Zzzzzzz

[cornerofmadness]

I could not sleep last night. i went to bed at my normal time. I was still awake at 2 Am and woke up every hour there after. Ugh. Shoot me.


Also, I can not catch a break when it comes to finding something to read. Everything I've taken out of the library this year so far has utterly sucked. case in point, I grabbed a book written by a forensic artist for the FBI about a mystery centered on a forensic artist for the FBI. I was wondering how this rather limited role job could handle a mysery....

let me ask you would you buy into a character who gets drawn into the mystery because she believes she got her friend into it and got her killed (she didn't. another gov. agency did and now he's regretting not telling the artist but yet he does NOT tell her and get her off the case), solves the identity issue inless than 24 hours (while the other dude had to use her service) by using regular police work then lies to her superiors to hop a plane to follow this man and the crime scene to Italy where it gets into Knights Templar (now so overused it makes me wince)? Yeah I couldn't either....


So what are YOU reading? I'm looking for something good. I mostly read mystery, urban fantasy and a little horror/ SF (don't do romance).

Comments

[going-not-gone.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read Lois McMaster Bujold, I strongly recommend her stuff, especially the Vorkosigan series. It's SF, but with well rounded characters, a very fleshed-out alternate universe, and great plots. Her other stuff is good too, but the Vorkosiverse is my favorite.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you might enjoy Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter? I'm not that far into it yet, but it begins with a gentleman's invention of photographic porn being interrupted by a zombie attack.

"Really, Perkins," snapped Quimby, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Sir, it's the zombies, sir, " Perkins managed, breathing heavily.

There was a crack of lightning from outside, a rumble of thunder.

"Yes?" said Quimby, still irritated. "What about the zombies?"

"Sir, they're eating the prostitutes."

For some reason I wondered if this might be up your alley. :-) I think there's some Victoria/Albert later in the book, though.

[winters-queen.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it yet but I heard it's pretty funny. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that one i had read. it was okay thanks

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll buy a lot of unrealistic crap in my books, but sometimes, they just get completely OTT.

Right now, I'm reading Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo (http://www.amazon.com/Sworn-Silence-Burkholder-Linda-Castillo/dp/0312374976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265904373&sr=8-1-spell) which takes place in Ohio's Amish country and features a former Amish woman who is the current Chief of Police of a fictional small village. There a serial killer on the loose who may or may not be the same guy who killed four women in the village sixteen years ago. I'm really liking this book.

And, dude, I so sympathize with the sleeplessness. I've done that waking up every hour or two so very often, and I really hate it.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I've seen that one but haven't tried it.

[winters-queen.livejournal.com]

Granted, this is older, not sure if they would have it, but Brian Lumley's Necroscope series.

[salomesensei.livejournal.com]

I recommend the following novel passionately. Michael Chabon is one of my all-time favorite writers.

Michael Chabon, Yiddish Policeman's Union

Israel fails after WWII and Jews are given a chunk of Alaska. That's the backdrop for a hard-boiled detective novel about a loser detective, his not-loser ex-wife, and a murder mystery. It's brilliant.

I also recommend Rex Stout if you haven't read the Nero Wolfe novels. Awesome escapism and wit.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

...bad Shojo manga titled, "Mixed Vegetables"?

[hierath.livejournal.com]

I just finished "Flood" by Steven Baxter. Pretty good, but some of the characterisation was a bit thin...

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that's a series i've been wanting to read. people keep reccing it so I have to see for myself

I've read her Star Trek stuff

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

don't know him i don't think. The mystery that I'm finishing (not the piece of crap above) has thin characterization which is going to be the topic of my next writer post

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

nothing good?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I've read all the rex stout books, mostly in h.s. and college. I did love them.

I'll see if the library ahs that since that is definitely a different sounding mystery (I'm pretty sure I've read something by Chabon before)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

That was a good series (I did read that one quite some time ago)

[winters-queen.livejournal.com]

I found a couple of those books in storage. Might have to pick it up for a reread.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yeah I mean the person writing the book IS in the profession. I wanted to see something realistic. how realistic is it she's going to lie to her bosses and sneak out of the country?

Oddly enough Ohio Amish (any Amish) are suddenly hot topics in mysteries. I'll see if the library ahs that one

once i got the memory foam bed, i stopped doing this wakingup crap except once a month. When my levels of progesterone get high this happens

[salomesensei.livejournal.com]

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is probably his true masterpiece. Or you may have read Lost Boys. But he's also written a dozen or more novels.

If you're up for something non-genre, check out Louise Erdrich's Tracks. She's an amazing writer, beautiful prose.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Second the recommendation. If you don't mind dropping head-first into a series with a complex established canon, I might recommend picking up Mirror Dance to begin with, rather than the earlier books. (Or possibly Borders of Infinity, which is three short stories -- a mystery and two space operas -- surrounded by some framing narrative, all of which should give you enough canon to be getting on with, and then MD.) Bujold's writing, plotting and characterization improves as she goes along, and I've had a number of people get stuck on the rougher and simpler early novels and never get to the meaty Hugo-bait later.

[checks] Oh, look -- Baen (http://www.webscription.net/s-13-lois-mcmaster-bujold.aspx) offers Mirror Dance as an e-book for $4 and "The Mountains of Mourning" (the mystery story in Borders of Infinity) as a free download ...

[enemytosleep]

Um, I'm quite obsessive and tend to read my favorites a bajillion times over and over. Right now it's FMA and Harry Potter.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

haha those I've already read I used to be a re-reader but no longer

[winters-queen.livejournal.com]

The Stepsister Scheme - Jim C. Hines
The nightside series - Simon R. Green
Marla Mason series - T. A. Pratt

[bob_fish.livejournal.com]

OMG this sounds fantastic. Must read now.

[bob_fish.livejournal.com]

I read that on my honeymoon. The funniest thing about it is the cover. The main joke is a good one, but I found it kind of got old after fifty pages.

[bob_fish.livejournal.com]

Michael Chabon! I keep finding out you're into more awesome things. I adore Kavalier and Clay, and I'm a huge comics geek so that was a bonus. Loved Wonder Boys too.