What are you currently reading?

[QualityBookReviews]

An open discussion on what everyone is currently reading. Make recommendations to others, discuss what is new, hot, bestsellers, anything and everything related to books and the authors.

[Joy Calderwood]

I moved on to another John Maddox Roberts, an alternate history HANNIBAL'S CHILDREN. Romans were driven into exile by Hannibal, and more than a century later, they are preparing to win their homeland back. Where I am now, the scion of the Scipio family is scouting the Carthaginian empire to report back on the possibilities.

[Naomi Johnson]

I've just finished 'Killer Year,' a book of short crime stories, edited by Lee Child. That introduced me to some new authors I'll try out soon. I'm about to start Sean Chercover's 'Big City, Bad Blood.' Any comments on it?

[Juri Nummelin]

I thought Chercover's book was very good, albeit a bit too long, mainly on the head guy's personal matters. But his take on the classic PI novel is ambitious.

I'm reading a book of interviews and some short essays with Pedro Almodovar. His films have lots of criminous moments and he's a fan of many films noirs, so it merits mention here. I don't know if the book's available in English, though.

And, oh, almost forgot to say in my blog post that I finished The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe. Recommended, if you're into Poe or old horror and adventure novels - that one has them both. Some parts could easily be skipped and some of it is downright boring, but some parts are quite strong, especially the ending in which Poe leaves a lot open. You're left with your imagination only, which is always good.

[I. J. Parker]

Kaled Hosseini's A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS. So far as strong as THE KITE RUNNER. He's a fine writer.

[George Wilder Jr.]

I'm reading at moment Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. And I do recommend it.

[Jacqui Horwood]

Classic stuff. I love Chandler.

[Debbi Mack]

I'm reading T IS FOR TRESPASS. I love the Kinsey Millhone series, but when I started this one, I thought I might be getting slightly burnt on it. (I mean, this is #20, after all.) However, even though the book starts off slowly, the tension really builds. I'm about 2/3 of the way through now and find it very hard to put down. It's also one of Grafton's darkest stories--with a villain who'll really give you the creeps.

[Jacqui Horwood]

On a non-crime bend, I rediscovered one of my favourite books from my younger days. I bought a copy of Raymond Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. It scared the willies out of me as a kid. I've just started reading and I'd forgotten just how beautiful the imagery is.

[Joy Calderwood]

THE PHOENIX CIRCLE by Boris Raymond. I enjoyed the manuscript version because the author successfully peopled a sweeping epic: the 5th century decline of the Roman Empire. One thread follows the military history with Attila as a big factor, and the other thread follows the politics of Christianity. The characters in both have interesting life lines and I enjoy seeing what choices they will make. The book's writing is very much improved from the ms. I've never tried reviewing a book in two different incarnations before, but they are different enough to make it worth doing.

[Johnny Ostentatious]

Johnny Cash's autobiography, CASH. On the crime end, I have G.M. Ford's WHO IN HELL IS WANDA FUCA? working its way to the top of my reading pile.

[Neil Plakcy]

I'm reading Diane Stuckart's THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, in which Leonardo da Vinci is the detective, with the help of the narrator, one of his apprentices. It's a fascinating portrait of life at the Sforza court in Milan, and the amount of research that must have gone into it is prodigious.

[Johnny Ostentatious]

Ooooo, sounds good. Luckily, the little library around the corner from me has it in stock.