Ziggy Wants to Be Harriet for Halloween
One thing I like about travel is having more time to read. On road trips, audiobooks come into their own.
For those of you just discovering this part of my blog, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.
The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.
Recently Completed:
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers. Good and creative, although – my personal opinion – the characterization is not as strong as in the prior two novels.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Audiobook. To my surprise, I really enjoyed. Almost despite herself, Catherine is blessed with a solid dose of common sense.
Swords Against Death by Fritz Leiber. A Friday Fragments reader mentioned the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser tales, and I couldn’t resist re-reading at least some.
Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich. Audiobook. We find these books good for road trips since the reader is brilliant, and the plots not overly demanding.
Little Red Rodent Hood by Ursula Vernon. Harriet the Hamster Princess is appealed to by a child in distress… but is everything as it seems?
In Progress:
Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber.
The Moons of Barsk by Lawrence M. Schoen. Audiobook.
Also:
I almost never get a chance to read the convention program when I’m at a con, but I often read it after. I’m currently dipping into the gorgeous one from MileHiCon.
Jane Lindskold: Wednesday Wanderings 
October 26, 2018 at 4:35 am |
Turbo Twenty Three is my next Stephanie Plum book. I enjoy them, especially the secondary characters (Lula and Grandma!)
I finished The Spider’s War (The Dagger and the Coin #5) by Daniel Abraham. I was satisfied with the conclusion of the series. It was a realistic ending. The author left some open doors to allow for further stories. I am glad I read the series.
I am currently reading The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk 5) by Dean Koontz. These are getting as repetitious as shampoo instructions! I am only a third of the way in, so I can hope something new happens.
October 27, 2018 at 6:04 am |
Haha! True about the two characters! I kind of miss the old mysterious, quasi-illegal Ranger.
October 26, 2018 at 10:34 am |
In one of the book offerings from BookBub, I came across Kristine Smith who has created a very interesting series about a woman named Jani Kilian. The series is named “The Jani Kilian Chronicles” which starts with “Code Of Conduct”.
I became very interested in the story so I ended up buying all six of the books in the series. Very well thought out universe with diverse characters. Fast paced action and very believable plotline which is not the usual plot of most stories I’ve read recently.
I’m also trying to finish reading L.E. Modesitt, Jr’s “Assasin’s Price”. For me, this has been somewhat challenging to read since it starts out very slow. I hope to finish it this time. I’ve also been reading “The Armored Saint” by Myke Cole. This is her first book, so I hope it stays as interesting as the first chapter. Another book I’m trying to read (3rd time around) is Juliet E. McKenna’s “The Swordsman’s Oath”. The first book in the series was very fast paced, but this one is very much slower. I’m hoping it will speed up pretty soon so I don’t fall asleep before I get to the end of the chapter.
For the next few days I’ll be attending an annual geocaching~Halloween event where we get together to solve a puzzle themed for the four days of the event. The host has always managed to develop a great theme for attendee’s to discuss, evaluate and celebrate or commemorate. It started on Thursday with a chocolate tasting event (supposed to be gourmet chocolates) and continues today with a special cocktail development event. No two days are alike.
October 26, 2018 at 10:36 am |
Enjoy your Halloween celebrations or commemorations. A lot of new stories which fit the genre are arriving in the libraries and bookstores for all of us to read.
October 26, 2018 at 5:04 pm |
Thanks! And thanks for your reading list… Impressive!
October 26, 2018 at 10:47 am |
Finished:
The Jennifer Morgue, by Charles Stross – 2nd in the Laundry Files series of Cthonic horror mixed with civil service bureaucracy and a healthy dose of humor. This one, in part, plays with the James Bond tropes.
Started:
Mycroft Holmes, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse – first in the series about a very young Mycroft (age 23 and fit and energetic, not the older obese genius from Watson’s descriptions) about to have an adventure; Only 3 chapters in, not sure if this will be mystery/thriller or supernatural mystery/thriller, yet. Could go either way.
On Deck:
Cat in an Alphabet Soup, by Carole Nelson Douglas – the first of the Midnight Louie cat-noir-Las Vegas mystery novels.
After that, no more novels for a while because I want to play in NaNoWriMo so my reading will be limited to short stories.
October 28, 2018 at 11:46 pm |
I love, love, love Harriet the Hamster Princess! Do you feel, as you get older, that ‘kid’s’ fiction becomes more and more appealing. I even find that I am skipping the sex scenes to get on with the story. Or is it just me?
October 29, 2018 at 7:39 am |
I’ve never really been a fan of either extended sex or fight scenes unless they really are crucial to the story. I think you can see that in my writing… I once teased Roger Zelazny about just skimming his fight scenes to see who won and if anyone was injured. As a former fencer, he tended to choreograph sword fights very carefully.
I never stopped reading kids fiction — even though I don’t have any kids. There’s some great stuff out there. Ursula Vernon is among the best of the newer “kids” writers, but Shannon Hale is pretty darn fine, too.
Oh… And I’ve read YA since before there was a sub-category for it. And been an anime/manga fan well before the trend. Basically, if the story is good, I don’t care about the label.