What books are we reading at the moment ?

[citoyen]

Come to think of it, I don't recall that I ever got round to reading Espedair Street. I shall add it to my own very long list.

d.

[andrewc]

I was given "Under The Dome" by Stephen King as a Christmas present and started it last week.  Just finished it now, he certainly knows how to keep you turning the pages.  All 877 of them!   His usual small Maine town and cast of characters , but very well done.

[Bledlow]

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.

[Redlight]

Blair Unbound by Anthony Seldon.

Brilliant

Depressing

Worrying

[Wascally Weasel]

The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness.

[αdαmsκι]

I couldn't resit a brand new hardback copy of William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal, The Fall of a Dynasty that I found for £5 in The Works. I'm only a copy of chapters in, but given his other work is fantastic, I imagine this'll be great, although I do feel like I need a dictionary beside me when reading the book because Dalyrmple manages to use lots of words I've never heard of before.

[Nuncio]

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel.

[SandyV]

Breath - Tim Winton (and enjoying it immensely)

[Sergeant Pluck]

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon.

Superb read.

[Ian H]

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel.

I was given that for Christmas. It's next on my list.
Just finished LTC Rolt's biography of the Stephensons and now rereading Watt by Sam Beckett.

[JT]

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

I think the cliche is, a return to form.

[Nuncio]

I'm enjoying it (Wolf Hall).  I was frequently confused to start with before I realized that when there was any ambiguity 'he' always referred to Thomas Cromwell.  Hope that helps you Ian H.

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.

[citoyen]

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.

[LindaG]

The Age of Wonder.  How the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science.  By Richard Holmes.

So far, so (suprisingly) good.

[Nuncio]

Thanks Smudge.  I'll add it to the list (am currently ambivalent about Ackroyd, based on just on 2 of his works of fiction).

[bikenerd]

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.

[citoyen]

Thanks Smudge.  I'll add it to the list (am currently ambivalent about Ackroyd, based on just on 2 of his works of fiction).

Ah. Might I ask which two? I'm a huge fan of his, though even I would admit that his more recent stuff isn't a patch on his earlier works. He just seems to churn identikit books off a production line these days.

d.

[Flying_Monkey]

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.

One of his best, certainly... as for what it's about, well, I cant be sure, but I don't think it's about 'mights' - I think it's a commentary on the nature of reality as it is (or at least as PKD, in his gnostic way, saw it).

[jogler]

my JoGLE diary

[Nuncio]

Smudge - Hawksmoor and First Light. 

[toekneep]

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.

[citoyen]

Smudge - Hawksmoor and First Light. 

Hmm, well, neither is among his very best works but they are fairly representative, so I guess Ackroyd may not be for you. Still might be worth looking at the Thomas More biog if you're interested in the subject matter.

d.

[Moloko]

Someone kindly gave me completely gratis a copy of the Haynes Bike Book that they had found in their
large book collection.

Some parts of it regarding instruction, are really bad,  especially for a complete novice if they read it.
Their method of removing cotter pins, being one of them.  


Luckily cotter pins have now been mostly superseded, so there now won't be so many about with
bent-over shafted threads any more.

[clarion]

Half of my fleet of solos have cotter pins.

[Moloko]

Half of my fleet of solos have cotter pins.

I hope you can easily get the retaining nut back on on all of them.