What Are You Reading Now? : Wright & Co. Law Offices

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:48 pm

Chloe

:)

Gender: Female

Location: UK

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:33 pm

Posts: 3478

I've spent most of my free time today and yesterday reading and reviewing lots of fan fics. I went to the library in town and some manga.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:03 am

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Read Bungo Stray Dogs - Another Story: Ayatsuji Yukito VS Kyogoku Natsuhiko yesterday, a spin-off novel of popular manga/anime series Bungo Stray Dogs (written by the original writer of the series). Whereas the manga features (deceased) famous writers as the characters, this novel features three contemporary mystery writers: Mizuki Tsujimura, Ayatsuji Yukito and Kyogoku Natsuhiko. The latter two are especially very famous in Japan, and people into anime/manga might know Ayatsuji for his horror-mystery series Another, and Kyogoku for Moryo no Hako and all his work on yokai studies and folkore.

In this novel, Ayatsuji is the "Murder Detective", because the effect of his ability "Another" is that the culprit of a crime Ayatsuji has officially (and correctly) solved, will die because of an accident. Because of his power, the government has him under constant observation, and Tsujimura is the agent with the assignment to stick with him all the time. Ayatsuji's nemesis is Kyogoku, who is a sort of Moriarty-figure in the sense that he thinks of elaborate crime for others to do, while he stays in the background. In the prologue, Ayatsuji finally manages to use Another on Kyogoku, but some months later, Kyogoku has started his activities again and Tsujimura and Ayatsuji need to find out what he's planning and how he survived Another.

Fun novel! It's a true spin-off in the sense that it is set in the world of Bungo Stray Dogs, but not really connected to the story of the main series. I have read quite a lot of both Ayatsuji and Kyogoku, and I really liked how their respective themes were integrated in the story (especially Kyogoku's ideas about yokai).

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:24 am

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason. Saw Takumi mentioning this book, and tried it out. It's like Evil Counterpart Ace Attorney. It's about the attorney Randolph Mason who manages to get his clients safely out of the courtroom every time, so that kinda sounds like Ace Attorney... but his defendants are all guilty of their crimes. Heck, Mason too, as he's the mastermind behind each case. His clients are usually in desperate situations, and Mason offers them brilliant schemes for embezzlement, robbery, fraudulence and even murder. But he always plans them so that even though everyone *knows* the defendants are all guilty and they have indeed committed (morally) criminal deeds, the defendants are not considered guilty in the eyes of the law. Mason's plans are always arranged in a way that the court has no other choice but declare there really is no legal case against the defendants.

While Ace Attorney was never intended as a parody of the legal system (as Takumi has stated countless of times: he knows nothing about the legal system: he just needed a setting with a certain, 'game-like' flow to it, and his ideas of the courtroom, like the gavel and shouting "objection", are just based on (American) (popular) media), The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason is obviously a book that sets out to point out some of the ridiculous loopholes in US criminal law.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:19 pm

Viktoria von Karma

Beware of the Dog

Gender: Female

Location: Wherever there's still hope left.

Rank: Decisive Witness

Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:23 pm

Posts: 250

Just finished "Liar" by Justine Larbalestier (I hope I spelled that right). Awesome psycho thriller. So dark and intense. Gives you masses of plausible paranormal/fantasy plot while making it virtually impossible to not think of theories about what the real, hidden lore could be like. And it never really tells you, because it's a book about lying all the time. It's darn beautiful, in my opinion.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:03 pm

Bad Player

1000% Knight

Gender: Male

Rank: Moderators

Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:06 pm

Posts: 6932

Finished The Perfect Insider. I had heard of the trick the murderer used to get into the room 'in theory' and it was cool seeing it actually being pulled off in a full novel, and I actually liked the meaning behind "all become F," but everything else seemed ridiculous and/or unnecessary. For all the talk of how "genius" the plan was, there were so many places where it just as easily could have backfired, or (in retrospect) should have without an explanation of why it didn't.

Credit to Evolina for the sig+avatar!

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sat Aug 13, 2016 8:37 am

linkenski

"I'm so sick of Khura'in!"

Gender: Male

Location: The localized equivalent of Denmark

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:04 pm

Posts: 1637

I'm reading Smilla's Fornemmelse For Sne, or as you may know it "Smilla's Sense of Snow" in its original language as per recommendation from my sister.

It's my first real mystery novel I think, although, so far I'm not really thinking of it much as a mystery novel to be honest. I think it may eventually pick up the pace, but so far it feels more like a sociological depiction of Greenland or something. The prose is inventive and beautiful and the characters are rich in depth and characterization, but being maybe 1/6 into it, I hope that by the half-point I'm more invested than I am now.

It's one of those books that doesn't open with an intriguing mystery right away. There is no real intrigue so far, but it's taking its time and doing a great job of setting up the characters and I guess, our protagonist, Smilla herself, is a bit of a mystery as she is one of those detective-protagonists with a lot of quirks and she is clearly a bit of an outsider in Denmark. Perhaps she's sort of a symbol for what Greenland is to the remainder of western or at least Nordic society.

Ash wrote:

The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason. Saw Takumi mentioning this book, and tried it out. It's like Evil Counterpart Ace Attorney. It's about the attorney Randolph Mason who manages to get his clients safely out of the courtroom every time, so that kinda sounds like Ace Attorney... but his defendants are all guilty of their crimes. Heck, Mason too,

I think I know why the Mason system in AJAA got its namesake now. :godot:

This is the Dark Age of the Ace Attorney

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:09 pm

Bad Player

1000% Knight

Gender: Male

Rank: Moderators

Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:06 pm

Posts: 6932

Gonna start up Dogura Magura... Wish me luck, I'll need it.

Credit to Evolina for the sig+avatar!

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:45 pm

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Bad Player wrote:

Gonna start up Dogura Magura... Wish me luck, I'll need it.

Fetus, why are you dancing?
Fetus, why are you dancing?

It's strangely enough not even the weirdest to read out of the three...

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:06 pm

Bad Player

1000% Knight

Gender: Male

Rank: Moderators

Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:06 pm

Posts: 6932

I got the other two, but I'm doing this one first because it seems to be the craziest, so I kinda want to get it out of the way xP

Also, why are none of Higashino Keigo's books on the kindle store?! Dx

Credit to Evolina for the sig+avatar!

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:02 am

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

The story itself is sorta crazy, but even then it's a lot easier to read than Oguri's errr, masterpiece.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:03 am

CatMuto

Gender: Female

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:23 pm

Posts: 9918

I tried reading The Documents In The Case by Dorothy L Sayers. The back sounded like a murder mystery, but it's written out as letters for the most part. Which doesn't bother me, but I'd like to know what the death scene looks like, before reading about the background of these people. Who are all jerks, FYI. I gave up on continuing.

Ditto with The Brethren by John Grisham. My mom told me it started really slowly and it takes a while for Plot A (imprisoned judges running a mail scam) and Plot B (CIA making someone a presidential candidate because there might be war blooming in Russia) to actually intermingle. Personally, I didn't care about Plot B (their tactics are nothing but scare tactics, it would never work) and, as above, everyone's a dick, so I don't care enough to continue.

So, now I'm reading Whose Body by Dorothy L Sayers. The first of the Lord Peter Wimsey books.

C-A

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:28 am

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Sayers is one of those writers I just can't get into. Her Lord Peter short stories are okay, but I find all of the novels I've read of her to be so tediously long. She usually has a neat mystery plot there, but it's all so stretched out... Whose Body is okay, but I think it was Strong Poison where you could basically only take the first and last chapter for a decent short story, rather than a story that goes on and on in the middle part. Same with Nine Tailors, which has a good concept, but again takes ages.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:45 pm

CatMuto

Gender: Female

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:23 pm

Posts: 9918

...isn't Strong Poison the one with the guy who died of arsenic poisoning? I think? If it is, I read it and told my mom, "Damn, they took PAGES to say NOTHING worthwhile."

C-A

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:10 pm

MikeMeekinsFan

Love, learn, live.

Gender: Female

Location: Lurking here and there.

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 12:02 am

Posts: 3426

Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot and my personal friend's novel.

My Facebook/My Deviantart/CR Meets NC

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sun Sep 11, 2016 9:16 am

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Finished Danganronpa - Kirigiri 1, a spin-off (prequel) novel about a younger Kirigiri, who is still in her first year in junior high and recently started official business as a detective through her registration in the Detective Library. The novels are written by Kitayama Takekuni, a mystery writer famous for the physical tricks and gadgets in his books. I quite like his books (The Alice Castle Murder Case is brilliant!) and strangely enough, I always thought his writing style would fit something like Danganronpa: all the books in his Castle series were set in different, science-fiction/fantasy-esque worlds (one book had ghosts for example) that were kinda tricky to get into, but with Danganronpa, I at least know in advance what kind of world-setting it is, so that makes the mystery plot easier to accept (The plot is set years before Kibogamine Academy/Ultimate Despair though).

The first book features an impossible crime, where five detectives (including Kirigiri) are invited to an And Then There Were None setting. Three of them end up dead, leaving only Kirigiri and the narrator-detective Yui (who is also Kirigiri's senior at their girl missionary school). Yui naturally suspects Kirigiri, as they are the only persons left in the building, but Kitayama reveals a neat little murder plot, as expected of him. The only 'gripe' I have is that it's a bit stretched out: because of the light novel-esque writing, it's stretched out to about a full book, though the plot itself could've worked out perfectly as a "normal" short story, if he had written it like that (with less dialogue).

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:58 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

I'm reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory it's one of my favorites. There is no need to explain the book you've already read it probably. Only thing I don't understand is where and when does this story take place? Victorian England but that's a no because there's tvs. Maybe the 1960's when the book was originally written?

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:37 pm

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Danganronpa - Kirigiri 2. Kirigiri and Yui are forced to join a new murder game organized by the Crime Victims Salvation Committee. The games are a form of entertainment for the sponsors, so they must be fair to both murderer and detective. If the murderer gets away, they get their revenge and the means to start a new life. In this volume, an old hotel forms the setting for a Mafia-like game: every partcipant is given an amount of money and each night, the role of "Detective" is auctioned, which guarantees safety that night, and the means to save the others. But it's only human try to outbid each other to get the right to be detective (=safety) for themselves. And it's in these circumstances that one participant after another are being killed in locked rooms.

The easiest way to explain this iis that it's a like Liar Game-esque setting (and yes, the participants are also forced to make clever use of the rules), coupled with a nice locked room murder that was really neatly connected to the specific rules of the game.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sun Oct 02, 2016 3:00 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

I'm actually rereading the Three Investigators Series. It's basically just your average Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys series,except it never really caught on. I just finished the fifth one. So far,it's just like I remember it. It certainly is unique,at least.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Mon Oct 03, 2016 5:23 pm

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Detective Saburo Jinguji: The Ghost in Shinjuku, a novel based on the long-running detective adventure game series, written by Kazutaka Kodaka, whom most people nowadays as the creator/writer of Danganronpa. But Kodaka started out in the industry as a freelance game scenario writer, working on games like the Detective Saburo Jinguji (Jake Hunter) series and Detective Conan & The Kindaichi Case Files (DS) before he joined Spike-Chunsoft. Strangely enough I managed to play all of the games he ever worked on before I even knew they were all written by him (or had even heard of him). He also wrote two novels for the Detective Saburo Jinguji series, this being the first one. And it was pretty good. The story was pretty much what you'd expect to see in the games: a hardboiled detective adventure about a mysterious figure who has been assaulting gang members in Shinjuku. Some familiar faces from the games, some interesting new characters, a story that is structured and written like the other mobile phone games in the series: great stuff for fans of the games, but perhaps not as enjoyable for people who don't know the games, as the prose is not super captivating on its own.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:27 am

CatMuto

Gender: Female

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:23 pm

Posts: 9918

I was reading Until I Find You by John Irving.
My mom hasn't read it yet, either, so it was completely new territory for me. It's about how Alice is going all over the countries with her toddler son, Jack, to follow William Burns - an organist who impregnated Alice with Jack and then left. The book is supposedly about lost innocence in various ways and how each of them is hurt.

...I got two, maybe three, chapters before stopping. William is such a background figure, you only know what you hear about him, but don't meet him yet. Also, he can't keep his dick in his pants and keeps fucking and impregnating women, then leaving for a new church and organ to play. Alice is a MORON and stalker, following William all over, trying to catch up to him. AND SHE HAS SEX WITH A UNDERAGE SOLDIER THAT-Uuuuuuuuuurgh... I want to violently vomit, just thinking about that. It's disgusting.

I know, the book takes place in the 1960s, but COME ON! Pretty sure a 20+ year old woman having sex with a 'barely teenage' boy was still not okay at the time. And what the SHIT is the point of it?! She sleeps with him, because he saved her son, who fell through the ice of a frozen moat. LADY! YOU DO NOT NEED TO FUCK SOMEONE TO SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE! ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO IS BARELY TEN YEARS OLDER THAN YOUR SON-I'm surprised she hasn't touched her son yet.

Urgh! Why is it so difficult to find a well-written book with logic, that doesn't tell me in detail about some character's sex life? I don't CARE about any person's sexlife! None of my business! I don't even want to know.

C-A

PS: The blurb in the back has quotes of people saying that WILLIAM is the best character because he has so much development and redemption. Yeah, thanks for not telling me that Alice is a fucktard.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:31 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

Doctor Who Time Lord Fairy Tales. It's basically if you couldn't tell it's the timelord version of Fairy Tales. It's really good my favorite story being Snow White and The Seven Keys To Doomsday.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sun Oct 09, 2016 5:51 pm

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Finished Danganronpa Kirigiri 3: Interesting Saint Seiya set-up with Twelve Locked Room Temples Kirigiri and Yui have to solve...but this book is only part of the story! It's normal for storylines to be split across volumes with manga, not so with novels, especially not mystery novels (save for the Japanese books that are split up in multiple volumes because they're too long for single pockets). There's an interesting set-up, and one interesting (but very short) Locked Room Temple they solve, but now it's like I bought a whole book to read a prologue.

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Oct 14, 2016 4:30 pm

Thelema

Gender: Female

Rank: Prosecutor

Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:58 am

Posts: 888

I'm reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. I know, those are books for kids, but I was taking a look at my bookshelves, glanced through them and they reminded me of my childhood. 'Cause I loved them. Then I thought, "hell, why not?" lol. Plus, the series has 13 books and I've never finished it. Only read 8, I think.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:04 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

I love the middle books the best. They were fun,self contained,and didn't totally focus on the 'oh look how sad this all is' element.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:27 pm

Thelema

Gender: Female

Rank: Prosecutor

Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:58 am

Posts: 888

Southern Corn wrote:

I love the middle books the best. They were fun,self contained,and didn't totally focus on the 'oh look how sad this all is' element.

I love them. And the element of "weirdness". Like how there are so many strange details and things in these books. For example, I'm reading the 8th book now. And they are in a place where a group of people refuses to read or hear news. "No news is good news". Each character has very peculiar, sometimes bizarre habit. This writer has good imagination.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sat Oct 15, 2016 5:32 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

Doctor Who Tardis Handbook. I wish someone made a replica of the Tardis manual used in Doctor Who. If there was I would buy it on the spot!

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Thu Jan 05, 2017 5:02 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

Recently started reading the Hardy Boys books from a decade back. They're certainly fun,but they do have a few flaws. For example,the first chapter never has anything to do with the book and is just them solving some random case we don't care about. Also,when they meet new characters and their profiles show up ages later,they have all sorts of info which hasn't even been revealed yet,and some which isn't even revealed! The books also do take their time to get to the real plot. Other than that though,I think it works well for what it is.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:27 pm

Ash

迷探偵

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:27 am

Posts: 2319

Danganronpa Kirigiri 4: We're still in the middle of the Saint Seiya-inspired Twelve Locked Room Temples storyline of this spin-off/prequel series, where Kirigiri and Yui have to solve twelve locked room murders within seven days... and like the previous volume, it's an incomplete story. They solve two more locked room murders in this volume, but the storyline about a third locked room murder is literally abandoned midway: I assume it'll be solved in the next volume. It kinda sounds what happens often with running mystery manga like Detective Conan, with stories often being split among two volumes, but that's a different matter: Conan is a serialized series, with chapters releasing every week/month/time unit, and a single volume has certain length, so sometimes stories get cut off and chaptrs of the same storyline are carried over to the next volume. Danganronpa Kirigiri however is not a serialized novel. In fact, volume 4 was released more than a year ago, and there's not even a release date set for volume 5 yet. I'm only reading this book now, but people who bought the book last year have been waiting for more than a year for the continuation of the Temple storyline, and more specifically, the solution to that unfinished third murder case in volume 4!

"One dumbbell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumbbell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!" - The Valley of Fear

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Jan 18, 2017 2:07 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

I recently came across this old mystery book in a fair. After some research,I found out that it's a series and even has a tv show now! It's called 'Murder She Baked'. Might've heard of it.

Anyway,this one was the Blueberry Muffin Mystery, it's a very cozy mystery. So it takes things very slow,and you have to be prepared for this. I won't give away the plot since it goes so slow,but I will say I enjoyed it for the most part. Well,except the

Spoiler: Vague

The book is very food based though,and it has seven very nice recipes with it. I'm going to try those soon.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:30 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

American Constitutional Law (Essays and Cases.) My mom told me to start studying to be a lawyer so I can bass the bar exam. If I finish this book she said she would buy me more Law textbooks. The Law Book is want most is Black's Law Dictionary. Anyway, this will also give me a bit of a head start to other people who want to be lawyers. (I want to be a Defense Attorney.)

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:57 am

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

I remember you saying before you want to be a prosecutor though.

Anyway,on the subject of law and order,I've been reading one of those detective puzzle books. Very fun,but I just cheat and immediately read the answer. I'm real fun at parties I know. The first part looks like it was written by the examiners from my high school. Their first language wasn't English,I'll give you that.

The second part in contrast has so much energy and character and variation in style that I'm willing to believe that they took it from some other book. There's some great continuity too,with two mysteries dealing with llamas with the same detective.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:51 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

Southern Corn (SC) wrote:

I remember you saying before you want to be a prosecutor though.

I changed my mind on that.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sat Feb 11, 2017 5:27 am

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

After a lot of persuasion,I reluctantly purchased the Rick Riordan books published in 2016-The Trials of Apollo-The Hidden Oracle;and Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor.

Let me explain. I quite liked his earlier work,but the finale to Heroes of Olympus disappointed me. It was,truth be told,quite...bad in some respects. But I still kept going. I read the first Magnus Chase book (which was alright) and all that,but when I saw the Trials of Apollo,I was frankly,a bit disgusted. I felt he was pandering to the fans by going back to the Percy Jackson series again. This infuriated me,so I swore not to pick up his books ever again.

But enough about that,let's talk about the books. No spoilers that haven't been revealed before the books' releases,don't worry.

Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor is an alright book. I can't say whether it's better than the first one because I haven't touched that book since I finished reading it the day after it came out. But it's fine. This takes place chronologically after the Trials of Apollo (because all of Riordan's series take place in the same universe),and there's is a bit of a spoiler there,so I recommend putting this for last. The author does some cool stuff with genders,but as cool as it was,I felt that,you guessed it,a bit pandering.

It's still cool and all,but it nags at me a bit. I don't like authors who pander to a certain crowd like that. There's this line about 'cultural appropriation' which I find really forced. And oh god,the pop culture references. Don't even get me started on those. The pacing of the book isn't alright,and the characters and mystery aren't half bad. It makes me wonder though,whether this will be a trilogy or not? Still an alright sequel to an alright book. Moving on...

The Trials of Apollo! I won't mince words here,this book is actually pretty good! Apollo is the perfect protagonist for this series,and the new characters seem cool. This book actually ties in with the previous two series of Riordan:both of them the PJ ones,of course. But it does so in a way that makes sense. I'm actually impressed. The way they tie things up here is on the level of the Last Olympian. Is it perfect? No. The pop culture references are still there,though not as prominent as the Hammer of Thor. The ending features a character that I don't totally like,and I feel they didn't emphasise on one of Apollo's character traits enough. It's still a good book thouch,and one I definitely recommend.

So yeah,maybe I was a bit too harsh on Riordan. He still has those negative flaws,but his writing is still good. I'll stick around for a little more,maybe.

See you all later!

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:33 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

The wayside school trilogy by Louis Sachar. Sooo good. My favourite one is the last one. These were my semi childhood but I still love them. My favourite is the chapter with the pets. Really reminds me of Who's on First

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:05 pm

CatMuto

Gender: Female

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:23 pm

Posts: 9918

I'm reading The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter.
This book is good! Her books tend to be slow at first, but as you learn more and see more clues, you really get drawn in. (There's a reason why, when I had insomnia and couldn't sleep one night and only went to 'bed' at 8 AM, I finished up Pretty Girls by her) And in this one, it still throws me into minor surprises. I do realize what is going on as I am getting the clues, but that doesn't diminish it. I may know 'what' is going on, but not have the full picture of 'why' yet. I have an idea, but I am still missing on how everything was finished - especially since some of the clues indicate that something here is impossible... but I'll see.
I would suggest Karin Slaughter to anyone who wants a crime book. And medical terminology.

C-A

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Mon Jun 12, 2017 3:58 pm

CatMuto

Gender: Female

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:23 pm

Posts: 9918

I finished "Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins. I got it cause the back sounded interesting.
You know how they say "Don't judge a book by its cover?" the saying should be "Don't judge a book by its back cover".
Let me give you quick ways why this book is crap.

Characters are all unlikeable. If they aren't unlikeable, they are boring.

Plot twists suck because all of it is pretty fucking obvious very, very, very early on.

The point of view changes for each chapter, going through various characters. None of them are interesting to read; they all sound the same and they hide things they should have knowledge about.

This is her second book and it's a success?
Even the cover says, "By the author of The Girl On The Train" and I wonder if that book is gonna be just as bad.
Christ, what a waste of money and time!

C-A

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:05 pm

Southern Corn

Happy Maria

Gender: None specified

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:42 am

Posts: 4741

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. Good book, if a bit short. We actually had a reading assignment on this in high school. It was a piece of cake, and it was by the same people who had previously issued Anne Frank and Three Men in a Boat for other assignments. Much longer. Still, I like it. I feel it's very similar to an Eva Ibbotson book in many ways.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:43 pm

ZoomBoom124

Gender: None specified

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:55 pm

Posts: 517

Not reading it but I'm ordering "Blacks Law Dictionary" for my Law Career. $70 for a dictionary is a bit much but I guess it's because it's a law textbook. Just getting the regular one because the deluxe one is $120 and there's no way in hell I'm paying that much for a book. (I know that textbooks are expensive, you don't have to tell me.) Well I'm technically receiving one but still.

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:19 am

Sapph

Courtroom Révolutionnaire

Gender: None specified

Rank: Suspect

Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:15 am

Posts: 4

I've reread my favorite book, Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee, because I'm really excited for the upcoming sequel "Not Your Villain". Now, I'm reading Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda.
I've also been reading some manga: Tamen de Gushi (Their Story), Hidamari ga Kikoeru and Shimanami Tasogare.
And, I just finished reading a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic (the only thing I actually read in french, my first language)

Re: What Are You Reading Now?

Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:33 pm

bratty waifu

★ I wanna Yabba Dabba Die ★

Gender: Female

Location: Heartland Province

Rank: Ace Attorney

Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:28 am

Posts: 1728

I've been reading a lot of gross guro/ecchi manga lately... again.

♡ Facebook ☆ Kidd & Milky Comics ♡
Instagram (18+ Art) ☆ Art Merch ♡
☆ X: @miilkywei ♡ PSN: Saebyeog ☆ Switch: SW-6480-0576-7900 ♡
*HMU if you wanna die or request commissions*
Currently (Re)Watching / Playing: ASTRO BOY / Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel