What are you reading this week of May 28, 2017?

[hermetic]

On this somber holiday weekend, please join me in gratitude for those who have sacrificed so that others could survive.

Here's a informative page for the day: http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-memorial-day

In hopes we never again have to experience the horrors of war.


I'm now close to the end of "The Stars, My Destination" by Alfred Bester, which, sadly, contends that no matter how far we may advance technologically, war will always be a part of life.

What will you be reading this week?

[TexasProgresive]

1. Still reading "Slaying the Badger."

The author really gives a good portrait of the cyclists and directeurs sportif (couches). How they were formed into the men they became. The European riders were often working class who entered cycling more as a job than a profession. Enter the English speaking pros like LeMond and others who are driven by a whole 'nother dynamic. It is not a novel but it has good characters, action and plots and subplots that all come out of the people.

[hermetic]

2. Love that title

It does sound like an interesting read.

Sorry, can't resist.... portrait of a couch.

It's okay, happens to us all, still......

[TexasProgresive]

3. Coach-couch there's a dif

The badger, le blaireu, is the nickname of Bernard Himault. Maybe in the US pitbull might work.

[murielm99]

4. The Trespasser,

by Tana French. She writes police procedurals set in Ireland, featuring a Murder Squad. It is a series, but only loosely. Sometimes characters carry over from one novel to the next. Some of the books are better than others. Some of the cops are as bitter and twisted as those they are hunting. Overall, I enjoy this series and keep going back to it.

I just finished reading an interesting memoir by Peter Andreas. It is called "Rebel Mother." It is the story of his mother, a former Mennonite and 1950's housewife who becomes radicalized. She and her son travel all over South America, chasing revolutions, living in in horrific slums and trying to empower the poor. You can decide for yourself whether or not you agree with her, or her child-rearing practices, but it is a very engrossing book.

[hermetic]

7. I like Tana

I've read some of her books and find them pretty good reading.

"Rebel Mother" sounds quite interesting, having been a bit of one myself. Not to that extent, of course. I will keep an eye out for that one.

[PoorMonger]

10. I Read Those Too

Broken Harbor was my favorite so far. I really like the idea of how the protagonist for one book was always a bit part in the previous one. Sort've impressive to think her detectives are more complex in one book than a lot of the more well known mega hit series - probably because at some point those become so formulaic.

[shenmue]

5. "The Gold Falcon," Katharine Kerr, and "Entry Island," Peter May

[hermetic]

8. Hi, glad to see you

I LOVE "Entry Island." And am so happy for your good recovery.

[shenmue]

12. Thanks!

[pscot]

6. The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim

aka the Romance of IT. This is a novel that reads like a business school case study. It's not a very good novel but I've learned some stuff.

I'm starting Syndrome E by Franck Thierriez. From the dust jacket blurb"...Lucie's old friend has developed a case of hysterical blindness after watching an obscure and mysterious film from the 1950s. Embedded in the film are subliminal images so unspeakably heinous that Lucie realizes she must get to the bottom of it--especially when nearly everyone connected to the film starts turning up dead. Enlisting the help of Inspector Franck Sharko--a brooding, broken profiler for the Paris police...".

[hermetic]

9. Ahh, the romance of IT

Funny!

Syndrome E sounds intriguing. Do tell more as you read. Something about that sounds familiar....

[PoorMonger]

11. The End of the Day by Claire North

At the end of the day, Death visits everyone. Right before that, Charlie does.


You might meet him in a hospital, in a warzone, or at the scene of a traffic accident.

Then again, you might meet him at the North Pole - he gets everywhere, our Charlie.

Would you shake him by the hand, take the gift he offers, or would you pay no attention to the words he says?

Sometimes he is sent as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. He never knows which.

The End of the Day is the stunning new novel by Claire North, author of word-of-mouth bestseller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Oh! I didn't know she had a new book out!

"The First Fifteen Lives" won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 2015 for best novel. It's a juried award, making it quite unlike the Hugos or the Nebulas.

I was at the Campbell Conference that year and got to meet Claire. She is very young and very enthusiastic and quite a good writer. I'll have to read it.

The Campbell Conference, in case you've never heard of it, is held in Lawrence, KS, every year in June or July. This year it's June 16-18, and I'm hoping to go. I'm still dithering a bit because of a potential schedule conflict, but I think I'll just bite the bullet and go. There's an award banquet, a round table discussion on the topic of the conference. This year they're honoring Jim Gunn, the man who founded the conference and is still going strong at the age of 93.

Here's a link for more information: http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/campbell-conference.htm

Because this is such a small conference, you get to spend some real quality time with some big names in science fiction.

[PoorMonger]

14. That's Really Cool

Alas, I have a family reunion the two weeks after that so I know there is no way I could swing it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Keep it in mind for next year.

I've decided that so long as Jim Gunn is still with us, I'll do my best to attend the Campbell Conference every year. I actually took his writing workshop some years back, and given his age, there won't be that many more times to see him.

He was at World Con last year in Kansas City, and the Campbell Conference was subsumed into World Con. It's a much better even when it's on its own.

[PoorMonger]

17. Musical Suggestion 'Charlie'

https://m.

From Peter Mulvey's 2004 album Kitchen Radio. I hadn't listened to this track in years - but felt like it was a nice fit here. I found the plot of this very cool, though it dragged a little in the middle. I am going to have to read her award winner soon though because she strikes me as someone with bug ideas and that's something I'll always gravitate to.

[hermetic]

18. Nice song

It led me to this, which I think is the perfect accompaniment to my book. This video is AWESOME. Yeah, I'm probably one of the only people in N America who never saw this before.

[PoorMonger]

16. Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

In the gripping sequel to Sleeping Giants, which was hailed by Pierce Brown as “a luminous conspiracy yarn . . . reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z,” Sylvain Neuvel’s innovative series about human-alien contact takes another giant step forward.

As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she’s dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers—and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first,
materializes and lashes out with deadly force.

Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide if they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth . . . and maybe even the stars.

{book 2 of The Themis Files}

This is an interesting concept that kinda made me think of Voltron ; the books are also written in an inventive style - where everything is presented as official documents ( mostly transcripts and interviews with the government ).

As a history brain I love this idea - and it really makes for fast reading

[hermetic]

19. Interesting concept

I'm pretty sure I read a book like that long ago though I cannot for the life of me remember what is was.

Here's a song suggestion...

[PoorMonger]

21. Right On!

Always appreciate your add ons, it's interesting to see another's quick take - even if only on the strength of a synopsis it's still interesting.

[PoorMonger]

22. Musical Suggestion ' Greens and Blues'

https://m.

From the Pixies album Indie Cindy.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

20. Finished "Ha'Penny" by Jo Walton,

the second in a trilogy. Alternate history. A peace was forged between England and Germany in 1940, not long after Dunkirk. Germany rules Europe. England becoming more and more fascist. The United States has remained isolationist. In this novel, there's a plot to kill Hitler and the fascist Prime Minister of England. Very, very good.