I don't know if I am proud of this or not but I read all of the Lillian Jackson Braun cat mystery books The Cat Who... there are like close to 30 books. And I got the ones from the library that I didn't have. Wow that is amazing for me. Anyone else read a whole series? Or even want to? I never would have had the time but for this COVID-19 thing.
I just got caught up on the Star Trek:TNG Relaunch and Titan books, which all together comes out to about 50 books. I did skip a few books in both series, so I only counted the ones I read. For anyone familiar with them I counted all of the Titan books, and started the TNG with the A Time To... books. I've been off and on since they started around 2004, so I didn't actually read 50 books back to back
I read them too (years ago) and I thought the last few were rather poor. The mystery wasn't the main part of the books by then. I think she was like P.D. James who was more interested in her main character than in the story after awhile.
Finished Cold Storage by David Koepp (Jurassic Park screenwriter). Ugh, this one was awful. Absolutely terrible. It started out well enough, with the opening chapters feeling like an homage to The Andromeda Strain, but after that took a strange turn into the absurd. Instead of a well thought out intelligent sci-fi, you get a sci-fi with inane humor throughout which I felt heavily undermined the actual story, or what there was of it.
I just started the last book of Ian Toll’s excellent Pacific War trilogy, Twilight of the Gods. Trying to go slow and savor it, but I’m already at page 86... Dang it! Cheers, -CM-
I'm coming in late to this thread, but I consider myself a very light reader. I have read mostly magazines and comic books. The numerous science, history, religion, mythology, Brothers Grimm, Shakespeare, and Poe books in my library remain partly read. It just shows how short my attention span is. I used to have several magazine subscriptions: Entertainment Weekly, TIME, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, et al. It was like a ritual for me to go through the different sections, columns, and special articles on a weekly or monthly basis. Then my primetime TV viewing schedule got in the way, so I cancelled the magazine subscriptions. I recently donated my Marvel and DC trade paperback collection to my 15 year old nephew. I hadn't even unwrapped the plastic coverings on some of them. Over the years I must have spent at least $2,000 on graphic novels. Since my evenings are taken up by several network, cable, and streaming shows, there's just no time for me to catch up on The Justice League, The X-Men, and The Avengers. Lately I've taken an interest in short reads, e.g., mindfulness and inspirational literature. Apart from what you read, my question is how and when does everyone else read? I usually sit in my lazy chair on a quiet evening, or when I'm focusing a little more, I'm usually in bed late at night. But it's much more challenging when I'm holding a thick coffee table book while lying down.
I read about 15 minuten before I am going to sleep. And once a week I sit in the gaming/reading/office room too read.
Haven't started it yet, but recently received my autographed copy of Betrayal of Angels by Armin Shimmerman.
Getting firmly back into my reading this year. Already polished off the Otters in Space trilogy by Mary E Lowd - easy-going fun - Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper by Michael Bilton - grimly compelling if a little flawed - and Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - undeniably of its time, but a great adventure nonetheless. Just started the Red Dwarf Omnibus by the gestalt entity known as Grant Naylor; not read it in many years, and it's just as wonderful as I remember. In fact, sacrilegious as this may be to say, I think I actually love the books just a bit more than the show. As to reading habits, right now, spending my evenings alternating between reading and writing; helps keep my mind fresh.
No new novels, but last Wednesday was the first time I got to the comic store in 3 weeks, so I've been catching up on that haul.
Hopefully your nephew appreciates your gift. I've got a collection of hundreds of TOS fanzines (as well as Doctor Who, Darkover, Robin of Sherwood, and Highlander) in print form and have no idea who might appreciate them after I'm gone. Granted, some of the stories are online now, but the artwork, comics, jokes, poetry, and music aren't. From your username, I take it you're a Harry Potter fan. Have you read any fanfic? There are some really good stories out there - everything from comedy to serious, dramatic takes on the novels - sometimes from the point of view of other characters (since we never get to see their povs in the books or the movies) or sometimes it's a "what if this character did or said something different" situation. Last night I was reading a bunch of short stories in which the author examined the various plot holes and wrote what he felt should have happened as a result. Some of them were very dark, and others had me sitting here giggling, as Rowling obviously neglected to think some of her own plot points through.
My nephew was very grateful, but when I asked if he'd started reading yet, he said he was too busy with school work. I hope he doesn't end up like his uncle, a hoarder of books. I'm more of a Potter movie fan (also Lord of the Rings). The only book in the series I have read page to page is The Prisoner of Azkaban, perhaps my favorite in the series.
When you've got a couple of thousand books, a significant number of which you haven't read, you don't tend to suffer from the "I can't go to the library and have nothing to read" problem during a pandemic. If I could read one book a day (of the ones I haven't already read), it would be at least two years before I'd have to re-read anything. And since most of my books take more than one day to read, I'm set for at least three years (not that I want the pandemic to last that long, of course). I haven't seen Lord of the Rings, but I've seen the HP movies several times each (never one after the other in the proper order, though, due to the crazy way the science fiction channel in Canada shows them on holiday weekends). I'm coming to HP fandom backwards: movies, fanfic and YouTube videos explaining the difference between the books and movies, and analyzing various characters, and I just recently finished reading the last novel... which explains some of the stuff I didn't understand from the movies, as the movies substituted pointless chase scenes in place of character development in some cases. The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite, too (and I'm in favor of any fanfic where Sirius Black doesn't die; there are some rather creative stories about him, including one in which Dumbledore arranges for Sirius to stay with Harry at the Dursleys' over the summer... as Harry's emotional support dog, Snuffles. Harry's protected, the Dursleys don't dare abuse him, and Sirius (in his Padfoot form) has fun making life annoying for Harry's relatives.
I'm no stranger to fanfic and have read a number of short stories many years ago, mostly Star Trek and Harry Potter. I enjoyed the "slash" stories in particular. I have to say many of the stories are very well written in terms of structure and plot, but being the light reader that I am, I never delved much into them. Besides, if I had that much time to read fanfic, I could also have been reading my Marvel and DC titles. I've learned that I'm more of a visual reader, though not quite purely textual, and I've listened to a few audiobooks. Unfortunately, I have too much on my plate right now to even listen to podcasts and audiobooks.