Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?

Kurben

Read The Plague by Graham Masterton. Far from The Stand level but passable.

not_nadine

   Oh my god this is for real.

 

Hedda Gabler

not_nadine said:

   Oh my god this is for real.

 

The march to raise stupid kids continues. 

not_nadine

How can this be even legal to the author of the books?

Kurben

not_nadine said:

How can this be even legal to the author of the books?

Does it not have something to do with  the number of years since the book was written? I know that i have seen horrible shortened down versions of for example Dumas books in swedish. Isnt this a little of the same thing? Simplyfying what shouldn't be touched. But isnt the Great Gatsby still protected by law? Hmm, it must have been written somewhere in the 1920,s so maybe the protection only run for 100 years? If relatives dont keep it alive that is.

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

not_nadine said:

How can this be even legal to the author of the books?

Does it not have something to do with  the number of years since the book was written? I know that i have seen horrible shortened down versions of for example Dumas books in swedish. Isnt this a little of the same thing? Simplyfying what shouldn't be touched. But isnt the Great Gatsby still protected by law? Hmm, it must have been written somewhere in the 1920,s so maybe the protection only run for 100 years? If relatives dont keep it alive that is.

The length of copyright protection depends on when a work was created. Under the current law, works created on or after January 1, 1978, have a copyright term of life of the author plus seventy years after the author’s death. If the work is a joint work, the term lasts for seventy years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright protection is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Works created before 1978 have a different timeframe. 
....so something stinks like dead fish over this whole dumbing down of literary works....

GNTLGNT

....just wrapping up my read on Steve's most recent....Johnny Come Lately as usual....what a grand gathering of tales....."Dream" & "Rattlesnakes" really resonated, but "Bastids" was engrossing, as was "Dreams".....surprisingly I didn't feels there was a true weak link in this chain of chapters...I should be so blessed to be on my game a strongly as Steve remains on his.....

Grant87

GNTLGNT said:

....just wrapping up my read on Steve's most recent....Johnny Come Lately as usual....what a grand gathering of tales....."Dream" & "Rattlesnakes" really resonated, but "Bastids" was engrossing, as was "Dreams".....surprisingly I didn't feels there was a true weak link in this chain of chapters...I should be so blessed to be on my game a strongly as Steve remains on his.....

Agreed. This collection was strong throughout. 

Kurben

Tried to read Ann Rules A Rose for her Grave and other tales. A True Crime collection but somehow her writing did not manage to captivate. I just grew bored by the way she was telling it. Perhaps its me, perhaps her but we did not sync at all. Instead i started Minor Hauntings, a collection child ghost stories written during the 19,th century (some very early 20,th) and my belief in reading was restored. Right now reading The Old Nurses Tale by Elisabeth Gaskell.

Kurben

Reading The Trial by Laura Bates. Its about 8 teens whose plane (highschool basketball players and cheerleaders) crashes The captain and star of the basketball team soon find out that you need a very different skillset to survive on an deserted island than to lead your team to victory on the court. But can he come to terms with that and what dangerous secret hunts them? Obviously this has Golding vibes and, also obviously, it is not as good (Lord Of The Flies is one of the best books i've read) but it still manages to be interesting. And it is, just as lord f the flies btw, not a very thick book. I try to see that as a good sign that when the story is ended the book will end. Something that too many books in the recent decades could learn from.  A book does not need to be 700-1000 pages to be good, you can make a good novel in 150-200 pages if you knew how to write. Just because some authors can keep the interest and pace going for so long does not mean its easy and a sure recipe for success.

Kurben

Starting  Past Tense by Lee Child. One in the Jack Reacher series. I never know when i'm reading Child if i'm gonna like it or not. I picked up this one in the used bookstore deal. Has anyone read this one?

Kurben

Reading Death Has Deep Roots by Michael Gilbert. Excellent.

Kurben

Finished Death Has Deep Roots. Very good. Started Death In Captivity by the same guy. It is about a murder in ww2 prison camp and it certainly looks like the guards (the bad guys) are totally innocent (of that crime at least). Started well.

Kurben

Started a short story collection by Steven Saylor. The House Of The Vestals. It is part of his Roma Sub Rosa series (Sub Rosa meaning under the rose which means in secret). Setting is Rome under the last decades of the republic. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, crassus, Ceasar, Cicero and several other real historical persons features throughout the novels and shortstories. Each story is based on a real crime or trial that is mentioned in historical sources (often Ciceros writings but not always). Main character is Gordianus, known as the Finder, who is a toman citizen but not, as many of his clients, of a patrician  (noble) family. He is good at finding obscure facts, solving problems and murders. The big strength of the books are how Saylor manages to create a very roman atmosphere and bring the bustling city life of ancient rome to life. When it comes to historical mysteries hes up there at the top. 

Hedda Gabler

I have not finished one book in 2024. 

My book journal must have an entry for 2024 or i’ve have forgotten the face of my father. 

Have a bunch started. 

Grant87

I've been mostly reading thrillers lately (just finished The Hunt for Red October), but I decided to kick off Spooky Season reading with World War Z. I've had it on my shelf for years, but never picked it up for some reason. I've got several more horror books on the agenda for the rest of September and throughout October. 

Kurben

Grant87 said:

I've been mostly reading thrillers lately (just finished The Hunt for Red October), but I decided to kick off Spooky Season reading with World War Z. I've had it on my shelf for years, but never picked it up for some reason. I've got several more horror books on the agenda for the rest of September and throughout October. 

It is a good one. The movie was a bust but the book is actually good.

not_nadine

I've been thinking about reading that one.  Thanks for the suggestion!-

Grant87

So far, so good with World War Z. The "oral history" format works great for this type of a story.

Here's the rest of my Spooky Season TBR:

Rosemary's Baby, Ira Levin
My Best Friend's Exorcism, Grady Hendrix
Blue World, Robert McCammon
Small Town Horror, Ronald Malfi
The Chalk Man, CJ Tudor
Memorials, Richard Chizmar

Kurben

Read The Leper of S:t Giles by Ellis Peters. Number 5 in her Brother Cadfael mystery series. Set in 1139. Also read Ruth Rendells A Guilty Thing Surprised. Written in 1972 before crime books had to be at least 500 pages long even if the plot isn't good enough for that. This is perhaps 150 pages and it works beautifully. End were the story ends! Must that be so difficult? 
I liked the cosy historucal mystery that Peters wrote. Will try to find some more of her.

Kurben

I'm gonna start Essex Dogs by Dan Jones. He is a very good historian that is specialized in english middle age even if he has done books in other parts of the world at that time too. Now he has written some historical fiction which has gotten really good reviews. Its about a company of men (nickname the essex dogs) fighting in the hundred years war under Edward III. It starts with them arriving in France and leads up to the battle of Crecy in 1346. Jones is an extremely good narrative historian so i'm curious to see how he handles fiction. Some of his books are so well told that you tend to forget that they are history and think you are inside a thrilling story. So i have high hopes!

Kurben

Have started Essex dogs. So far its up to expectations. There is a likeness to Bernard Cornwell at the top of his game but better in both characterization and historic detail. And since they are in the beginning of the longest war history has recorded its also many well depicted battle scenes including but not dwelling on the blood and brutality that was part of it. 

Kurben

Read one more Ruth Rendell, No More Dying Then with her rather, if not fat but at least overweight, chief inspector Wexford in the lead. Two missing children one year apart. Is there a connection? The first was a girl in her young teens, the second a 5-year old boy so they might be unrelated. This is rendell when she was at the top of her game, in the 70,s and 80,s, when we enter the 90,s and the 2000,s i think she goes a little more on routine and its further between the really good ones. Also she became more interested in psychological mysteries which, i think, resulted in some great stand alone books but did not really mesh with the Wexford series.