Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ?  (Read 835656 times)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5825 on: 10 December, 2019, 10:43:50 am »
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.

The Shining was the first SK I ever read, bought in the foyer of the rather nice hotel - regency-styled furniture in the corridors, tall velvet curtains, big wide bed  - I'd been lodged in by the company I was visiting in Milan.  By the time I finished it, at 2:45 am, I hardly dared go into the marble-tiled bathroom for a slash.

Will look for Dr. Sleep in due course.  Our bathroom's all resin.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5826 on: 10 December, 2019, 07:03:15 pm »
"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#

Ta for the heads up!
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5827 on: 10 December, 2019, 10:03:11 pm »
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.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5828 on: 15 December, 2019, 01:49:17 pm »
Just started Ian Rankin's long-lost techno-thriller "Westwind".
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5829 on: 15 December, 2019, 02:25:34 pm »
Just finished Motherless Brooklyn. Well worth the €9.54.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5830 on: 15 December, 2019, 09:32:34 pm »
Life on the Edge. Quantum biology. (I didn't even know that was a thing.)
Rust never sleeps

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5831 on: 16 December, 2019, 12:00:56 am »
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?
On chapter 15 (there are about 60 though).

Oh, I did this last year! Have you tried The Martian Chronicles?
All copies missing from Birmingham Library.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5832 on: 16 December, 2019, 04:22:09 pm »
Partway through The Scarfolk Annual
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5833 on: 16 December, 2019, 04:41:59 pm »
Just starting another Jonathan Lethem, "As She Crawled Across The Table".
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5834 on: 16 December, 2019, 04:53:04 pm »
Currently Enjoying Simon Armitage's _All Points North_; recent books have included _The Brothers York_, Dr. Hutch's _Faster_. a John Scalzi SF thing (lightweight but fun), and Iain M Bank's _Matter_.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5835 on: 16 December, 2019, 05:54:15 pm »
I know I've read Ian Rankin's "In A House Of Lies" before, so how come it managed not to be either on my Kindle or in my Calibre library?

"Westwind" was a bit meh and has not aged well.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5836 on: 16 December, 2019, 06:26:55 pm »

"Westwind" was a bit meh and has not aged well.

I felt it was cashing in on his later success, and thus ignored it.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Kim

  • Timelord
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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5837 on: 17 December, 2019, 12:29:14 am »
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:


[1] The authors have spared us the usual crimes against grammar and typesetting.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5838 on: 17 December, 2019, 07:34:18 pm »
Just finished It, now reading the Wasp Factory, my first Iain Banks (rather than M Banks)
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5839 on: 17 December, 2019, 08:13:20 pm »
I'm re-reading Ring of Bright Water, on account of looking at OS maps.

I found myself drawn into the OS maps of South Skye, the way you do.
My eyes were drawn to the contours, and you follow them through places with beguiling Gaelic names, and so it was I came to Glenelg, and then to the remote isolated bay of Sandaig.
That was the setting for the book, although Gavin Maxwell never referred to it by that name, calling it Camusferna.

I discovered that the name of the book was not simply a literal geographical observation.
It was taken from the opening lines of a pome by his contemporary and friend, Kathleen Raine.
A pome called 'The Marriage of Psyche', referring to the tale of Cupid and Psyche, from the larger work of Metamorphoses.

"He has married me with a ring, a ring of bright water
Whose ripples travel from the heart of the sea,
He has married me with a ring of light, the glitter
Broadcast on the swift river."

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5840 on: 17 December, 2019, 08:28:42 pm »
Just looked that up, great pome, speaks to me of travel and discovery
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5841 on: 17 December, 2019, 10:19:49 pm »
Just finished book #76 of the year - wondering if I can hit 80. Given that my target was 52 I'm pretty pleased with how much reading I've managed.
Miles cycled 2014 = 3551.5 (Target 7300 :()
Miles cycled 2013 = 6141.4
Miles cycled 2012 = 4038.1

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5842 on: 22 December, 2019, 09:17:43 pm »
“Brave New World”, which I’ve not read before.  Easy to read & slightly quaint, the sort of society Toby Young would admire.

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2007/nov/17/classics.margaretatwood
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5843 on: 23 December, 2019, 08:58:31 am »
Mr. S. King's Doctor Sleep. Guaranteed not to keep you awake.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

ian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5844 on: 24 December, 2019, 10:39:31 am »
Mr. S. King's Doctor Sleep. Guaranteed not to keep you awake.

I wandered off to read something else, but I'm quite enjoying it, there's a slow tectonic coming together of the two protagonists which is essentially what the book is about.

Minor gripe, there's an occasional unnecessary foreshadowing clunker.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5845 on: 24 December, 2019, 01:41:10 pm »
Little did she know...
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5846 on: 25 December, 2019, 11:22:10 am »
The Spirit Of Hawkwind 1969-1976, co-authored by Nik Turner, has just crawled out of some fancy wrapping paper, as has the second edition of Atlas Obscura.  Hoorah!
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5847 on: 26 December, 2019, 03:58:53 pm »
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:

It gets better:  They've just recommended air freshener as a useful thing to bring to hospital, in case the patient in the next bed is emitting bodily fluids due to post-anaesthetic nausea, or similar.   ??? :facepalm:

Disclaimer: In the event that I end up in hospital for whatever reason (but especially those involving the upper digestive tract, general anaesthesia or opiates), anyone attempting to improve their stay by squirting Glade in my presence had better be a fan of The Exorcist.


[Yes, I'm making slow progress:  It's not a very interesting book, I've been busy, and I keep having stop to allow my sarcasm time to dissipate.]

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5848 on: 26 December, 2019, 04:25:54 pm »
@Kim. Ewwww! Reminds me of the time I was in hospital for a bowel resection. The guy in the next bed had been fitted with a bag. Despite being fully mobile he refused to use the loos to change his bag, rather he would do it at his bed. Then use Poundland's cheap Lynx copy to "mask" the smell. Luckily he was discharged before any injuries were caused.
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5849 on: 26 December, 2019, 04:56:13 pm »
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...