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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: February Book Club - Rivers of London
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
February book club is Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. If you're interested, the usual routine is sign up below.
As I have yet to read this, it's currently on my to read pile, I'll post questions around the 20th (which is in half term, so I can catch up*) I'm actually looking forward to this one, because I can take it on my commute, unlike library books.
* I didn't pick up the January book from the library until 16th January, and because it's a library book I can't take it to read on the way to w*rk because it sets the alarms off in the libraries I work in from other local authorities, and although I can show I'm not stealing books it's not a good look when I'm escorting a student. Neither do I enjoy the experience of setting alarms off two, four or six times every day.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
Pain about the security tags Curiosity. I turned the system off in my library as the kids enjoyed deliberately setting the alarm off too much.
Anyway to get back to the matter in hand, I'm up for this, and though I'm on holiday that week, will join in when I get back.
You could say its a thriller Sir Kevin, it certainly starts off as a police prodedual novel then veers off down some unexpected ways. A good book to read if you know your London.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
I've read this one. And those of the sequels that are in paperback.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
What sort of a book is it? If it is not on Kindle or Nook, I don't have the room for it in our house unless it is in the local libraries. There I two near us: one belongs to the city and the other one is at the university where my wife has borrowing priveleges.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
It's available for Kindle.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
Just bought a copy for my kindle, I need to get back into novel reading and this sounds like my cup of tea ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
Not available for Kindle via the USA Amazon, just FYI. Have any USian Shippies purchased a Kindle version from the UK site?
[ 01. February 2014, 18:53: Message edited by: Kyzyl ]
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I read it a while back, having picked it out of the travel section in Oxfam - a friend lives over a tributary of the Effra. Saw it wasn't what I expected, but decided to read it anyway. I've read the second as well.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
Oh I really enjoyed all of these books! A lovely mix of urban magic, myth and police stuff.
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
I never joined in one of these book discussions but I may for this. Love Rivers of London. I have it on my Nook, so it's available for that.
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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
"Rivers of London" Is available for the Kindle in the U.S. under the title "Midnight Riot".
[ 02. February 2014, 07:43: Message edited by: Palimpsest ]
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
"Rivers of London" Is available for the Kindle in the U.S. under the title "Midnight Riot".
Thanks so much!
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Celtic Knotweed
Shipmate
# 13008
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Posted
Will try to join in. Maternal Knotweed has a copy, I read the first few chapters, then all my new Christmas books appeared to distract me. So, if I can find it on her bookshelves without getting distracted again...
(Sandemaniac isn't usually into this genre, but devoured the book in one sitting - he says it's good)
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My little sister is riding 100k round London at night to raise money for cancer research donations here if you feel so inclined.
Posts: 664 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Sep 2007
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
I'll try and track down a copy and join in if I may. It's been on my 'to read' list for a while.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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3rdFooter
Shipmate
# 9751
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
"Rivers of London" Is available for the Kindle in the U.S. under the title "Midnight Riot".
Odd. The original title made sense.
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3F - Shunter in the sidings of God's Kingdom
Posts: 602 | From: outskirts of Babylon | Registered: Jul 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by 3rdFooter:
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
"Rivers of London" Is available for the Kindle in the U.S. under the title "Midnight Riot".
Odd. The original title made sense.
But as noted above got it shelved under 'Travel' even here...
[ 03. February 2014, 21:41: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I'm not defending the American renaming of the book but I think they decided to apply the name to the whole series of books. Hopefully they left the inside alone.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
There was a bit of a controversy I think when the first version of the US cover of the book had a black man on the cover (I don't think it's a spoiler to say, a picture of the protagonist). And then the final version had a man in silhouette on the cover so you couldn't see that he was black.
Aaronovitch was among the people who was less than impressed.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kyzyl:
Not available for Kindle via the USA Amazon, just FYI. Have any USian Shippies purchased a Kindle version from the UK site?
We can and we shall: I'll get my Mrs. on it later today!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
Got my 'Merican version on Kindle and I must say that it is quite an enjoyable read!
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Me too. Of course the first step was finding it I think it has the sulks because I bought a Sony ereader. Kindles are not compatible with the library system here ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
(I think my wife was over-tired when she looked for the novel on Kindle at at three different libraries: I'll ask her again when we are both home from church.....)
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
Got it and am about a third of the way through...
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Bebanya
Apprentice
# 18006
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Posted
I'm in! Baby has recently been moved into her own room, so I can read in bed again . And my local library had a copy on the shelves. Looking forward to getting stuck in.
Posts: 1 | Registered: Feb 2014
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Welcome to The Ship Bebanya.
Heaven a good place to start, but All Tastes catered for. Board descriptions on home pages, and a welcome thread in All Saints, if you're so inclined.
Firenze
Heaven Host
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
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Posted
Ooh! I've read this one, and fairly recently too.
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Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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Tree Bee
Ship's tiller girl
# 4033
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Posted
Welcome Bebanya, good to have you along.
Library still hasn't delivered my reserved copy. Will read as soon as I get it.
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"Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
— Woody Guthrie
http://saysaysay54.wordpress.com
Posts: 5257 | From: me to you. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
Beyond midway through - pg. 174:310. It's a hell of a page-turner!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
Yep, Sir Kevin, as a friend once said (about a book on the Gnostic gospels) it's a rolicking good read.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Fredegund
Shipmate
# 17952
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Posted
Just re-read it, after turning over Lothar I's room to find it. Forgotten how much I like Molly - from a distance.
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Pax et bonum
Posts: 117 | From: Shakespeare's County | Registered: Jan 2014
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Shucks, I was sure I saw it on the ebook catalogue, and I downloaded the software and spent ages getting it to work, and it now isn't there.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I got carried away and am now reading the fourth book in the series. I hope he's almost finished book 5. Also introduced a friend, who is loving it.
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
I got carried away and am now reading the fourth book in the series. I hope he's almost finished book 5. Also introduced a friend, who is loving it.
Yep, I hear you. The rest are queued up on my Amazon wish list.
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I finished the fourth one as well and am waiting for v. 5. The dangerous thing about a Kindle is you can get the sequel without getting out of bed...
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
About half finished with the 4th one, will have to refresh myself on the first one.
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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I finished the fourth one as well and am waiting for v. 5. The dangerous thing about a Kindle is you can get the sequel without getting out of bed...
My bank balance knows this very well. We always have to pay more too because there is an extra charge for converting currency
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I was intrigued enough to buy a copy of this, though slightly put off by the cheerful young bookseller's recommendation, "It's like Pratchett". I'm hoping not, as I'm not a Pratchett fan, but I'm going to start it this weekend and see how it goes. There have been some good, interesting recommendations over the months for books I wouldn't normally have thought to read, so a thank-you from me for broadening my horizons.
[ 14. February 2014, 13:07: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I can see why he would say that, but I don't think it is.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
The nearest Pratchett is the one he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman "Good Omens". It's something like Gaiman's "Neverwhere". I'd be more likely to compare it to Tom Holt's comic fantasies , especially the John Wellington Wells books.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
"It" in the above posts is the book of the month, not the Pratchett/Gaiman.
And I've now got it on my Nook at a very reasonable price.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I finished the fourth one as well and am waiting for v. 5. The dangerous thing about a Kindle is you can get the sequel without getting out of bed...
Oh heavens, this. So much this.
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Garasu
Shipmate
# 17152
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Posted
I'd see the Pratchett connection in the subverting of fantasy tropes by the mundane realities of the job type stuff... If you see what I mean...
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"Could I believe in the doctrine without believing in the deity?". - Modesitt, L. E., Jr., 1943- Imager.
Posts: 889 | From: Surrey Heath (England) | Registered: Jun 2012
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I would think it's more that it's simply fantasy with a sense of humour.
I've thought of others I would rather compare it with - Christoper Fowler's Bryant and May series, and Eoin Colfer. Possibly Robert Rankin, but I haven't looked at him for a while since I realised that he had a Brentwood with streets with no Asians, and he found his women on cards by Donald McGill.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Garasu
Shipmate
# 17152
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Posted
It's not precisely "sense of humour": it's the "actually I wanted a cup of coffee" nature of it... Bryant and May are definitely in the same ball park...
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"Could I believe in the doctrine without believing in the deity?". - Modesitt, L. E., Jr., 1943- Imager.
Posts: 889 | From: Surrey Heath (England) | Registered: Jun 2012
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Tree Bee
Ship's tiller girl
# 4033
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I was intrigued enough to buy a copy of this, though slightly put off by the cheerful young bookseller's recommendation, "It's like Pratchett". I'm hoping not, as I'm not a Pratchett fan, but I'm going to start it this weekend and see how it goes. There have been some good, interesting recommendations over the months for books I wouldn't normally have thought to read, so a thank-you from me for broadening my horizons.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Also hoping it's not like Pratchett.
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"Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
— Woody Guthrie
http://saysaysay54.wordpress.com
Posts: 5257 | From: me to you. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
It isn't. It's reminiscent of Gaiman's "Neverwhere", with a touch of grown-up Harry Potter. I enjoyed this enormously, and am keen to see if the bookshop has the sequels.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I like the way he* jokes about Harry Potter.
And the way Grant tries, as Potter cannot, to explain things scientifically.
But I'm a teeny bit worried about the length of time he* is taking to getting round to correcting the problem which arises at the end (is that spoiler free enough?) in the sequels. As I read, I'm not very keen on getting to that bit.
*Ben Aaronovitch
And, Garasu, I would include that in "sense of humour". Perhaps like Lindsay Davies' Falco books? Like listening to a really good raconteur, with a twinkling eye and a wry lift to the lips. (Mind you, the latest daughter of Falco piece seemed to occupy an intersection with the Watch books of Pratchett, and I half expected Vimes to stroll in.)
[ 15. February 2014, 14:25: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
I got carried away and am now reading the fourth book in the series. I hope he's almost finished book 5. Also introduced a friend, who is loving it.
I have ordered the next book, 'Soho', to be delivered to my local library after reading of few pages of a teaser from our Kindle app. Should have it by Wednesday.
I finished the book on Saturday and really enjoyed it very much: looking forward to discussing it later this week....
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Yep, finished "Soho" on Monday and now halfway through "Whispers Underground", which I'll finish tomorrow. Any book that can make me laugh at 6.30 am on a long dark commute has to be a good one. Looking forward to the discussion on "Rivers".
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