I am re-reading Holidays In Hell by PJ O Rourke, as in the following quotes.
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P. J. O'Rourke
Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.
P. J. O'Rourke
I am re-reading Holidays In Hell by PJ O Rourke, as in the following quotes.
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P. J. O'Rourke
Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.
P. J. O'Rourke
Good choice, I read that in Melbourne in 1990, must dig it out. It's gotta be showing it's age though, Belfast is very different now.
"The Forever War" is a classic. I've not read the sequels.
I wouldn't worry about "Forever Free" which is indeed a sequel (same characters set 20 years in their future).
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next. An international bestseller, her life story INFIDEL shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright, curious, dutiful little girl evolves into a pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely, or more significant.
Infidel: Ayaan Hirsi Ali (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/1416526242):QuoteAyaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next. An international bestseller, her life story INFIDEL shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright, curious, dutiful little girl evolves into a pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely, or more significant.
I;ll bring down the tone with World War Z
I;ll bring down the tone with World War Z
That's in my (depressingly large) pile of unread books. Should I move it up the pile?
The General's Last Love - Andrey Kurkov. Both Death And The Penguin and Penguin Lost were brillsticks, but this keeps jumping from 1985 to 2015 to 2003 to 2013 and is generally confusingWe like the Kurkov books too.
...please recommend me more zombie-based literature (if there is such a thing). I'm already working my way through every zombie movie I can find.
...and The Revenge of Gaia. ;)
Pushing Ice - Alastair Reynolds
A nice bit of space opera for relaxing reading.
I'm rereading bits of "Delta of Venus" by Anais Nin.
It's a very strange book.
I;ll bring down the tone with World War Z
That's in my (depressingly large) pile of unread books. Should I move it up the pile?
I'll follow it up with Cormac McCarthy's The Road for maximum post-apocalyptic woe.
I;ll bring down the tone with World War Z
That's in my (depressingly large) pile of unread books. Should I move it up the pile?
I'd say so: it's in the form of interviews, so very vignetty and suited to reading on the throne.
I'll follow it up with Cormac McCarthy's The Road for maximum post-apocalyptic woe.
I'm rereading bits of "Delta of Venus" by Anais Nin.
It's a very strange book.
I have a well-thumbed copy along with Little Birds, her other collection in this area. They are wierd largely because she wrote them to order, so they are a mixture of the expectations of the collector and her own sexual subversiveness. For the real deal, read her diaries - they are fascinating.
I'm most of the way through Moab Is My Washpot by Stephen Fry. Very entertaining and enlightening, and the bit where he discusses his homosexuality should be required reading for all homophobes (but I expect their position is set in stone so it's unlikely to make any difference :()
I like the way he writes, although there a few times where he uses 20 words when 2 would do, but overall it's been a good read.
...I really enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction. "The Day of the Triffids" is one of my favourite books of any genre.
...I really enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction. "The Day of the Triffids" is one of my favourite books of any genre.
Me too. Among British authors, can I recommend The Death of Grass and the Prince in Waiting trilogy by John Christopher, and The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper? All probably out of print, but Abebooks is your friend! Then there's Fugue for a Darkening Island by Christopher Priest, and... well, I could go on, but that's enough for now.
Except that if alternative history floats your boat, Keith Robert's Pavane and Kiteworld are both magnificent.
"The Forever War" is a classic. I've not read the sequels.
Light stuff after The Road: Iain Banks's The Algebraist. Second reading so I'm muttering "you clever bastard" a lot...
Light stuff after The Road: Iain Banks's The Algebraist. Second reading so I'm muttering "you clever bastard" a lot...
A real return to his best sf form IMHO...
Matter (the latest Culture book) is terrible :(. Easily 250-300 pages too long (seriously).Noooo!That's next on my list... :'(
I'm onto "IBM and the Holocaust" now
Look at Charles Stross if you want good SF.
Stross's shorter works are very good, The Atrocity Archive & A Colder Place, but I had to go and read some Lovecraft to get the references.
I'm reading an advance proof copy of the next Christopher Brookmyre book "A Snowball in Hell".
The Music of the Primes, by Marcus du Sautoy.
Hard sums explained. I fear my brain may explode before I finish it.
The Music of the Primes, by Marcus du Sautoy.
The Music of the Primes, by Marcus du Sautoy.
Hard sums explained. I fear my brain may explode before I finish it.
Marcus is great on the radio. I imagine his written style is easy to read. Didn't he write 'The Nothing That Is'?
Du Sautoy did the Royal Institution Christmas lectures in 2007. Or was it 2006? Anyway, I have them as avi files somewhere.
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon. I can't decide about it.It did get on my wick a bit as well, but then I find thatsort of Frank Spencer-ish type reading hard work.
I'll burn them to DVD, but as avi (converting to DVD format on this machione takes approximately forever).
I'd be interested in getting those from you (as I only have one of them). I could post you a suitably sized USB stick if that'd work?
On second thoughts, I've got an online storage thing. I can upload them to there.
Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie.
It's very funny and quite informative too - my knowledge of so-called Northern places in Lancashire and Yorkshire is sketchy as, to me, they're in the midlands.
I'll burn them to DVD, but as avi (converting to DVD format on this machione takes approximately forever).
PM me your address. On second thoughts, I've got an online storage thing. I can upload them to there.
I doubt anyone here is remotely interested to know that I am reading A Concise Grammar of Slovak (http://www.baylanguagebooks.co.uk/product_details.php?id=1971) by George Carcas, ISBN 1897999100.
What is unusual and perhaps interesting is that this 36 page book has been printed on demand, ie. when he has an order for one of his books he prints it on his home printer. £5.95 sounded steep for a 36 page book but I now appreciate that labour is a major part. It is a clever way of keeping books available that have too low a demand for a publisher to commit to a large print run.
Oh yes, and by the way, I am finding it fascinating and very helpful. It is well written.
Working my way through Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-Court-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore/dp/0753817667/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217588820&sr=8-1) by Simon Sebag Montefiore, which is truly excellent, but I keep having to refer to the Dramatis Presonae at the front to check who people are. There's a horrible confusion of nicknames, patronymics, endearments and so on. I think a worthwhile Annex would be a short description of how Russian names are put together!
Christopher Brookmyre's "Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks", because I know him and I proof-read one of his previous novels (I even got a credit on the title page :D).Just finished that one, and thoroughly enjoyed it!
On repeated re-readings, Alec d'Urberville actually comes out as the goody.You think? Sometimes Hardy leaves too much to my imagination, and I rather thought that Alec, having ditched his remorse-based fanaticism, had decided that neither he nor she could be degraded any further and therefore had convinced her to engage in sinful activity against her (still) lawful husband, abandonment not being a reason for divorce in those days (I think).
Well, Alec is reasonably constant in his lust for her and goes to some lengths to get her back. Angel really isn't a very sympathetic character. Hardy is quite good at subverting the hero/villain dichotomy - Farfrae comes across as being a bit of a tosser in The Mayor Of Casterbridge, and although Henchard behaves the worst by far, he's the one you're rooting for.On repeated re-readings, Alec d'Urberville actually comes out as the goody.You think? Sometimes Hardy leaves too much to my imagination, and I rather thought that Alec, having ditched his remorse-based fanaticism, had decided that neither he nor she could be degraded any further and therefore had convinced her to engage in sinful activity against her (still) lawful husband, abandonment not being a reason for divorce in those days (I think).
This is only my second re-reading so I may have got it wrong...
Fredy Perlman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredy_Perlman): "Against His-story, Against Leviathan!"
Well, Alec is reasonably constant in his lust for her and goes to some lengths to get her back.Good point. I also must remember that divorce Angel and marry Alec just was not an option.
Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie.I've just started this, and I'm loving it so far. To paraphrase Olivia Newton-John, it's filled with affection. I've just got as far as Manchester.
It's very funny and quite informative too - my knowledge of so-called Northern places in Lancashire and Yorkshire is sketchy as, to me, they're in the midlands.
I've just read Brave New World for the first time since I was at skool.
It's crap :(
Currently half way through Ken Mcleod's "Night Sessions". So far, so good.
Far better than Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Currently half way through Ken Mcleod's "Night Sessions". So far, so good.
I've just read The Execution Channel, which I found slightly disappointing... I was hoping he'd done a Spook Country, but the politics never really seemed more than a tokenistic and exploitative backdrop. He's just never quite managed to write a book that is brilliant throughout IMHO - it has the air of too many good ideas which don't really work together forced into a book.
Far better than Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Well if Nineteen Eighty Four is anything like Animal Farm and The Road to Wigan Pier than I'd rather read the back of a cereal packet.
After reading them I couldn't (and still can't) understand why Orwells' books are held in such high regard
I've just read Brave New World for the first time since I was at skool.
It's crap :(
I read the deconstruction of Hardy a few pages back with a disbelieving stare too. Most 'classics' leave me cold. Then again, I read Woolf's Orlando a few years ago and found the prose poetry fantastic.
I have just finished reading 'Margrave of the marshes' the John Peel biography this evening.
The Monkey Wrench Gang, Edward Abbey's seminal ecotage novel. In which I became convinced that Hayduke was the inspiration for Marvel's Wolverine...
I just finished _The Rings of Saturn_ by W.G. Sebald (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Sebald), who I only heard of recently. It's a novel, but reads like notes from a long walk interrupted by long asides on history and odd people. I think I need to find his other two novels now.
I love this book. It's like a stream of consciousness for me
Just started Will Self's 'The Book of Dave' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/may/27/fiction.hayfestival2006)
Just started Will Self's 'The Book of Dave' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/may/27/fiction.hayfestival2006)I quite enjoyed that, tho I've never read any other Will Self books, and I was really desperate at the time. I've read worse.
I am currently having another attempt to read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. See if I can get to half way this time!
Still reading
IBM & The Holocaust
and
Enigma
Since I am not travelling by bus anymore I don't read on my commute and I'm usually too tired to read at bedtime
I am currently having another attempt to read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. See if I can get to half way this time!
I thought it was disappointing and overrated
Yann Martell
Half Asleep In Frog Pyjamas ~ Tom Robbins
Surprisingly un-odd given the title and previous experience of Mr Robbins, but then I've only got as far as chapter two, in which the leading character and her psychic friend are looking for an escaped monkey.
Ah - yes, I agree, Flying Monkey, I adored the Bone People. I did, sort of, like the Life of Pi, though - but only in the sense of it's being an entertaining, lightweight wee tale.
I'm currently entirely hooked on Victorian literature and so I'm on the last of Trollope's Barsetshire series.
Re-reading “The Bus Conductor Hines” by James Kelman
Re-reading “The Bus Conductor Hines” by James Kelman
Now that is an awesome book. Indeed Kelman should get the Nobel some day IMHO. He's a Scottish national treasure.
Back to the Bookers - yeah, I agree most of them are overrated - that's what you get when committees chose prizes by consensus. The Remains of the Day is wonderfully atmospheric however. The Ghost Road - yep. And I enjoyed Vernon God Little for much the same reason - it has a remarkable voice and tone - I am not sure it is anything more than a good book though.
Small Wars Permitting by Christina Lamb (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Wars-Permitting-Dispatches-Foreign/dp/0007256892/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218548726&sr=8-1) recounts the foreign correspondents trips across the world during the last 20 years. It starts out in Pakistan talking about the coming to power of Benazir Bhutto in 1988, before the authors heads off to Latin America, South Africa, the Middle East and currently she's living in Portugal. The book is partly made up of Lamb's articles publishes in a variety of newspapers and then her own thoughts and feelings about her experiences. It's interesting reading about events with the knowledge of hindsight and seeing how events have unfolded in, for example, Pakistan.
Just finished The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
Muchly recommended if you have the time for it and can find a copy.
I just finished _The Rings of Saturn_ by W.G. Sebald (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Sebald), who I only heard of recently. It's a novel, but reads like notes from a long walk interrupted by long asides on history and odd people. I think I need to find his other two novels now.
I love this book. It's like a stream of consciousness for me, to range far and wide around the world but keep returning to the same place - the Suffolk coast, where I live.
Killing Mister Watson, by Peter Matthieson
I'd read Lost Man's River many years ago and have wanted to find the others in this trilogy for some time. My wife eventually did the sensible thing and bought them on the interweb for me.
I think they repay the effort and I will re-read them all.
"Desert Queen", a biography of Gertrude Bell.
My (rather learned) brother gave me a copy of Austerlitz when it came out and I was immediately entranced by it. As soon as I'd finished it, I tracked down some of his other books, all of which I have enjoyed but none of them as much as Austerlitz. It has an extraordinarily powerful resonance - a sort of feel and atmosphere that transports you and gets your emotions, memories and thoughts whirring away.I think they repay the effort and I will re-read them all.
After all these positive reviews, I'm looking forward to reading the rest. I just picked up copies of _Austerlitz_ and _Vertigo_.
QuoteI'm currently entirely hooked on Victorian literature and so I'm on the last of Trollope's Barsetshire series.
Enjoying it? Trollope is on my must-read list but I've never quite got around to him. I've been recently, belatedly getting into Dickens, though - Our Mutual Friend is a new favourite of mine. Viciously caustic and bitter but also very, very funny.
d.
I'd like to learn more about Gertrude Bell, so could you provide us with a review of the book when you are finished, please? I'll then know whether it is worth reading or not!
Killing Mister Watson, by Peter Matthieson
I'd read Lost Man's River many years ago and have wanted to find the others in this trilogy for some time. My wife eventually did the sensible thing and bought them on the interweb for me.
And now, it turns out, he's rewritten the entire trilogy and condensed it down into one volume called _Shadow Country_ (http://lccn.loc.gov/2007025117).
Günter Grass's what?
I'm about to start Günter Grass's Peeling the Onion (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/jun/24/biography.guntergrass) - (presumably unintentionally) ironically shelved by Borders under "fiction" ...
Oh dear! Well, I'm still reading it, but I didn't get much reading done on holiday <geek> primarily because the only reading I did was about the LHC in New Scientist</geek>I am currently having another attempt to read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. See if I can get to half way this time!
I thought it was disappointing and overrated - and one of those books that isn't half as impressive if you've ever read any decent science fiction (which of course most mainstream critics and people who give out awards haven't). He's generally got away with quite a bit has David Mitchell - his earlier books, written whilst he was still in Japan, are so 'influenced' by Haruki Murakami that Murakami should sue him. He got away with it, I think because Murakami wasn't so well known then outside Japan as he is now. Since he's stopped trying to be Murakami he's been very windy and pretentious but lacking in genuine spark IMHO.
I haven't read the new version yet, but the trilogy remains one of my favourite things, so I am not sure I would want to!
Q by 'Luther Blissett' was superb. Really. For anyone who likes Umberto Eco's historical novels but thinks they could have been more entertaining. Or anyone who likes Neil Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy but wishes he knew a bit more about the actual history of the period and didn't make his characters sound as if they were Americans... or for anyone who loves a densely-plotted, literate, politically savvy, wonderfully-characterised historical novel that is just as much about now.OK, I'm intrigued - bit of an interesting concept (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Q-Luther-Blissett/dp/0099439832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222845070&sr=8-1)! I think it's worth a punt ...
"IBM & the Holocaust" was excellent, very disturbing.
Thompson, Hunter S. Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_and_Terrible_Saga_of_the_Outlaw_Motorcycle_Gangs)
I am now reading Desert by J.M.G. Le Clezio, which I picked up in Paris last week, as I am ashamed to admit that I had not heard of him when it was announced that he had won the Nobel prize.
I am now reading Desert by J.M.G. Le Clezio, which I picked up in Paris last week, as I am ashamed to admit that I had not heard of him when it was announced that he had won the Nobel prize.
What's the Nobel prize?
When you are visiting a country where there is political turmoil, or if you are unlucky enough to be caught in the middle of a local revolution, you can have plenty of difficulty and it can even be extremely dangerous.
he is the most travelled man in history - he left home in Germany in 1960 on his three-speed bike and has been travellijng nearly non-stop since. A friend picked up the pamphlet from him when he was in the UK a couple of years ago.
Quotehe is the most travelled man in history - he left home in Germany in 1960 on his three-speed bike and has been travellijng nearly non-stop since. A friend picked up the pamphlet from him when he was in the UK a couple of years ago.
Shared a room with him when I was travelling in Chinese Turkestan in '91. A very decent man indeed. Sadly, this was before I took up cycle touring, otherwise I'd have kept him up even longer asking him questions :D
Fruityloop!
He gave a slide show to my school when I was nine or ten. I remember the nutty German bloke and his bike with the board in the frame.
Fruityloop!
He gave a slide show to my school when I was nine or ten. I remember the nutty German bloke and his bike with the board in the frame.
Fruityloop!
That must've been quite a school you went to, Charlotte - about the most interesting speaker we had was the local fire chief telling us about the dangers of fireworks.
He gave a slide show to my school when I was nine or ten. I remember the nutty German bloke and his bike with the board in the frame.
Fruityloop!
That must've been quite a school you went to, Charlotte - about the most interesting speaker we had was the local fire chief telling us about the dangers of fireworks.
Neal Stephenson's latest, Anathem. Buckets of indulgent and whimsical word- and history-play.
I've just finished "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. It's marketed as a "Young Adult" book. At 44 I enjoyed it anyway.
...snip...
If you don't want the dead tree version it's available for free download at the authors website
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/ (http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/)
i see that quite a few people are reading Spook Country by William Gibson. any good? the sprawl trilogy was his best work, followed by the bridge trilogy. it's all been downhill since then imho. :( but i still hope...
i see that quite a few people are reading Spook Country by William Gibson. any good? ...In my view, it's miles better than a lot of other post-9/11 novels, but still not Gibson at his visionary best.
Reading it now, it's an interesting exercise to see what Orwell got right, even if his timing is some 24-30 years* out
it wasn't a prediction
Reading it now, it's an interesting exercise to see what Orwell got right, even if his timing is some 24-30 years* out
Great book, but it wasn't a prediction. He was writing a satire of Stalinism (and (CPGB support for Stalin) of the time. He just reversed the last two numbers of the year 1948.
We've explored 1984 a few times and the conclusion I've come to is that this is one of the pivotal documents in understanding it.
We, Orwell Review (http://www.orwelltoday.com/weorwellreview.shtml)
And I didn't know he worked in the shipyards of the Tyne.
Didn't Wittgenstein work there, too?
Just started Will Self's 'The Book of Dave' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/may/27/fiction.hayfestival2006)
That's been sitting in my unread pile for about two years now. Let me know how you get on.
Wall-Layer Models for LES, Piomelli and Balaras, Annual Review Fluid Mech, 2002.
Overview of Drag Reduction Tech for Civil Transport Aircraft, Reneaux, ECCOMAS 2004.
Does that count? :-[
Having a second stab at Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. I did get to the end the last time, but it was a struggle in comparison with Cryptonomicon.
a Peter Robinson (All the colours of darkness).
And Then We Came To The End is very funny for anyone who works in an office.
Stephen King, On Writing.
Stephen King, On Making Vast Amounts of Money by Producing Formulaic Cr@p with Limited Literacy.
<stifles a long series of snide comments> ;)
Stephen King, On Making Vast Amounts of Money by Producing Formulaic Cr@p with Limited Literacy.
<stifles a long series of snide comments> ;)
Is that better? I think it's the alternate title.
Stephen King, On Making Vast Amounts of Money by Producing Formulaic Cr@p with Limited Literacy.
<stifles a long series of snide comments> ;)
Is that better? I think it's the alternate title.
French Revolutions is very funny. Tears of laughter at some parts. Worth reading.
'Winter Holiday' (again) by Arthur Ransome. It's a great read at cold times of the year.
I'll be re-reading 'The Dark is Rising' by Susan Cooper yet again this Christmas.
'Winter Holiday' (again) by Arthur Ransome. It's a great read at cold times of the year.
I'll be re-reading 'The Dark is Rising' by Susan Cooper yet again this Christmas.
Over Sea, Under Stone series?
Currently I seem to be getting very interested in the politics and culture of the 17th Century and this sort of represents the lower bounds of that timeframe. The move from a medieval to a modern mindset through this period is very interesting.
This week I read a quite amusing children's book, The Boy in the Dress, by David Walliams, of whom I had never previously heard. My daughter recommended the book.You are a High Court Judge and ICMFP.
No. I watch hardly any television and the only newspapers I read are the online ones, so I only open the pages I want to read.
No. I watch hardly any television and the only newspapers I read are the online ones, so I only open the pages I want to read.
Strewth, you're even more disconnected from popular "culture" than me :o
Congratulations! :thumbsup:
'Winter Holiday' (again) by Arthur Ransome. It's a great read at cold times of the year.
getting knocked off his bike and losing a leg...
Jeremy Scahill - Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary/dp/1560259795)
I don't know what scares me more; Blackwater themselves or the way that the American government uses them. It's bad juju, whatever.
Only a couple of chapters left and I can't put it down. Highly recommended.
However I know millions disagree so it must just be me.
Just finished my first Terry Pratchett books, the first two Discworld novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.
Can't really see the attraction to be honest. It has some amusing parts but I found it rather too knowing and trying to be clever - it's barely above the level of parody as far as I can see.
However I know millions disagree so it must just be me.
Oh, I also read Casino Royale and the Asimov book Foundations.
"The Rider" by Tim Krabbe. It's rather good, even if Rapha like it ::-)
"The Rider" by Tim Krabbe. It's rather good, even if Rapha like it ::-)Read that in two days in the summer, just couldn't put it down, top read.
"The Rider" by Tim Krabbe. It's rather good, even if Rapha like it ::-)
"The Rider" by Tim Krabbe. It's rather good, even if Rapha like it ::-)
Currently reading that too, at 118-120km
excellent read
The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
It's certainly top in a field of one - being the only good novel about bike racing! ;)
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned these books in this thread, at least the search facility says they haven't
I've never heard of him - will add those two to my wish list, thanks!
I'm reading Darkmans by Nicola Barker.
I really wish I wasn't but I object to paying for books and not reading them so I'm persevering.
Bradley Wiggins BioIt's a nice day here, I think I'll go for a ride later, I'll be passing the pub where he had his epic binges, I'll see if his bike's outside.
I'm reading Darkmans by Nicola Barker.
I really wish I wasn't but I object to paying for books and not reading them so I'm persevering.
I'm reading Darkmans at the moment and really liking it. One of the strangest books I've read in a while.
It just annoyed me in the end. I wouldn't recommend it anyway.I'm reading Darkmans by Nicola Barker.
I really wish I wasn't but I object to paying for books and not reading them so I'm persevering.
I'm reading Darkmans at the moment and really liking it. One of the strangest books I've read in a while.
Mrs Pingu was right. Interesting book but now that I've finished it I've got to say it was a very unsatisfying read.
Just finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which was jolly excellent. However, since he died in 2004, I am a bit miffed that the second volume of the Millennium Trilogy isn't being published in the BRITONS' English until later this year chiz.
Now on Ghost by Robert Harris
Not books but various UK maps & a road atlas
Not books but various UK maps & a road atlas
"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers
"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers
I enjoyed that a lot
I am currently reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers.
Summit Fever, by Andrew Greig. It's great!
The White Book published by British Gypsum.
Just finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which was jolly excellent. However, since he died in 2004, I am a bit miffed that the second volume of the Millennium Trilogy isn't being published in the BRITONS' English until later this year chiz.
Now on Ghost by Robert Harris
From the Mull to the Cape, a gentle bike ride on the edge of wilderness by Richard Guise
A refreshingly un-epic touring tale, some of it set in places I've been to. I've not finished yet, but there's no sign of drug taking (bar a few pints of heavy) or parallel voyages of self-discovery so far. I'm enjoying this much more than Josie Dew round New Zealand.
Just finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which was jolly excellent. However, since he died in 2004, I am a bit miffed that the second volume of the Millennium Trilogy isn't being published in the BRITONS' English until later this year chiz.
Now on Ghost by Robert Harris
Bought this up as I passed thro' Edinburgh airport this evening. Thought I noticed the second book was on display too, I assume from your comments it's not a 'proper' English translation
The Highway Code (got driving theory test on wednesday....)
The Highway Code (got driving theory test on wednesday....)
Netherland by Joseph O'Neil.....
John Macnab by John Buchan. I'm enjoying it very much. Was put onto it by Andrew Grieg's equally enjoyable The Return of John Macnab.
Vulcan 607 ~ Rowland White
Plucky BRITONS travel a long way to drop bombs on Swarthy FOREIGN types.
Vulcan 607 ~ Rowland White
Plucky BRITONS travel a long way to drop bombs on Swarthy FOREIGN types.
Any good?
[quote author=Wascally Weasel link=topic=342.msg266558#msg266558 date=1233748596:) Yes, I have it already - not read it yet though. I also enjoyed his When They Lay Bare. In fact, come to think of it, is this the one that ends up with a scene in Romanno Bridge ?
You might be interested in Romanno Bridge, also by Andrew Grieg. It's another story involving all of the characters from Return of John Macnab.
'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, or The Murder at Road Hill House' by Kate Summerscale. Very good so far...
I thought your dad was a bishop?
I am currently on page 38 of The Life of Pi. It has yet to catch fire.
I am currently on page 38 of The Life of Pi. It has yet to catch fire.
I found the first 60?-ish pages dull. Kept going because I wanted to discuss it with someone. Glad I did, but not ecstatic!
I am currently on page 38 of The Life of Pi. It has yet to catch fire.
I found the first 60?-ish pages dull. Kept going because I wanted to discuss it with someone. Glad I did, but not ecstatic!
I loved that book.
I am currently on page 38 of The Life of Pi. It has yet to catch fire.
I found the first 60?-ish pages dull. Kept going because I wanted to discuss it with someone. Glad I did, but not ecstatic!
I loved that book.
I'm reading South, Ernest Shackleton's account of the Endurance expedition
I am currently on page 38 of The Life of Pi. It has yet to catch fire.
I found the first 60?-ish pages dull. Kept going because I wanted to discuss it with someone. Glad I did, but not ecstatic!
I loved that book.
It got quite exciting around page 150 :thumbsup:
It's gone back to being dull now ::-)
Forty pages left now. I still don't get it.Well, the ending was really good... oddly, because I've read far more books that started well and fizzled out than the other way round. I'm just about glad I stuck with it, but religious metaphor still doesn't float my [life]boat...
Was Brian Clough really that sweary?
A word to the book's editor: you need to be dismissed from your job. And then be given a map of the north-east of England as a leaving present. Then you might realise that the place where they hanged one monkey, elected another as mayor and spawned Mr M Series of the parish is emphatically not called "Hartlepools".
Read that recently. Interesting, but I felt a bit dissatisfied with it afterwards. It's workmanlike, but it doesn't quite do the job.
A word to the book's editor: you need to be dismissed from your job. And then be given a map of the north-east of England as a leaving present. Then you might realise that the place where they hanged one monkey, elected another as mayor and spawned Mr M Series of the parish is emphatically not called "Hartlepools".
Seems fair. Though you may find it hard to discover an editor who's been north of Hertfordshire except to shoot something, so the ignorance is not unexpected.
The Damned Utd ~ David Peace. Contains more instances of the "f" word than any book I have ever read. Was Brian Clough really that sweary?
A word to the book's editor: you need to be dismissed from your job. And then be given a map of the north-east of England as a leaving present. Then you might realise that the place where they hanged one monkey, elected another as mayor and spawned Mr M Series of the parish is emphatically not called "Hartlepools".
Mauritius Command. PO'B
Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, Keillor
Mauritius Command. PO'B
Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, Keillor
I’ve tried and tried and I can’t get in to Patrick O’ Brian – I wanted to like his books, I’m very interested in the period and his subject but I just find his style so grating. Is it heresy to say that I loved the film of Master and Commander though?
Deano is right. It was known as Hartlepools at one point in time. I have seen old roadsigns point to it bearing that name. Not sure if it was Hartlepools when Clough was there though.
History of Hartlepool - This is Hartlepool (http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/history/)
Woohoo!
I have just received Hallion's "Test Pilots -- The Frontiersmen of Flight" 1988 extended edition for the good ol' US of A. :thumbsup:
The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams. It must be 20 years since I last read it and I have no idea how it ends.*Tries to resist spoiling ending*
d'Oh! I've lost me book. :(Is it on the dining table?
This always happens when I'm getting somewhere with it.
Never mind - in sorting through some papers, i've found the Irving novel I was reading. It's been sat on my desk for two weeks :-[
Is it on the dining table?It'll be at the last place he'll look.
Finally started 'How The Dead Live' by Will Self for a second time. Seem to have got into it a bit easier this time - I'm pretty sure I'm past the stage at which I abandoned the last attempt.
I'm reading another book I happened upon in the dusty shelves in the kitchen at work.
This one's Cley by Carey Harrison (son of Rex, if that matters). I was lured in by the mention of a bike ride. Indeed there is one - a ride from west London to Cley in Norfolk. But, once he gets there, that seems to be it. I'm hoping thare'll be another ride to Liskeard later in the book (it's part of a sequence of novels which are parallel stories about how & why the characters reach Liskeard. Yeah - I dunno either).
It's a slim volume, and seems a bit chaotic in the middle, but I'm hoping it all becomes more connected by the end.
Finally started 'How The Dead Live' by Will Self for a second time. Seem to have got into it a bit easier this time - I'm pretty sure I'm past the stage at which I abandoned the last attempt.
I read that for "Book Club" on Radio 4 a couple of years ago. I quite enjoyed it, but Self enjoys using little used or obscure words too much - I still haven't found a dictionary with "lithopedion" in it (I worked it out as "calcified being who walks" yes?). I got annoyed by his overuse of the word "valedictory" in "Great Apes".
Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. The best book that I've read in ages. Also probably the bleakest ???(click to show/hide)
but beautifully written.
Just wanted to say:
I read another recommended book on this thread, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Absolutely fantastic stuff. Thanks. I can't wait to read the second in the trilogy, "The Girl who Played with Fire" which the reviews say is even better.
I am reading Postsingularity by Rudy Rucker, a Californian mathematician, sf author and breeder of jellfish. If you know anything about Rudy Rucker you will know what to expect. If you don't you might wonder what the hell this odd combination of quantum physics and happy hippy stuff is and whether he is serious...
I am reading Postsingularity by Rudy Rucker, a Californian mathematician, sf author and breeder of jellfish. If you know anything about Rudy Rucker you will know what to expect. If you don't you might wonder what the hell this odd combination of quantum physics and happy hippy stuff is and whether he is serious...
Incidently, that's available for free (under creative commons license) here:
Postsingular by Rudy Rucker - Free eBook (http://manybooks.net/titles/ruckerrother07postsingular.html)
Free books rock.
Incidently, that's available for free (under creative commons license) here:
Postsingular by Rudy Rucker - Free eBook (http://manybooks.net/titles/ruckerrother07postsingular.html)
Free books rock.
They do, but I like paper
This sounds interesting Gruff
Incidently, that's available for free (under creative commons license) here:
Postsingular by Rudy Rucker - Free eBook (http://manybooks.net/titles/ruckerrother07postsingular.html)
Free books rock.
They do, but I like paper
Ah, have you tried one of the e-ink hardware readers (Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader etc)? I love mine to bits. As many books as you can imagine, all in one dinky convenient bundle, ready to take aywhere, or even just read in bed.
One of the things I most love is the almost instant availability of books that I see recomended or reviewed. If something sounds interesting then a couple of minutes later I can usually have it downloaded and on the reader ready to go.
Can you do me a link and tell me more about yours, please?
HTH (sorry for the length).
I am currently reading From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Holy_Mountain) by William Dalrymple in which he traces the demise of Christianity in the Near East since its peak during the 6th century until the problems in the 20th with things such as the Armenian, erm, genocide and the issues brought about due to the creation of Israel. It's very well written and extremely interesting, but it's also pretty dense and takes some effort to read it. It's not the best book to read in small goes, which is what I'm attempting to do at the moment.
Just wanted to say:
I read another recommended book on this thread, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Absolutely fantastic stuff. Thanks. I can't wait to read the second in the trilogy, "The Girl who Played with Fire" which the reviews say is even better.
Just wanted to say:
I read another recommended book on this thread, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Absolutely fantastic stuff. Thanks. I can't wait to read the second in the trilogy, "The Girl who Played with Fire" which the reviews say is even better.
Just wanted to say +1 in every way (finished reading Dragon Tattoo yesterday, and just after the library shut, so I'll have to wait a whole week to go and get the next in the series. :'(
I'm reading Christopher Brookmyre for the first time, having had him recommended by several people.
A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil.
I'm only a few chapters in and if anyone has read it can you tell me if Robbie turns out to be behind the murders - if he does then please let me know so I can stop reading now. Even if he isn't I'm not sure I want to go on because if he isn't then the set up will be nearly as obvious.
Can you tell I'm not convinced.
Dammit! All the copies have about seventeen reservations on them with Surrey Libraries! >:(
I'm reading Christopher Brookmyre for the first time, having had him recommended by several people.
A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil.
I'm only a few chapters in and if anyone has read it can you tell me if Robbie turns out to be behind the murders - if he does then please let me know so I can stop reading now. Even if he isn't I'm not sure I want to go on because if he isn't then the set up will be nearly as obvious.
Can you tell I'm not convinced.
Yip, I imagine I'll remember that book for a long time. The only other book by Dalrymple that I've read is In Xanadu, which I also thought was fantastic but more in the travel literature sense, whereas From the Holy Mountain was far more thought provoking. I'm now looking forward to reading some of his other works.I am currently reading From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Holy_Mountain) by William Dalrymple ...That is a brilliant book - there are some books which stay with you for the rest of your life and this is one :thumbsup:
I'm currently reading The Cellist of Sarajevo (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cellist-Sarajevo-Steven-Galloway/dp/1843547414/ref=sr_1_1/278-9849952-6649124?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242754827&sr=8-1), by Steven Galloway. I got the book for my birthday and didn't have any idea what it was about until I started reading, but it's brilliant. It follows the story of three people during the siege of the city in the '90s, giving their thoughts about surviving and the affects it has had on their lives. Due to the very minimal amount of dialog used throughout the text, the style remains me of Ian McEwan.
Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. This thread inspired me to read more Orwell.
Coincidentally, D&OIP&L is next-but-one on my must-read pile. Should I be looking forward to it?
Coincidentally, D&OIP&L is next-but-one on my must-read pile. Should I be looking forward to it?
d.
"No Picnic on Mt. Kenya", the story of a group of Italian POW's who escape from a British POW camp during WWII, make a serious attempt on Mt. Kenya using home made equipment from materials scavenged from around the POW camp, and then return to the prison camp. Apparently they made it to the lower of the two summits at 16,300 ft.Were they Alpini?
Were they Alpini?
Oh, and
Lucid Dreaming: The Paradox of Consciousness During Sleep by Celia and McCreery Green (Author)
Deeper still.
Ballard.
He was the pioneer of near future distopia, before "cyberpunk" was even used as a name for it.
The Damned United. No, I haven't seen the film, nor am I into football, but Cloughie was an interesting character.
"Being Good" by Nick Hornby
Which may end up being in the bin if it does not improve in the next ten pages.
"Being Good" by Nick Hornby
Which may end up being in the bin if it does not improve in the next ten pages.
Bin it is."Being Good" by Nick Hornby
Which may end up being in the bin if it does not improve in the next ten pages.
I was left wondering if I'd missed out on buying Volume II containing the plot and story.
Finished it though, eventually. Can't remember anything about it, which isn't a good sign at all.
"Being Good" by Nick Hornby
Which may end up being in the bin if it does not improve in the next ten pages.
I was left wondering if I'd missed out on buying Volume II containing the plot and story.
Finished it though, eventually. Can't remember anything about it, which isn't a good sign at all.
I'm part-way through some large tome about Eddie Merckx. It's not making me cycle any faster.Take it out of the pannier bag, less weight :thumbsup:
The Watchmen
It didnt grab me at first as I have never been a fan of the illustrator, I found his work a bit "meh" back when I was younger and read 2000AD
Stick with it though and you soon forget that its not as good as some other graphic novels in the art department and you get carried away by the narrative.
Re-reading 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula Le Guin :)
"Being Good" by Nick Hornby
Which may end up being in the bin if it does not improve in the next ten pages.
I was left wondering if I'd missed out on buying Volume II containing the plot and story.
Finished it though, eventually. Can't remember anything about it, which isn't a good sign at all.
+1. One of my favourites. The Left Hand of Darkness is another one.Re-reading 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula Le Guin :)
What a great book, in fact what a great writer. I love almost everything she has ever written whether it be fantasy, SF or more mainstream writing...
+1. One of my favourites. The Left Hand of Darkness is another one.Re-reading 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula Le Guin :)
What a great book, in fact what a great writer. I love almost everything she has ever written whether it be fantasy, SF or more mainstream writing...
I'm now plunging into "Dhalgren", I've a feeling I may be some time....
I just finsihed China Mieville's new one, The City and The City
I'm reading David Crystal's The Stories of English right now. It is actually a good read as well as being interesting and well-researched.
I just finsihed China Mieville's new one, The City and The City, which is much more like a combination of noir detective story and Jan Morris's Hav tales than his previous urban fantasies. It is very well written and plays with some similar ideas about consensus and reality, but I was left a little bit disappointed.
QuoteI just finsihed China Mieville's new one, The City and The City
Does this mean you rate his other work? I've often thought to try but not got round to it yet :-\
Whearas I adored Fever Pitch and High Fidelity (the latter made a good film - can't go wrong with that Cusack fella).
Whearas I adored Fever Pitch and High Fidelity (the latter made a good film - can't go wrong with that Cusack fella).
I recently read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and found it to be a magnificent book. It was like sitting in a grand cathedral or place of beauty and allowing one's senses to be filled with the feast upon display. I didn't find the ending especially uplifting, but I adored the details of life after.
Currently reading Moby Dick. I should have read it 20 years ago, but my uncle borrowed it and has yet to return it.
Just started getting into Philip K. Dick's works - I recently read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, and I've just started on The Man In The High Castle.
I'm reading Moorock's "Dancers at the End of Time".
Can't believe I've overlooked this for so many years. If you've read Moorock's 'emo elf swordsman' books, forget them. This is totally different, absolutely barking and fantastic.
I'm reading David Crystal's The Stories of English right now. It is actually a good read as well as being interesting and well-researched.
Just started getting into Philip K. Dick's works - I recently read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, and I've just started on The Man In The High Castle.See also 'The Galactic Pothealer'.
Joseph Heller's Catch-22 which I find hard to read because I have been told that it was a serious book about war an death and somewhat a bit like 1984.
But it is so funny.
I just finished reading Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill. It's an investigation into America's fastest growing mercenary company. It's all very worthy and there are a lot of eye-opening things, but it is rather badly written and very repetitive, as if he was trying to stretch out four or five long magazine articles (which i think he was...)
I just finished reading Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill. It's an investigation into America's fastest growing mercenary company. It's all very worthy and there are a lot of eye-opening things, but it is rather badly written and very repetitive, as if he was trying to stretch out four or five long magazine articles (which i think he was...)The US government used those numpties to restore order in New Orleans
I just finished reading Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill. It's an investigation into America's fastest growing mercenary company. It's all very worthy and there are a lot of eye-opening things, but it is rather badly written and very repetitive, as if he was trying to stretch out four or five long magazine articles (which i think he was...)
Maybe he'e got a baby on the way, and his publisher's cutting him some slack.
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
The other niggling thing is that the film version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" has been released just about everywhere except the UK and Captain Cook's Mistake. TWFKAML is righteously cross about this...
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
The other niggling thing is that the film version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" has been released just about everywhere except the UK and Captain Cook's Mistake. TWFKAML is righteously cross about this...
Isn't that because it's a swedish film, and the lucky old ENGLISH-speaking world is going to get a Hollywood remake so we don't have to stress our poor little branes reading all those tricky subtitles?
::-)
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
The other niggling thing is that the film version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" has been released just about everywhere except the UK and Captain Cook's Mistake. TWFKAML is righteously cross about this...
Isn't that because it's a swedish film, and the lucky old ENGLISH-speaking world is going to get a Hollywood remake so we don't have to stress our poor little branes reading all those tricky subtitles?
::-)
Indeedy. TWFKAML is equally cross about the non-availability of DVDs of the Swedish TV production of "Wallander". If anyone knows from whence it can be obtained in the original Swedish and with English sub-titles...
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
... But rather than Saussure's conventional Signifier I think they function more as Peirce's immediate Interpretants: the Representamen as an act of signification. ...
I've picked up Terry Southern's 'The Magic Christian' off a bookshelf at work. It's a bit annoying, but a slim volume, so I'll probably stick with it.
I believe the film was quite a cult, but I'd not heard of it before I saw the book.
Just finished 'Labyrinth' by Kate Mosse - I have more time for her writing than Dan 'I am going to lecture at you throughout the entire book' Brown.Dan Brown is pot boiling keyboard monkey impersonating a best selling author.
The problem I had with Mosse's writing is that there can be too much information and the french/occitan translation to words and phrases that it feels awfully burdened. Good tale though.
Next : Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. :thumbsup:
Just finished 'Labyrinth' by Kate Mosse - I have more time for her writing than Dan 'I am going to lecture at you throughout the entire book' Brown.Dan Brown is pot boiling keyboard monkey impersonating a best selling author.
The problem I had with Mosse's writing is that there can be too much information and the french/occitan translation to words and phrases that it feels awfully burdened. Good tale though.
Next : Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. :thumbsup:
By Christ he writes airport novel trash, mostly about Christ.
Someone lent me the Da Vinci Code - 3 hours of my life I will never get back - I returned it and said "that was just a bit of trash with some art history and religion thrown in to make it seem worthy". She who lent it said "I know".
Then why tell me to read it!
Women...
(click to show/hide)
Just finished 'Mrs Dalloway' (by Virginia Woolf) in time for discussion at the Book Group tomorrow. I absolutely loved it. The way she describes people and places just jangles along on a natural pace, a lot of authors write description as filler at times and you find yourself jumping to the next paragraph. Highly recommended :thumbsup:
I just finished Michael Cunningham's 'The Hours', and now I feel I have to read Mrs Dalloway too as The Hours is based on/around it. Glad to hear you liked it, I would recommend reading The Hours to you too, if you haven't already.Just finished 'Mrs Dalloway' (by Virginia Woolf) in time for discussion at the Book Group tomorrow. I absolutely loved it. The way she describes people and places just jangles along on a natural pace, a lot of authors write description as filler at times and you find yourself jumping to the next paragraph. Highly recommended :thumbsup:
As for Dan Brown, I didn't mind The Da Vinci Code, but it did feel like a bog-standard Hollywood thriller, just on paper rather than on film. I can also not look at a church door in the same way again after reading what Brown has to say about them ;D
I've just finished 'Matter' by Iain M Banks.
I think he's still going soft in his old age.
I enjoyed it too, he just seems to have an urge to wrap everything up in a happy ending these days though.I've just finished 'Matter' by Iain M Banks.
I think he's still going soft in his old age.
I enjoyed Matter. It was certainly a lot better than his last non-SF work (The Steep Approach to Garbadale)
Just started 'House of Suns' by Alastair Reynolds, it all seems a bit touchy feely too.....
Was that product placement or just overuse of signifiers? I don't know if Fleming got supplies of Aston Martins or Louis Vuitton luggage (nor Toot-sweets, for that matter ;D)
I enjoyed it too, he just seems to have an urge to wrap everything up in a happy ending these days though.I've just finished 'Matter' by Iain M Banks.
I think he's still going soft in his old age.
I enjoyed Matter. It was certainly a lot better than his last non-SF work (The Steep Approach to Garbadale)
Boy Racer - a good read due in no small part to the breaking up of the story into the framework of the 2008 Tour de France. Gives you a great insight into Cav and what he can and can't do.
Haven't got around to buying The Steep Approach to Garbadale as I didn't think much too of Dead Air (although it's better than I thought it was going to be having read the blurb) - is it worth a read?
Haven't got around to buying The Steep Approach to Garbadale as I didn't think much too of Dead Air (although it's better than I thought it was going to be having read the blurb) - is it worth a read?
It's just The Crow Road over again, but not as good... I think his best non-SF work is the rather underrated Espedair Street. It feels like it meant a bit more to him.
Haven't got around to buying The Steep Approach to Garbadale as I didn't think much too of Dead Air (although it's better than I thought it was going to be having read the blurb) - is it worth a read?
It's just The Crow Road over again, but not as good... I think his best non-SF work is the rather underrated Espedair Street. It feels like it meant a bit more to him.
Steep Approach is probably better than Dead Air, but not as good as his earlier work. My favourite of his non-SF is The Bridge although Espedair Street is a close second. Walking on Glass is also worth a read.
Boy Racer - a good read due in no small part to the breaking up of the story into the framework of the 2008 Tour de France. Gives you a great insight into Cav and what he can and can't do.
It's certainly a cleverly structured book (the publisher found him a very good ghost writer), but most of the content is padding - as it necessarily has to be to fill a book of 352 pages when the subject is only 24 years old and not very far into his professional career (and it doesn't even cover this year's Milan-San Remo or Tour de France).
d.
I considered buying Boy racer, but I reckoned that there were a few chapters yet unwritten...
The structure made it not appear to be overtly padded.
Wheras I quite liked the detail and minutiae.. To each their own.The structure made it not appear to be overtly padded.
Well, I thought there was lots of fairly trivial and not especially interesting detail that might have been left out if there had been more to write about, but I agree that it was a lot better than many other biogs and certainly a lot better than I was expecting.
d.
The Hungry Cyclist. Tours 10,000 miles through the americas and puts on weight with a series of epic adventures in search of the perfect meal.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Arthur works in the Raleigh factory making Sturmey Archer hub shells, doesn't he? :)I cannot remember where he worked, but the book's brilliant. I should re-read it.
I enjoyed it too, he just seems to have an urge to wrap everything up in a happy ending these days though.I've just finished 'Matter' by Iain M Banks.
I think he's still going soft in his old age.
I enjoyed Matter. It was certainly a lot better than his last non-SF work (The Steep Approach to Garbadale)
Just about to start Matter.
Haven't got around to buying The Steep Approach to Garbadale as I didn't think much too of Dead Air (although it's better than I thought it was going to be having read the blurb) - is it worth a read?
Met funny, rather large and bearded welsh man on his bike, at garage, who had just finished tour of the west
And I will try to read David Simon's Homicide but I suspect my wife - currently undergoing withdrawal symptoms having finished The Wire box sets - will probably give me a choice between handing it over or losing a testicle. Luckily she's a fast reader.
I enjoyed it too, he just seems to have an urge to wrap everything up in a happy ending these days though.I've just finished 'Matter' by Iain M Banks.
I think he's still going soft in his old age.
I enjoyed Matter. It was certainly a lot better than his last non-SF work (The Steep Approach to Garbadale)
Just about to start Matter.
Haven't got around to buying The Steep Approach to Garbadale as I didn't think much too of Dead Air (although it's better than I thought it was going to be having read the blurb) - is it worth a read?
I was very excited when Matter came out but found it disappointing. Taken in isolation it's a perfectly OK book, but taken as part of the series I thought the Culture elements felt bolted on.
His non-SF writing I gave up on ages ago, though I loved the Wasp Factory and Complicity and the Crow Road
Anyway, what have I been reading... I've just finished all Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels - Berlin Noir, The One From the Other and A Quiet Flame. Apparently there's a new one coming out in September - If The Dead Rise not - and I am drooling for it.
And I will try to read David Simon's Homicide but I suspect my wife - currently undergoing withdrawal symptoms having finished The Wire box sets - will probably give me a choice between handing it over or losing a testicle. Luckily she's a fast reader.
We appear to have a few Iain Banks fans on here....
His new book "Transition" is now listed on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transition-Iain-Banks/dp/0316731072/ref=pd_sim_b_4 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transition-Iain-Banks/dp/0316731072/ref=pd_sim_b_4) with some discussion of it here http://www.iainbanksforum.net/showthread.php?t=59 (http://www.iainbanksforum.net/showthread.php?t=59) . I was pretty disappointed in both "Garbadale" and "Matter" so hope this will be a return to form.
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest isn't out until October 1st >:(
Bah!
Surely something could be hastened with judicous application of ice-cream and shovel?
The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes - Mark UnwinThe French lodged an official complaint via diplomatic channels about British troops getting shit faced before a battle because they would then hack French soldiers to pieces with the issue infantry sword - instead of killing them in a clean and soldier like manner with a bayonet.
True story about an officer in Wellington's peninsular army who amongst other things did quite a bit code breaking. Amusingly I have learnt that Wellington had to reprimand his officers and troops for getting blind drunk in Lisbon and upsetting the locals by their inebriated displays. They also it seems tended to talk LOUDLY and s l o w l e y in English at the Portuguese. It seems nothing changes.
I just picked up David Guterson's The Other, because I enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars a few years ago. Also Michael Chaborn's Gentlemen of the Road - because The Yiddish Policemen's Union was so excellent...
I just picked up David Guterson's The Other, because I enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars a few years ago. Also Michael Chaborn's Gentlemen of the Road - because The Yiddish Policemen's Union was so excellent...
Snow falling on cedars is a fabulous book :thumbsup:
I just picked up David Guterson's The Other, because I enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars a few years ago. Also Michael Chaborn's Gentlemen of the Road - because The Yiddish Policemen's Union was so excellent...
Snow falling on cedars is a fabulous book :thumbsup:
I'm actually reading it at the moment. Really enjoying it so far.
A confereracy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire".
Yup, me too. :)
The other niggling thing is that the film version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" has been released just about everywhere except the UK and Captain Cook's Mistake. TWFKAML is righteously cross about this...
Isn't that because it's a swedish film, and the lucky old ENGLISH-speaking world is going to get a Hollywood remake so we don't have to stress our poor little branes reading all those tricky subtitles?
::-)
'The Sunday Philosophy Club' by Alexander McCall Smith - the first of his I've read. It's lightweight but goes off on diverting tangents. The protagonist is an attractive 30-something in Edinburgh and it's fun to imagine what she might look like (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=20740.0) :D
Have you tried his Scotland Street books?
Re-reading Simon Doughty's book on long distance cycling.One or two long forgotten lessons relearned.
Anyone know how he is doing of late?
Alternating between Mark Beaumont's book and Richard Matheson's collected shorts, translated into French. Need the practice.
Tuesday. Tired. Have to do 100 miles today. Headwind. Found a hotel that ripped me off.x195.
House of Suns - Alastair ReynoldsYeah, I've nearly finished it and it is quite light. Not up to his usual std.
A big fat space opera for some light reading.
The Road to Wigan Pier, by George Orwell
I read that last week. Angry, isnt he?
now reading Moby Dick.
Which is also odd, because he claimed he speed-read it in 20 minutes and summarized it as: 'It's about a whale'. Sorry, that should have had a spoiler alert.hangonaminute ... last time he told that joke, it was War and Peace.
For those who have read All Quiet.., I strongly recommend The Road Back, the lesser-known sequel, about the difficulties faced by the returning soldiers fitting into a defeated society where no one understands what they have been through. Also his Three Comrades, which covers similar ground.
Another Remarque book that is worth a read (if you can find it) is Spark Of Life, about life in a concentration camp - something Remarque, as a known leftist, suffered before escaping and getting to Spain (there's another book about that, but I can't remember the title, and it's not one of his better novels, strangely).
For those who have read All Quiet.., I strongly recommend The Road Back, the lesser-known sequel, about the difficulties faced by the returning soldiers fitting into a defeated society where no one understands what they have been through. Also his Three Comrades, which covers similar ground.
Another Remarque book that is worth a read (if you can find it) is Spark Of Life, about life in a concentration camp - something Remarque, as a known leftist, suffered before escaping and getting to Spain (there's another book about that, but I can't remember the title, and it's not one of his better novels, strangely).
The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is another great account of infantry war....
The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall, feminist SF set in a sort-of near future authoritarian Britain
Alan Garner's Owl ServiceRead that when I was about 12 and I remember it being fab. I should re-read it.
it's quite dated in terms of characterisation - lots of 50s-stylee upper-middle-class English stiff upper lip stuff, and stereotypes of Welsh yokels that just seem from a different age, but the interleaving of the Mabinogion stuff works very well, as does the rendering of the speech patterns of native Welsh-speakers (I think). I still need to get my head fully around the events at the end. Not at all simple to unravel.
After that, you'll be ready for Thursbitch, assuming you're not working backwards... ;D
I am now reading Cryptonomicon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon) by Neal Stephenson after being suggested it by a friend.
I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages. That's not a criticism, tho, because it's very readable and extremely interesting.
Last night I started Alex Ross' "the rest is noise" ... which is intimidatingly thick, so I may be some time.
Meanwhile, I am still reading Wonders and the Order of Nature... not getting much time for non-work reading right now because we have lots of work to do on the new house.
Neal Stephenson is good, but:That's very true. Cryptonomicon is the first thing I've read by Stephenson, and as I've said, the book's a monster and cutting it down wouldn't do it any harm at all.
1. He needs to allow his books to be edited (but I know hardly any publishers do proper editing these days);
2. He can't (or at least, doesn't) write believable female characters;True true. There's only two female characters of any significance, so far, have even appeared in Cryptonomicon and I'm 600 pages down. Never seem very realistic.
3. He's not as clever or as funny as he thinks he is, or at least it would be better if he let us know how clever and funny he is with a bit more subtlety. He info-dumps like a crazy person, which, as any fule kno, is one of the big no-no's of quality SF.I've read very little SF and so I'm didn't know that it's passé to info-dump in the way he does. I actually enjoyed some of the details that are presented in the book, but it certainly does come across as making Stephenson appear really clever.
I read all of his books up to Quicksilver, but couldn't be bothered with the rest of the Baroque Trilogy. There is a great book called Q by 'Luther Blisset' (a pseudonym for a group of Italian anarchists) which does the same kind of thing so much better...I've heard that The Baroque Trilogy rambles on even more than Cryptonomicon does and it's unlikely I'll be attempting to read it any time soon. I've not heard of Blisset before, but I'll look up Q.
Have recently finished Matter by Iain M Banks, which I enjoyed a lot.
Currently a hundred or so pages into the Illuminatus Trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy).
My brain hurts already trying to maintain hold of who's who and what the feck is happening.
Judging by this quote:
"The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself"
I don't think the situation is going to improve much either... ???
Just about to start "Transition", Iain Bank's latest.
Hail Eris! ;DAll hail Discordia!
Just about to start "Transition", Iain Bank's latest.
Did you like it?
I did. But then I'm not that fussy when it comes to Mr Banks - anything he does is ok by me.
Half way through Nineteen eighty-four by George Orwell. I've managed to avoid it until I'm 40 but it's time to catch up on my revolutionary satire.
Doubleplusgood so far.
C
And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again
That's an interesting route, and it can lead onto other utopia/dystopia (it's a very blurred line) novels. After the excellent choices above, try:Add "Rite of Passage", by Alexei Panshin
Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The Well At The World's End, The Sundering Flood or The Wood Beyond Teh World by William Morris (best to give The Earthly Paradise a miss. It's a great work of literature, but hard going)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
An unexpurgated version of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is an eye-opener
The Time Machine by HG Wells
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again.
It is one of those rare books that is as good as people say. Try Huxley's Brave New World afterwards (if you haven't already), and then go back and read Zamyatin's We (the Russian science fictional satire that inspired Orwell).
That's an interesting route, and it can lead onto other utopia/dystopia (it's a very blurred line) novels. After the excellent choices above, try:
Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The Well At The World's End, The Sundering Flood or The Wood Beyond Teh World by William Morris (best to give The Earthly Paradise a miss. It's a great work of literature, but hard going)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
An unexpurgated version of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is an eye-opener
The Time Machine by HG Wells
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again.
17:00. Score copy of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" from local Sainsbury's :)
01:30. Finish "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" :P
09:00. Arrive late at work, use matchsticks to prop eyelids open :(
17:00. Score copy of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" from local Sainsbury's :)
01:30. Finish "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" :P
09:00. Arrive late at work, use matchsticks to prop eyelids open :(
Still waiting for my copy. :(
...Now reading Resurrection, by some bloke called Tolstoy.
Finished HARM, by Brian Aldiss.
17:00. Score copy of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" from local Sainsbury's :)
01:30. Finish "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" :P
09:00. Arrive late at work, use matchsticks to prop eyelids open :(
Still waiting for my copy. :(
TWFKAML now lives within spitting distance of an independent bookshop, thus she got her copy on Wednesday chiz.
17:00. Score copy of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" from local Sainsbury's :)
01:30. Finish "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" :P
09:00. Arrive late at work, use matchsticks to prop eyelids open :(
Still waiting for my copy. :(
TWFKAML now lives within spitting distance of an independent bookshop, thus she got her copy on Wednesday chiz.
WAAAAAH!
Mr Postman tried to deliver my copy yesterday, and left it with a neighbour. :(
Who then wasn't home all evening. >:( :'( >:( :'( >:(
<throws little sobbing tantrum of bookless despair>
Just started re-reading Jon Courtenay Grimwood's Arabesk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesk_trilogy) trilogy.
Just started re-reading Jon Courtenay Grimwood's Arabesk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesk_trilogy) trilogy.
Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff.
Just started re-reading Jon Courtenay Grimwood's Arabesk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesk_trilogy) trilogy.
Easily his best work so far IMHO, and very good fun. I thought his earlier stuff was a bit too over-interested in weapons and had sketches for plots rather than real plots
I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages........I've finally struggled my way to the end of Cryptonomicon. The first two-thirds of the book were good, but I got bored by the rambling nature of the book by the end and just wanted it to finish. Not a ringing endorsement for the book.
I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages........I've finally struggled my way to the end of Cryptonomicon. The first two-thirds of the book were good, but I got bored by the rambling nature of the book by the end and just wanted it to finish. Not a ringing endorsement for the book.
He's spot-on about David Attenborough and Oliver Postgate too.
He's spot-on about David Attenborough and Oliver Postgate too.
His brilliant obit of Oliver Postgate on Screen Wipe moved me to tears.
From the sound of it, I must get that book.
d.
"The Upside of Down" by Thomas Homer-Dixon.
It's a treatise on the coming calamities: climate change, peak oil, food shortages, riots - all that sort of reassuring stuff. He draws a parallel between the state of the modern world with that of ancient Rome. I particularly like the calculation he does regarding the amount of energy required to build the Coliseum.
Later in the book (I'm just short of half-way through) he describes ways in which we, as a species, might survive the onslaught of these calamities.
Eminently readable - considering it was considered essential reading for my son's PhD.
Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton. Another largely Oxford-set, children's novel with elements of fantasy. It's romping along at the moment...
I'm reading a fun little book that Butterfly persuaded me to buy at Stanfords (http://www.stanfords.co.uk/info/company-history,14,GP.html) in London on saturday.
It's Byways, Boots & Blisters by Bill Laws (http://www.booktopia.com.au/byways-boots-blisters/prod9780750945929.html#). It's a personal selection of the history of walking as a pastime, a sport, and a political force. But it's very light-hearted, and great for dipping into. A good 'bathroom book', though I'm reading it through.
"Annapurna", by Maurice Herzog. As the title suggests, the book describes the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950 by a French expedition. Right now I've just finished the part where they realize that their maps are inaccurate, and Dhaulagiri is well beyond their capabilities, so they've decided to find Annapurna and climb it.
a history of western philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Slow going
Being incredibly anal and scouring twenty year old motorcar wank mags for information concerning the genesis of the Lamborghini V12.
a history of western philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Slow going
But fantastic.
a history of western philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Slow going
But fantastic.
Not really a history bokok, more of a 'Russels opinion on western philosophy'
..d
Just finished Nazi Nexus, by Edwin Black. It's a disturbing account of how various big American corporations (General Motors, IBM, Ford Motor Company and others) did business with Nazi Germany before and during WWII, raking in enormous profits while enabling Adolf Hitler to carry out his plans.
Just finished Nazi Nexus, by Edwin Black. It's a disturbing account of how various big American corporations (General Motors, IBM, Ford Motor Company and others) did business with Nazi Germany before and during WWII, raking in enormous profits while enabling Adolf Hitler to carry out his plans.
Interesting, this gets a mention in the book I'm reading "Non-violence.The history of a dangerous idea", by Mark Kurlansky
Clearly it was helpful to the Allies (prior to the Nazi's signing the non-agression pact with Stalin) to support the Nazi's since fascism was preferable to communism. Suprising how quick friends become enemies - especially if you've sold them arms.
Saturday by Ian McEwan.Of the McEwan books I've read (The Cement Factory, Atonement, On Chesil Beach and Amsterdam), Saturday is my favourite. I thought it was beautiful written and I was amazed how the story could captivate me so much.
I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns from the chap who wrote The Kite Runner. Very harrowing but utterly compelling.Yes, very harrowing.
I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns from the chap who wrote The Kite Runner. Very harrowing but utterly compelling.Yes, very harrowing.
The Men Who Stare At Goats ~ Jon Ronson.
I've read something very similar to the first chapter - in which General Stubblebine tries and fails to walk through his office wall - somewhere else recently and I can't remember where and it's driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
I liked Iain Banks's stuff, The Bridge is my fave I think (ripped off by Irvine Welsh in The Marabou Stork Nightmares imo). I've got a big black and white section of my bookshelf!I think Iain M Banks is the forum's unofficial favourite author. Doesn't get so many mentions without the M, but that's how I prefer him.
I think Iain M Banks is the forum's unofficial favourite author. Doesn't get so many mentions without the M, but that's how I prefer him.
The Men Who Stare At Goats ~ Jon Ronson.
I've read something very similar to the first chapter - in which General Stubblebine tries and fails to walk through his office wall - somewhere else recently and I can't remember where and it's driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
The Men Who Stare At Goats ~ Jon Ronson.
I've read something very similar to the first chapter - in which General Stubblebine tries and fails to walk through his office wall - somewhere else recently and I can't remember where and it's driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
There was a load of excerpts etc. published on The Guardian website recently because of the film release....and also a couple of years back in the magazine. Could have been there?
I liked Iain Banks's stuff, The Bridge is my fave I think (ripped off by Irvine Welsh in The Marabou Stork Nightmares imo). I've got a big black and white section of my bookshelf!I think Iain M Banks is the forum's unofficial favourite author. Doesn't get so many mentions without the M, but that's how I prefer him.
Wasp Factory, Complicity, Crow Road, Espedair St would be my top ...err... 4
(or Player of Games WITH the 'M' )
Song of Stone was deeply depressing, with no redeeming features
I read this ages ago, I loved it! Especially about that mass gathering of all the political heavyweights - was it Bildenberg? Cannot remember. Jon Ronson is fab.
I read this ages ago, I loved it! Especially about that mass gathering of all the political heavyweights - was it Bildenberg? Cannot remember. Jon Ronson is fab.
That was in his 'Them - Adventures with Extremists'. It had chapters on KKK, The Tottenham Ayatollah, David Icke, Ian Paisley, through to Bilderburg. Very entertaining. Very fab.
Are YOU Dave Gorman? ~ Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace
Utterly bonkers in a gentle and restrained sort of way.
Are YOU Dave Gorman? ~ Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace
Utterly bonkers in a gentle and restrained sort of way.
I loved this - I heard good things about the tour as well. 'Googlewhack' by Dave Gorman is also very good.
Are YOU Dave Gorman? ~ Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace
Utterly bonkers in a gentle and restrained sort of way.
I loved this - I heard good things about the tour as well. 'Googlewhack' by Dave Gorman is also very good.
That's next on the list :) I can also recommend his America Unchained.
Are YOU Dave Gorman? ~ Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace
Utterly bonkers in a gentle and restrained sort of way.
I loved this - I heard good things about the tour as well. 'Googlewhack' by Dave Gorman is also very good.
That's next on the list :) I can also recommend his America Unchained.
Just finished The House at Riverton by Kate Morton - thoroughly enjoyed it :thumbsup:
I just finished re-reading "I Am Legend".
Great - so we can find what type of caravan he used, and whether he had a hook-up and a satellite dish ;)A quick glimp at the pics reveals a caravan; horse drawn. I'd like to do that. There's a bloke near here goes off into the Cotswolds every year with his horse drawn van, lurcher and chickens. He's away about four months on the round trip. Trices are cheaper than a good 'oss though ;D
Just finished 'The girl with the Dragon Tattoo' realise what the fuss on here's about, it's a long time since I read over 500 pages in 10 days
Just finished reading 'A Quiet Flame' by Philip Kerr. Yet again, brilliant writing, great black humour and an opportunity to learn about aspects of WW2 that are not talked about very much.
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
I love that one.
The Business ~ Iain Banks
I'm really excited by a book I've found on the shelves at work.
Our Street by Jan Petersen (7Seas). No cover, which is how I'd missed it before, and it's quite fragile, as it's published in 1960, and not awfully well bound. But that's aside.
It's the true story of a single street in Berlin-Charlottenburg, and their resistance to the coming of the Nazis. I'm afraid I'd never heard of the book or the author before, but it promises to be a gripping read.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. If there's an epiphany in a hot tub, I'm going to get shirty.
Just started 'The Girls' by Tori Lansens (another on the Richard and Judy's bookclub).
"Last Light" by Alex Scarrow.
I'm more of a dabbler than a proper reader but I've been glued to this. I started it last night and I'm already over 150 pages in.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. If there's an epiphany in a hot tub, I'm going to get shirty.heh heh -not that I can recall, but I can't say that it's either his strongest or most memorable book.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. If there's an epiphany in a hot tub, I'm going to get shirty.heh heh -not that I can recall, but I can't say that it's either his strongest or most memorable book.
Frank just had his Buddhist / sporty chick epiphany. ::-)
C'mon KSR! A new trope please!
Currently reading
The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt (David Fickling Books)
It's another one I found on the shelves at work, and is a Galley Proof. But I checked, and it was actually published.
It's pitched quite interestingly somewhere between teen & adult novel, and written in a storytelling style, all intimacies & teasing, intractable situations and impending menace.
The setting is a bit arch, being a sort of central European gothic, with travelling shows, wolf-ridden forests, deep snows, inns filled with shady characters etc.
It gets a bit implausible, but it is quite a page turner, and a well-told story. I'm a wee bit over half way through - I'll report back when I'm done.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. If there's an epiphany in a hot tub, I'm going to get shirty.heh heh -not that I can recall, but I can't say that it's either his strongest or most memorable book.
Frank just had his Buddhist / sporty chick epiphany. ::-)
C'mon KSR! A new trope please!
The Buddhist stuff works in The Years of Rice and Salt because it's part of the structure of the book - which is still his finest IMHO - he's been in a bit of down phase since then...
Re-read Use Of Weapons
Banks at his best. The anti hero, the main protaganist, they do terrible thngs, they are likable but at the same time they can be bastards.
Hugely capable people but quite patently broken by past events, doomed, always doomed.
I got a new Banks book for Christmas! An Ian, rather than an Ian M but I like both.
I've just finished "The Rider" by Tim Krabbé. That's where I got my sig line.
Journey through Britain - John Hillaby. Very good - reading it 'cos of the quote, recorded at the start of an Arrivee article, of an old man's comment before the end of page 1.
Journey through Britain - John Hillaby. Very good - reading it 'cos of the quote, recorded at the start of an Arrivee article, of an old man's comment before the end of page 1.
If you like that follow it up with Nicolas Crane's "Two Degrees West", a more contemporary account of a long foot journey through England http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364)
Journey through Britain - John Hillaby. Very good - reading it 'cos of the quote, recorded at the start of an Arrivee article, of an old man's comment before the end of page 1.
If you like that follow it up with Nicolas Crane's "Two Degrees West", a more contemporary account of a long foot journey through England http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364)
Thanks for this tip - I'll certainly give it a try :)
Thanks - I'd best start writing a list methinks!! The John Hillaby route goes through some LEL places - but he doesn't add a lot to my memory of them :(Journey through Britain - John Hillaby. Very good - reading it 'cos of the quote, recorded at the start of an Arrivee article, of an old man's comment before the end of page 1.
If you like that follow it up with Nicolas Crane's "Two Degrees West", a more contemporary account of a long foot journey through England http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Degrees-West-English-Journey/dp/0140272364)
Thanks for this tip - I'll certainly give it a try :)
You might also like Hamish Brown's "Hamish's Groats End Walk", that would give you one from 60's, 70's and 90's. Different authors, different routes and an evolving picture of Britain/England.
I'm about to start a right old doorstop
The Official History of MI5
I might be some time . . . ::-)
Well, she is reading Classics...
Just finsished Transitions by Iain M. Banks. Well-written but incredibly derivative - Michael Moorcock should sue Banks several times over for ripping off not only Nomad of the Time Streams, but also the Jerry Cornelius and the Dancers at the End of Time sequences! And probably Bryan Talbot's Luther Arkwright stuff, which did acknolwedge its debt ot Moorcock, too. In addition, it doesn't really go anywhere; there is no convincing revelation that brings any sense to the whole caper. And at least one of the narrative strands doesn't really work at all. Fun but not really much more than fluff.
The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver.
"Effendi" by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (thanks for the tip, Flying Monkey!) middle of the trilogy...going well though a bit bogged in structure (e.g. updating new readers) compared to "Pashazade". .Good stuff though.
One element I found slightly irritating is that the author has obviously got some information about Quantum Physics and the collapsing of wave-functions, but doesn't really understand what observation means in this context, and takes a rather metaphysical approach to it, which isn't really what Quantum Physics says.
Fair comment Flying_Monkey, it was just particularly irritating since it was central to the story, but really so wrong. Still it wasn't as bad as Digital Fortress, which shows that Dan Brown really doesn't have a clue about crypto or computers.
I am struggling to read The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas.
The author is called Scarlett. The narrator is called Ariel. That may give you a clue as to the nature of the book.
But, beneath the waves of pretension and faux-cleverness, there is an interesting story developing, so I'm going to persist.
'The Reader'
I was surprised by this, as knowing what the subject was I expected the book to be heavy going. It isn't, it's a quick read.
Very good, worth reading.
'The Reader'
I was surprised by this, as knowing what the subject was I expected the book to be heavy going. It isn't, it's a quick read.
Very good, worth reading.
I read that recently and whole heartedly agree with you. I have yet to see the film.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
it starts with "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." and it just gets better & better :)
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Read this in one evening. It's quite harrowing. Not sure if I want to see the film now as I can't imagine it will be as good.
For those who are interested (and Tim) I have the film available to borrow, and it is a gem'The Reader'
I was surprised by this, as knowing what the subject was I expected the book to be heavy going. It isn't, it's a quick read.
Very good, worth reading.
I read that recently and whole heartedly agree with you. I have yet to see the film.
Whilst I would not normally pass up the chance to watch Kate Winsletget nekkedact, I'll pass on the film because I think it would spoil the book.
David Lodge.
I've read:
Changing Places (funny, but so so)
Small World (much better)
Now on Nice Work, which is shaping up Nicely.
I've now started to read The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. With a deep sigh of relief. It's a similar feeling to breathing in a fine scotch after guzzling Vimto.
I've now started to read The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. With a deep sigh of relief. It's a similar feeling to breathing in a fine scotch after guzzling Vimto.
But a little reminiscent of some of his other stuff, no? The Business and to a lesser extent Whit?
Still v enjoyable though.
I've now started to read The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. With a deep sigh of relief. It's a similar feeling to breathing in a fine scotch after guzzling Vimto.
But a little reminiscent of some of his other stuff, no? The Business and to a lesser extent Whit?
Still v enjoyable though.
I was only about 3 pages in at that point - I was commenting on how much better the writing is compared to the book I was reading previously.
Now I'm a bit further in, and I do agree, though it's reminding me more of The Crow Road than either of those. I think it's the hints at family secrets, the adolescent reminiscences, and the distance between Alban and his family all remionding me of Prentiss. Mr Banks does families a lot, doesn't he?
(I'm pretty sure I've read The Business, but I can't remember much about it)
The Crow Road is his most satisfying novel. The TV adaptation was excellent, as well. I've got the DVD of that somewhere at my sister's house :)
Now, I loved the Wasp Factory. It was the first of his novels I read, and I was carried away by the narrator's world and obsessions and isolation. It did seem to be a punk novel.
...
The Crow Road is his most satisfying novel. The TV adaptation was excellent, as well. I've got the DVD of that somewhere at my sister's house :)
Now, I loved the Wasp Factory. It was the first of his novels I read, and I was carried away by the narrator's world and obsessions and isolation. It did seem to be a punk novel.
...
The Crow Road is his most satisfying novel. The TV adaptation was excellent, as well. I've got the DVD of that somewhere at my sister's house :)
Have to agree with you on all of the above. Complicity is a close second after Crow Road for me.
d.
I still think Espedair Street is his most satisfying straight novel.+1. But I don't have a copy! Read a library copy. At least twice.
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel.
It has made me want to read up a bit of the history. It seems that the prevailing view (judging by the published histories and biographies, or the Wikipedia summaries of them, at least) of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell over the last couple of decades have been reversed. TM in Wolf Hall is not the same TM of A Man for All Seasons.
Thanks Smudge. I'll add it to the list (am currently ambivalent about Ackroyd, based on just on 2 of his works of fiction).
Philip K. Dick - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Completely brilliant exploration of human conscious experience and how it might be changed by drugs, religion and external stress. Set on a dying planet and Mars and featuring a cyborg.
Smudge - Hawksmoor and First Light.
Half of my fleet of solos have cotter pins.
If I wasn't an Irish nationalist, I'd love to get an Ulster hand chainset for my Rudge...
Just finished The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. As that followed The Road by Cormac McCarthy I think I am due for a happy book now.
Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff.
The Anubis Gates is one of my favourite ever SF novels (or perhaps it's urban fantasy...) - by turns ridiculous, literary, zany and really quite beautiful, it has time-travel, magic, gypsies and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a dirty, dangerous London... what more could you want?
Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff.
The Anubis Gates is one of my favourite ever SF novels (or perhaps it's urban fantasy...) - by turns ridiculous, literary, zany and really quite beautiful, it has time-travel, magic, gypsies and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a dirty, dangerous London... what more could you want?
Just finished "The Anubis Gates", a very good read, thanks for the recommendation. Next one's going to be a toss up between Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "Redrobe" or Kim Stanley Robinson's "Icehenge"
Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff.
The Anubis Gates is one of my favourite ever SF novels (or perhaps it's urban fantasy...) - by turns ridiculous, literary, zany and really quite beautiful, it has time-travel, magic, gypsies and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a dirty, dangerous London... what more could you want?
Just finished "The Anubis Gates", a very good read, thanks for the recommendation. Next one's going to be a toss up between Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "Redrobe" or Kim Stanley Robinson's "Icehenge"
Hmm. Neither are their best works. Redrobe has more guns.
Cosmonaut Keep. There's a project manager as a hero. That's new.
The True Blood Omnibus by Charlaine Harris. Not high literature but very entertaining :thumbsup:I read these books as individual stories a while back - they sadly go downhill quite a lot after the fifth or sixth book and rather spoiled my enjoyment, retrospectively, of the first book. Hope you get on better with them.
The True Blood Omnibus by Charlaine Harris. Not high literature but very entertaining :thumbsup:I read these books as individual stories a while back - they sadly go downhill quite a lot after the fifth or sixth book and rather spoiled my enjoyment, retrospectively, of the first book. Hope you get on better with them.
"The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson. Thought it was a bit one-paced to start with but actually the author was just being strict with himself, presumably so's not to show off too much. Technically it's dazzling, with deft switches of style and idiom, double narrative lines and the story-within-a-story plus a whole world of sci-fi technical wizardry. But even better it's a rattling good yarn to boot.
Now, I loved the Wasp Factory. It was the first of his novels I read, and I was carried away by the narrator's world and obsessions and isolation. It did seem to be a punk novel.
I've read most of Iain Banks' "normal" fiction novels, and I know what you mean by feeling a bit confused at the end. I enjoyed the ending of Walking on Glass and how the three stories complemented one another, but it was immensely frustrating at the same time. I'll have to re-read Canal Dreams to try to work out what was going on there.
The Crow Road is his most satisfying novel. The TV adaptation was excellent, as well. I've got the DVD of that somewhere at my sister's house :)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.+1
+ 2. God, they (the trilogy) are good.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.+1
You know, the Search Wizard says I'm mistaken, but I thought Stieg Larsson was the 2nd most raved about author on YACF (after Iaiain M.Banks). I also thought 90% of the posts were by La Rringtone.+ 2. God, they (the trilogy) are good.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.+1
You know, the Search Wizard says I'm mistaken, but I thought Stieg Larsson was the 2nd most raved about author on YACF (after Iaiain M.Banks). I also thought 90% of the posts were by La Rringtone.+ 2. God, they (the trilogy) are good.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.+1
Anyway, 1st book pretty good, but wordy, 2nd one excellent. 3rd review TBD
It is Salander, the unlikeliest of literary heroines, with whom Rapace has become inextricably entwined. As the character’s screen embodiment, she has starred in all three film adaptations of the books, the third of which has just opened in Scandinavia. Belatedly, the first one, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is about to launch in the UK; the other two follow later in the year. It has been worth the wait. The story of the wealthy Vanger family and the unresolved disappearance of the patriarch’s niece in 1966 is far from a trashy screen translation. A superior thriller, it has been nominated for gongs across Europe, not least for its female lead.
The White Spider ~ Heinrich Harrer. Tells the tale of attempts on the Eiger Nordwand up to the late fifties. Harrer was one of the party who made the first successful ascent, so has some claim to know what he's talking about.
Let us know what he says about Pete Gill.
Through Black Spruce - Joseph Boyden
(Another of FM's tips (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg441425#msg441425) - cheers :thumbsup:)
"Fear Of the Dark" by Walter Mosley. Not Easy Rawlins, this time it's Fearless Jones, but a similar milieu the black LA neighbourhoods in the mid 50's.
Weapons of Choice: World War 2.1 - John Birmingham
One classic bit has Prince Harry as an officer in the SAS !
Through Black Spruce - Joseph Boyden
(Another of FM's tips (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg441425#msg441425) - cheers :thumbsup:)
Did you read Three Day Road first? If not, make sure you do afterwards, it's even better...
Standard for Verification and Validation in CFD and Heat Transfer, ASME V&V 20-2009.
Standard for Verification and Validation in CFD and Heat Transfer, ASME V&V 20-2009.
I didn't think the plot was very good, nor the characters well-developed. There is a degree of suspense, though, and a twist in the denouement. ;D
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.+1
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.
Film version to be released in the UK on March 22nd, apparently.
About bloody time...
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.
Film version to be released in the UK on March 22nd, apparently.
About bloody time...
Is the film to be subtitled or dubbed?
If you like All Quiet..., it's also worth trying to find Under Fire by Henri Barbusse. I think it should be compulsory reading for all those comfy Yanks who propagate the myth of the French as cowardly. Gripping.
Just finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I kept waiting for it to improve. It didn't. However did it get such good reviews?
John Fowles - The Magus. Awesome
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Just started.
Film version to be released in the UK on March 22nd, apparently.
About bloody time...
Is the film to be subtitled or dubbed?
The snippet I saw in the most recent issue of "Q" (yes, I've cancelled my subscription but it's taking them a while to notice) says it's "in Swedish" so I assume subtitled. They gave it four stars too, so my Social Secretary is on special alert to find where it's going to be on in That London.
I shall be passing through Cromford today where there are several bookshops & will look for this book specifically. (http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/barring-mechanicals---from-london-to-edinburgh-and-back-on-a-recumbent-bicycl
[/quote)
...[but be careful - when I did that the second item on the results is "Shadowman & Other Gay Male Erotica" - TORRID STORIES OF GAY MALE LOVE!)
The Bridge - Iain Banks
Story about a man in hospital who starts living in another very strange reality, some chapters are more difficult than others, not sure if this is Banks' style as this is the first novel of his that I have read.
The former is one of my favourite books.
Re-reading Hunter Thompson. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas used to be an annual ritual around this time of year. It's been that sort of sleep-deprived week ...
The good news is that it stands up to re-reading in a different context. I find HST's righteous anger weirdly inspirational.
Next up: Generation of Swine (which got a laugh out of my fellow Trumpton vets in Furryboots city this morning ...).
Just finished "Transitions" by Iain Bank. Probably my favourite author and it's his best book in a long time. Recommended :thumbsup: Interesting that he writes normal fiction as Iain Banks and SF as Iain M Banks. I'd class this book as SF but it's Iain No-M Banks. Maybe 'cos it's actually set on planet Earth, or maybe he's decided to drop the distinction between genres.
I'm reading Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_to_frankfurt). My mum had a big Christie collection, but I only recall reading one of them. I wasn't that impressed.
The plot is wooden, the writing is piss-poor, and you can tell it was dictated without being proofread. I did wonder if it were just written under her name as a sort of franchise, as happened with Alastair Maclean, and, I think, Neville Shute. But no, it was apparently 'penned' by the great lady herself, though she was 80 when it was published.
Just finished "Transitions" by Iain Bank. Probably my favourite author and it's his best book in a long time. Recommended :thumbsup: Interesting that he writes normal fiction as Iain Banks and SF as Iain M Banks. I'd class this book as SF but it's Iain No-M Banks. Maybe 'cos it's actually set on planet Earth, or maybe he's decided to drop the distinction between genres.
[All Quiet on the Western Front] is brilliant. There are dull passages, where nothing much happens other than playing cards, but it's a depiction of the strange uneven pace of trench warfare, so stick with it.
Well worth digging out a copy of the sequel, The Road Back, which says more about the dislocation of war, as the surviving soldiers try hard to re-integrate into a society in turmoil, among people who have no conception of what they have just been through to defend a state that has crumbled in their absence.
Three Comrades also covers much the same ground, but gives a slightly different aspect.
If you like All Quiet..., it's also worth trying to find Under Fire by Henri Barbusse. I think it should be compulsory reading for all those comfy Yanks who propagate the myth of the French as cowardly. Gripping.
I'll certainly hunt out The Road Back.
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp -
jealous ! I loved Asterix as a child! And then later TinTin..
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp -
My copy arrived today :thumbsup:
And I'm in it! One of my photos, one signature and one uncredited guest appearance as the finish controller at Cheshunt.
I'm halfway through this:
Bold As Love (novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bold_As_Love_%28novel%29) (by Gwyneth Jones)
It's the first of a 5-book series, so I really wanted to like it! So far it swerves between heavy-going and gripping.
I would reckon the subject matter would hit the YACF demographic square-on - anyone else read it?
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp -
My copy arrived today :thumbsup:
Re Roman Empire - Rubicon by Tom Holland
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp -
My copy arrived today :thumbsup:
Finished it now.Really enjoyed it.
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
I'm getting into Mr Love & Justice, by Colin Macinnes. I've tried a couple of times before, and got nowehre, but I'm really liking it this time. I was wary of Macinnes, despite repeated recommendations, after seeing the abysmal film of Absolute Beginners, but I do like his style. It's set in London of the late 50s/early 60s, and depicts Police corruption and the seedy 'vice' world.
Homage to Catalonia by Orwell. An interesting mix of social and military history recreated from Orwell's experience of fighting in, and observations of, the Spanish Civil War
I'm getting into Mr Love & Justice, by Colin Macinnes. I've tried a couple of times before, and got nowehre, but I'm really liking it this time. I was wary of Macinnes, despite repeated recommendations, after seeing the abysmal film of Absolute Beginners, but I do like his style. It's set in London of the late 50s/early 60s, and depicts Police corruption and the seedy 'vice' world.
The two main characters first interact on p.109. They glance at each other!
I'm getting into Mr Love & Justice, by Colin Macinnes.I think I read that 35 years ago. Good book.
Mary Queen of Scots:Antonia Fraser
I've just finished the Cloud Atlas by David MitchellI read this a couple of years ago. I just thought it was a bit self indulgent at the time. But even now I sometimes find little bits of Cloud Atlas coming back to haunt me. In retrospect, really rather good.
Mary Queen of Scots:Antonia Fraser
Her books on the wife of King Henry VIII is good too.
Mary Queen of Scots:Antonia Fraser
Her books on the wife of King Henry VIII is good too.
And Elizabeth as well :thumbsup:
TBH I did not really like Antonia Fraser's book on Mary Queen of Scots, in fact I thought it was dire. I prefer her sister's books (A S Byatt and Margaret Drabble).
Am just about to start 'Swansea Terminal', by Roger Rees.
I did contemplate that but in the interests of trying different authors I bought David Starkey's book on the same subject.
Thanks for the heads-up anyway.
Next on the agenda is an Elizabeth I biography
Mary Queen of Scots:Antonia Fraser
Her books on the wife of King Henry VIII is good too.
I did contemplate that but in the interests of trying different authors I bought David Starkey's book on the same subject.
Thanks for the heads-up anyway.
Next on the agenda is an Elizabeth I biography
Am just about to start 'Swansea Terminal', by Roger Rees.
I too am reading Barring Mechanicals by Arallsopp
Mine arrived today. A picture of me in a ditch and several mentions. Excellent.
I read all of the work in progress on Cyclechat but it's much nicer reading it all in one book.
Hunger, Knut Hamsun.
Hard going. I keep wanting to give the protagonist a good kicking for being such an arsehole.
NB. I'm told that the 1899 English translation is linguistically accurate but bowdlerised, & the 1967 US translation is total garbage, the translator apparently having too little knowledge of Norwegian, & too much confidence in his own creative talent.
Before that - Bliss, by Peter Carey. I liked it far less than any of his other books that I've read.
Am just about to start 'Swansea Terminal', by Roger Rees.
Ooh. Never heard of it/him, but just looked it up. Looks good, if only for the local interest. Don't forget to post an update.
The Dark Room ~ Minette Walters.
The Dark Room ~ Minette Walters.
Oooh I enjoyed that one - I do like Minette Walters
Mary Queen of Scots:Antonia Fraser
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
However, it is a systematic and well-argued book, dealing with a great many aspects of religions, and taking it a step further, by sometimes making an assumption that the churches might be correct on some key points of their arguments, and following through the logical outcomes.
An interesting read, and, given the number of rather limp and poorly-aimed responses from a religious standpoint (yes, I've read a couple, and skimmed some more), one that seriously rattles the cages of those who substitute belief for reason and use that as some kind of 'authority'.
Funnily enough, I just finished The God Delusion. I've not read it before, but it was on offer for £3.99 in WH Smith in Croydon, so I couldn't resist.
Why does E=mc2 by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.
Re-reading 54 by wu ming (a collective rather than a person, also responsible for Q by Luther Blissett).
Very imaginative book, chronicling cold-war shenanigans in and around Italy/Trieste/Yugoslavia. Also featuring Cary Grant, and the birth of the KGB.
I've just finished the Stieg Larsson - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.
Enjoyed them a lot.
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf.
I'm a hundred or so pages through the second one. Also enjoying them a lot. But gosh, isn't there a lot of nookie!?!? :oI've just finished the Stieg Larsson - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.
Enjoyed them a lot.
There is a huge reserves list for these books in our libraries. Cannot wait for the film to come out on DVD.
I'm currently working on The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. it's the story of Sir Robert Scott's journey to the South Pole, and his attempted return. I've read South, which is Shackleton's story of his attempt to traverse the Antarctic continent, and Endurance, which is the story of Shackleton's attempt written by Alfred Lansing. I suppose I should find something about Amundsen's journey, since he succeeded where Scott and Shackleton did not.
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf.
Ooh, what's that about?
I'm re-reading The Screwtape Letters. So funny, and although it's dated it's still bang on target :)
Just finished "Transitions" by Iain Bank. Probably my favourite author and it's his best book in a long time. Recommended :thumbsup: Interesting that he writes normal fiction as Iain Banks and SF as Iain M Banks. I'd class this book as SF but it's Iain No-M Banks. Maybe 'cos it's actually set on planet Earth, or maybe he's decided to drop the distinction between genres.
I thought it was confused, very derivative and didn't go anywhere...
The papers I write for work are dense and dry and I want to find away for the papers to be more engaging.
Which book is it?
Am just about to start 'Swansea Terminal', by Roger Rees.
Ooh. Never heard of it/him, but just looked it up. Looks good, if only for the local interest. Don't forget to post an update.
Just finished it Nuncio. I really enjoyed it, and it was great reminiscing about the places I used to go to. There is no absolute structure, you just have to go along with it. I don't know whether you have checked out the new Swansea library, its fantastic!
Reading a Nicci French whodunit.I didn't realise this until I was watching Only Connect a couple of weeks ago.
...the authors ...
Seen the film?
Good book, but not as good as Waterland, I think.
Reading a Nicci French whodunit.I didn't realise this until I was watching Only Connect a couple of weeks ago.
...the authors ...
(I've got a couple of Nicci French hand-me-downs on the bookshelf but haven't read any of them yet. Are they any good?)
Currently 3/4 of the way through "Kraken" by China Mieville. So far very good. A bit less existential than "The City and The City" and a lot more entertaining than "Iron Council"
Last Orders. 2001 - starring Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren & Ray Winstone. Pretty good.Seen the film?
Good book, but not as good as Waterland, I think.
didnt know it was a film, will look out for it. Have ordered waterland too, ta!
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
Dancing With Big Eunice by Alistair Findlay. Alistair was a social worker in Scotland until he retired, and this book of poems is about social work. Here's one.
Parenting Classes
They've put me in charge of
Parenting classes for Scotland.
Lesson number one:
this is a bairn, not a football.
Lesson number two:
a bottle does not mean
Coke, Bud or Newcastle.
Lesson number three:
above all, do not call
your first born Placenta.
Got any booze for the baby?:o You can't give a baby booze!
Got any booze for the baby?:o You can't give a baby booze!
Got any booze for the baby?:o You can't give a baby booze!
Mine did, knocked me out for 12 hours...which I believe was the desired effect ;D
Traditional remedy to guarantee a peaceful night: a pint of the fermented malt beverage of the mothers choice, to be imbibed by her.Got any booze for the baby?:o You can't give a baby booze!
Can you list them for me to avoid embarrassing incidents?
Currently on "The girl that played with fire" by Steig Larsson.
Very very good, BUT why did I choose to start the trilogy on the second book, not the first ???
I have just finished Lanark by Alasadair Gray, which is dark and bleak and ambitious, and probably not as good as it wants to be. it's another book I've been meaning to read for ages.
Are Mr Larrington and I the only fans of the Smell of Reeves and Mortimer?
I have just finished Lanark by Alasadair Gray, which is dark and bleak and ambitious, and probably not as good as it wants to be. it's another book I've been meaning to read for ages.I went through all the Alasdair Gray I could find, many years ago. Interesting books.
I have just finished Lanark by Alasadair Gray, which is dark and bleak and ambitious, and probably not as good as it wants to be. it's another book I've been meaning to read for ages.I went through all the Alasdair Gray I could find, many years ago. Interesting books.
I have just finished Lanark by Alasadair Gray, which is dark and bleak and ambitious, and probably not as good as it wants to be. it's another book I've been meaning to read for ages.I went through all the Alasdair Gray I could find, many years ago. Interesting books.
I've got 1982 Janine unread in a box somewhere. I'll have a skeg and try to find it.
I sounded a bit negative previously, probably owing to the fact that there is so much in the book to mull over! Lanark was an extremely engrossing and thought-provoking read. I enjoyed the scale and ambition, but I though the references to a Faust/Faustus-style over-reacher were extremely apt, as the author's ambition seems to outstrip his abilities. It doesn't quite hold together, and some parts are horribly self-indulgent, but it's a dazzling ferment of ideas, and the picture he paints of Glasgow is astonishingly detailed and vivid. It's one I'll have to re-read.
"Pandaemonium" by Christopher Brookmyre.
Just chewed through Transition (great)
In the kitchen by Monica Ali.
The blurb on the cover got me. It took about 90 pages to get into it and then the best bit was the chef's mad walk about about 40 pages from the end. Otherwise, meh.
Recently read the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy 5-part series at long last: and was seriously underwhelmed- just not as funny as I was expecting (particularly after the demise of Marvin).
In the kitchen by Monica Ali.
The blurb on the cover got me. It took about 90 pages to get into it and then the best bit was the chef's mad walk about about 40 pages from the end. Otherwise, meh.
This was given to me to read only last week by M.I.A. of this parish.
Currently reading "A Boy's Own Story". I've never read any "gay literature" before, not being gay it never occurred to me to do so. I didn't realise that this was "gay literature" until I started it. It seems so far to be sort of a gay "Catcher in the Rye". Did I mention that it's a "gay" book? Why is it gay? Is it gay because it's written by a gay author about a gay protagonist (mostly autobiographical I understand). The publisher seems to think that it's very important that it's a "gay" book.
In the kitchen by Monica Ali.
The blurb on the cover got me. It took about 90 pages to get into it and then the best bit was the chef's mad walk about about 40 pages from the end. Otherwise, meh.
This was given to me to read only last week by M.I.A. of this parish.
Currently reading "A Boy's Own Story". I've never read any "gay literature" before, not being gay it never occurred to me to do so. I didn't realise that this was "gay literature" until I started it. It seems so far to be sort of a gay "Catcher in the Rye". Did I mention that it's a "gay" book? Why is it gay? Is it gay because it's written by a gay author about a gay protagonist (mostly autobiographical I understand). The publisher seems to think that it's very important that it's a "gay" book.
Which of course raises the question is a gay book only for gays, I see no reason for discrimination in any way shape or form but (always a but) I think that as gay people have had to struggle to become part of the mainstream and have in the most part achieved this they should stop banner waving, or should I organise a march of banner bearing beer loving/recumbent riding straight bearded males.
Vive le difference but I feel sexuality is a private thing and not to brandished about.
Perhaps it's me age
8)
I'm just finishing the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, after recommendations from a couple of people. Meh. It's OK, it started quite well, with an interesting set-up and a couple of (OK, one) interesting characters. Shame it seems to have degenerated into a tedious serial killer romp. I doubt I'll bother reading the sequels.
I've just read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. It starts off as a beautifully imagined portrayal of the Dutch trading settlement at Dejima in pre-modern Japan, but then degenerates in a kind of WTF? way into a frankly rather ridiculous and orientalist sub-James Clavell / or even Rider Haggerd boy's own adventure before trying to rescue itself rather unsuccessfully with a moody coda. Maybe there's some kind of parodic intent, but the two elements do not gel at all. It's especially disappointing because Mitchell has real writing talent.
Vive le difference but I feel sexuality is a private thing and not to brandished about.
I have Number9Dream on a shelf to read shortly.
As a taxi driver I have picked up from the several gay pubs and clubs that are in Oxford ranging from guys in bondage gear to more moderately attired people, most have been nice approachable folk, there have however been the completely artificial camping it to max in your face effect types that (I feel) do damage to acceptance by others, couple that with marches by some gay campaigners that have taken place and you have the reverse image of that (possibly) intended, whatever I say, in this PC world, will probably be misunderstood.
Vive le difference but I feel sexuality is a private thing and not to brandished about.
Is walking down the street holding your lover's hand "brandishing it about"? Or just kissing them in public? A straight couple can do that without comment, but even today, even in London, a gay couple trying that risk serious assault. The mainstream is still some way away. If that kind of thing ever stops, maybe you'll have grounds for your straight bearded male protest. Till then, no.
No one is suggesting you are anything other than a perfectly open-minded individual, Quint, but the point is that many people out there don't share your live and let live philosophy, which is precisely why gay people feel the need to go on marches.American Psycho is good but you when you read it you will set it to one side at least once as you read it and promise your self that you will not pick it up again.
As for the camping it to the max on a night out thing, just go to any provincial town centre on a Saturday evening for brazen displays of rampant heterosexuality...
Anyway, back on topic...
After listening to Brett Easton Ellis give an entertaining interview on the Grauniad books podcast the other day, I've just picked up American Psycho - yet another one of those books I really should have read by now. I only hope the satire hasn't dated too badly.
d.
American Psycho is good but you when you read it you will set it to one side at least once as you read it and promise your self that you will not pick it up again.
It's violently pornographic in some unpleasant ways and you feel guilty reading it, but then I think that is the point.
Down and out in Paris and London. My third time round reading this old classic by G. Orwell
Ringworld Larry Niven
Years since I last read it, but its a damn good book
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
It's started well, & I like the cover. But I've just seen Flying Monkey's comment about how it goes on. Oh dear.
I'm 2/3 of the way through Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter and have just had a major BUSTED! moment. Things are going to take a turn from here on. My my, Greene could be a crafty bugger.
Er, well, me missus is Japanese - and I noticed oddities & off-putting things. It looks as if his sources of Japanese information didn't proof-read the book. Some of the names, diminutives, etc. are just plain wrong.The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
It's started well, & I like the cover. But I've just seen Flying Monkey's comment about how it goes on. Oh dear.
It's okay - you will probably disagree with me anyway! 99% of the world seems to; it's mostly only the 1% who know much about Japan who even see what I am getting at.
Er, well, me missus is Japanese - and I noticed oddities & off-putting things. It looks as if his sources of Japanese information didn't proof-read the book. Some of the names, diminutives, etc. are just plain wrong.The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
It's started well, & I like the cover. But I've just seen Flying Monkey's comment about how it goes on. Oh dear.
It's okay - you will probably disagree with me anyway! 99% of the world seems to; it's mostly only the 1% who know much about Japan who even see what I am getting at.
But it wasn't Rider Haggard like, IMO.
I've just finished A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell. I started it a number of years ago, but didn't finish it for some reason. I was prompted to pick it up again because a friend was reading it, and it's wonderful. It's great to get an insight into western Scotland in the 1950s, and the comedy of having an otter as a pet.Even when I first read that, aged about 10, I wondered about how some things didn't quite seem to add up, but now I know why they didn't I think that even if he was capable of writing one (& I suspect he found it impossible to be open, even to himself), a completely honest account wouldn't have sold, even if he could have got it published.
American Psycho is good but you when you read it you will set it to one side at least once as you read it and promise your self that you will not pick it up again.
It's violently pornographic in some unpleasant ways and you feel guilty reading it, but then I think that is the point.
Exactly my feelings.
I said almost these exact words to M.I.A. of this forum about this very book three weeks ago.
I've just finished A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell. I started it a number of years ago, but didn't finish it for some reason. I was prompted to pick it up again because a friend was reading it, and it's wonderful. It's great to get an insight into western Scotland in the 1950s, and the comedy of having an otter as a pet.Even when I first read that, aged about 10, I wondered about how some things didn't quite seem to add up, but now I know why they didn't I think that even if he was capable of writing one (& I suspect he found it impossible to be open, even to himself), a completely honest account wouldn't have sold, even if he could have got it published.
Good read, though.
I've just finished A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell. I started it a number of years ago, but didn't finish it for some reason. I was prompted to pick it up again because a friend was reading it, and it's wonderful. It's great to get an insight into western Scotland in the 1950s, and the comedy of having an otter as a pet.
I've read Maxwell's otter trilogy and the 2 available biographies, definitely an "interesting" chap, though probably not very likeable. The film version was a saccharin travesty.I've got the second and third books in the otter trilogy to read at a later date. And, yeah, certainly an "interesting" person who was happy to be by himself.
I watched the film when I was quite young and was in tears for days after. Even now, over forty years later, I still find it difficult to watch.I too cried when I watched the film as a youngster.
The film version was a saccharin travesty.
Right, have set myself the target of reading all 6 short-listed Man Booker titles by the time the winner is announced (mid October).
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FNF8uPJ7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
The New Penguin History of the World, 1,264 pages (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/ratings/stars-5-0._V192196906_.gif)
I have Number9Dream on a shelf to read shortly.
If you like Haruki Murakami, you'll like Number9Dream. Both Mitchell's first two novels were, let's say, highly influenced by Murakami.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FNF8uPJ7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
The New Penguin History of the World, 1,264 pages (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/ratings/stars-5-0._V192196906_.gif)
How does it end?
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FNF8uPJ7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
The New Penguin History of the World, 1,264 pages (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/ratings/stars-5-0._V192196906_.gif)
How does it end?
Right, have set myself the target of reading all 6 short-listed Man Booker titles by the time the winner is announced (mid October).
I'll be very interested to hear how you get on. Have to admit the Andrea Levy one doesn't appeal at all - from the brief extracts I've read, I think I would find the narrative style rather irritating over the course of a whole novel.
I really like the sound of the Tom McCarthy one though.
d.
I'm between books having lost volumes 5 and 6 of Scott Pilgrim somewhere in the depths of the house. Must make a trip to the library...Hurrah! Found them. Back on SP until I find the time to find a "proper book".
Rather embarassingly, I started on a copy of The Other by David Gutterson, recently purchased from a bargain bin, only to realise I had already read it last year... clearly it wasn't very memorable.Done that - and I can't even remember what the book was, which shows just how memorable it was.
So far have read 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, very good stuff - I think she gets into the mind of the little boy really well.
Have just started reading 'The Long Song' by Andrea Levy. So far, so good :thumbsup:
So far have read 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, very good stuff - I think she gets into the mind of the little boy really well.
Have just started reading 'The Long Song' by Andrea Levy. So far, so good :thumbsup:
I've just finished Room, I thought it was brilliant - a real page turner.
I liked Andrea Levy's Small Island so I may give the Long Song a go.
Send it to me - I'll read it for you. I like Peter Carey. ;)
d.
It has made me want to read up a bit of the history. It seems that the prevailing view (judging by the published histories and biographies, or the Wikipedia summaries of them, at least) of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell over the last couple of decades have been reversed. TM in Wolf Hall is not the same TM of A Man for All Seasons.
Might I recommend you add Peter Ackroyd's Life Of Thomas More to your reading list. It's more towards the Man For All Seasons end of the spectrum in its portrayal of More, which may or may not be a good thing depending on where your sympathies lie, but it's a fantastic read.
I've not read Wolf Hall yet but it's high on my list.
d.
I struggle with books where I'm not engaged by, say, the first 100 pages. Even doing Eng Lit at uni, if I really hated a set book I wouldn't finish it if I could get away with not discussing it in a seminar or somesuch, or didn't especially need to include it in an essay. Well done for finishing! I might take a look at the free preview and see what I think. Although the Long Song is next on my list. So many books...
I'm currently in the middle of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Very good and very readable.
I should be reading Mark Beaumont's "The Man Who Cycled Round the World" courtesy of this forum's lending library but mrs. jogler got to the post-delivery first & hasn't yet put it down ::-)
It must be good 'cause she is reading it avidly;something she very rarely does
Lanark, A life in four Books by Alisdair Gray
Just finished le Carré's Our kind of traitor. Something of an obsession, as I've read all of his previous works, but felt that - although well written and topical - it didn't have the interest of his earlier Cold War-based novels. Perfect spy remains my favourite.
Dammit, I'd promised myself Our Kind of Traitor once I've finished writing my current report! Now I can't suspend belief that it'll be his best work ever. ...
I Shall Wear Midnight, the latest Tiffany Aching novel from Terry Pratchett.+1. The book must be a plague carrier, as I'm all flu-afflicted within a week of buying it.
Absolutely perfect when you have a stinking cold and want to stay in bed :thumbsup:
I have not read the winning tome. But on past form I have never been able to finish a Jacobsen novel.
Nerd Do Well ~ Simon Pegg
Watch Spaced instead.
Nerd Do Well ~ Simon Pegg
Watch Spaced instead.
Oh really? That is such a shame. Mind you the amount of plugging that he has been doing for it recently has been close to indecent.
Matterhorn by Karl Malantes
Nerd Do Well ~ Simon Pegg
Watch Spaced instead.
Oh really? That is such a shame. Mind you the amount of plugging that he has been doing for it recently has been close to indecent.
Almost as indecent as the amount of name-dropping inside it. I met Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas, and Quentin Tarantino, and George Romero, and I used to go to the pub with Chris Martin1, and I had that Gillian Anderson in my pub quiz team2, and Peter Jackson, and Bill Nighy, and have we had George Lucas oh yes, and I was in a film with Leonard Nimoy, and George Romero's mate, and the voice of Darth Wossname and and and I'm photographed with Charlie Watts (cont. Trash, by Robyn Hitchcock) and oh fuck off >:( The only issue on which we find common ground is that the Star Wars prequels were indeed rubbish.
And I bet I had that T-shaped shirt with the alien's head on it before you did. And I wore it when I visited the Black Mailbox.
1 - Though why anyone would want to brag about this I do not know...
2 - Note for Rogerzilla and other X-Philes: this, on the other hand...
Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Seems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
"Dreams from my Father" by one B. Obama.
This was a present from my daughter a yule or two ago. I read about 200 pages whilst sitting in the waiting rooms at Southend Hospital over the past 3 days. I suppose it's reasonably well-written but hasn't filled me with enthusiasm.
Seems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
Seems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I didn't say that much and I am only half way through as wellSeems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I've not started it yet, thanks Zoiders ! (are you only Kim at weekends ?)
And yes, SC = CIA or any similar government bunch of nasties.
I didn't say that much and I am only half way through as wellSeems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I've not started it yet, thanks Zoiders ! (are you only Kim at weekends ?)
And yes, SC = CIA or any similar government bunch of nasties.
It's been in quotes and such already in the press so it's not that much of a spoiler...anyone who has read the books knows what they are like anyway and you can tell from reading the first chapter that it's going to involve them heavily.
They use people.
I didn't say that much and I am only half way through as wellSeems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I've not started it yet, thanks Zoiders ! (are you only Kim at weekends ?)
And yes, SC = CIA or any similar government bunch of nasties.
It's been in quotes and such already in the press so it's not that much of a spoiler...anyone who has read the books knows what they are like anyway and you can tell from reading the first chapter that it's going to involve them heavily.
They use people.
Finished it now.(click to show/hide)
I have not clicked on it but I sort of guessed he might get a mention from quite early on.I didn't say that much and I am only half way through as wellSeems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I've not started it yet, thanks Zoiders ! (are you only Kim at weekends ?)
And yes, SC = CIA or any similar government bunch of nasties.
It's been in quotes and such already in the press so it's not that much of a spoiler...anyone who has read the books knows what they are like anyway and you can tell from reading the first chapter that it's going to involve them heavily.
They use people.
Finished it now.(click to show/hide)
I didn't say that much and I am only half way through as wellSeems to be a back story for Culture fans about just what a real gang of bastards SC really are.Surface Detail - Ian M Banks.
Me too.
I've not started it yet, thanks Zoiders ! (are you only Kim at weekends ?)
And yes, SC = CIA or any similar government bunch of nasties.
It's been in quotes and such already in the press so it's not that much of a spoiler...anyone who has read the books knows what they are like anyway and you can tell from reading the first chapter that it's going to involve them heavily.
They use people.
Finished it now.(click to show/hide)
Git, Git, Git........I know I shouldn't have clicked it but Git, Git , Git ;)
Now behave yourself or I'll give away the plot to Zero History.....
Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku. Mind-blowing stuff.
The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen. I've been meaning to read it for years but have been spurred on by the publication of Freedom. I thought it was going to be sardonic, knowing and cruel to its characters but it's not. It's even quite funny at times, in a literary kind of way. I'm really enjoying it. I'm surprised it hasn't featured on this thread before.
The newest Iain M Banks Culture novel, Surface Detail, onna Kindle.
Another area of literature on which we shall have to agree to differ, I'm afraid! I find Slater unbearably smug. And based on a few disastrous experiences with his recipes, I find it hard to believe they can possibly be tested prior to publication.
d.
IIRC you loved Andrea Levy and didn't think much of Tom McCarthy, which is the polar opposite of my view.
I suppose, this being the Internet, I should therefore go off on a vitriolic character assassination spree and maybe compare you to Hitler, but I've long since reconciled myself to the view that other people are allowed to have different opinions on books. Even if their opinions are wrong. ;)
d.
Just because I read the book does not make me want to grab some electrodes and stick them on a man's b*ll*cks!
The One from the other - Philip Kerr
Great dialogue, interesting setting, slightly flawed plot B+
Joe Bob says check it out.
The newest Iain M Banks Culture novel, Surface Detail, onna Kindle.
It's my first ebook-only purchase.
British Gypsum's "White Book"
Just finished another random one off the shelves at work:
Wilt On High by Tom Sharpe.
Oh dear.
Unlike Toekneep and LEE, who specifically mentioned this one as a book which made him laugh out loud, I felt it was very dated and limp humour, like an embarrassing 80s ITV sitcom.
It doesn't feel fair taking a fairly throwaway book from about twenty years ago and subjecting it to a new eye. Tom didn't ask me to read the book, after all ;D
Empire Of The Clouds: When BRITAIN'S Aircraft Ruled The World ~ James Hamilton-Paterson. Recounts how in the post-war period BRITAIN had super-triff jet aer-o-planes built by brown-coated Men in Sheds and test-flown (and frequently crashed) by Chaps with moustaches and Brylcreem. And how we contrived, by the usual BRITISH combination of muddle-headedness, unscientifically-applied gittery and the odd b0rken Comet, to piss it all away to the point that we are shortly to have an aircraft carrier with no fixed-wing aircraft. On it. With a name like James Hamilton-Paterson, the author is probably a Chap too.
If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.
1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).
If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.
1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).
If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.
1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).
It seems I have done the Americans something of a disservice here as, contrary to what I had read elsewhere2, Hamilton-Paterson-Chap says that it was a combination of Rolls-Royce and Sir Stifford Crapps who flogged the RR Derwent to the Russkies. Seventeen-time winner of Soviet Moustache of the Year and all-round Professional Git Mr. J. Stalin reckoned that no-one could possibly be that stupid, so when he discovered that they could, he reportedly fell about laughing and ran around the Kremlin with a lampshade on his head. Possibly.
2 - Step forward Mr. R. Coltrane.
Aksherly, it was the R-R Nene engine that we were blitheringly stupid enough to sell to the Reds, who reverse engineered it into the Klimov RD-45 and then VK-1- which went into the MiG-15.
Oh how UN pilots in Korea must have laughed... :facepalm:
Aksherly, it was the R-R Nene engine that we were blitheringly stupid enough to sell to the Reds, who reverse engineered it into the Klimov RD-45 and then VK-1- which went into the MiG-15.
Oh how UN pilots in Korea must have laughed... :facepalm:
(Googles)
Both the Derwent and the Nene, it would appear. I knew there were two but I couldn't remember which the second one was.
Anyway, you've given me inspiration for something else to add to the Chrimble list. :thumbsup:
If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.
1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).
It seems I have done the Americans something of a disservice here as, contrary to what I had read elsewhere2, Hamilton-Paterson-Chap says that it was a combination of Rolls-Royce and Sir Stifford Crapps who flogged the RR Derwent to the Russkies. Seventeen-time winner of Soviet Moustache of the Year and all-round Professional Git Mr. J. Stalin reckoned that no-one could possibly be that stupid, so when he discovered that they could, he reportedly fell about laughing and ran around the Kremlin with a lampshade on his head. Possibly.
2 - Step forward Mr. R. Coltrane.
Currently reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio,
Currently reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio,
Me too! I must be about 75 pages ahead of you. :) How are you finding all the biology? - all I know about biology is where my 3 kids came from. :-[
Might have to check out more of Bear's work - this is my first by him.
Joss the life & times of the legendary Lake District fell runner & shepherd Joss Naylor.
Revisiting Asimov's Foundation trilogy.
'Possession' by A.S. Byatt
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
(hence the question about it in the pop quiz thread)
One of those books I probably should have read years ago but only got around to it this week because of a set of coincidences. First, it was referred to in a discussion on Riddley Walker (probably my favourite book of all time) on the Guardian books website. Then I was at my parents' house at the weekend and I noticed it on the bookshelf, so I picked it up and started reading it. And was very quickly engrossed.
It's completely bonkers but I love it.
d.
It's completely bonkers but I love it.
d.
These structural experiments were continued in Breakfast of Champions (1973), which includes many rough illustrations, lengthy non-sequiturs and an appearance by the author himself, as a deus ex machina.
Stephen Fry's Moab is My Washpot. Disappointing so far - he does seem to be getting bogged down somewhat (about 1/3 of the way through so far); not as enjoyable nor as informative as S Fry in America.
Next up is Franzen's Freedom.
I think I gave up about a 1/3 of the way through. It was ....... disappointing
Tip for you - ignore completely the Gothic victorian stories in between and then you will be fine
Stephen Fry's Moab is My Washpot. Disappointing so far - he does seem to be getting bogged down somewhat (about 1/3 of the way through so far); not as enjoyable nor as informative as S Fry in America.
Next up is Franzen's Freedom.
I think I gave up about a 1/3 of the way through. It was ....... disappointing.
Just finally got round to reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which was really rather good, in fact a classic piece - well maybe more of a lump given its size - of whimsical British fantasy, which put me in mind of Mythago Wood, The Anubis Gates or Little, Big, as well as all those William Morris novels of Victorian faerie.
I wouldn't class Mythago Wood as whimsy; it's a more ambitious and sombre work, which treats the emotions and plight of its protagonists seriously (this is even more true of the sequel). The fact that the author has a sense of humour doesn't make it a humorous book.
Surface Detail ~ Iain M Banks. Is it a bit slow, or is it just me?It's not just you - I've found all of the Culture novels to infuriatingly slow going at times.
What were your parents reading at your conception?
BibliOZ.com Birthday Best Sellers (http://www.biblioz.com/best_sellers.php?a=0&i=43622970)
(I'm not posting mine - it was pretty depressing!)
What were your parents reading at your conception?I haven't asked, but I'd like to think that they were reading anything.
Under my daughter's instruction, I am reading Graham Green. I started with "The Quiet American" which I found hard going initially but I persisted. It got better, but I felt I'd not really appreciated the first half of the book on the first reading so I read the whole lot a second time. Definitely better at the second attempt.
On that basis I am now tackling "Our Man in Havana" but haven't got very far yet.
Just finished Nova Swing by M. John Harrison - a bit 'meh' compared to Light
Just finished Nova Swing by M. John Harrison - a bit 'meh' compared to Light
Really, I thought it was better (or interesting in a different way)...
My last three have been:
Surface Detail - Ian Banks
My last three have been:
Surface Detail - Ian Banks
I've just got round to finishing this. The last word of the Epilogue made me laugh.
Very good book that; one of his best I'd say.
Just started Dr Zhivago, the writing is quite beautiful, I love what I call word artists (a couple of words and you have a complete picture as if you were familiar with the scenery - Zola (Germinal) is like that)
Just started Dr Zhivago, the writing is quite beautiful, I love what I call word artists (a couple of words and you have a complete picture as if you were familiar with the scenery - Zola (Germinal) is like that)
Is that the new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky? I've been wanting to get this since I heard about it because I always felt the first translation into English was a bit crap...
Often a problem. I remember when I read Hunger, the 1990s translator felt it necessary to comment on the two previous translations. (1) by an English woman soon after publication (1890s IIRC), whose translation he thought accurate & generally close to the right mood, but which deliberately omitted some crucial passages because of their sexual nature, & (2) by an American writer in the 1960s, which was a heap of stinking walrus crap with all the fertilising elements removed, retaining only the foul stench & unpleasant appearance, texture, & staining qualities. The translator didn't understand Norwegian well enough, & also didn't grasp the idea of translating more than just the words.Just started Dr Zhivago, the writing is quite beautiful, I love what I call word artists (a couple of words and you have a complete picture as if you were familiar with the scenery - Zola (Germinal) is like that)
Is that the new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky? I've been wanting to get this since I heard about it because I always felt the first translation into English was a bit crap...
There's very few Iain or Iain Ms that I haven't enjoyed, but I've had one sat on the bedside table for weeks now without getting around to reading it. Must do so.... I don't seem to have the attention span to read anything longer than about 3 paragraphs at the moment which is a bit shocking as I've probably read (or re-read) at least 3 or 4 books a week most weeks of my life since before I was a teenager :-\
I might take you up on that.
I t woz Feersum Endjinn wot I redd. Reminded me of Walking on Glass, as it had the same tripartite structure and throwaway ending. And I didn't like that too much, either.
I found the phonetically-written part of Feersum Endjinn the best part to read. Much like Trainspotting, it took some time to get used, to but it rewarded the effort. I really can't remember much about the rest of the book.
The Crow Road remains my favourite - I thought it combined his love of modern settings with such an aching sense of place, and the deep family secrets in the loch, far better than almost anything else of his I've read.
Often a problem. I remember when I read Hunger, the 1990s translator felt it necessary to comment on the two previous translations. (1) by an English woman soon after publication (1890s IIRC), whose translation he thought accurate & generally close to the right mood, but which deliberately omitted some crucial passages because of their sexual nature, & (2) by an American writer in the 1960s, which was a heap of stinking walrus crap with all the fertilising elements removed, retaining only the foul stench & unpleasant appearance, texture, & staining qualities. The translator didn't understand Norwegian well enough, & also didn't grasp the idea of translating more than just the words.
I finished Birdsong today. I found it incredibly moving in places.
Not my usual type of book. But I enjoyed it anyway.
I've now resolved to learn more about WW1 and to visit some of the battlefields and memorials next time I'm in France.
BTW: Sebastian Faulks is on BBC2 at 21:00 tonight. Faulks on Fiction.
So, what shall I read next?
All that stuff about slofs never fails to crack me up
I finished Birdsong today. I found it incredibly moving in places.I liked Birdsong, but not Charlotte Gray nor The Girl at the Lion d'Or. Have you tried the Pat Barker Regeneration trilogy?
...
So, what shall I read next?
I finished Birdsong today. I found it incredibly moving in places.
Not my usual type of book. But I enjoyed it anyway.
I've now resolved to learn more about WW1 and to visit some of the battlefields and memorials next time I'm in France.
Patrick O'Brian's HMS Surprise and, although I've found it a moderately good read, I don't think this am equal to Richard Woodman's chronicles of Nathaniel Drinkwater (based around a real-life character) and, having devoured the first 2 volumes (6 books already) have now ordered, and await with drooling lips, the 3rd and 4th volumes. Yum-yum!
As the Observer er, observes… 'Action to the bone, no romantic bilgewater'.
Has plenty of sailing jargonese and old words that has me 'scrambling', as if called 'to arms', for the dictionary.
I think I might start re-reading the James Bond books.
Shunt - Tom Rubython's breeze-block sized biography of James Hunt.
Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas"
It's twisted... very twisted... ;D
Bloody hell. Someone admits to reading Dan Brown in a forum renowned for its erudition?
Odd is it not that even in this enlightened age the J word is still mostly accepted as ok while (quite rightly) the N or P word is not.
Having said that I still do not understand how a religion transformed itself into a nationality (maybe I should start a thread on this one)
Odd is it not that even in this enlightened age the J word is still mostly accepted as ok while (quite rightly) the N or P word is not.
Having said that I still do not understand how a religion transformed itself into a nationality (maybe I should start a thread on this one)
Odd is it not that even in this enlightened age the J word is still mostly accepted as ok while (quite rightly) the N or P word is not.
Having said that I still do not understand how a religion transformed itself into a nationality (maybe I should start a thread on this one)
That's the thing. And 'Jew' is not a term like either 'Nigger' or 'Paki' (which I presume is what you mean by your coy capitals). It is a term used by Jewish people (Jews) and has been as long as Jews have been using the English language. Read some Howard Jacobson and you'll soon get over your problem with the word! It's all about context...
Why on earth are you being so offensive toward me and my comments
Odd is it not that even in this enlightened age the J word is still mostly accepted as ok while (quite rightly) the N or P word is not.A label for a religious or ethnic group is not inherently offensive, & is rarely seen as such, unless invented for that purpose. It can be used rudely, but that merely shows the attitudes of the person using the word, not how it is generally perceived.
Odd is it not that even in this enlightened age the J word is still mostly accepted as ok while (quite rightly) the N or P word is not.A label for a religious or ethnic group is not inherently offensive, & is rarely seen as such, unless invented for that purpose. It can be used rudely, but that merely shows the attitudes of the person using the word, not how it is generally perceived.
Jew is no more a term of abuse than Spaniard or Hindu. As already said, it is commonly perceived as neutral by Jews, & routinely used by them to reference themselves.
The words Paki & Nigger began as insults, & were always used mostly by those who wished to insult. These words carry an emotional weight which has never been attached to 'Jew', but only to such unambiguously offensive (& meant to be) words as Yid & Kike.
I fear you are suffering from the same mistaken perceptions as those sad people who get het up at the mention of blackboards.
Oh, dear.
This all springs from a misconception.
As I recall 'The devil rides out' is about Satanism.
The characters in the book, who worship the devil, refer to Jesus Christ as 'the Jew' but do not refer to other people in this way.
This appears to be a way of expressing their contempt for this particular person. The contempt is expressed in their refusal to say his name. It's part of the plot of the novel, rather than an extension of any widely used form of abuse.
That's not to say people won't refer to one's ethnic or religious background when attempting to bully or intimidate, of course. The terms 'Jew-boy' 'Paki' 'Nigger' were in everyday use when I was at school. Children can be such a joy.
It's a horrible book anyway.
I obviously touched a raw nerve somewhere or your style of writing is to abrasive
...I'm reading Denis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out.
Most of the way through "The Bonfire of the Vanities".
Neither. You just got completely the wrong end of the stick. I was just commenting on your post and you went off on one for reasons best known to yourself.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov again. I've forgotten so much of it!
Father Frank by Paul Burke. V good so far. Basic plot - priest doesn't believe in God, drives taxi part time and falls in love. Hilarity ensues etc.
Down & Out In Paris & London.
After finally getting round to Nineteen Eighty-Four last year and absolutely loving it, I've decided it's high time George Orwell featured more prominently in my reading. Such an elegant writer. I've also dipped into some of his essays recently and no matter what the subject, he's always captivating. Can't believe it's taken me this long in life to realise what a fine prose stylist he is.
d.
You should read his guide to writing of you like his style. It's a short essay "Politics and the English Language".
Have just looked on Amazon and shall get this, it pays to be on this threadFather Frank by Paul Burke. V good so far. Basic plot - priest doesn't believe in God, drives taxi part time and falls in love. Hilarity ensues etc.
Just finished re-reading Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson, which manages to be a historical novel, an alternative history and a science-fiction novel in one book, and utterly brilliant all round. His best since The Years of Rice and Salt. IMHO, if there was less snobbery amongst literary critics about 'genre' fiction, both these novels would have won some heavyweight prizes.
I agree. The Mars series was good but pretty generic SF. Years of Rice and Salt was brilliant. Haven't read Galileo's Dream will have to look get it now.
Down & Out In Paris & London.
After finally getting round to Nineteen Eighty-Four last year and absolutely loving it, I've decided it's high time George Orwell featured more prominently in my reading. Such an elegant writer. I've also dipped into some of his essays recently and no matter what the subject, he's always captivating. Can't believe it's taken me this long in life to realise what a fine prose stylist he is.
d.
And the best bit is -Down & Out In Paris & London.
After finally getting round to Nineteen Eighty-Four last year and absolutely loving it, I've decided it's high time George Orwell featured more prominently in my reading. Such an elegant writer. I've also dipped into some of his essays recently and no matter what the subject, he's always captivating. Can't believe it's taken me this long in life to realise what a fine prose stylist he is.
d.
You should read his guide to writing of you like his style. It's a short essay "Politics and the English Language".
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
Eschew gratuitous philological exhibitionism.
At the moment "It's all about the bike" by Robert Penn. He does seem a little blinkered on what a bike should be...
Just got round to finishing Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Really enjoyable and one of the few books I have read recently that you felt could have gone off on completely different tangents at certain points in the book, creating completely different novels but I got the impression that most of them could have been good.
I preferred it massively to the Baroque Cycle books which I didn't get anywhere with.
Just got round to finishing Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Really enjoyable and one of the few books I have read recently that you felt could have gone off on completely different tangents at certain points in the book, creating completely different novels but I got the impression that most of them could have been good.
I preferred it massively to the Baroque Cycle books which I didn't get anywhere with.
Completely agree.
Just got round to finishing Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Really enjoyable and one of the few books I have read recently that you felt could have gone off on completely different tangents at certain points in the book, creating completely different novels but I got the impression that most of them could have been good.
I preferred it massively to the Baroque Cycle books which I didn't get anywhere with.
Completely agree.
I’m not slagging the Baroque Cycle in particular, just that it didn’t work for me – after Cryptonomicon it was a great disappointment to me – having said that, some other friends of mine loved it, just personal taste I guess.
I was given almost all of the Harry Hole series for my birthday.
That should keep me busy for the summer...
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Actually I find his column rather dull (preaching to the converted after all) but the book is much better. Recommended for anybody from the reality-based community.
...I was given almost all of the Harry Hole series for my birthday.
That should keep me busy for the summer...
I've got four of these in the "Pending" tray but why oh why oh why have the first two not yet been translated from the Scandiwegian ???
I was given almost all of the Harry Hole series for my birthday.I'll get started on them as soon as I finish "Cooking for Geeks", and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" on my eReader.
That should keep me busy for the summer...
Currently reading 'Cider with Roadies' by Stuart Maconie
Have you read Cider with Rosie and the sequel?
Filth and debauchery. I'm amazed Laurie Lee didn't have an early death from venereal disease. He wanders through countries like a mild-mannered angel with a hard-on.
I was given almost all of the Harry Hole series for my birthday.
That should keep me busy for the summer...
I've got four of these in the "Pending" tray but why oh why oh why have the first two not yet been translated from the Scandiwegian ???
Now my pending tray is empty chiz.
A tragic occurrence
:(
...
Who wants it after me. Am happy to post it on once I'm finished. As long as you don't live on the moon and expect First Class.
...
Who wants it after me. Am happy to post it on once I'm finished. As long as you don't live on the moon and expect First Class.
Me please!
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sieg Larrson. Riveting stuff.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sieg Larrson. Riveting stuff.
I highly recommend the whole trilogy, they were the first books I bought for my Amazon Kindle and I really enjoyed them!
One of our Thursdays is Missing - latest Jasper Fforde. Glad he's stopped the disappointing Toytown books for the moment. Will report back.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sieg Larrson. Riveting stuff.
I highly recommend the whole trilogy, they were the first books I bought for my Amazon Kindle and I really enjoyed them!
They're not a trilogy, isn't the 5th due to be published at it was written before the 4th, which never was.....or something like that....
I'm reading Two Wheels In The Dust by Anne Mustoe (signed 'Happy Travelling!' by Anne herself, but not to me). It's the story of her trip in Nepal and India with two companions, following the journeys of Sita & Rama through various holy places mentioned in the Ramayana, including the disputed temple at Ayodhya. This was 1998, and she had previously visited in 1996, when the dispute was still fresh. The descriptions of the two visits is very interesting.
I think Bernie is my favourite fictional detective of all time.
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004) is a book by Jon Ronson based on research by John Sergeant about the U.S. Army's exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal. The title refers to attempts to kill goats by staring at them. Research was carried out in part by Jon Ronson, but also by documentary filmmaker John Sergeant.???
Calling all Bernie Gunther fans! Have just finished Philip Kerr's latest offering, Field Grey.
I wasn't overly impressed with the last one as I just wasn't interested in his Cuban adventures. This book however is mainly set back in Germany again, which is what I was really craving.
Over 500 pages finished in 9 hours - it was bloody brilliant :thumbsup: I think Bernie is my favourite fictional detective of all time.
Calling all Bernie Gunther fans! Have just finished Philip Kerr's latest offering, Field Grey.
I wasn't overly impressed with the last one as I just wasn't interested in his Cuban adventures. This book however is mainly set back in Germany again, which is what I was really craving.
Over 500 pages finished in 9 hours - it was bloody brilliant :thumbsup: I think Bernie is my favourite fictional detective of all time.
I've bought but haven't started Field Grey yet! I agree that Bernie is a great character and would recommend him to anyone. Have you read Kate Atkinson's series featuring Jackson Brodie? The first is "Case Histories", set in Cambridge and featuring three separate cases. Also well worth reading.
John Buchan - Mr Standfast. Richard Hannay :thumbsup: Scary politics/racial stereotypes etc. etc. It's nearly 100 years old though, and good fun.
The Descendent by Iain M Banks
The Descendent by Iain M Banks
What this? Even Mr Banks' webby SCIENCE seems not to have heard of it.
The Descendent by Iain M Banks
What this? Even Mr Banks' webby SCIENCE seems not to have heard of it.
It's one of his short stories, found in "The State of the Art" collection.
Finished The Leopard by Jo Nesbo, and The Descendent by Iain M Banks, now on Feersum Endjinn by same.
This last one is pretty good, but some of the sections are very hard to read as they are written in phonetics.
Finished The Leopard by Jo Nesbo, and The Descendent by Iain M Banks, now on Feersum Endjinn by same.
This last one is pretty good, but some of the sections are very hard to read as they are written in phonetics.
It goes from difficult to almost impossible to read, one of the main characters has become a hawk and is talking to a sparrow that has a lisp!!!!
Over the last 6 months or so I've read Middlemarch (twice), Pickwick Papers, Our Mutual Friend, Desperate Remedies (Hardy's first) and currently re-reading The Mayor of Casterbridge (which seems too simplified, I preferred the style of the former, which was not well-received). Also King Lear, The Tempest, re-read Twelfth Night and currently Hamlet, and Peter Carey's new book "Olivier and Parrot in America".That's the argumentum ex silentio - a logical fallacy. There's plenty of evidence to link the plays to someone called William Shakespear, & a total lack of any other candidate of that name.
I've also been re-introduced to a theory I've known about for some time but not got into:- that William Shakespeare of Stratford was not author of the plays and poems, in fact there is nothing whatever to link him to any of them, and very little link to him to the theatre either though he certainly made a fair bit of cash somehow. A more likely contender is Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford who had the necessary classical learning, experience of the court, had travelled extensively in Italy, and was known as a first-class writer in his lifetime. For more info try The De Vere Society - welcome (http://www.deveresociety.co.uk/index.html) or SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS - THE MONUMENT CHANGES THE PARADIGM - SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS: THE MONUMENT (http://www.shakespearesmonument.com/) are two of many sites.
there is simply not a shred of evidence produced in his lifetime that he was either an author and surprisingly little evidence that he was even an actor. The only documents that link him with the theatre are two which record him being a shareholder in the Globe Theatre, and three which link him as an associate of known actors of the King’s Men and the Chamberlain’s Men.It is, quite simply, garbage. The claim that "there is simply not a shred of evidence produced in his lifetime that he was either [sic] an author" is totally, utterly, false. There are numerous references, for example in the Palladis Tamia of 1598, where he's described as an author of unpublished sonnets, as well as named as the author of 12 of the plays. He was named during his lifetime as author of other Shakespear plays. And much, much, more.
There are no letters written by him, even though he lived apart from his wife and children for many years. There are no letters written by his contemporaries which describe any literary activities on his part.
There is nothing in the surviving papers of his literary contemporaries which refer to Shakspere as a fellow writer;An outright lie - also from the de Vere society.
There's plenty of evidence to link the plays to someone called William Shakespear, & a total lack of any other candidate of that name.
Indeed - and that, as far as I can see, is the entire argument. But note that it is equally applicable to Ben Jonson (began his career as a bricklayer, like his father), among others. The other supposed arguments are all specious. The lack of letters, diaries, etc., for example, applies equally to many writers of his time, e.g. Christopher Marlowe (the son of a shoemaker). Nobody back then saw any reason to preserve then.QuoteThere's plenty of evidence to link the plays to someone called William Shakespear, & a total lack of any other candidate of that name.
I'd be interested to see it, if you have any links? The argument as I have heard it is that WS couldn't possibly have written the plays as he lacked the necessary education and experience - so who did? -
When people actively and militantly disbelieve that a creative and intelligent person could continue to educate themself post formal schooling, they say much about themselves and nothing at all about the subject of their disbelief.
Just finished the first in the trilogy of "Berlin Noir" by Philip Kerr. Set in 1930's Berlin, the main character is a private detective and it's written in the style of Philip Marlow ("she had the kind of smile that would make the Pope go weak at the knees"). Well written and a good storyline, a bit gruesome at the end but looking forward to reading the second and third now.
After listening to a podcast interview with Gary Shteyngart, I've ordered a copy of Super Sad True Love Story. Looking forward to that.
After listening to a podcast interview with Gary Shteyngart, I've ordered a copy of Super Sad True Love Story. Looking forward to that.
Now reading and enjoying very much. Like a funnysexysmart Nineteen Eighty-Four. He draws a very convincing near-future dystopia - the äppärät device that features heavily is too close to the iPhone for comfort.
Map Addict: A Tale of Obsession, Fudge & the Ordnance Survey - by Mike Parker.Correction: thought I recognised the author as a kindred spirit. A curate's egg of a book. I wouldn't buy it, recommend it, or read it again, but there are bits in it which make me not regret having read it.
I looked at the first page & recognised the author as a kindred spirit.
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. Set in 1940's Berlin, an elderly couple start leaving cards around the city denouncing Hitler. The characters are so well drawn and despite the awfulness of the situation there are moments of humour.
I'm trying to remember where I heard about Alone In Berlin recently - probably on the Guardian books podcast. But I do remember thinking it sounded interesting. I'll add it to the list...
d.
I'm trying to remember where I heard about Alone In Berlin recently - probably on the Guardian books podcast. But I do remember thinking it sounded interesting. I'll add it to the list...
d.
You probably have - they have just rediscovered a missing chapter from the original transcript. Apparently it adds a significant change to the book. They are planning on a new edition with the extra chapter as an appendix.
I heard the radio4 version on "Classic Serial" last year
I’m waiting to read ‘Where the bodies are buried’ by Christopher Brookmyre – Ms Weasel purchased this newly published book yesterday and I’ll get to read it after her (I tried the quite frankly pathetic “But I read quicker so maybe I should read it first?” approach but quite rightly she wasn’t having any of it).
In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut.
It's a bit weird but good all the same.
I’m waiting to read ‘Where the bodies are buried’ by Christopher Brookmyre – Ms Weasel purchased this newly published book yesterday and I’ll get to read it after her (I tried the quite frankly pathetic “But I read quicker so maybe I should read it first?” approach but quite rightly she wasn’t having any of it).
I'm waiting my turn of this one from the library. I understand that it's a non-comic crime novel, so it's under the name of Chis Brookmyre, like Iain Banks / Iain M Banks? I met him once, and asked him a question about Spammy (from Country of the Blind & Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks), sad eh? My two brothers-in-law know him to say "hello" to from going to watch St. Mirren of a Saturday.
I’m now starting on to James Kelman’s ‘You have to be careful in the Land of the Free’.
much of the plot and dialogue for the film was lifted directly from the book
much of the plot and dialogue for the film was lifted directly from the book
This is getting regrettably rare, especially since the legal requirement that all screenplays are written by Andrew Davies.
much of the plot and dialogue for the film was lifted directly from the book
This is getting regrettably rare, especially since the legal requirement that all screenplays are written by Andrew Davies.
I'm not sure it's such a good thing - see Lord of the Rings, much of the horribly stilted dialogue remains. It's only a blessing they didn't leave in the damn poetry.
With the Maltese Falcon, I think it gives the movie a rather formal air, and though it works well in that case, I can think of another Humphrey Bogart movie of the same era which needed to be made into a screenplay - Key Largo. it was adapted from a play, and it shows. Obviously, having Humphrey Bogart, Edward G Robinson, Lauren Bacall etc in it means it has star quality, but it really needs to break away from the constraints of its source material.
Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass.
I knew that Magyar belonged to the Ugro-Finnic group, part of the great Ural-Altaic family, "Just", one of my new friends told me,"as English belongs to the Indo-European." He followed this up by saying that the language closest to Hungarian was Finnish.
"How close?"
"Oh, very!"
"What, like Italian and Spanish?"
"Well no, not as close as that..."
"How close then?"
Finally, after a thoughtful pause, he said, "About like English and Persian."
Just starting on Patrick Leigh Fermor's Between the Woods and the Water.QuoteI knew that Magyar belonged to the Ugro-Finnic group, part of the great Ural-Altaic family, "Just", one of my new friends told me,"as English belongs to the Indo-European." He followed this up by saying that the language closest to Hungarian was Finnish.
"How close?"
"Oh, very!"
"What, like Italian and Spanish?"
"Well no, not as close as that..."
"How close then?"
Finally, after a thoughtful pause, he said, "About like English and Persian."
Just starting on Patrick Leigh Fermor's Between the Woods and the Water.QuoteI knew that Magyar belonged to the Ugro-Finnic group, part of the great Ural-Altaic family, "Just", one of my new friends told me,"as English belongs to the Indo-European." He followed this up by saying that the language closest to Hungarian was Finnish.
"How close?"
"Oh, very!"
"What, like Italian and Spanish?"
"Well no, not as close as that..."
"How close then?"
Finally, after a thoughtful pause, he said, "About like English and Persian."
Does the second edition of "Programming in Scala" count?
Didn't think so ;D (functional programming makes my head hurt)
Just finished The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - v enjoyable indeed. I liked her other two books The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton too. But this was the best yet.
Women in the Kitchen (According to Mr Hirst)
Women are very difficult to get out of kitchen shops.
Women are obsessed with cleanliness to the extent that it imperils our natural resistance to bugs and germs.
Men in the Kitchen (According to Mrs Hirst)
Men want a huge amount of praise for anything they do.
Men are reluctant to follow recipes in the same way that they refuse to ask for directions when they are lost.
(I recently re-read "The End of Mr. Y" by Thomas, a book that I've really enjoyed on both readings, and only then thought to look up if there was anything else of hers around to read).
(I recently re-read "The End of Mr. Y" by Thomas, a book that I've really enjoyed on both readings, and only then thought to look up if there was anything else of hers around to read).
I picked up a copy of this at the weekend in Fopp for £2. It doesn't seem such a bargain when weighed against the CD purchases.
Not doing much reading at the moment though, have a growing pile of books awaiting opening.
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald. Tautly written, subtle and very moving.
The first 2 Stieg Larsson Millennium books, in English this time. What is hailed as good translation is in fact rather clumsy and maybe downright wrong in parts.
Have just finished 'Started Early, Took My Dog'. Kate Atkinson is a bloody brilliant writer :thumbsup:
Just started World War Z by Max Brooks.
Just started World War Z by Max Brooks.
Currently being filmed in Glasgow. Apparently it looks just like Philadelphia if you change the street signs and bring in a few dozen yellow taxis.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-14533210
I don't want to spoil it for you, but he dies in the end.
Well, actually, the beginning.
Just started Laurent Fignon's autobiography. He's pretty ruthless about Greg Lemond... very good read.
The Good Life: Up The Yukon Without A Paddle by Dorian Amos.
Yet another book about Canada, eh, and Alaska - this time from a couple who decided to up sticks and move from Cornwall to the Yukon. A surprisingly engaging read, despite more typos than I can shake a stick at - doesn't gloss over the fact that living in the middle of nowhere, even by Canadian standards, is bloody hard work and, oftentimes, downright dangerous. There's an interesting account of a close encounter with a hungry black bear - personally, I'd have been too busy either a) running away, b) bricking it or c) both to have noticed such detail!
I've decided to do the Booker Prize (shortlisted of course) reading challenge again (deadline October 18th), see nominees at the bottom of the article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8744013/Man-Booker-Prize-favourite-Alan-Hollinghurst-doesnt-make-shortlist.html
I'll let you know how I get on. I think these books look a lot friendlier than last year's offerings.
Empire of the Skies by Somebody Double-Barrelled, the story of post war British aviation or 'How to Destroy an Entire Industry by Complacency' or 'The British Disease' or 'An Exercise in Futility'. Some wonderful stories about some truly great individuals but ultimately a tale of utter financial stupidity and folly, all at our expense. I hope to god no one ever writes the similar story of the UK motor industry . . . Made me angry, very angry.
'Rule 34' by Charles Stross. Yes, THAT Rule 34.
"...and Moxie showed hime the Goatsedance video followed by a brisk webtour of the shocksites of Lothian and Borders, culminating in the infamous penile degloving accident fansite which apparently left him with PTSD and permanent scarring on the insides of his eyelids"
Almost halfway through Reamde, classical Stephenson writing traits present, though probably his most mainstream (itself not a criticism, just a bit more approachable). Enjoying it tremendously, hence the quietness emanating from my end :p
Frere
Almost halfway through Reamde, classical Stephenson writing traits present, though probably his most mainstream (itself not a criticism, just a bit more approachable). Enjoying it tremendously, hence the quietness emanating from my end :p
Frere
I didn't think that was out for another five days, how did you get it?
Finished 'The Sisters Brothers'. F*cking brilliant. I laughed out loud many times, it is so darkly humorous. The ending was rather rushed though for my liking. I want this book to win (so far).
My rating: 9.5/10
Next book to read: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman. I believe it will be a weepie.
Finished 'The Sisters Brothers'. F*cking brilliant. I laughed out loud many times, it is so darkly humorous. The ending was rather rushed though for my liking. I want this book to win (so far).
My rating: 9.5/10
Next book to read: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman. I believe it will be a weepie.
That's helped me make my decision which to read next! I've just finished Snowdrops by A.D. Miller which I enjoyed although it was somewhat depressing! Something darkly humorous sounds good so The Sisters Brothers is up next :thumbsup:
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Those poor Americans, it's the end of the world again. A man and his young son travel on foot through a blasted, frozen lanscape; nothing grows, everything is covered in ash – it's worse than my back garden. They are heading for the coast to find... who knows? They live by scavenging and have to avoid others that have resorted to cannibalism. So, not terribly upbeat but a terrific book all the same – fantastic writing and short enough to be read at a single sitting. Demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit I suppose but best avoided if you are affected by the gloomy as frankly there are few jokes.
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Those poor Americans, it's the end of the world again. A man and his young son travel on foot through a blasted, frozen lanscape; nothing grows, everything is covered in ash – it's worse than my back garden. They are heading for the coast to find... who knows? They live by scavenging and have to avoid others that have resorted to cannibalism. So, not terribly upbeat but a terrific book all the same – fantastic writing and short enough to be read at a single sitting. Demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit I suppose but best avoided if you are affected by the gloomy as frankly there are few jokes.
Wasn't this one made into a film recently with Vigo Mortensen as the dad?
Two wheels over Catalonia by Richard Guise
Yes - far and away the most depressing film I have ever watched (not read the book, though)The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Those poor Americans, it's the end of the world again. A man and his young son travel on foot through a blasted, frozen lanscape; nothing grows, everything is covered in ash – it's worse than my back garden. They are heading for the coast to find... who knows? They live by scavenging and have to avoid others that have resorted to cannibalism. So, not terribly upbeat but a terrific book all the same – fantastic writing and short enough to be read at a single sitting. Demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit I suppose but best avoided if you are affected by the gloomy as frankly there are few jokes.
Wasn't this one made into a film recently with Vigo Mortensen as the dad?
^^ Rocket Boys is a wonderful, wonderful book. The father/son relationship is ... Yeah, just read it. In my all time top 10.
I've just finished Patrick DeWitt's 'The Sisters Brothers' and agree with HW it is a definite contender for the Booker prize.
I've now started Half Blood Blues.
They announce the winner on the 18th, I might not manage to read all of the remaining 4 books by then!
Finished all the shortlisted books. I wouldn't have thought of reading them if it hadn't been for this thread. For a cycling forum, yacf has a broad influence.
I enjoyed reading them all. I did struggle a bit at the begining of Half Blood Blues. I think thats about the language. Strangely I didn't find that with Pigeon English which had similar use of slang.
While I enjoyed reading them all, I couldn't say that any of them were outstanding. There were bits of both Snowdrops and Jamrach's Menagerie that thought were excellent, but only bits. The Sisters Brothers was the least involving. Silly without being funny. The descriptions of jaz in Half Blood Blues were evocative. I've never heard that much in it, but the descriptions make me think I'm missing something.
Something in The Sense of an Ending feels like its trying too hard, beautiful, but no passion. Pigeon English feels a bit like being lectured at, I can see that as a set book in future GCSEs.
I wouldn't normally have read any of these. Reading through the covers in a bookshop, I don't think any would have appealed and I would have headed back to my normal diet of SciFi/Fantasy, but its been a rewarding experience. I might do it again next year. Will it make me read more fiction in the meanwhile.... I'm not sure. I assume that since they made the shortlist, these books are some of the better writing this year. Given that none of them had the overall "wow" factor for me, how appealing will other books be that didn't make the shortlist? Or maybe the judges are clueless. Probably though, I'd be more inclined to give something different a try now. I might not think "wow", but I'll probably enjoy reading it.
Overall, I think the one I most enjoyed was Jamrach's Menagerie.
Dave
Just finished a couple of PTerry's books - "I Shall Wear Midnight" and "Unseen Academicals".
Dunno if it's just me, but it seems to me that his writing has really kicked up a gear since he was diagnosed with Alzheimers. I like all of the Tiffany Aching books, but "Academicals" is a definite return to form for the 'regular' Discworld novels.
What I read on my holidays:
Rocket Boys – Homer H. Hickham
Growing up in West Virginia in the 50's with a focus on amateur rocketry. Contains the line ' the best I had ever done was a kiss on a girl's front porch after a dance...' and is consequently a work of genius. After all, that's pretty good going isn't it? Especially for the 1950s. Brilliant story, cracking book, read it!
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Those poor Americans, it's the end of the world again. A man and his young son travel on foot through a blasted, frozen lanscape; nothing grows, everything is covered in ash – it's worse than my back garden. They are heading for the coast to find... who knows? They live by scavenging and have to avoid others that have resorted to cannibalism. So, not terribly upbeat but a terrific book all the same – fantastic writing and short enough to be read at a single sitting. Demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit I suppose but best avoided if you are affected by the gloomy as frankly there are few jokes.
Wasn't this one made into a film recently with Vigo Mortensen as the dad?
Yes thats the one. I really enjoyed that book.
It'll be Mad Max for the lot of us and only those with l33t wheelbuilding 5ki11z wil survive.
Just finished this. I'm not sure what to make of it, tbh. I dislike the worldview that places depravity and bestial behaviour as the default position of the human spirit in extremis. I just don't think it's true.
The Church seems to feel that we are damned for eternity after Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, bit much, it was only an apple :o
The Church seems to feel that we are damned for eternity after Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, bit much, it was only an apple :o
Oooh! I read that book too! Bit of a curate's egg ...
But rarely does one read some ‘apocalyptic’ novel in which society is successfully rebuilt
But rarely does one read some ‘apocalyptic’ novel in which society is successfully rebuilt
There's a subgenre along these lines (mostly by British authors) for which Brian Aldiss coined the term "cosy catastrophe": for example, The Shape of Things to Come by H. G. Wells, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and the Tripods novels by John Christopher.
Empire Of The Clouds: When BRITAIN'S Aircraft Ruled The World ~ James Hamilton-Paterson.
Having finally got up to date with the Joseph Delaney Spooks series (lightweight, seems to be losing it a bit as the series progresses.)
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. Superb story (loosely based on a real life scenario) about a couple who fight a propaganda war against Hitler after the death of their son in the war. Highly recommended.
Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. I think I may incorporate bits of his route into next summer's tour.
Part way through Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage, one of the best cycle touring books I've read. Thank you MSeries for the recommendation.
I may put this book in the Lending Library when I've finished it, if anyone would be interested.
Second is the absolutely brilliant "Culinary Reactions" by Simon Field (not Simon French as I told Torslanda yesterday). Geek and cookery together, I am in heaven :)
God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
He may have revised his opinion recently.
I think I've given up on Richard Jeffries for the moment - his descriptions of nature are magical, but his plots and dialogue are dreadfully dull. :(
The Diamond Queen ~ Andrew Marr. Biography of Her Maj. What possessed my to buy this I ken not, but it's jolly interesting.
Got Thunder and Sunshine by Alastair Humphreys for Christmas, while his journey is amazing his writing is considerably less so, he seems to skim over the journey with little detail, I would not buy anything else by him ::-)
Got Thunder and Sunshine by Alastair Humphreys for Christmas, while his journey is amazing his writing is considerably less so, he seems to skim over the journey with little detail, I would not buy anything else by him ::-)
Empire Of The Clouds: When BRITAIN'S Aircraft Ruled The World ~ James Hamilton-Paterson.
Aeroplaniacs might like to know that there is a new coffee-table edition of this most excellent tome, containing about 25% less text but lots more pictures of BRITISH aeroplanes, plus a few manky FOREIGN ones.
The Etymologicon - quite an amusing read for those who like word play, and How To Teach Quantum Physics To Your Dog - a but harder going, even though it is dumbed down quite a lot!Ooh, thanks for the warning about the Etymologicon - have now downloaded it on my iPad Kindle
Both 99p for Kindle ATM.
The Etymologicon - quite an amusing read for those who like word play
Currently reading Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boxer-Beetle-Ned-Beauman/dp/0340998415/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325600555&sr=8-1)
Just started on Julian Barnes's The Sense Of An Ending, which is a pure joy to read.
Just started on Julian Barnes's The Sense Of An Ending, which is a pure joy to read.
Having finished it this morning, I'm revising that opinion. I don't think "joy" is the right word at all. It's actually quite painful. But it's bloody brilliant. It's very "literary", with all that entails (good and bad - I can see why it won the Booker), but I'm a white, middle-class, middle-aged man, so it speaks volumes to me. Hell, apart from a few details, it could almost be about me. And I wanted to go back to the start and read it all over again immediately, which is not something I say about a book very often.
d.
I think one of the main 'joys' of the book is the character of Tony, who is so 'normal' and thinks that he has been leading this normal life can exact such extraordinary events/consequences. And never underestimate the power of suggestion!
I just received a copy of Barring Mechanicals by a Mr Allsopp, about a little jaunt he rode on. Not had a chance to get started on it, but it has a good review from a Sue Archer.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
It's started well, & I like the cover. But I've just seen Flying Monkey's comment about how it goes on. Oh dear.
It's okay - you will probably disagree with me anyway! 99% of the world seems to; it's mostly only the 1% who know much about Japan who even see what I am getting at.
Am reading the last of the 4 book series by Christopher Paolini, which is called 'Inheritance'. I am now more than happy to forgive the 3rd book.
On my Kindle I am reading the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are so well written!
I am reading 'The Left Hand of God' by Paul Hoffman.
It's dreadful. So dreadful that it's not even at the 'guilty pleasure' level of rubbish.
One reviewer (which I wish I had read before purchase) said "The story, though, is all over the place, like mad woman’s custard."
I don't believe in burning books but this would probably serve me better as kindling than fiction.
Am reading the last of the 4 book series by Christopher Paolini, which is called 'Inheritance'. I am now more than happy to forgive the 3rd book.
On my Kindle I am reading the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are so well written!
The Return of Sherlock Holmes. They are brilliant stories!
Am reading the last of the 4 book series by Christopher Paolini, which is called 'Inheritance'. I am now more than happy to forgive the 3rd book.
On my Kindle I am reading the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are so well written!
The Return of Sherlock Holmes. They are brilliant stories!
I think Sherlock Holmes stories are great aswell. I like when he talks about going somewhere like Yorkshire and it takes all day. Or Farnham being right out in the sticks.
Another thing that struck me recently is that all Dr Watson's patients would have been private, ie paying. I hadn't really thought about that before.
How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel on my Kindle.
A very clear explanation of some principles of quantum physics; It feels like I'm getting a real understanding of the subject, albeit at the most basic level.
How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel on my Kindle.
A very clear explanation of some principles of quantum physics; It feels like I'm getting a real understanding of the subject, albeit at the most basic level.
I'm still reading that. I can only manage a couple of pages at a time, otherwise it feels too much like work :(
...
I have Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie lined up next. Sounds like a good old-fashioned ripping yarn. Maybe I should have read that first. And David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet, which I'm building up to - sounds like a bit of an epic.
d.
...
And David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet, which I'm building up to - sounds like a bit of an epic.
d.
I'm on page 400 and something of this at the moment, having just read David Mitchell's "Black Swan Green" and "Ghostwritten" in close succession. I'm really pleased to have found this fabulous writer. The 400 odd pages have whizzed by...
...coming towards the end of Andy Allsopp's excellent Barring Mechanicals
Branson by Tom Bower, actually interesting and thought provoking
Over halfway through this, unbiased it does not come across as, vitriol drips from every click of the keyboard, maybe Branson screwed this guys wife but something has made him hate the bloke.
Just finished The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell.
A friend has recommended S@motność w Sieci (Loneliness on the Net) by Janusz Wiśniewski, letting me borrow a translation into Ukrainian she just finished reading.
As one could guess from the title, it's not coming across as a cheery bit of writing. I'm persevering because of her recommendation (though I have my suspicions) and because it's been ages since I've read any proper literature.
Just finished Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds. An ok story but I wouldn't say the characters were up to his usual standard.There's a new book in that series out this week. The author is doing an event as part of the Essex Book Festival at our church (big 330 seat venue in central Colchester) which was sold out within a month.
Now reading one of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency books, just for a bit of light relief and I know I'll get through it quickly, and it was free.
I'm about a hundred pages into 'Under the Dome' by Stephen King. A weighty tome for sure but the start is encouraging.
Reading Super Cannes by Ballard atm. I recently read Cocaine Nights, and this is said to be a companion. It does feel like he's taken the same idea, and just changed the setting.Ditto. Cocaine Nights blew me away (DYSWIDT?!?), so Super Cannes was a real letdown.
Inspired by R4, I've just read everything by J L Carr that Reading library
Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw's book on quantum mechanics. Trouble is, I can't stop reading it - in my mind - in an annoying "isn't the universe brilliant?" northern voice.
I'm about a hundred pages into 'Under the Dome' by Stephen King. A weighty tome for sure but the start is encouraging.
That's lord of the flies Stephen King style that is. I enjoyed it.
Having finished Cycling Home From Siberia by Rob Lilwall.
I’m working now on "Until Undeath do us Part” by Anthony Camber. “Like Shaun of the Dead, but gayer”. Anthony Camber is a pseudonym, the author is an ex colleague of mine. It’s set in Cambridge so many of the places described are familiar.
I had to look up "prolix" as I haven't encountered the word before. It's a good word.
I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
I thought PD James was supposed to be a better writer than that.
PD James is a great writer.
Try 'Children of Men'. It's good.
I'm reading Madame Bovary by someone French...
I have a feeling it's not going to end well for Mme B.
Have just had to abandon Eat Pray Love after 38 pages of trying trying trying to get something from it. I didn't. Good luck to Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, I hope he got a lot of money in the divorce settlement.
Have I mentioned how pathetic this book really is??
Death Comes To Pemberley didn't improve as it went on. Awful book. Just bog standard fan fiction. I thought PD James was supposed to be a better writer than that
d.
The good thing about Death comes to Pemberley is that the characters remain similar to how Austen developed them.
Have just had to abandon Eat Pray Love after 38 pages of trying trying trying to get something from it. I didn't. Good luck to Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, I hope he got a lot of money in the divorce settlement.
Have I mentioned how pathetic this book really is??
Oh, dear. I rather enjoyed it. She is an annoying know-it-all though. But crusty says that's because it takes one to know one.
Just finished 'The Gift of Rain' by Tan Twan Eng.
A very good read, and very moving in places. A great read if you are into swords and/or martial arts.
I had to look up "prolix" as I haven't encountered the word before. It's a good word.
It is a good word, though I always think it sounds like it should mean something different.QuoteI enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
I generally shy away from sequels not by the original author and I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the PD James. So Pride & Prejudice & Zombies doesn't really appeal, tbh, though I imagine at least it might be a bit more amusing and a lot less pretentious than Death Comes To Pemberley.
d.
On sequels not by the author, I generally avoid them as well, but I recently read the Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon...
Decided to get the 'Game Of Thrones' series for the Kindle-slab - I've heard enough about the TV series that it finally piqued my interest. Rather enjoying it in spite of the sometimes blatantly obvious Tolkien influence.
I'm cheering for the Dark Lord. I mean, it's not his fault - if you're named Darken Rahl, there aren't that many career paths open to you. Darken Rahl, Fresh Milk Daily? I don't think so.
America fosters the idea that the ideal woman is the weak woman. Just look in any Vouge at the emaciated but often physically unfit women who are deemed beautiful. Meanwhile, in GQ, equally beautiful men are expected to maintain their physique through weightlifting and exercise. If women were held to that standard of physical fitness, we'd have much different expectations of them. Women would no longer be victims, portrayed as fragile creatures in need of men's care and protection. They would be thin and muscular, capable of any task that fell before them.
Natural Navigator:Tristran Gooley.Its a book that's intended to teach people how to navigate,using natural clues.We all do this to a certain extent anyway.I don't know if this book will help me navigate or not,but what it is helping me with is understanding the countryside, I love so much.On a personal level I think cycling has helped trigger this of for me.Travelling through the countryside at about 15mph,experiencing the change of temperature etc,much more of a experience than looking at the world from within a car.All in all a good book written in a easy to understand text.
Round Ireland in Low Gear
by Eric Newby, Wanda Newby
a wee cracker of a book just started it
About to start Iain M Banks' Against a Dark Background
Finally finished the Complete Father Brown Stories by GK Chesterton.
Now onto something I downloaded a couple of weeks ago: Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie. I like his sense of humour.
I'm into The Life And Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. It really is laugh out loud funny, which is more than you can say of any other eighteenth century novel.
Reamde by Neil StephensonInteresting.
hmm. Possibly better than Cryptonomicon. A LOT better than Snow Crash, thankfully.
I read pretty much all of Graham Greene before I was was 20. Must revisit some of them again.I am afraid a lot of things were curtailed around the age of sixteen when I fell in love with Castrol R and a particular BSA 650cc motor bike, even Wimmin took a distant second place, all books for a while were technical manuals
I'm currently on the new Tudor Mantel piece.
I read pretty much all of Graham Greene before I was was 20. Must revisit some of them.again[edit - oops]
I'm currently on the new Tudor Mantel piece.
Pride and Prejudice. How have I not read this before? it's brilliant!
I avoided most of the classics whilst at school, mainly because I was in a low set for English (not that you can tell now :) ).
Later in life I thought I should start catching up, Dickens left me cold, Austen I liked but my favourite, which hit me like mike with P&P, was Anna Karenina.
Back on topic, I am reading Bad Science, recommended for those that, like me, have a loathing for the advert claims for lotions and potions (i.e. 92% said they saw a improvement* (*sample size 15)).
I have just finished Home by Toni Morrison, which was sent to me by a friend. It is set in the Deep South in the wake of the Korean War. It's short, a novella really, and she has such a light touch that the acts of violence are so much more shocking. They are essential to the story and an understanding of the cesspit that was (and possibly still is) that part of America. I've known her by reputation only until now (She is a Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winner) but I'll definitely be reading more. I urge you to seek this one out. In spite of what I've said, it is not a violent book (I tend to avoid those). She never misses a stitch and is so poetic.
Self Help by Edward Docx.
Self Help by Edward Docx.
Version 10, eh?
I don't get The Catcher In The Rye. Honestly, what a WhingerI think you have to read it as an angst ridden self obsessed teen.
I don't get The Catcher In The Rye. Honestly, what a WhingerI think you have to read it as an angst ridden self obsessed teen.
If I read it now I'd probably just want to tell him to grow the fuck up and get over himself.
I don't get The Catcher In The Rye. Honestly, what a WhingerI think you have to read it as an angst ridden self obsessed teen.
If I read it now I'd probably just want to tell him to grow the fuck up and get over himself.
Our next Reading Group selection is 'The Chemistry of Tears' by Peter Carey. Many think this will be on the long list for the Booker Prize, but we shall see come mid-July when they announce them.
About 20 years after buying it, I finally got round to reading AS Byatt's Possession. It's rather good.Yes, I really like it. I like her short stories too, but the rest of her novels are a bit ponderous.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
And no, I'm not twelve years old - although I think this could be one of the best YA novels (albeit a little long) ever.
While looking for that, I stumbled across The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley. I'd tried to read it as a kid, but found it a bit dull. Coming back to it as an adult, I am impressed by the lightness of Kingsley's wit, and the way he manages to lampoon moralising, 'improving', tales while writing a clear Christian socialist morality into the novel itself. He is unafraid to use pagan mythology and the emerging science of evolution and geology to develop the story, which I found surprising, given the date. Stodgy in places, but I was laughing out loud in others. It made me reassess my view of Kingsley.
While looking for that, I stumbled across The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley. I'd tried to read it as a kid, but found it a bit dull. Coming back to it as an adult, I am impressed by the lightness of Kingsley's wit, and the way he manages to lampoon moralising, 'improving', tales while writing a clear Christian socialist morality into the novel itself. He is unafraid to use pagan mythology and the emerging science of evolution and geology to develop the story, which I found surprising, given the date. Stodgy in places, but I was laughing out loud in others. It made me reassess my view of Kingsley.I liked it when I was kid but I haven't read it as an adult. I should.
Now on Brighton Rock (Graham Greene), it is very good, I vaguely remember the film as being excellent, hope they never re make it, nobody could be that goodThey have. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Rock_%282010_film%29 I didn't like it.
Mary Queen of Scots by Anonia Fraser
Want me to tell you how it ends?
no thanks,I prefer to wait to the end of the book to find out.
;D
It's quite like Raymond Chandler writing for fans of Bravo Two Zero.
I've just read my first Jack Reacher novel! I guess this is the blokey bloke's equivalent of 50 Shades.
They're by Lee Child, this one was "Bad Luck and Trouble" or something equally macho ;D
Now, it's artistic ambitions may be limited, but it was a hell of a page-turner. Brilliant writing, if that's the sort of thing you're after. It's quite like Raymond Chandler writing for fans of Bravo Two Zero. Snappy dialogue; sparse prose that does the job; fast-moving plot with cliff-hangers and reveals at the end of every chapter :P
(This also allows me to rubbish the comments about Tom Cruise playing Reacher in the forthcoming movie. Yeees, Cruise is about 60% of the size of Reacher - but this is 99% irrelevant to the story, and to Reacher's character. )
Reamde by Neil StephensonInteresting.
hmm. Possibly better than Cryptonomicon. A LOT better than Snow Crash, thankfully.
I've had Reamde on my Kindle for ages but haven't got round to reading it yet. Personally, I loved Snow Crash but thought that Cryptonomicon was absolute trash, with The Diamond Age being 'meh' at best.
David Millar 'Racing through the dark'
Chris Brookmyre - Where The Bodies Are Buried
Just started it this morning. Never read any Brookmyre before, though I've heard good things about him. But I must say I'm not hugely impressed so far.
Reg Harris by Robert Dineen
... like a Scottish Carl Hiaasen mixing polemic with OTT characterisation.
OT I know but my first bike was a Macclesfield made reg harris
Reg Harris by Robert Dineen
What do you reckon? Completely scandalised yet?
d.
It was difficult to put the book down untill I finished reading it.The most engrossing book I've read for a long time.
How much is true? I find it hard to disbelieve the general tone.
David Millar 'Racing through the dark'
The boy Millar used to race BMX on a track built and run by a colleague.
he won his first road race aty the top of a hill that is on many of my regular routes.
There our similartity ends and I dissapear in the background choking on Millars dust ;D
Now I'm revisiting a book I lightly skimmed many years ago - Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I've read a few of his other works, but I felt drawn back to this one. It's at once a knowing and a brutally raw account, and you can see the way in which he tries hard to avoid really thinking about what he actually experienced in Dresden.
Just over one chapter into it, and it is the first book in a while to make me cry.
So it goes.
Just read 'the secret race'. I have a feeling that because he was heavily involved in a team that was systematically doping, his perceptions are that everyone was doing it. There is some interesting insight into Ferrari (a very talented sports scientist) and Fuentes, and the representation of Lance as a texan mafia don. How much is true? I find it hard to disbelieve the general tone.
And now I am reading the new Pratchett 'Dodger'. Entertaining so far.
The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet - David Mitchell
This was one of the first books I bought for my kindle when I got it at the start of this year but I'm only just getting round to reading it. Wish I'd started it sooner. It's wonderful! One of those books that's a pure joy to read for the sake of reading alone, just to savour the words. But it's a cracking story so far too.
I don't know if, strictly speaking, it's possible to open a novel with a coup de théatre, but it's a book that certainly hits the ground running.
I've now added the rest of David Mitchell's oeuvre to my to-read list too.
d.
What did you think of Cloud Atlas?
I've not read many of Mitchell's works, but would recommend Black Swan Green (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/apr/16/fiction.davidmitchell). It sort of plays with the idea of the coming of age novel without being too clever for its own good.
How much is true? I find it hard to disbelieve the general tone.
Yup, same here. Certain details may or may not be entirely accurate but it generally has the ring of truth about it - especially the portrayal of Lance and Riis, and other riders like Landis, Ullrich and Hincapie. My feeling is that it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know in general terms but fleshes it out with names, dates and places. Coyle has said there was quite a lot of stuff left out because he couldn't corroborate it, which is reassuring. And it's quite well written, I thought.
As you say, lots of good stuff about Ferrari and especially about Fuentes. Celayo sounds like a very interesting character too.
Tbh, I found the most difficult bits to read were the bits about riding the Tour with a broken collarbone. Ouch!
d.
I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
On Monday my freshly laundered pile of shortlisted Booker's arrived :) Deadline - Tuesday 16th October.
I thought I would tackle Will Self's Umbrella and get it out of the way. I had been assured that I would get something profound from it.
Brief premise: The story mainly concentrates on the lives of two people: a Dr Busner, a psychiatrist at Fiern Hospital and his patient, a Miss Dearth, who has spent many decades in there. It is set across three timelines.
I prepared myself to loathe this book but by page 7 I had been sucked in. The non-stop ramble seems to take on a life and through the mist, an astonishing story takes place. It is imaginative, richly humane and brilliantly conceived. For a book that is entirely unsentimental, you do feel a range of emotions. I have never felt the inclination to read any of Will Self's books and the desire to hit him over the head with a big bat at the start of reading this was strong. However, I do think this book is the work of a genius.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
On Monday my freshly laundered pile of shortlisted Booker's arrived :) Deadline - Tuesday 16th October.
I thought I would tackle Will Self's Umbrella and get it out of the way. I had been assured that I would get something profound from it.
Brief premise: The story mainly concentrates on the lives of two people: a Dr Busner, a psychiatrist at Fiern Hospital and his patient, a Miss Dearth, who has spent many decades in there. It is set across three timelines.
I prepared myself to loathe this book but by page 7 I had been sucked in. The non-stop ramble seems to take on a life and through the mist, an astonishing story takes place. It is imaginative, richly humane and brilliantly conceived. For a book that is entirely unsentimental, you do feel a range of emotions. I have never felt the inclination to read any of Will Self's books and the desire to hit him over the head with a big bat at the start of reading this was strong. However, I do think this book is the work of a genius.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
I started with "Swimming Home", and finished it in one night, it's only 141 pages...
I prepared myself to loathe this book but by page 7 I had been sucked in. The non-stop ramble seems to take on a life and through the mist, an astonishing story takes place. It is imaginative, richly humane and brilliantly conceived. For a book that is entirely unsentimental, you do feel a range of emotions. I have never felt the inclination to read any of Will Self's books and the desire to hit him over the head with a big bat at the start of reading this was strong. However, I do think this book is the work of a genius.
I prepared myself to loathe this book but by page 7 I had been sucked in. The non-stop ramble seems to take on a life and through the mist, an astonishing story takes place. It is imaginative, richly humane and brilliantly conceived. For a book that is entirely unsentimental, you do feel a range of emotions. I have never felt the inclination to read any of Will Self's books and the desire to hit him over the head with a big bat at the start of reading this was strong. However, I do think this book is the work of a genius.
Well, that's high praise indeed coming from someone who professes not to like Will Self! ;D
I was going to hold off buying a copy for myself until it came out in paperback, but now thanks to your review, I'm itching to get into it asap. :thumbsup:
I shall have to hold off until payday (next week) though.
I'm also very keen to read Ned Beauman's The Teleportation Accident, which was on the longlist but didn't make the shortlist. I enjoyed his debut novel, Boxer Beetle, very much indeed, and this new one sounds like more of the same.
d.
Half-way through Game of Thrones. Only 6 more books to go! I thank you.
Doesn't bode well at all for those struggling through it on audiobook.Half-way through Game of Thrones. Only 6 more books to go! I thank you.
It's worse than you think. Each one is longer than the previous. Book six is over 1000 pages. I've just finished working though all of them. As commented upon upthread, after a good start, it drifts somewhat into soap opera (if science fiction can have "space opera", perhaps this is "mace opera"). Still readable, but I found it increasingly difficult to care about characters last seen in a chapter 500 pages previously.
Game of Thrones, once more.
My son said: "Go on Dad, you'll enjoy these."
Me: Maybe, I dunno. They're so long though, and there's … HOW MANY BOOKS!!!!
So I've started the first one. "Whassthehellgoingon!" I'm thinking, struggling through the first 50 pages. "Who the hell is that!" flicking to the back pages for reference.
Ignoring this year's Booker shortlist for a moment and going back to 2010, I've just downloaded The Finkler Question because the Kindle edition is currently going for just 99p.
The Severed Alliance by Jonny Rogan.
By coincidence I read A Game of Thrones last month. It took me a while to get through it, so I decided to read some lighter/shorter stuff before starting on the next book.
Since then I've read:
Watch Over Me- Daniela Sacerdoti
Two Women- Martina Cole
The Obree Way- Graeme Obree
The Forgotten Garden- Kate Morton
All of them were good, particularly The Forgotten Garden which is very well written with great historical detail and kept me interested all the way through.
<hands over ears> "Don't tell me, don't tell me!!"
Just started the 2nd book in the series now … A Clash of Kings
<hands over ears> "Don't tell me, don't tell me!!"
Just started the 2nd book in the series now … A Clash of Kings
Hahaha - I promise not to reveal anymore, rip-roaring adventure abounds ;D
Started reading Will Self's Umbrella this morning...
Wow. :o
Wish I didn't have to come to work today. I just want to sit in a comfy corner and carry on reading it until I've finished.
d.
I have departed from the Booker list, for now, as I realised I had no chance of reading the last three in 10 days or so, plus I got hold of a copy of Stephen Lawhead's The Spirit Well, book 3 of The Bright Empires series. This is what I am reading now, it's good, very very good.
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore - Oh. My. Lord. I thought that 'The Sense of an Ending' by Julian Barnes was good (it won last years) but this is one hell of a book. A man who is newly separated but middle-aged is taking a break and is embarking on a walking holiday in Germany. Whilst he looks back on his life, the woman who runs the B n'B is also contemplating her life and her marriage.
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore - Oh. My. Lord. I thought that 'The Sense of an Ending' by Julian Barnes was good (it won last years) but this is one hell of a book. A man who is newly separated but middle-aged is taking a break and is embarking on a walking holiday in Germany. Whilst he looks back on his life, the woman who runs the B n'B is also contemplating her life and her marriage.
Youve piqued my interest, so I downloaded a sample to my Kindle. Interesting. Promising start, makes me want to read more. Except...
It opens with a description of the main character standing on the deck of a boat, and apparently he's "looking up at the waxing moon".
Gah!
This really irritates me. For two reasons: a) the author obviously doesn't know the meaning of the word "waxing" (her editor should have caught this) - the moon may well have been waxing but this is information is neither useful nor relevant (nor interesting) in the context; and b) it shows that she's just grasping for an adjective because she feels she needs one there rather than because it adds anything (I'm reminded of Elmore Leonard's ten rules for writing, though it was adverbs rather than adjectives that he proscribed).
I have departed from the Booker list, for now, as I realised I had no chance of reading the last three in 10 days or so, plus I got hold of a copy of Stephen Lawhead's The Spirit Well, book 3 of The Bright Empires series. This is what I am reading now, it's good, very very good.
And just to confuse my poor little brain a bit more I had an Amazon delivery today, 2 books about Cultural and Social History of Catalonia and Bernard Cornwell's new book (1356).
Back to multitasking on the books, I think :)
Iain Bank's latest Culture novel - The Hydrogen Sonata
So far its another goody. Lots of ships with silly names in this one.
Iain Bank's latest Culture novel - The Hydrogen Sonata
So far its another goody. Lots of ships with silly names in this one.
Yay!
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.I liked :-)
Only 2 chapters into it with 3 very interesting characters already thoroughly introduced, with lots of potential for magically realistic strangeness downstream. I hope he wins the Nobel this year as he's the only one on the list I've ever read!
Contemplating obtaining new copy of les Grande meaulnes. (Dont lend books to people) Only book he wrote. Has stayed with me for decades.
Just finished "The Right Stuff". Loved the subject matter, but the writing style almost stopped me from getting through the first couple of chapters.
I am 300 pages into Wolf Hall, so have no chance of finishing it all by tomorrow night :facepalm:
It's one of Salvatore's favourites. I like Pooter's Cummings and Gowing joke, and their reaction to it. I get a lot of that myself.
It's one of Salvatore's favourites. I like Pooter's Cummings and Gowing joke, and their reaction to it. I get a lot of that myself.
Iain Bank's latest Culture novel - The Hydrogen SonataI'm struggling with this, very disappointing so far. (I'm a huge IMB fan too, so had high hopes)
So far its another goody. Lots of ships with silly names in this one.
Wow - big congratulations to Hilary Mantel who has won the Man Booker Prize for 'Bring up the Bodies'. Only woman to win it twice :)
I don't know about the rest of the field that year off hand, but that was worthy of a prize.
D, have you tried Barbara Pym?
D, have you tried Barbara Pym?No... but a quick google suggests I ought to. She sounds right up my street. Thanks for the tip. As if I need more stuff to add to my already enormous to-read pile...
Just think... Hilary Mantel would have earned none of these firsts if Regeneration had won in 1991 as it deserved to.
d.
Just think... Hilary Mantel would have earned none of these firsts if Regeneration had won in 1991 as it deserved to.
d.
if Regeneration had won in 1991, would Ghost Road have won a few years later as well?
Delta of Venus by Anais Nin.
Delta of Venus by Anais Nin.
aka 50 Shades for people with a brain. ;)
d.
'Delta of Venus' is pure fantasy stuff, and really very funny if you choose to take it that way.
'Delta of Venus' is pure fantasy stuff, and really very funny if you choose to take it that way.
Yes, hence the "with a brain" comment. It was meant to be a compliment on your superior choice of porn! ;)
d.
I have re-read Buchan’s John Macnab which is a great autumn read, especially after a commute via Richmond Park when the deer rut is on.
Now following it up with the bittersweet The Return of John Macnab by Andrew Greig.
I have re-read Buchan’s John Macnab which is a great autumn read, especially after a commute via Richmond Park when the deer rut is on.
Now following it up with the bittersweet The Return of John Macnab by Andrew Greig.
I'm reading Sophie Hannah's novels at the moment. Started them in the wrong order, having picked a couple up at Tesco - A Room Swept White and Kind of Cruel - and now I have Little Face and The Other Half Lives. I'll probably get the rest at some point too.I'd never heard of her, so I don't know how/why I picked this in my (virtual) basket, but I really liked it.
Just picked up a copy of Cyclings Greatest Misadventures in a charity shop. Hope none of you or I am not in there. ;D ;DThat was a free ebook on Kindle a month or so ago. I downloaded it but gave up halfway through - as you read it, you will probably discover why!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_History , 3rd book in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition trilogy.Stuff did actually happen in the last 3rd, but at a very leisurely pace. (apart from some brief motorcycle courier action, that was less leisurely).
Apparently I'm reading SF about designer denim jackets. But it's intriguing!
It took 200 pages for anything to actually happen. There is more technology in a single paragraph of Neuromancer. But it's great writing - there's something clever about modern culture on every page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_History , 3rd book in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition trilogy.Stuff did actually happen in the last 3rd, but at a very leisurely pace. (apart from some brief motorcycle courier action, that was less leisurely).
Apparently I'm reading SF about designer denim jackets. But it's intriguing!
It took 200 pages for anything to actually happen. There is more technology in a single paragraph of Neuromancer. But it's great writing - there's something clever about modern culture on every page.
Really enjoyed this, and N has just declared similar. Despite the denim content.
currently reading...
Queen Lucia, the first in EF Benson's Mapp & Lucia series. Loving it so far.
I have re-read Buchan’s John Macnab which is a great autumn read, especially after a commute via Richmond Park when the deer rut is on.
Now following it up with the bittersweet The Return of John Macnab by Andrew Greig.
One of the very very few books (along with Touching the Void) I literally couldn't put down on my first reading. I like Andrew Greig's novels and the memoirs/meditations on golf and fishing.
On a similarly mountaineering theme, I've started Wade Davis's Into The Silence: the Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest. Interesting, but I'm finding the National Geographic prose style and lack of hard editing slightly distracting at times. It has the feel of a good book that's been produced too quickly - the plates are thrown together in what appears to be a completely random order, and some of the writing is sloppy and clichéd, in ways that could easily have been tidied. But so far it's an interesting take on the 1920s Everest expeditions.
Daniel Friebe's Eddy Merckx biog. Very good. Very good indeed.
Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe - Norman Davies
A book about countries that no longer exist. I'm only part way in and it's a gem. The author studied under the great A. J. P. Taylor and taught Polish History at the University of London. The prose is lovely and I wish I had bought this as a real book instead of on Kindle as it has maps,
Very thought provoking on the mutability of national identity. In some cases people remain stationary and their national identity changes (the old northern British kingdoms for example) in others their identity remains the same but the geographic location shifts (the five, ten or fifteen depending on how you count them Burgundies).
Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe - Norman Davies
A book about countries that no longer exist. I'm only part way in and it's a gem. The author studied under the great A. J. P. Taylor and taught Polish History at the University of London. The prose is lovely and I wish I had bought this as a real book instead of on Kindle as it has maps,
Very thought provoking on the mutability of national identity. In some cases people remain stationary and their national identity changes (the old northern British kingdoms for example) in others their identity remains the same but the geographic location shifts (the five, ten or fifteen depending on how you count them Burgundies).
Just picked up a copy of Cyclings Greatest Misadventures in a charity shop. Hope none of you or I am not in there. ;D ;DThat was a free ebook on Kindle a month or so ago. I downloaded it but gave up halfway through - as you read it, you will probably discover why!
Finally got my reading mojo on and not only have I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, but I have read over a third of LoTR. Always wanted to read this books since childhood and it is a nice feeling to finally get around to it
Finally got my reading mojo on and not only have I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, but I have read over a third of LoTR. Always wanted to read this books since childhood and it is a nice feeling to finally get around to it.
It is quite striking how much is left out of the films. And what a good read it has been. Might get on and join a book club later this year. I will also be looking back over this thread for more suggestions I think.
On the twenty-second, I decorated a number of nurses with Bronze Stars and also Lieutenant James H. Fields of the 4th Armored Division with the Medal of Honor. I told Gaffey I did not want Lieutenant Fields sent to the front any more, because it has been my unfortunate observation that whenever a man gets the Medal of Honor or even the Distinguished Service Cross, he usually attempts to outdo himself and gets killed, whereas, in order to produce a virile race, such men should be kept alive.
It is interesting to remember that the average Maltese has never seen a mountain, a river, a lake, a forest or a railway train, and, according to my friends, he has no desire to meet any of them.
A Room With A View
Read it once many years ago, though I'm not sure I finished it then. Enjoying it hugely. It's striking how faithful the Merchant-Ivory film is to the book and I wonder how much that is affecting my feelings towards it. (I adore the film, of course.)
d.
Does the book have Julian Sands inna field innit? Sigh ...
JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
No, I'm not twelve... but after taking the piss out of them for so long, I decided that I really should give JK Rowling half a chance and at least try one of the Harry Potter books. It's only fair, and I figured if I hated it then at least I'd have a reason to carry on taking the piss.
Y'know, it's really not that bad. Sure, it's not Shakespeare, but it's a decently entertaining read. I feel a bit bad for ripping into it so much in the past.
My only criticism so far isn't the book, but the cult it's spawned. You can't buy the Kindle ebook from Amazon UK, oh no. That'd be too simple. Instead, Amazon diverts you to "Pottermore", JK Rowling's own online store, and you have to buy it from there and then have it zapped to your Kindle (or other ebook reader of choice - they support a bunch of them). I wouldn't mind, but I had Amazon gift card credit to spend and instead I had to pay proper money.
(I do, for the record, think sci-fi books can be big, after all describing an entirely new universe or future can be worthy of lots of words, but those words do need to advance a story. Otherwise I'm reading a literal description of what might as well be a really big garden.)
In the midst of the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of him and tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together, embracing its head with its arms, and polishing it so vigorously that it seemed to almost part company with the body, and the slender thread of a neck was exposed to view; scraping its wings with its hind legs and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coat-tails; going through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was perfectly safe.;D
Just finished Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series and started on the Saxon series...I enjoyed the grail series, but it'll be a few years before I can read any more of the sword wielding ones. They start to blur.
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared ~ Jonas Jonasson.
Swedish oddness.
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared ~ Jonas Jonasson.
This is currently 20p for Kindle so I've downloaded it.
Just started Jo Nesbo's latest, Phantom.
round the world on a bicycle part 1 by tomas stevens . he rode a 50" ordinary cycle. free from amazon kindle . intresting reading :).
"The Food of Spain" by Claudia Roden.
Brilliant, it is.
I've just finished re-reading An Ungodly Child by Rachel Green. The next instalment, Sons of Angels, has just been epublished and I wanted to revisit Laverstone before got into it as it's a couple of years since I read it the first time.
I'd forgotten how funny it is. Not in a huge, punny way like Terry Pratchett or Piers Anthony, but with lots of little comments and links that made me laugh out loud. It's fast-paced and light and an incredibly easy read!
I had never seriously considered the impact and meaning of Socialist in the National Socialist, I didn't even realise that word Nazi was derived from the German for National.
AIUI, the German Workers' Party prefixed the words "National" and "Socialist" to their name purely as an expedient means to attract voters.
A majority of scholars identify Nazism in practice as a form of far-right politics. Far right themes in Nazism include the argument that superior people have a right to dominate over other people and purge society of supposed inferior elements. Adolf Hitler and other proponents officially portrayed Nazism as being neither left- nor right-wing, but syncretic. Hitler in Mein Kampf directly attacked both left-wing and right-wing politics in Germany, saying:QuoteToday our left-wing politicians in particular are constantly insisting that their craven-hearted and obsequious foreign policy necessarily results from the disarmament of Germany, whereas the truth is that this is the policy of traitors [...] But the politicians of the Right deserve exactly the same reproach. It was through their miserable cowardice that those ruffians of Jews who came into power in 1918 were able to rob the nation of its arms.
The radical Nazi Joseph Goebbels, hated capitalism, viewing it as having Jews at its core
The Nazis, he had written in his latest, are wedded to a sort of aesthetico-moral fallacy, which is that if a man has blond hair, blue eyes and strong features, then he will also be brave, loyal, intelligent and so on. They truly believe that goodness has some causal relationship with beauty. Which is idiotic, yes, but no more idiotic than you are, Egon. When you see a girl like Adele Hitler with an innocent, pretty face, can you honestly tell me you don't assume she must be an angelic person? Even though it makes about as much sense as astrology.
Staying slightly off topic for a minute... I found the reference to the origin of the term Nazi - it wasn't in the Ned Beauman book, it was in Mark Forsyth's Etymologicon, and it goes something like this: long before the NSDAP came to power, the name Nazi was used in Bavaria to mean a simpleton (a diminutive form of the name Ignatz, cf Paddy in Irish jokes). The fact that it also worked as a diminutive of National Socialist was happy coincidence. Hence it was initially used as a derogatory term by those who opposed the NSDAP and Hitler hated it (the NSDAP themselves preferred the diminutive form NaSo, apparently).
At least, that's how Forsyth tells it. I don't know if any of that is actually true, and there were a number of other "facts" in the Etymologicon that I thought were rather questionable. The general level of research in the book is "stuff I found on the internet" - that's not my opinion, Forsyth admits as much in his notes at the end of the book. It's an amusing theory though.
Amusing, yes. Plausible? No. Sounds to me that if there was any basis in it, that would have become common parlance and understanding at the time.
Then I realised you were talking about The Teleportation Accident which looks much more interesting (don't mind me I'm having a very confudes day). However with a Kindle version costing more than paperback+vat? no thank you, that's cheeky.
Staying slightly off topic for a minute... I found the reference to the origin of the term Nazi - it wasn't in the Ned Beauman book, it was in Mark Forsyth's Etymologicon, and it goes something like this: long before the NSDAP came to power, the name Nazi was used in Bavaria to mean a simpleton (a diminutive form of the name Ignatz, cf Paddy in Irish jokes). The fact that it also worked as a diminutive of National Socialist was happy coincidence. Hence it was initially used as a derogatory term by those who opposed the NSDAP and Hitler hated it (the NSDAP themselves preferred the diminutive form NaSo, apparently).
At least, that's how Forsyth tells it. I don't know if any of that is actually true, and there were a number of other "facts" in the Etymologicon that I thought were rather questionable. The general level of research in the book is "stuff I found on the internet" - that's not my opinion, Forsyth admits as much in his notes at the end of the book. It's an amusing theory though...
Nazi
1930, noun and adjective, from German Nazi, abbreviation of German pronunciation of Nationalsozialist (based on earlier German sozi, popular abbreviation of "socialist"), from Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei "National Socialist German Workers' Party," led by Hitler from 1920.
The 24th edition of Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (2002) says the word Nazi was favored in southern Germany (supposedly from c.1924) among opponents of National Socialism because the nickname Nazi, Naczi (from the masc. proper name Ignatz, German form of Ignatius) was used colloquially to mean "a foolish person, clumsy or awkward person." Ignatz was a popular name in Catholic Austria, and according to one source in World War I Nazi was a generic name in the German Empire for the soldiers of Austria-Hungary.
An older use of Nazi for national-sozial is attested in German from 1903, but EWdS does not think it contributed to the word as applied to Hitler and his followers. The NSDAP for a time attempted to adopt the Nazi designation as what the Germans call a "despite-word," but they gave this up, and the NSDAP is said to have generally avoided the term. Before 1930, party members had been called in English National Socialists, which dates from 1923. The use of Nazi Germany, Nazi regime, etc., was popularized by German exiles abroad. From them, it spread into other languages, and eventually was brought back to Germany, after the war. In the USSR, the terms national socialist and Nazi were said to have been forbidden after 1932, presumably to avoid any taint to the good word socialist. Soviet literature refers to fascists.
Reading 'Bedlam', the new Brookmyre.
Reading 'Bedlam', the new Brookmyre.
Chris or Christopher?
Interesting. I've only read one of his and it was a "Chris" - wasn't all that impressed but I think the "Christophers" would be much more up my street.
d.
I've started Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford, though I fear it slightly exceeds my current mental capacity...
Hmm, I'd never noticed there was a Brookmyre dichotomy. That's what I get for sitting at the back of the class and paying no attention.
Jack Reacher can probably simultaneously kill ten men by merely blinking at them
Just finished "The Hundred Year Old Man who climbed out of the window and disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. It's funny book, the main character is a bit like Forrest Gump in that he ends up meeting world leaders, for the first three quarters of the book it had me laughing, but it got a little contrived towards the end. I'd still recommend it though.I'm reading that just now, too.
Hmm, I'd never noticed there was a Brookmyre dichotomy. That's what I get for sitting at the back of the class and paying no attention.
You can probably be excused because it seems to be a fairly recent development in his career and, afaict, not as pronounced as the Iain [M] Banks dichotomy - I believe Where The Bodies Are Buried is the first "Chris" and that only came out in paperback six months or so ago.
As an aside, in trying to verify this information via the medium of Wikipedia, I discovered that Brookmyre has a recurring hero, Jack Parlabane. I wonder where he got the name from - one of my all-time favourite novels, The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies, has an anti-hero called Parlabane. Not exactly a common name... If Brookmyre counts Robertson Davies as an influence, that definitely makes me want to read more of his work.
d.
Just started on the slightly inaccurately-named Shetland Quartet by Ann Cleeves, not to be confused with Hal 8's equine consort Anne of Cleves. Apparently one of said quartet is to appear on the anbaric television later this month, starring Dougie Henshall.
Just found this in a charity shop. Invaluable.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MuYqJX5EJ-M/UQ_KHZbFUYI/AAAAAAAAA7M/1uFovICBDW8/s640/Foreigners+and+how+to+spot+them.jpg)
I am now reading "The Silver Linings Playbook", having given up on Narcopolis and Umbrella, both of which are too fragment for a bear of little brains.
I am now reading "The Silver Linings Playbook", having given up on Narcopolis and Umbrella, both of which are too fragment for a bear of little brains.
Ooh, have you seen the fillum? It was really quite good :)
Dark Waters by Jason Lewis.
In a nutshell: set off round the world on the first human-powered circumnavigation. Thought it would take three years. It took 13. Cycled to Portugal, pedalled a boat across the Atlantic, roller-bladed across the US. Was hit by a drunk driver, broke both legs and was left for dead. Took three years recovering. Returned to the place of the accident, started again. Pedalled from San Francisco to Hawaii. His mate left him. He pedalled with others to Asia, rode and walked across India, pedalled across to Africa, rode home. This is the first of a trilogy.
There is this, which sort of sums up a lot of the trip, and our celebrity culture:
http://bit.ly/WeqUV4
Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe - Norman Davies
A book about countries that no longer exist. I'm only part way in and it's a gem. The author studied under the great A. J. P. Taylor and taught Polish History at the University of London. The prose is lovely and I wish I had bought this as a real book instead of on Kindle as it has maps,
Very thought provoking on the mutability of national identity. In some cases people remain stationary and their national identity changes (the old northern British kingdoms for example) in others their identity remains the same but the geographic location shifts (the five, ten or fifteen depending on how you count them Burgundies).
I, too, list Roberston Davies as one of my all time favourite authors (and one of my most prized posesions is a brief correspondence I had with him in the 80's/early 90's - his handwriting and style is is everything you would expect)
Just started Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Went to see her reading from the book and doing a question & answer session on Saturday, and got her to sign my copy. My colleague was disgruntled when she realised you can't get an author to sign a Kindle copy!
Now sampling John Dies at the End which, on the basis that I never like things that people tell me I'll like, I didn't expect to like. But the first couple of pages have been quite amusing. Apparently, already a movie, so again I'm not paying attention at the back.
Man, 46. Animal in bed. Probably a gnu. Box no. 1910
My hobbies include crying and hating men. F, 29. Box no 8620
Think of every sexual partner you've ever had. I'm nothing like them. Unless you've ever slept with a bulimic German cellist called Elsa. Elsa: bulimic German cellist (F, 37). Box no. 6327
I celebrated my fortieth birthday last week by cataloguing my collection of bird feeders. Next year I'm hoping for sexual intercourse. And a cake. Box no. 6831
Amyl nitrate. Apparently it's not a common rose-fertilizing compound. Write now to box no. 3012 for more ill-judged assumptions made by F, 48, spending weekends going through her ex-husband's 'gardening' drawer. Ben Wa is not a modern-day Percy Thrower.
Like the previous advertiser, but +1. Box no. 2850
Sexually, I'm more of a Switzerland.
Remember when all this was open fields, and you could go out and leave your door unlocked? Woman, 24. Inherited her mother's unreasonable and utterly unfounded nostalgia (and her father's hirsute back). WLTM barber with fondness for Sherbet Dib-Dabs and Parma Violets. Box no. 8486.
OMG! This magazine is the shizz. Seriously, dudes. Awesome! LOL! Classics lecturer (M, 48). Possibly out of his depth with today's youth. KTHX! Box no. 2680.
This advert is about as close as I come to meaningful interaction with other adults. Woman, 51. Not good at parties, but tremendous breasts. Box no. 5436.
Sexually, I'm more of a Switzerland.
A selection of personal ads from the London Review of Books. Absobloodylutely hilarious. Quite superb. We on this forum are but Northern Conference League amateurs, compared to this lot, when it comes to self-deprecating erudite smut. Mods, can we have a lonely hearts board???
It's not as good (IMO) as A Prayer For Owen Meaney or A Widow For One Year. So you can read those next.
It's pretty good though. Just that I liked those others of his better.
Sexually, I'm more of a Switzerland.
A selection of personal ads from the London Review of Books. Absobloodylutely hilarious. Quite superb. We on this forum are but Northern Conference League amateurs, compared to this lot, when it comes to self-deprecating erudite smut. Mods, can we have a lonely hearts board???
I used to subscribe to the London Review of Books. The personal adds were a particular treat, often causing laugh out loud moments.
Funnily enough, I only recently put all three of those books on my Kindle wishlist. Can't remember what made me do it but it was something that reminded me that Irving is a bit of a gap in my reading.Fill that gap with a Garp, or a Hotel New Hampshire, or an Owen Meany, but not with a Last Night in Twisted River. And I appear to be in a minority, but I wouldn't fill it with the Widow For One Year - it just didn't move me like the others. He's a very good story-teller.
Just finished Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.
I think it made me snigger just once, I just didn't get into the humour at all.
As is "The Loved One".
As is "The Loved One".
Oh yes, The Loved One is extremely funny..
Waugh? Huh!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil. Loving it so far. "Trainspotting in India" seems about right. Hilarious.
Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil. Loving it so far. "Trainspotting in India" seems about right. Hilarious.
I must have approached it the wrong way, then, I didn't get much out of it. Maybe I should re-try with that mindset?
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Great. That's another one added to the never-diminishing to-read list...
The Poisonwood Bible by somebody Kingsolver. It was recommended to me on a feminist site and so far, it's great.
I've just read Poisonwood Bible. I liked it. Made me realise I know nothing about recent history in Africa.
Obviously that was too much literature for me as I then read 'The Long Walk', Stephen King's earliest 'Bachman' book. It's like an extreme vision of LEL. I reckon he must have read some back issues of Arrivee before writing it. Great descriptions of the thousand-yard stares, the way no one can eat at 3am, the horrible things that happen to your leg muscles, weird hallucinations...the only thing they don't do is sleep in bus shelters because they're not allowed to stop.....I'd read it before, but didn't remember much of it apart from the basic premise. It was years ago, before I had heard of audax...
I told her that the affair was temporary, that my love for her was temporary, and doubtless her love for me was temporary. I spoke of mortality and the fragile and shadowy nature of human arrangements and the jumbled unreality of human minds, while her large light brown eyes spoke to me of the eternal.
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
Another who has slipped through my net until now - never read any of her stuff before
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
Another who has slipped through my net until now - never read any of her stuff before
Try "Under The Net" then! Quite an early one, I think.
Dark Waters by Jason Lewis.
In a nutshell: set off round the world on the first human-powered circumnavigation. Thought it would take three years. It took 13. Cycled to Portugal, pedalled a boat across the Atlantic, roller-bladed across the US. Was hit by a drunk driver, broke both legs and was left for dead. Took three years recovering. Returned to the place of the accident, started again. Pedalled from San Francisco to Hawaii. His mate left him. He pedalled with others to Asia, rode and walked across India, pedalled across to Africa, rode home. This is the first of a trilogy.
There is this, which sort of sums up a lot of the trip, and our celebrity culture:
http://bit.ly/WeqUV4
Didn't take my ebook to Spain (to save weight, a big mistake), so am now catching up on reading.
Instead I am reading "The Courier's New Bicycle" by Kim Westwood, a sort of post-apocolyptic tail set in Melbourne. Good so far.
The Long Walk and Running Man are great reads IMHO
Thinner wasn't to my taste.
The Universe Versus Alex Woods (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/15/universe-versus-alex-woods-gavin-extence).
(Sneaky graun linky there)
This entertained me most of the weekend. There were lots of laughs. And somewhere around Steeple Claydon a few sobs.
So what did you think of Them, citoyen?
David Gaffney, The Half-Life of Songs. First came across him cos he's a Cumbrian author (and there aren't many of those for a start), my age and brought up in the next town to the one I was. So, obviously, if we'd met back then we'd have had to fight. Anyway... he writes short stories. Micro-stories, in fact, ordinary and weird at the same time, which pack more into half a page than some folk get into an entire book.
At the risk of copyright infringement, here's one I liked: You Would Have.
"I was at a fancy schmancy media party and I asked this girl what she did and she said she worked for the Gas Board.
'Oh yes', I said, 'what do they do?' thinking the Gas Board was some Hoxton Square design agency.
She looked at me for a long time, then said, 'They deliver gas to people's homes. For heating and cooking.'
'Oh yes', I said, 'I've heard of them.'
'You would have', she said.
You would have. I thought that was very funny of her. I thought that was a very funny thing to say."
The Blackhouse - first book in the 'Lewis' trilogy by Peter May. Murder on the Isle of Lewis? I bet it was a white settler that dunit ;D
The Blackhouse - first book in the 'Lewis' trilogy by Peter May. Murder on the Isle of Lewis? I bet it was a white settler that dunit ;D
Now on the second book - 'Lewis Man'.
Mr May has done a good job at capturing the character of islanders.
The Blackhouse - first book in the 'Lewis' trilogy by Peter May. Murder on the Isle of Lewis? I bet it was a white settler that dunit ;D
Now on the second book - 'Lewis Man'.
Mr May has done a good job at capturing the character of islanders.
I wouldn't know about that, but he's up there with the rude boys of Tartan Noir as far as I'm concerned :thumbsup:
Just finished "Eagle of the Ninth" by Rosemary Sutcliff, how did I miss this when I was a kid ? It's very good. Have been reading a lot of Roman stuff recently both factual and historical. ...If you encounter the 'historical' novels of Ross Leckie, be warned - he plays fast & loose with timelines, & invents freely, disregarding recorded history. It's not ignorance. He knows the history, but chooses to ignore it in the interests of what he thinks is a better story.
I've also just downloaded The City & The City by China Miéville - currently £1.19 for Kindle. Never read any of his stuff before and I'm not entirely sure it sounds like my kind of thing but well worth a punt at that price and I'm looking forward to giving it a go.
pc, I loved Rosemary Sutcliffe books, too. I can't remember the title of the one in which a boy has to "slay his wolf", but it was very gripping, though now I guess i'd consider it a bit "wolfist"!
pc, I loved Rosemary Sutcliffe books, too. I can't remember the title of the one in which a boy has to "slay his wolf", but it was very gripping, though now I guess i'd consider it a bit "wolfist"!
That one is 'Frontier Wolf', another favourite of mine too. It's one of the loosely connected series of books that goes through from the Roman Period to the late Darg Ages - the connected feature being the dolphin ring worn by the Aquila family and descendents.
I did think what great films they would make until somebody did. I still somehwere have part of a spec script I started writing for Frontier Wolf.
Another great book set in the same Roman British period but from the POV of the Dalriads is Mark of the Horse Lord, possibly my favourite book by her.
Just started Rod Stewart's autobiography. There's a whole chapter about his hair. ;D I can't believe I never noticed before that he did backing vocals for Jeff Beck on Hi Ho Silver Lining - but once you know and then you hear it again, it's obvious.
The Likes Of Us - a collection of the short stories of Stan Barstow, today's 99p Kindle bargain of the day. I don't think I've read any of his stuff since I was at school but I loved it then so I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with it.
This morning, I read 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' (yes, I'm still trudging through it, and it's still good) on the tube, and 'Vet In A Spin' while I was brewing coffee ;D
This morning, I read 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' (yes, I'm still trudging through it, and it's still good) on the tube, and 'Vet In A Spin' while I was brewing coffee ;D
I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is wonderful. Why does John Irving have the knack of touching you so intimately with his writing? I cried like a baby at the end. What a gift it must be to write like that.
(sigh).
I regret the fact that I will only read this book for the first time, once in my life.
It's not as good (IMO) as A Prayer For Owen Meaney or A Widow For One Year. So you can read those next.
It's pretty good though. Just that I liked those others of his better.
This morning, I read 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' (yes, I'm still trudging through it, and it's still good) on the tube, and 'Vet In A Spin' while I was brewing coffee ;D
I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is wonderful. Why does John Irving have the knack of touching you so intimately with his writing? I cried like a baby at the end. What a gift it must be to write like that.
(sigh).
I regret the fact that I will only read this book for the first time, once in my life.
Told you.It's not as good (IMO) as A Prayer For Owen Meaney or A Widow For One Year. So you can read those next.
It's pretty good though. Just that I liked those others of his better.
(Polite people don't say 'I told you so', apparently. Ooops.)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Read it many years ago, fancied reading it again. Don't know why but glad I did. Le Carré could turn out a pretty decent spy thriller back in the day, couldn't he.
Haven't read anything he's written since the late 80s though. Might need to do a bit of catching up.
The Nether World by George Gissing. Like Dickens without the sentimentality. A blend of great storytelling and social commentary. And surprisingly modern in style, especially compared to the likes of Dickens....I've only read New Grub Street. Got a bit annoyed with Reardon, I'm afraid - as with his modern R4 incarnation.
(Two good Yorkshiremen there, you'll note.)
Last night, after getting fed up with messing about achieving Not Very Much At All I decided to sit down and re-read "Where's My Cow?"
What a splendid book that is. :D
Fifty Shades of Grey, to see what everyone's going on about, and because it was free.
My word it's awful. One of the least erotic things I have ever read. I had to go and get a Haynes Fiat Punto manual and read that so I could get a bit more aroused.
Now, being hit during sex is not, and never will be, my thing. You slap my arse, you lose an eye. There's your hard limits right there, Mr Grey. Sir. But the really bewildering thing is - the huge popularity of this potboiling, talentless trash. Okay I am not the target market. But are there really so very many women with such impoverished inner lives that this terrible book was a revelation to them?
That really is tragic.
Mrs P, it depends...
The last one is much better than any of the others, but they are most definately in the populist style of detective novels.
I have red much, much worse (and, obviously, much better) ones. The Phantom and The Snowman are better than The Bat.
Set in St Basil’s, an undistinguished North London parish, An Unsuitable Attachment is indeed full of the high comedy for which Barbara Pym is famed. There is Mark Ainger, the vicar, who introduces his sermons with remarks like ‘Those of you who are familiar with the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.’ His wife Sophia with her cat, ‘I feel sometimes that I can’t reach Faustina as I’ve reached other cats.’ Rupert Stonebird, anthropologist and eligible bachelor. The well-bred Ianthe Broome who works at the library and forms an unsuitable attachment with a young man there. The sharp-tongue Mervyn Cantrell, chief librarian, who complains that ‘when books have things spilt on them it is always bottled sauce or gravy of the thickest and most repellent kind rather than something utterly exquisite and delicious.’ There is also Daisy Pettigrew, the vet’s sister, another obsessional cat person, and Sister Dew who bears a strong resemblance to Sister Blatt in Excellent Women.
I've just had a bit of a Kindle binge and bought:
Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
An Unsuitable Attachment and Quartet In Autumn by Barbara Pym
I wasn't planning to go mad like that but the Hilary Mantel and Rachel Joyce ones are available for knock-down prices at the moment, and Peter reminded me of Barbara Pym after mentioning her in another thread, so I had a look at what stuff of hers was available on Kindle and those two were just £2.39 each, so well worth a punt.
Peter - I can tell I'm going to enjoy An Unsuitable Attachment just from the description of the Vicar and his wife...QuoteSet in St Basil’s, an undistinguished North London parish, An Unsuitable Attachment is indeed full of the high comedy for which Barbara Pym is famed. There is Mark Ainger, the vicar, who introduces his sermons with remarks like ‘Those of you who are familiar with the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.’ His wife Sophia with her cat, ‘I feel sometimes that I can’t reach Faustina as I’ve reached other cats.’ Rupert Stonebird, anthropologist and eligible bachelor. The well-bred Ianthe Broome who works at the library and forms an unsuitable attachment with a young man there. The sharp-tongue Mervyn Cantrell, chief librarian, who complains that ‘when books have things spilt on them it is always bottled sauce or gravy of the thickest and most repellent kind rather than something utterly exquisite and delicious.’ There is also Daisy Pettigrew, the vet’s sister, another obsessional cat person, and Sister Dew who bears a strong resemblance to Sister Blatt in Excellent Women.
;D :thumbsup:
Anyone (with a Kindle) on the lookout for holiday reading could do worse than search for Megapack
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D341689031&field-keywords=megapack
Some great stuff, mostly for less than 50p. A lot of SF/Fantasy/Horror, but some other stuff too
Anyone (with a Kindle) on the lookout for holiday reading could do worse than search for Megapack
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D341689031&field-keywords=megapack
Some great stuff, mostly for less than 50p. A lot of SF/Fantasy/Horror, but some other stuff too
Hell's teeth! Are you trying to bankrupt me? Only 34p a time is too tempting but they soon add up... ;D
Mr Stross is also the author of "Rule 34", which says a lot about his interests.
For those who are unfamiliar with his work, can I really, really recommend his "Laundry" books? His novella "A Colder War" was based on the idea that Lovecraft's work was factual. The Laundry books extend this idea...
"We're here..."
I read An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym based on Tiermat's review. It was OK, not enough cats. Rather abrupt ending though.
I'm sorry, I wrote Tiermat instead of citoyen, my bad :(
I am at present reading an entertaining little bit of fluff found by serendipity on Amazon.
Splendid news:
http://tinyurl.com/l9bjdkb
Anyone (with a Kindle) on the lookout for holiday reading could do worse than search for Megapack
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D341689031&field-keywords=megapack
Some great stuff, mostly for less than 50p. A lot of SF/Fantasy/Horror, but some other stuff too
Hell's teeth! Are you trying to bankrupt me? Only 34p a time is too tempting but they soon add up... ;D
That's dangerous stuff ! There's authors in those SF collections I've not read since I was a teenager haunting my local library!
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert JK Rowling Galbraith. I was just finishing the second Game of Thrones book when the library emailed to say my reservation for The Cuckoo's Calling was ready for collection, so I'm taking a break from swords and incest. I started it last night, read three chapters, so far, so good.It saw me round our route check 300 this week: 14 annabit hours for each of them. I liked it, apart from the extended reveal at the end, I found that a bit unconvincingly 1930s/Agatha Christie. Good narrator, which is important for those of us who can't DIY.
Got the sample version of the first Jo Nesbo Harry Hole book last night to try.
Glad I didn't pay for it, the writing seems a bit wooden.... do they get better?
I am at present reading an entertaining little bit of fluff found by serendipity on Amazon. At the start of the fifties, a bored and incompetent civil servant marks some surplus equipment down "for storage" and accidentally sends it to the back of beyond, where it is actually looked after rather well as a labour of love, in a mechanic's garage.I'm just trying to imagine the effect of 17-pdr APCBC on LVTP-7s. I think I'd feel rather sorry for the occupants.
Then something goes nasty in international politics, and the three Sherman Firefly tanks with their stack of seriously powerful armour-piercing ammunition are finally remembered.
In their little garage in Port Stanley, in 1982.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00COBGLLA#_
I am at present reading an entertaining little bit of fluff found by serendipity on Amazon. At the start of the fifties, a bored and incompetent civil servant marks some surplus equipment down "for storage" and accidentally sends it to the back of beyond, where it is actually looked after rather well as a labour of love, in a mechanic's garage.
Then something goes nasty in international politics, and the three Sherman Firefly tanks with their stack of seriously powerful armour-piercing ammunition are finally remembered.
In their little garage in Port Stanley, in 1982.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00COBGLLA#_
Finished "Born to Run" a couple of days ago. On the one hand, I read it in under 3 days and it would have been 1 only I kept finishing a chapter and then going for a run, or doing something else active, from the sheer inspiration it provided. On the other hand, it's a melodramatic and sentimental piece of gonzo hackwork with such a cavalier attitude to scientific method and so lacking in intellectual rigour that any copy would, I'm sure, burst into flames as soon as Ben Goldacre tried to pick it up.
None of which will dissuade me from running barefoot.
My body likes running. I feel really free when I'm running.
It made me think of the disparity in the take-up of endurance sports between men and women, and how sad it is that even more women than men have no access to something that would make them more whole.I'm not sure that's true-for sure endurance cycling is overwhelmingly a man thing, but that's not true of running. Lady Cav will confirm but I'm pretty sure that running, right up to stupid distances, is much closer to 50:50.
It made me think of the disparity in the take-up of endurance sports between men and women, and how sad it is that even more women than men have no access to something that would make them more whole.I'm not sure that's true-for sure endurance cycling is overwhelmingly a man thing, but that's not true of running. Lady Cav will confirm but I'm pretty sure that running, right up to stupid distances, is much closer to 50:50.
Anyway, I've downloaded the book.
It made me think of the disparity in the take-up of endurance sports between men and women, and how sad it is that even more women than men have no access to something that would make them more whole.I'm not sure that's true-for sure endurance cycling is overwhelmingly a man thing, but that's not true of running. Lady Cav will confirm but I'm pretty sure that running, right up to stupid distances, is much closer to 50:50.
Anyway, I've downloaded the book.
I am at present reading an entertaining little bit of fluff found by serendipity on Amazon. At the start of the fifties, a bored and incompetent civil servant marks some surplus equipment down "for storage" and accidentally sends it to the back of beyond, where it is actually looked after rather well as a labour of love, in a mechanic's garage.I'm just trying to imagine the effect of 17-pdr APCBC on LVTP-7s. I think I'd feel rather sorry for the occupants.
Then something goes nasty in international politics, and the three Sherman Firefly tanks with their stack of seriously powerful armour-piercing ammunition are finally remembered.
In their little garage in Port Stanley, in 1982.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00COBGLLA#_
Bring Up The Bodies.
Not enjoying it quite as much as Wolf Hall, tbh - it's been a bit slow to get going. But now, about two thirds of the way through, it's all about to kick off...
Oh dear!
There are lots of Reacher books.
They are all the same, but the adiction has set in and you will read and enjoy them all. Once you have finished them you will crave the release of the next one.
DAHIKT
I'm quite good at resisting full price books, although the other night I decided I just couldn't live one minute longer without some Annie Proulx on the Kindle (no matter that I have them all in ancient parchment format. Alcohol may have been implicated.
I'm quite good at resisting full price books, although the other night I decided I just couldn't live one minute longer without some Annie Proulx on the Kindle (no matter that I have them all in ancient parchment format. Alcohol may have been implicated.
Same here - I currently have about 400 books on my Amazon wishlist, all books that I'd quite like to read but I've already got enough on my kindle to keep me going for a couple of years, so I don't need to ever buy a book at full price unless it's something I really, really want.
And because my wishlist is being tracked by ereaderiq, I got an email this morning informing me that The Damned Utd is currently available for 99p. :thumbsup:
I have a few Annie Proulx on my wishlist but I can live without them for the time being. And I have a policy of staying away from Amazon and iTunes after drinking...
Lee Child isn't on my wishlist.
I'm sure his books are as good as everyone says they are, but I remain untempted. My loss.
Best reads this year were Simon Raven' Alms for Oblivion series and Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End. Both monumental.
God Bless You, Mr Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
I am mostly crying with laughter at lines like:
"Eliot took a drink of Southern Comfort, was uncomforted."
Also slightly shocked that a book written in 1965 could so easily pass for a book written in and about 2013.
Thanks citoyen. You have reminded me to revisit KVJ - something I've been meaning to do for a while :)Earlier this year I
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
Dear god... someone please tell me it improves because, after 12% read, I fear I might puke if I have to read much more of this tripe.
Earlier this year II've read the Amazon preview and purchased. Thx.readlistened to The Universe Versus Alex Woods (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg1478161#msg1478161), in which the hero is an admirer, and sets up a Kurt Vonnegut Book Club. I've been meaning to add them to my wishlist, too.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
Dear god... someone please tell me it improves because, after 12% read, I fear I might puke if I have to read much more of this tripe.
I read the first few pages on Amazon. Reminds me of The Missing Postman, but that was great and had a bike in it.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
Dear god... someone please tell me it improves because, after 12% read, I fear I might puke if I have to read much more of this tripe.
Am now on the second book which is We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. 100 pages in and so far a fantastic read :thumbsup:
Am now on the second book which is We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. 100 pages in and so far a fantastic read :thumbsup:
That and the Jim Crace are the ones that most appeal to me. I shall, as ever, be following your progress with interest!
I've almost finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'The Shadow of the Wind'. Next up is Umberto Eco's 'The Prague Cemetery'.Hope you get on with the Eco one better than I have...
Just finished reading Jim Crace's novel Harvest... Its a book that I can admire, but it was not an enjoyable reading experience
The Universe Versus Alex Woods (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/15/universe-versus-alex-woods-gavin-extence).
(Sneaky graun linky there)
This entertained me most of the weekend. There were lots of laughs. And somewhere around Steeple Claydon a few sobs.
Finally finished my umpteenth reading of Chickenhawk- took me a long time this time round, due to other stuffs getting in the way. Each time I remember what a cracking book this is.
About to commence The Land of Painted Caves, book 6 in the Jean M Auel Earths Children series.
I hadn't realised this book was out- 12 years between the release of books 5 and 6. I stumbled across it whilst trawling a charity shop book shelf.
I will need to read a Wiki synopsis of The Shelters of Stone to remind me what was going on.
Sansom - Dominion.
Finally finished my umpteenth reading of Chickenhawk- took me a long time this time round, due to other stuffs getting in the way. Each time I remember what a cracking book this is.
About to commence The Land of Painted Caves, book 6 in the Jean M Auel Earths Children series.
I hadn't realised this book was out- 12 years between the release of books 5 and 6. I stumbled across it whilst trawling a charity shop book shelf.
I will need to read a Wiki synopsis of The Shelters of Stone to remind me what was going on.
Finished last night (books are taking me an age to read at the moment :-[ Probably due to failing specs prescription which made reading under artificial light at home a bit of a chore. Prescription fail rectified now).
A fairly good read as are all the Earths Children books but, as I understand this is the final book, the ending was a bit flat.
Finally finished my umpteenth reading of Chickenhawk- took me a long time this time round, due to other stuffs getting in the way. Each time I remember what a cracking book this is.
About to commence The Land of Painted Caves, book 6 in the Jean M Auel Earths Children series.
I hadn't realised this book was out- 12 years between the release of books 5 and 6. I stumbled across it whilst trawling a charity shop book shelf.
I will need to read a Wiki synopsis of The Shelters of Stone to remind me what was going on.
Finished last night (books are taking me an age to read at the moment :-[ Probably due to failing specs prescription which made reading under artificial light at home a bit of a chore. Prescription fail rectified now).
A fairly good read as are all the Earths Children books but, as I understand this is the final book, the ending was a bit flat.
Is that Chickenhawk by Robert Mason, Vietnam War helicopter pilot?
You would probably enjoy Rattler One-Seven: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's War Story By Chuck Gross
Just launched into David Walsh's Seven Deadly Sins: My pursuit of Lance Armstrong.
Compelling. I had to force myself to put it down so I could go to bed. Failure would have resulted in a non functioning fuzzy at work this morning.
I really must get a copy of LA Confidential.
I've discovered a whole new genre (http://tinyurl.com/lmumv3n)
I've discovered a whole new genre (http://tinyurl.com/lmumv3n)
That is amazing.
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (sp?)
I read the 4 pages given away in the times. Historical Fiction Quite Good - mattc Shocked.
I absolutely loved that book. I've just given it to my mum actually who is loving it too.
I have just started It's all about Treo (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-All-About-Treo-Bravest-ebook/dp/B0089XJS9O#_), a book about Arms and Explosives Search Dog Treo and his handlers experience during a tour in Sangin, Afghanistan.
I have a worrying feeling that, before the book is done, I will be sitting in the corner blubbing like a good un :-[
Whatever you do, don't tell us how it ends.........
Phew!Whatever you do, don't tell us how it ends.........
Fear not, I won't.
Out of all 6 books this is the one that is a proper story and is a well written piece of crime fiction. However it peters out rather drabbly in the end.
I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
Still ploughing my way through REAMDE ...
About three-quarters of the way through now, according to the Kindle app at any rate, and I suspect it's just about to get very interesting ...
I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
Good luck with that. I remember thinking it was one of those books that felt like it was never going to end. It certainly lacks the pace of The Secret History. There are some passages of brilliance in it, but it's about 200 pages too long.
Her new one is supposed to be better.
Thanks for the review service again her_welshness. I'll be starting with Harvest for reasons stated above, but will review your reviews to help me decide with the next one. But that won't be for a while because I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
I'm just about to start Doctor Sleep.I'm not getting on very fast with Doctor Sleep because it's too scary to read alone at night.
Just finished Dust (third in the Wool trilogy) by Hugh Howey. Best SF I've come across in years.
Now I've just started on Complicity.
Been wondering about those. Lots of Kindle marketing, but I've been a bit busy formatting my own stuff to do much reading. Taking a break from that, so are they seriously worth a read? What genre of SF do they fall into, if that doesn't give too much away? I am guessing post-apocalyptic.Lots of kindle marketing because he self published first, I think1, then was taken up and marketed. Post apocalyptic for Wool, the others are "How did we get here?".
Finished. Most of it was pretty good, some of it was pretty scary, one bit of it was "oh ffs, there was no need for that 'twist'" and one bit was beautiful.I'm just about to start Doctor Sleep.I'm not getting on very fast with Doctor Sleep because it's too scary to read alone at night.
I love the Culture.
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-43. First of a three part series on WWII by Rick Atkinson. The blunders and incompetence displayed by American and British high commands is truly amazing. I almost think that the winner of that was the side that picked the least inopportune times to screw up.It's fair to say that Patton didn't do terribly well; he got the Vichy French to surrender and then put them in charge again while he went hunting and hobnobbing with the Sultan.
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-43. First of a three part series on WWII by Rick Atkinson. The blunders and incompetence displayed by American and British high commands is truly amazing. I almost think that the winner of that was the side that picked the least inopportune times to screw up.It's fair to say that Patton didn't do terribly well; he got the Vichy French to surrender and then put them in charge again while he went hunting and hobnobbing with the Sultan.
I'm like your bookcase stalker.
Towards The End Of The Morning by Michael Frayn. The Erskine Morris character is a work of genius.
Just finished Charles Stross's latest entry in his "Laundry" series. A novella called "Equoid" (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/09/rinse-drain-spin.html) I think I need a unicorn chaser.... ;)
Ah... Murakami is class. I must re-read a Wild Sheep Chase sometime soon :)
I'm currently reading Stonemouth by Iain Banks. My money is on a not happy ending.
Ah... Murakami is class. I must re-read a Wild Sheep Chase sometime soon :)W
I'm currently reading Stonemouth by Iain Banks. My money is on a not happy ending.
Ah, I really enjoyed Stonemouth! Hurry up and finish it so we can talk about it without me spoiling it for you!
Ah... Murakami is class. I must re-read a Wild Sheep Chase sometime soon :)W
I'm currently reading Stonemouth by Iain Banks. My money is on a not happy ending.
Ah, I really enjoyed Stonemouth! Hurry up and finish it so we can talk about it without me spoiling it for you!
Won't be long now :)
My turn my turn Chrissie Wellingtons book is the 99p bargain todayI listened to that earlier this year. I don't usually 'do' either biographies or autobiographies.
For a tough woman overcoming adversity how about "If You Fall" by paralympian Karen Darke ? http://www.amazon.co.uk/If-You-Fall-Its-Beginning/dp/1905047886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373547754&sr=8-1&keywords=karen+darke
"In his normal state he would not strike a lamb. I’ve known him to do it."
"Do what?"
"Not strike lambs."
He wore the unmistakable look of a man about to be present at a row between women, and only a wet cat in a strange back yard bears itself with less jauntiness than a man faced by such a prospect.
Mr Pett, receiving her cold glance squarely between the eyes, felt as if he were being disembowelled by a clumsy amateur.
Next will be "Raising Steam" by Terry Pratchett (which was delivered this morninining :thumbsup:)Oooh ... that's good to know.
Next will be "Raising Steam" by Terry Pratchett (which was delivered this morninining :thumbsup:)Oooh ... that's good to know.
I pre-ordered a copy for my sister's Christmas present. I feel a bit of quality control coming on :)
I finished Nightfall by Stephen LEather last night, and moved onto Midnight by the same author.
The books are books 1 and 2 in the "Jack Nightingale" series, about a former Police negotiator turned private eye who inherits a country house and estate under unusual circumstances. In the first book he has to come to terms with the fact that his biological father sold his soul to a devil. In the second he has to find his half sister and try and save her from the same fate that threatens him.
Well written, there are one or two timeline issues, but that doesn't, really, affect the overall story.
Big Brother (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/review-big-brother-by-lionel-shriver-8622204.html).
Interesting.
I finished Nightfall by Stephen LEather last night, and moved onto Midnight by the same author.
The books are books 1 and 2 in the "Jack Nightingale" series, about a former Police negotiator turned private eye who inherits a country house and estate under unusual circumstances. In the first book he has to come to terms with the fact that his biological father sold his soul to a devil. In the second he has to find his half sister and try and save her from the same fate that threatens him.
Well written, there are one or two timeline issues, but that doesn't, really, affect the overall story.
Now onto Nightmare, the third in the series.
As you can maybe tell, these detective thrillers with a devil worshipping sideline are gripping me...
A proper book, for me, is as much about me, as the book. (This doesn't apply to froth of a SF/fantasy/detective fiction/chicklit nature, but proper books that make you think).Big Brother (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/review-big-brother-by-lionel-shriver-8622204.html).
Interesting.
In a good way? I quite fancy reading it, although I found We Need to Talk About Kevin such a grim experience. I'm glad I read it, but felt somewhat bruised afterwards.
I'm not sure I can recommend it. I don't think, in the end, it told me anything new or interesting (by which I don't mean facts, but theories and opinions and attitudes). Going into it knowing the author's brother died young at 300+lbs makes you read it through those glasses.Big Brother (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/review-big-brother-by-lionel-shriver-8622204.html).
Interesting.
In a good way? I quite fancy reading it, although I found We Need to Talk About Kevin such a grim experience. I'm glad I read it, but felt somewhat bruised afterwards.
Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory
Interesting reading a story from the point of view of someone who is amoral.
Started to read "Wheelmen", but got bored, it's just not that much of interest to me.
Started to read "Wheelmen", but got bored, it's just not that much of interest to me.
Oh dear. That's on the bedside table waiting for me to finish with The Little Friend (not a euphemism). Hope it's just 'you' tiermat.
He really didn't like school.
Never go back.
That's not the name of a book I'm reading but a bit of general advice.
Started on The Secret History this morning, which I first read as an impressionable teen many years ago and loved it...
Oh my god, it's awful. Really comically bad.
"She, I thought, was very beautiful, in an unsettling, almost medieval way which would not be apparent to the casual observer."
LOL!
I shall persevere with it out of morbid fascination, but I may end up throwing my kindle across the room in disgust.
I read them again occasionally and still get the same joy from (re)discovering them as I did then.
I read them again occasionally and still get the same joy from (re)discovering them as I did then.
Thing is, there are so many books I haven't read before that I should be reading them rather than going back over old ground...
Although I must admit to occasionally finding comfort in re-reading my favourite PG Wodehouse classics.
past the age of being attractive
past the age of being attractive
Such an age appears (to this male) not to exist!!
Don't let your hair stick up in tufts on your head; see that your hair and your beard are decently trimmed. .Take care that your breath is sweet, and don't go about reeking like a billy-goat. All other toilet refinements leave to the women or to perverts.
Should have skipped about 450. I think I've done with Tartts now.I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
Good luck with that. I remember thinking it was one of those books that felt like it was never going to end. It certainly lacks the pace of The Secret History. There are some passages of brilliance in it, but it's about 200 pages too long.
Her new one is supposed to be better.
OK. I'll skip the next 200 pages. That should do it.
Should have skipped about 450. I think I've done with Tartts now.I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
Good luck with that. I remember thinking it was one of those books that felt like it was never going to end. It certainly lacks the pace of The Secret History. There are some passages of brilliance in it, but it's about 200 pages too long.
Her new one is supposed to be better.
OK. I'll skip the next 200 pages. That should do it.
And I've gone right off the idea of reading her new one. She's dead to me.
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford.
There's also that slightly sickly narration that captures everything in gilded tones of wealth and privilege that makes it hard to really care about the characters.
Bugger. I spent one of my credits on The Goldcrest. What if my memory of The Secret History is equally flawed? I can't read it to find out, and I certainly don't want to spend 22 hours listening, being wrong.Should have skipped about 450. I think I've done with Tartts now.I've just embarked on Donna Tartt's The Little Friend.
Good luck with that. I remember thinking it was one of those books that felt like it was never going to end. It certainly lacks the pace of The Secret History. There are some passages of brilliance in it, but it's about 200 pages too long.
Her new one is supposed to be better.
OK. I'll skip the next 200 pages. That should do it.
My memory of The Secret History turned out to be somewhat faulty. Certainly in respect of its pacing. It is sluggish and verbose. At half the length, it might have been a nice, light thriller. I'm now thinking that The Little Friend might be better than The Secret History, but I don't want to put the time into reading it again to find out.
And I've gone right off the idea of reading her new one. She's dead to me.
Have you read 'How To Be A Woman' by Caitlin Moran? I just finished it and, while I don't agree with her necessarily, it's very very funny indeed.Me? Yes. I really liked it. I think people would be foolish to view it as the ultimate feminist manual, but for younger women just starting to think about things, it's a good start, and for the rest of us, it has a few good points to make, and it's very funny.
Currently 3/4's of the way through Jonathan Grimwood's "The Last Banquet", an historical foodie novel set in 17th century France.
Currently 3/4's of the way through Jonathan Grimwood's "The Last Banquet", an historical foodie novel set in 17th century France.
Sounds like just my kind of thing. I've added it to my wish list. :thumbsup:
If you fancy following that with an historical foodie novel set in 17th century England, try John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk. It's rather good.
Have you read 'How To Be A Woman' by Caitlin Moran? I just finished it and, while I don't agree with her necessarily, it's very very funny indeed.Taking a short break from writing current books and spotted this rec. Now on my Kindle. Will report later...
Have you read 'How To Be A Woman' by Caitlin Moran? I just finished it and, while I don't agree with her necessarily, it's very very funny indeed.Taking a short break from writing current books and spotted this rec. Now on my Kindle. Will report later...
Just finished a Kindle deal, the Janus books by Andre Norton. Books of my childhood and my dreams.
I'm very suspicious when a well known author starts co-authoring with others. If they are no longer capable of writing, maybe they should just stop. This view is based on the experience of reading a book co-authored by Clive Custler.
My sentiment is that if other accomplished authors will help Pratchett get his ideas into book form then more power to them.
I'm very suspicious when a well known author starts co-authoring with others. If they are no longer capable of writing, maybe they should just stop. This view is based on the experience of reading a book co-authored by Clive Custler.
[ Before Kindles, did everyone talk about how much their books cost them? Or even where they got them from?
Before the internet, did people talk about funny cat photos?No-one talks about them now.
4. This is going boringly OT now. Stop it.Whatever you say boss - I've no great desire to have a row over cat photos :hand:
1. Fatuous pedantry. Yawn.On YACF? Surely not? ;D
Yeah, that'll be why a google search for "funny cat photos" returns 170 million results.
Waterstones to close multiple branches (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/02/waterstones-to-close-20-branches) :(
The one at the bottom of Bold St in Liverpool has a sign up saying it will be closing on 1st February. They have a larger shop in the newish Liverpool One mall within walking distance so I think it's days were numbered anyway.
I get most stuff for myself on Kindle these days, but that's due to lack of shelf space more than anything else. I buy books as presents, and like to browse shops for them.
Waterstones to close multiple branches (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/02/waterstones-to-close-20-branches) :(
I get most stuff for myself on Kindle these days, but that's due to lack of shelf space more than anything else. I buy books as presents, and like to browse shops for them.
Waterstones to close multiple branches (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/02/waterstones-to-close-20-branches) :(
I get most stuff for myself on Kindle these days, but that's due to lack of shelf space more than anything else. I buy books as presents, and like to browse shops for them.
That story is from Feb 2011.
<Waterstone's' >The coffee-shop + browsing model seems to have resuscitated the dying book-shop. Seems to work best in known 'book' places e.g. Oxford, Hay-on-Wye - perhaps because book-lovers make a trip out of browsing several shops.
It's a bit of dead business model – at least for mass market paperbacks (does anyone buy hardbacks?). The internet is where it's at, same as for music and increasingly video. Bricks and mortar either need to provide something that the internet can't or something additional, otherwise they're little more than a showroom for Amazon. Merely having a large stock of books isn't enough, Amazon are always going to have more. I quite like the experience of browsing, but it's a pity they've no linked up the download, why can't I grab the book there and then. Instead I have to note it down and then go home and (more likely than not) order it from Amazon. They almost missed the boat with DRM - can I buy an e-book in Waterstones and read it on my Kindle? I've no idea, which I guess is the fail.
Instead I have to note it down and then go home and (more likely than not) order it from Amazon."note it down"? you luddite - where's your camera-phone?!?
Coffee shop works fine, though I'm not convinced whether it translates into sales of anything but coffee. Coffee, tbh, is probably far mure lucrative that books.Yes I'm sure that's the case!
Why even wait until you get home? The Amazon app has a barcode scanner and 1-click ordering...
Terry Pratchet - Raising SteamJust finished.
Have you read 'How To Be A Woman' by Caitlin Moran? I just finished it and, while I don't agree with her necessarily, it's very very funny indeed.Halfway through; ta for the suggestion. Laughing like a drain and recognising a lot of common ground. I have collected, for later use, "as thick as a barrel of toes"
What have they got against library books?Presumably they won't make a dent in your TBR pile!
The goal is to read one or more novels from each of these continents in the course of 2014:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
and
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).
you might like "Sick Heart River" by John Buchan.
"Our Mutual Friend" definitely has altitude points!
you might like "Sick Heart River" by John Buchan.
Buchan's another who's passed me by, but I'll take your recommendation (still adding books to my to-read list faster than I can get through them...)Quote"Our Mutual Friend" definitely has altitude points!
I don't really think of Dickens as a "prose stylist" but he has his moments - and he's at the height of his powers as a writer in Our Mutual Friend, IMO. The description of the Veneerings' dinner party early on (second chapter, I think) is particularly brilliant - "leaves in the Twemlow" is a sublime metaphor. And there's a passage towards the end where he's describing a dog howling outside a lively village pub that really sums up the joy of reading Dickens for me - two pages to describe what could have been summed up in a short paragraph, but a sumptuous pleasure to read for its own sake.
"The End of the Party", aka "The Rise & Fall of New Labour", by Andrew Rawnsley.
Assuming it's true, I had no idea how far back and how extreme was Brown's antipathy towards Blair. So far, Rawnsley gives me the impression of being a great deal more sympathetic to Blair than he does Brown.
"The End of the Party", aka "The Rise & Fall of New Labour", by Andrew Rawnsley.
Assuming it's true, I had no idea how far back and how extreme was Brown's antipathy towards Blair. So far, Rawnsley gives me the impression of being a great deal more sympathetic to Blair than he does Brown.
Andrew Rawnsley seems to me to be trying to atone for his part in helping Cameron and Clegg to get elected. His hatchet jobs in the Guardian on the Labour leadership have not been forgotten in this household.
Command Authority by Tom Clancy
The latest Jack Ryan thriller, co-written by Mark Greaney (never heard of him). It's ok, not brilliant, not in the league of Red Rabbit or The Bear and the Dragon, but ok.
I've been sent a couple of reading challenge suggestions, from one of the 30 zillion book blogs that my Literarally Better Half reads. If you like this sort of thing:
...
Mt Kilimanjaro
...
Just finished Wool by Hugh Howey. Quite enjoyed it. I hesitate to call it SF, more like dystopian William Gibson. Nice female lead character. Will seek out the others in the trilogy. Allegedly Ridley Scott has the film rights.
Command Authority by Tom Clancy
The latest Jack Ryan thriller, co-written by Mark Greaney (never heard of him). It's ok, not brilliant, not in the league of Red Rabbit or The Bear and the Dragon, but ok.
I got given that for Christmas. Is it worth reading all the others first?
I think that's due to it's word-of-mouth success rather than the content!Just finished Wool by Hugh Howey. Quite enjoyed it. I hesitate to call it SF, more like dystopian William Gibson. Nice female lead character. Will seek out the others in the trilogy. Allegedly Ridley Scott has the film rights.
Ooh. Intrigued!
(But I'm a bit worried by this phrase Science fiction's answer to Fifty Shades of Grey that seems to be attached to it ??? )
Just finished Wool by Hugh Howey. Quite enjoyed it. I hesitate to call it SF, more like dystopian William Gibson. Nice female lead character. Will seek out the others in the trilogy. Allegedly Ridley Scott has the film rights.
Ooh. Intrigued!
(But I'm a bit worried by this phrase Science fiction's answer to Fifty Shades of Grey that seems to be attached to it ??? )
I think that's due to it's word-of-mouth success rather than the content!Yes, that seems to make a lot more sense now! :thumbsup:
I might have done, but they let me have an adult library card when I was 8.I think the day I got an adult library card might have been the happiest day of my life so far. ;D I don't remember how old I was, definitely still at primary school.
:smug:
Listening to some H H Monro stories and enjoying them. I'm not sure if you can tell from listening, but he certainly sounds like a prose stylist. Maybe it's the skill of the reader. It seems as if the style is perfectly suited to the short story form - too pithy, cutting, and arch for anything longer.I like Saki. We read "The Lumber-Room" in English class at secondary school and I loved Nicholas's "aunt" being so certain there wasn't a frog in his bread and milk. And I had lots of those big hardback short story compendiums, and one of them had Sredni Vashtar in it, which I also liked. I have a collection of Saki short stories now, which I re-read every now and then. I like Clovis.
I wonder if he called himself Saki because he's a wry swine. (Sorry).
Never trust a reading challenge that mentions Mt Kilimanjaro. If they only read their Hemmingway properly, they'd know it was simply 'Kilimanjaro'.Rising like Olympus above the Serengeti...
I still cannot think about ‘The Unrest Cure’ without laughing.The Unrest Cure is wonderful from start to finish. I don't know The Toys of Peace; I don't think it's in my collection.
The Schartz-Metterklume Method and The Toys of Peace also recommended.
Within the week I will myself be Dr M & Mr B
I still cannot think about ‘The Unrest Cure’ without laughing.The Unrest Cure is wonderful from start to finish. I don't know The Toys of Peace; I don't think it's in my collection.
The Schartz-Metterklume Method and The Toys of Peace also recommended.
Collections of Saki with these stories are available to download free from Amazon, and presumably elsewhere.I will check the Nook shop.
Raising SteamI thought it was a bit 'meh' to be honest; far from his worst, but a long way from his best too - but then again, Going Postal and Making Money were always going to be pretty difficult acts to follow, the latter in particular.
The first Pterry book that has made me laugh in a while.
I like it! Especially as the engineer, in my mind, sounds just like Fred Dibnah.Word Of Pterry is that it's quite intentional ;)
Just finished a revisit of Hoghfather and have started 'The Secret Race' by Tyler Hamilton and Dan Coyle.
Only half way through chapter two but it has so far proved to be easy and absorbing reading. The style suits me.
Just finished a revisit of Hoghfather and have started 'The Secret Race' by Tyler Hamilton and Dan Coyle.
Only half way through chapter two but it has so far proved to be easy and absorbing reading. The style suits me.
Just finished. My copy includes the post Oprah revelations afterword. A cracking read.
I may have experienced a slight shift in my opinions of Mr Hamilton.
I may have experienced a slight shift in my opinions of Mr Hamilton.
I may have experienced a slight shift in my opinions of Mr Hamilton.
For the better or worse?
My initial reaction on finishing the book was to feel more sympathetic to what he went through, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was a clever piece of manipulation on his (and Dan Coyle's) part. Ultimately, I felt Millar displayed more genuine remorse and less in the way of making excuses for his behaviour (though he too is quite manipulative in the way he presents the facts in his book).
Still, utterly compelling. I want to read both Millar's and Hamilton's books again.
Morrissey's Autobiography.
There are no normal chapter divisions and he is very fond of adverbs, adjectives and metaphors. He really didn't like school.
A song of Ice and Fire book 1- Game of Thrones. I am loving the way he has written each chapter from an individual characters perspective.I've pretty much given up on it precisely because of this ... I don't mind interweaving storylines, but GoT has far too many characters to pull this off, IMO.
Close to half-way through 'The Crow Road' ... my, it's getting interesting :)I can't recommend Garbadale - it's not an awful book but to me it seemed a dull attempt at reproducing Crow Road.
Have also downloaded 'The Steep Approach To Garbadale', since my interest in Iain Banks' non-scifi stuff has been piqued and it has a bit of a tech angle to it if the synopsis I read is any indication.
We shall see - I'm enjoying 'The Crow Road' immensely.Close to half-way through 'The Crow Road' ... my, it's getting interesting :)I can't recommend Garbadale - it's not an awful book but to me it seemed a dull attempt at reproducing Crow Road.!
Have also downloaded 'The Steep Approach To Garbadale', since my interest in Iain Banks' non-scifi stuff has been piqued and it has a bit of a tech angle to it if the synopsis I read is any indication.
We shall see - I'm enjoying 'The Crow Road' immensely.Close to half-way through 'The Crow Road' ... my, it's getting interesting :)I can't recommend Garbadale - it's not an awful book but to me it seemed a dull attempt at reproducing Crow Road.!
Have also downloaded 'The Steep Approach To Garbadale', since my interest in Iain Banks' non-scifi stuff has been piqued and it has a bit of a tech angle to it if the synopsis I read is any indication.
Since I had a bit of Amazon gift voucher surplus to get rid of I've gone and got 'Whit' and 'Feersum Endjinn' as well - I suspect that in the case of the latter I'll have to do a bit of a mental gear change akin to what I had to do when I first read 'Trainspotting' (took me ages to get my head round phonetic Embra-ese)
Well, er... I've just started We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, which is looking extremely promising. First impressions: here is an exciting new voice in literature. Immediately engaging and colourful without being overwrought. IIRC, her_welshness was also a big fan of this one.
I quite enjoyed Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson. My interest was tailing off by the end but I would recommend it on the basis of the lovely writing, and some good stuff about the trials and tribulations of being a teenage girl (which I can only relate to indirectly, of course) and about being the single mother of a teenage girl living with your aged Hungarian in-laws in a poky London flat (likewise). None of the male characters come out of it particularly well!
I've also just finished an anthology of early PG Wodehouse stories - "Kid Brady Stories" (1905-7) and "A Man Of Means" (1914). Kid Brady is very early stuff, juvenilia that's probably only of interest to Wodehouse completists like me, or fans of boxing lit, perhaps. There are hints of his voice coming through but generally the style is very immature. "A Man Of Means", however, is just wonderful. It concerns the adventures of the hapless Roland Bleke, a recognisably Wodehousian hero, who keeps getting in scrapes with people who want to fleece him and yet somehow always lands on his feet, and with much more money than he started, despite having no interest in financial wealth and no idea what to do with his riches. Very funny, very easy to read.
Half way through "The Days of Anna Madrigal". So far, so good.
Armistead Maupin's reading in Liverpool next week is sold out, just as well as I doubt I'd be able to get the afternoon off :(
Moving on to "The Steep Approach To Garbadale" ...
I'm off to New Orleans shortly for a holiday. On the off-chance that I'll have some reading time, can the panel recommend some fiction with a local (or fairly local) - to New Orleans - flavour to read.
I read The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng a little while ago, and loved it. It was one of those books where when you get 2/3 of the way through you start to get sad because you don't want it to finish. Now I'm reading his other book, The Gift of Rain, and feeling exactly the same.
I'm off to New Orleans shortly for a holiday. On the off-chance that I'll have some reading time, can the panel recommend some fiction with a local (or fairly local) - to New Orleans - flavour to read.
I read The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng a little while ago, and loved it. It was one of those books where when you get 2/3 of the way through you start to get sad because you don't want it to finish. Now I'm reading his other book, The Gift of Rain, and feeling exactly the same.
I loved The Garden of Evening Mists, shall have to look for The Gift of Rain.
I am, currently, reading "A Train in Winter" about the French resistance and especially the women therein.
It's getting rave reviews everywhere, and praise for it's scientifc accuracy, but the story is gripping.That's a very strange but!
Comedy? :oWell no, it doesn't sound like a comedy.
Comedy? :oWell no, it doesn't sound like a comedy.
But it's both believable and unbelievable at the same time? Horrific, appalling, hysterical. I listened to it, and had nearly finished and couldn't resist playing it in the car, where Chris was so intrigued he bought it too, and is also very much enjoying.
You thought it was unintentional? Really? I thought it was knowing enough that the humour was deliberate.
Anyone here read The Cuckoo's Calling?I quite liked it.
As did I:Anyone here read The Cuckoo's Calling?I quite liked it.
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert JK Rowling Galbraith. I was just finishing the second Game of Thrones book when the library emailed to say my reservation for The Cuckoo's Calling was ready for collection, so I'm taking a break from swords and incest. I started it last night, read three chapters, so far, so good.It saw me round our route check 300 this week: 14 annabit hours for each of them. I liked it, apart from the extended reveal at the end, I found that a bit unconvincingly 1930s/Agatha Christie. Good narrator, which is important for those of us who can't DIY.
The Martian, Andy WeirThanks for the heads up, just my kinda read, really enjoyed it.
Apollo 13 meets Robinson Crusoe.
I love this book. It's getting rave reviews everywhere, and praise for it's scientifc accuracy, but the story is gripping.
A lot of it is written in the first person. Features a lot of solo long distance travelling, rationing of food, and repairing faerie visitations, so it really is like a ride report.
Worth £2 of anyones money on kindle. Author initially self published, but it did so well, it's been picked up by proper publishers.
Me too. At one point I was convinced that Ian OTP was the author, but there were no bears involved in the plot.The Martian, Andy WeirThanks for the heads up, just my kinda read, really enjoyed it.
Apollo 13 meets Robinson Crusoe.
I love this book. It's getting rave reviews everywhere, and praise for it's scientifc accuracy, but the story is gripping.
A lot of it is written in the first person. Features a lot of solo long distance travelling, rationing of food, and repairing faerie visitations, so it really is like a ride report.
Worth £2 of anyones money on kindle. Author initially self published, but it did so well, it's been picked up by proper publishers.
Longbourn, Jo Baker.Ooo 13hr 29 minutes. Perfect for The Dean this weekend. :thumbsup:
James II succeeding James I? A couple of generations out, surely...
D'oh! I forgot about The Martian, I'll queue it up for reading next.
The book IS camping related!
The book IS camping related!:thumbsup:
Longbourn, Jo Baker. Pride & Prejudice retold from the servants perspective. By 'eck, it's ingenious the way it intertwines with the original, with a wonderful twist which Cannot Be Revealed. I often felt, when ploughing my way through P&P and other classics of the ilk, that there was another story going on 'downstairs', with a whole other cast of characters, which was never told - so this one was a must-read. And it was well worth waiting for.Just finished this and really liked it. I had spotted one half of the twist as soon as the character was introduced, but not the other half. I wasn't enamoured of the chapters set abroad, or the ending, but apart from that it was good.
Granted, Jo Baker is no Austen (but then, who is?), and the tone of "look how hard our lives are compared to them upstairs" is sometimes a bit shrill. But still, it's very entertaining both in itself and in spotting the events in the original. And even if it didn't have The Twist, I'd still be glad it had been written.
he [Poucher] was Head Perfumer at Yardley for 30 years, was known as The Father of Modern Perfumery, and published what is still known as the perfumers' bible, Perfumes, Cosmetics and Soaps in 1923.
lip slaves and rogue sticks
If you enjoyed Tim Powers "Declare" or Charles Stross's "Laundry" series you'll probably get on with these. Unremittingly bleak though, and the American author doesn't quite write British English like wot it should be spoke....
The idea is that not some Romans survived the fall of Rome by fleeing to the Alps and setting up a small country there and that it survives to this day as a small independent state.
So basically Switzerland is a warrior state where they speak Latin? Cool! (Do they still get all the Nazi gold?)
Tim Moore's book 'Gironimo' about riding the route of the 1914 Giro d'Italia on a vintage bike.
Tim Moore's book 'Gironimo' about riding the route of the 1914 Giro d'Italia on a vintage bike.
Just finished Never Go Back by Lee Child.
Pretty much standard fair for the Reacher franchise, but how or why did Child create a character called David Baldacci?
I've finally finished "The Trial". It's only taken nineteen years :-\
I've finally finished "The Trial". It's only taken nineteen years :-\
Finding a bearable translation is part of the problem. The early ones (30s/40s/50s) are terribly precious.
The Men Who Stare At Goats ~ Jon Ronson.
I've read something very similar to the first chapter - in which General Stubblebine tries and fails to walk through his office wall - somewhere else recently and I can't remember where and it's driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
Just finished Never Mind, the first of Edward St Aubyn's loosely autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels. Hmmm. Some stylish prose but nothing much to actually enjoy
"Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe. I got pointed at his books by one of the guys at Surly (yes, that Surly) and this seemed like a good place to start.
Very thinly veiled autobiography, and his style of writing is somewhat stream of consciousness and takes a bit of getting used to but its different enough from my usual reading fare that I'm rather enjoying it.
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee. Its surprisingly readable for something that is set for GCSE literature!It was part of O-level English Lit. when I did mine (1987) - it's the only bit of 'set work' that I still read, even today, and I enjoy it just as much as I did back then.
ETA: Maybe there's a difference that I don't have to read it!
It remains one of my favourite books. There is a lot in that simple prose.To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee. Its surprisingly readable for something that is set for GCSE literature!It was part of O-level English Lit. when I did mine (1987) - it's the only bit of 'set work' that I still read, even today, and I enjoy it just as much as I did back then.
ETA: Maybe there's a difference that I don't have to read it!
Fantastic book, and the movie ain't half bad either.
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
Hmm. Undoubtedly well written, if a little purple, but it's not really doing anything for me. It's the kind of book that would have made a much greater impression on me if I'd read it when I was 16 (see also: The Dice Man).
I thought the same. I don't think I finished it. His 'Middlesex' is better.
Gironimo! . By Tim Moore, a sort of follow up to French Revolutions, where he rides the route of the 1914 hardest ever Giro, with 400km plus stages and only 8 finishers, on a 1914 Bike. It's really rather funny. If you read and enjoyed French Revolutions this is worth a read.
Half way through and I've started to look at the time-left-in-book. I don't know what it is, but generally if I start a book, I have to finish. There's probably a word in German for the feeling that comes from having to finish a crap book.
You have to separate it
scheiß Buchfertigstellungsbedürfnis
Naja....it is possible
Scheißbuchfertigstellungbedürfnis
Just asked my German chum, quoting you Citoyen, and got this response:QuoteYou have to separate it
scheiß Buchfertigstellungsbedürfnis
I queried whether it was a real word and he saidQuoteNaja....it is possible
Citoyen, this was done specially for you...
https://soundcloud.com/auntie-helen/german-view-of-book
Bridget Jones - the Edge of Reason. Was v.g. See, was away on singleton hols with only Thomas Dickens and Charles Hardy to read but needed cheering up. Saw this in Oxfam shop. Totes amazing, to think was read before me by prob someone in Africa! Maybe Masai warrior!! Oh, flyleaf - "To Jean, you are my Bridget. Love, Jack x". Is better than Masai warrior, is true-life working-class romance!!!
Three of them die...
Sequel https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg1583808#msg1583808
Here is the longer track where I am trying to get him to say your magic words: https://soundcloud.com/auntie-helen/scheisbuchfertigstellungbedurfnisCitoyen, this was done specially for you...
https://soundcloud.com/auntie-helen/german-view-of-book
Oh, that is brilliant! Totally made my day. Thank you!
The Germans saying squirrel is also great - I used to have great laughs making my students say squirrel when I worked in a French secondary school (though they got their revenge by making me say "écureuil")
Try getting Japanese to say squirrel. ;)Citoyen, this was done specially for you...
https://soundcloud.com/auntie-helen/german-view-of-book
Oh, that is brilliant! Totally made my day. Thank you!
The Germans saying squirrel is also great - I used to have great laughs making my students say squirrel when I worked in a French secondary school (though they got their revenge by making me say "écureuil")
Shakespeare is a new one - I will try it! I got a German lady 960km round the HBK Audax to say squirrel (and recorded it). Is that a bit mean?
I have had so much practice at saying Eichhörnchen I've now got it pretty decently sorted and the tame Germans say it's a very good rendition, as is my Süchtelner Höhen (a major difficulty - both in terms of hilliness and pronunciation).Shakespeare is a new one - I will try it! I got a German lady 960km round the HBK Audax to say squirrel (and recorded it). Is that a bit mean?
Yes. Yes, it is.
I, OTOH, acquired a certain cachet with Christina's German chums through being able to pronounce "Eichhörnchen" korektly, even after a Several of BEERS.
I tried 'Shakespeare' on my tame German yesterday and he had no probs - I think maybe I misread Bledlow's post and it was Japanese people who can't say it.
The Chessmen, by Peter May. Third in his Lewis trilogy. I enjoyed the first two.
Anyway, in the meantime, I am reading The Girl With The Thingummy Wotsit. It was either that or Cloud Atlas and frankly, I fancied something from the less taxing end of the literary spectrum. It's actually better than I was expecting so far. The prose is a little clunky in places but I suspect that's a function of the translation.
Quite enjoyed Lisbeth Salander getting her revenge on her guardian, but that's about the only moment of excitement so far.
Ah, that Thingummy Wotsit.
The first one is about 10 times slower then the 2nd. I still don't know how I finished it°Ah, that Thingummy Wotsit.
Yeah, and I've got the other two Thingummy Wotsits to read as well, though I'm not inclined to bother at the moment. Maybe the Pearl Earring would have been a better bet.
I read the first 2 thingywotsits and gave up as I really didn't care what happened.
I read the first 2 thingywotsits and gave up as I really didn't care what happened.
I gave up after the first one. I'm not sure why I read that, I'd seen the movie and that was dull too. I think it was 99p and I'd run out of suitable airport books. Their popularity eludes me.
I read the first 2 thingywotsits and gave up as I really didn't care what happened.
I gave up after the first one. I'm not sure why I read that, I'd seen the movie and that was dull too. I think it was 99p and I'd run out of suitable airport books. Their popularity eludes me.
It was marginally better than Dan Brown, I'll give it that. And reading tosh like that at least serves to highlight just how flipping good a writer Kurt Vonnegut is by comparison.
Here's a sample line from Cat's Cradle that I highlighted this morning:
"The stop-and-go signs, garish ghosts in the sleet, went through their irrelevant tomfoolery again and again, telling the glacier of automobiles what to do."
About as perfect a description of a traffic jam as you'll ever read in so few words. It's almost poetry. I'll give Stieg Larsson a certain amount of benefit of the doubt - I'm sure his prose isn't quite as lumpish in the original Swedish - but if he could actually write, he could have made his book about 200 pages shorter.
... the standards applied to the written word in the critiques here seems much higher than they are for, say films or television. Kurt Vonnegut may well be a writer with an order of magnitude more skill and depth than Brown or Larsson (my experience is limited to Slaughterhouse 5, the Girl With... trilogy and da Vinci Code, all of which I enjoyed at the time in different ways), but one could say the same about Ingmar Bergman vs James Gunn or Dennis Potter vs Steven Moffat.Yes, I found that a bit odd.
Clearly there are differing views on what makes a good read as expressed on this thread. But one of the reasons I often feel reluctant to post what I'm reading is that the standards applied to the written word in the critiques here seems much higher than they are for, say films or television. Kurt Vonnegut may well be a writer with an order of magnitude more skill and depth than Brown or Larsson (my experience is limited to Slaughterhouse 5, the Girl With... trilogy and da Vinci Code, all of which I enjoyed at the time in different ways), but one could say the same about Ingmar Bergman vs James Gunn or Dennis Potter vs Steven Moffat.
For what it's worth, my last two reads were Sex Lives of Siamese Twins (a somewhat grim but comic take on body image and weight gain/loss in American culture) and then 'Surviving the Evacuation' - a self-published Zombiefiction effort from Amazon (technically rather unimaginative writing, but good immersive fun).
Because I am less aware of the craft of good writing than many, I tend to look for books that I can get lost in, which often means hitting the Richard and Judy Book Club and page turning popular fiction. I'd like to feel less embarrassed about that, but I struggle.
I tried 'Shakespeare' on my tame German yesterday and he had no probs - I think maybe I misread Bledlow's post and it was Japanese people who can't say it...Nah. I said Mrs B has no trouble with it. Her family has samurai swords which they've been passing down for hundreds of years & a kamikaze pilot commemorated at Yasukuni, so I think you can work out whether she's German.
It may not be a reading book as such (unless you count the introduction to each region/chapter) but a book I cannot leave alone is Claudia Roden's "Italy", I spend ages reading through it enjoying the anecdotes, probably the most picked up book at the moment, a lovely book.
Martin Amis was worth reading once upon a time, back when he had something to say and an interesting way of saying it. Like the Rolling Stones or I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, he has become a pastiche of himself.
I found Bring Up The Bodies an easier read than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
No one should ever need to feel ashamed of their reading choices. I might pass judgment on the quality of a writer's work but that doesn't imply judgment of the person who reads it.
Just put this year's Booker shortlist on my ebook reader.
There may be some long nights ahead!
Just put this year's Booker shortlist on my ebook reader.
There may be some long nights ahead!
(Only if you put the shortlisted books on your ebook reader as well )
Let us know what you think.
First one is easy, Ali Smith, How To Be Both. Pretentious shite.My kind of review.
First one is easy, Ali Smith, How To Be Both. Pretentious shite. There always has to be one, at leadt it's not yet another Will Self one.
First one is easy, Ali Smith, How To Be Both. Pretentious shite. There always has to be one, at leadt it's not yet another Will Self one.
Hey, I liked Umbrella!
... but to me it was just a load of pretentious shite, like all his books, in fact.
Very well written and thoroughly entertaining contrived tripe so far.
Just finished - Everest the Hard Way by Chris Bonington
Now a good deal of the way through 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer
Just finished - Everest the Hard Way by Chris Bonington
Now a good deal of the way through 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer
Got both of those and my copy of Everest etc is signed by Mr B himself and Doug Scott.
If you like "Into Thin air" , follow it with "No Way down" by Graham Bowley. Death and survival on K2.
My current book is "Where the hell have you been? " by Tom Carver, ex BBC foreign reporter.
His father, who was Montgomery's stepson, escaped from an Italian POW camp and walked back to the British lines.
Tom Carver writes using material from his fathers diary,his own childhood memories and then brings the reader back to recent times and when his dad is almost housebound.
Just finished - Everest the Hard Way by Chris Bonington
Now a good deal of the way through 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer
Got both of those and my copy of Everest etc is signed by Mr B himself and Doug Scott.
If you like "Into Thin air" , follow it with "No Way down" by Graham Bowley. Death and survival on K2.
Land of the Green Man ~ Dr Larrington. I am instructed to look for "where it doesn't make sense, or where it's too boring to read, or too academic-sounding" on account of it not being published yet.
'Tis a folkloric ramble around the BRITISH Isles, with the chapters on the type of Other involved rather than the geography, if that makes sense.
As an aside, because I expressed an interest in Dr Larrington's work, Amazon thinks I might also be interested in a box set of The Chinese Detective, series 1 and 2.
This is no doubt due to the presence in the cast of one Larrington Walker. No relation.
This and the Ali Smith one make me despair at the Booker Prize this year.
This and the Ali Smith one make me despair at the Booker Prize this year.
I was rather hoping my old uni friend's debut novel (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg1707386#msg1707386) would at least get shortlisted for something this year but it has gone unregarded by both the Guardian First Book Award and now the Booker. It's a great book. And I would say that even if he weren't a friend.
No doubt once I have read Bone Clocks I will also be adding my voice to the clamour of "He wuz robbed!" cries from Middle[brow] England at the fact that David Mitchell has once again been overlooked.
On the plus side, your bike tyres wouldn't need much pumping up.Are you sure about that?
On the plus side, your bike tyres wouldn't need much pumping up.Are you sure about that?
I suspect that you'd need as many strokes of the pump to achieve a proportionally lower pressure. In other words, if you need 100 strokes to get 6bar on earth, would you not need 100 strokes to get 6martian bar on mars? They'd be easier strokes, mind, but still need the same amount.
2/3rds of the way through "J" by Howard Jacobson.
It's very densely written, but readable nontheless.
a) there is no pretentious shite and b) there aren't any really really densely written books (yes, I am looking at you, "J" and "Bring Up The Bodies")
a) there is no pretentious shite and b) there aren't any really really densely written books (yes, I am looking at you, "J" and "Bring Up The Bodies")
"It's difficult to keep up with [Hilary Mantel's] prose like it's difficult to keep with Fred Astaire on the dancefloor. But once you get into the rhythm it's like you can fly."
- comment on the Guardian website (and it's not often I feel compelled to quote anything from the bottom half of the internet)
If you haven't already done so, I can heartily reccommend reading "Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook to Travelling Upon the Ankh-Morpork & Sto Plains Hygienic Railway."
I am currently re-reading "Rucksack Man" by Sebastian Snow, being an account of his walk from Tierra del Fuego to the Panama Canal.
"Police", the latest Harry Hole book by Jo Nesbo.
It's strange to read a Harry Hole book that doesn't have him in it, well not so far (I am only a third of the way through at the moment).
It's good, though.
I hope you enjoy it. I thought it the best pro cycling book I've read. I wonder what the balance of the input was between Wegelius and Tom Southam."Police", the latest Harry Hole book by Jo Nesbo.
It's strange to read a Harry Hole book that doesn't have him in it, well not so far (I am only a third of the way through at the moment).
It's good, though.
Finished it, it is very good, right to the end.
Now started "Domestique" by Charlie Wegelius (or some such spelling). I didn't know that he's from York, his first club being VC York.
I hope you enjoy it. I thought it the best pro cycling book I've read. I wonder what the balance of the input was between Wegelius and Tom Southam."Police", the latest Harry Hole book by Jo Nesbo.
It's strange to read a Harry Hole book that doesn't have him in it, well not so far (I am only a third of the way through at the moment).
It's good, though.
Finished it, it is very good, right to the end.
Now started "Domestique" by Charlie Wegelius (or some such spelling). I didn't know that he's from York, his first club being VC York.
Alan Stoob is the Nazi-Hunter de nos jours. If you haven't seen any Nazis on the streets of Dunstable latterly it is entirely down to his tireless efforts. (Charlie Higson)
Alan Stoob is the funniest and most effective Bedfordshire-based Nazi Hunter I've come across. (Stephen Mangan)
Its different isnt it. I think there is a sequel due out soon as well.
You by Caroline Kepnes. It's narrated by a man who is stalking a woman. It's extremely creepy.Finished it. Eek!
"Ancillary Justice" by Anne Leckie. Her debut novel, and it won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Clarke & BSFA awards for SF in the same year. First time anyone's done that!
It's rather good :D
The Girl with All the Gifts
snip Cornish pasties, always seem to be award-winning these days. Both are disconcertingly chewable and ultimately unsatisfying.
snip Cornish pasties, always seem to be award-winning these days. Both are disconcertingly chewable and ultimately unsatisfying.
You know sometimes you're enjoying a book so much you really resent going to work?
When bobb and I were in Greece I read Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I really enjoyed it and got myself the next two in the series, Moon Over Soho and Whispers Under Ground. I finished Moon Over Soho yesterday and started Whispers Under Ground straight away. I really really really like them.
"Ancillary Justice" by Anne Leckie. Her debut novel, and it won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Clarke & BSFA awards for SF in the same year. First time anyone's done that!
It's rather good :D
Hmm, I read that as a Kindle 99p thing. I found it pretty dull mix of porridgy prose and uninteresting characters diligently labouring towards the inevitability of future volumes.
Books, like Cornish pasties, always seem to be award-winning these days. Both are disconcertingly chewable and ultimately unsatisfying.
Tony Hawks' 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'I found this a lot more entertaining than:
I'm counting this as research for a March trip to the Emerald Isle :)
Tony Hawks' 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'I found this a lot more entertaining than:
I'm counting this as research for a March trip to the Emerald Isle :)
- The Eric Newby book, or
- Hawks's sequel (A Piano in the Pyrenees) - which I am about to finish.
(I only preseverd with the latter cos it's a very easy read, suitable for man-flu sufferers. Happy to add to The Lending Library if there is demand! )
Probably better than all the above was Newby's "Short Walk in the Hindu Kush".
Robert Jordan's A wheel of Time. Book 2 of 14Oh jeeze.
Robert Jordan's A wheel of Time. Book 2 of 14
You know sometimes you're enjoying a book so much you really resent going to work?
When bobb and I were in Greece I read Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I really enjoyed it and got myself the next two in the series, Moon Over Soho and Whispers Under Ground. I finished Moon Over Soho yesterday and started Whispers Under Ground straight away. I really really really like them.
Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I'm getting near to the end of Whispers Under Ground overground wombling free. I'll probably go straight into Broken Homes.
Indeed he did young Polbeckers, which my son (who's loaning them to me) pointed out the other day. Ho hum, never mind. It shan't put me off and, in answer to the young shaver Mathew C, (who's derisive sneering tone has been noted >:(), I'm an avid reader, so one a week will fly by. I'm enjoying them. It's escapism. It's fantasy. I also enjoy many other genres.;D
'Something to Declare' by S.A.A. Calvert.
Really enjoyed it and found myself somewhat involved in the plot, which is unusual for me. A very engaging book.
Indeed he did young Polbeckers, which my son (who's loaning them to me) pointed out the other day. Ho hum, never mind. It shan't put me off and, in answer to the young shaver Mathew C, (who's derisive sneering tone has been noted >:(), I'm an avid reader, so one a week will fly by. I'm enjoying them. It's escapism. It's fantasy. I also enjoy many other genres.;D
Don't worrry, I'm sure you could find plenty to sneer at if I was daft enough to expose my book-shelves to scrutiny (including some reet dodgy SF/F)!
Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
Indeed he did young Polbeckers, which my son (who's loaning them to me) pointed out the other day. Ho hum, never mind. It shan't put me off and, in answer to the young shaver Mathew C, (who's derisive sneering tone has been noted >:(), I'm an avid reader, so one a week will fly by. I'm enjoying them. It's escapism. It's fantasy. I also enjoy many other genres.;D
Don't worrry, I'm sure you could find plenty to sneer at if I was daft enough to expose my book-shelves to scrutiny (including some reet dodgy SF/F)!
Yay! Aunty Steffie sold another one!
I'm re-reading The 39 Steps, prior to embarking on the sequals that have Richard Hannay in them.
:)Yay! Aunty Steffie sold another one!
I'm re-reading The 39 Steps, prior to embarking on the sequals that have Richard Hannay in them.
I warned you. I will find and burn your clogs.
Indeed he did young Polbeckers, which my son (who's loaning them to me) pointed out the other day. Ho hum, never mind. It shan't put me off and, in answer to the young shaver Mathew C, (who's derisive sneering tone has been noted >:(), I'm an avid reader, so one a week will fly by. I'm enjoying them. It's escapism. It's fantasy. I also enjoy many other genres.;D
Don't worrry, I'm sure you could find plenty to sneer at if I was daft enough to expose my book-shelves to scrutiny (including some reet dodgy SF/F)!
Hey, that would be a good one for 'The Gallery' wouldn't it!? …
My bookshelves
… it is done
Have started Shift by Hugh Howey, the follow up to Wool.Stick with it and all will slowly become clear.
It's a bit harder to get into the the first book, but getting good.
Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
I have just finished Broken Homes. I did not see the twist coming. I am aghast.Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
I have finished that one and am now reading Nation by Terry Pratchett.
In the list for next are Colourless Tsuru thingy by Haruki Murakami and
The Peripheral by William Gibson.
I liked the Hugh Howey books :)
I was a bit shocked too.I have just finished Broken Homes. I did not see the twist coming. I am aghast.Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
I have finished that one and am now reading Nation by Terry Pratchett.
In the list for next are Colourless Tsuru thingy by Haruki Murakami and
The Peripheral by William Gibson.
Robert Jordan's A wheel of Time. Book 3 of 14
Robert Jordan's A wheel of Time. Book 3 of 14
I never got past book one. A friend tells me that by about book seven the first half of the book is mostly recap. This may be a lie of course.
Finished Foxglove Summer. I want the next one NOW!I was a bit shocked too.I have just finished Broken Homes. I did not see the twist coming. I am aghast.Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
I have finished that one and am now reading Nation by Terry Pratchett.
In the list for next are Colourless Tsuru thingy by Haruki Murakami and
The Peripheral by William Gibson.
It's a major major read...
Robert Jordan's A wheel of Time. Book 3 of 14
I never got past book one. A friend tells me that by about book seven the first half of the book is mostly recap. This may be a lie of course.
Sounds like Tad Williams' SOP, except he doesn't just put the recap at the beginning, it's all the way through, and gets a bit annoying after a while.
Get thee to the Laundry Archives. Similar MO, but zombies and ting.Finished Foxglove Summer. I want the next one NOW!I was a bit shocked too.I have just finished Broken Homes. I did not see the twist coming. I am aghast.Ms Gallumbits otp will be pleased to learn that I have now finished "Foxglove Summer" and reckon it to be well up to the standards of its predecessors (though I did find "Broken Homes" a little less excellent than the first three in the series).I are also reading that just now. Be sad when I'm finished them.
I have finished that one and am now reading Nation by Terry Pratchett.
In the list for next are Colourless Tsuru thingy by Haruki Murakami and
The Peripheral by William Gibson.
London Falling. Interesting idea, akin to the Ben Aaronovitch books, but curiously hard to follow. I think it's the revolving characters, he keeps skipping from one to the other, and gives none of them time to develop, so I keep having to flick back a few pages. Maybe it'll sort itself out by the end but it wouldn't have benefited from building out a single protagonist rather than wheeling through four fairly indistinguishable ones.
Do it ian! I think you'll like The Laundry Archives. Lots of comments on working for a big org that remind me of some of your posts :)If you haven't read it yet, try "A Colder War" for a taste of his Lovecraft-meets-cold war riffing. The Laundry books are a delight, and there is a very dark core even to the funniest bits.
Natchez Burning ~ Greg Iles
GN: 800+ pages so will keep me going for a day or two
BN: Fifth of a series, the first four of which I have not read
GN: Stephen King likes it
BN: Dan Brown likes it
I'm taking a little break from the Discworld to launch myself head-first into ALL the Tolkien. I've read some of it in dribs and drabs over the years but I've either forgotten or didn't notice the importance of half of it, so now I'm actually paying attention.
At my usual pace I expect to be finished a few weeks after I die of old age.
I'm taking a little break from the Discworld to launch myself head-first into ALL the Tolkien. I've read some of it in dribs and drabs over the years but I've either forgotten or didn't notice the importance of half of it, so now I'm actually paying attention.I can recommend the track-list I used for Tolkien <mumble> years ago: skip the Sillymarion and finish off with Bored Of The Rings instead. It's rather good, and you'll really need it by that stage!
I'm taking a little break from the Discworld to launch myself head-first into ALL the Tolkien.
I never managed more than a few pages of the Silmarrillion, despite several attempts. I gave up when it eventually dawned on me that the problem was not my reading ability* but the fact that it's a shit book.
*I was off the scale on those school reading age tests by age 10.
I read these blog posts this week
http://mediadiversified.org/2014/12/26/top-ten-books-ive-read-this-year-a-feminist-perspective/
Don't you love these "self-help" books!?
Love the category it's in:Don't you love these "self-help" books!?
O. My. G.
It's a trilogy.
Now enjoying The Art of Seducing A Naked Werewolf.
I'll get my real brain back eventually.
Natchez Burning ~ Greg Iles
GN: 800+ pages so will keep me going for a day or two
BN: Fifth of a series, the first four of which I have not read
GN: Stephen King likes it
BN: Dan Brown likes it
Thanks for Greg Iles, perfect accompaniment to manflu what I have been SUFFERING with. I've gone for chronological order and chewed my way through the first two Penn Cage stories. Raymond Chandler, he's not, it's a shame he hasn't got a good editor, but enjoyed none the less. I seem to have no 3 on my Kindle now.
Having got a kindle for Christmas I am enjoying EF Benson, starting with Queen Lucia.
I read these blog posts this weekI'm about 80 pages from the end of Americanah, and I don't want it to finish. Loving it.
http://mediadiversified.org/2014/12/26/top-ten-books-ive-read-this-year-a-feminist-perspective/
http://mediadiversified.org/2014/12/29/top-10-books-by-novelists-of-colour-published-in-2014/
I've read some of the books on the first list and none of the books on the second. I've bought some for my nook, added some to my "to be reserved" list on my library account, and just downloaded the library copy of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.
A bit odd, I found. Might return to it and actually finish it, sometime.
Meanwhile I am reading "The Art of Asking" by Amanda Palmer.
"Who?" I hear you ask? Well she is the wife of one Neil Gaiman and used to be the front person of a "Dark Cabaret Act" called Dresden Dolls.
A useful book that has already managed to make me £8500, just by asking...
@Mr B
Who? Dresden Dolls? Not officially, IIRC they are still on their extended hiatus.
@Mr B
Who? Dresden Dolls? Not officially, IIRC they are still on their extended hiatus.
Yep, them.
Finished it. Loved it.We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.
A bit odd, I found. Might return to it and actually finish it, sometime.
...onto Fellowship which I seem to have on both my Kindle and in paperback. I'm going for the Kindle version mostly because the paperback is starting to fall apart.
My Idea Of Fun - Will Self
First read this about 20 years ago when it was new. Loved it at the time. Now, rediscovering it, I feel it possibly deserves to be considered a genuine classic, albeit still the work of an immature writer. Not perfect but quite brilliant. And very funny.
Also, wtf was he on when he wrote it? At a conservative estimate... everything.
OTOH it wasn't my idea of fun :(
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Early doors yet but signs are good, especially with a main character named Joe Spork.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Early doors yet but signs are good, especially with a main character named Joe Spork.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Early doors yet but signs are good, especially with a main character named Joe Spork.
I've just finished it, and I enjoyed it muchly. It had me in giggles in some places, which is very rare for a book.
I've recommended it to the friend who is letting me borrow Rivers of London, which I am really looking forward to (mostly due to the praise on here).
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Early doors yet but signs are good, especially with a main character named Joe Spork.
I've just finished it, and I enjoyed it muchly. It had me in giggles in some places, which is very rare for a book.
I've recommended it to the friend who is letting me borrow Rivers of London, which I am really looking forward to (mostly due to the praise on here).
William Gibson's Peripheral is glowing in my TBR pile,30 pages in - I have no idea what is going on.
Finally finished "Angelmaker", which was OK but not, I think, worthy of the praise plastered all over the cover. Which means I'll have to think of something else for Miss von Brandenburg's birthday present chiz. Now on "Prayer For The Dead", the fifth instalment of James Oswald's Inspector McLean series. Halfway between Rebus and Peter Grant - set in Edinburgh and with mild supernatural overtones. I am fervently hoping that no further Heavy Things land on top of his newly-restored Alfa.
Finally finished "Angelmaker", which was OK but not, I think, worthy of the praise plastered all over the cover. Which means I'll have to think of something else for Miss von Brandenburg's birthday present chiz. Now on "Prayer For The Dead", the fifth instalment of James Oswald's Inspector McLean series. Halfway between Rebus and Peter Grant - set in Edinburgh and with mild supernatural overtones. I am fervently hoping that no further Heavy Things land on top of his newly-restored Alfa.
Which Alfa? I may have to acquire, although I will first have to manually disengage the automatic safety mechanism that clicked in with the words "supernatural overtones"
Finally finished "Angelmaker", which was OK but not, I think, worthy of the praise plastered all over the cover. Which means I'll have to think of something else for Miss von Brandenburg's birthday present chiz. Now on "Prayer For The Dead", the fifth instalment of James Oswald's Inspector McLean series. Halfway between Rebus and Peter Grant - set in Edinburgh and with mild supernatural overtones. I am fervently hoping that no further Heavy Things land on top of his newly-restored Alfa.
Which Alfa? I may have to acquire, although I will first have to manually disengage the automatic safety mechanism that clicked in with the words "supernatural overtones"
Doesn't say specifically but it's from the 70s and has a roof, so my guess would be a Tipo 105/115 GT - the 1963-77 one.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.
A bit odd, I found. Might return to it and actually finish it, sometime.
William Gibson's Peripheral is glowing in my TBR pile,30 pages in - I have no idea what is going on.
I've never had this problem with Gibson, and I've read plenty of weird SF shit over the years. Has his prose gotten even more terse and opaque? Or am I just getting older and dumber?:-\
...
Deffo a roof, and rear seats big enough to fit DC Stuart MacBride into. It doesn't play a major role in the way that Morse'sLanciaJag does, though it might if the books ever get ruined for the Anbaric Distascope.
Finally finished "Angelmaker", which was OK but not, I think, worthy of the praise plastered all over the cover. Which means I'll have to think of something else for Miss von Brandenburg's birthday present chiz. Now on "Prayer For The Dead", the fifth instalment of James Oswald's Inspector McLean series. Halfway between Rebus and Peter Grant - set in Edinburgh and with mild supernatural overtones. I am fervently hoping that no further Heavy Things land on top of his newly-restored Alfa.
Which Alfa? I may have to acquire, although I will first have to manually disengage the automatic safety mechanism that clicked in with the words "supernatural overtones"
Doesn't say specifically but it's from the 70s and has a roof, so my guess would be a Tipo 105/115 GT - the 1963-77 one.
Hot damn. A roof you say? Probably the GT Junior, ordinary version. Even an writer couldn't destroy a Zagato bodied one, shirley?
I may have to get involved.
Instant Order Update for a forgetful dickhead. You purchased this item on 24 July 2013
Risk of getting this thread split and bits of it carted off to "Vroom" notwithstanding, in "The Book Of Souls" the Alfa is identified as a 1969 GTV, which would perforce make it:
- a 1750, and
- way past my bedtime
Never mind Wolves, Wolf Hall doesn't even have Wolf Hall in it.
This week's read is "Annihilation" by Jeff Vandermeer, the first in the Southern Reach trilogy.
Quite good so far.
This week's read is "Annihilation" by Jeff Vandermeer, the first in the Southern Reach trilogy.
Quite good so far.
Now onto "Authority", the second in the trilogy.
Still have NFI what is happening.
I'm sorry, said it before, but I got through about a third of the way through The Martian – thought it was awful. The formulaic (outline problem > propose solutions > solve problem)n. The prose couldn't have flatter if a hippo had sat on it to contemplate joining Weight Watchers. I didn't you know could make being stranded in Mars sound less exciting than spending a night a Basingstoke Travelodge but by god, this guy has done it. Is it too late to order a pizza? Let's review the leaflet. Hmm, ham and pineapple. I know I will try phoning Dominoes. Oh, a pizza has arrived. The main character seemed to have left his personality back on Earth. The interior lights were out and I wasn't sure anyone was home. Did anyone care about him? Did he care about anyone? He didn't seem to have actual life. Maybe he finds it under a rock later in the book. Perhaps he marries a one of those little robots we've left crawling around down there.
Science was off too. No knock-you-over wind on Mars for starters, and erm, you're not going to grow plants successfully like that. Blah.
I'm sorry, said it before, but I got through about a third of the way through The Martian – thought it was awful. The formulaic (outline problem > propose solutions > solve problem)n. The prose couldn't have flatter if a hippo had sat on it to contemplate joining Weight Watchers. I didn't you know could make being stranded in Mars sound less exciting than spending a night a Basingstoke Travelodge but by god, this guy has done it. Is it too late to order a pizza? Let's review the leaflet. Hmm, ham and pineapple. I know I will try phoning Dominoes. Oh, a pizza has arrived. The main character seemed to have left his personality back on Earth. The interior lights were out and I wasn't sure anyone was home. Did anyone care about him? Did he care about anyone? He didn't seem to have actual life. Maybe he finds it under a rock later in the book. Perhaps he marries a one of those little robots we've left crawling around down there.
Science was off too. No knock-you-over wind on Mars for starters, and erm, you're not going to grow plants successfully like that. Blah.
FWIW the science is off in most SF. When it's way out hyperspace etc you just sit back and enjoy the ride, when it attempts to be a bit closer to reality people stick pins in it. If Jim Lovell's book Lost Moon bore an SF label people would be picking at it.
I thought the bloke a wee bit too serendipitous but all it all it was a good yarn and had a few good chuckles in it.
But how many people remember Robinson stripping naked, swimming out to the sinking ahip and filling his pockets with Useful Things? This seems unlikely for any non-marsupial life form.
But how many people remember Robinson stripping naked, swimming out to the sinking ahip and filling his pockets with Useful Things? This seems unlikely for any non-marsupial life form.
Maybe his mother were a hamster.
The Bone Clocks - David Mitchel
The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell
Can't remember if I mentioned this already but it's so good it deserves to be mentioned again anyway. I love his determinedly middlebrow prose. He's the antithesis of Will Self, who I also love, as I may have mentioned, but for sheer readability, Mitchell takes the prize every time.
This is a fine example of a book that isn't spoiled by the improbability of its events, even though they can seem quite bizarre in the broadly naturalistic narrative.
I want to know what middlebrow prose is.
I want to know what middlebrow prose is.
Has a sense of style but is so readable that it's liable to get a recommendation on the Richard & Judy book club. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the paradigm.
David Mitchell is an accomplished writer and you get the feeling that he is deliberately aiming for readability but would be very capable of Will Self style verbal pyrotechnics if he turned his mind to it.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the paradigm.
So far, I'm enjoying it although I find it a little contrived, the characters a bit too two dimensional.
Nobody said "Feck" in the 80's did they?
Me too. I enjoyed his South American trilogy even more, which I believe could be described as 'Magical Realism', although I have never read any Gabriel García Márquez, so what do I know? But they did feature enormous cats, which was nice.
Books are like films though aren't they. It doesn't matter what the Great and the Good of the critical circle think, they could wax lyrical about how the prose drips like nectar from the pages or how the characters are about as engaging as a severely irritating STI being scrubbed down with bleach, if the book grabs you by the imagination bone, you will enjoy it.
I've watched and loved many a filum or read and enjoyed many a book slated by the circle. Fuck em.
This week's read is "Annihilation" by Jeff Vandermeer, the first in the Southern Reach trilogy.
Quite good so far.
Now onto "Authority", the second in the trilogy.
Still have NFI what is happening.
I like this review of The Bone Clocks - does a good job of picking out both what's good about it and its flaws - but be warned, it contains lots of SPOILERS...
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/08/soul-cycle
It is flawed, I'll admit that, but I still loved it. The big question is whether or not all this dazzling storytelling amounts to anything worth saying. Maybe, maybe not, but the corollary question is: does it really matter if it doesn't?
Do you work for Audible, citoyen? It's their deal of the day @ £3.49 (and in My Library now)
I finally got round to reading Stanisław Lem's The Star Diaries, which I purchased years ago entirely on the basis of a newsgroup sig.(click to show/hide)
The Race Against The Stasi ~ Herbie Sykes. The tale of East German cyclist Dieter Wiedemann, the Peace Race and various beastly totalitarianism fans. Only just started but it comes highly recommended.
Oddly enough, I knew what that was going to be before clickying the Spoiler wossname.
This week's read is "Annihilation" by Jeff Vandermeer, the first in the Southern Reach trilogy.
Quite good so far.
Now onto "Authority", the second in the trilogy.
Still have NFI what is happening.
Now onto "Acceptance".(click to show/hide)
I dunno....
Divergent.
It was recommended to me as a good read. I'm afraid I found it pretty mediocre, even for teen fiction. I don't intend to read the rest of the series. Just silly, and superficial.
Next: either Bring Up The Bodies, Mad Addam, or Life After Life.
Redeployment by Phil Klay.
It is shit, badly written, assumes you have a knowledge of what US military acronyms mean and doesn't follow any order.
Avoid.
What exactly is the deal withteenyoung adult fiction? No this isn't stand up, I'm genuinely a bit confused, because it's everywhere. What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented? How did they survive before we manufactured a genre that didn't solely feature them? Was I irrevocably damaged by reading adult literature? No, not that kind of adult literature, the other, the one with words.
I saw a couple of Hunger Games movies on a plane and they were a bit meh. Less young adult, more simple mind. Look at that plot st r e t c h.
It is, I think, about time I had another crack at reading the combined A Feast For Crows/A Dance With Dragons (http://boiledleather.com/post/25902554148/a-new-reader-friendly-combined-reading-order-for-a) (books four and five of A Song of Ice and Fire).
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23853117/YACF/20150209%20AFFC%20ADWD%20reading%20order.png)
I haz a spreadsheet. Reading a book shouldn't need a spreadsheet. :facepalm:
What exactly is the deal withteenyoung adult fiction? No this isn't stand up, I'm genuinely a bit confused, because it's everywhere. What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented? How did they survive before we manufactured a genre that didn't solely feature them?
I'm currently re-reading Blindsight by Peter Watts, as a warm up for the sequel Echopraxia.
This is not your typical humans meet aliens first contact story...... the "humans" are not quite baseline and the aliens are very alien indeed.
What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented?
What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented?
....reading adult literature?Ummm, think you answered your own q.
What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented?Quote from: ian....reading adult literature?Ummm, think you answered your own q.
I read pretty much _anything_ I could get my hands on, from Dad's pulp westerns (J. T. Edson anebode?), kids stuff (Victorian to modern), "thrillers" by the likes of Hammond Innes, "classics" such as c dickens & j austen f'rinstance. Not forgetting lots and lots and _lots_ of sci-fi, eg Silverberg, Asimov, Heinlein, Budrys. ect ect ect.
What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented?
Next up, some more Pratchett I think.
You can't detest Kafka properly until you're grown up.
I'm currently re-reading Blindsight by Peter Watts, as a warm up for the sequel Echopraxia.
This is not your typical humans meet aliens first contact story...... the "humans" are not quite baseline and the aliens are very alien indeed.
Now onto Echopraxia......... it has vampires......and zombies........
You can't detest Kafka properly until you're grown up.
;D
Works the other way too - I remember trying to read Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy when I was 14 because my dad had told me it was very funny. I just found it boring and it put me off reading any more Waugh for years. Rediscovered it in my late 20s and found it hilarious.
I did once read a couple of USAnian YA fiction books by a chap called Paul Zindel. 'Pardon me, you're stepping on my eyeball' was one of them. Interesting contrast with British writers and references, but it didn't help theOh, me too. I'd forgotten those completely.disconnectionyawning gulf that separated me from most of my peers.
The Bible (http://artofelectronics.net/). Much-anticipated 20 years overdue Moore's-Law-compliant third edition. Looking good so far.Goodness. That's _still_ being published!? I blew the dust off my '84 copy the other day and had a flick through it and wondered whether or not to keep it. It went back on the shelf. You never know....
(This is probably a good time to bag a cheap copy of the Second Edition if you've ever found yourself needing to design a circuit and don't already own one.)
The Bible (http://artofelectronics.net/). Much-anticipated 20 years overdue Moore's-Law-compliant third edition. Looking good so far.Goodness. That's _still_ being published!? I blew the dust off my '84 copy the other day and had a flick through it and wondered whether or not to keep it. It went back on the shelf. You never know....
(This is probably a good time to bag a cheap copy of the Second Edition if you've ever found yourself needing to design a circuit and don't already own one.)
The Bible (http://artofelectronics.net/). Much-anticipated 20 years overdue Moore's-Law-compliant third edition. Looking good so far.Goodness. That's _still_ being published!? I blew the dust off my '84 copy the other day and had a flick through it and wondered whether or not to keep it. It went back on the shelf. You never know....
(This is probably a good time to bag a cheap copy of the Second Edition if you've ever found yourself needing to design a circuit and don't already own one.)
What exactly is the deal withteenyoung adult fiction? No this isn't stand up, I'm genuinely a bit confused, because it's everywhere. What did young adults read before young adult fiction was invented? How did they survive before we manufactured a genre that didn't solely feature them?
As an young teenager in the early 1980s I very much enjoyed the 'young adult' fiction of Bernard Ashley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Ashley_(author)) (Terry on the Fence and Break in the Sun were two favourites) and Joan Lingard's (http://joanlingard.co.uk/children.php) Kevin and Sadie books. Not that new.
Mother's Milk - Edward St Aubyn
Having just finished the excellent Some Hope, which is no.3 in the Patrick Melrose series, I'm moving straight on to no.4. I do like his style. Some Hope centres around a dinner party featuring a cast of obnoxious poshos, including the thoroughly awful Princess Margaret (based on first hand knowledge, apparently), but it's much better than that makes it sound. Very funny, in a waspishly Waugh-esque kind of way.
High rise by J.G. Ballard. Might be good, not sure yet as I have only read the first few pages!
High rise by J.G. Ballard. Might be good, not sure yet as I have only read the first few pages!
I rather liked that when I read it as a young Mr Larrington, after hearing the Hawkwind track it inspired.
First appeared on "PXR5" circa 1979.
Donna Tarrrttttt (delete to taste) The Goldfinch. Wife called it riveting. Guess I'm case-hardened.
Quartet In Autumn - Barbara Pym
Oh my.
I don't know if it would be appropriate to say I enjoyed this one. It's rather bleak, quite upsetting even. Philip Hensher described it as "a spare masterpiece in loneliness", which is spot on. But it also has moments of humour - proper laugh out loud stuff. And some moments where you really don't know if you should be laughing or recoiling in horror.
It reminds me a lot of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. And of Patrick Hamilton's Slaves Of Solitude.
Barbara Pym was recommended to me by Peter OTP but this is still only the second of hers that I've read. I must read more. I like her style.
Then The Bone Clocks. Loved the writing throughout, but while I could cope with the odd hint of the fantasy in the first few chapters, the full blown anchorites v horologists stuff turned me off. I liked the extended epilogue though - back to earth with a thud. I'll be back to David Mitchell once he's written a 'straight' novel.
That bit reminded me of the old Dennis Wheatley novels - The Devil Rides Out and so forth.
High rise by J.G. Ballard. Might be good, not sure yet as I have only read the first few pages!
That bit reminded me of the old Dennis Wheatley novels - The Devil Rides Out and so forth.
I've not read those but it reminded me strongly of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.
Having finished Boy, Snow, Bird, I have decided i wanted to read something a bit lighter. So I am now reading "Saint Odd" by Dean Koontz. How the fuck did he manage to get published? I have read better penny dreadfuls, or is that the point?Dean Koontz is an odd writer, in that occasionally he can produce something that is not only gripping but bloody terrifying. There are scenes in 'Phantoms', 'Watchers' and 'Twilight Eyes' that cut right to the nightmare lode. But I said 'scenes' deliberately. A lot of his writing is dorss, most of it in fact, and when he tries to do 'art' it is shite. A good writer could well cdaptivate the reader with a full paragraph describing said flock of birds landing; he isn't one. He is also a right-wing gun-freaqk nutjob, and some of his books carry little polemics about things along the lines of the Waco seige.
FFS he spends a whole PARAGRAPH describing a flock to birds landing at the side of a lake!!!
Greg Iles' "The Bone Tree". Only bok 5 of the series of, so far, 5. Follows on immediately after "Natchez Burning".
Just finished Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6334.Never_Let_Me_Go).
Feel like a grown up again. Loved it's meaty thought-provoking deceptive simplicity.
Found a virtual pile of Vonnegut that I got for 99p some time back and am starting to re-read (actually I'm not sure I ever read Sirens of Titan), as it's been an awesome number of years. God knows what they were putting in his coffee.
A new Mark Billingham, you say? Thorne?
(Reaches for shopping list)
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
'nuff said, really. Also, footnotes - glorious footnotes - all the way down. :thumbsup:
A new Mark Billingham, you say? Thorne?
(Reaches for shopping list)
Yep, new Thorne.
A new Mark Billingham, you say? Thorne?
(Reaches for shopping list)
Yep, new Thorne.
Now started. Not a single killin' yet chiz, but I'm only on page 12.
Not reading any of Mark Billingham's books, so starting with Sleepyhead. 4.5 killin's so far.A new Mark Billingham, you say? Thorne?
(Reaches for shopping list)
Yep, new Thorne.
Now started. Not a single killin' yet chiz, but I'm only on page 12.
Magnus Mills. The Field of the Cloth of Gold.
Half way through. Typical Mills territory. If anyone out there has read him, you'll know what I mean.
Harvest was so intense it was like a punch in the gut.
Curse those dreadful people at the Mega-Global Sounds Like A Big River Corporation of Seattle, USAnia! They give me a freebie of Neil Gaiman's Stardust (now there's a book that belongs in the Dan Brown assassination thread as an example of of how not to be Dan Brown) and now I would appear to have boughtThe Ocean At The End Of The Lane. Woe is me!
... Neil Gaiman's Stardust ...Now there's a book I've never got round to reading despite having seen the film.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.I liked it, but it's not in my hit parade. There's a lot of death.
It's thematically a bit like 'Sliding Doors' in that it explores the paths not taken in a woman's life, as she lives her time over and over again. I started it once, got to chapter 3 and then gave up when I bought a new Pterry but I found this at the bottom of the TPOB beside my bed and gave it another shot.
It's one of those rare books I'll take with me and think about for ages. Kate Tkinson has a way of writing people that makes you fond of them - a real rare gift.
It's made me want to re-read Moon Tiger too, another book about a woman who experienced WW2. Both books up there in my hit parade, definitely.
Recommended.
Keith Richards' autobiography.
Finished "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng, a story of a mixed race family in America during the 40s through to the 80s. Well written, gripping and you actually care about the characters.
Then moved onto "Young God" by Katherine Faw Morris, stripped bare, raw, compelling, I read it in one sitting, thus meaning I didn't go to sleep until after midnight.
My next one, that I have just started is "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henriquez. Holding out on a view of this as I am only 9 pages in.
Coincidentally, I've just finished The Children Act, which I think is his latest.
When the book came out we were in Dunedin NZ. The local rag was up in arms because he wrote that Dunedin was the worst place he ever gigged.Keith Richards' autobiography.
As if he can remember anything.
;)
The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness.This. And then the next one- The Ask and The Answer. And there will be a third.
But how the heck can a person who have travelled so much over the last 50 years remember one place so well. I think he just threw a dart at the globe, just so that he could write a name of a town that was bad to be able to fill the book.
You can read your Kindle whilst it's charging.
Shades of grey
No not the adolescent softporn thing
The dystopian novel by Jasper Fforde. The first of a series of three but as he seems to write slower than even George R R Martin I may not live long enough to read the last one.
Currently reading The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker and enjoying it. A bit slow and unexceptional to start, but the intrigue is ramping up nicely. :thumbsup:Oh my goodness, how many plot twists?!?
One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon. I was in my teens during his presidency. I remember having a vague sense that he was a bit of a bastard, but I had no idea that he was this bad.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
The story of two sisters, living in France during WWII. One lives in the country and suffers, badly, the other joins the resistance.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nightingale-Kristin-Hannah/dp/0312577222
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
The story of two sisters, living in France during WWII. One lives in the country and suffers, badly, the other joins the resistance.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nightingale-Kristin-Hannah/dp/0312577222
Sounded right up my wife's street, downloaded onto the kindle I bought her as a holiday present before we go away. Thanks for mentioning it here.
I bought All Quiet on the Orient Express last night, purely on the basis it was the cheapest kindle book...
To kill a mockingbird. Never read it before, and as it's all over the news, I thought I'd see what the fuss was about. I've seen the film a few times though.
Am currently reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Am currently reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
I'll be interested in what you make of it. I thought it was an interesting idea but almost every page screamed "TV adaptation" in the writing.
I'll be interested in what you make of it. I thought it was an interesting idea but almost every page screamed "TV adaptation" in the writing.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
The story of two sisters, living in France during WWII. One lives in the country and suffers, badly, the other joins the resistance.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nightingale-Kristin-Hannah/dp/0312577222
Sounded right up my wife's street, downloaded onto the kindle I bought her as a holiday present before we go away. Thanks for mentioning it here.
I have just finished it, I really really enjoyed it.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy FowlerThere was a bit in that that made me say "WHAT THE FUCK?" out loud on the bus.
I have just started Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, picked up for 99p as a Kindle special.
A historical novel that takes as its backdrop the events and social framework leading up to and through WWI. I keep swinging from exasperation for the plot clichés to admiration for the quality of writing that keeps you rolling along. The cast of characters is set almost too wide, as he lays out events on the world stage; it gives him the ability to add historical detail and social comment as part of the narrative. If nothing else, he does Welsh Wales very well indeed (I think his background is Welsh?) and weaves the story with skill around the protagonists and historical events, using the different characters to provide alternative perspective albeit in a self conscious way sometimes.
Just over half way through, will have to see if I keep going through others in the trilogy.
The Martian. So far, very very good.
Don't make me do the Dan Brown thing again to prove it. I got mental scars from that.
Don't make me do the Dan Brown thing again to prove it. I got mental scars from that.
Oh go on, it's worth it. For the rest of us
Don't make me do the Dan Brown thing again to prove it. I got mental scars from that.
Oh go on, it's worth it. For the rest of us
Oh come on, it might not be English Lit but its 10^eleventy better than anything Dan Brown can excrete.
To be fair, the dull exposition - if not the science[1] - is the whole point of the book. Though it does end up reading uncannily like one of my ride reports, which is probably why I don't have a blog.
The Leaping Lad is a great collection of stories, too - but that was completely unobtainable, the last time I tried to get a copy.
Just getting into A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I hope it starts going somewhere, soon.Done. It got quite good towards the end. Now reading Christophe Bassons' autobiog, wot I got off the S. American river site for 99p. Will probably get meself another Stephen King afterwards...
I don't agree with Beevor's politics, nor, necessarily, with his broader conclusions, but his meticulous attention to the detail shows an astonishing amount of research, and he has a way of developing a very complex situation into a readable narrative without falling into the trap of oversimplifying.
Whacked 3,400 words out yesterday and today so relaxing by reading something I somehow never got round to--Cold Comfort Farm.
Good news: Coming soon: The Hanging Tree (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanging-Tree-Ben-Aaronovitch-ebook/dp/B00XUDPFQS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=), the sixth instalment of Ben Aaronovitch's very splendid and worthwhile "Rivers Of London" series (or Peter Grant, if you prefer).
Bad news: Not soon enough; it's published on November 19th.
Ineffably sad now I've finished The Shepherd's Crown. I tried to eke it out, but it wasn't to be, a bit of a tearful read at times.Absolutely. I cried at times, laughed out loud many times and feel a real sense of loss. I hope nobody feels the need to 'continue' his work.
He's been part of my life for the last 30+ years, it hardly seems possible that he has gone, but he left us with a good one. His ideas will soar long after he has gone, because they aren't his ideas - they are ours.
Granny Wetherwax is everywhere.
Faster after 50, Joe Friel.
Well... you gotta try, haven't you? ::-)
Faster after 50, Joe Friel.
Well... you gotta try, haven't you? ::-)
Looks like we're all at it. I just bought the Cyclist Training Bible. Resisting the urge to fork out on a power meter as it will make me even more dull than I already am.
Clothes Music Boys by Viviane Albertine.Our libraries have it under 2 ISBNs, but with the same (longer) title. <boggles>
Apparently the trade copy had the original title (Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys) but my copy doesn't.
Don't Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli - the first Charlie Mortdecai novel.This sounds bloody brilliant! I avoided the film (which sounds like that sad thing - a bad Johnnie Depp movie), but the books sound right up my street. My library elf has instructions for a trip tomorrow.
Hilariously, whimsically violent and terrifying. It's a story about art theft, but written in a style that owes more than a little to PG Wodehouse. I adored it. Apparently they made of a film of it, which was a massive flop, and I'm not surprised because the genius of this book is all in the writing.
Also, a bit of it takes place at Carnforth Station and Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, and I've bin there on m'bike, so I enjoyed that too.
(sorry to book-stalk you, Ruthie!)
(sorry to book-stalk you, Ruthie!)Don't Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli - the first Charlie Mortdecai novel.This sounds bloody brilliant! I avoided the film (which sounds like that sad thing - a bad Johnnie Depp movie), but the books sound right up my street. My library elf has instructions for a trip tomorrow.
Hilariously, whimsically violent and terrifying. It's a story about art theft, but written in a style that owes more than a little to PG Wodehouse. I adored it. Apparently they made of a film of it, which was a massive flop, and I'm not surprised because the genius of this book is all in the writing.
Also, a bit of it takes place at Carnforth Station and Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, and I've bin there on m'bike, so I enjoyed that too.
I've just read "The Martian" which is really very good.
I'm taking down all your names.
Birds Without Wings, citoyen?
More detailed appraisal once I have left the land that the Internet forgot, aka Morocco, but I have managed to read my way through all but 2 of the Man Booker prize long list.
My favourites, so far are The Chimes and A Little Life.
Still to read are The Year of the Runaway (half way through) and A Short History of Seven Killings.
I appear to have the relevant epub & mobi files..... if you'd care to drop me a PM with an email address I can save your elf a trip....That's very kind, but we're a dead tree based household, and she likes the fresh air.
Birds Without Wings, citoyen?
Any good? And more to the point, would it upset ian?
Ian, if you didn't finish The Martian, I think the ending will bring you exactly what you're looking for....
Quite likely. The list of things that upset me is long. Captain Corelli's Stupid Mandolin at least had the good grace to brain the evil silhouetted albino villain before he could put a bullet through our tweedy symbologist's head. I'm pretty sure his head is tweedy. Did that really happen in the Da Vinci Code?
I'm almost inclined to read the rest of The Martian just to be annoyed about it. I've never understood those people who watch entire TV series just to complain how bad it was and how much they didn't enjoy it, but I think I see where they are at now. The warm sensation of righteous complaint. That quietly smouldering atomic pile of resentment over the time a book, film, or TV show has stolen. Any moment it could flare back into furious life. Fucking fuckity fuck fuck. I think Righteous Indignation actually powers the internet. If we could channel this infinitely renewal resource, we could potentially replace all current power sources. Imagine, a world powered by Righteous Indignation. Every keystroke on the internet converted into pure clean, if somewhat foul-mouthed, energy. Every 'fuck', every 'shit', every word of furious complaint, every exclaimation mark, every CAPITALISATION. All that glorious, fuming Righteous Indignation. I can feel the heat. My driveway lights could be kept on by Mildred Barnstable's of Tunbridge Wells continued simmering contempt for the Great British Bake Off.
BTW, in Gates of Fire, Pressfield uses the term "banty cap". I've seen it before but I've no idea what it means.
Any suggestions?
BTW, in Gates of Fire, Pressfield uses the term "banty cap". I've seen it before but I've no idea what it means.
Any suggestions?
http://www.zazzle.co.uk/banty+caps
I still dunno what he was on, but it was evidently very good.
Just started Go Set a Watchman. Too early to say if it'll be worth the read. Scout is now called Jean Louise, which is so close to Jean-Louis that every time I read it I do a double-take. Bad name. Haven't yet met anyone particularly admirable or even likeable.
Taking occasional times out to read a freebie penny dreadful by the name of Butcher Bird, by a chap called Kadrey. Nobody likeable here, it's all tattooists, demons, assassins and dire liver-for-a-liver retribution. Really, it's the last time I go to San Francisco.
Marie Kondo, The life changing magic of tidying up.
The wife bought it and gave it to me to read based on the recommendation of a friend. It's a self help type book for decluttering.
Basically if you touch one of your possessions and it doesn't bring you joy, bin it.
Kondo's method also forbids the use of worn out clothes to be worn around the house, she calls it "loungewear" so the other half has vetoed any implementation of any of her methods of decluttering.
Just started Go Set a Watchman. Too early to say if it'll be worth the read. Scout is now called Jean Louise, which is so close to Jean-Louis that every time I read it I do a double-take. Bad name. Haven't yet met anyone particularly admirable or even likeable.
Taking occasional times out to read a freebie penny dreadful by the name of Butcher Bird, by a chap called Kadrey. Nobody likeable here, it's all tattooists, demons, assassins and dire liver-for-a-liver retribution. Really, it's the last time I go to San Francisco.
Go Set a Watchman was pretty dull, more of a sketch than a novel. I wasn't sure of its purpose other than to bank some cash. Mind you, I always thought To Kill a Mockingbird was a bit overrated.
I do like Richard Kadrey though, what's not to like? Devils, demons, the undead, vampires, and an LA simulacrum of Hell (in the Sandman Slim series). Reminds me he's a got a new one out.
The Da Vinci Cod(http://jesseland.phui.com/DaVinciCod.jpg)
All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
I'm loving it. I really loved About Grace too.All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
I liked that one!
The Martian. Great read and all you need to know about survival on mars if you get left behind there.That's quite an audax.
Not a book, as such, but I'm currently perusing a very complimentary review of The Esteemed Dr Larrington's book in last week's New Statesman.
The Martian. Great read and all you need to know about survival on mars if you get left behind there.That's quite an audax.
Rubicon, by Tom Holland.
Rubicon, by Tom Holland.
That's very good.(click to show/hide)
I just pre- ordered Mary Beard's new history of Rome "SPQR"
If I'd started China Miéville's stuff with Kraken I wouldn't have read any more.
If I'd started China Miéville's stuff with Kraken I wouldn't have read any more.
The City & The City turns out to be a very good, solid crime thriller, albeit one with an unconventional setting. But the weird stuff doesn't get in the way of the story.
I was motivated to read it by the news that they're making it into a TV series. I'm looking forward to it - it could be very good. And it's being made by the same people who made Parade's End, which I loved.
God's Debris is the first non-Dilbert, non-humor book by best-selling author Scott Adams. Adams describes God's Debris as a thought experiment wrapped in a story. It's designed to make your brain spin around inside your skull.
Nearly finished The Shining (Stephen King, obvs). Just got past the part whereat Nicholson did the "Heeeeeeere's Johnny" adlib :o (not seen the fillum, but I imagine it's quite scary...)
Nearly finished The Shining (Stephen King, obvs). Just got past the part whereat Nicholson did the "Heeeeeeere's Johnny" adlib :o (not seen the fillum, but I imagine it's quite scary...)
I've re-listened to His Dark Materials.
Great series of audiobooks.
Must be challenging if you're a God-botherer - which is of course why they never made the other two movies. Which kind of proves Philip Pullman right - in that whole "Church suppressing anything 'Fun' thing" he has going on.
Pete Browns "Three Sheets to the Wind", excellent, I have been drinking beer (much to my doctors disgust) for over fifty years and I have learnt in a funny but oh so informative way from this book, I just have to go to Australia even if only to be able to say "Pint o'Piss Please Mate" ;D
'Look Who's Back'. Adolf wakes up in a park in Berlin in 2011. Had some good reviews. Slightly queasy making though.
'Look Who's Back'. Adolf wakes up in a park in Berlin in 2011. Had some good reviews. Slightly queasy making though.
I've just finished that too. High concept, with potential, but a disappointment. It felt more like a very wordy pitch for the book rather than anything with any narrative substance. And yes, queasy, I think for the wrong reasons. It feels too light-hearted and sympathetic to the man to have him mention "the Jewish Problem" in the way he does. It's a lot less satirical than the author thinks it is.
But I did like the recurring gag about mad ladies picking up dog poo.
coincidentally my German friends were talking about this book to me yesterday as it's just been made into a film here. The 11-year-old girl clearly didn't understand the significance (fair enough) and her father's comment was it was rather unfunny for something that is trying to be a comedy. They suggested I didn't try to read it.'Look Who's Back'. Adolf wakes up in a park in Berlin in 2011. Had some good reviews. Slightly queasy making though.
I've just finished that too. High concept, with potential, but a disappointment. It felt more like a very wordy pitch for the book rather than anything with any narrative substance. And yes, queasy, I think for the wrong reasons. It feels too light-hearted and sympathetic to the man to have him mention "the Jewish Problem" in the way he does. It's a lot less satirical than the author thinks it is.
But I did like the recurring gag about mad ladies picking up dog poo.
Nearly finished The Shining (Stephen King, obvs). Just got past the part whereat Nicholson did the "Heeeeeeere's Johnny" adlib :o (not seen the fillum, but I imagine it's quite scary...)
Just finished "The Fishermen" which makes just one book that I haven't managed to finish from this year's shortlist. The one I haven't finished is "A Short History of Seven Killings", which I find quite hard going due to trying to comprehend the patois that a big chunk of it is written in.
The prize winner is announced tonight (IIRC) and my money is still on "A Little Life"
The latest "Reacher" episode from Lee Child. Guilty pleasures ;D
Having now reached volume 23 of Hammond Innes' output (less his four pre-WW2 novels) I have concluded that the success of "The Wreck Of The Mary Deare" allowed him to retire in 1957 and be replaced by a doppelganger, who also happened to be a rather better writer.
The latest "Reacher" episode from Lee Child. Guilty pleasures ;D
"Make Me"? I am reading that one, and enjoying it.
Child is one of those authors, though, that you can't read a load of his books in a row as you start noticing a lot of formulaic lines and events.
Having now reached volume 23 of Hammond Innes' output (less his four pre-WW2 novels) I have concluded that the success of "The Wreck Of The Mary Deare" allowed him to retire in 1957 and be replaced by a doppelganger, who also happened to be a rather better writer.
D, did you know his first novel was called The Doppelganger?! I read a lot of his work years ago. I particularly enjoyed the one set in Australia, Golden Soak, I think. I'll have to try them again. Do you read Neville Shute?
I've also read The Help, which was thought provoking.
Re-reading Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. Enjoying it more than I did 1st time about 30 years ago
Best ever free book on Kindle is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. :thumbsup:
The Racer by David Millar
Pretty tedious so far. Racing Through The Dark was excellent. I'm beginning to realise just how much help he must have had to write that one. There's a chapter on why Ryder Hesjedal has the nickname Legend. Fascinating stuff. Not.
I may have to break my self-imposed rule of finishing every book I start.
I got Neil Gaiman's Stardust as a Kindle freebie - a link just appeared in my inbox.Is it good, Mr L? I got it too, several months ago, but haven't got round to reading it yet. The Memsahib read it and didn't really enthuse...
I got Neil Gaiman's Stardust as a Kindle freebie - a link just appeared in my inbox.Is it good, Mr L? I got it too, several months ago, but haven't got round to reading it yet. The Memsahib read it and didn't really enthuse...
Best ever free book on Kindle is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. :thumbsup:Thanks for the tip. I'm enjoying it so far.
Don't Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli - the first Charlie Mortdecai novel.Many thanks for this tip.
Hilariously, whimsically violent and terrifying. It's a story about art theft, but written in a style that owes more than a little to PG Wodehouse. I adored it. Apparently they made of a film of it, which was a massive flop, and I'm not surprised because the genius of this book is all in the writing.
Also, a bit of it takes place at Carnforth Station and Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, and I've bin there on m'bike, so I enjoyed that too.
Different Every Time - a biography of Robert Wyatt.
Different Every Time - a biography of Robert Wyatt.
One biographical detail that I imagine they left out: he went to the same school as my son. There's a commemorative clock in the entrance foyer.
Insurgent AKA Divergent book 2. Guessed the secret well before the reveal, but if I can't work out the plot twists for a book aimed attween girlsyoung adults, I really should hang my head in shame.(click to show/hide)
...It was a long time ago and disappointing anyway.
Amazon are selling Look Who's back on kindle for 99p.
Well I struggled through Patricia Cornwell's latest (Depraved Heart, it may finally be the last of hers I read), and given up a few pages in to Yrsa Sigidardottir's latest (I'll not bother with any more of hers for sure), I looked at my waiting stack, and pulled out Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London", about a probationary copper that sees ghosts. Works for me.
Well I struggled through Patricia Cornwell's latest (Depraved Heart, it may finally be the last of hers I read), and given up a few pages in to Yrsa Sigidardottir's latest (I'll not bother with any more of hers for sure), I looked at my waiting stack, and pulled out Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London", about a probationary copper that sees ghosts. Works for me.There are a few of us here who like the Ben Aaronovitch novels.
Well I struggled through Patricia Cornwell's latest (Depraved Heart, it may finally be the last of hers I read), and given up a few pages in to Yrsa Sigidardottir's latest (I'll not bother with any more of hers for sure), I looked at my waiting stack, and pulled out Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London", about a probationary copper that sees ghosts. Works for me.
Any link to the recent BBC series River? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06jkk8f) Scandinavian Detective Inspector investigating the moider of his Detective Sergeant.
Bloody coppers with supernatural leanings! I just got an e-mail from Nozama to tell me that the next James Oswald has been delayed too. Ghosties on the line or something.
Well I struggled through Patricia Cornwell's latest (Depraved Heart, it may finally be the last of hers I read), and given up a few pages in to Yrsa Sigidardottir's latest (I'll not bother with any more of hers for sure), I looked at my waiting stack, and pulled out Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London", about a probationary copper that sees ghosts. Works for me.There are a few of us here who like the Ben Aaronovitch novels.
Bloody coppers with supernatural leanings! I just got an e-mail from Nozama to tell me that the next James Oswald has been delayed too. Ghosties on the line or something.
Bloody coppers with supernatural leanings! I just got an e-mail from Nozama to tell me that the next James Oswald has been delayed too. Ghosties on the line or something.
Which one - The Damage Done?
Oh good, I'm 4 of 46 in the list for that at the library :-)
Neuromancer - William GibsonSeriously?!? Oh well - better late than never.
Now I know where the Wachowski brothers got all their ideas from for The Matrix.
Oh good, I'm 4 of 46 in the list for that at the library :-)
Just finished it. He seems to be finding form again; I thought the first couple of Jimmy Suttle books were somewhat below par compared with the Joe Faraday ones.
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
Bloody coppers with supernatural leanings! I just got an e-mail from Nozama to tell me that the next James Oswald has been delayed too. Ghosties on the line or something.
Have just investigated - never heard of him.
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
I got:
- 8, and
- bored
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
I got:
- 8, and
- bored
I got 10 before I lost interest...(click to show/hide)
can only find 19 clues.
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
I got:
- 8, and
- bored
I got 10 before I lost interest...(click to show/hide)
A couple of those I hadn't twigged, but can add(click to show/hide)can only find 19 clues.
Indeed. I wonder if one is revealed when you've solved those 19.
Just started The Girl In The Spider's Web, being David Lagercrantz' fourth volume in Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. Early signs are that is it least much better translated than its predecessors.
Have you seen this? Currently on 7/20
https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=9#.VliPudZSZXE
I got:
- 8, and
- bored
I got 10 before I lost interest...(click to show/hide)
A couple of those I hadn't twigged, but can add(click to show/hide)can only find 19 clues.
Indeed. I wonder if one is revealed when you've solved those 19.
I cheated - looked at the page source. There's a green one in behind "London and Paris".
Just started The Girl In The Spider's Web, being David Lagercrantz' fourth volume in Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. Early signs are that is it least much better translated than its predecessors.
About 3/4 of the way through. It's suddenly become rather silly.
Only read Being Dead of his. Recommendations, anyone?
Only read Being Dead of his. Recommendations, anyone?
As a relief from the spookiness, killin's and the pockyclipse provided by Mr KingIs there much spookiness in it? I don't mind about killin's and the pockyclipse, but I don't like extreme spookiness when I'm reading books on my own at night, and I've just got his Bizarre Dreams out of the liberry.
As a relief from the spookiness, killin's and the pockyclipse provided by Mr KingIs there much spookiness in it? I don't mind about killin's and the pockyclipse, but I don't like extreme spookiness when I'm reading books on my own at night, and I've just got his Bizarre Dreams out of the liberry.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Actually made me say "what the fuck?" out loud on the bus the other day. Luckily it was the 14 and nobody noticed.Current as ever, I'm listening to this right now. Apart from some slightly odd pronunciations (peedant, for example) the reader is OK.
Different Every Time - a biography of Robert Wyatt.
A book spanning such a long time period inevitably makes for a social history, especially when the subject is so politically and intellectually engaged. The madness of the 1960s fostered such immense creativity and I do wonder if there'll ever be such a cultural watershed again. I'm only a few chapters in and I'm hooked.
A unique and excellent life and creative output, it's even had me listening to 70's prog rock in the wee smalls - while sober. Dammit, I nearly listened to some jazz! I continue to have my musical horizons broadened as a result of reading this. I'm very grateful for this.
I have just worked my way through all the James Oswald books. Not in order, though. I read them like thus: 1,4,5,2,3.
They still made sense, and were not totally spoilt by knowing that Emma survives etc.
Bloody hell - that reads like Strava for bookworms.It's what you do when you don't watch the tele.
;)
Jason Websters "The anarchist detective", 3rd in the Max Camara series, set in Spain.
A hundred pages into A Banquet Of Consequences by Elizabeth George and the only killin' has been a suicide >:(. Money back plz.
Halfway through "The Year" by Citizenfish otp. It is a Thing of Splendid.That's on the pile over there -> awaiting my attention, along with Flesh Wounds by Christopher Brookmyre (although I see he's now Chris). Both books bestowed by loving offspring on their dear Papa following the application of Heavy Hints.
Just purchased SA Calverts first offering for the Kindle.
Currently reading "Sacred Sierra" by Jason Webster, have ordered all 5 of his Max Camara books, which should arrive by the time I have finished this one.
I'm a chunk of the way into Tuf Voyaging (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuf_Voyaging), a collection of short stories by George RR Martin about a slightly pedantic space captain who flies around the galaxy with his pet cats. He'd probably fit in here.SLIGHTLY pedantic? Still have a copy somewhere.
I'm a chunk of the way into Tuf Voyaging (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuf_Voyaging), a collection of short stories by George RR Martin about a slightly pedantic space captain who flies around the galaxy with his pet cats. He'd probably fit in here.SLIGHTLY pedantic? Still have a copy somewhere.
At least I managed to finish it this time.
The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. Unusual. Excellent.
Just finished Catch 22. I first started it as a teenager after a friend raved about it, but never really got into it. Thought I might have better luck as a grown-up but I still found it a bit of a chore. And not as funny as I'd been led to expect, though a few bits did make me chuckle. At least I managed to finish it this time. But kind of wish I'd read some Vonnegut instead. He does it so much better.
Now started on All Quiet On The Orient Express by Magnus Mills. Thought I'd give it a try following recommendations here. So far, it's a much easier read than Catch 22, which is a blessed relief. I read a review somewhere that compared it to Evelyn Waugh's A Handful Of Dust and I think I can already see why. Hope it's as funny as that without being quite so bleak and nasty.
To follow, I've got Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel lined up. Looks interesting. And then if I feel up to it, A Brief History Of Seven Killings by Marlon James, which really appeals, though I'm not sure if that's because or in spite of the Booker.
Someone sent us wossname's latest in his Shardik series, the ones about the lawyer in Henry VIII's time. Lamentation. It's bloody heavy to hold. Plods, too: our hero just got a pea smeared on his shirt by an infant. Had to keep the trinitrin handy when I was reading that bit.
Catch-22 is another one of those meh books (like the aforementioned To Kill a Mockingbird). A few decent scenes padded out to (thankfully) modest book length.
Henry James - The Turn of the Screw.Sheesh, this governess is a drama llama.
it's all a bit Adrian Mole at the moment
Catch-22 is another one of those meh books (like the aforementioned To Kill a Mockingbird). A few decent scenes padded out to (thankfully) modest book length.
I wouldn't call 544 pages modest - unless you're comparing it to Trollope or Dumas.
Henry James - The Turn of the Screw.Sheesh, this governess is a drama llama.
It's not the words so much as the sentence construction. Why use one word when forty-seven will do?Henry James - The Turn of the Screw.Sheesh, this governess is a drama llama.
Miss von Brandenburg read it not long ago; she was not very complimentary about it. And she had to keep looking words up in the dictionary, which she claims not to have had to do with anything she's read in English in about twenty years.
Mick Wall's Love Becomes A Funeral Pyre, being a biography of The Doors. Early doors yet ha ha but the author seems to have a bit of a downer on Ray Manzarek and I'm only on page 41.
It's not the words so much as the sentence construction. Why use one word when forty-seven will do?Henry James - The Turn of the Screw.Sheesh, this governess is a drama llama.
Miss von Brandenburg read it not long ago; she was not very complimentary about it. And she had to keep looking words up in the dictionary, which she claims not to have had to do with anything she's read in English in about twenty years.
I've finished The Turn of the Screw. What a load of bollocks. That governess needs a good shaking and a talking-to.
I've finished The Turn of the Screw. What a load of bollocks. That governess needs a good shaking and a talking-to.
Question to anyone who's read all the Stuart Macbride Logan Macrae series -
Is he just going through a Harry Potteresque phase of being a moaning whiny git that he's going to grow out of, or is that him for the duration?
(Should I give up now in other words)
Question to anyone who's read all the Stuart Macbride Logan Macrae series -
Is he just going through a Harry Potteresque phase of being a moaning whiny git that he's going to grow out of, or is that him for the duration?
(Should I give up now in other words)
How far have you got? I've stuck with them in spite of McRae being a miserable sod as his interaction with Steel amuses my tiny mind.
As Amazon have gotten their collective digits out, I have swapped from "A Death in Valencia" to "Or the Bull Kills You". 2 Murders, politics and life in Spain. It's really good.
Just purchased SA Calverts first offering for the Kindle.
Just started Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Just purchased SA Calverts first offering for the Kindle.
And a damn good read Something To Declare was too.
Not my usual type of book and knowing the author steered my choice to check it out. I'm glad I did.
Well done Steph.
Question to anyone who's read all the Stuart Macbride Logan Macrae series -
Is he just going through a Harry Potteresque phase of being a moaning whiny git that he's going to grow out of, or is that him for the duration?
(Should I give up now in other words)
How far have you got? I've stuck with them in spite of McRae being a miserable sod as his interaction with Steel amuses my tiny mind.
I'm on Dark Blood - he's just given Rueben a bit of a going over.
As Amazon have gotten their collective digits out, I have swapped from "A Death in Valencia" to "Or the Bull Kills You". 2 Murders, politics and life in Spain. It's really good.
Really enjoyed Black Swan Green, I find 'proper' literature a bit of a slog these days, but it purred along and I found myself not turning off the light till the early hours. A relief to be honest after A Brief History of Seven Killings which seemed to go on for approximately forever (OK I only finished so I could attempt to obtain some credibility on here, that's why I keep mentioning it, I finished it so you have to hear about it).
Just finished Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym. Which was Peter's fault.
I'm going to have to read more of hers now. I absolutely loved it.
Just finished Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym. Which was Peter's fault.
I'm going to have to read more of hers now. I absolutely loved it.
That Peter has a lot to answer for. I was happily oblivious of Pym until he recommended her but now I have to live with the frustration of not having read all her books yet.
I liked A Suitable Boy (read it yonks ago) except at the very end I was appalled by a major plot decision by the heroine. Which spoiled it for me really. But I thought it was very well written, and I do like books about India anyway.
I liked what I read of A Suitable Boy but that was many years ago and it was less than 100 pages. I shall try it again one day.
One I really must pick up again is David Simon's Homicide. I started it on holiday one year, got a bit over halfway then never picked it up again even though it's brilliant.
Moderately topical. War and Peace. Was given a two volume, paperback, copy in 1979. Tried _numerous_ times over the years to read it. Never got past chapter 3. The books went to Oxfam about 4 years ago still unread and the second volume unopened from new
Likewise the Silmarillion, but have no intention of ever bothering with it again.
One I never finished (and indeed, I can't even remember what prompted me to start it in the first place) was "The World According to Garp" by John Irving.There is fashion in such things, and John Irving is a bit out of fashion now, but I'd still say that was a pretty good book.
Just started Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NgFinished it. Loved it. Beautiful and tragic.
I also didn't get very far in The Woman in White, which is weird because I've loved all the other Wilkie Collins I've read (No Name, The Moonstone and Armadale).
The Fault in Our Stars
ugh, that's a tear-jerker.
The Fault in Our Stars
ugh, that's a tear-jerker.
I've no intention of watching the film - that, I've heard, is fairly saccharine.The Fault in Our Stars
ugh, that's a tear-jerker.
Did you not find it, erm, sickly? I thought it was worse than Twilight in the teen-romance stakes.
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.
I saw MacBride on the Breakfast program earlier in the week and thought he came over very well, so bought his first book.
Something by Christopher Brookmyre who now seems to be a Chris
I read both The Gulag Archipelago, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, I blame my sister for those, she studied Russian.
1Q84 is on my shelf waiting to be started.
Just finished reading Casino Royale to my son, and now on A Study in Scarlet.
I read both The Gulag Archipelago, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, I blame my sister for those, she studied Russian.
American Sniper- Chris Kyle ex SEAL and credited with the most kills of any US sniper (possibly any sniper ever).
I can see how some folk may think the book is him gloating and being indifferent to killing. I get his reasoning behind it though. He was killing to protect his fellow US servicemen, who he regarded as his family.
American Sniper- Chris Kyle ex SEAL and credited with the most kills of any US sniper (possibly any sniper ever).I have read a few like these - SAS, SEAL etc. What I liked about this (could have been more) is that we hear what the wife thinks too.
I can see how some folk may think the book is him gloating and being indifferent to killing. I get his reasoning behind it though. He was killing to protect his fellow US servicemen, who he regarded as his family.
I enjoyed that one, it is very good. As you say he comes across, quite well I thought, as saying "I was protecting my family".
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I enjoyed Station Eleven more.
I enjoyed that one, it is very good. As you say he comes across, quite well I thought, as saying "I was protecting my family".
For that to be OK you have to think protecting your family with weapons is OK.
I don't. Sorry kids, I'll take a bullet for you but I won't be raising the sights at strangers for you.
+1 boab
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?
I should probably thank the Aberdeen Tourist Board as well, for not having me lynched when the last book came out. If it's any consolation: at least this one's set in summer.
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?
Return to usual levels of Grim in the latest one; starts with rain and turns into SNO. And a rather angry Rueben.
...have now started "Bazaar Of Bad Dreams" by some unknown author with the unlikely name of Stephen King.Does it get any better than Mile 81? I enjoyed the characterisation but the storyline was really a bit pants. In the preamble, Sai King says it's one of his favorites (sic), which, Constant Reader as I am, doesn't fill me with eagerness for the other 19 stories. :-\
"Biggles of 266" and when I've finished that I shall read, "Biggles flies to work".
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?
Return to usual levels of Grim in the latest one; starts with rain and turns into SNO. And a rather angry Rueben.
Nothing new there then....
Thing is with the sniper, he signed up to the army. He already knew how to shoot things and chose to surround himself with a 'family' who were being fired at. You don't chose your family, isn't that the adage? But these are people and a situation he chose, and then self justified his actions by describing his motivation as saving his family. How handy.That last paragraph seems to me to be a pretty good summary.
...have now started "Bazaar Of Bad Dreams" by some unknown author with the unlikely name of Stephen King.Does it get any better than Mile 81? I enjoyed the characterisation but the storyline was really a bit pants. In the preamble, Sai King says it's one of his favorites (sic), which, Constant Reader as I am, doesn't fill me with eagerness for the other 19 stories. :-\
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. First of an SF trilogy recommended by nephew. Good. Very.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. First of an SF trilogy recommended by nephew. Good. Very.
Batman & Robin Have An Altercation is good :o Things are looking up ;D...have now started "Bazaar Of Bad Dreams" by some unknown author with the unlikely name of Stephen King.Does it get any better than Mile 81? I enjoyed the characterisation but the storyline was really a bit pants. In the preamble, Sai King says it's one of his favorites (sic), which, Constant Reader as I am, doesn't fill me with eagerness for the other 19 stories. :-\
I liked them but then I have a low hokum threshold. But the poems should be buried in an unmarked grave, at midnight, with a stake through the MS.
you can see how it sets up the style for future novels
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. First of an SF trilogy recommended by nephew. Good. Very.
Yes, good stuff, sequels are OK as well. (thought the last one a little anticlimatic...)
The Naked and the Dead.
It's powerful stuff.
I finished the third book - Broken Skin (Damp and drizzly) and think I'm McBrided out.I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
I finished the third book - Broken Skin (Damp and drizzly) and think I'm McBrided out.I am amused by some of the books set in the summer occasionally using words like sticky and sweltering. Did Mr Macbride get a bung from the tourist office?Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride. It hasn't stopped raining yet.Finished it. It stopped raining briefly before it started to snow.
Now moved onto book 2 - Dying Light. Set in the summer, it is only raining occasionally.
Moved on to The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross. I very much enjoyed it especially the way you can take bunkum and surround it with sufficient tech speak to make it seem reasonable.
I, on the other hand, have just started reading Raymond Chandler viz. "The BigSheepSleep".
#gibsonesque. Not.
Now on to the third Ben Aaronovitch "Whispers Underground"
*"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
*"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
See, that's a fantastic line.
*"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
See, that's a fantastic line.
That the younger generations probably think refers to a deep primary blue...
I love Chandler AND Gibson; for different reasons.I, on the other hand, have just started reading Raymond Chandler viz. "The BigSheepSleep".
#gibsonesque. Not.
That's on my to-read pile along with The Little Sister, the two Marlowe novels I haven't read.
I started reading Neuromancer yesterday and it was immediately obvious from the opening line* that he owed a massive stylistic debt to Chandler, to the point where I had to look it up to check I wasn't having a brainstorm. And apparently, it seems that everybody already knew. Except me.
*"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
Room, eh? Was there an (invisible) elephant in it?
Re-reading the Matarese Circle, my bedtime read, a few pages every night to help still the brain.
Number whatever in the series of books I really should have read years ago but have only just got round to, only to discover that they really are that good: Neuromancer by William GibsonI've spent the last 4 days in the company of my daughter at Goldsmiths, in the studios and environs.
Christopher Isherwood's Berlin novels.
I had a hankering to read some Isherwood recently though I can't remember why. I'm glad I did, though. It's wonderful stuff. Funny and charming.
Isherwood & Auden[/url] by Martin Rowson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_larrington/)
Hurrah: "The Damage Done", being the sixth novel of James Oswald's Inspector McLean series, has just touched down on my Kindle :thumbsup:
Bah: I'm only 15% through "The Lady In TheCAEKLake" and I can't just abandon poor Marlowe like that :(
Over halfway through "The Damage Done". The good news is that nothing has yet fallen from a great height on top of McLean's Alfa. The bad news is that nowhere in Embra, Mr Oswald, is an office from whose windows you can see the Caledonian Canal, even on a clear day.
Disposed of Val McDermid's "Splinter The Silence" - the ninth in the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. A bit meh - not enough killin's or even policin'.
Mrs McCutcheon's Cat makes it through "The Damage Done" unscathed if that's any consolation. And some nice gruesome murrrrderrrrs.
Disposed of Val McDermid's "Splinter The Silence" - the ninth in the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. A bit meh - not enough killin's or even policin'. You don't expect much of either from Inspector Montalbano and "Game Of Mirrors", the eighteenth to have made it into English, does not disappoint. No-one's been killed utterly to DETH at all yet and it's looking increasingly likely that no-one will be either. Plenty of unread Scandiwegian noir on the shelf though, not to mention the rest of Raymond Chandler.
Mrs McCutcheon's Cat makes it through "The Damage Done" unscathed if that's any consolation. And some nice gruesome murrrrderrrrs.
Mrs McCutcheon's Cat makes it through "The Damage Done" unscathed if that's any consolation. And some nice gruesome murrrrderrrrs.
That's the problem with e-books, you can even spend money while in the bath.
Harry Harrison's Deathworld 1,2 and 3. My son gave them to me for my birfdy. I haven't read any of his stuff for donkey's years - I'd forgotten how entertaining he was.
I never finished A Suitable Boy either - I got about halfway through. I also didn't get very far in The Woman in White, which is weird because I've loved all the other Wilkie Collins I've read (No Name, The Moonstone and Armadale). And I only got a few chapters into Leon Uris' Exodus.
On the side, I'm reading The World According To Noddy (Holder, that is).
I also didn't get very far in The Woman in White, which is weird because I've loved all the other Wilkie Collins I've read (No Name, The Moonstone and Armadale).
The Woman in White is the only Wilkie Collins I've finished. Of course, it's also the only one I've started.
Does he? :( :( :(On the side, I'm reading The World According To Noddy (Holder, that is).
That was a bit disappointing compared with his proper autobiography ("All Crazee Now" IIRC) not least because he comes out as a UKIP supporter :sick:
Harry Harrison's Deathworld 1,2 and 3. My son gave them to me for my birfdy. I haven't read any of his stuff for donkey's years - I'd forgotten how entertaining he was.
That takes me back :thumbsup: Cracking little books.
Harry Harrison's Deathworld 1,2 and 3. My son gave them to me for my birfdy. I haven't read any of his stuff for donkey's years - I'd forgotten how entertaining he was.
That takes me back :thumbsup: Cracking little books.
Oh, very yes, good stuff. What bothers me, though, is that Deathword and some of his other stuff is now available on Gutenberg.org. Ditto Clifford Simak. Copyrights seem to expire so quickly these days.
Be aware there are two versions of D2 (The Ethical Engineer). The shorter one has Jason immediately sending the signal, rather than hanging around. And that is an attempt not to be a spoiler.Harry Harrison's Deathworld 1,2 and 3. My son gave them to me for my birfdy. I haven't read any of his stuff for donkey's years - I'd forgotten how entertaining he was.
That takes me back :thumbsup: Cracking little books.
I, on the other hand, have just started reading Raymond Chandler viz. "The BigSheepSleep".
#gibsonesque. Not.
I may have missed that bit, though he does espouse a number of populist policies, and expresses a mild antipathy towards immigrants.On the side, I'm reading The World According To Noddy (Holder, that is).
That was a bit disappointing compared with his proper autobiography ("All Crazee Now" IIRC) not least because he comes out as a UKIP supporter :sick:
I, on the other hand, have just started reading Raymond Chandler viz. "The BigSheepSleep".
#gibsonesque. Not.
I'm reading that now. They left quite a lot of detail out of the film, didn't they?
Boneland by Alan Garner.
I had no idea this book existed. It is the third book in the 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' trilogy.
I loved the first book, read it to my children who also loved it.
Boneland is . . . Different. I didn't realise until I read up on the book that the main protagonist, Colin, is the Colin from the other two books.
Not sure I'd recommend it to fans of 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'. Definitely not a children's book, there are themes of madness, redemption, therapy and loss. Quite gruelling.
(Confesses Big Sheepishly to not having seen the film)
Boneland by Alan Garner.Ooh!
I had no idea this book existed. It is the third book in the 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' trilogy.
I loved the first book, read it to my children who also loved it.
Boneland is . . . Different. I didn't realise until I read up on the book that the main protagonist, Colin, is the Colin from the other two books.
Not sure I'd recommend it to fans of 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'. Definitely not a children's book, there are themes of madness, redemption, therapy and loss. Quite gruelling.
I've never thought of him as just a children's author. The Owl Service remains one of the most horrifically terrifying books I've ever read.Boneland by Alan Garner.
I had no idea this book existed. It is the third book in the 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' trilogy.
I loved the first book, read it to my children who also loved it.
Boneland is . . . Different. I didn't realise until I read up on the book that the main protagonist, Colin, is the Colin from the other two books.
Not sure I'd recommend it to fans of 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'. Definitely not a children's book, there are themes of madness, redemption, therapy and loss. Quite gruelling.
It's been a common mistake over the years to pigeon hole Alan Garner as a "children's" author. Whilst he's often written about children or young adults, they're not necessarily the target audience. The Owl Service isn't a children's story - it's an old Welsh legend which is an adult story, and Red Shift is a reworking of another old myth of a changeling.
Have you read Thursbitch?
I have finally finished with Philip Marlowe. Not sure I approve of the terrible fate1 of the hard-boiled PI in "Poodle Springs" but how much of that was Chandler and how much Robert B. Parker I know not.(click to show/hide)
Onto The Establishment by Owen Jones. God, it's depressing. :(Can't bear to read it in the current climate.
Galactic Pot healer by Philip K Dick
One of his best.
I have, now, moved onto "The Battle for Spain" by Antony Beevor.How are you/did you find this? I read it a few years ago and was surprised by its readability, despite the size and occasional over detail. I suppose it helps to have an interest in the subject, but I thought it was well written.
Halfway through Capital by someone Lanchester - no idea what's going on, but quite enjoying it. Also just started The Fanatic by James Robertson.Capital is good - I read it a few years ago when I got it for £1 on Kindle. It was made into a BBC miniseries (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qrqlf) a few months ago, with Toby Jones as Roger.
Mr Sainsbury's House Of Toothy Comestibles was knocking out "The Night Manager" for not much money so I thought I'd give it a whirl. The first seventy-three pages have confirmed my prejudice. There's something about Le Carré's style that that sets my teeth on edge.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.I've just read that and I agree entirely. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. :thumbsup:
NS has taken a bit of flack from reviewers who complain that there's too much engineering. No there isn't and it's fascinating. Orbital mechanics makes a nice change from bike mechanics.
I'm a big Stephenson fan, but (like I did with Anathem) I've bogged down about a third of the way in, mainly because it's such a massive tome to schlep about. This is where ebooks win, but my local library had a hardcopy. I will try and pick it up again.
Decades before the Berlin Wall went up, a Cold War had already begun raging. But for Bolshevik Russia, Great Britain - not America - was the enemy. Now, for the first time, Victor Madeira tells a story that has been hidden away for nearly a century. Drawing on over sixty Russian, British and French archival collections, Britannia and the Bear offers a compelling new narrative about how two great powers of the time did battle, both openly and in the shadows. By exploring British and Russian mind-sets of the time this book traces the links between wartime social unrest, growing trade unionism in the police and the military, and Moscow's subsequent infiltration of Whitehall. As early as 1920, Cabinet ministers were told that Bolshevik intelligence wanted to recruit university students from prominent families destined for government, professional and intellectual circles. Yet despite these early warnings, men such as the Cambridge Five slipped the security net fifteen years after the alarm was first raised. Britannia and the Bear tells the story of Russian espionage in Britain in these critical interwar years and reveals how British Government identified crucial lessons but failed to learn many of them. The book underscores the importance of the first Cold War in understanding the second, as well as the need for historical perspective in interpreting the mind-sets of rival powers. Victor Madeira has a decade's experience in international security affairs, and his work has appeared in leading publications such as Intelligence and National Security and The Historical Journal. He completed his doctorate in Modern International History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
I've just started Victor Madeira's "Britannia and the Bear: The Anglo-Russian Intelligence Wars 1917-1929". It is absolutely fascinating.
And the reason I popped in here... "One Man and his Bike", Mike Carter. Again. Keep thinking how much I'd like to do summat similar.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky ChambersDarn it. I was looking forward to that. Maybe it's got a good narrator and sounds better than it reads?
Described as a 'space opera'. I had to google that.
"Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities."
www.goodreads.com/genres/space-opera
It's sub teen-fiction high school drama set in space, basically. It's awful. New girl on the space ship grows up a bit as she encounters new life and new civilisations.
Seriously, don't bother.
Unapologetic: Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense by Francis Spufford
According to the blurb, this book takes on Dawkins's The God Delusion, and Hetchens's God Is Not Great. I haven't read either, but I've read a fair bit of Dawkins and his writing style is usually clear and well argued, full of wonder at the world.
I'm afraid Spufford's writing doesn't come up to the same standard. This is partly due to the subject matter: In his works on evolution Dawkins is dealing with tangibles. If they aren't tangible now, they've definitely been tangible in the past, before they were evolved out of existence. Spufford is dealing with the transcendent yet immanent presence of the intent behind everything. See? See how you end up using airy-fairy language as soon as you try talking about this stuff? It just happens!
That being said, Spufford's experiences of God (for want of a better word) are similar to my own, so I was with him, all the way. He captures the Anglican mindset beautifully, and he says a lot of things I would like to say but CBA due to being shouted down by the forces of secularity, ie this forum and my friend Jane who thinks I'm a defective because I go to church.
So, if you want to know why people like me believe in God against all the opposing noise, then read this book. Read it in a quiet, empty church if possible. While you're there, just listen.
Unapologetic: Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense by Francis Spufford
According to the blurb, this book takes on Dawkins's The God Delusion, and Hetchens's God Is Not Great. I haven't read either, but I've read a fair bit of Dawkins and his writing style is usually clear and well argued, full of wonder at the world.
I'm afraid Spufford's writing doesn't come up to the same standard. This is partly due to the subject matter: In his works on evolution Dawkins is dealing with tangibles. If they aren't tangible now, they've definitely been tangible in the past, before they were evolved out of existence. Spufford is dealing with the transcendent yet immanent presence of the intent behind everything. See? See how you end up using airy-fairy language as soon as you try talking about this stuff? It just happens!
That being said, Spufford's experiences of God (for want of a better word) are similar to my own, so I was with him, all the way. He captures the Anglican mindset beautifully, and he says a lot of things I would like to say but CBA due to being shouted down by the forces of secularity, ie this forum and my friend Jane who thinks I'm a defective because I go to church.
So, if you want to know why people like me believe in God against all the opposing noise, then read this book. Read it in a quiet, empty church if possible. While you're there, just listen.
I read that a while ago. I thought the first chapter was an excellent rant, but the subsequent chapters kind of drifted off into sounding like someone who doesn't know when to get down off the soapbox and is starting to repeat himself. Know what I mean?
It was worth it for gems such as this though:
"I don't know if there is a god. And neither do you, and neither does Richard bloody Dawkins, and neither does anyone. It not being a knowable item. What I do know is that, when I am lucky, when I have managed to pay attention, when for once I have hushed my noise for a little while, it can feel as if there is one. And so it makes emotional sense to proceed as if he's there, to dare the conditionality."
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky ChambersDarn it. I was looking forward to that. Maybe it's got a good narrator and sounds better than it reads?
Described as a 'space opera'. I had to google that.
"Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities."
www.goodreads.com/genres/space-opera
It's sub teen-fiction high school drama set in space, basically. It's awful. New girl on the space ship grows up a bit as she encounters new life and new civilisations.
Seriously, don't bother.
/clutches at straws
I'm not reading it to you. That would involve reading it again.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Described as a 'space opera'. I had to google that.
"Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities."
www.goodreads.com/genres/space-opera
It's sub teen-fiction high school drama set in space, basically. It's awful. New girl on the space ship grows up a bit as she encounters new life and new civilisations.
Seriously, don't bother.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Described as a 'space opera'. I had to google that.
"Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities."
www.goodreads.com/genres/space-opera
It's sub teen-fiction high school drama set in space, basically. It's awful. New girl on the space ship grows up a bit as she encounters new life and new civilisations.
Seriously, don't bother.
Sounds a wee bit like Divergent by Veronica Roth
I could be wrong, y'know. I've been wrong before.
I could be wrong, y'know. I've been wrong before.
No your not. I read it and it was mediocre and formulaic at best. The Guardian review praised its characterisation and called it "profound" .....
I could be wrong, y'know. I've been wrong before.
Bio of Pablo Escobar, written by his brother. Mostly consists of "people say Pablo did X, but I never saw it" but interesting all the same.
Did old Joe Kennedy really make a fortune in illicit alcohol?
Yes, I think so - he was generally pretty mobbed up.
Flesh House - Stuart McBrideI'm on my third Logan McRae, (Blind Eye, previously read Flesh House and 22 Dead Little Bodies).
Logan McRae book 4
Must be one of the goriest books I've read. Mostly raining.
Beside Myself: Ann Morgan ... getting weirder, good so far.
.Flesh House - Stuart McBrideI'm on my third Logan McRae, (Blind Eye, previously read Flesh House and 22 Dead Little Bodies).
Logan McRae book 4
Must be one of the goriest books I've read. Mostly raining.
All borrowed from my local library.
Now, here's the thing: I've noticed that somebody has drawn a ring round the number of page 23 in each of them. ???
Is this some secret to which I am not privy? Can't wait to check out the rest of them.
Whenever I read the dialogue of DI Insch, in my head I can only hear it said by Gene Hunt.Flesh House - Stuart McBrideI'm on my third Logan McRae, (Blind Eye, previously read Flesh House and 22 Dead Little Bodies).
Logan McRae book 4
Must be one of the goriest books I've read. Mostly raining.
All borrowed from my local library.
Now, here's the thing: I've noticed that somebody has drawn a ring round the number of page 23 in each of them. ???
Is this some secret to which I am not privy? Can't wait to check out the rest of them.
Now on Jonas Jonasson's Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All. Promising start. Upbeat for a Swedish author too ;D
Die Of Shame ~ Mark Billingham
A not-Thorne offering from Mr Billingham, though I dare say the said DI will put in a cameo appearance. His mate Phil Hendricks, the pathologist of multiple piercings, tattoos and boyfriends, has already shown up.
A not-Thorne offering from Mr Billingham, though I dare say the said DI will put in a cameo appearance. His mate Phil Hendricks, the pathologist of multiple piercings, tattoos and boyfriends, has already shown up.
Now on Jonas Jonasson's Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All. Promising start. Upbeat for a Swedish author too ;D
This Unit hereby endorses this product and/or service. That it took me so long to finish is entirely not the fault of Mr Jonasson. Contains many a laugh-out-loud moment and is his best yet.
Now on Jonas Jonasson's Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All. Promising start. Upbeat for a Swedish author too ;D
This Unit hereby endorses this product and/or service. That it took me so long to finish is entirely not the fault of Mr Jonasson. Contains many a laugh-out-loud moment and is his best yet.
Is that a sequel?
Mr Jonasson is responsible for The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared (good) and The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden (not as good).Good to hear he's back on form. I thought TGWSTKOS was hopelessly silly.
.Flesh House - Stuart McBrideI'm on my third Logan McRae, (Blind Eye, previously read Flesh House and 22 Dead Little Bodies).
Logan McRae book 4
Must be one of the goriest books I've read. Mostly raining.
All borrowed from my local library.
Now, here's the thing: I've noticed that somebody has drawn a ring round the number of page 23 in each of them. ???
Is this some secret to which I am not privy? Can't wait to check out the rest of them.
Drawing circles around page numbers seems to be a library system habit.
Unless it's a Rolls-Royce with separate aircon systems for driver & passenger ;D
You can't trust anyone who drives a pikey old Beemer.
Just given up on Tim Weaver's "What remains". 600 pages is just too much to sustain for what is lightweight crime fiction IMO. And it still irritates that he refers to his car's "heaters". It's heater, singular.
Now on to Parker Bilal's new Makana story.
Now on to Parker Bilal's new Makana story.
An interesting insight into the way that entire populations can be manipulated.
Life is a little too stressful to settle on anything. Swanning about between trashy (L. Niven/G.Benford) and soporific (T. Holland) and fed up with both. Need something engaging and meaty, preferably in several vols of non-wrist-spraining size.
Just started Mr King's End of Watch, having just finished Gavin Extence's The Universe vs Alex Woods.Any good? I've not read Mr Mercedes nor Finders Keepers yet, so I won't be there for a while...
Life is a little too stressful to settle on anything. Swanning about between trashy (L. Niven/G.Benford) and soporific (T. Holland) and fed up with both. Need something engaging and meaty, preferably in several vols of non-wrist-spraining size.
Have you ever read any Robertson Davies? I always find him very easy to read but very satisfying. And funny. I would recommend the Cornish trilogy - The Rebel Angels, What's Bred In The Bone and The Lyre of Orpheus. About a thousand pages overall but divided into manageable chunks. They're thematically linked but each stands alone so can be read in isolation.
Just started Mr King's End of Watch, having just finished Gavin Extence's The Universe vs Alex Woods.Any good? I've not read Mr Mercedes nor Finders Keepers yet, so I won't be there for a while...
The Motorcycle Diaries. It's enjoyable but also quite melancholic.
It was ok, but it would have been better if it had stayed as a detective story rather than having supernatural stuff in it.Just started Mr King's End of Watch, having just finished Gavin Extence's The Universe vs Alex Woods.Any good? I've not read Mr Mercedes nor Finders Keepers yet, so I won't be there for a while...
I'm approaching the end of End Of Watch and it's OK if a little predictable. Calling a female protagonist Frederica Bimmel Linklatter in a novel dedicated to Thomas Harris is a nice touch.
I think Charlie has a thing for Krads; wasn't there one in the first book? (Must actually catch up with the series - is this the one after the Vampires?)
1½ chapters into David Mitchell's Ghostwriter. Bodes well.
Just started Charlie Stross's latest, "The Nightmare Stacks". Another Laundry novel.I read that on Sat night. Fun but not as good as I'd hoped.
I read some of his years ago, but I never really enjoyed them, mostly because I discovered Iain Banks' novels at the same time and they put KM's in the shade. Consider Phlebas remains my favourite SF novel of all, I think.His later SF was distinctly mediocre by comparison. I love Consider Phlebas and when a lent copy didn't return, I bought another. It is so gut-wrenchingly sad though. The Use of Weapons and The Player of Games are also so very good, with TUoW maybe edging it out.
When The Music's Over ~ Peter Robinson. Either the 23rd Inspector Banks novel, or else the first Superintendent Banks one. Banks investigates historic child abuse by $SLEB.
When The Music's Over ~ Peter Robinson. Either the 23rd Inspector Banks novel, or else the first Superintendent Banks one. Banks investigates historic child abuse by $SLEB.
Not one of the better Bankses. Perhaps the time approaches to kill him utterly to DETH like Graham Hurley did with Joe Faraday and start again with Annie Cabbot.
When The Music's Over ~ Peter Robinson. Either the 23rd Inspector Banks novel, or else the first Superintendent Banks one. Banks investigates historic child abuse by $SLEB.
Not one of the better Bankses. Perhaps the time approaches to kill him utterly to DETH like Graham Hurley did with Joe Faraday and start again with Annie Cabbot.
And A Scots Quair, Lewis Grassic Gibbons, in the hope that the abysmal film Sunset Song (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6884.msg2049986#msg2049986) has a decent book behind it. From the small amount I've read so far, it has.
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
WTF 8) I hope that's a mispring ???
Edit: Publisher's webby SCIENCE still says August 25th. 2016.
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
WTF 8) I hope that's a mispring ???
Edit: Publisher's webby SCIENCE still says August 25th. 2016.
I notice a tweet from the man from 4 days ago, consisting of many repeats of the word 'done'.
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
WTF 8) I hope that's a mispring ???
Edit: Publisher's webby SCIENCE still says August 25th. 2016.
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\Damn and blast.
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
A plane crashes in the Jura, leaving a sole survivor, a three month old girl. Is she Lyse-Rose de Carville? Is she Emilie Vitral? Do we actually give a shit? If you are ever tempted to read After The Crash by Michel Bussi, do yourself a favour and read the Yellow Pages instead. It may be just a piss-poor translation from the original French. Or not. Oh, and the "delicious sting in the tail" that the Sunday Mirror's Deirdre O'Brien claims exists was so obviously telegraphed about a hundred pages from the end that Bussi might just have well have had one of the protagonists switching on a big neon sign reading "Guess which hackneyed thriller cliche he's gonna use next?"
Poor.
A plane crashes in the Jura, leaving a sole survivor, a three month old girl. Is she Lyse-Rose de Carville? Is she Emilie Vitral? Do we actually give a shit? If you are ever tempted to read After The Crash by Michel Bussi, do yourself a favour and read the Yellow Pages instead. It may be just a piss-poor translation from the original French. Or not. Oh, and the "delicious sting in the tail" that the Sunday Mirror's Deirdre O'Brien claims exists was so obviously telegraphed about a hundred pages from the end that Bussi might just have well have had one of the protagonists switching on a big neon sign reading "Guess which hackneyed thriller cliche he's gonna use next?"
Poor.
So, not a fan . . . ?
The rather wordy titled 'The World at War: The Landmark Oral History from the Previously Unpublished Archives', condensed and edited by Richard Holmes. A great military historian and professor.
Condensed, it's still around 500 pages but very readable.
Just finished Tess Of The D'Urbervilles (again). It doesn't get any better, does it? :'(Hmm, having just started this for the first time, and searched here for views, I wonder if - having turned 50 last year (and therefore presumably having less time left than I've already had) - I should drop it now and read something else
That said, it's okay so far (page 50 or so), and far better than I remember Hardy: I was required to read Far From The Madding Crowd at secondary school. What idiot thought that long descriptive passages of the countryside and weather would turn teenage boys on to literature? It's a wonder I ever picked up another book.
That was the first and last Hardy book I ever read.
Now starting Paul Torday "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" a promising start which had me chuckling which is something after three sleepless nights, we shall see.
On the tablet, Peter Watts' Firefall. Great if you're into biochem, neurology, genetics & space opera, which I'm not (apart from space opera) but it's readable enough and it's still fascinating.
Ronnie Wood's autobiography.Not as good as Keef's, but made me laugh when he described being at an awards show and asking a young girl if she was lost or needed help to find her parents. She was Kylie Minogue.
Why God's name would anyone ever re-read a book that they'd not enjoyed the first time, when there are so many new and different books to read? The mind boggles...
Why God's name would anyone ever re-read a book that they'd not enjoyed the first time, when there are so many new and different books to read? The mind boggles...
Just finished Tess Of The D'Urbervilles (again). It doesn't get any better, does it? :'(
Just finished Tess Of The D'Urbervilles (again). It doesn't get any better, does it? :'(Hmm, having just started this for the first time, and searched here for views, I wonder if - having turned 50 last year (and therefore presumably having less time left than I've already had) - I should drop it now and read something else
I'm only reading it now because
1. it was one of the very small selection at the camp site;
2. it was 50p, and;
2. several people have recommended it to me over the years.
That said, it's okay so far (page 50 or so), and far better than I remember Hardy: I was required to read Far From The Madding Crowd at secondary school. What idiot thought that long descriptive passages of the countryside and weather would turn teenage boys on to literature? It's a wonder I ever picked up another book.
Mebbe. I can't remember. Maybe I was subconsciously imposing some of my judgment of Hardy (execrably turgid), borne only of GCSE FFTMC, into my interpretation of CathH's comment?Why God's name would anyone ever re-read a book that they'd not enjoyed the first time, when there are so many new and different books to read? The mind boggles...
If this is a response toJust finished Tess Of The D'Urbervilles (again). It doesn't get any better, does it? :'(
I think you might be misinterpreting CathH. I suspect she was talking about the cruelty of Tess's fate rather than the quality of the book, or her enjoyment of it.
The Drift by Chris Thrall. Bought because it was 99p and had 30 five star ratings* on Amazon. I can only assume Mr Thrall has 30 good friends! The writing is somewhat naive in style, has technical errors in the sailing descriptions. Oh and has any one ever heard of a sea lion taking up residence in Plymouth Sound?
I do wonder about how people rate books. If you think truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet - should rate at 5 stars, most other stuff should surely only rate three stars.
....
I do wonder about how people rate books. If you think truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet - should rate at 5 stars, most other stuff should surely only rate three stars.
The Drift by Chris Thrall. Bought because it was 99p and had 30 five star ratings* on Amazon. I can only assume Mr Thrall has 30 good friends! The writing is somewhat naive in style, has technical errors in the sailing descriptions. Oh and has any one ever heard of a sea lion taking up residence in Plymouth Sound?
I do wonder about how people rate books. If you think truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet - should rate at 5 stars, most other stuff should surely only rate three stars.
truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet
I've read some dross that comes with endless good reviews and I have to think 'how?'
Just finished "Salmon fishing in the Yemen", thoroughly enjoyable, am now reading "The girl who played with fire" I also managed to get from The Cancer Research shop in Banbury Antony Beevor D-DAY, I've had a quick peek inside and it looks ver good.
The Drift by Chris Thrall. Bought because it was 99p and had 30 five star ratings* on Amazon. I can only assume Mr Thrall has 30 good friends! The writing is somewhat naive in style, has technical errors in the sailing descriptions. Oh and has any one ever heard of a sea lion taking up residence in Plymouth Sound?
I do wonder about how people rate books. If you think truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet - should rate at 5 stars, most other stuff should surely only rate three stars.
To me if a book is excellent is dictated by the pictures in my head that reading it produces, Embers by Sandor Marai is one, Riddle of The Sands by Erskine Childers another, my personal description of authors like these is "word artists" as they mentally take you to where and what they are writing about.
The Drift by Chris Thrall. Bought because it was 99p and had 30 five star ratings* on Amazon. I can only assume Mr Thrall has 30 good friends! The writing is somewhat naive in style, has technical errors in the sailing descriptions. Oh and has any one ever heard of a sea lion taking up residence in Plymouth Sound?
I do wonder about how people rate books. If you think truly great writing - Dickens, Shakespeare, Pratchet - should rate at 5 stars, most other stuff should surely only rate three stars.
To me if a book is excellent is dictated by the pictures in my head that reading it produces, Embers by Sandor Marai is one, Riddle of The Sands by Erskine Childers another, my personal description of authors like these is "word artists" as they mentally take you to where and what they are writing about.
Well it won't be "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch anytime soon. A not from our library reservations system yeserday. My bold :-\
"Reservation for The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch has been cancelled as we have been informed that publication has been delayed until at least September 2017. A new order will be made once we have a confirmed publication date."
WTF 8) I hope that's a mispring ???
Edit: Publisher's webby SCIENCE still says August 25th. 2016.
I notice a tweet from the man from 4 days ago, consisting of many repeats of the word 'done'.
Gollancz is delighted to announce the publication of THE HANGING TREE, the sixth book in Ben Aaronovitch’s bestselling Peter Grant series, on November 3rd 2016.
Zomg, says the same on his Twitter feed too so maybe it is true!
Literary quiz - who are they?
Ayesha
Emma Rouault
Dolores Haze
Eva Beaver
Anne Catherick
Miss Woodhouse
Shen Te
Supplementary question: can you suggest three more suitable names for me so I have a full round of 10 questions for the pub quiz?
SWMBO rides again, unless you meant that rather contrarian bloke who inhabited the CTC forum a while back.
T'others, dunno.
Delores Haze was Lolita.
P.C. Fox might be another.
P.C. Fox might be another.
Ooh, don't know that one.
Ruth ColeP.C. Fox might be another.
Ooh, don't know that one.
Rather than drag this out, seeing as it's strictly OT, here are the answers in full:(click to show/hide)
The nearest adaptation I have seen was Silas Marner (a few years back on tv) I so enjoyed it I read the book (a thing you should never do either way) I enjoyed the book as well and was surprised at the closeness.
Ruth Cole
Rachel Watson
P.C. Fox might be another.
Ooh, don't know that one.
Rather than drag this out, seeing as it's strictly OT, here are the answers in full:(click to show/hide)
Started reading Lolita in bed last night. Blimey. One of those books whose reputation goes before it, which is part of the reason I've never got round to reading it sooner, but initial impressions are that it probably is as good as everyone says it is.
Started reading Lolita in bed last night. Blimey. One of those books whose reputation goes before it, which is part of the reason I've never got round to reading it sooner, but initial impressions are that it probably is as good as everyone says it is.
Absolutely. Just started reading this at the weekend - it's interesting reading so far.
Maybe I'm feeling uncomfortable that I find Humbert quite charming?
Armadale by Wilkie Collins, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by whoever wrote it.Armadale is great, particularly Lydia Gwilt
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by whoever wrote it.
I really didn't expect it to be as funny as it is.
I love Good Omens.
**and that other thing... the one with all the begats. Wossname again?
I do have a problem with 4" thick books whilst reading in bed. George Martin 'Dance with Dragons'.You wake up with a bruised nose?
**and that other thing... the one with all the begats. Wossname again?
The Authorised Version of the Bible?
I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would.Armadale by Wilkie Collins, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by whoever wrote it.Armadale is great, particularly Lydia GwiltYou might need to draw a family tree or spider diagram to keep track of who the characters are(click to show/hide)I didn't think is was quite in the same league as No Name or The Moonstone, but very enjoyable nonetheless.(click to show/hide)
I am contemplating subscribing to Audible books for, well, audible books. Can the great hive mind of YACF (and especially Fboab) recommend any good ones that specifically benefit from being read aloud? So not good reads per se, but rather ones that take advantage of the spoken word. I am thinking Alan Partridge's Nomad might be a good start.Smiley's People
This had better be worth the wait, Aaronovitch, or I will send the BEAR round to yours to kill u utterly to DETH.
This had better be worth the wait, Aaronovitch, or I will send the BEAR round to yours to kill u utterly to DETH.
So, what's the verdict? Hoping to have some blessed free time this weekend, so may try and grab a copy.
Lydia Gwilt is brilliant. I am unconvinced byArmadale by Wilkie Collins, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by whoever wrote it.Armadale is great, particularly Lydia GwiltYou might need to draw a family tree or spider diagram to keep track of who the characters are(click to show/hide)I didn't think is was quite in the same league as No Name or The Moonstone, but very enjoyable nonetheless.(click to show/hide)
I am contemplating subscribing to Audible books for, well, audible books. Can the great hive mind of YACF (and especially Fboab) recommend any good ones that specifically benefit from being read aloud? So not good reads per se, but rather ones that take advantage of the spoken word. I am thinking Alan Partridge's Nomad might be a good start.Sorry, I just caught this.
A Walk In The Woods is better read by William Roberts. He reads Bill Bryson better than Bill Bryson does. (Sorry Bill)
...
Helen MacDonald does an appalling job of Hawk. Bill Bryson mangles his own books. Generally, getting an actor in is a much better idea.
There's a speed control on the audible app that allows you to play at different speed, check its on the correct speed
I remember being somewhat surprised the first time I heard Julie Birchill speak. It's not a voice you'd associate with her writing.
The Hanging Tree. :D :D :D
I still haven't finished [Lolita] - up to about 80% on the Kindle. This is partly because I haven't done much reading at all in the last few months - well, not reading for pleasure. I've done plenty of reading for work, which is why I don't have the energy/enthusiasm for other reading.
It's also partly because I find it so uncomfortable to read. At times, it's even more uncomfortable than American Psycho.
Rather Be The Devil ~ the new Rebus.
It was good. I want the next one now please!The Hanging Tree. :D :D :D
Tis good. I was worried that it would be crap after the delays...
Before Watchmen
The prequel to the 'Watchmen' graphic novel. It's quite grim and depressing.
I had to follow it by watching the watchmen film. It's v odd when the most likeable person in a film is a psychotic sociopath.
It was good. I want the next one now please!The Hanging Tree. :D :D :D
Tis good. I was worried that it would be crap after the delays...
I can imagine him being pissed, but, they've done one (reasonably good) film and that's it. What is planned? The film kept the tone of the novel extremely well, if it did play around a little with the plot.Before Watchmen
The prequel to the 'Watchmen' graphic novel. It's quite grim and depressing.
I had to follow it by watching the watchmen film. It's v odd when the most likeable person in a film is a psychotic sociopath.
From what I've read of it, DC are building themselves a Watchmen industry, and Alan Moore is muchly offgepissed.
It was good. I want the next one now please!The Hanging Tree. :D :D :D
Tis good. I was worried that it would be crap after the delays...
It was ok, I'd file it under "pleasant, more of the same". Perhaps as I've read all of them in the last 18 months it didn't seem quite as fresh. I shall certainly read the next.
Another I am waiting eagerly for is the second in the "Vinyl detective" series by Andrew Cartmel. They've all been written already (I can't find out how many) and are being released one a year. The first was "Written in dead wax", and the second, due next year, is "The run-out groove"
It was good. I want the next one now please!The Hanging Tree. :D :D :D
Tis good. I was worried that it would be crap after the delays...
It was ok, I'd file it under "pleasant, more of the same". Perhaps as I've read all of them in the last 18 months it didn't seem quite as fresh. I shall certainly read the next.
Another I am waiting eagerly for is the second in the "Vinyl detective" series by Andrew Cartmel. They've all been written already (I can't find out how many) and are being released one a year. The first was "Written in dead wax", and the second, due next year, is "The run-out groove"
Not read those, might take a look. For more police/ magic crossover try Paul Cornell's "Shadow Police" series. But only if you have a tolerance for grim & nasty....
I just re-read A Stitch In Time by Penelope Lively.
Reading "It Can't Happen Here" by SInclair Lewis. A 1930's novel on the fascist takeover of the US, which reads remarkably like a parody of the current day.
I did try London Falling (Cornell) but for some reason didn't get on with it. The Vinyl Detective isn't police based, the protagonist is a "reluctant private eye" I guess you could say, and a vinyl buff.
Gorky Park.
Loving it.
Gorky Park.
Loving it.
That's an old one! First of a series as I recall.
Think I've read the first three.I always liked 'Running Blind' but I think my favourite was always High Citadel. Would make an incredible film, if done well.
A good piece here on Jon Courtnay Grimwood in which he cites the Cruz Smith novels & also another old favourite of mine, "Running Blind" by Desmond Bagley. Annoyingly I never saw the TV adaptation. It's never officially been released on DVD, though I've just found a few sites selling what must be transfers from VHS.....
Think I've read the first three.I always liked 'Running Blind' but I think my favourite was always High Citadel. Would make an incredible film, if done well.
A good piece here on Jon Courtnay Grimwood in which he cites the Cruz Smith novels & also another old favourite of mine, "Running Blind" by Desmond Bagley. Annoyingly I never saw the TV adaptation. It's never officially been released on DVD, though I've just found a few sites selling what must be transfers from VHS.....
Think I've read the first three.I always liked 'Running Blind' but I think my favourite was always High Citadel. Would make an incredible film, if done well.
A good piece here on Jon Courtnay Grimwood in which he cites the Cruz Smith novels & also another old favourite of mine, "Running Blind" by Desmond Bagley. Annoyingly I never saw the TV adaptation. It's never officially been released on DVD, though I've just found a few sites selling what must be transfers from VHS.....
They'd make the pilot an American though, saving his passengers from damn commies... or muslim terrists..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-crime-and-thriller-novels-of-2016/
Think I've read the first three.I always liked 'Running Blind' but I think my favourite was always High Citadel. Would make an incredible film, if done well.
A good piece here on Jon Courtnay Grimwood in which he cites the Cruz Smith novels & also another old favourite of mine, "Running Blind" by Desmond Bagley. Annoyingly I never saw the TV adaptation. It's never officially been released on DVD, though I've just found a few sites selling what must be transfers from VHS.....
They'd make the pilot an American though, saving his passengers from damn commies... or muslim terrists..
It is something like 3.5 decades since I read the book, but I seem to recall that the plane it attacked because it is carrying a socialist south american leader. Plucky brit and ex-Korean war US veteran pilot risk all, together with the other passengers, to save him.
So you are probably right, that would get written out.
Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince'. Never read it before.
My eldest is studying it for his Politics' A level and left it lying around.
Oh, Daaaaaaad! That's, like, so embarrassing :-[
Peter May, "The Blackhouse". Life, startlements, atmosphere, survival.I read that book, and the other two in the Lewis Trilogy while I was riding round the NW Highlands and Western Isles with Ruthie last year. It seemed to match well being in the sort of landscape described in the books, and also explained some of the things we were seeing :)
A Place Of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel
Cracking good read. I do like the way she humanises the great figures of the French Revolution. Not nearly as polished as Wolf Hall though.
I just finished The Good Mother by A L Bird. It was absolutely fucking shit.:thumbsup:
I just finished The Good Mother by A L Bird. It was absolutely fucking shit.
The first in a projected series of "The Vinyl Detective" by Andrew Cartmel, "Written in Dead Wax". Recommended (and rightly so IMO) by Ben Aaronovitch. Enjoyable.
The first in a projected series of "The Vinyl Detective" by Andrew Cartmel, "Written in Dead Wax". Recommended (and rightly so IMO) by Ben Aaronovitch. Enjoyable.
Thanks, 40% through this and enjoying it :-)
Viv Albertine's autobiography. I'm really not a fan of The Slits, but it's part of my "read more books by women" resolution.Finished it. Liked it. About to start Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.
Think I've read the first three.
A good piece here on Jon Courtnay Grimwood in which he cites the Cruz Smith novels & also another old favourite of mine, "Running Blind" by Desmond Bagley. Annoyingly I never saw the TV adaptation. It's never officially been released on DVD, though I've just found a few sites selling what must be transfers from VHS.....
http://wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/on-banks-of-moskva-with-jack-grimwood.html (http://wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/on-banks-of-moskva-with-jack-grimwood.html)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Very promising so far.
Currently reading Chasing Embers by James Bennett. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Embers-Ben-Garston-Novels/dp/0356506649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483610497&sr=8-1&keywords=chasing+embers)
A modern day fantasy novel about magic, dragons etc
Enjoyable, but the writing style grates a little, especially after reading the Shadow Police trilogy.
Tiermat, Logan is Aberdeen, Inspector McLean is Embra.
Should I have a look at the Inspector Hobbes?
You bugger, I didn't look at the spoiler earlier lest it give anything away! ;DThe Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Very promising so far.(click to show/hide)
Just started Carl Hiaasen's latest, "Razor Girl". Looks promising so far.
Just started Carl Hiaasen's latest, "Razor Girl". Looks promising so far.
By "promising", you mean "twisted as hell", don't you? :demon: ;D ;)
Just started Carl Hiaasen's latest, "Razor Girl". Looks promising so far.
By "promising", you mean "twisted as hell", don't you? :demon: ;D ;)
Think on what she might be shaving, and that's just the start of it...
Just finished a Christmas present book "SAS: Rogue Heroes - The Authorized Wartime History" Ben MacIntyre.
What a bunch of nutters ! Miles behind enemy lines in occupied Europe with only 40 troops and a ragtag bunch of partisans and escaped Russian troops, what do you radio back to the UK to have airdropped to help the situation why a piper of course. And even more amazingly HQ says what a good idea and parachutes one in !
Just finished a Christmas present book "SAS: Rogue Heroes - The Authorized Wartime History" Ben MacIntyre.
What a bunch of nutters ! Miles behind enemy lines in occupied Europe with only 40 troops and a ragtag bunch of partisans and escaped Russian troops, what do you radio back to the UK to have airdropped to help the situation why a piper of course. And even more amazingly HQ says what a good idea and parachutes one in !
Brilliant book made better by it's truth. My Uncle (commando not SAS) took part in the Dieppe commando raid and lost a hand throwing grenades back at the German/nazi troops, bonkers. He became a legend in the 60's by saying to a mate who was helping me with my Mum moving some stuff when he said "Want a hand son" (imagine gruff East End accent) my mate without thinking "yes please Joe" with a wry smile my Uncle Joe passed him his hook and burst into a fit of laughter at my mates face.
BTW Have you read about Billie Millin the piper, now that was insane.
Just finished a Christmas present book "SAS: Rogue Heroes - The Authorized Wartime History" Ben MacIntyre.
What a bunch of nutters ! Miles behind enemy lines in occupied Europe with only 40 troops and a ragtag bunch of partisans and escaped Russian troops, what do you radio back to the UK to have airdropped to help the situation why a piper of course. And even more amazingly HQ says what a good idea and parachutes one in !
Brilliant book made better by it's truth. My Uncle (commando not SAS) took part in the Dieppe commando raid and lost a hand throwing grenades back at the German/nazi troops, bonkers. He became a legend in the 60's by saying to a mate who was helping me with my Mum moving some stuff when he said "Want a hand son" (imagine gruff East End accent) my mate without thinking "yes please Joe" with a wry smile my Uncle Joe passed him his hook and burst into a fit of laughter at my mates face.
BTW Have you read about Billie Millin the piper, now that was insane.
Apparently captured Germans when interviewed said they didn't shoot him because they thought he'd gone mad.
Just started Carl Hiaasen's latest, "Razor Girl". Looks promising so far.
By "promising", you mean "twisted as hell", don't you? :demon: ;D ;)
Think on what she might be shaving, and that's just the start of it...
He was troll-like, both facially and in build, resembling a squat and steroid-pumped Michael Gove. It was a truely horrible vision, but on the plus side, it would make it a lot easier if Parlabane ended up having to punch the guy really hard in the face. Indeed, remembering to stop and run off would be the main hazard.
Should I have a look at the Inspector Hobbes?
I'll tell you when I've read a bit more of it.
With a "Okay, finished that one," my wife has handed me Pincher Martin by William Golding, to read. Never read it before.
^
Day two of reading it. It's hard going.
With a "Okay, finished that one," my wife has handed me Pincher Martin by William Golding, to read. Never read it before.
^
Day two of reading it. It's hard going.
If you can resist, don't read till you finish or give up(click to show/hide)
From memory, I think you can skip to the last sentence.
Another bikey-type-book by Steven Primrose-Smith. I've just ordered this after reading all his other humorous, originally written books. Can't wait to get reading.
"Route Britannia, the Journey South: A Spontaneous Bicycle Ride through Every County in Britain"
http://greatdestinationsradioshow.com/2017/02/02/fancy-getting-on-your-bike-to-see-britain/ (Hello!!?)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Route-Britannia-Journey-South-Spontaneous-ebook/dp/B01MTYZ3MO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486156397&sr=1-1&keywords=route+britannia
Ooh, ooh, the new Inspector McLean was released and delivered to my kindle today which was a nice surprise :)
Ooh, ooh, the new Inspector McLean was released and delivered to my kindle today which was a nice surprise :)
I am currently reading The Miniaturist, after a Goodreads recommendation from that Eccentrica Gallumbits. It's very good :)I am hoping for a sequel.
The Mechanical by one Ian Tregillis. Alternate history: Dutch Empire vs New France with clockwork golemish automata and epoxy. Intriguing and well-written, though brought up short occasionally by interweb-age grammatical horrors of the lay/lie variety.
The missus is reading a bio of Darwin, whose English is delightful. Those Victorian chappies' English was really elegant.
Blackass by A Igoni Barrett.
Nigerian man has a job interview, wakes up on the morning of the interview to discover he is suddenly white.I am currently reading The Miniaturist, after a Goodreads recommendation from that Eccentrica Gallumbits. It's very good :)I am hoping for a sequel.
Just finished reading book 2 of the inspector McLean series and have book 3 cued up.(click to show/hide)
Just finished "Europe in Winter" the latest in Dave Hutchinson's Fractured Europe series of novels. There will be a fourth and final book in the series apparently but no release date as yet.
The whole series is brilliant. Fantastic writing. Set in a near future Europe where the EU has broken up into micro states. No SF gizmos really but more of a feel of John le Carrie novel with some weird stuff about topology and maps. Oh and lots about restaurants and food. Highly recommended.
Just finished reading book 2 of the inspector McLean series and have book 3 cued up.(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
Just finished "Europe in Winter" the latest in Dave Hutchinson's Fractured Europe series of novels. There will be a fourth and final book in the series apparently but no release date as yet.
The whole series is brilliant. Fantastic writing. Set in a near future Europe where the EU has broken up into micro states. No SF gizmos really but more of a feel of John le Carrie novel with some weird stuff about topology and maps. Oh and lots about restaurants and food. Highly recommended.
On Hutchinsons Twitter..
Thank you for that, I have just ordered the first in the series, and thank you to everyone who contributes on here lots of very valued reviews
So, the Europe books have been been acquired by film director Anand Tucker’s UK TV production company Seven Stories, backed by All3 Media.
Just finished reading book 2 of the inspector McLean series and have book 3 cued up.(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
Even better than that dear, I read my first Val McDermid recently, The Distant Echo. Set initially in St Andrews, where I spent an unhappy year at uni, featuring four guys from Kirkcaldy High School, where I spent six years, some of the action in Glenrothes, where I grew up. Even Kirriemuir, where I live now, gets a mention.
No, it's not biographical. :hand:
Having a bit of a break from Constant Reading with The Devil of Nanking (aka Tokyo) by Mo Hayder. So far so good.Finished last night. Highly recommended. :D
Out Of Bounds ~ Val McDermid. Fourth in the Karen Pirie series, which Thick Boy here didn't realise was a series until yesterday.
Finally getting around to reading The Life of Pi.
He's in the lifeboat now. V entertaining. The first part of the book, where he is comparing religions, is hilarious.
I'm having some nice Scotsmen read His Bloody Project (http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Crime-Thrillers/His-Bloody-Project-Audiobook/B01LZ0NL8I?source_code=M2M14DFT1BkSH082015011Z).
I'm Bloody loving it.
I'm having some nice Scotsmen read His Bloody Project (http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Crime-Thrillers/His-Bloody-Project-Audiobook/B01LZ0NL8I?source_code=M2M14DFT1BkSH082015011Z).
I'm Bloody loving it.
That's on my Kindle, waiting...I'm having some nice Scotsmen read His Bloody Project (http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Crime-Thrillers/His-Bloody-Project-Audiobook/B01LZ0NL8I?source_code=M2M14DFT1BkSH082015011Z).
I'm Bloody loving it.
I enjoyed that one, it was on the Booker prize long list.
Finally getting around to reading The Life of Pi.
He's in the lifeboat now. V entertaining. The first part of the book, where he is comparing religions, is hilarious.
And finished.
Very satisfying ending. I do like an author who doesn't wimp out. Will not spoil things for anyone else who wants to read the book (however, it is not for the squeamish). The end is also very funny and quite delightful, teasing the reader and the author.
2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson
As with all his books it says more about the human condition and society than almost all "literary fiction", and oh yes his prose is absolutely beautiful. If the literary world didn't look down on anything labelled SF he should win loads of awards. There are several other anthers that do societal and political stuff really well in an SF context (eg Ken MacLeod on left wing politics) but I don't think there is another author whose prose can match.
Finished the latest Insp McLean book. Hurrah for Mrs McCutcheons cat, again.
Looking for something new and exciting to read. Until then, more Vera.
Continuing my Stephen King marathon, I'm giving myself the willies with Pet Sematary now.... :oEEK!
Continuing my Stephen King marathon, I'm giving myself the willies with Pet Sematary now.... :oEEK!(click to show/hide)
;DContinuing my Stephen King marathon, I'm giving myself the willies with Pet Sematary now.... :oEEK!(click to show/hide)
Pretty, pretty.
I was trying to read The Bourne trilogy. I gave up. I am really impressed that they managed to make 2 good and 1 decent movie out of that material, because it's absolutely awful.
There's a lovely bit in Steven Gould's Jumper[1] where the protagonist gets annoyed with a particularly poorly times scam call, so teleports into the scammers' building after-hours and re-programs the dialer robot with the employee phone directory.
[1] A YA science fiction story from the 1990s which is notable for attempting to do teleportation properly, as well as an unusually frank depiction of parental abuse. I re-read it recently, after discovering a whole series had been written (and a disappointing film made) while I wasn't paying attention.
The film is crap
The book is rather brilliant, mostly for its portrayal of personal relationships, and the effects of domestic violence.
Sapiens, A brief history of humankind - Yuval Noah Harari
Excellent it should be required reading in all secondary schools. Covers what is real and imaginary in society as well as gender and racial politics. How the human race got here from being an upright ape in Africa.
My favourite bit so far was the observation that wheat has domesticated homo sapiens rather than the other way round.
"A Dark So Deadly", the latest offering from Stuart MacBride. Not a Logan McRae but it still rains all the time. Loadsa killin's. We approve of this book.
Have you come across Hoskins' 'the making of the english landscape'?
Meanwhile I am reading up on how to be a tudor. The bit on rush floor coverings was fascinating 6" thick the layer was so comfy for sleeping on!, as was the bit on washing (précis: change the inside-most layer and wipe yourself down daily; actual washing is overrated. I might try it next time im on a multiple day ride :-))
"A Dark So Deadly", the latest offering from Stuart MacBride. Not a Logan McRae but it still rains all the time. Loadsa killin's. We approve of this book.
Finished. Magnumly DETHY and rainy even by Mr MacBride's elevated standards; also contains a dog called "Penguin" and the word "wankbadger".
"A Dark So Deadly", the latest offering from Stuart MacBride. Not a Logan McRae but it still rains all the time. Loadsa killin's. We approve of this book.
Finished. Magnumly DETHY and rainy even by Mr MacBride's elevated standards; also contains a dog called "Penguin" and the word "wankbadger".
It's set in "Oldcastle" but doesn't have Ash Henderson. In it.
The whole "Enzo Files" series is pretty dire and not a little formulaic. I think I commented on them somewhere up there ^^^^.
No Picnic on Mount Kenya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Picnic_on_Mount_Kenya)
Good read.
So there was ! The Ascent (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109157/)No Picnic on Mount Kenya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Picnic_on_Mount_Kenya)
Good read.
I read an article derived from that in Eagle, back in the 50s. Escape to Climb it was called. It must have been inspired by the English translation of this book coming out. Apparently there's a film, too.
So there was ! The Ascent (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109157/)No Picnic on Mount Kenya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Picnic_on_Mount_Kenya)
Good read.
I read an article derived from that in Eagle, back in the 50s. Escape to Climb it was called. It must have been inspired by the English translation of this book coming out. Apparently there's a film, too.
All of Iain Bank's Culture novels again, in order.
Inconceivable by Ben Elton.
I'd kind of gone off Ben Elton books for a bit, he was getting a bit insufferable.
This had me sniggering to myself.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/26/landskipping-painters-ploughmen-and-places-review-anna-pavord-constable-hardy
Only just started but seems enjoyably readable so far. It probably helps if, like me, you have a reasonable knowledge of the landscapes in different bits of the U.K.
Dark Side Of The Sun ~ Terry Pratchett. pTerry takes a stab at a Culture novel, misses.
Consider Phlebas[/url]
Dark Side Of The Sun ~ Terry Pratchett. pTerry takes a stab at a Culture novel, misses.
Which implies that pTerry had the gift of the second sight, as well as the gab, because The Dark Side of the Sun (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Sun) was published 11 years before Consider Phlebas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebas). :demon:
Patriot Games by Tom Clancy.
It's set in the era of IRA terrorism and in that aspect it brings back the paranoia and fear of that era very well. Supporting roles by Charles and Di back in the day. It's all a bit blokey really. Alpha males trying to protect the pack, technical specs from fighter plane manuals, that sort of thing. Mildly diverting if you're looking for some procrastination aids.
The new Jo Nesbo Harry Hole, The Thirst
The new Jo Nesbo Harry Hole, The Thirst
Woo-hoo! I haz "Love Like Blood", the latest from Mark Billingham, cued up. And yes, it's a proper Thorne :thumbsup:
The second part of Andrew Cartmel's Vinyl Detective trilogy, The Run-out Groove.
Re reading The ragged trousered philanthropist just to remind me why I vote the way I do. 8)
Justin Cronin having added a third book to his The Passage opus, I'm re-reading the first one and searching our shelves, sofas & sundry horizontal surfaces for the second. It's in there somewhere.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
very different to the film.
When I was reading it in a restaurant last week (on my own) the waitress asked me what I was reading.
Cue brief exchange, blank look from her.
Me: you know the film Blade Runner, it was based on this
Cue more blank looks. Am I getting old?
Just started No cunning plan - Tony Robinson's memoirs. £1.79 on kindle at the moment.
Justin Cronin having added a third book to his The Passage opus, I'm re-reading the first one and searching our shelves, sofas & sundry horizontal surfaces for the second. It's in there somewhere.
:-) That's one of the few books I've read to the point of its falling apart.
My current read is built from many sources and gives some idea of the scale of the losses and sheer heroism of some of the people involved. Staggering.
:-) That's one of the few books I've read to the point of its falling apart.
My current read is built from many sources and gives some idea of the scale of the losses and sheer heroism of some of the people involved. Staggering.
My father would have been away to sea as a lad if he hadn't had lousy eyes. I think the entire sailing section of the Belfast Central Library must had passed through our house, and he often hauled me over of an evening to have my ear bent. Some of it rubbed off, but not to that extent. He didn't like the Newby book, though - thought the bloke was a facetious lightweight or some such. I mostly remember the bit about the handkerchief in the underground.
Come to think of it, we did have at least one real sailor in the family. He was master of the barque Roma, out of Derry to Nova Scotia in the 1890s, I think. Got himself embayed on a lee shore, refused help to avoid salvage claims, and went down with his ship and all hands. Stubborn idiot.
:-) That's one of the few books I've read to the point of its falling apart.
My current read is built from many sources and gives some idea of the scale of the losses and sheer heroism of some of the people involved. Staggering.
My father would have been away to sea as a lad if he hadn't had lousy eyes. I think the entire sailing section of the Belfast Central Library must had passed through our house, and he often hauled me over of an evening to have my ear bent. Some of it rubbed off, but not to that extent. He didn't like the Newby book, though - thought the bloke was a facetious lightweight or some such. I mostly remember the bit about the handkerchief in the underground.
Come to think of it, we did have at least one real sailor in the family. He was master of the barque Roma, out of Derry to Nova Scotia in the 1890s, I think. Got himself embayed on a lee shore, refused help to avoid salvage claims, and went down with his ship and all hands. Stubborn idiot.
I liked Newby's account; he had a foot in both worlds so probably did irritate some people. 'Two Years Before the Mast' by Dana is hard to beat IMO. What a life!
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4277/pg4277.html
Yes. If you're looking for more of the same, I think The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden was just a little bit too silly, but nonetheless amusing in many parts.
Mr Jonasson's third offering is as good as his first, but I can't remember the title because Miss von Brandenburg still has it.
Got a copy of 'Narrow Dog To Carcassone' by Terry Darlington.
It's a stream of conciousness narrative that includes many witty observations (and some damning indictments of modern British society) telling the story of an epic crossing of the Channel in a narrowboat, beginning from Stone in Staffs and traversing France & Belgium, ending on the Canal du Midi.
Can't decide whether it was brave or foolish. Or both. Very entertaining so far.
Non-violence. The history of a dangerous idea by Mark Kurlansky.
I'm re-reading this. It tells a repeating tale of religion being usurped for the purposes of warmongering. (Are you listening Tony Blair? ::-)) The book has its flaws but is an interesting discussion on how non-violence is not the same as complete pacifism, with examples - most of whom got killed by violet people :facepalm:
In 2010, social unrest and climatic collapse forced Britain out of the European Union, and United Kingdom fell apart, Scotland going its own separate way.
"The light of future days" by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter
Near the beginning it has this:QuoteIn 2010, social unrest and climatic collapse forced Britain out of the European Union, and United Kingdom fell apart, Scotland going its own separate way.
The book was released in 2000
Prophetic?
I read The Long Walk as a teenager, probably not that long after it came out. Even with almost zero knowledge of the USSR at the time, it seemed a bit unlikely, to me. But it was a very gripping read, especially to one who loved Jack London and real life tales such as that of Shackleton, whose tale also seems unlikely but is verifiable. I seem to remember reading a similar story about an overland escape from Russia a little later, which seemed plausible, but I can't remember the title!
It's Numskulls, isn't it?
It's Numskulls, isn't it?
No, that's a biography of D Trump.
Take THAT, NSA!
I'm guessing the Third World War one was Sir John Hackett's thingy - I think I've only read his first one (which IIRC has the same plot; the untold story one is an expanded version.) I remember it being interesting, though it was obviously written to lobby for bolstering NATO conventional defences
Now finished Surface Detail, as with most Iain m Banks stuff, I think I will need to reread it at some point t.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/07/legacy-of-spies-john-le-carre-review
A new le Carre novel. Sounds like revisiting "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" might be a good idea before reading this.
Carrying on the Stephen King marathon with The Dark Half. :thumbsup:
Having finished Moon Dust which I found quite interesting and revealing in relation to the personailties of the remaining moonwalkers, I am now on to Carrying the Fire by Apollo 11 Command Module pilot Michel Collins. This is his account of what it took for him to become an astronaut and what he got up to. A good read so far. It was written in 1974- 1975 and in places, this is apparent. It is not (thankfully) to heavy on the SCIENCE but more about the gut feelings and interaction between him, his fellow rocket jockeys, test pilots, engineers, beuraucrats and the public. A good find in my astronomical societies library.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/07/legacy-of-spies-john-le-carre-review
A new le Carre novel. Sounds like revisiting "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" might be a good idea before reading this.
I read somewhere that there's a film of A Perfect Spy in the offing, which is one of my JLC faves
In other exciting news, the Smiley's People follow-up to the TTSS film has been greenlit and is in pre-production (http://film.britishcouncil.org/smileys-people).
Thinking of re-embarking on the Baroque Trilogy, but can't decide whether to read Cryptonomicon before or after.
Boy's Life by Robert R McCammon
Very good. It's filed in the 'fantasy' section, but it is only fantasy in the sense that it is written from a young boy's point of view, seeing a world from a mind filled with imagination.
Monsieur Pamplemousse by Michael Bond, as recommended upthread by someone - I believe it was Ham but CBA to check. I've lost my reading mojo lately so wanted something not too challenging to ease myself back into the habit and Ham's description made this sound just the ticket - and so it has proved to be. Delightfully silly but very well written with it.
Shame you couldn't find a plot twist to include Honeysuckle Weekes, which has to be one of the most preposterous stagenames of all time...
Well having called Mr. Aaronovitch a slacker only a month or so ago I have to at least, in part*, retract that. The latest Peter Grant story "The Furthest Station". Good fun as always.I laughed all the way to Glasgow on the train reading it.
*It's not a full retraction because it's only 120 pages or thereabouts so more of an amuse-gueule than an entrée and certainly not a plat principal, but one is grateful that it appeared this year and not two years hence.
I have news. It's her real name.
I think my favourites are Mother Night and Cat's Cradle.
Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut
If anyone were coming to Vonnegut as a new reader and asking for a recommendation, this would not be the one I would suggest. It's good though, in a very Vonnegutian way. Ting-a-ling!
Just about to embark on Battlefield Earth by the legendary L. Ron Hubbard, fully expecting it to be totally shit. I detest nearly all sf, but I found this doorstop of a book at my in-laws and thought that the first couple of chapters wouldn't be a complete waste of time. I've looked at some of the reviews online, and the only positive ones seem to be from Scientologist fruitcakes. Watch this space.
Just about to embark on Battlefield Earth by the legendary L. Ron Hubbard, fully expecting it to be totally shit. I detest nearly all sf, but I found this doorstop of a book at my in-laws and thought that the first couple of chapters wouldn't be a complete waste of very much of my time. I've looked at some of the reviews online, and the only positive ones seem to be from Scientologist fruitcakes. Watch this space.
I enjoyed it so much that I've read it three or four times now.Just about to embark on Battlefield Earth by the legendary L. Ron Hubbard, fully expecting it to be totally shit. I detest nearly all sf, but I found this doorstop of a book at my in-laws and thought that the first couple of chapters wouldn't be a complete waste of time. I've looked at some of the reviews online, and the only positive ones seem to be from Scientologist fruitcakes. Watch this space.
I guess somebody had to so that the rest of us are spared the experience. ;D :demon:
Just about to embark on Battlefield Earth by the legendary L. Ron Hubbard, fully expecting it to be totally shit. I detest nearly all sf, but I found this doorstop of a book at my in-laws and thought that the first couple of chapters wouldn't be a complete waste of very much of my time. I've looked at some of the reviews online, and the only positive ones seem to be from Scientologist fruitcakes. Watch this space.
After my recent Heinlein experience, I'd rather jump down a well that has been filled with poo. Old school sci-fi seems near universally dire.I liked The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. Think that's all of his I've read.
On a whim, I've just finished re-reading Rama 2. Everything everyone says about overly forced character development[1] is true, but you know what? I don't care. At least it's not as dry as the original. The second half was fucking awesome when I was 11, and it totally holds up. People making bad decisions in space is a long-standing bugbear (see film thread posts about Alien sequels passim), but it more than makes up for that by being interesting. You just have to try not to snigger at "Do you have a tape recorder?" and other bits where Clarke drops the technological ball.
Just read two detective thrillers set in Edinburgh - Perfect Remains and Perfect Prey by Helen Fields. Lots of gruesome killings, a sexy French-Scottish detective, sexual tension between him and another DI, grumpy Scots polis with attitude. Next one, Perfect Death, should be released next year.
After my recent Heinlein experience, I'd rather jump down a well that has been filled with poo. Old school sci-fi seems near universally dire.I liked The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. Think that's all of his I've read.
After my recent Heinlein experience, I'd rather jump down a well that has been filled with poo. Old school sci-fi seems near universally dire.I liked The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. Think that's all of his I've read.
I've recently read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress as well, quite liked it myself
I’ve just embarked on the near 600 page Six-Four by Hideo Yokoyama. How far I get will I think depend on the quality of the translation.
Oh look, The Martian is 99p on Kindle. I didn't even survive the sample. Do I dare deliberately annoy myself by reading the rest? Or do I go back to Inferno.
I’ve just embarked on the near 600 page Six-Four by Hideo Yokoyama. How far I get will I think depend on the quality of the translation.
Which I swiftly realised I’d already read. Tried an Arne Dahl but couldn’t stand it, so now onto Jussi Adler Ohlsens “Guilt”. Better.
The Oddessy. Not as good as The Iliad.Am reading Lysistrata.
Second album syndrome?
For light relief, a marvel comic where Ms Marvel is a 16 year old Muslim girl was a very good read.
The Oddessy. Not as good as The Iliad.Am reading Lysistrata.
Second album syndrome?
For light relief, a marvel comic where Ms Marvel is a 16 year old Muslim girl was a very good read.
There truly is no accounting for taste. I survived 7 pages of execrable tosh and never want to see it again.I enjoyed it so much that I've read it three or four times now.Just about to embark on Battlefield Earth by the legendary L. Ron Hubbard, fully expecting it to be totally shit. I detest nearly all sf, but I found this doorstop of a book at my in-laws and thought that the first couple of chapters wouldn't be a complete waste of time. I've looked at some of the reviews online, and the only positive ones seem to be from Scientologist fruitcakes. Watch this space.
I guess somebody had to so that the rest of us are spared the experience. ;D :demon:
I'll concede that's it's probably not actually a good book per se but it's fun bombastic space opera.
I just finished reading “Guards! Guards!” again. Sybil Ramkin’s concise and reasonable explanation on the difference between ‘value’ and ‘worth’ ought to be compulsory reading in schools and universities and colleges and Facebook.
The Italian ride, on the antique bike? Got it on kindle, to dip into every so often
Tell me how it ends (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/22/tell-me-how-it-ends-valeria-luiselli-mexican-migrant-children-us-border)... on Kindle @ 99p at the mo https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0739S6L4B/
(To be accurate, I'm not reading it yet, but it sounds fascinating and I thought others might like the 99p-ness at the mo, just from the write up)
Trying to read Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer but its out of print and silly prices second hand.
Trying to read Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer but its out of print and silly prices second hand.
The Oddessy. Not as good as The Iliad.And finished.
Second album syndrome?
The last two posts, from Mr L and Paul, oddly, both involve axes...Sharp of you to pick up on that.
Insidious Intent, number ten in Val McDermid's Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. 1/3 of the way though and only one killin' but there's another one imminent.
the autobiography of poet, soldier of fortune, airline pilot, swordsman and part-time Met'l Mayhem Merchant Bruce Dickinson
Insidious Intent, number ten in Val McDermid's Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. 1/3 of the way though and only one killin' but there's another one imminent.
Well, that was a bit unexpected, but La McDermid says in the Afterword that I'm not allowed to say any more.
Which translation? I remember the Seamus Heaney version being quite gripping.That's the one. I'm still getting the hang of reading very old things. My 20th C brain expects more things to happen faster in stories, so I think I need to find a different gear for this stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid for the story of the Trojans who escaped the Greek massacre. Can't remember which translation I read. The Viking sagas ?
A decent dose of fresh air.Which translation? I remember the Seamus Heaney version being quite gripping.That's the one. I'm still getting the hang of reading very old things. My 20th C brain expects more things to happen faster in stories, so I think I need to find a different gear for this stuff.
So, having read The Iliad, The Odyssey and Beowulf, what would the panel recommend?
;DA decent dose of fresh air.Which translation? I remember the Seamus Heaney version being quite gripping.That's the one. I'm still getting the hang of reading very old things. My 20th C brain expects more things to happen faster in stories, so I think I need to find a different gear for this stuff.
So, having read The Iliad, The Odyssey and Beowulf, what would the panel recommend?
Holding off reading my Christmas pressie until it's really Christmas, but have found a copy of China Miéville's "Kraken" in the to-read pile.
Holding off reading my Christmas pressie until it's really Christmas, but have found a copy of China Miéville's "Kraken" in the to-read pile.
Well, that was a struggle but I got there in the end. Now on La Belle Sauvage which is an altogether easier thing.
Holding off reading my Christmas pressie until it's really Christmas, but have found a copy of China Miéville's "Kraken" in the to-read pile.
Well, that was a struggle but I got there in the end. Now on La Belle Sauvage which is an altogether easier thing.
I thought Kraken was a barrel of crap, and I usually like Miéville's stuff. I can forgive an author the odd bad book, though, if it helps them survive long enough financially to write the next good one.
I just started La Belle Sauvage last night. I refuse to buy the Aaronvitch novellas, the full length books don't last long enough as it is.
I'm most of the way through "Winston's War",by Max Hastings. Excellent portrait of Winston Churchill during the war years.
Reading The Player of Games for the fourth or fifth time.
I collected my copy today from the local bookshop and am looking forward to getting stuck in. I'm impressed that they have already managed to get someone capable of reading it all the way through without having to run out of the studio and be sick or double over laughing. Does he/she do the voices too?
I collected my copy today from the local bookshop and am looking forward to getting stuck in. I'm impressed that they have already managed to get someone capable of reading it all the way through without having to run out of the studio and be sick or double over laughing. Does he/she do the voices too?
Yes he does... There are several sections which are laugh out loud funny ;D and one or two.... Trump in Russia...which mind bleach is required for. :sick:
Trigger Mortis James Bond book written by Anthony Horowitz, that a chum has lent me. Can't remember when I did last read a Bond book, but I've only read one other.
This one, apparently, has original un-seen Ian Fleming material stuffed in it somehow/somewhere.
The story begins in the lethal world of Grand Prix and an attempt by the Russians to sabotage a race at Nürburgring, the most dangerous track in Europe. Bond is in the driving seat but events swiftly take an unexpected turn, pitching him into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world.
Even through the first few pages, it pretty evident Bond should quit smoking! Smokes like a bloody chimney.
Pussy Galore's in it.
Just started American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
My god it's odd, not as odd, maybe as Odd Thomas, but still...
I asked one of the guys at work, this morning, if the TV series is weird and he replied with "Well I managed to struggle through 4 episodes then gave up, as it was so odd"
That'll be yes, then...
BTW I am enjoying it...
The Oddessy. Not as good as The Iliad.
Second album syndrome?
For light relief, a marvel comic where Ms Marvel is a 16 year old Muslim girl was a very good read.
Consider Phlebas for me, I think. Got a soft spot for Espedair Street, too.
Damn. I wish he hadn't died.
Back to Robert Heinlein for me - Starship Troopers, very different to the film
Back to Robert Heinlein for me - Starship Troopers, very different to the film
I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's shit that been blasted by a giant shittification ray and then dropped in to a shit compactor and compressed with more shit until it's the density of a neutron star made out of pure shit.
Back to Robert Heinlein for me - Starship Troopers, very different to the film
I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's shit that been blasted by a giant shittification ray and then dropped in to a shit compactor and compressed with more shit until it's the density of a neutron star made out of pure shit.
So not his best output then?
...and achieves the considerable feat of making Ayn Rand seem almost interesting
The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis,* being the second vol. of the trilogy† begun with Bitter Seeds. The boy‡ can write and his characters are excellent, but his command of 1940s English English is poor, he being from Over There. One does not view Buckingham across Green Park, nor does one turn onto Shaftesbury. Nor did one turn onto in 1944, one turned on to. Small things and ignorable enough - you build a sort of mental callus over your critical blisters - that don't stop the books being very enjoyable. Alas, I'll have finished them all by Monday.
* he of the Clakkers
† only they call it a triptych; it's, like, posher. Ask Mr. Bell.
‡ age 44 or thereabouts
Back to Robert Heinlein for me - Starship Troopers, very different to the film
I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's shit that been blasted by a giant shittification ray and then dropped in to a shit compactor and compressed with more shit until it's the density of a neutron star made out of pure shit.
So not his best output then?
It's the only one I've read, but I'm not about to try another. Putting aside the offputting fascistic militarism (with none of the tongue-in-cheek irony of the movie) that is expounded over many, many dull pages and achieves the considerable feat of making Ayn Rand seem almost interesting, it's just dull. Endless pages detail the minutia of military bureaucracy and ranks. And frankly, the protagonist is dull. He's the sort of person you'd climb out of the toilet window to avoid talking to at a party. A party on the top floor of a tower block.
Still, finally at the end (where the finallys usually do happen), there's an actual encounter with the enemy (the only encounter, iirc). Could there really be some excitement?
No. Most, most definitely no.
Unless you're excited, of course, by a couple of the pages detailing troop disposition and patrol patterns. Then they caught an alien and went home for tea and scones or somesuch. The end.
The worst 99p I've ever spent.
I remember reading a horror story set somewhere on the Murcan frontier, before the Civil War, in which a character's response to being offered a hot drink is "I'm good, thanks"
Go and learn some period language!
I'm seeing the current example as an anti commie tirade of the time. We can't trust people with voting who aren't indoctrinated to do it the right way etc. I wonder whether it was entirely intended as tongue in checks but is either too subtle at it, or missed it entirely and ends sledgehammerring it into you until your brain is numb
I enjoyed (IYSWIM) the Tregillis, but also found the various slips grated; surely it's not impossible for the publisher to find a UK copyeditor? I've found the same in other US-authored UK-set novels; just because you're an Anglophile doesn't mean you're going to be able to get it right (though I suppose the same is true of UK authors setting their stories in the US...)
I'm seeing the current example as an anti commie tirade of the time. We can't trust people with voting who aren't indoctrinated to do it the right way etc. I wonder whether it was entirely intended as tongue in checks but is either too subtle at it, or missed it entirely and ends sledgehammerring it into you until your brain is numb
I did persevere in the hope there would be a twist where the protagonist might come to question his beliefs, but like you say it mostly got worse, so I think it was it was rather than a clever subversion.
But mostly it was immensely dull. I only got to the end because it was short and it's not actually badly written.
1971 - Never a dull moment by David Hepworth.
Took about two hours to read. I've done it so that you needn't bother.
1971 - Never a dull moment by David Hepworth.
Took about two hours to read. I've done it so that you needn't bother.
He is sort of right though.
Just started the new James Oswald which, contrary to previous reports, is an Inspector McLean. And, so far, rather DETHY :thumbsup:
Just started the new James Oswald which, contrary to previous reports, is an Inspector McLean. And, so far, rather DETHY :thumbsup:Oh, jolly good! That awaits after the last in the Peter May Lewis trilogy.
A new William Gibson, discovered in the library
The Peripheral
Only 40 pages in so far. It has all the gibson stuff, so I'm enjoying it. Who cares what the story is about. Sit back and enjoy the words.
"The Traitor" by Seth Dickinson (also published as The Traitor Baru Cormorant).
SF of the sociological type, reminds me a bit of Le Guin, which is no bad thing.
Only partway in, but so far it's good.
Just chewed my way through the Pillars of the Earth trilogy by Ken Follett.
As ever he is a good storyteller but this opus straddles the years before history with our first vestiges of authoritative record and charts a path for the tensions and clashes between authority, religion and the masses. Would it be very bad of me to say he brings the Black Death to life? So much happened in those years from the Norman Conquest to now that still affects us. You can read these books as a ripping yarn, equally you may find that they are astonishingly thought provoking.
Atomised - Michel Houellebecq,translated by Frank Wynne
One of the stash of French novels I got for our summer holidays last year but I never got round to this one.
God its depressing but I've started so I will finish.
Anyone else dabbled with Orhan Pamuk? I'm 150 pages into A Strangeness in My Mind (translated from Turkish by the author) and am enjoying it in a cosy, comfort-reading kind of way. It's about Istanbul over the last 50 years or so, mainly through the eyes of an ingenue who moves there from the Anatolian countryside and becomes a street vendor of yoghurt and boza, like his dad.Finished, eventually. V good. After the first 150 pages I was keen to visit Istanbul. By the end I felt I didn't need to.
Assuming that Simmons' research is accurate and that he's not embroidering (aye, sure), the expedition to Everest on which Mallory & Irvine died took along 60 tins of quail in foie gras, 300 hams and several dozen bottles of champagne.
I really like the Shetland books. The BBC series of the same name appears to be unrelated apart from the character names. Though it's a darn site better than the ITV series of the same.
Dougie Henshall is a fine actor
I really like the Shetland books. The BBC series of the same name appears to be unrelated apart from the character names. Though it's a darn site better than the ITV series of the same.
Earlier series did use the books at least as a basis for the story, but they soon shot off at right-angles to reality with their ageing Cassie by about twelve years and not bothering to include Fran at all. And while Dougie Henshall is a fine actor, having him play a dark swarthy Mediterranean type is Just Wrong :demon:
I really like the Shetland books. The BBC series of the same name appears to be unrelated apart from the character names. Though it's a darn site better than the ITV series of the same.
Earlier series did use the books at least as a basis for the story, but they soon shot off at right-angles to reality with their ageing Cassie by about twelve years and not bothering to include Fran at all. And while Dougie Henshall is a fine actor, having him play a dark swarthy Mediterranean type is Just Wrong :demon:
Didn't realise there had been previous series...
Having finished A Dark So Deadly and The Gathering Dark I tried some other detective novels, none of which appealed.
Having finished A Dark So Deadly and The Gathering Dark I tried some other detective novels, none of which appealed.
Some others for you to try, if you've not already:
Stuart MacBride's Logan Mcrae books
The Shetland books by Ann Cleeves. The Vera Stanhope books by the same author are a bit closer to home.
The Lewis trilogy by Peter May.
On the weird shit front (rather more weird than the Mclean books)
Shadow Police series by Paul Cornell
Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
You could also try the Rhona McLeod books by Lin Anderson. She's supposed to be a forensic rather than a detective but it's fairly police procedural.Having finished A Dark So Deadly and The Gathering Dark I tried some other detective novels, none of which appealed.
Some others for you to try, if you've not already:
Stuart MacBride's Logan Mcrae books
The Shetland books by Ann Cleeves. The Vera Stanhope books by the same author are a bit closer to home.
The Lewis trilogy by Peter May.
On the weird shit front (rather more weird than the Mclean books)
Shadow Police series by Paul Cornell
Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
Thanks for the suggestions, Mrs Pingu. The only ones I haven't tried, so far (but are waiting on my Kobo) are the Ann Cleeves ones. I will get to them after The Death Messenger by Mari Hannah.
This Unit recommends Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series, though they are pretty grim most of the time.
This Unit recommends Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series, though they are pretty grim most of the time.
This Unit recommends Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series, though they are pretty grim most of the time.
Blimey, he’s (Faraday) dead now! The Jimmy Suttle sequels are good too.
The Word Is Murder in Kindle format is 99p at the Big River Place.Trigger Mortis James Bond book written by Anthony Horowitz, that a chum has lent me. Can't remember when I did last read a Bond book, but I've only read one other.
This one, apparently, has original un-seen Ian Fleming material stuffed in it somehow/somewhere.
The story begins in the lethal world of Grand Prix and an attempt by the Russians to sabotage a race at Nürburgring, the most dangerous track in Europe. Bond is in the driving seat but events swiftly take an unexpected turn, pitching him into an entirely different race with implications that could change the world.
Even through the first few pages, it pretty evident Bond should quit smoking! Smokes like a bloody chimney.
Pussy Galore's in it.
I read Magpie Murders (by AH) from my sickbed over Christmas, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've heard him speaking on the wireless about Trigger Mortis, The Word Is Murder, and a few other things, and am keen to read more of his stuff...
Thanks to M. Citoyen OTP, a series of 3 Raylan Givens novels by Elmore Leonard. At 5€ on Google Books for 750+ pp it should last a week.
So: out the other end of Get Shorty the book, and watched Get Shorty the film last night for the second time. Liked the ending of the film more than that of the book...
I got 21/30 on that one. Been a while since I did a Chandler binge and am shamefully lacking in the Wodehouse department, which I intend to rectify on holibobs this year.I got 26/30, despite never having read any Chandler and it being probably 25 years since I saw a Wodehouse...
I got 21/30 on that one. Been a while since I did a Chandler binge and am shamefully lacking in the Wodehouse department, which I intend to rectify on holibobs this year.I got 26/30, despite never having read any Chandler and it being probably 25 years since I saw a Wodehouse...
I got 21/30 on that one. Been a while since I did a Chandler binge and am shamefully lacking in the Wodehouse department, which I intend to rectify on holibobs this year.I got 26/30, despite never having read any Chandler and it being probably 25 years since I saw a Wodehouse...
I got 21, mostly by dint of about four Chandler quotes coming from a short story I'd read just a few days before: my guesswork on the rest was poor.
This, however, I thought was in amusingly poor taste: https://www.sporcle.com/games/jr637/tolkien-character-or-antidepressant
I am re-reading Holidays In Hell by PJ O Rourke, as in the following quotes.
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P. J. O'Rourke
Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.
P. J. O'Rourke
Good choice, I read that in Melbourne in 1990, must dig it out. It's gotta be showing it's age though, Belfast is very different now.
I think Ellroy's LA quartet are brilliant and probably his best books, but they're a claustrophobic headspace to be in - I found I had to take a break after reading more than one in a row. After _American Tabloid_ he got too big to edit IMO; the later books are just sprawling messes. I still have a charity shop copy of _Perfidia_ on the shelf, mind; I just need a long holiday to get round to it (so maybe in a decade or so...)
Back onto Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne. Gorry, this dialect is going to take some getting used to...That was awesome - not one of his higher-acclaimed works but one of my favourites.
I've just bought The Colour of Magic...
I've just bought The Colour of Magic...
The first of the main Discworld books, but by a long way not the best. YMMV, of course.
The Blood Road Logan Mcrae #11.
It's still raining
Only one person has died, so far
Lots of other stuff has happened, in between books, like Logan joining Professional Standards, and buying a house, and finding a new squeeze.
The Blood Road Logan Mcrae #11.
It's still raining
Only one person has died, so far
Lots of other stuff has happened, in between books, like Logan joining Professional Standards, and buying a house, and finding a new squeeze.
Ooooh goodie! Somethings to look forward to on my return from Northern Climes!
I've just bought The Colour of Magic...
The first of the main Discworld books, but by a long way not the best. YMMV, of course.
Would I lose anything by not reading them in order? I thought I ought to start at the beginning.
I've just bought The Colour of Magic...
The first of the main Discworld books, but by a long way not the best. YMMV, of course.
Would I lose anything by not reading them in order? I thought I ought to start at the beginning.
As others have said, though not critical, in order is generally good but not essential.
I've been reading the odd one as they come up reduced on Kindle, just finished The Light Fantastic. I find it interesting how his writing develops. As Kim says, those early books are based in the Fantasy genre of the period, written by someone who had been doing a Sarah Huckabee for the Nuclear Generating Board, and had been tinkering with the similarities between nuclear and magic for years. The ideas fizz out at a rate of knots because, why not? The later books develop ideas more fully, some feel like a sentence turned into a volume. They are often much more about the people, and the parallels to the normal universe are closer.
The Blood Road Logan Mcrae #11.
It's still raining
Only one person has died, so far
Lots of other stuff has happened, in between books, like Logan joining Professional Standards, and buying a house, and finding a new squeeze.
Ooooh goodie! Somethings to look forward to on my return from Northern Climes!
Now finished it. It is very good. All his best characters are in it.
I just finished The Craftsman by SJ Bolton. Loved it. Police, murders, Pendle witches, double-crossing, human sacrifices, and an overall atmosphere of creepy chilling menace.Have now nearly finished Blood Harvest by the same author. Moors, police, churches, child deaths, vicars, psychiatrists, goitres, ancient harvest rituals and an overall atmosphere of creepy chilling menace.
American Tabloid by James Ellroy. So far: Bad-Back Jack's election, Hoffa, Cuba, Cammies, Hoover, Hughes, da Mob and a guest appearance by Officer J. D. Tippit. Alfred A. Knopf's legal dept must have been running red-hot prior to publication.
American Tabloid by James Ellroy. So far: Bad-Back Jack's election, Hoffa, Cuba, Cammies, Hoover, Hughes, da Mob and a guest appearance by Officer J. D. Tippit. Alfred A. Knopf's legal dept must have been running red-hot prior to publication.
You can't libel the dead; I've heard Ellroy say in an interview that he's switched to clean(er?) livin' in the hope that he'll get to write a novel about the Clinton administration...
American Tabloid by James Ellroy. So far: Bad-Back Jack's election, Hoffa, Cuba, Cammies, Hoover, Hughes, da Mob and a guest appearance by Officer J. D. Tippit. Alfred A. Knopf's legal dept must have been running red-hot prior to publication.
You can't libel the dead; I've heard Ellroy say in an interview that he's switched to clean(er?) livin' in the hope that he'll get to write a novel about the Clinton administration...
Insidious Intent, number ten in Val McDermid's Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. 1/3 of the way though and only one killin' but there's another one imminent.
Well, that was a bit unexpected, but La McDermid says in the Afterword that I'm not allowed to say any more.
I heard her interviewed about that and am intrigued. Do I need to read the preceding 9 for number 10 to make sense?
#10 does contain quite a lot of references pertaining to events in #9 and so on back to the beginning.
just finished One Summer in America 1927, will pass that on to my day, cracking read by Bryson as always, if a little Americocentric.There are three film versions, starring Vincent, Charlton and Will. The first is the closest.
Next I Am Legend - can't wait to see how close it is to the fillum as a bit of 60's sci-fi
I've seen Heston and Smith,Yes
Vincent? Price? The last man on earth?
Gatto, I really enjoyed the Tim Moore. There is a moment where he takes a parmo (only a lady parmo) down to Billingham, and finds the smell from the poison works to be preferable to that of the parmo. I can understand that.
Gatto, I really enjoyed the Tim Moore. There is a moment where he takes a parmo (only a lady parmo) down to Billingham, and finds the smell from the poison works to be preferable to that of the parmo. I can understand that.
Gatto, I really enjoyed the Tim Moore. There is a moment where he takes a parmo (only a lady parmo) down to Billingham, and finds the smell from the poison works to be preferable to that of the parmo. I can understand that.
WTF. Parmo is the manna provided by Teh Lord to make living round here bearable.
Anti-Parmo snobbery at work. I need to read the original to see if I disagree with you both on this.
Because they were generally Irish.
When my future Inlaw Maw was told that her daughter was going to marry an Irishman they had to send out for smelling-salts.
The railway navvies by Terry Coleman. Have discovered an ancestor was in Paris in the 1840s doing railway things. Most interesting. These guys built the wealth of GB and were generally despised, nothing new there then.
Trying to read more non fiction at the moment, so recentlyI heard BB talking on the radio about 1927 a few months back and it sounded really interesting...
The Haynes Manual to the Chieftain Main Battle Tank
Bill Bryson's One Summer America 1927, quite fascinating
Raw Spirit by Iain Banks, took this on my Scottish tour
...
Trying to read more non fiction at the moment, so recentlyI heard BB talking on the radio about 1927 a few months back and it sounded really interesting...
The Haynes Manual to the Chieftain Main Battle Tank
Bill Bryson's One Summer America 1927, quite fascinating
Raw Spirit by Iain Banks, took this on my Scottish tour
...
Prompted by the 2018 TDF thread I've just read [the first book in what must be 15 years or so] - David Millars 'Racing Through the Dark'
...Enjoyed it immensely.
New York 2142 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Excellent
Prompted by the 2018 TDF thread I've just read [the first book in what must be 15 years or so] - David Millars 'Racing Through the Dark'
...Enjoyed it immensely.
Next up you should read The Secret Race, Tyler Hamilton's story. It's even more jaw-dropping than Millar's account.
Next up you should read The Secret Race
I have got about 10 minutes of "Not Alone" by "Craig A Falconer" left and frankly, unless there is a major twist, this has got to be one of the worst, most predictable and overlong book I have read since I once read a..... embarrassed to say this... a Dan Brown book. :facepalm:
God...what a pile of rubbish although it started off okay but then just went on, and on, and on. Indeed, at 730 pages long, a good editor would have deleted at least 400 pages and cut out all the guff. And... I have no doubt that the author has seen "Close Encounters" and most episodes of the X Files....the crap ones.... as they nicked the the story lines from there.
Strangely, most reviewers on Amazon seemed to like the book so I am likely to be wrong but I really think this is rubbish.
Hmmm, a self-published book with many, many five stars reviews...
Also read "Around the World in 80 days" by Mark Beaumont. Enjoyable but.... got up, went for a ride, felt knackered and in pain, fell asleep.... does get a bit repetitive. Perhaps next time he could do it a bit quicker to save some time and some reading..... ;DAnd stop and look at things instead of racing by. OK I haven't read the book, but cycling around the world that fast he might as well have driven. The enjoyment of cycling for me is that you get the see/smell/hear things, that you definitely don't get to do with train, planes and automobiles. oh well each to their own :)
Now I'm plugging through Ken Follicle's Century trilogy. Lots of coalmining, espionage, and bodice-ripping so far.Onto the third one now (yes, I'm a slow reader; I only get the chance to read last thing at night and keep falling asleep with my Kindle. In mitigation, they are each more than 1000 pages in print). A very egregious typo just now about a U2 spy plane travelling at "a mile every second". To Kenbob's credit, he does acknowledge it in the Errata page on his website (https://ken-follett.com/errata/).
Also been bitten by the Monsieur Pamplemousse bug so thanks for highlighting. Light reading but witty, informative and amusing.
Also been bitten by the Monsieur Pamplemousse bug so thanks for highlighting. Light reading but witty, informative and amusing.
Is he the one with a dog? The radio plays on bbc?
Just finished Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson. Second of a trilogy beginning with Europe in Autumn and ending with Winter, only I hope he adds more. Really excellent near-future SF/espionage, very satisfying to read - they aren't long but by the end of Midnight I felt as if I had just read a 500-page Le Carré.
Catching up on John Connolly's excellent Charlie Parker series.
Charlie's going to West Virginia.
Catching up on John Connolly's excellent Charlie Parker series.
Charlie's going to West Virginia.
Oh, there was blood. Splendid. A perfect blend of crimifying and spookosity. And I wish I could write that well.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).
I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).
I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.
I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.
I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).
I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.
I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.
I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...
I think you have to be a certain impressionable age. I read The Goldfinch when that came out and it was an awful trudge. On that basis I dipped back into The Secret History, and it turned out to be much the same.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).
I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.
I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.
I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...
I think you have to be a certain impressionable age. I read The Goldfinch when that came out and it was an awful trudge. On that basis I dipped back into The Secret History, and it turned out to be much the same.
Iain M Banks' _Consider Phlebas_, picked up for 50p from a hospital charity bookstall as something to keep me occupied while I waited for my appointment. I read one or two of the Culture books about 15 years ago, and for some reason I never read any more; at the time they mustn't have grabbed me so much, but this is terrific space opera. Will have to try the rest now.
Max "Hitler" Hastings' breeze-block sized history of the Vietnam War is staring accusingly at me every time I go into the kitchen, as if to say "stop twatting around with Babbage-Engines and start reading me!"
Not really reading but eeeek !No.
http://narrativia.com/watch.html
Just finished "Want You Gone" by Chris* Brookmyre.
Top Parlabane stuff, plot twists, hacking and breaking in. As it was only published last year, all the tech references are up to date (Smart phones, Two Factor authorisation, cloud storage etc) with the glaring exception of when one of our heroes "takes note of a WEP key". It grated, but only a tiny bit.
*When did he change from Christopher?
Parlabane is back, eh?
(Extra points for getting that reference, even with Google I think you need more info to get a result)
Parlabane is back, eh?
(Extra points for getting that reference, even with Google I think you need more info to get a result)
Well, since Robertson Davies is one of my all time favourite writers, I had almost exactly the same thought when I read Tim's post. I presume Rebel Angels predates Brookmyre's creation by some years. IIRC "Parlabane is back" is the opening line, isn't it?
I've been meaning to re-read the Cornish trilogy for a while but you can't get it on Kindle and I can't be doing with lugging round several hundred pages of paperback on my commute.
It's a bit of a conundrum: if Trump was shot it could set back hope of gun control for decades......
Ooh, yes! Though I thought the first three books were intended as a trilogy?
I've just seen that Dave Hutchinson has released a new title in his (appropriately named) "Fractured Europe" series. "Europe at Dawn" I know there are a couple of fans on here.
Latest from Haruki Murakami, "Killing Commendatore".
His usual blend of everyday life in Japan and supernatural events, holding the reader's attention as it is unpredictable.
My 1p (+£2.87 p&p) bargain
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iCyl5JK9x3c/W_MGFpAnyUI/AAAAAAAC3ak/Z38d2BXaV3sN0j-1cDmby_5Uc2ip3w6XACKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20181119_184557.jpg)
It's put together from his unpublished stuff.
"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading." Did I say that? No, Logan Persall Smith said it, but I have thought it so many times that sometimes I mistake it for my own.
Sometimes there was a serious article on a hot topic, and I especially remember one by a bishop headed "Is Nudity Salacious?" (The bishop thought it need not be, if encountered in the proper spirit, but he gave a lot of enlightening examples of conditions under which it might be, in his word, "inflammatory". there wasn't much nudity in our neck of the woods , and I enjoyed the article tremendously). There were many stories with backgrounds of high life and society, which I suppose would be thought unsuitable for a child. (...) I read all the stories about girls, hoping to penetrate their secrets; I knew girls had secrets because all the girls I met were great whisperers and gigglers.
The Blood Road, Stuart MacBride's latest outing for Logan Mcrae. Mostly raining.
Hearts in Atlantis. Two novellas and three short stories by Stephen King. The first would be a bit weird to anyone not au fait with The Dark Tower. Really enjoying Blind Willie now.Blimey, that last instalment, Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling, had me crying like a baby. I could barely see my Kindle through the tears. :'(
Hearts in Atlantis. Two novellas and three short stories by Stephen King. The first would be a bit weird to anyone not au fait with The Dark Tower. Really enjoying Blind Willie now.Blimey, that last instalment, Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling, had me crying like a baby. I could barely see my Kindle through the tears. :'(
As a result of recs from Mr L plus others, I am reading the start of the Charlie Parker books.... GoodDid he not like the endings??
As a result of recs from Mr L plus others, I am reading the start of the Charlie Parker books.... GoodDid he not like the endings??
<badoom-tisch>
As a result of recs from Mr L plus others, I am reading the start of the Charlie Parker books.... GoodDid he not like the endings??
<badoom-tisch>
Either Mrs P is referring to another Mr L or she's found the key to the gin cupboard, as this Unit thinks Charlie Parker was a jazz saxophonist.
One Man and His Bike Mike Carter.
I just acquired Max Hastings' new work, "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975". So far it's a very worthwhile read.
A friend of mine gave me a carrier bag full of Jack Reacher books recently. They appear to make perfect kindling.
Going back to Dave Hutchinson , he's just started another series. "The Aftermath" Sounds cheery stuff..... not.
https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/
https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/
'Tis true they are not exactly great literature. ;DA friend of mine gave me a carrier bag full of Jack Reacher books recently. They appear to make perfect kindling.
FTFY ;)
'Tis true they are not exactly great literature. ;DA friend of mine gave me a carrier bag full of Jack Reacher books recently. They appear to make perfect kindling.
FTFY ;)
Going back to Dave Hutchinson , he's just started another series. "The Aftermath" Sounds cheery stuff..... not.
https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/ (https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/)
https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/ (https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/)
Aw shit. I was looking forward to the further adventures of Ruudi.
At least they’re not Dan Brown, eh?
Actually, the movie is a British production (and a reasonable version of the book). I'm famously (here at least) averse the zombie genre because anything you can evade with a two-step with a shovel ain't no monster. I am scared of fungus though.
I'm reading the prequel (the Boy on the Bridge) which is interesting, though ultimately the problem with prequels is that you know what will happen later, which tends to mean it's just a bit of retread of the first novel.
Going back to Dave Hutchinson , he's just started another series. "The Aftermath" Sounds cheery stuff..... not.
https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/ (https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/)
https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/ (https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/)
Aw shit. I was looking forward to the further adventures of Ruudi.
Well, I've just finished "Shelter". Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days. Grim, bleak & nasty. That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse. Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy. A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.
It's a world setting that's been determined by the publishers, to highlight their stable of writers, so the next one in the series will not be written by Dave Hutchinson but Adam Roberts, who's new to me. Not so sure I'll bother, if I want to get this depressed about human nature I can watch the news instead.
Very true.is better, of course. Anything has to be better than the dread Walking Dead where the zombies' main weapon is the cast's unalloyed stupidity. Oh, and they're definitely walking.(click to show/hide)
I like the idea of a fungus, though in reality it's not how fungal lifecycles work. The hungries would sporulate and stop being, well, zombies and start being dead. As threatening as a bag of quorn mince.
Well, I've just finished "Shelter". Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days. Grim, bleak & nasty. That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse. Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy. A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.
Well, I've just finished "Shelter". Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days. Grim, bleak & nasty. That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse. Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy. A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.
Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.
Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk. Probably going to be on this one for a while...How are you getting on with it? I read it last year and enjoyed it. I'd never been to Istanbul before reading it (IYKWIM), and wanted to get back after I'd finished it.
Just finished "Want You Gone" by Chris* Brookmyre.
*When did he change from Christopher?
It was your recommendation that prompted me, actually :). It's quite early days but I'm finding that it takes me off to a different world and culture, which is the kind of experience I really relish in a book. Trying to avoid getting bogged down amidst all the names of various neighbourhoods etc...Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk. Probably going to be on this one for a while...How are you getting on with it? I read it last year and enjoyed it. I'd never been to Istanbul before reading it (IYKWIM), and wanted to get back after I'd finished it.
Well, I've just finished "Shelter". Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days. Grim, bleak & nasty. That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse. Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy. A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.
Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.
You're safely out of it. We need the hints & tips post Brexit.
He should stick to funny books about cycling.Well, I've just finished "Shelter". Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days. Grim, bleak & nasty. That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse. Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy. A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.
Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.
One of the largely interchangeable 'Rivers of London' potboilers. Witty enough not to be boring but hardly memorable.
That's one of fairly short list of books I have failed to finish reading (having started!).
Just finished "Europe in Winter" the latest in Dave Hutchinson's Fractured Europe series of novels. There will be a fourth and final book in the series apparently but no release date as yet.
The whole series is brilliant. Fantastic writing. Set in a near future Europe where the EU has broken up into micro states. No SF gizmos really but more of a feel of John le Carrie novel with some weird stuff about topology and maps. Oh and lots about restaurants and food. Highly recommended.
I just found it 'hard'. I was trying to get in a southern US mood through literature before visiting New Orleans, and Jo Wood recommended A Confederacy of Dunces as I was struggling with it, and I was enticed away, never to return.
I've just started Flying Dutch.
After Steph's comments I couldn't resist it.
Chain it to the book. We have a book called Stereo Star Maps and the viewer for that was last seen around 25 years ago.
Jeez: just checked publication date and found that some arrant wanker has pinched the title for a pop crap-o-rama. Suspend by nuts until properly respectful/dead.
Hated it. Hated the glib, smug writing. Hated the dull, predictable plot. Hated nearly all the characters, none of whom amount to anything more than enumerations of superficial traits and clichéd behaviours. There's a bit late on that sums up why I hated it, when two new characters are introduced simultaneously, their choice of coffee indicating how we're supposed to feel about them (one sympathetic, the other not). The author uses hackneyed cultural reference points like this in place of true insight into his characters' personalities.
To give Lanchester some credit, this is a well researched book. Every aspect of the lives of the characters is covered in a wealth of detail. As a snapshot of London in 2008, it's certainly broad and ambitious in its scope. It's just that for all that detail, the author appears to have nothing interesting to say. It's just boring. And about 200 pages too long.
For example, there's some classic Sliding Doors geography.....
I wouldn't mind but it reflects a generally lazy approach
Reading a book on Ancient Britons by Neil Oliver. So far he seems to be implying that Earth is the only planet with a significant axial tilt and that there is no evidence that modern humans ever interbred with neanderthals.
Certainly the impression of Johnson I got from Max "Hitler" Hastings' Vietnam history was that he was a massive git.
I'm a big fan of Max Leonard's - his 'Higher Calling' is also excellent. I must confess the journalistic banalities didn't jump out at me when I read it; IMO he's a cut above the usual as a stylist.
Russell Brand in a frock
The Templars by Dan Jones.
A history of the Knights Templar, which I've always found fascinating in a shadowy conspiracy theory type of way, but this is the first time I've actually read any serious book about them.
Still fascinating. It also gives what seems to be a very good history of the Crusades and how they weren't the 'Boy's Own' romp that they've always been sold as, where a load of frightfully brave Lords of the realm went overseas to give Johnny (non-Christian) Foreigner a bit of a pasting and teach them their mistakes.
The Templars by Dan Jones.
A history of the Knights Templar, which I've always found fascinating in a shadowy conspiracy theory type of way, but this is the first time I've actually read any serious book about them.
Still fascinating. It also gives what seems to be a very good history of the Crusades and how they weren't the 'Boy's Own' romp that they've always been sold as, where a load of frightfully brave Lords of the realm went overseas to give Johnny (non-Christian) Foreigner a bit of a pasting and teach them their mistakes.
I had that myth dispelled by reading Ronald Welch's "Knight Crusader" several decades ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Crusader (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Crusader)
Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk. Probably going to be on this one for a while...OMG, I finished it yesterday (wow, was I really going for 12 weeks?)
Hugh Walters ?
Good grief, that brings some memories back.The Templars by Dan Jones.
A history of the Knights Templar, which I've always found fascinating in a shadowy conspiracy theory type of way, but this is the first time I've actually read any serious book about them.
Still fascinating. It also gives what seems to be a very good history of the Crusades and how they weren't the 'Boy's Own' romp that they've always been sold as, where a load of frightfully brave Lords of the realm went overseas to give Johnny (non-Christian) Foreigner a bit of a pasting and teach them their mistakes.
I had that myth dispelled by reading Ronald Welch's "Knight Crusader" several decades ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Crusader
Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk. Probably going to be on this one for a while...OMG, I finished it yesterday (wow, was I really going for 12 weeks?)
Another one I really should have read years ago but have finally got round to...
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - Robert Tressell
What's most alarming is how applicable it still is today... but I won't say any more than that because I don't want to drag politics into this thread.
Anyway, it's a good read and an effective polemic but judged as a piece of writing, I think I prefer George Gissing's The Nether World, which deals with much the same themes (though written 25 years earlier). Philanthropists seems much more optimistic though - The Nether World is entirely without a shred of hope.
Damn , I recall that being a very confusing read for an inquisitive teenager. The Spike, metal eyebrows & The Order of Dumb Beasts ?
I've still got to make a 3rd attempt at getting through "Dhalgren", don't think I got more than half way the last time.
It's been a while but I don't remember a gay character in "The Dispossessed" ?
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North. Only 3 pp in so far but I'm intrigued.I found it fairly meh in the end.
You purchased this item on 20 May 2017.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North. Only 3 pp in so far but I'm intrigued.I found it fairly meh in the end.
People wonder what’s the matter with the world these days. They forget that all the best fellows, the men who’d have been in their prime now, who’d have been giving us a lead in everything, are dead.
Men like Assad and Saddam are dangerous and long-lasting because they are extremists who know when to stop.
All people who think they are redeeming the world don’t see the evil that they are doing every day. If your eyes are on eternity you can be blind to the person sitting next to you.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.
He looked back like a nocturnal rabbit trying to outstare the headlights of a sixteen-wheeled artic whose driver is a twelve-hour caffeine freak outrunning the tachometers of hell.
The latest John Connolly Charlie Parker tome “A Book of Bones”. It’s some 700 pages!! I have a feeling it may be the ultimate one too, given its size. It may take me some time to find out.
I gave up on the Charlie Parker books after finding them a bit samey. Starting to feel the same way about Chief Insp Mclean now too.
I gave up on the Charlie Parker books after finding them a bit samey. Starting to feel the same way about Chief Insp Mclean now too.
I gave up on the Charlie Parker books after finding them a bit samey. Starting to feel the same way about Chief Insp Mclean now too.
I don't really do crime books, and yes, they're to a degree formulaic, but the general building spook factor in the background is, I think, the actual story. The foreground is just colour. Plus the writing is generally a good class or two above the average crime writer, in places quite luminous. If it were bog-standard written detective fiction with the arc, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. And I'd have to get a bargepole first, because they're not the sort of thing you find around the house.
The latest John Connolly Charlie Parker tome “A Book of Bones”. It’s some 700 pages!! I have a feeling it may be the ultimate one too, given its size. It may take me some time to find out.
Bethany (9): | Well, we liked it! |
5: | Oh yes! (Sighs like someone sitting on a punctured spacehopper) |
The latest John Connolly Charlie Parker tome “A Book of Bones”. It’s some 700 pages!! I have a feeling it may be the ultimate one too, given its size. It may take me some time to find out.
Ha, be thankful you're not into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre - 700 pages is trifling in that arena.
The latest John Connolly Charlie Parker tome “A Book of Bones”. It’s some 700 pages!! I have a feeling it may be the ultimate one too, given its size. It may take me some time to find out.
Ha, be thankful you're not into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre - 700 pages is trifling in that arena.
Just beginning Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman. It's a bit waffly at the start - lots of superfluous description and clunky metaphor. King is famously economical with adverbs, but, my Lord, there is a hatful of adjectives crammed into this one.I read that back in the 80s, the only thing I can remember about it is that, it was hard work. It was one of the first books I read in English, my Merriam-Webster dictionary got a good old work out.
Having had a long pause (a year or two) about 45% through The Bickford Fuse by Andrey Kurkov because I got fed up with it, I've picked it up again to have a rest from crime fiction. We'll see if I make it to the end.
Recent reading reading has included Catch-22 and Doctor Zhivago, and TBH, I think they are both slightly overrated.
Read one conversation in Catch-22 where characters are being deliberately obtuse or are simply talking past each other, and you've pretty much read them all. Some of the introductions to characters suffered from logorrhoea, as if Joseph Heller wanted to show off that he'd eaten a thesaurus. And even though it's a satire, some of what Milo Minderbinder gets up to simply stretches credulity.
The acclaim for Doctor Zhivago was, IMHO, more for it being a work of samizdat WRT one or two characters' ambivalence about the revolution. Boris Pasternak's inconsistent use of the different name forms IAW the eastern Slavic threefold custom meant that early on in the book, I was forever having to refer back to the list of characters at the front of the book to remind myself who was being referred to.
The other criticism offered by reviewers that I agree with is the remarkably fortuitous way in which characters' paths intersected. Pasternak might as well have subtitled the book "It's a small world".
YMMV, of course.
It's such a long time ago that I tried to read Catch-22 that I forget why I failed to finish it.
Just beginning Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman. It's a bit waffly at the start - lots of superfluous description and clunky metaphor. King is famously economical with adverbs, but, my Lord, there is a hatful of adjectives crammed into this one.
I have disposed of the latest Logan McRae.(click to show/hide)
Now on the most recent of Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series which, unlike all her other novels, is devoid of lesbians.
Anyway, I'm reading a Laundry Files opus that had slipped past me unnoticed, The Nightmare Stacks. 5/10 so far but it's early days. Bob & Mo coefficient --> 0.
Miss von Brandenburg went shopping this morning and bought her own copy of "The Shetland Bus" :thumbsup:
Miss Von Brandenburg finally finished reading MY copy of the latest Ben Aaronovitch — The October Man — thereby allowing me to:
- Read it myself, and
- Die with mortification at apparently having failed to notice the existence of "Lies Sleeping"
Just finished _October Man_ earlier in the week, and greatly enjoyed it. I did keep thinking:Also, it was another short one - Aaronovitch B is clearly slacking...(click to show/hide)
Miss Von Brandenburg finally finished reading MY copy of the latest Ben Aaronovitch — The October Man — thereby allowing me to:Just finished _October Man_ earlier in the week, and greatly enjoyed it. I did keep thinking:
- Read it myself, and
- Die with mortification at apparently having failed to notice the existence of "Lies Sleeping"
Also, it was another short one - Aaronovitch B is clearly slacking...(click to show/hide)
Just finished Knife, the latest Jo Nesbø. Interesting denouement and a whole lot easier to read than his take on The Scottish Play.
Maybe I'll fork out Google's blood price and spare myself the pother.Libraries! I have just picked up a 25p fine, but then I have borrowed ~100 books in the last three years (nothing compared with my son's haul though - and being a child he does not have to pay his fines).
Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth
It was on my list, for some reason, hence I got a notification when it was on offer for 99p. Glad I didn’t pay more than that for it, tbh. Not really my kind of thing It’s amusing in places but falls somewhat short of its billing as “Withnail for girls” or whatever it was the blurb said. Makes the mistake of thinking graphic swearing, sex, drinking and drug-taking is intrinsically funny and “edgy”. Some of the writing is seriously clunky, though there’s the occasional original turn of phrase.
There’s a film of it now, apparently. I don’t think I’ll be rushing to the cinema.
the "Withnail For Girls" thing ought to be enough to put sane people off and instead devote the time to finding the person responsible for the phrase and killing them.
the "Withnail For Girls" thing ought to be enough to put sane people off and instead devote the time to finding the person responsible for the phrase and killing them.
Aside from being a lazy hack trope, it's setting the bar very high for yourself, so disappointment is pretty much inevitable.
Hmm, I confess I didn't think of the Withnail and I comparison (and evidently didn't read the blurb), but it sounds like marketing had started the day on a quadruple espresso.
It's not awful, just not my cup of tea, but hey, 99p.
One of those books you put down after finishing and have to take a few minutes to process and then a few more to re-connect the current reality.Exactly. I thought I’d be less susceptible to being so drawn in by it on my second reading but in some ways I think my experiences in between (losing my dad and brother, having my own children) made the story more resonant.
right into the elevated echelons of the upper classes where a boisterous defloration is, one supposes, de riguer for a certain sort of Cambridge student.
Forsyth's best works were the first three: Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File and The Dogs of War. I haven't bothered with anything that he wrote after Icon.
A Tale Of Two Cities. My first Dickens novel. I found it in a little (Canadian-owned) bookshop in Paris, so I had to buy it. I understand that not all Dickens’ books are easy to read, but this one is going down very nicely.That was my first (and still my only) Dickens that I've chosen to read. (I'm sure I was force fed another one when younger, but all I remember is being thoroughly bamboozled by the scores of characters.)
I just finished re-reading A People's History of the Inited States, by Howard Zinn. Definitely worth re-reading, if only to be reminded that the US never was a democracy, although we have made some progress toward becoming one. We've also regressed a fair bit from time to time, especially since November 2016.
I'm now reading Inferno, by Max Hastings, being his history of World War II. His description of the Finnish-Russian war shed some light on that corner of the conflict, and his description of Vichy French behavior and the whole collaboration thing was quite the eye-opener for me.
After that it's downhill. Dark Matter, oh you intriguing little minx of a title, beckoning me through the door and extracting my 99p. It's not about fucking DARK MATTER. It's about the multiverse, you know, every decision branches a universe, so what if. What if? Fortunately, no one has ever, ever contemplating writing on this subject before. But there's no dark matter to be found in the book which I suppose is suitably and empirically ironic. I'll give the author a point for that. I'll take it off for not understanding less about physics than my cat.
I just finished re-reading A People's History of the Inited States, by Howard Zinn. Definitely worth re-reading, if only to be reminded that the US never was a democracy, although we have made some progress toward becoming one. We've also regressed a fair bit from time to time, especially since November 2016.
I'm now reading Inferno, by Max Hastings, being his history of World War II. His description of the Finnish-Russian war shed some light on that corner of the conflict, and his description of Vichy French behavior and the whole collaboration thing was quite the eye-opener for me.
The Penguin History of the USA is an interesting read, though disappointingly not told from the penguin's perspective. Once you get over that notable deficit, it's brain-achingly informative.
That was my joke (such as it was). Tough audience.
A Tale Of Two Cities. My first Dickens novel. I found it in a little (Canadian-owned) bookshop in Paris, so I had to buy it. I understand that not all Dickens’ books are easy to read, but this one is going down very nicely.And finished.
I am reading an analog copy of Harry Harrison's "A Transatlantic Tunnel- Hurrah!"
I am reading an analog copy of Harry Harrison's "A Transatlantic Tunnel- Hurrah!"
I am reading an analog copy of Harry Harrison's "A Transatlantic Tunnel- Hurrah!"
Coal-fuelled aircraft!
If you’ve not already read them, Jon Courtenay Grimwoods excellent “Assassini” trilogy is on offer at Amazon. First volume is 99pThanks!
https://twitter.com/joncg/status/1179010251665883144?s=21 (https://twitter.com/joncg/status/1179010251665883144?s=21)
Sight Unseen ~ Graham Hurley. Second of his Enora Andressen series and I fear there will be more to come. I know They say "Write what you know" but recycling bits of your back catalogue is not what They meant. Hayden Prentice is Bazza Mackenzie v2.0 and Ms Andressen stretches credibility far beyond its elastic limit. Bah!
Anybody read the more recent Alistair Reynolds books?
I read them up to On The Steel Breeze and didn't finish that trilogy as I wasn't finding them that engaging.
I see there's another Prefect book and the Revenger series out since then. Any good? Or is he just doing it for the money now?
Anybody read the more recent Alistair Reynolds books?
I read them up to On The Steel Breeze and didn't finish that trilogy as I wasn't finding them that engaging.
I see there's another Prefect book and the Revenger series out since then. Any good? Or is he just doing it for the money now?
I gave up with the elephant books. Don't get me wrong, I like elephants and they've as much right as anything to be in space, they were just mostly dull and to be honest, he doesn't have the writing chops to write from the perspective of African characters. Or elephants. Write what you know, they say.
Anybody read the more recent Alistair Reynolds books?
I read them up to On The Steel Breeze and didn't finish that trilogy as I wasn't finding them that engaging.
I see there's another Prefect book and the Revenger series out since then. Any good? Or is he just doing it for the money now?
I gave up with the elephant books. Don't get me wrong, I like elephants and they've as much right as anything to be in space, they were just mostly dull and to be honest, he doesn't have the writing chops to write from the perspective of African characters. Or elephants. Write what you know, they say.
Elephants in space? I thought Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle had killed that idea utterly to DETH with "Footfall" (Elephantine aliens attempt to invade and terraform Earth. Hilarity doesn't ensue).
Here's a review, which is more interesting than the book itself: https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/footfall
Excellent Essex by Gillian Darley – a long-overdue celebration
Beyond white vans and stilettos ... an original and beautifully written celebration of a much-maligned county
Fielding's Tom Jones – and yes, even on the first page I'm being flummoxed with words such as: eleemosynary, calipee, contemning. It's going to be a long 636 pages.
I'm really looking forward to reading thisQuoteExcellent Essex by Gillian Darley – a long-overdue celebration
Beyond white vans and stilettos ... an original and beautifully written celebration of a much-maligned county
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/11/excellent-essex-gillian-darley-review
Still getting through Tom Jones. God, it's a heavy book!!!
Now they’re going to see who I am, he said to himself in his strong new man’s voice, many years after he had first seen the huge ocean liner without lights and without any sound which passed by the village one night like a great uninhabited place, longer than the whole village and much taller than the steeple of the church, and it sailed by in the darkness toward the colonial city on the other side of the bay that had been fortified against buccaneers, with its old slave port and the rotating light, whose gloomy beams transfigured the village into a lunar encampment of glowing houses and streets of volcanic deserts every fifteen seconds, and even though at that time he’d been a boy without a man’s strong voice but with his’ mother’s permission to stay very late on the beach to listen to the wind’s night harps, he could still remember, as if still seeing it, how the liner would disappear when the light of the beacon struck its side and how it would reappear when the light had passed, so that it was an intermittent ship sailing along, appearing and disappearing, toward the mouth of the bay, groping its way like a sleep‐walker for the buoys that marked the harbor channel, until something must have gone wrong with the compass needle, because it headed toward the shoals, ran aground, broke up, and sank without a single sound, even though a collision against the reefs like that should have produced a crash of metal and the explosion of engines that would have frozen, with fright the soundest‐sleeping dragons in the prehistoric jungle that began with the last streets of the village and ended on the other side of the world, so that he himself thought it was a dream, especially the, next day, when he. saw the radiant fishbowl. of the bay, the disorder of colors of the Negro shacks on the hills above the harbor, the schooners of the smugglers from the Guianas loading their cargoes ‐of innocent parrots whose craws were full of diamonds, he thought, I fell asleep counting the stars and L dreamed about that huge ship, of course, he was so convinced that he didn’t tell anyone nor did he remember the vision again until the same night on the following March when he was looking for the flash of dolphins in the sea and what he found was the illusory line, gloomy, intermittent, with the same mistaken direction as the first time, except that then he was so sure he was awake that he ran to tell his mother and she spent three weeks moaning with disappointment, because your brain’s rotting away from doing so many things backward, sleeping during the day and going out at night like a criminal, and since she had to go to the city around that time to get something comfortable where she could sit and think about her dead husband, because the rockers on her chair had worn out after eleven years of widowhood, she took advantage of the occasion and had the boatman go near the shoals so that her son could see what he really saw in the glass of; the sea, the lovemaking of manta rays in a springtime of sponges, pink snappers and blue corvinas diving into the other wells of softer waters that were there among the waters, and even the wandering hairs of victims of drowning in some colonial shipwreck, no trace of sunken liners of anything like it, and yet he was so pigheaded that his mother promised to watch with him the next March, absolutely, not knowing that the only thing absolute in her future now was an easy chair from the days of Sir Francis Drake which she had bought at an auction in a Turk’s store, in which she sat down to rest that same night sighing, oh, my poor Olofernos, if you could only see how nice it is to think about you on this velvet lining and this brocade from the casket of a queen, but the more she brought back the memory of her dead husband, the more the blood in her heart bubbled up and turned to chocolate, as if instead of sitting down she were running, soaked from chills and fevers and her breathing full of earth, until he returned at dawn and found her dead in the easy chair, still warm, but half rotted away as after a snakebite, the same as happened afterward to four other women before the murderous chair was thrown into the sea, far away where it wouldn’t bring evil to anyone, because it had. been used so much over the centuries that its faculty for giving rest had been used up, and so he had to grow accustomed to his miserable routine of an orphan who was pointed out by everyone as the son of the widow who had brought the throne of misfortune into the village, living not so much from public charity as from fish he stole out of the boats, while his voice was becoming a roar, and not remembering his visions of past times anymore until another night in March when he chanced to look seaward and suddenly, good Lord, there, it is, the huge asbestos whale, the behemoth beast, come see it, he shouted madly, come see it, raising such an uproar of dogs’ barking and women’s panic that even the oldest men remembered the frights of their great‐grandfathers and crawled under their beds, thinking that William Dampier had come back, but those who ran into the street didn’t make the effort to see the unlikely apparatus which at that instant was lost again in the east and raised up in its annual disaster, but they covered him with blows and left him so twisted that it was then he said to himself, drooling with rage, now they’re going to see who I am, but he took care not to share his determination with anyone, but spent the whole year with the fixed idea, now they’re going to see who I am, waiting for it to be the eve of the apparition once more in order to do what he did, which was steal a boat, cross the bay, and spend the evening waiting for his great moment in the inlets of the slave port, in the human brine of the Caribbean, but so absorbed in his adventure that he didn’t stop as he always did in front of the Hindu shops to look at the ivory mandarins carved from the whole tusk of an elephant, nor did he make fun of the Dutch Negroes in their orthopedic velocipedes, nor was he frightened as at other times of the copper‐skinned Malayans, who had gone around the world, enthralled by the chimera of a secret tavern where they sold roast filets of Brazilian women, because he wasn’t aware of anything until night came over him with all the weight of the stars and the jungle exhaled a sweet fragrance of gardenias and rotter salamanders, and there he was, rowing in the stolen boat, toward the mouth of the bay, with the lantern out so as not to alert the customs police, idealized every fifteen seconds by the green wing flap of the beacon and turned human once more by the darkness, knowing that he was getting close to the buoys that marked the harbor, channel, not only because its oppressive glow was getting more intense, but because the breathing of the water was becoming sad, and he rowed like that, so wrapped up in himself, that he. didn’t know where the fearful shark’s breath that suddenly reached him came from or why the night became dense, as if the stars had suddenly died, and it was because the liner was there, with all of its inconceivable size, Lord, bigger than, any other big thing in the world and darker than any other dark thing on land or sea, three hundred thousand tons of shark smell passing so close to the boat that he could see the seams of the steel precipice without a single light in the infinite portholes, without a sigh from the engines, without a soul, and carrying its own circle of silence with it, its own dead air, its halted time, its errant sea in which a whole world of drowned animals floated, and suddenly it all disappeared with the flash of the beacon and for an instant it was the diaphanous Caribbean once more, the March night, the everyday air of the pelicans, so he stayed alone among the buoys, not knowing what to do, asking himself, startled, if perhaps he wasn’t dreaming while he was awake, not just now but the other times too, but no sooner had. he asked himself than a breath of mystery snuffled out the buoys, from the first to the last, so that when the light of the beacon passed by the liner appeared again and now its compasses were out of order, perhaps not even knowing what part of the ocean sea it was in, groping for the invisible channel but actually heading for the shoals, until he got the overwhelming revelation that that misfortune of the buoys was the last key to the enchantment and he lighted the lantern in the boat, a tiny red light that had no reason to alarm anyone in the watch towers but which would be like a guiding sun for the pilot, because, thanks to it, the liner corrected its course and passed into the main gate of the channel in a maneuver of lucky resurrection, and then all the lights went on at the same time so that the boilers wheezed again, the stars were fixed in their places, and the animal corpses went to the bottom, and there was a clatter of plates and a fragrance of laurel sauce in the kitchens, and one could hear the pulsing of the orchestra on the moon decks and the throbbing of the arteries of high‐sea lovers in the shadows of the staterooms, but he still carried so much leftover rage in him that he would not let himself be confused by emotion or be frightened by the miracle, but said to himself with more decision than ever, now they’re going to see who I am, the cowards, now they’re going to see, and instead of turning aside so that the colossal machine would not charge into him he began to row in front of it, because now they really are going to see who I am, and he continued guiding the ship with the lantern until he was so sure of its obedience that he made it change course from the direction of the docks once more, took it out of the invisible channel, and led it by the halter as if it were a sea lamb toward the lights of the sleeping village, a living ship, invulnerable to the torches of the beacon, that no longer made invisible but made it aluminum every fifteen seconds, and the crosses of the church, the misery of the houses, the illusion began to stand out and still the ocean liner followed behind him, following his will inside of it, the captain asleep on his heart side, the fighting bulls in the snow of their pantries, the solitary patient in the infirmary, the orphan water of its cisterns, the unredeemed pilot who must have mistaken the cliffs for the docks, because at that instant the great roar of the whistle burst forth, once, and he with downpour of steam that fell on him, again, and the boat belonging to someone else was on the point of capsizing, and again, but it was too late, because there were the shells of the shoreline, the stones of the street, the doors of the disbelievers, the whole village illuminated by the lights of the fearsome liner itself, and he barely had time to get out of the way to make room for the cataclysm, shouting in the midst of the confusion, there it is, you cowards, a second before the huge steel cask shattered the ground and one could hear the neat destruction of ninety thousand five hundred champagne glasses breaking, one after the other, from stem to stern, and then the light came out and it was no longer a March dawn but the noon of a radiant Wednesday, and he was able to give himself the pleasure of watching the disbelievers as with open mouths they contemplated the largest ocean liner in this world and the other aground in front of the church, whiter than anything, twenty times taller than the steeple and some ninety‐seven times longer than the village, with its name engraved in iron letters, Halalcsillag, and the ancient and languid waters of the sea of death dripping down its sides.
I've just given up half way through Peter Robinson's latest Inspector Banks - except he's a superintendent now. Just bored with the premise and the characters, and a pedestrian plot.
Jon Krakauer's book on the 1996 Everest expedition, Into Thin Air - the film Everest is based on it. Fascinating.And, some might say, seriously flawed. Still very gripping though.
Jon Krakauer's book on the 1996 Everest expedition, Into Thin Air - the film Everest is based on it. Fascinating.And, some might say, seriously flawed. Still very gripping though.
See if you can find 'The Climb' by Anatoly Boukreev. He gives a very different perspective.
Jon Krakauer's book on the 1996 Everest expedition, Into Thin Air - the film Everest is based on it. Fascinating.And, some might say, seriously flawed. Still very gripping though.
See if you can find 'The Climb' by Anatoly Boukreev. He gives a very different perspective.
T42, I thought of your strap line again the other day: I've just finished re-reading The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers and there is another fine bottle-cleaning incident for Bunter to blow up about! I never tire of her books, even though I know the plots. Her mastery of landscape is up there with Buchan and even when you know the story it's fascinating to see how she lays the seeds of the plot as you go along. In this particular case, I love the milieu (bell-ringing), too. My brother rings, not too far south of the Fens, where Tailors is set, and I have tried but my hands are too damaged to grip properly, now. But the book will do!
Anybody read the more recent Alistair Reynolds books?
I read them up to On The Steel Breeze and didn't finish that trilogy as I wasn't finding them that engaging.
I see there's another Prefect book and the Revenger series out since then. Any good? Or is he just doing it for the money now?
The Terror, by Dan Simmons, a fictionalised account of Franklin's attempt to navigate the Northwest Passage with HMS Terror and Erebus. Enjoying it so far.Blimey, was I really reading that for more than two months? Well, it is nearly 1000 pages... Just finished it and I'm feeling slightly bereft now. One of the best things I've ever read.
I think shit's gonna get weird. :thumbsup:
If you’ve not already read them, Jon Courtenay Grimwoods excellent “Assassini” trilogy is on offer at Amazon. First volume is 99pI gave up after 20% or so on my Kindle and am glad that I only wasted a pound. It's impossibly hard to keep track of who's doing what because the author's writing style and command of grammar is so poor.
https://twitter.com/joncg/status/1179010251665883144?s=21 (https://twitter.com/joncg/status/1179010251665883144?s=21)
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.
Winner of the 2008 Booker. Meh. I get it, but it hasn't really grabbed me.
ITYM The Years of Rice and Salt.
One of our favourites too. See you in the Bardo.
I am reading Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. I was champing at the bit to read The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, but was really disappointed. It wasn't quite what I expected; neither was what she talked about at The Testaments lecture tour come to that - albeit what she did talk about was interesting. So, I hope that Cat's Eye isn't a disappointment.
Lots of Ray Bradbury. Enjoying his short stories (even Dandelion Wine is essentially a series of shorts) but would like a "proper" novel.
Lots of Ray Bradbury. Enjoying his short stories (even Dandelion Wine is essentially a series of shorts) but would like a "proper" novel.
If you like SF Ruithie try Hiero's Journey Sterling E Lanier. There are some terrific mental battles in it, some of which are rather spooky.Lots of Ray Bradbury. Enjoying his short stories (even Dandelion Wine is essentially a series of shorts) but would like a "proper" novel.
Oh, I did this last year! Have you tried The Martian Chronicles?
I just finished ‘Birdsong ‘ by Sebastian Faulkes. Just reading it was traumatic. What a tremendous book it is. 26 years old, wow. I thought it was a new book!
Doctor Sleep. I find Mr King's books a bit hit and miss these days and I think I skipped the last couple, but this one is a bit old-school King, as befits the sequel to The Shining, and is all the better for it. It's not better for my bedtime though, as it's 'just another chapter' territory. Will see if holds out to a satisfactory conclusion.
"Agency", the sequel to William Gibson's scary "The Peripheral" is released shortly. Here's a lengthy but rather good profile from The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real#
Cold As The Grave ~ James Oswald. Maclean volume 9, which I had somehow missed. Latest Alfa so far undamaged by Demonic Forces. New on due in February 2020 according to the Mega-Global Big River Corporation of Seattle, USAnia.According to Nozama there's another one out on the 20th Feb.
On chapter 15 (there are about 60 though).Lots of Ray Bradbury. Enjoying his short stories (even Dandelion Wine is essentially a series of shorts) but would like a "proper" novel.
Something Wicked This Way Comes?
All copies missing from Birmingham Library.
Oh, I did this last year! Have you tried The Martian Chronicles?
"Westwind" was a bit meh and has not aged well.
Mr. S. King's Doctor Sleep. Guaranteed not to keep you awake.
A Guide For Adults With Hip Dysplasia
As depressing as it sounds. It's clear and genuinely informative, but every useful fact is served with a garnish of the cringeworthy prayers-and-cheerleading stuff you'd expect from a USAnian-dominated womeny online space[1] devoted to something medical. I just got to the bit where they unironically suggest "listening to Vivaldi" as a relaxation technique. :facepalm:
Poundland's cheap Lynx copy
Rehearsals afoot for the Christmas Play
It’s called “Roll The Square Arthur” and mind what you say
It’s a cricketing farce with a thickening plot
Act One, Scene One – Brenda Blethyn gets shot
The Shetland books are so much better than either of the tv series. (ITV or BBC. ITV was shite)
But YMMV if you watched the tv series first.
Poundland's cheap Lynx copy
Isn't language brilliant? How a simple combination of familiar words can bring forth hitherto unknown levels of olfactory fear...
The Shetland books are so much better than either of the tv series. (ITV or BBC. ITV was shite)
But YMMV if you watched the tv series first.
I didn’t realise there was an ITV “Shetland”. I did wonder about reading the the books after having liked Douglas Henshall's Perez. But books are often very different to the tv output anyway so I’ll give them a try.
I've listened to all the Shetland books and they're a little bit same-y by the end.
I've listened to all the Shetland books and they're a little bit same-y by the end. Can't be that bad, though, as I listened to them all. I'm never going to Shetland now, there's at least 2 murders a book. The place is deadly!
I've listened to all the Shetland books and they're a little bit same-y by the end. Can't be that bad, though, as I listened to them all. I'm never going to Shetland now, there's at least 2 murders a book. The place is deadly!
You may go there safely as much of it is filmed, whsiper it, in mainland Scotlandshire. The nearest to a killin' Miss von Brandenburg and I came was when a Sea Labrador called Charlie started demanding Fish With Menaces.
Poundland's cheap Lynx copy
Isn't language brilliant? How a simple combination of familiar words can bring forth hitherto unknown levels of olfactory fear...
I'm always impressed that perfumologists have managed to synthesise the pure essence of teenage male disappointment and put it in a can.
Scrublands, by Chris Hammer
Nicely written thriller set in drought hit Australian outback with bush fires...
Close to the end of the book now and its very good.
The latest Le Carre, (https://wordery.com/jackets/33aa29a7/m/agent-running-in-the-field-john-le-carre-9780241401231.jpg)
Quite polemical in parts. Oh, all right, Very polemical in parts..
I like the Smiley novels, but they are a period piece. I'm not sure Le Carre translates to current affairs, sadly.
I like the Smiley novels, but they are a period piece. I'm not sure Le Carre translates to current affairs, sadly.
Agreed, I didn’t persevere with the one before this either, A Legacy of Spies. Again, I felt the language dated.
The Guns of Avalon - Roger Zelazny. I quite liked "Lord of Light" so have been a bit disappointed by his other stuff, this was a pretty straightforward Conan/Elric style fantasy book, but without the Conan (boo!). C
Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. Very pleasant read.
(Need to get through it quickly to get on to Clive James, Unreliable Memoirs which I bought after hearing some of his reading of it on R4 recently.)
Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. Very pleasant read.Bought the Sandi Toksvig for my mum for Christmas, had a brief read in the bookshop, looks very good
(Need to get through it quickly to get on to Clive James, Unreliable Memoirs which I bought after hearing some of his reading of it on R4 recently.)
"Agency", the sequel to William Gibson's scary "The Peripheral" is released shortly. Here's a lengthy but rather good profile from The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real# (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real#)
A Rose for Ecclesiastes is much more typical Zelazny output.I shall give that a spin once I clear my current pile from the library. Currently reading
Most of Moorcocks's output ranks as mildly amusing. Mother London, though, is something else.
I thought The Bridge was brilliant, but then I've enjoyed every Banks I've read except The Quarry, which he wrote in the knowledge that he was dying of cancer. If you fancy a good space opera, try Consider Phlebas. I must admit, though, that I have a tendency to think of it as Consider Flab-Ass, which is most unfair.
Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. Very pleasant read.
I sincerely hope not to put Blethyn's voice to the character in the book.Try this (https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Crow-Trap-Audiobook/B07FQYYLVZ) :)
Interesting, neither my wife or myself got more than 20 pages in. Had it been an audio book read by herself, I think we would both of enjoyed it.I sense a pattern (https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Between-the-Stops-Audiobook/1405534796) ;D
I can't focus/ concentrate for long enough. I've tried easing in with short stories, children's books, it just hasn't worked.I think that short stories are harder on the system - comparing for example Bradbury's short stories with "Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell", the second is much easier to read, I found I was easily thinking "just 100 pages tonight" where the short stories were closer to 10 (one story). Maybe some Neil Gaiman? Ocean at the end of the lane, or Coraline?
I've re-read Surface Detail a several times, particularly the wee sting in the tail - but then, stings in the tail is standard Banks practice. Excession is a favourite too, although you need to be steeped in Culture culture before reading it. His sanguinary spaceships are great fun.
This Thing Of Darkness by Harry Thompson. Excellent so far :thumbsup:
The real story & Forbidden Knowledge by Donaldson. Of the last five books I have read it is joint best and benefits from being more easily read than the others.Okay, 400 pages or so later I have to re-assess. The Novella "The Real Story" was good, disturbing but good in an "X-rated version of Tiger Tiger by Bester" fashion. "Forbidden Knowledge" was a bit repetitive and at that point in the story I started to wonder where portrayal of misogyny ends and misogyny proper starts. Another 1500 pages (estimated) to cover for the next three books in the series. Not sure I am convinced.
"Agency" by William Gibson. Very short chapters, which seems to suit my currently lurgified attention span. Far too prophetic for bloody comfort.
https://twitter.com/KateSherrod/status/1227692954615050240?s=20
Currently reading, amongst other things, Moby Dick. Can't say I'm enthralled so far.
Drought has settled on the town of Peaches, California. The area of the Central Valley where fourteen-year-old Lacey May and her alcoholic mother live was once an agricultural paradise. Now it’s an environmental disaster, a place of cracked earth and barren raisin farms. In their desperation, residents have turned to a cult leader named Pastor Vern for guidance. He promises, through secret “assignments,” to bring the rain everybody is praying for.
Lacey has no reason to doubt the pastor. But then her life explodes in a single unimaginable act of abandonment: her mother, exiled from the community for her sins, leaves Lacey and runs off with a man she barely knows. Abandoned and distraught, Lacey May moves in with her widowed grandma, Cherry, who is more concerned with her taxidermy mice collection than her own granddaughter. As Lacey May endures the increasingly appalling acts of men who want to write all the rules, and begins to uncover the full extent of Pastor Vern’s shocking plan to bring fertility back to the land, she decides she must go on a quest to find her mother, no matter what it takes. With her only guidance coming from the romance novels she reads and the unlikely companionship of the women who knew her mother, she must find her own way through unthinkable circumstances.
Possessed of an unstoppable plot and a brilliantly soulful voice, Godshot is a book of grit and humor and heart, a debut novel about female friendship and resilience, mother-loss and motherhood, and seeking salvation in unexpected places. It introduces a writer who gives Flannery O’Connor’s Gothic parables a Californian twist and who emerges with a miracle that is all her own.
God, that sounds awful. I died halfway through the blurb.
God, that sounds awful. I died halfway through the blurb.
Glad it's not just me.
God, that sounds awful. I died halfway through the blurb.
Glad it's not just me.
I think, to be honest, it was written by the publisher's Marketing Algorithm. They plug in the variables of the target market, hit 'generate book' and the let the machine cogitate up a suitable pile of words and accompanying cover blurb.
God, that sounds awful. I died halfway through the blurb.
Glad it's not just me.
I think, to be honest, it was written by the publisher's Marketing Algorithm. They plug in the variables of the target market, hit 'generate book' and the let the machine cogitate up a suitable pile of words and accompanying cover blurb.
So, on the whole, you wouldn't have appreciated my initial thought "A review that Ian might have wrote had he lost his sense of humour"?
I still think that there might be people who would have read that and thought "I'll enjoy reading that". If it comes up as Kindle Unlimited I may well be tempted to see if it is as godawful as the blurb makes it sound. At the moment it is pre-release for £21 hardcover on April 7.
I'm rather surprised this thread hasn't been overflowing with entries of late.
Or even two, with a bit of luck.I'm rather surprised this thread hasn't been overflowing with entries of late.
Maybe we're all embarrassed to admit what we are reading to keep us sane (although I've just finished The Prime Ministers by Steve Richards, which I heartily recommend. It dissects the leadership qualities of all the PMs from Wilson to May and, to my mind, is scrupulously fair to them all. I'm hoping that by the time it comes out in paperback he will have added one more chapter.)
A book about how to read water by the guy who did a book about natural signs. Can't remember his nameTristan Gooley?
What with Mr Stephenson having written a couple more sturdy boks since the last time I looked I am now a third of the way through Fall: or Dodge In Hell, wot is a sort of sequel to Reamde, unites the universes of that book with that of Cryptonomicon and has some pertinent observations on the malignant power of social media, which I think the author would like to uninvent. Also it's got Enoch Root in it.
What with Mr Stephenson having written a couple more sturdy boks since the last time I looked I am now a third of the way through Fall: or Dodge In Hell, wot is a sort of sequel to Reamde, unites the universes of that book with that of Cryptonomicon and has some pertinent observations on the malignant power of social media, which I think the author would like to uninvent. Also it's got Enoch Root in it.
He looks like a weird bugger!
I'd never heard of him until now, and he's got quite a back catalogue; which book do you recommend for starters?
What with Mr Stephenson having written a couple more sturdy boks since the last time I looked I am now a third of the way through Fall: or Dodge In Hell, wot is a sort of sequel to Reamde, unites the universes of that book with that of Cryptonomicon and has some pertinent observations on the malignant power of social media, which I think the author would like to uninvent. Also it's got Enoch Root in it.
He looks like a weird bugger!
I'd never heard of him until now, and he's got quite a back catalogue; which book do you recommend for starters?
I started off with Snow Crash and worked forward. Liked them all except Seveneves, which is entertaining enough but left me with a sprained credulity. Anathem was so good I re-read it immediately on finishing it.
Starting at the beginning of A Song Of Ice And Fire again.
What with Mr Stephenson having written a couple more sturdy boks since the last time I looked I am now a third of the way through Fall: or Dodge In Hell, wot is a sort of sequel to Reamde, unites the universes of that book with that of Cryptonomicon and has some pertinent observations on the malignant power of social media, which I think the author would like to uninvent. Also it's got Enoch Root in it.
He looks like a weird bugger!
I'd never heard of him until now, and he's got quite a back catalogue; which book do you recommend for starters?
I started off with Snow Crash and worked forward. Liked them all except Seveneves, which is entertaining enough but left me with a sprained credulity. Anathem was so good I re-read it immediately on finishing it.
The first one I read was Cryptonomicon which, in spite of being firmly rooted in 90s technology hasn't dated at all badly, which is always a danger when tech is involved. Seveneves was better second time around but still not that wonderful while The Diamond Age, er, wasn't. +1 for Snow Crash as an introduction and don't start The Baroque Cycle unless you're sure you'll have Copious Free Time.
Currently reading, amongst other things, Moby Dick. Can't say I'm enthralled so far.Bloody finally. More like Moby What A Dick! Took ages because I could only bear a few pages at a time.
Maigret is a totally different experience in the French speaking world that in English. If you grew up with the English series I would recommend the Bruno Cremer series as being a billionty times better and a truer representation of the books.
Nice tip, I haven't read in French in so long, I might give it a try.
Have you started the Capp'en Fitzroy yet, T42? Because I'm childcaring/homeschooling/working, I fall asleep after a few lines each evening, so I'm still going after (checks thread back in time) four months(!). It's bloody excellent, though. (This Thing Of Darkness - Harry Thompson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Thompson))
Le Guin - Left Hand of Darkness. Too early to comment atm.Possibly my favourite book EVAH
Only 1/3 of the way through. It's not grabbed me like "The Dispossessed" did, but then I picked that one up on spec with no idea what it would be about (having read the Earthsea trilogy over 20 years earlier and only knowing Le Guin as another author of Tolkein style Fantasy) and was so impressed I bought my sister a copy.Le Guin - Left Hand of Darkness. Too early to comment atm.Possibly my favourite book EVAH
I've been slow recently but I finished the first Expanse book last night.
I will be getting the next one
Stewart's Earth Abides. A virus has killed off mankind see ...
(To be fair I'm not sure that I will hack "Stand on Zanzibar")It's one of my favourites!
(To be fair I'm not sure that I will hack "Stand on Zanzibar")It's one of my favourites!
T42 - Starship Troopers is on my list. I thought the film was enjoyable because Dougie Howser.
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest. Hard work. Struggled on for a while before deciding life's too short.
I had another moon rebellion based book, but can't blooming find it, was looking forward to another read of that after Millenium
Annoying thing is I can vaguely remember the plot, but not title or author, though I'd recognise it on the bookshelf. Maybe its one of those I took somewhere and deliberately left it to be passed around
Yup, with a sentient computer called Mike who slings rocks at Earth.
I found starship trooper ver 'boys own' but as I wasn’t much beyond boyhood when I read it I quite enjoyed it. I seem to remember there were 6 books in that series.
I enjoyed Three Body Problem but haven’t read any of the sequels.
Yup, with a sentient computer called Mike who slings rocks at Earth.
That's the one,
Cigar for Mr 42, or a good drop of whatever you fancy
... I have no idea now how long a yard is and I doubt anyone will in several centuries.Oh, I'm sure they will as long as authors are still churning out historical fiction. The longbow hasn't been cutting edge military technology in Europe for 6 or 7 centuries but people still know about them thanks to scribblers like Wm. Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, G. A. Henty* and others regaling us with tales of Agincourt & times mediaeval. I *bet* W.S. turned out at least one Robin Hood pot-boiler for the Saturday matinees.
I have a feeling I can accurately deduce the author's political views.Hmmm. You might be able to have a stab at the author's generation, but not necessarily his or her political standpoint, unless you have other evidence that you are withholding.
Oh, I'm sure they will as long as authors are still churning out historical fiction. The longbow hasn't been cutting edge military technology in Europe for 6 or 7 centuries but people still know about them thanks to scribblers like Wm. Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, G. A. Henty* and others regaling us with tales of Agincourt & times mediaeval. I *bet* W.S. turned out at least one Robin Hood pot-boiler for the Saturday matinees.
Now on Ben Aaronovitch's “False Value” which I should have read four months ago. The cover glows in the dark.
Stalingrad - Vasily Grossman
A 20th century War and Peace and almost as long. It's the prequel to Life and Fate his most famous novel. He always intended it to be a two book series and wrote Stalingrad first but it was mangled by the Soviet censors and a good English translation of the unbowdlerized text wasn't available until recently. Mrs Pcolbeck bought it for my birthday and I am enjoying it very much.
Now on Ben Aaronovitch's “False Value” which I should have read four months ago. The cover glows in the dark.
I wouldn't bother. Mr Aa seems to have fallen down the cookie cutter trap and is milking it.
Each successive book seems to dumb things down a bit more. Not sure I will read any more of his books.
I confess, I struggled with Ben Aaronovitch's books – I should like them, and I don't necessarily not like them, but I'm always left feeling a bit meh and I quickly forget them. And really, how many books is it going to take before he gets any good at the magic lark? He's still going to be an apprentice in his 80s.I've just binge-listened them all over the last week(ish) in preparation for the latest which I realised arrived without me noticing in my Audible Library. In my mind as BAa is a Dr Who Writer, so his works will be ephemeral. Do they need to be memorable?
I confess, I struggled with Ben Aaronovitch's books – I should like them, and I don't necessarily not like them, but I'm always left feeling a bit meh and I quickly forget them. And really, how many books is it going to take before he gets any good at the magic lark? He's still going to be an apprentice in his 80s.I've just binge-listened them all over the last week(ish) in preparation for the latest which I realised arrived without me noticing in my Audible Library. In my mind as BAa is a Dr Who Writer, so his works will be ephemeral. Do they need to be memorable?
Now on Ben Aaronovitch's “False Value” which I should have read four months ago. The cover glows in the dark.
Nah. I quite like Aa but I can't stand DrW.
Nah. I quite like Aa but I can't stand DrW.
There are two of us then. It was OK when I was a kid, but now, it's twee rubbish.
Nah. I quite like Aa but I can't stand DrW.
There are two of us then. It was OK when I was a kid, but now, it's twee rubbish.
I'm old; I saw the first Dr Who, and considered it to be puerile rubbish.
Therefore, we are now three. Anyone else?
As for Ben Aaronovitch, I mostly enjoyed reading the Peter Grant novels, but the last one seemed somewhat flat; as if Writing it was a contractual obligation
The Three Body Problem Cixin Lui.
Belatedly starting Charlie Stross' Laundry Files series. Indications good thus far.
The Three Body Problem Cixin Lui.
I'm pretty sure that this book bored me so much that bits of my brain fell off.
Belatedly starting Charlie Stross' Laundry Files series. Indications good thus far.
Belatedly starting Charlie Stross' Laundry Files series. Indications good thus far.
Speaking of Mr Stross......
https://twitter.com/cstross/status/1302243803965919232?s=20
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman of whose House of Games and weekly lockdown quiz I am a fan.Mr Big River is trying to entice me to buy that for Kindle, probably because I bought some Anthony Horowitz a while back...
This book is also good, not least because of the short chapters.
I must admit later on in that book he was referring to a character and I didn't know who it was.
He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.
Belatedly starting Charlie Stross' Laundry Files series. Indications good thus far.
Speaking of Mr Stross......
https://twitter.com/cstross/status/1302243803965919232?s=20
:thumbsup:
I'm sure one of the characters introduced early turned from female to male in the space of two pages, which must count as a really quick sex change. JK Rowling would be furious. Or quite possibly I missed something. He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.
I'm sure one of the characters introduced early turned from female to male in the space of two pages, which must count as a really quick sex change. JK Rowling would be furious. Or quite possibly I missed something. He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.
If you missed something, I missed the same thing... I wondered if that character might be trans However, I couldn't be arsed to pursue the matter.
I think that the Peter Grant series has now reached a logical end; the last one seems like a potboiler.
I'm sure one of the characters introduced early turned from female to male in the space of two pages, which must count as a really quick sex change. JK Rowling would be furious. Or quite possibly I missed something. He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.
If you missed something, I missed the same thing... I wondered if that character might be trans However, I couldn't be arsed to pursue the matter.
I think that the Peter Grant series has now reached a logical end; the last one seems like a potboiler.
Glad it wasn't just me. It just seems cluttered with unnecessary detail which, to be honest, obscures the plot. Last night's chapter included everyone getting a 'New York Chinese' and, erm, eating it.
He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.I think it's supposed to feel police-speak-ish, IC1 female and all that.
He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.I think it's supposed to feel police-speak-ish, IC1 female and all that.
The female/male character is Victor, yeah? On audio all that just slides on past with me relying on Kobna to give them differentiating voices.
Sasha Swire's Diary of an MP's Wife.
Covers the Cameron years and very interesting insights into Cameroon politics and Old Ma May which is as far as I've got.
Well written and edited.
I confess I'm generally against the intros that begin with a long introduction as to what the character's hair colour, eye, skin colour is, and what they're wearing if it's of no real relevance to the story being told. This information can be imparted, as necessary, in the narrative. It's a lot less clunky to mention that 'she raised her glasses to get a better look' then tell me, the first introduction, a full description including her eye prescription. Unless, of course, this is a clever way of expressing Peter's police procedural outlook where he compiles a description of everyone he meets. But it's still a bit annoying for the casual reader.
The Italian campaign really was a nasty deadly slug fest for both the military...Have a dekko at Milligan's, "Mussolini - His Part in my Downfall" it makes for quite sombre reading towards the end.
Sasha Swire's Diary of an MP's Wife.
Covers the Cameron years and very interesting insights into Cameroon politics and Old Ma May which is as far as I've got.
Well written and edited.
Professor Larrington has just endorsed this; her husband is reading it and cackling like a loon.
Oh do, please, FOAD. That is NOT Sam Vimes.The pictures on the wireless are much better. :)
Anyhoo, I downloaded Never Let Me Go yesterday because it was on 99p offer for Kindle. A timely coincidence, given that I was discussing it with a colleague the other day. Been meaning to read it for aaaages, so this is a good excuse.
I always assumed the character description thing was Police-speak too. I must confess I enjoy the Rivers of London books - the first few built up enough goodwill for the settings and characters that I'm happy to park my brain in neutral and cruise through them without engaging my nit-picking circuits. I agree that - as with many authors - Aaronovitch was at a bit of a loss what to do once the big baddie was defeated; if you want a continuous arc (as opposed to case of the week type stuff) it's hard to keep raising the stakes over and over (which seems to be a particular problem for urban fantasy; I'm looking at you, Jim Butcher...) I did think the German-set one was enjoyable, so maybe it's just that Aaronovitch has got a bit bored or stuck with his original protagonist?
Love this.
(Not that you got it for 99p, the book.)
Love this.
(Not that you got it for 99p, the book.)
:thumbsup:
Really looking forward to it, just need to stay focused long enough to do some actual reading, which I've not been able to achieve very often lately.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-North-Times-Oswald-Northumbria-ebook/dp/B00CGOD5K0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2T31M7XVGJNIQ&dchild=1&keywords=the+king+in+the+north+the+life+and+times+of+oswald+of+northumbria&qid=1603010684&sprefix=the+king+in+the+north%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1
A sort of biography of both King Oswald of Northumbria, nephew IIRC of Edwin the Great, and of the Kingdom(s). All too often, Northumbria's place in history is written something like "WESSEX WESSEX WESSEX ALFRED ALFRED and there were some other kingdoms", or, more tellingly, in re the Norman genocide inflicted on that area, "Stamford Bridge, HASTINGS HAROLD HASTINGS HAROLD LONDON, minor event up North, DOMESDAY BOOK"
Life takes on a neat simplicity too. Time ceases to have any meaning. When it's dark you go to bed, and when it's light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It's quite wonderful really.
You have no engagements, commitments, obligations or duties, no special ambitions and only the smallest, least complicated of wants; you exist in a tranquil tedium, serenely beyond the reach of exasperation, "far removed from the seats of strife", as the early explorer and botanist William Bartram put it. All that is required of you is the willingness to trudge.
He has a habit of introducing all the characters by skin colour and ethnic background which I find a tad grating.I think it's supposed to feel police-speak-ish, IC1 female and all that.
The female/male character is Victor, yeah? On audio all that just slides on past with me relying on Kobna to give them differentiating voices.
Have also just polished off The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, another I started re-reading earlier this year but didn't get very far with.There aren't many novels I've put down partway through and not picked up again, but this was one of them...
Have also just polished off The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, another I started re-reading earlier this year but didn't get very far with.There aren't many novels I've put down partway through and not picked up again, but this was one of them...
Have also just polished off The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, another I started re-reading earlier this year but didn't get very far with.There aren't many novels I've put down partway through and not picked up again, but this was one of them...
It doesn’t get any better!
Which is to say, if you didn’t like the first half, you probably wouldn’t like the second half either.
I was more sensitive to the book’s flaws second time around but I still loved it.
I've now started re-reading The Bone Clocks. As with the first time round, the setting of the opening section, on the North Kent marshes, has had me hooked instantly. But it also helps that pace-wise, it's a book that hits the ground running.
Reading the first Harry Potter to#1 son at bedtime. Not sure it's supposed to be funny in the way we find it funny.Try the Lemony Snicket books, they’re so much better - my son enjoyed them a lot more than the Harry Potter books when he was a small person.(click to show/hide)
"On the Black Hill"by Bruce Chatwin. I have also bought his book "In Patagonia", both highly recommended by my pal Penelope.
I thoroughly enjoyed "On the Black Hill", a tale of identical twin brothers born and spending their entire lives on a farm in rural Radnorshire, an area I am reasonably familiar with. Not Much Happens in the 100 or so years described by the book, but it is described ery sympathetiaclly by the author.
My next effort will be "Galina", the autobiography of Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano and wife of cellist Mstislav Rostrapovich. It's out of print but I managed to pick up a bargain second-hand copy online.
Reading the first Harry Potter to#1 son at bedtime. Not sure it's supposed to be funny in the way we find it funny.(click to show/hide)
To be followed by Rob Halford's: Confess.
George Lucas, Dan Brown and Rowling are all utterly shite"The lost boys" of "Breakfast Club" is cult, Dan Brown is ubiquitous and indeed rather shite. I read the into to one of his books where he was trying to separate the fact from fiction, a lot of his "scientific facts" were wrong. "Arse Gravy" is how Stephen Fry referred to it.
George Lucas, Dan Brown and Rowling are all utterly shite"The lost boys" of "Breakfast Club" is cult, Dan Brown is ubiquitous and indeed rather shite. I read the into to one of his books where he was trying to separate the fact from fiction, a lot of his "scientific facts" were wrong. "Arse Gravy" is how Stephen Fry referred to it.
Mention of Dan Brown has made me want to dig out the legendary thread, but I can't find it. Chiz.
Mention of Dan Brown has made me want to dig out the legendary thread, but I can't find it. Chiz.
This one? https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=72990.0
Speaking of which, just started reading Lolita... a book that so many people seem to really enjoy.
Dan Brown set out to write successful novels, and he created a formula.
Too true. It’s a really good story, engagingly told by a narrator who is anything but reliable. A few laughs and quite a few winces.Speaking of which, just started reading Lolita... a book that so many people seem to really enjoy.
I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the right word. I found it unsettling. But captivating.
Speaking of which, just started reading Lolita... a book that so many people seem to really enjoy.
I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the right word. I found it unsettling. But captivating.QuoteDan Brown set out to write successful novels, and he created a formula.
I can't remember whether it was Dan Brown or John Grisham who said in an interview I once read that they took to writing novels as a business venture, in order to become rich. Might have been both. I don't hold it against them. You can't really argue with that kind of success.
If you skip the foreword to Lolita it presents the main protagonist in a completely different light, and helps to explain why some people see Lolita as a romance...
Mention of Dan Brown has made me want to dig out the legendary thread, but I can't find it. Chiz.
This one? https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=72990.0
You're not fooled by the author, you're fooled by yourself as the reader.
I don't know what drugs I was on when I penned my panegyric for cupcakes, but they were evidently the good ones.
Kathy's reply is well worthy of POTD. Spit-take? I felt moved to brew a cup of tea, buy a laptop, just to express my mirth.Mention of Dan Brown has made me want to dig out the legendary thread, but I can't find it. Chiz.
This one? https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=72990.0
So, I finished Bone Clocks. Yes, I’m a slow reader but it is 600 pages.
I have a terrible memory for books, which is great because it means re-reading is almost like reading for the first time, except for the odd minor details I do remember. The thing that struck me when I got to The Fun Bit in Bone Clocks is how very Dan Brown-esque all the stuff about the Blind Cathar is.
Just much better written.
Cracking straight on with Slade House now, which is a kind of epilogue to Bone Clocks. It’s also a brilliant and properly scary horror story. And lots and lots of fun.
I'd always assumed it was a bit of a knowing nod to the oeuvre of Mr Brown
So, I finished Bone Clocks. Yes, I’m a slow reader but it is 600 pages.
I have a terrible memory for books, which is great because it means re-reading is almost like reading for the first time, except for the odd minor details I do remember. The thing that struck me when I got to The Fun Bit in Bone Clocks is how very Dan Brown-esque all the stuff about the Blind Cathar is.
Just much better written.
Cracking straight on with Slade House now, which is a kind of epilogue to Bone Clocks. It’s also a brilliant and properly scary horror story. And lots and lots of fun.
I'd always assumed it was a bit of a knowing nod to the oeuvre of Mr Brown (which he just nicked from a million and one books traipsing through the various conspiracies, Dan Brown is not even an imaginative hack). Definitely makes a good job of it, I'd pay good money for David Mitchell (either of them, for that matter) to re-write The Da Vinci Code.
Dan Brown managed to kill for me the intrigue and very real mystery of Saunier, Rennes Le Chateau, In Arcadia Ego etc. although this topic has become a bit of an industry nowadays.
When I was a kid, I thought Timbuctoo was one of those made-up names to designate a generic exotic and distant location. Didn't discover it was a real place before I reached adulthood.Always been dreaming of either cycling or walking from Timbuktu to Kathmandu, just because why not.
Have you read In Xanadu (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xanadu-Quest-Flamingo-William-Dalrymple/dp/0006544150) ? Highly recommended for you based on your last remark.When I was a kid, I thought Timbuctoo was one of those made-up names to designate a generic exotic and distant location. Didn't discover it was a real place before I reached adulthood.Always been dreaming of either cycling or walking from Timbuktu to Kathmandu, just because why not.
When I was a kid, I thought Timbuctoo was one of those made-up names to designate a generic exotic and distant location. Didn't discover it was a real place before I reached adulthood.Always been dreaming of either cycling or walking from Timbuktu to Kathmandu, just because why not.
[…] from Timbuktu to Kathmandu […]
It was called The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu, btwI watched and Al Jazeera (I think) docu about them. Really interesting
Dead Lies Dreaming, the latest from Charlie Stross. If it wasn’t intended as a metaphor for Brexit, it certainly reads like one to this Unit.
Thanks for this, citoyen. I got my eldest (7.5 and a voracious reader) the first two books for Christmas. He knocked out The Bad Beginning before breakfast this morning and it looks like we’re going to be getting the full set...Reading the first Harry Potter to#1 son at bedtime. Not sure it's supposed to be funny in the way we find it funny.Try the Lemony Snicket books, they’re so much better - my son enjoyed them a lot more than the Harry Potter books when he was a small person.(click to show/hide)
The plots are equally ridiculous - but not in a bad way like HP.
Thanks for this, citoyen. I got my eldest (7.5 and a voracious reader) the first two books for Christmas. He knocked out The Bad Beginning before breakfast this morning and it looks like we’re going to be getting the full set...I would like to recommend the Cressida Cowell "How to Train Your Dragon" books. They start off very easy reading but get more complicated and nuanced as you read through (just like the hype about the Potter) but are actually funny and different.
Try the Lemony Snicket books, they’re so much better - my son enjoyed them a lot more than the Harry Potter books when he was a small person.Thanks for this, citoyen. I got my eldest (7.5 and a voracious reader) the first two books for Christmas. He knocked out The Bad Beginning before breakfast this morning and it looks like we’re going to be getting the full set...
The plots are equally ridiculous - but not in a bad way like HP.
I heard The Bad Beginning via the local library app and it had some good folly effects that made the story rather good/funTry the Lemony Snicket books, they’re so much better - my son enjoyed them a lot more than the Harry Potter books when he was a small person.Thanks for this, citoyen. I got my eldest (7.5 and a voracious reader) the first two books for Christmas. He knocked out The Bad Beginning before breakfast this morning and it looks like we’re going to be getting the full set...
The plots are equally ridiculous - but not in a bad way like HP.
Yay! :thumbsup:
Dead Lies Dreaming, the latest from Charlie Stross. If it wasn’t intended as a metaphor for Brexit, it certainly reads like one to this Unit.
Although promoted by the publisher as a Laundry File, it isn’t one, or at least no-one from the Laundry has appeared so far.
I am currently reading a number of very ancient back issues of "Laidback Cyclist", with one in four issues featuring the works of a certain Mr Larrington.
Book-wise, still working through the Potter with my son. It's still nonsense enough that my 10-year-old comments about how ridiculous it is - I heard a rumour that it grows up a bit later in the serious so holding out for that.
Dead Lies Dreaming, the latest from Charlie Stross. If it wasn’t intended as a metaphor for Brexit, it certainly reads like one to this Unit.
Although promoted by the publisher as a Laundry File, it isn’t one, or at least no-one from the Laundry has appeared so far.
Finished it a while ago. Not quite sure of its 'fit' into the series; I suspect it is a placeholder/means of introducing some characters he wants to use later. One of the aspects some people miss about the Files is that he consciously wrote the initial ones in different styles, so one was an Ian Fleming book, another Len Deighton, another Peter O'Donnell.(click to show/hide)
I'll put this here.
How many legs does the monster have the War of the Worlds ? When you have come up with the answer click on the link below to see the coin celebrating H.G.
https://twitter.com/HolBolDoTweet/status/1346119804474810370?s=20
I'll put this here.
How many legs does the monster have the War of the Worlds ? When you have come up with the answer click on the link below to see the coin celebrating H.G.
https://twitter.com/HolBolDoTweet/status/1346119804474810370?s=20
This is at least the third time this has been posted in yacf today!
I did check, though - I haven't read the book, so I wasn't entirely sure if they were actually referred to by a name that specified the number of limbs, had a feeling it might just have been 'war machines' or something. But my brief research suggests Wells did indeed use that term.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiguroDidn't make me cry. Love wasn't really present, for me.
Stunning. This is a book that will stay with me for a while - so much food for thought. Although the ending is heartbreaking, it didn’t make me sob uncontrollably in the way The Remains Of The Day did.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Stunning. This is a book that will stay with me for a while - so much food for thought. Although the ending is heartbreaking, it didn’t make me sob uncontrollably in the way The Remains Of The Day did.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiguroDidn't make me cry. Love wasn't really present, for me.
Stunning. This is a book that will stay with me for a while - so much food for thought. Although the ending is heartbreaking, it didn’t make me sob uncontrollably in the way The Remains Of The Day did.
Gut wrenching story.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Stunning. This is a book that will stay with me for a while - so much food for thought. Although the ending is heartbreaking, it didn’t make me sob uncontrollably in the way The Remains Of The Day did.
In my pile, along with Troubles, which I meant to read a long time ago, but forgot about until you mentioned it a couple of pages back,
Didn't make me cry.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. Story of a brutal triple murder in a remote crofting community in the Scottish Highlands in 1869. Incredibly dark and gruesome but utterly compelling. And very clever. The bare facts of the case are set out right at the start - the cleverness is in how the details are gradually revealed as it goes on. Quite brilliant.
(tenuous cycling content: the plot includes an ascent of Bealach na Ba, albeit by Highland pony rather than by bike)
The basic premise is that as soon as the long list comes out you download/buy/borrow all 13 books. You then have until the prize announcement to read all 13. The time between longlist publication and final is 13 weeks. 1 book per week is doable if they are His Bloody Project or the like. All goes to Hell in a handbasket if Hilary Mantell or the like have a book in the list!
As a spoiler, it's not brief.
The basic premise is that as soon as the long list comes out you download/buy/borrow all 13 books. You then have until the prize announcement to read all 13. The time between longlist publication and final is 13 weeks. 1 book per week is doable if they are His Bloody Project or the like. All goes to Hell in a handbasket if Hilary Mantell or the like have a book in the list!
I started His Bloody Project yesterday afternoon and could happily have finished it in a single sitting if not for having other things to do. Looking forward to reading the last section, the report of the trial, tonight. If only all Booker nominees were like this, I could read an awful lot more of them. I finished Bring Up The Bodies in a matter of a few days but that's only because it was holiday reading and I had nothing better to do. I've still got A Brief History of Seven Killings on my 'to read' pile but haven't worked up the appetite for it yet.
The basic premise is that as soon as the long list comes out you download/buy/borrow all 13 books. You then have until the prize announcement to read all 13. The time between longlist publication and final is 13 weeks. 1 book per week is doable if they are His Bloody Project or the like. All goes to Hell in a handbasket if Hilary Mantell or the like have a book in the list!
I started His Bloody Project yesterday afternoon and could happily have finished it in a single sitting if not for having other things to do. Looking forward to reading the last section, the report of the trial, tonight. If only all Booker nominees were like this, I could read an awful lot more of them. I finished Bring Up The Bodies in a matter of a few days but that's only because it was holiday reading and I had nothing better to do. I've still got A Brief History of Seven Killings on my 'to read' pile but haven't worked up the appetite for it yet.
The only one I have started and never finished was "A Brief History..." There was just something about it that I didn't get on with. "A Little Life", by Hanya Yanagihara was a completely different matter, though and I finished in a couple of days sat around a Moroccan swimming pool.
Shame that no one, to the best of my knowledge, added the option of a Jamaican patois to Hawking's speech synthesizer.
On Audio His Bloody Project is read by Cameron Mowat (https://brennanartists.com/clients/cameron-mowat/) and Crawford Logan (https://brennanartists.com/clients/crawford-logan/).
It is utterly brilliant.
Stephen King 11.22.63 Well written so far.........early days.
The Coffinmaker's Garden ~ Stuart MacBride. On the down side, all the killin's are historical thus far, but there have been, at a conservative estimate, about twenty-five of them. And none of the victims was a parakeet either. Even though it's set in the fictional town of Oldcastle, the weather is just like it is 99% of the time in Logan McRae's version of Furryboottoon.
Your recalling is good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11.22.63Stephen King 11.22.63 Well written so far.........early days.
Wasn't that turned into a filum or tv series?
Seem to recall watching something like it.
I read it a few years ago. It did nothing for me - makes me think of Dom Jolly explaining that he didn't find Vic and Bob funny, despite recognizing all the evidence that they were hilarious.His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet.Loved this book when I read it as part of my Booker Prize challenge.
Just finished Absolution Gap which is the third of the Revelation Space trilogy.
I rather enjoyed the first, wasn't quite as keen on number two.
This one, well I started it in December. December 2018.
I've started The Earthsea cycle by Ursula K Le Guin. It's a series I've heard of and seen referenced for years.
I can't say I'm enthralled. It's fine, nothing outright wrong with it, it's just not grabbing me.
I've started The Earthsea cycle by Ursula K Le Guin. ... it's just not grabbing me.
I've still got a copy of the Tombs of Atuan. Haven't read it for a few years, but I thought it had aged pretty well the last time I did.
I've often thought about re-reading them as an adult but have never got round to it.
It was called The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu, btwMany thanks for the recommendation. I really enjoyed this. Must have been a bit of a kick to the teeth of the first Europeans to arrive there to only find goods and trade from Europe there already :)
I've started The Earthsea cycle by Ursula K Le Guin. ... it's just not grabbing me.
Like Citoyen I suspect it's a series best read before a certain age, say about 16. I read them when I was about 12 or 13 and really enjoyed them. I think they'd been on Jackanory and I then found them in the local library.Quote from: citoyenI've still got a copy of the Tombs of Atuan. Haven't read it for a few years, but I thought it had aged pretty well the last time I did.
I've often thought about re-reading them as an adult but have never got round to it.
Dominion - Tom HollandSisters of Mercy fan, probably.
Not about Christianity per say as a religion though there is a lot in there about the history of Christianity, but more about the impact of Christianity on Western thinking. Excellent so far.
One hilarious one star review on Amazon complains that it focuses too much on religion - well yes its a book about how a religion affected society wtf did they expect it to contain?
After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other--even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. From Egypt's pyramids to the Hubble telescope, from the world's tallest skyscraper to the sidewalk below it, from Chartres' stained-glass windows to your iPhone, sand shelters us, empowers us, engages us, and inspires us. It's the ingredient that makes possible our cities, our science, our lives--and our future.
And, incredibly, we're running out of it.
struggling to find something to read - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54594933-kissing-the-coronavirusnew keyboard, pls!
I've started The Earthsea cycle by Ursula K Le Guin. It's a series I've heard of and seen referenced for years.You're far too old for Earthsea.
I can't say I'm enthralled. It's fine, nothing outright wrong with it, it's just not grabbing me.
I expect I'll continue and see where it goes though.
Recently I've been reading Stuart Macbride's A Song for the Dying. I've been finding it difficult to get to sleep while reading it.
Working my way through "Cold Case: A Bob Skinner Mystery" which is as far from Tartan Noir as you can get and still a) be in Scotland and b) be about polis.
Just ordered "What Will Burn" plus have "The Coffinmaker's Garden" to read. Taken a punt on "Coffin Road" by Pater May, too. A new one to me but I guess others have a view.
Can't remember if I mentioned the JD Kirk books already?
Fairly easy to read well paced Tartan Noir with lots of sweary words, though generally good natured.
I'm reading a book with a sticker (pretend because it's on my Kindle) on the cover that reads 'For fans of Dan Brown.'
I started reading The Overstory about two years ago, I think I'm still in the 40% complete doldrums. Good luck.I'm finding that I pick it up, think about how old I am, how much longer I might exist on this Earth, and all the books yet unread that I could be reading instead of this one. Then I go and get one of those.
I started reading The Overstory about two years ago, I think I'm still in the 40% complete doldrums. Good luck.I'm finding that I pick it up, think about how old I am, how much longer I might exist on this Earth, and all the books yet unread that I could be reading instead of this one. Then I go and get one of those.
Sam
Just finished Charlie Stross's two Edinburgh krimis, Halting State and Rule 34. Shame he abandoned the third in the series, they were great fun.
Just finished Charlie Stross's two Edinburgh krimis, Halting State and Rule 34. Shame he abandoned the third in the series, they were great fun.
He said real life events are making it almost impossible to write near future fiction. A real shame.
“I didna want to spread this’un around, skipper, but it’s a two-wetsuit job. I don’ like to bug you, but I need a second opinion . . .”
"Wow, that’s something out of the ordinary. A two-wetsuit job means kinky beyond the call of duty. "
I finished the Emily Chappell book "What goes around" yesterday.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable read about a subject that doesn't mean much to me by an author that I wouldn't usually consider.
Beautifully written and I've just ordered her one about the European endurance race - another aspect of cycling that I would usually pass by.
Does anyone know if she wrote one about her around the world trip? I cannot find anything.
Does anyone know if she wrote one about her around the world trip? I cannot find anything.
Working through "What Will Burn", the new DI McLean book (sorry for the spoiler there)
Just finished Dan Simmons's Hyperion, which was one of the best things I've read in ages. Guess I'll have to get the next one in the series.I have that on my Amazon wishlist. Have you read enough yet to form an opinion? It's the feminist version of the poem and had good reviews but then so did Heaney's Beowulf and I didn't enjoy that.
Just started Maria Dahvana Headley's Beowulf.
Sam
Like Ashaman42, Perdido Street Station, maybe for the 3rd time. Read it when it came out 20 years ago, and at least one other time in between. C. Miéville does rather enjoy wallowing in crud, but it's fascinating crud.
Later books of his, e.g. Kraken, came across as somewhat pathetic self-parody, though they bucked up a bit with Embassytown - touch of Kafka there.
Just finished Dan Simmons's Hyperion, which was one of the best things I've read in ages. Guess I'll have to get the next one in the series.I have that on my Amazon wishlist. Have you read enough yet to form an opinion? It's the feminist version of the poem and had good reviews but then so did Heaney's Beowulf and I didn't enjoy that.
Just started Maria Dahvana Headley's Beowulf.
Sam
Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings! In the old days,
everyone knew what men were: brave, bold, glory-bound. Only
stories now, but I'll sound the Spear-Danes' song, hoarded for
hungry times.
Their first father was a foundling: Scyld Scefing.
He spent his youth fists up, browbeating every barstool-brother,
bonfiring his enemies. That man began in the waves, a baby in
a basket,
but he bootstrapped his way into a kingdom, trading loneliness
for luxury. Whether they thought kneeling necessary or no,
everyone from head to tail of the whale-road bent down:
There's a king, there's his crown!
That was a good king.
Talking of feminist updates of classics, I'm reminded of Elizabeth Cook's Achilles - although I'm not sure it really is 'feminist', except perhaps in the same way that Point Break is 'feminist' thanks to having a woman director...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/04/fiction.poetry
I really should re-read that some time. It's great.
Talking of feminist updates of classics, I'm reminded of Elizabeth Cook's Achilles - although I'm not sure it really is 'feminist', except perhaps in the same way that Point Break is 'feminist' thanks to having a woman director...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/04/fiction.poetry
I really should re-read that some time. It's great.
Miller's Song of Achilles is one of my favourite books of all time.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11250317-the-song-of-achilles
Sam
That retains the snarl of a saga. I've just ordered it on Amazon and it will be here today. CheersQuoteBro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings! In the old days,
everyone knew what men were: brave, bold, glory-bound. Only
stories now, but I'll sound the Spear-Danes' song, hoarded for
hungry times.
Their first father was a foundling: Scyld Scefing.
He spent his youth fists up, browbeating every barstool-brother,
bonfiring his enemies. That man began in the waves, a baby in
a basket,
but he bootstrapped his way into a kingdom, trading loneliness
for luxury. Whether they thought kneeling necessary or no,
everyone from head to tail of the whale-road bent down:
There's a king, there's his crown!
That was a good king.
I am enjoying it immensely, but if you prefer your translation not to sound like an assertive street kid performing it as a kind of rap, it might not be for you.
Sam
The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England - Mark Morris
I had this on pre-order and it was worth the wait. Covers the end of the Roman Empire in Britain to 1066.
My the Anglo Saxons were an argumentative violent back stabbing bunch.
A great read.
Near the end of this one : Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55216172-empireland
Brilliant read on how ingrained the Empire is into todays Britain.
Near the end of this one : Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55216172-empireland
Brilliant read on how ingrained the Empire is into todays Britain.
Hmm, I am a bit sceptical about Utopia Avenue (not read it that), on account that I find books about rock bands conceptually dull. There's already a fair few similar reviewer complaints about the name dropping et al. though I was willing to put aside the pedantic 'Hendrix did not wear purple trousers on the 27th May 1967' type gripes.
I remember watching Tommy once, an experience I've never wanted to repeat.
#1 son (11) is reading his first Pratchett. (I was not involved in this decision)Andrew (7) thoroughly enjoyed Dragons at Crumbling Castle
I was never fan, I found it tedious and/or visual slapstick comedy delivered through the medium of writing. Perhaps I just read the wrong books.
The first was The Wake by Paul Kinsgsnorth. Set in a post apocalyptic Lincolnshire Fens in 1066-1068, and featuring our hero Buccmaster of Holland, a status-obsessed, deluded 'socman' who eventually gathers together a rag-bag guerilla force of boys, serfs and other disposessed Anglo-Saxons, determined to rid the land of the 'fuccan frenc' who have killed his wife and sons and destroyed his village. The unusual thing is that it's written in a 'ghost' language of Kingsnorth's invention, a mix of Anglo Saxon and modern English with limited punctuation, and all words of Old English origin. There's a limited glossary but I struggled for the first 20-30 pages before getting used to the language and the spelling conventions. It's supposed to be a compromise between 'authenticity' and readability, so as not to put off those without an OE degree. Judging by the Amazon reviews this was only partly successful.
The first was The Wake by Paul Kinsgsnorth. Set in a post apocalyptic Lincolnshire Fens in 1066-1068, and featuring our hero Buccmaster of Holland, a status-obsessed, deluded 'socman' who eventually gathers together a rag-bag guerilla force of boys, serfs and other disposessed Anglo-Saxons, determined to rid the land of the 'fuccan frenc' who have killed his wife and sons and destroyed his village. The unusual thing is that it's written in a 'ghost' language of Kingsnorth's invention, a mix of Anglo Saxon and modern English with limited punctuation, and all words of Old English origin. There's a limited glossary but I struggled for the first 20-30 pages before getting used to the language and the spelling conventions. It's supposed to be a compromise between 'authenticity' and readability, so as not to put off those without an OE degree. Judging by the Amazon reviews this was only partly successful.
If you haven't read it yet, you may like Iain M. Banks's Feersum Endjinn.
Sam
I was never fan, I found it tedious and/or visual slapstick comedy delivered through the medium of writing. Perhaps I just read the wrong books.
They never worked for me either, a chapter or two in and it becomes a bit much, and you realise you've several hundred pages of the same lying ahead.
The first was The Wake by Paul Kinsgsnorth....
And then Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor. A girl goes missing on holiday in a Peak District village at the turn of the year. The villagers turn out to look for her, with no success. Village life continues over the next 13 years, a chapter for each year, described in pacy minute detail. Sentences whizz by, relationships develop, migratory birds come and go, the water levels in the reservoirs rise and fall, the well dressing happens every year, the other traditional markers for the year come and go, babies are born, people die, people move in, people move away. Memories of the girl fade but never go away completely. Nothing much happens and everything happens. It was very impressive. Not sure yet whether I liked it.
She had a couple of films in the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Amazing woman.
Has anyone read Sarah Outen's 'Dare to Do'?Yes, I have. I enjoyed it.
Is it a worthwhile read for an armchair adventurer?
My eldest has just devoured the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books (recommended by citoyen, I think). Now I'm enjoying them too!
Has anyone read Sarah Outen's 'Dare to Do'?Yes, I have. I enjoyed it.
Is it a worthwhile read for an armchair adventurer?
:thumbsup: Very witty, I can see why Andrew enjoyed them!My eldest has just devoured the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books (recommended by citoyen, I think). Now I'm enjoying them too!Hurrah!
I finished the Emily Chappell book "What goes around" yesterday.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable read about a subject that doesn't mean much to me by an author that I wouldn't usually consider.
Beautifully written and I've just ordered her one about the European endurance race - another aspect of cycling that I would usually pass by.
Does anyone know if she wrote one about her around the world trip? I cannot find anything.
Le Carré may have to be put on hold after “Rabbit Hole”, a brand spanking new offering from Mark Billingham, hopped off the shelf and into my trolley just now. Not advertised as featuring Thorne but I expect he'll put in a cameo appearance. He always does, the shameless tart.
I am reading the 1st of Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice trilogy as recommended by Ravenbait ages ago.
I like to have a couple books on the go, you can vary the style yo7 feel like on the day.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16902.Walden Never heard about this fella before, but an interesting book. I might give the "canoeing in the wilderness" book a go too, as I have been thinking about renting a canoe and revisit the holidays of my youth.
John Connelly’s “The Nameless Ones”. Apropos of which, it can’t be long before the end of the Charlie Parker series.
Getting around to Utopia Street, David Bowie told me to read it.
Yeah, the near-constant full name dropping is a bit annoying, though I suspect I'm blessed by not being particularly au fait with the musical era. He also can't do yer working class.
That said, the story is pulling me along apace.
English Pastoral by James Rebanks.
I nearly bought this a couple of times but was unsure and left it. Fortunately, number two daughter has passed it on and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Unlike Mark Crocker or John Lewis-Stempel it is not a nature book about animals, although they are not ignored. So far (first third), it is about the relentless grind of small scale farming and the different reactions of his father and grandfather, and his mother and grandmother to the work, and his changing appreciation of what he is doing with his life.
Getting around to Utopia Street, David Bowie told me to read it.
Yeah, the near-constant full name dropping is a bit annoying, though I suspect I'm blessed by not being particularly au fait with the musical era. He also can't do yer working class.
That said, the story is pulling me along apace.
Ian, is it actually Utopia Avenue - by David Mitchell?
John Connelly’s “The Nameless Ones”. Apropos of which, it can’t be long before the end of the Charlie Parker series.
Oh, that will be sad as I love the books, but the splendidly extended and elegiac story arc has to end somewhere.
John Connelly’s “The Nameless Ones”. Apropos of which, it can’t be long before the end of the Charlie Parker series.
Oh, that will be sad as I love the books, but the splendidly extended and elegiac story arc has to end somewhere.
Ah, you misinterpreted my comment I think. I'd not read more than a few pages, so had (and have) no insight into the potential fate of Parker, rather it was just idle speculation borne out of the lonevity of the series. FWIW thus far this outing is focussed on his two companions. It is still rather good though.
I'm reading Dalrymple's 'From the Holy Mountain'... :thumbsup:
Ah, and here I've been reading pdfs in landscape because zooming in just means scrolling for every single line.
And even then the text is a tad smol.
I should try this conversion malarkey.
Around the world on a wheel by John Foster fraser .I've read that. Different times, eh?
1896 circumnavigation of the world using safety cycles. I just got as far as Russia but it is a interesting read :)
I've just listened (well, not 'just'; over the last week or so) to the first two (excellent) books in Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy and between me buying the first two, excellently read by Peter Firth, they've removed the third from sale and now I can only get it on Pre-Order, read by Simon Russel Beale.Pat Barker's The Ghost Road. It dropped at 08:00. I checked at 07:45 and it wasn't there.
a) the book came out in 1995. Pre-Order?
b) I bet some names are now pronounced wrong
c) I HAVE TO WAIT A WEEK
I am currently reading my way through Bernard Cornwell's Arthur books, having finished the Uthred books.I regularly re-read the Uhtred series - and the Heretic series - but I have never been able to get into his Arthur novels. I may try them again if you report back favourably. :)
Also re-reading "The art of deception" by Kevin Mitnick, a great book which will change the way you view seemingly innocent cold calls and "informatin gathering". Paranoid, moi? shurely not!
Am I the only one reading a cycling book?Read those :)
Ted Chiang's short story The Story of Your Life, which was the basis of the film Arrival. The linguistics are much more technical than in the film, which is no surprise. Dunno about the ending yet.Babel-17 - Sam Delaney
The only other linguistics-centred SF novel I can remember reading was The Embedding, about 50 years ago. Both fascinating, even though Arrival was an enjoyable 2-hour spoiler.
Native Tongue - can't remember who wrote this but the feminism was laid on rather too thickly for me to enjoy.
Ted Chiang's short story The Story of Your Life, which was the basis of the film Arrival. The linguistics are much more technical than in the film, which is no surprise. Dunno about the ending yet.Babel-17 - Sam Delaney
The only other linguistics-centred SF novel I can remember reading was The Embedding, about 50 years ago. Both fascinating, even though Arrival was an enjoyable 2-hour spoiler.
Native Tongue - can't remember who wrote this but the feminism was laid on rather too thickly for me to enjoy.
I'm sure there are others.
Babel 17 was my first Delaney and I think my favorite.
Won't argue much with that. I did think it was better than Nova or Dhalgren though.Babel 17 was my first Delaney and I think my favorite.
Didn't like it. Delaney's style has not aged well.
Won't argue much with that. I did think it was better than Nova or Dhalgren though.Babel 17 was my first Delaney and I think my favorite.
Didn't like it. Delaney's style has not aged well.
The only Delaney I've read is Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia1, which was apparently written as a response to Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed.I would find that a really hard starting point, as that book is so awesome that I went and bought a copy to give to someone else and then started reading the rest of the series (yes, Left Hand of Darkness was the second book I read).
Have now finished Professor Larrington's latest opus and have acquired much kudos for knowing about Led Zeppelin, Point Rosee and its lack of Norse colonists and Jarlin J Jarlinsson (teh Colombian Viking). Next up is probably “1979” by Val McDermid. First in a new series, it sez 'ere. Expecting killin's and most likely lesbians, since the latter have been conspicuously absent from the Karen Pirie series.
I've just started reading The Leipzig Affair by Fiona Rintoul
Thanks. Looks interesting from the blurbs I've seen.QuoteI've just started reading The Leipzig Affair by Fiona Rintoul
I liked this book. See also The Bicycle Teacher by Campbell Jefferys, about an Aussie who goes to live in the GDR (cycling content is minimal - title is the nickname he earned)
And so the murders begun........... :demon:
And so the murders begun........... :demon:
Sadly not. I know the protagonist is Filthy Lying Journalist Scum rather than the polis or a criminal profiler but a single killin' is not what we've come to expect from La McDermid. Still, I was right about the identity of the murderer.
I'm reading Dalrymple's 'From the Holy Mountain'... :thumbsup:
By a strange coincidence I ordered a copy yesterday.
Yup, a fascinating read. A great little cameo appearance from Robert Fisk IIRC.I'm reading Dalrymple's 'From the Holy Mountain'... :thumbsup:
By a strange coincidence I ordered a copy yesterday.
Just finished this. Very good book. Educational, I had very little knowledge about the Christian communities in the Middle East. Rather sad though, the book was written in the 90's and the author thought the only ones with long term prospects were in Syria, protected by Assad.
After a long pause I have returned to John le Carré's The Naive And Sentimental Lover which isn't sub-titled “The Excruciatingly Dull Life of Aldo Cassidy, Dick” but should have been. I hope to Dog he does something interesting in the next thirty pages like murder someone, join the French FOREIGN Legion, race in the TT or go over the Niagara Falls in a gas stove otherwise I might be forced to abandon Aldo entirely and read something shallow and containing killin's instead. Or the latest from TV's Guy Martin.I think this is the only book I've started and taken the conscious decision not to finish.
After a long pause I have returned to John le Carré's The Naive And Sentimental Lover which isn't sub-titled “The Excruciatingly Dull Life of Aldo Cassidy, Dick” but should have been. I hope to Dog he does something interesting in the next thirty pages like murder someone, join the French FOREIGN Legion, race in the TT or go over the Niagara Falls in a gas stove otherwise I might be forced to abandon Aldo entirely and read something shallow and containing killin's instead. Or the latest from TV's Guy Martin.I think this is the only book I've started and taken the conscious decision not to finish.
For a more refreshing read, try the bobiverse books (although some parts of those really irritate me).
"Why does e=mc2 (and why should we care?)" by Brian Cox and Jeff Foreshaw which was interesting but made my brain melt (and had a picture of a cat on the cover in spite of not being about Schroedinger's Cat).I have DNFed that book about three times. I think Brian low-balled the level too much (you only need to know Pythag, and if you don't I'll teach you) to the point where I lost the plot due to too many words and not enough maffs. Jeff is a frickin' genius, so I am disappointed with this (though it's about as accessible, though on the other end of the spectrum, as his book on the pommeron). The bit on the back that says that Brian is a prof in Manchester and lives in that_London always gives me a chuckle.
After a long pause I have returned to John le Carré's The Naive And Sentimental Lover which isn't sub-titled “The Excruciatingly Dull Life of Aldo Cassidy, Dick” but should have been. I hope to Dog he does something interesting in the next thirty pages like murder someone, join the French FOREIGN Legion, race in the TT or go over the Niagara Falls in a gas stove otherwise I might be forced to abandon Aldo entirely and read something shallow and containing killin's instead. Or the latest from TV's Guy Martin.I think this is the only book I've started and taken the conscious decision not to finish.
And I'm a massive Le Carré fan.
"Why does e=mc2 (and why should we care?)" by Brian Cox and Jeff Foreshaw which was interesting but made my brain melt (and had a picture of a cat on the cover in spite of not being about Schroedinger's Cat).... I lost the plot due to too many words and not enough maffs. ...
Einstein’s stuff is really hard to follow because he likes to explain and thought experiment instead of use maths.
Einstein’s stuff is really hard to follow because he likes to explain and thought experiment instead of use maths.
Maybe because he wasn't very good at maths. He had Marcel Grossmann to help him with the difficult bits.
Mind you that's for a definition of "not very good at maths" that's somewhat different to most peoples definition of "not very good at maths".
Not a fan of BNW, which I read back when I was ~17 to go with Farenheit 451 and 1984.
Not a fan of BNW, which I read back when I was ~17 to go with Farenheit 451 and 1984.
This ^^^^. Not that impressed by BNW when I read it as part of the O-level Eng. Lit. syllabub circa 1979 and even less so when I revisited it a couple of years ago. I don’t think it has aged well. 1984, otoh, seems to have been treated as an instruction manual by successive .gov.uks since, er, about the time I first read it.
Perfume by Patrick Süskind. Interesting. More than a little bit weird.
The Crow Road.
Another thread remided me that I hadn't read anything by I(M)B for far too long.
I got up to Canal Dreams, then read Complicity, then stopped. In the Culture novels I got as far as Excession.
So I've back-tracked to The Crow Road... I enjoy Banks's writing, I can see the settings in my minds eye and the oddness of the characters* and their lives is obviuos, but not overdone.
*They are well written and plausible.
Whit next!
Continuing my quest to find a non-Smiley le Carré which actually rewards the effort required to wade through the chap's suet pudding prose I am now on The Night Manager, which I'm sure wasn’t this much work first time around. Also the plot is basically the same as The Little Drummer Girl chiz. The TV adaptation was much less taxing and had Olivia Colman. In it.
Perfume by Patrick Süskind. Interesting. More than a little bit weird.
Miss von Brandenburg liked that so much she gave me a copy for my birthday. Twice :facepalm: I didn’t get on with either of them.
"Erebus - the Story of a Ship" by Michael Palin. Enjoying it so far.Yup. A fascinating read. Really enjoyed this.
Sure, but are there any cyborgs?
I’ve just started listening to The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu but after listening to most of the first chapter I’m not entirely sure I’m currently up to their deep and meaningful ideas. I’ve enjoyed their work in the past but the detailed explanations of the thought processes of an ant as it explores for food have quite worn me out. I think I’ll put it aside for another day.I decided to persevere with it a little longer, and got drawn in a bit. I’ve not finished it yet, but I am now enjoying it.
“Quantum Of Nightmares “, the latest Laundry Files/New Management book from Charles Stross. Not exactly a bundle of larfs so far. I hope nobody gives a copy to Priti Patel, she might get ideas.
Speeding drivers having their heads mounted on motorway gantries is the only nice bit to date(chapter 5).
Halfway through “Inhibitor Phase”, the latest volume of Alistair Reynolds “Revelation Space” series .
Desperate battles, unstoppable enemies, moral quandaries and Pigs In Spaaaace …. :thumbsup:
https://revelationspace.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperpigs (https://revelationspace.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperpigs)
To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Halfway through “Inhibitor Phase”, the latest volume of Alistair Reynolds “Revelation Space” series .
Desperate battles, unstoppable enemies, moral quandaries and Pigs In Spaaaace …. :thumbsup:
https://revelationspace.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperpigs (https://revelationspace.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperpigs)
99p on Kindle today
Oh finished it in about 4 or 5 sittings, I found it quite interesting at how easily my own thoughts would fit into the thoughts that form the story and not distract from what was going on.To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Oh finished it in about 4 or 5 sittings, I found it quite interesting at how easily my own thoughts would fit into the thoughts that form the story and not distract from what was going on.To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Onto Trainspotting now, which proved a challenge on the 25th when trying to read
Burns since I've got the hang of Welsh's Scots orthography which differs significantly in places from Burns which kind of sets what everyone else uses, Ay no. (Ae No)
Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk
Oh finished it in about 4 or 5 sittings, I found it quite interesting at how easily my own thoughts would fit into the thoughts that form the story and not distract from what was going on.To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Phare do's.Oh finished it in about 4 or 5 sittings, I found it quite interesting at how easily my own thoughts would fit into the thoughts that form the story and not distract from what was going on.To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Have you read any Ford Madox Ford and/or EM Forster? I love both and keep thinking I should give Woolf a go but haven’t got round to her yet. From what I know about them, I think I would like To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway especially.
Mrs Dalloway is currently being read (aloud) by Sian Thomas on R4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rb6 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rb6)
Is that abridged or the whole thing?Mrs Dalloway is currently being read (aloud) by Sian Thomas on R4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rb6 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rb6)
:thumbsup:
I'm currently enjoying The Song of Achilles (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11250317-the-song-of-achilles)
I've not read his latest one yet.
Finished On The Road a couple nights ago.
I really didn't get why it's raved about.
;DPhare do's.Oh finished it in about 4 or 5 sittings, I found it quite interesting at how easily my own thoughts would fit into the thoughts that form the story and not distract from what was going on.To the Lighthouse, Woolf V.How are you getting on with it/how did you get on with it? I think I tried it a very long time ago and failed.
Finished On The Road a couple nights ago.
I really didn't get why it's raved about.
Maybe best read in adolescence.
My recollection of reading “On The Road” while not a teenager was that I quite enjoyed it but then I, like Kerouac, was probably drunk at the time.I was sober when I read it, and quite enjoyed it.
He'll be 100 next month.
Indeed. He's exactly 95 years older than my youngest.He'll be 100 next month.
Or at least he would be if he hadn’t died in 1969 :P
Termination Shock, the most recent offering from Neal Stephenson. Near-future setting – COVID–19 has been followed by COVIDS–23 and –27 – with a sort-of climate-changey theme. Panning out quite nicely, though the main question so far is: will the Queen of the Netherlands get off with the hunter of feral hogs?
Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Just finished Foxglove Summer (though the library provided the sequel out of sequence). Very readable but it could be better - most books end very quickly/abruptly (Foxglove and Broken Homes most obviously) - could be really quite good if only ...I really like this series, so much so that I read them (and the graphic novels) from the library and then bought the audiobooks, which are probably even better. It feels so grounded in reality despite being full of acktul magiks, and the characters are pleasingly diverse and also fun. Novella What Abigail Did That Summer is probably my fave cos young Abigail kicks arse and the foxes crack me up.
Novella What Abigail Did That Summer is probably my fave cos young Abigail kicks arse and the foxes crack me up.I love his use of yoot speak.
Having finished Last Flight To Stalingrad* on the Tube just now I've started the same author's Kyiv. Said city is about to fall to the Nazis. Sounds familiar. What, if anything, can the plucky BRITISH double agent do to help the Soviet Union? Does she know what her boss at MI6, a Mr Harold Adrian Russell Philby, gets up to in his copious free time? Will Dieter Merz put in an appearance? Gimme a chance, I'm only on chapter two…
* Dieter Merz does appear, albeit briefly. Hurrah!
I was reading Douglas Stuart’s 'Shuggie Bain’, which is excellent and brutal ...
Another slice of Aussie outback crime fiction, The Stoning by one Peter Papanathanasiou. As good as Jane Harper’s The Dry or Chris Hammer’s Scrublands.
Another slice of Aussie outback crime fiction, The Stoning by one Peter Papanathanasiou. As good as Jane Harper’s The Dry or Chris Hammer’s Scrublands.
I really liked Scrublands - Might give this a try next.
Travels with a donkey in the cevennes RLS"Spanish Steps"?
The first chapter was oddly familiar
Then I realised I've not long read Tim Moores travels with a donkey, and that they both told of the same struggles of getting said donk to do anything.
Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk
Revisiting Justin Cronin's The Passage trilogy, which should keep me busy for a day or two.
I’m trying to read the lipogrammatic Gadsby (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsby_(novel)), by Ernest Vincent Wright, but it’s quite hard going!Well, I got about 15% of the way through, and very little had happened, so I put it in the 'glad I've tried' pile.
Dominion - Tom Holland
Not about Christianity per say as a religion though there is a lot in there about the history of Christianity, but more about the impact of Christianity on Western thinking. Excellent so far.
One hilarious one star review on Amazon complains that it focuses too much on religion - well yes its a book about how a religion affected society wtf did they expect it to contain?
James Oswald’s latest Inspector McLean All That Lives. It’s ok, like many “series” books that’ve been going for a while.
Never do. Mieville is a big shock in comparison, I would have finished a river of London in the time it took me to not get through half of Kraken.
The Regulators by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. I'm about halfway through and struggling because it's just a bit shit.;D Must say that is my general sentiment about King.
I’m enjoying [Kraken], but it does have some issues: un/ill-explained plot, heavy use of the thesaurus for no good reason, short dabbling in side plot that doesn’t get expanded for no discernible reason.
They didn’t have the latest from Mr Aaronovitch is Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles chiz, so I'll either have to buy it online or launch An Expotition to travel the whole mile-and-a-bit to Waterstones in 'stow Central. In any case it’s going to take a while to finish my b-i-l's tome as it’s too weighty to be comfortably read in bed.
Sadly I have subsequently discovered that there are (at least) nine “Rivers Of London” graphic novels and Waterstones only had five. Of them. So the Haunted Pikey Old Beemer may yet have to wait chiz.I have the first six.
I really have to finish Count Zero so's I can attack my unread stack of Aaronovitch – 1.5 books and 9 graphic novels – but in spite of having been without the Big Computer for more than a week I've spent far too long poking random links in Wikinaccurate instead.
Have picked up a book called the grand prix sabateurs about pre-wwii grand prix drivers who took up super secret intelligence service work to help establish the French resistance.
It obviously also talks about the betwixt war races.
Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk
The Colfer is a Rubbish :hand:To be fair so were parts 4 and 5.
Listened to the latest Aaronovitch on Audible - first time I've heard the book before reading it. As always, Kobna Holbrook-Smith does an excellent job of narration.
Have picked up a book called the grand prix sabateurs about pre-wwii grand prix drivers who took up super secret intelligence service work to help establish the French resistance.
It obviously also talks about the betwixt war races.
Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk
:thumbsup:
Read that when it first came out, having been a reader of Joe Saward's blog for many a year.
Locallibrary had the graphic novels, though I don't like their referencing in the books - it's too much into the "you need to read these to know what's going on" and less a clin d'oeil.
Finished Kraken, it was as poor as has been suggested upthread - if anything it gets progressively worse as the book goes on (I thought it started well). A shame as I did like City & the City and his short stories.
Yay! Another gory killin' :thumbsup: Albeit in flashback :-\
I quite enjoyed Kraken, just an increasing need for suspension of disbelief.I since read Embassytown which I thought was significantly better. Kraken did feel like he rolled a dice every chapter for a new denoument and new factions/characters - there was too much and the story was very muddled. Embassytown and The City & The City were both much better structured with a clearer narrative that actually built well together.
I quite enjoyed Kraken, just an increasing need for suspension of disbelief.I since read Embassytown which I thought was significantly better. Kraken did feel like he rolled a dice every chapter for a new denoument and new factions/characters - there was too much and the story was very muddled. Embassytown and The City & The City were both much better structured with a clearer narrative that actually built well together.
Yay! Another gory killin' :thumbsup: Albeit in flashback :-\
Yay! Another stiff :thumbsup:
Edit: two, in fact, but one was an accident. Although the victim did get partially et by kittehs.
Yay! Another gory killin' :thumbsup: Albeit in flashback :-\
Yay! Another stiff :thumbsup:
Edit: two, in fact, but one was an accident. Although the victim did get partially et by kittehs.
That all got rather silly in the last hundred-odd pages :-\
The Dark Flood the latest Benny Griessel from Deon Meyer. A run of the mill police procedural, but interesting to me for it's window into South Africa.
Too late. It’s up there \\\\ on the Unread Shelf ov Shame.Leave it there. That, or tear the pages out and stick 'em on the nail in the door.
Well the Slow Horses were their usual selves, with the added bonus that they ended with the same number as they started (and apparently are being depicted in an Apple TV+ drama for good measure).
o goody, sa mr larington, there is a new mark bilingham out :thumbsup:
The Murder Book. And it’s a a pukka Thorne too, not one where he pops up anonymously on p374.
I have just finished James Holland's latest opus "Brother in Arms" which follows the Sherman Rangers fro D-Day to VE-Day.
A gripping and detailed account of tank warfare and the way it affected the crews. All those idiot politicians who keep harking back to WWII as our glory days can f**k right off it was a completely horrific for those who took part.
Good book but I do have to take issue with his conclusion that they were extraordinary men, they weren't, I think the point is that they were ordinary men asked to and in the most part accomplishing extraordinary things at great personal cost.
o goody, sa mr larington, there is a new mark bilingham out :thumbsup:
The Murder Book. And it’s a a pukka Thorne too, not one where he pops up anonymously on p374.
Finally started this while waiting for an interminable search to finish hunting through a bazillion small text files for a string which, as it turned out, wasn’t there anyway :facepalm:
Starts with a nice DETHY killin' which is always a good sign.
Just started “Parable Of The Sower” by Octavia Butler. Well written, but I’m getting the impression it’s not a feel good book.
I have just finished James Holland's latest opus "Brother in Arms" which follows the Sherman Rangers fro D-Day to VE-Day.
A gripping and detailed account of tank warfare and the way it affected the crews. All those idiot politicians who keep harking back to WWII as our glory days can f**k right off it was a completely horrific for those who took part.
Good book but I do have to take issue with his conclusion that they were extraordinary men, they weren't, I think the point is that they were ordinary men asked to and in the most part accomplishing extraordinary things at great personal cost.
My uncle was a tank driver in North Africa. Just an ordinary guy. You might like to watch “Lebanon”, a film from the POV of an Israeli tank crew during the 1972 Israeli-Lebanon conflict. Compared to Das Boot. And if you like books about the realism of warfare, try “Send Down a Dove” by Charles McHardy, about an British submarine at the end of WW2. My (submariner) father was impressed by its accuracy.
The library has finally coughed up Bellingham’s The Murder Book. A lot better than his last couple IMO, back to vintage Thorne. But…. annoyingly (and the editor left it in) there is mention of a “signed credit card slip”. WTF? It has been perhaps a decade (or more) since we had to do that rather than enter a PIN. Grrrr.Here in Germany I have to sign credit card slips weekly.
The library has finally coughed up Bellingham’s The Murder Book. A lot better than his last couple IMO, back to vintage Thorne. But…. annoyingly (and the editor left it in) there is mention of a “signed credit card slip”. WTF? It has been perhaps a decade (or more) since we had to do that rather than enter a PIN. Grrrr.Here in Germany I have to sign credit card slips weekly.
Oooh! I hadn’t noticed that Dave Hutchinson had a new “Fractured Europe” book out. Edit - coming out , September apparently. And a TV adaptation as well, when they finish it.
https://twitter.com/rebellionpub/status/1489279770084978688 (https://twitter.com/rebellionpub/status/1489279770084978688?s=21&t=h0oGfo5pJj4FQj_CAFEffg)
Oooh! I hadn’t noticed that Dave Hutchinson had a new “Fractured Europe” book out. Edit - coming out , September apparently. And a TV adaptation as well, when they finish it.
https://twitter.com/rebellionpub/status/1489279770084978688 (https://twitter.com/rebellionpub/status/1489279770084978688?s=21&t=h0oGfo5pJj4FQj_CAFEffg)
Re-reading Dan Simmons' The Terror, having watched the serial on Amazon. The book is by far superior, of course.(click to show/hide)
Re-reading Dan Simmons' The Terror, having watched the serial on Amazon. The book is by far superior, of course.(click to show/hide)
His Hyperion Cantos series is rather good.
He got bored with the pastiche after the 4th book, so that’s one thing fewer to worry about :DYebbut, does he not also abandon the main character at this point too?
He got bored with the pastiche after the 4th book, so that’s one thing fewer to worry about :D
Not reading , but I've read most of these in the distant past when I was a small person. https://foxedquarterly.com/shop/set-14-slightly-foxed-cubs-ronald-welch/These are great books, with real historical detail. As a geeky 9 year-old, I was fascinated to learn about armour and surcoats, helms and lances. As a geeky 40 year-old, I was far more aware of the absence of female characters, of the graphic but not gratuitous violence.
Ronald Welch's stories of the military Carey family.
Superior "Boys Own" stuff as I recall. Though however fond my memories are, I doubt I'll be splashing out £££ for the re-issued set!
I managed the first and called it a day, it was basically a ream of nerd jokes that had some superficial charm but rapidly got tired and tedious.I liked the first book better than the second. I think many of the nerd jokes are not accessible enough to even a nerdy audiences as you need to score highly in Maths, Physics, Computers AND Great Old Ones to get them.
Re-reading Val McDermid's 1979 prior to taking on the next volume in the series, the imaginatively-titled 1989.It was published in August last year. Good to see that I'm not the only one with a memory like a thingy.
(click to show/hide)
I'm really enjoying Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem (English translation by Ken Liu) :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: I had gotten out of the habit of reading, until I started this book :-) And yes, I have the next two books in the trilogy on my Kindle as well!
Looks like there is a Netflix series of this coming out eventually as well!
Just finished reading On The Marshes by Carol Donaldson.
A non-fiction recounting of a woman who's relationship has broken down and she decides to walk from Cliffe Woods on the Hoo Peninsular to Whitstable (in a series of walks).
I read it in conjunction with an OS map of the area, Google maps and occasional visits to The Kent Messenger's website.
It may interest anyone who has participated in the FNRttC to Whitstable, or any of my daytime rides to the same destination as the route she took is pretty much the same as the one we rode.
I thought I was knowledgeable about the area, however, I never knew that the vicar of the church in Upchurch where we naturally re-group - the one with the double spire - was the father of Sir Francis Drake.
Also, the Russian submarine which is moored in Rochester, is not the only sub on The Medway. There are at least three others - one of which is clearly visible.
Recommended.
I'll be surprised if you don't enjoy it.Just finished reading On The Marshes by Carol Donaldson.
A non-fiction recounting of a woman who's relationship has broken down and she decides to walk from Cliffe Woods on the Hoo Peninsular to Whitstable (in a series of walks).
I read it in conjunction with an OS map of the area, Google maps and occasional visits to The Kent Messenger's website.
It may interest anyone who has participated in the FNRttC to Whitstable, or any of my daytime rides to the same destination as the route she took is pretty much the same as the one we rode.
I thought I was knowledgeable about the area, however, I never knew that the vicar of the church in Upchurch where we naturally re-group - the one with the double spire - was the father of Sir Francis Drake.
Also, the Russian submarine which is moored in Rochester, is not the only sub on The Medway. There are at least three others - one of which is clearly visible.
Recommended.
Thanks. I've ordered it. :thumbsup:
Thanks. I did indeed enjoy it. Although I was slightly disappointed to find that I only knew 2 of the people in it. ;DI'll be surprised if you don't enjoy it.Just finished reading On The Marshes by Carol Donaldson.
A non-fiction recounting of a woman who's relationship has broken down and she decides to walk from Cliffe Woods on the Hoo Peninsular to Whitstable (in a series of walks).
I read it in conjunction with an OS map of the area, Google maps and occasional visits to The Kent Messenger's website.
It may interest anyone who has participated in the FNRttC to Whitstable, or any of my daytime rides to the same destination as the route she took is pretty much the same as the one we rode.
I thought I was knowledgeable about the area, however, I never knew that the vicar of the church in Upchurch where we naturally re-group - the one with the double spire - was the father of Sir Francis Drake.
Also, the Russian submarine which is moored in Rochester, is not the only sub on The Medway. There are at least three others - one of which is clearly visible.
Recommended.
Thanks. I've ordered it. :thumbsup:
Somewhat fittingly, my bookmark for this borrowed tome is the return half of a railway ticket from Whitstable to Bromley South from earlier this year.
ETA - She also takes a dive onto the island that is your home, which happens to be uncharted territory for me.
David Cloud-Atlas Mitchell's Utopia Avenue. 1960s pop group, the trials, tribulations and triumphs thereof, not necessarily in that order. Sort-of enjoying it so far.
Currently waiting for Blackout/All Clear to start making sense...Hope you enjoyed them. I've belatedly discovered Jodi Taylor's series; more disaster-magnet historians getting into mischief across time. :)
Currently waiting for Blackout/All Clear to start making sense...Hope you enjoyed them. I've belatedly discovered Jodi Taylor's series; more disaster-magnet historians getting into mischief across time. :)
Doesn’t have any wolves in it though.
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Thailand after global ecosystem collapse/rampant global warming effects. Different local factions + westerners all trying to score points off each other. Difficult first couple of chapters since hard to discern a likeable protagonist but once in it's good.
Currently on the 5th of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie detective series. Funny (in a literary way, so no more than light chuckles) and very good, if you can accept extreme coincidence piled upon extreme coincidence, and tethered near the end of the book to a different pile of extreme coincidences. I can. But I've got 120 pages into this one without a death (except one in the past), without our hero being beaten up or punching a dog, and with but a few fairly explainable coincidences so far. So a bit different from the first 4.
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Thailand after global ecosystem collapse/rampant global warming effects. Different local factions + westerners all trying to score points off each other. Difficult first couple of chapters since hard to discern a likeable protagonist but once in it's good.
Finished it: very good and very imaginable, in particular the idea that(click to show/hide)
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Thailand after global ecosystem collapse/rampant global warming effects. Different local factions + westerners all trying to score points off each other. Difficult first couple of chapters since hard to discern a likeable protagonist but once in it's good.
Finished it: very good and very imaginable, in particular the idea that(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
After the Duncton Wood trilogy (I could not stop reading, after all what's a mole to do) I was bought for Chrissymuss - Colditz by Ben MacIntyre a riveting read and as my birt is in January the four books of the Hyddenworld (also btw way a Aladdin mantle lamp to read by if the scroats we call government allow the lights to go out) series, Spring is the first and after a difficult first few chapters (the after effects of brilliant Duncton ?) I am in and well and truly hooked.
The Race Against the Stasi - Herbie Sykes - an account of Dieter Wiedemann, the GDR cyclist who defected to the west during trials for the Olympics in 1964. Part cycling biography, part love story, part harrowing account of living during the formation of a police state, woven together expertly and intriguingly. I haven't sat down and read so much of a book in one go for years.
I was thrilled to find a copy of Nazis on the Nile: The German Military Advisers in Egypt 1949-1967 (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61311866-nazis-on-the-nile) by Vyvyan Kinross (https://twitter.com/vyvyankinross) under my Christmas tree.Which I have now read and can thoroughly recommend.
Again, repeat, subsumed and just as consumed as the first time - The Old Devils, Kingsley Amis
I've read a few Kingsley Amis novels and generally found them to be irritating. The Old Devils is an exception, amusing and humane.
Just finished Stephen King's “Billy Summers”, in which the paranatural and supernormal are limited to a couple of oblique references to the Overlook Hotel and Hemingford Home.I enjoyed that one, too. Now reading Duma Key at a rate of about one page per night...
Good Omens, by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman.
Is this where the character Death, WHO TALKS LIKE THIS, originates?
Thank you. I was curious.Good Omens, by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman.
Is this where the character Death, WHO TALKS LIKE THIS, originates?
No, Death was already a well-established/loved character in the Discworld books when Good Omens was published.
Was she pregnant with a space hopper??
If I hadn't been reading it on a kindle, I'd have probably thrown it across the room at the part where a pregnant woman in the second trimester swung from a tree and was thankful when the "rubbery lump" of her pregnancy cushioned her from a rough landing in a partially-demolished house.
Sam
I picked up The Fireman by Joe HillI did read the rest of your posts, but I spotted your mistake at this point. I read "Horns" on Gaiman's recommendation, but it was bad enough that I wouldn't read anything else he writes. Then again I am also not a fan of his dad's work.
An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.
Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you tried: complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams...
But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war?
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division.
No, this is not your first day.
"Season of Skulls" by that nice Mr Stross has just turned up. :thumbsup:
"Season of Skulls" by that nice Mr Stross has just turned up. :thumbsup:
Started it. I wonder who this early passage could refer to(click to show/hide)
I am surprised at his writing this time, as he has so far moved from his normal present tense narrative to past tense.
I can now return to trying to read “Pride And Prejudice “…….
I prefer the Kiera Knightly / Matthew McFadden film (available on Netflix).I can now return to trying to read “Pride And Prejudice “…….
Watch the Beeb serial first. I found it quite amusing to see what bits were pure JA and which were Beeb inventions.
"Lady Catherine de Bourgh will never know" became one of our family catchphrases.
I prefer the Kiera Knightly / Matthew McFadden film (available on Netflix).I can now return to trying to read “Pride And Prejudice “…….
Watch the Beeb serial first. I found it quite amusing to see what bits were pure JA and which were Beeb inventions.
"Lady Catherine de Bourgh will never know" became one of our family catchphrases.
I love JA though. She's so funny. Most of the adaptations (including that one) take her & themselves far far far too seriously.
Dennis Lehane’s “Small Mercies”, set against the Boston school busing controversy of 1974.
The Nesbo was pretty good, a 4* rating. And the translation was good too, removing a lot of the (to native English speakers) stilted language from the original Norwegian.Book translators are underrated, IMHO. Good ones need to be able to offer almost as much creativity as the original writer, sometimes more. I remember reading a French edition of Fredric Brown's short-shorts, and before one of them the translator added a personal touch in eplaining what he had done. Frome memory, it went something like "As the net story is simply a long series of puns leading to a final absolutely awful punch line, it is impossible to translate. I have therefore rewritten it in French with appropriately awful puns, and included the original so that readers can decide for themselves if I have been successful"
Now to a new “Aussie Noir” author, one Garry Disher and “Peace”
Not started reading either yet, but the latest Ben Aaronovitch novella “Winter's Gifts” and, somewhat belatedly given its publication date of 2011, the sixth and last instalment of Malcolm Pryce's Louie Knight/Aberystwyth Noir series “The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still” touched down on the doormat today."Winters Gift" is on my Library waiting list. Picked up the first of the Aberystwyth Noir series and the Librarian complemented it as a decent choice.
Have now started Fire Season by Phil Connors. I am entirely unfamiliar with his work, but I at least know absolutely nothing about fire lookouts so my disbelief can take a nap.
Sam
I read Steven Gould's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Gould) novel Jumper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumper_(novel)), which was better than I expected, and then binge read the two sequels, Reflex (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_(novel)) and Impulse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulse_(Steven_Gould_novel)), which I think were even better.
Even though all three novels are based upon the basic concept of teleportation, the second and third add in some entirely new twists and perspectives. I don't think they're necessarily great works of literature, but they appear well written to me, and I enjoyed the storylines and originality a great deal. I'm definitely going to read the fourth novel in the series, and then probably be annoyed that there's not a fifth one yet!
If you like pulp science-fiction, fantasy, or even just original concepts, I'd recommend them. :thumbsup:
I think I watched the film, or at least some of it, but as I recall it wasn't as good as the books (or as memorable!)
Oh my goodness! I finished Duma Key last Friday. I had no idea that it had taken me five months to read :o! I really struggled to motivate myself to get past halfway, but it picked up quite a bit towards the end. I've only given up on one Stephen King novel (Lisey's Story) and I was determined not to with this one.Just finished Stephen King's “Billy Summers”, in which the paranatural and supernormal are limited to a couple of oblique references to the Overlook Hotel and Hemingford Home.I enjoyed that one, too. Now reading Duma Key at a rate of about one page per night...
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/18/tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-by-gabrielle-zevin-review-when-game-boy-meets-game-girl)
Far too many of the 69 books I've got through this year have been recommendations from No2Daughter who's ideal book is a 'spice' laden romance with faeries. I've read everything Sarah J Maas has ever written.
Despite the slightly YA feel of the description (presumably that's due to any mention of video games?) this feels a lot more grown up. I am loving it- the characters are so 3 dimensional I have had to stop myself from googling their output.
Jon Krakauer's Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Uncomfortable reading.While i have been book stalking you, I might sit that one out.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/18/tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-by-gabrielle-zevin-review-when-game-boy-meets-game-girl)
Far too many of the 69 books I've got through this year have been recommendations from No2Daughter who's ideal book is a 'spice' laden romance with faeries. I've read everything Sarah J Maas has ever written.
Despite the slightly YA feel of the description (presumably that's due to any mention of video games?) this feels a lot more grown up. I am loving it- the characters are so 3 dimensional I have had to stop myself from googling their output.
My finger is so firmly on the pulse:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/11/levelling-up-how-gabrielle-zevins-gaming-novel-became-the-book-of-the-summer
Having finally finished the illiad I'm now reading Niel Gunn's "Second sight" which I'm rather enjoying when I get a chance to read.
Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk
The delightful (so far) Siege of Krishnapur, by J. G. Farrel. The opening, at least as far as I have read, is rather reminiscent of Jane Austen but, being set in 1857 and chapatis appearing mysteriously in unexpected places, one suspects the delightfulness will soon be mitigated...
if you can find the book Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald that’s really worth a read. Covers the buildup to the revolt of 1857 and the siege of Lucknow.The delightful (so far) Siege of Krishnapur, by J. G. Farrel. The opening, at least as far as I have read, is rather reminiscent of Jane Austen but, being set in 1857 and chapatis appearing mysteriously in unexpected places, one suspects the delightfulness will soon be mitigated...
Finished it. Was right: although the attitudes that shaped Jane Austen's work persisted the ending, and most of what went before, is not very similar.
Bloody good, though.
if you can find the book Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald that’s really worth a read. Covers the buildup to the revolt of 1857 and the siege of Lucknow.The delightful (so far) Siege of Krishnapur, by J. G. Farrel. The opening, at least as far as I have read, is rather reminiscent of Jane Austen but, being set in 1857 and chapatis appearing mysteriously in unexpected places, one suspects the delightfulness will soon be mitigated...
Finished it. Was right: although the attitudes that shaped Jane Austen's work persisted the ending, and most of what went before, is not very similar.
Bloody good, though.
It also has the mysterious chapattis.
Having abandoned the thrid offering from Peter Papathanasiou - supposedly a "fast paced crime thriller", but in fact a moribund and sluggish disaster of a book, I've started on Mick Herron's "The Secret Hours". Predictably excellent. A sort of pre-cursor to the Slough House series, or at least with hints of the past of a number of the protagonists.
The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell. Set in the 1940's: Westerners complacently bickering while Japan looms over the horizon. Good.
I'm working my way through the entire back catalogue of Peter James'- Detective Roy Grace.
I don't know why, the author is sexist & racist and the characters are both unconvincing and somewhat dull.
I've never been "dangerously moist" in my life and all the women are either victims or outstandingly beautiful or both.
The blurb describes him as "a tenacious yet troubled detective known for his unorthodox methods" yet the books go into tedious (and if you read a lot of them) repetitive telling-not-showing detail of how all the procedures are followed.
I haven't seen the TV adaptations, apparently John Simm stars. Which gives it an air of competence I'm not getting from the poor writing.
Anyway, on book (checks) 7, and book 19 Stop Them Dead (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70020989-stop-them-dead) was released today. It only takes me 3 or 4 days to get through them.
As recommendations go, this one isn't glowing, is it?
The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell. Set in the 1940's: Westerners complacently bickering while Japan looms over the horizon. Good.
Finished last week. Rapacious rubber barons, scheming women, geriatric generals, towering racism and precipitous pratfalls. Bloody good.
The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell. Set in the 1940's: Westerners complacently bickering while Japan looms over the horizon. Good.
Finished last week. Rapacious rubber barons, scheming women, geriatric generals, towering racism and precipitous pratfalls. Bloody good.
I read that years ago. I'd had to read The Siege of Krishnapur as one of my set texts when I was at school. Have you read Troubles?
The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell. Set in the 1940's: Westerners complacently bickering while Japan looms over the horizon. Good.
Finished last week. Rapacious rubber barons, scheming women, geriatric generals, towering racism and precipitous pratfalls. Bloody good.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53044468033_f1d1fa5ca3_o.png) (https://flic.kr/p/2oPmLiF)
I heart image editing software… (https://flic.kr/p/2oPmLiF) by Mr Larrington (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_larrington/), on Flickr
I’ve just finished An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka and really enjoyed it. I’ve read his Alex Verus novels, which I also found very good which is why I grabbed this new one when I saw it.
I was somewhat discombobulated when I realised that this is the first book in a new series which is only just published, and because even I read faster than the author writes, I’m now going to have to wait while he gets on with it. Then I’ll read that faster than he writes the next one and I’ll have to wait. And repeat.
I know this is a first world problem, but it’s still annoying.
I'm working my way through the entire back catalogue of Peter James'- Detective Roy Grace.
I don't know why, the author is sexist & racist and the characters are both unconvincing and somewhat dull.
I've never been "dangerously moist" in my life and all the women are either victims or outstandingly beautiful or both.
The blurb describes him as "a tenacious yet troubled detective known for his unorthodox methods" yet the books go into tedious (and if you read a lot of them) repetitive telling-not-showing detail of how all the procedures are followed.
I haven't seen the TV adaptations, apparently John Simm stars. Which gives it an air of competence I'm not getting from the poor writing.
Anyway, on book (checks) 7, and book 19 Stop Them Dead (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70020989-stop-them-dead) was released today. It only takes me 3 or 4 days to get through them.
As recommendations go, this one isn't glowing, is it?
And that's me done. All 19. What a load of tripe.
Up next- more fantasy romance.
It's entertainment, OK. Not every novel has to be improving literature.
Just finished the third book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's eminently readable Children Of Time series.
I've just started 'End To End', by Paul Jones, lent to me by a friend.
In introducing his own cycling credentials, he says he's done "lots of things on a bike but endurance cycling is not one of them."
But he certainly gets it!
He refers to audax saying that he likes to dot watch audaxers (and Transcontinental riders) "in their quest for utter degradation and fatigue, sleeping for seven micro-seconds in a farmer's gateway with a discarded copy of Razzle and a used prophylactic for a pillow."
Just finished the third book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's eminently readable Children Of Time series.
Just finished the third book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's eminently readable Children Of Time series.
The phrase "in the dark," as I'm sure you know, can refer not only to one's shadowy surroundings, but also to the shadowy secrets of which one might be unaware. Every day, the sun goes down over all these secrets, and so everyone is in the dark in one way or another. If you are sunbathing in a park, for instance, but you do not know that a locked cabinet is buried fifty feet beneath your blanket, then you are in the dark even though you are not actually in the dark, whereas if you are on a midnight hike, knowing full well that several ballerinas are following close behind you, then you are not in the dark even if you are in fact in the dark. Of course, it is quite possible to be in the dark in the dark, as well as to be not in the dark not in the dark, but there are so many secrets in the world that it is likely that you are always in the dark about one thing or another, whether you are in the dark in the dark or in the dark not in the dark, although the sun can go down so quickly that you may be in the dark about being in the dark in the dark, only to look around and find yourself no longer in the dark about being in the dark in the dark, but in the dark in the dark nonetheless, not only because of the dark, but because of the ballerinas in the dark, who are not in the dark about the dark, but also not in the dark about the locked cabinet, and you may be in the dark about the ballerinas digging up the locked cabinet in the dark, even though you are no longer in the dark about being in the dark, and so you are in fact in the dark about being in the dark, even though you are not in the dark about being in the dark, and so you may fall into the hole that the ballerinas have dug, which is dark, in the dark, and in the park.
Legs, re loose ends etc...
It is a technique I use myself, because of my style. I start with building a character, then tell a tale from their point of view, and (almost always) in first person. That means, to steal from your quote, that they are in the dark about anything they don't witness and get informed about. That means other characters, built the same way, have their own lives and stories. From my own point of view, that means I am given opportunities to tell those tales in a subsequent novel precisely because of the ambiguities and loose ends.
I suspect that Mr Handler may be working the same way, as a sales technique. I might, of course, be wrong. After all, I just write romances!
It’s the biggest load of self-indulgent wankTM I’ve ever read. A story should be just that. Creating an entire and often impenetrable supporting history to some of the best books, written in a maddening style, is what is needed. Said no one, ever.
.... Creating an entire and often impenetrable supporting history to some of the best books, written in a maddening style, is what is needed. Said no one, ever.But the stories that became The Silmarillion were written (and re-written) first, and then The Hobbit & LotR came along afterwards.
I've just started into Stephenson's 'Quicksilver', the first of the Baroque Cycle.
It's a fair tome, with dense very small-point text filling every page!
And despite my Forum Name, I'm in general agreement about the Silmarillion being a load of self-indulgent wank...
Encouraged by these reviews I've read the (4 book) set. I did get a bit bored by Exo. The continuous action of the first is not sustainable without becoming bumwad but really, Exo contains a mahoosive resolution to a couple of story lines crammed into the last 10 pages. The 95% of pages leading up to it are interesting in their own stead but so unrelated to the ongoing threads. Then crash bang wallop 5 minutes at the typewriter just short of the end credits and decades of back story / threat neatly resolved. The only other disappointment was in book 2:I read Steven Gould's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Gould) novel Jumper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumper_(novel)), which was better than I expected, and then binge read the two sequels, Reflex (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_(novel)) and Impulse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulse_(Steven_Gould_novel)), which I think were even better.
Even though all three novels are based upon the basic concept of teleportation, the second and third add in some entirely new twists and perspectives. I don't think they're necessarily great works of literature, but they appear well written to me, and I enjoyed the storylines and originality a great deal. I'm definitely going to read the fourth novel in the series, and then probably be annoyed that there's not a fifth one yet!
If you like pulp science-fiction, fantasy, or even just original concepts, I'd recommend them. :thumbsup:
I think I watched the film, or at least some of it, but as I recall it wasn't as good as the books (or as memorable!)
I enjoyed those, in a YA kind of way. Science fiction done right, in that it takes one macguffin (humans who can teleport) and explores its implications without ever trying to explain how it works. (I particularly liked the way that the different people have very different ways of establishing their destination.) Lovely in places, silly in others. I expect you'll enjoy Exo.
The film, on the other hand, was shite. One of the books is an attempt to redeem it by means of a coherent back-story, and is best considered not to be part of the series.
ETA: I discovered a TV adaptation of Impulse. This was a lot less shit than the Jumper film, though only loosely follows the book. The implications of teleportation takes a back seat to the sexual assault trauma storyline (which is very well done - I assume Gould's influence), and it got cancelled after the second season.
The Crystal Cave (again) Mary Stewart.
Quartered Safe Out Here, George Macdonald Fraser's 1993 memoir of his time fighting the Japanese in Burma in 1945. Very absorbing, salted with <splort!> moments. Highly recommended if you can stomach statements such as "I first smelt Jap..." without getting all latter-day PC.
Just started The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley. Starveacre was okay, but I wouldn't agree with the hype. Hoping for something a bit more.
Sam
Having rapidly disposed of Stephen King's “Holly” while moggie-minding last week it's time for his half-as-thick-again “Fairy Tale”.I'm stuck in the middle of Fairy Tale. I want to finish it so that I can move on to something different, but, faced with the choice of picking it up in the evenings or turning over and falling asleep, I'm finding that sleep is winning hands-down.(click to show/hide)
I hate to break the news to you but…(click to show/hide)
I've just started 'End To End', by Paul Jones, lent to me by a friend.
In introducing his own cycling credentials, he says he's done "lots of things on a bike but endurance cycling is not one of them."
But he certainly gets it!
He refers to audax saying that he likes to dot watch audaxers (and Transcontinental riders) "in their quest for utter degradation and fatigue, sleeping for seven micro-seconds in a farmer's gateway with a discarded copy of Razzle and a used prophylactic for a pillow."
Thanks for the heads up; I've just started it and it looks like it'll be a good read.
I've just started 'End To End', by Paul Jones, lent to me by a friend.
In introducing his own cycling credentials, he says he's done "lots of things on a bike but endurance cycling is not one of them."
But he certainly gets it!
He refers to audax saying that he likes to dot watch audaxers (and Transcontinental riders) "in their quest for utter degradation and fatigue, sleeping for seven micro-seconds in a farmer's gateway with a discarded copy of Razzle and a used prophylactic for a pillow."
Thanks for the heads up; I've just started it and it looks like it'll be a good read.
Just finished this; highly recommended and up there with the best of cycling themed paperbacks. It is very well written and far more than an account of end to end records, more of the journey than the destination. Very audax-adjacent with several members of this forum getting a mention including Steve Abraham and the much missed Damon Peacock. Anyone who has participated in and suffered in an endurance event will find resonances thought this book.
Not what I'm reading, but I just discovered this Grauniad series
https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/the-books-of-my-life
It's quite quick and easy to see if you share commonality with a contributor, and (as you might expect if you are being interviewed) there are some interesting choices.
I read his (Benjamin Myers) The Perfect Golden Circle a couple of years back and thought it was weird, in a good way, and that I must try another. And then forgot. Can you recommend one?
I just finished The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Clearly well-researched, but suffers from a lack of characters. Would probably make a good action movie.I moderated a panel with him on it at WorldCon in Dublin a few years back. I got the book so I knew something about him, but I never got around to reading it. I prefer stories with strong characters, so maybe I won't, now.(click to show/hide)
Tombland C.J.Sansom
Tombland C.J.Sansom
A favourite author of mine (despite his politics). I've read all the Shardlakes... and at some time will get round to reading Dominion.
Tombland C.J.Sansom
A favourite author of mine (despite his politics). I've read all the Shardlakes... and at some time will get round to reading Dominion.
I enjoyed it. A Winter in Madrid is good, too.
Roadside picnic. Already half way through and feel like I have only just glanced at it (and that the story has yet to start). So both good and not so much.That's the book that the film 'Stalker' is based on isn't it? If the film (which I like a lot) is anything to go by, I'm not surprised that it's a slow burner.
“Four Chancellors And A Funeral”, the second instalment of Russell “RussInCheshire” Jones' documentation of the deluge of shit hurled at us by the Conservative Party, has just landed on the doormat. I foresee a late night or two, and much FUMMIN'.
IN THE LAST YEARS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY THERE WAS TO BE
found among the fops and fools of the London coffee-houses one rangy,
gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cooke, more ambitious than talented, and
yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friends-in-folly, all of whom
were supposed to be educating at Oxford or Cambridge, had found the
sound of Mother English more fun to game with than her sense to labor
over, and so rather than applying himself to the pains of scholarship, had
learned the knack of versifying, and ground out quires of couplets after
the fashion of the day, afroth with Joves and Jupiters, aclang with jarring
rhymes, and string-taut with similes stretched to the snapping-point.
As poet, this Ebenezer was not better nor worse than his fellows, none
of whom left behind him anything nobler than his own posterity; but four
things marked him off from them. The first was his appearance: pale-haired
and pale-eyed, raw-boned and gaunt-cheeked, he stood— nay, angled— nine-
teen hands high. His clothes were good stuff well tailored, but they hung on
his frame like luffed sails on long spars. Heron of a man, lean-limbed and
long-billed, he walked and sat with loose-jointed poise; his every stance
was angular surprise, his each gesture half flail. Moreover there was a
discomposure about his face, as though his features got on ill together:
heron's beak, wolf-hound's forehead, pointed chin, lantern jaw, wash-blue
eyes, and bony blond brows had minds of their own, went their own ways,
and took up odd stances. They moved each independent of the rest and
fell into new configurations, which often as not had no relation to what one
took as his mood of the moment. And these configurations were shortlived,
for like restless mallards the features of his face no sooner were settled than
ha! they'd be flushed, and hi! how they'd flutter, every man for himself,
and no man could say what lay behind them.
The very same. A longish afterward talking about how hard it was to publish and how this version is back o the original text before it was heavily censored.Roadside picnic. Already half way through and feel like I have only just glanced at it (and that the story has yet to start). So both good and not so much.That's the book that the film 'Stalker' is based on isn't it? If the film (which I like a lot) is anything to go by, I'm not surprised that it's a slow burner.