, and the ubiquitous "fat girl" character he puts in all his books (bad enough he includes pointless body-shaming, but why is it always a teenage girl?).
It held my interest and I might re-read it some day. But when it comes to re-reading my historical novels, my go-to authors are Philippa Gregory, Lindsay Davis, and Pauline Gedge (Plantagenets/Tudors, 1st-century Roman murder mysteries, and ancient Egypt respectively).
The last historical novel I read was The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham, about the wife of Hugh le Despenser (the younger). I recently saw a YT video about the Plantagenet kings, and these characters were mentioned. Now I'm wondering if the historical Piers Gaveston had such a huge, ugly nose, or if that was just unfortunate casting for the documentary.
I like Lindsay Davis. Stephen Saylor also writes Roman crime novels that are quite good.
Josu
Emperor
I enjoyed a lot a bunch of years ago some of the Marcus Didius Falco books. They were intriguing, educational and fun.
Calculus and topology. At some point I will ask @Grendeldef some question ^_^
It was my classical history prof in college who got me hooked on those. Next thing we knew, we'd chat about them just before class, talking about this-and-that thing that happened lately to the characters, and I got a bit miffed when he casually mentioned Julia having the baby, and I told him I hadn't read up to the part where anyone knew she was pregnant!
He gasped, put a hand over his mouth, said "Oops, sorry," and I told him I'd let him know when I caught up... and by this time the other students were looking at us like we were talking about some weird soap opera they'd never heard of.
I still haven't finished the Falco books, though I started collecting the other series as well. I'm decades behind in reading this stuff.Arakhor said:
Josu
Emperor
There is nothing wrong with some soap operas. Song of Ice and Fire? Weird soap opera with dragons. Star Wars? Weird soap opera with lasers, and so on.
About 32 years ago a friend and I started writing a Star Trek TNG soap opera parody, with crossover elements. Captain Jacquard wasn't happy when Eastley Smasher's science project managed to allow Narth Dater (Darth Vader's good twin) to bring Jack Smasher back from the dead. He was also not happy when his Third Officer, Bill Biker (you don't want to know what happened to the First and Second Officers; it was messy) was his usual moronic self, preferring to gaze and sigh at the love of his life, Hellana of Troi, instead of doing anything useful...
(How could you tell that we were basically not too impressed with Will Riker/Jonathan Frakes?)
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
Finished The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Global Grey Ebooks PDF of the 1906 edition. It tells the tale of the Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus' harrowing experiences in the slaughterhouses of Chicago. Sordid scenes of unsanitary and unsafe conditions, outright fraud, and brazen corruption in the face of unrestrained business interests frame the strong socialist message of the novel. Mr. Sinclair has a way with descriptions that brings alive ordinary scenes such as the start of a workday. The main viewpoint character is Jurgis, and receives the lion's share of development as other characters like his family are more part of the background. While Jurgis' experience is exaggerated for dramatic effect, the essential truth of how dreadful early-20th century America's meat packing plants were would lead to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, paving the way for the modern Food and Drug Administration with its stringent overview of food and pharmaceutical production and a mandate to uphold current good manufacturing practices.
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