The Reading Corner.

[Arbee]

I haven't been able to find a copy of Small Gods anywhere.  I found the radio play on Youtube, but the person who posted it didn't have the full play and only posted what parts they had.  Very disappointing.

[Buster's Uncle]

Worth a read when you find it.

[Arbee]

I suppose I'll have to look harder, then.  I'm also looking for Feet of Clay and Thud!, two more hard-to-find titles... I suppose one of these days I might have to resort to buying books from the Internet.

[Lord Avalon]

I am halfway through Snuff, the 34th Discworld novel (not counting YA).  I have read the 33 prior; might get around to the YA ones at some point.

[Arbee]

I've got a growing collection of them, haha, though I loaned all of my Night Watch series books to a friend so that he could get in on the magic.  I've been reading them out of order because I'm a naughty boy, haha.  The first one I read was Monstrous Regiment, which was my, erm, "initiation" into Pterry's little world. XD

[Unorthodox]

Driving to california in a week, could use a good audiobook...difficulty: must be suitable for the kids. 

[Arbee]

I'd recommend Going Postal, it's one of Terry's lighter-hearted novels... though the kids would probably have to be older to get some of the humor/references.

http://www.audiobooks.com/book/33959

[Buster's Uncle]

Queen of Angels by Greg Bear.

Interesting book.  The dialogue is straightforward enough, but the two viewpoint characters use contracted futurespeak grammar in their internal monologues, which was distancing and hard to get into as a reader.  However, the ultimate theme of the book is minds and how they works, so it wasn't a bad tonal choice, if a difficult accessibility one.

Bear never writes bad books, and the two months I took to read it is reflective of my recent sleep cycles, not the quality of the work.  Recommended.

...

Chicks in Chainmail, edited by Esther Friesner.

[Arbee]

I recently re-read Harold Coyle's The Ten Thousand.  Great, great story.  If you like military fiction, you ought to look into it.

[gwillybj]

R.I.P. Tom Clancy (1947-2013), age 66. A former insurance agent, he wrote many novels (some of which were made into movies), beginning with The Hunt for Red October in 1984, and the last (Command Authority) to be released December 3, 2013. The Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell books are his, along with the video games: Ghost Recon, The Hunt for Red October, and Splinter Cell.

(edit: Sorry; I had Harold Coyle on the brain after reading Arbee's post. A fine author he is, and very much alive. He was born in 1952, graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1974 and spent fourteen years on active duty with the U.S. Army. 21 books to his name from 1987 to 2009.)

[Buster's Uncle]

Was Harold Coyle Tom Clancy's pen name?

[gwillybj]

Regarding Harold Coyle, he wrote Team Yankee shortly after leaving the Army. The next 5 novels are a series: Sword Point, Bright Star, Trial by Fire, The Ten Thousand, and Code of Honor. Making use of several contacts still on active duty, he had to be careful not to disclose unpublicized, sensitive, or even classified information about some equipment and tactics. The lot are, indeed, great reading.
Team Yankee the PC game and its two sequels received mostly positive reviews in the top gaming magazines of the early 1990s.

[Valka]

According to my CBC newsfeed, it's Tom Clancy who died.

[Arbee]

Regarding Harold Coyle, he wrote Team Yankee shortly after leaving the Army. The next 5 novels are a series: Sword Point, Bright Star, Trial by Fire, The Ten Thousand, and Code of Honor.

I'll have to look into those... and then re-read The Ten Thousand again as part of the series.  Looks like I'll have my entertainment cut out for me there, haha.  Thanks for bringing the series aspect of it to my attention!  Literally had no idea.

[Geo]

R.I.P. Tom Clancy (1947-2013), age 66.

Way too soon. He's the age of my mother.