Forum: On picking your next read.....

A lot of times I have a hard time picking out what I want to read next. A lot of it depends on my mood at the time, or even what has influenced me. Then there are those times where I want to read EVERYTHING at once. It gets so bad that sometimes I juggle three or four books at a time.

Last night is such an instance. I had started a book, got sixty pages into it and it really was not doing a thing for me. (I really wanted to like this book just because of the subject matter.) So I decided to put this book down and try to read it another time. So I go into the process of picking my next read. Believe me when I tell you it is a process.

The process starts with a stack of as many as ten to twelve books. Then it gets whittled down to four or so. Then I go to one, but it does not mean the one I am sticking with. So last night, I had three books next to me on my night stand. A history, a mystery, and a science fiction. I picked up the sci-fi, read it for a few minutes, then went to the mystery, read that for a few minutes then (you guessed it) went to the history. After a few minutes of that, I turned off the light and rolled over to go to sleep. As I was drifting off to sleep, my wife said "Maybe you should read a fantasy, you haven't done that in a while"

Well, when I woke up this morning, my wife asked me if I decided on what to read next. I told her not yet. She reminded me of her suggestion to read a fantasy. she then followed up with "Better yet, why not do a space opera? You haven't read one of those in a LONG time." Out of the mouths of babes, eh? (Hey, my wife is a total babe to me) The moment she said that, a light went on over my head, I hard a bell ring and the angels sang. SPACE OPERA! My first love in reading. Not just Science Fiction, but space opera!

Now, which one? The process starts.......

Honor Bound

Title: Honor Bound

Author: W.E.B. Griffin

Publisher: Penguin Group

Publication Date: November 1993

Genre: Historical Thriller

Pages: 560

Sometimes when I read I go through phases. When I was going through my World War II phase, I wanted something different to read. Not unusual and off the wall, just different. I found that something different in Honor Bound, the first in a series by W.E.B. Griffin. This was also the first book by Griffin that I have read, and after this one there will most definitely be more.

Honor Bound is set in neutral Argentina. Small merchant ships are delivering supplies to Nazi submarines and raiders. The OSS wants to sabotage this operation and enlists a marine aviator, Cletus Frade to help them. In Argentina, Cletus will be reunited with his estranged father Jorge Guillermo Frade, also known as "El Colonel"

The backdrop of Argentinian society provides and exotic location. By the time I was halfway through with this book I wanted to go to 1942 Argentina. The father-son story line also kept me interested, as well as the mission to destroy the merchant ship. All of this ties into an excellent thriller that will provide enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the final page.

Honor Bound does not end on a cliffhanger, but it is engaging enough with its characters that you will want to see what happens next in the next books. If you decide to get this, then do yourself a favor and at least pick up its follow up, Blood and Honor.

The list of books in this series are as follows:

Honor Bound (1993)
Blood and Honor (1996)
Secret Honor (1999)

Death and Honor (2008)

The Honor of Spies (2009)
Victory and Honor (2011)

 5 out of 5 stars

Re-readable factor of 4 out of 5

Nathan Stone Gunfighter Series

Title(s): Nathan Stone Gunfighter Series
               1) Dawn of Fury (496pp) pub. December 1995
               2) The Killing Season (448pp) pub. June 1996
               3) Autumn of the Gun (432 pp) pub. December 1996
Author: Ralph Compton
Publisher: Penguin Book
Genre: Western

This is the first series I read when I started reading westerns twelve years ago. I was drawn to the tag line on the back cover "If you like L'Amour you'll love Ralph Compton" And I really could not argue with the price ($5.99). All three books were available so I got them in one fell swoop. You really do not need to get them all at once, none of them are left in a cliff hanger ending where you have to have the next book to see what happens next.

What I really enjoyed about this series is that the hero runs into historical figures from the west and the author lets you know with a foot note on the bottom of the page. That just added to the authenticity ad feel of the book.

The other enjoyable aspect of the series is when the hero gets shot, he really gets shot. It is not like a grazing wound and he gets pissed off and wipes everyone out before the dust settles. The hero of the book is very much human. He is not portrayed as the "Superman" of the west. AND he has his trusty sidekick...a dog named Cotton Blossom.

I did have a problem with this series. I guess the phrase "leaves a lot to the imagination" sums it up best. There is not a lot of descriptive detail in this series, and it left me feeling like there was something I was missing. For me it took some of the enjoyment out of the experience. Not enough to stop reading the series, but enough to leave me feeling like I missed something important.

 3 1/2 stars out of five

Re-readable factor of 2

Forum: Angry Robot Books

I wanted to share with you a fairly new publishing company. Angry Robot Books. They are headquartered in Britain and have been able to acquire some of the hottest names in Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror plus some authors that I have never heard of.

What drew me to this company was the format of the book. When you look at the back of the book to read the teaser you will see a tab in the upper right corner. This is a "File Under" tab. What I love about this tab is that it adds to the teaser to see if it the particular something you were looking for. Example: Mike Shevdon's Sixty One Nails has a file under tab that reads:

"File Under
Urban Fantasy
 -Hidden War
 -Ancient Rituals
 -Secret history
 -Gallowfyre!"

So my initial thought was "Awesome, this is the something different I was looking for"... Really. The teaser on the back cover is short. Like three sentences short, so that file under tab helped me make up my mind to plunk down the money for this one.

The other neat thing about that back cover is at the bottom there is space for "If you like this try". And will go on to list some similar books not published by Angry Robot Books and then will offer books from their line. Isn't that like putting the wants and reads of the reader ahead of their own? Gee.....what other company does that?

One other fun thing about this publishing company. When you look at the copyright page in the beginning of the book, you will see at the top of the page http://www.angryrobotbooks.com/ .Right under that you will see a little message. Mike Shevdon's Sixty One Nails has the message "Mine". In Andy Remic's Kell's Legend it is "No More Heroes". It's a funny little thing, but to me it makes it that much more fun.

I encourage you to look into Angry Robot Books. If you are in the bookstore, look for the half black half white robot with the red bar for eyes. That's their logo, their calling card for a fun experience in reading.

Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer

Title: Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer

Author: James L. Swanson

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Publication Date: Febuary 2006

Genre: History

Pages: 444

Everyone knows the story of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, right? Guess again. I am not saying forget everything you know about the Lincoln assassination. I am saying that this book will add to what you know and may even set you straight on what you think you know. This book won the Edgar Award** for best non fiction. After the first chapter you see why.

Mr. Swanson takes you on a journey every bit as thrilling as any blockbuster movie. He gives you an almost minute by minute detail leading up to that dreadful moment when the trigger is pulled and the bullet is discharged from the gun. THEN the book really takes off on a twelve day chase for an injured John Wilkes Booth (he broke his leg when he jumped off the balcony after shooting Lincoln in the back of the head), through country side and swamp land, ending in the fire at Garrets farm that took the life of Booth.

The only thing missing from this book was a warning label telling the potential reader that this book is totally absorbing, addictive, readable, thrilling, and breath taking. Sure, we all know how the story ends. What is never taught in school is how close it came to never happening. Believe me there are plenty of moments where you will be saying, "Gee...I had no idea....."

** The Edgar Award is named after Edgar Allen Poe, the father of the mystery novel. It is awarded for excellence in mystery writing.

5 out of 5 stars.
Re-readable factor of 5 out of 5

Kell's Legend (Book 1 of the clockwork Vampire Chronicles)

Welcome

Welcome to It Is Written.

This is a blog dedicated to books. I like to think of it as a spot for book lovers to go to for honest thoughts on books that I have read. Being an avid reader, I have a lot of material to fall back on. It will take me a while to build up some volume. So, if you have a title in mind, please ask me if I have read it yet. If I have I will share my thoughts on the blog.

As I have stated, I love to read. I can honestly say it is a major passion in my life and one that I share with my wife. I will give anything a shot, except for romance novels. I apologize to those who enjoy the genre of romance novels, they just do not hold any fascination for me. I get into a lot of Science Fiction/ Fantasy; Thrillers; History; Biography; Mystery; Classical Literature; Westerns and I can go on and on. I think you get the idea.

Sometimes I will review an entire series. If I do this, I will provide a list of the books in the series. I will even let you know if it necessary to read the books in order or not.

There will be other times where I will give commentary on subjects related to books such as picking out something to read, a new publishing group or even an old publishing group or any other idea that may come to mind that is related to books.

Just for fun, every now and then there will be theme weeks. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I do writing them.

Most of all I hope I can help you find your next great read. Some of the postings will be older books. Others will be what is currently on the bestseller list. And then there will be the book that should be on a bestseller list that you may not ever be aware exists.