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pontalba's 2017 reading list


pontalba

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Shame the past few reads weren't perfect. I hope your next read will be better :). Nice to read your reviews though. I haven't read any books that involve an EMP, but I don't think it's something for me, with the gruesomeness and acronyms.

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Shame the past few reads weren't perfect. I hope your next read will be better :). Nice to read your reviews though. I haven't read any books that involve an EMP, but I don't think it's something for me, with the gruesomeness and acronyms.

 

Yeah, that's a good part of why I'm not continuing the series. 

 

I've finished Peter May's Extraordinary People.  Definitely a 4/5.

 

We've bought a few books, :)

 

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

Insomniac City by Bill Hayes

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey (its second in a trilogy, I had # 1 and 3)

 

And, I've pre-ordered the new LeCarre, thanks to ChesilBeach. :)  But it isn't coming out till September. :(

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Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey (its second in a trilogy, I had # 1 and 3)

 

 

I have the first book - Leviathan Wakes - on my Kindle, but haven't got around to reading it yet. I take it, it's good if you have bought the sequel?

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I have the first book - Leviathan Wakes - on my Kindle, but haven't got around to reading it yet. I take it, it's good if you have bought the sequel?

 

Well.......truth be told, I haven't.  Somehow I'd acquired the first and third of the series, without  the second.  :blush2:   Soooooo...hadda buy the in-between, for balances sake. heh

 

Also finished Margaret George's latest.  Can't wait for the rest of the story!

 

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George 4.5/5

 

Admittedly, I'm nitpicking a bit with a 4.5 rather than a full 5, but while I loved her Nero, I wondered if perhaps George was going a teeny bit overboard in her cleansing of his reputation. I do, though, fully believe that ancient historians have blackened his name beyond all recognition, and I hate the unfairness of those past historians. I understand that for the most part they were thinking of their own necks and survival of same, but there was a rule of conscience that they ignored.

 

Anyhow. I loved Georges recitation of Nero's life, and the reasons he was the way he was. She brings him to life and her method of inserting outside narrations occasionally is enlightening and very telling. The "other half" so to speak. George brings a wonderful humanity to Nero, and I anxiously look forward to her second book on Nero.

 

Highly recommended.

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The Nightwalker by Sebastian Fitzek 5/5

 

 

Chilling. Twisted. Loss of self. Treachery. Cross, double-cross.

 

Keeps the reader guessing until the very end......and past.

 

As with the only other Fitzek book I've read ( Therapy ), I read this one in one sitting. Fortunately I'd already eaten.

 

Recommended, but be sure to have dinner first....... :)

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Well.......truth be told, I haven't.  Somehow I'd acquired the first and third of the series, without  the second.  :blush2:   Soooooo...hadda buy the in-between, for balances sake. heh

This has happened to me too :yes:.

 

Glad you read two enjoyable books :).

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I may have just ordered Nightwalker... don't tell anyone!  :D

 

:D   Right you are!

 

As I mentioned in the thumbnail sketch above, it's the second of his I've read.  I just ordered a third..... The Child.  /humming/ :)

 

This has happened to me too :yes:.

 

Glad you read two enjoyable books :).

 

Thanks, Gaia!  It sorta feels as though I'm getting back in the groove. :)

 

 

You've had some great reads so far this year :D

 

I'm extremely jealous of all your new purchases too. 

 

I've been pretty lucky in finding stuff lately.  I was on a slump for a long time. /phew/

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I am not much of a fan of Alternative History stories.  In any time frame, recent or not.  But I was drawn into reading one about President John F. Kennedy.  Why?  /sigh/  Darned if I know.  I suppose the mystique of the Kennedy Years, plus I remember vividly the horror of seeing the ZapruderTape, and the Warren Report.  Not to mention the days long, seemingly endless television coverage of the flight back to Washington D.C., and the funeral.  God, the funeral.  :(

 

Anyhow, the idea of what Kennedy might have managed with a second term, how the country would have prospered under a second Kennedy term was practically irresistible.  /more sighing/

 

So.

If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy: An Alternate History by Jeff Greenfield 3/5

 

I'd have preferred a more personal story, not what I found to be a bit cut and dried notion of Kennedys political life/possibilities. And to be honest rather Pollyanna(ish) in conclusions.

The majority of the names were familiar to me, but for someone not around then they came way to fast and furious to be effectively integrated into the story.

There was a bit toward the beginning, and I'll paraphrase, that spoke of how thankful they were for the rain and bubble top that day, that the alternative (the truth) would have been too awful to contemplate.

This reminds me of time travel stories where someone goes back to right a wrong, and either enable what happened, or Time readjusts to bring about the same results. I love time travel tales, but this alternative history story doesn't move me to search for more like it.    

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Also read Crossover (STNG) by Michael Jan Friedman 4/5 for what it is.  A great combo of the old and the new of Star Trek.  Brings back Bones and Scotty, not to mention centering around Spock and his Reunification mission.  Nicely done.  If you are a Star Trek fan, you'll enjoy it, otherwise.....maybe not.

 

Have started Paris Nocturne by Patrick Modiano.    Unreliable narrator, stream of consciousness. 

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What do ya know, I actually own Crossover! I own some Star Trek novels but most of them are Deep Space Nice or Voyager.

I'm glad you enjoyed it :). I'm now in season 5 of watching TNG. I think I'll enjoy the book too then when I get around to reading it :).

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What do ya know, I actually own Crossover! I own some Star Trek novels but most of them are Deep Space Nice or Voyager.I'm glad you enjoyed it :). I'm now in season 5 of watching TNG. I think I'll enjoy the book too then when I get around to reading it :).

Yay! :D. We are also watching ST:TNG, only in the first season.

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The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz. 2/5 (if that, I'm being kind)

 

I really wanted to love this addition to the excellent Millennium series by Steig Larsson. Instead I only made it to 33%, cringing most of the way. The factoids are all there, but Lagercrantz's addition lacks the heart that Larsson put into his characters. They are cardboard, the plot is formulaic in the extreme, and I couldn't have cared less about their fates.

 

Not recommended.

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The Nightwalker by Sebastian Fitzek 5/5

 

 

Chilling. Twisted. Loss of self. Treachery. Cross, double-cross.

 

Keeps the reader guessing until the very end......and past.

 

As with the only other Fitzek book I've read ( Therapy ), I read this one in one sitting. Fortunately I'd already eaten.

 

Recommended, but be sure to have dinner first....... :)

I ended up staying up late to finish this one.. definitely lots of twists and turns! 

 

I have to say, I was a little.. cheated by the final twist. I can't even explain why.. I loved Therapy when I read it, and completely accepted the ending of that one, but this seemed a little bit of a strange solution.

It's definitely one to think and talk about though!

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I ended up staying up late to finish this one.. definitely lots of twists and turns! 

 

I have to say, I was a little.. cheated by the final twist. I can't even explain why.. I loved Therapy when I read it, and completely accepted the ending of that one, but this seemed a little bit of a strange solution.

It's definitely one to think and talk about though!

:D. Glad you enjoyed it.....

i was a little disappointed at first, but finally liked the ambiguity of it

 

I've got his The Child, it just arrived. :)

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We visited an Estate Sale this morning, and managed to find a few books....someone there liked history and spies. :)

 

The History of Hollywood (Florida) 1920-1950 by Virginia Elliott TenEick

OSS Against the Reich (World War II Diaries of Colonel David K. E. Bruce edited by Nelson D. Lankford

Churchill and Secret Service by David Stafford (a lovely autograph and inscription by the author) Apparently this book was owned by an American connection of Churchill, there is an address sticker with their name on the spine.

 

The Churchills Pioneers and Politicians England ~ America ~ Canada by Elizabeth Snell

Five Days in London May 1940 by John Lukacs

The Silent Game The Real World of Imaginary Spies by David Stafford

Roosevelt and Churchill Men of Secrets by David Stafford

Wild Bill Donovan (The Spymaster who created the OSS and Modern American Espionage by Douglas Waller

Red Mafiya How the Russian Mob has invaded America by Robert I. Friedman

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We visited an Estate Sale this morning, and managed to find a few books....someone there liked history and spies. :)

 

The History of Hollywood (Florida) 1920-1950 by Virginia Elliott TenEick

OSS Against the Reich (World War II Diaries of Colonel David K. E. Bruce edited by Nelson D. Lankford

Churchill and Secret Service by David Stafford (a lovely autograph and inscription by the author) Apparently this book was owned by an American connection of Churchill, there is an address sticker with their name on the spine.

 

The Churchills Pioneers and Politicians England ~ America ~ Canada by Elizabeth Snell

Five Days in London May 1940 by John Lukacs

The Silent Game The Real World of Imaginary Spies by David Stafford

Roosevelt and Churchill Men of Secrets by David Stafford

Wild Bill Donovan (The Spymaster who created the OSS and Modern American Espionage by Douglas Waller

Red Mafiya How the Russian Mob has invaded America by Robert I. Friedman

 

Wow, these all sound like great finds! Very jealous :D 

 

The alternative history of Kennedy sounds very interesting - like you I enjoy time travel stories providing there isn't too much of a fantasy element, however ridiculous that sounds (!) - but that sounds like an interesting idea, averagely executed. Disappointing. 

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On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 5:50 AM, Alexi said:

 

Wow, these all sound like great finds! Very jealous :mrgreen: 

 

The alternative history of Kennedy sounds very interesting - like you I enjoy time travel stories providing there isn't too much of a fantasy element, however ridiculous that sounds (!) - but that sounds like an interesting idea, averagely executed. Disappointing. 

 

I was generally disappointed in it.  Very different from Stephen Kings 11/22/63.  I enjoyed SK's version.  This was a retelling, and not a good one.  Not a complete one by any means.  I found it too dry, and impersonal.  There were only a few poignant moments.  Here is a link to a C-Span vid of a talk the author gave in Washington, D.C.  It makes the book sound more interesting than it is.  :smile:  https://www.c-span.org/video/?315872-1/kennedy-lived

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The Mists of Avalon by M.B. Zimmer  3/5

 

A retelling of the Arthurian Legend through the Lady of the Lake's and her acolytes eyes.  I've had the book for at least 10 years, maybe more.  My now husband sent it to me before we lived in the same city. :) 

 

It was an interesting version, albeit very different to Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy.  Stewart's was told through a very human Merlin and I absolutely fell in love with it.  Zimmer's version certainly has it's human aspects, but the backdrop of magic is more apparent and more........raw, I think.  There is a great deal of Christian bashing, and considering some of the "Christians" she ran into, well deserved.  It's not a spoiler to say though that in the end the Lady sees the good side of Christianity and while certainly not converted,  she is content living cheek and jowl with it.

 

The only reason for my lower rating is that I found the story too drawn out, an editor could have cut some without losing any of the ambiance.

 

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Triple Crown by Felix Francis 3/5

 

I know, I know.  I said I'd not pick up another Felix Francis book.  But, there it was on top of the stacks at the library, (thanks muggle) and couldn't resist it.  And I'm glad I did.  Although it had a bit of a lack luster first third or so, it picked up nicely and I saw some of Dick Francis flair to the story.  Felix sticks pretty much to his father's formula, and it's a good one.  A hero, danger from  a villain, and 'the girl'.  Whether or not he gets the girl, there is always one, or sometimes two to confuse the issue. 

 

This one is a bit different as it takes place for the most part in the U.S. and the different rules for racing and race courses is explained thoroughly.  If you are a Dick Francis fan, I'd say pick it up and give it a try.

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The Quiet Game by Greg Iles  5/5

 

This is the first in Iles' Penn Cage series.  Cage is a Natchez (Mississippi) born attorney that has practiced in Houston (Texas), he is a writer of legal thrillers and an ex-prosecutor in Houston.  The story opens with Cage and his young daughter in Disney World, Orlando (Florida).  The child is hysterical as she insists she has seen her Mother.  Problem is, her Mother has, tragically died 7 months previously.  He decides on the spot that he has to return Home to Natchez and his parents.  The balance of the book is 98% based in Natchez.  The opening sequence  is heart rending.   Iles prose is flowing, precise and just beautiful. 

 

Iles sees the shame of the past, is cognizant of our "present", and sees hope in the future.  He sees the South with clear eyes and a burning desire to make it better.  Loving eyes, even with all the terrible things that have happened.  He sees race relations in the Deep South the way they have been, the way they are, and the way they could and should be. And, please God, will be.

 

There is a great para at the beginning of Chapter 25, page 270 that I must quote.

 

"Einstein said the arrow of time flies in only one direction. Faulkner, being from Mississippi, understood the matter differently. He said the past is never dead; it's not even past.  All of us labor in webs, spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity. Haunted by wrong turns and roads not taken, we pursue images perceived as new but whose provenance dates to the dim dramas of childhood, which are themselves but ripples of consequence echoing down the generations.  The quotidian demands of life distract from this resonance of images and events, but some of us feel it always.

And who among us, offered the chance, would not relive the day or hour in which we first knew love, or ecstasy, or made a choice that forever altered our future, negating a life we might have had?  Such chances are rarely granted.  Memory and grief prove Faulkner right enough, but Einstein knew the finality of action.  If I cannot change what I had for lunch yesterday, I certainly cannot unmake a marriage, erase the betrayal of a friend, or board a ship that left port twenty years ago.

And yet......."

 

 

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