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Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle
The lead character from The Woman who walked into doors returns for this look at alcoholism and drug addiction. It's another painful ride but more hopeful than the last one. It's twelve years on and Paula struggles to remain sober. She also deals with the fact one of her daughters is an alcoholic, too. Her eldest son was a drug addict in the last book but is now recovering. The whole book is a long struggle towards a better life.
I like the book because it's very evocative of it's time and place and a side of Ireland you don't normally see.
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Yikes! Uplifting stuff. Very sunny.
Just breezed through Starter Villain by Scalzi. Excellent Library book, woulda been unhappy to have spent $ on it. Pretty entertaining for free. Usual Scalzi problem of everyone has the same voice. I have Red Shirts now, but will finish the latest book in my grasp:
An ARC of the Abercrombie book: The Devils. So far it is pretty darn good, unless you are a major character in the novel, then, I think, things are not going well for you.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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Yeah, Scalzi. Always get him from the library. I'm looking forward to The Devils. It's been too long since I've had an Abercrombie read.
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The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
Another Joe Ledger adventure with all the shooting and machismo you love. I do love heroes being heroic. The main thrust of this book is genetics and wiping out the world. Wiping out the world might be the theme of every book. Nazis raise their ugly head and it's up to Ledger and his team to thwart them.
Straight ahead adventure stuff.
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Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and Stephen Mitchell
I preferred the other version. The explanations in this one were a bit too flip and cursory
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09-30-2024, 03:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-30-2024, 03:01 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Mitchell is a classic. It's one of the most referenced after Jane English.
The Dao can be flip and cursory. That's part of the point.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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Never cared for Mitchell's work myself. I always feel like something is lacking in his translations - although how much is really his work anyway? There are too many languages, some extremely difficult, for him to know them all.
the hands that guide me are invisible
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The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry
Joe Ledger and the DMS fight the Seven Kings who are everywhere and know everything. Plenty of paranoia in this one. But the good guys take on the bad guys in many horrific scenarios like a hospital burning and an Ebola Lab in Scotland. There is an also a creepy guy in prison who plays a role. I guessed someone of the surprise moments well ahead of time. And Joe now has a helpful killer dog as a companion which I approve of.
There is a bit of the woke to this macho fiction which I approve of.
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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie.
I was leant an ARC of the new Abercrombie and it was pretty darn fun. It introduces a new familiar/not familiar world, an alternate reality of our our own, circa late medieval/early renaissance Europe. The overall structure was predictable, but I think is a feature and not a flaw. One of the main characters calls out one of the revelations as cliche. A comfortable structure for the characters to interact & grow. It's also setting up at least a trilogy.
The characters are diverse, they grow and change, the action is non-stop, the world-building is excellent.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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10-05-2024, 09:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-05-2024, 09:30 AM by Greg.)
I am ready for the Devils. I think it comes out soonish.
Update: The Devils doesn't come out until May 2025. Dammit.
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Assassins's Code by Jonathan Maberry
Joe Ledger and Echo team goes up against a group of Vampires with Nukes threatening to blow up the world. What more do you need to know. Most of the book takes place in Tehran as Joe and the DMS once again try to figure out what the hell is going on as at least four different factions attack Joe including a villain from a previous novel.
It's all good macho fun.
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Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry
Joe Ledger versus the aliens! Joe goes up against a super secret research program started by President Truman back when the first UFO crashed in New Mexico near Roswell. The Super Secret research program has grown wildly out of control in their quest to make a flying saucer. More of the white German Shepherd named Ghost. More love interest with Violin. More Mr. Church being enigmatic.
Sadly, the library is missing the next two books in the series. I will have to purchase books to keep going. Until then off to some other author.
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The Fourth Sacrifice by Peter May
There might be a serial killer on the loose in Beijing and American coroner and Chinese detective Li are back on the case. Except Margaret and Li have broken up. Margaret is heading back to the states on the first plane. Li was told in no uncertain terms to choose between his job and Margaret and he chose his job.
The murder mystery at the heart of the books was pretty mild. At least this time the whole world wasn't threatened. Just a simple murder spree. The best part of this book is the look at the culture of Beijing during the late 1990s. The murders have a lot to do with the cultural revolution and the Xi'An Terracotta warriors. It's nice to get a modicum of insight into history not widely reported here in the US.
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The Library at Mount Char by Scott Haxell
This book started off great. I loved the characters and the world building but the third act went big time meh. It made me sad. During the second act when I couldn't get enough of the story, I was looking about the author and disappointed this was the only book he had written and hadn't written anything else in the previous ten years since the book was released.
Carolyn is in charge of languages at the library. It is her specialty. There are eleven other people at the library complete with their own specialty. They all answer to Father who runs the library and is just about a God in our universe. The book starts with Father missing and everyone trying to find him. Carolyn looks to the outside world to get some help. She finds Steve, a plumber and former house robber. But that project gets screwed up when bad things happen. Steve then encounters Erwin who is Mr. Military from Homeland security. Erwin wants to interview Steve because the name Carolyn came up in a very weird bank robbery.
Strange things keep happening and it's good until it isn't. Just read the first two-thirds of this book.
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Buried Deep by Naomi Novik
A really good collection of fantasy stories by the author of the Napoleonic War Dragon books and the Scholomance Trilogy. All the stories were really solid. Some touched on the books she had already written. Others were completely unique and original. A lot of them left me wanting more but the stories were complete unto themselves.
I recommend this collection, especially if you are familiar with her work and even if you aren't.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
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