What books are we reading at the moment ?

[Ham]

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?

(this will influence whether I consider this book)

[citoyen]

What did you think of Cloud Atlas?

Haven't read it yet.

However, from what I've heard, they're very different books. Thousand Autumns is much more of a straightforward narrative than Cloud Atlas, albeit with some quirky stylistic tics. I do like the way he writes though.

I'm totally captivated by Thousand Autumns, not blind to its faults but very much enjoying being taken along for the ride. I can see why some people don't like it, find it irritating.

d.

[red marley]

I've not read many of Mitchell's works, but would recommend Black Swan Green. It sort of plays with the idea of the coming of age novel without being too clever for its own good.

[bikepacker]

Has anyone read Bicycle Diaries: 40 Days Around the Coast of a Changing Ireland and if so is it worth buying?

[citoyen]

I've not read many of Mitchell's works, but would recommend Black Swan Green. It sort of plays with the idea of the coming of age novel without being too clever for its own good.

I've added it to my to-read list, along with Cloud Atlas, Number9Dream and Ghostwritten...

d.

[Exit Stage Left]

Gift Horse by Hildegard Knef.
My curiosity was aroused by her Wikipedia entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_Knef which I came across following my search for  a German language version of Mack the Knife. The book was one of the sources that Antony Beevor used for his book 'Downfall' about the fall of Berlin in 1945. It's got a very flat and matter of fact style about some extraordinary events. Some of the tone of it can be inferred from Knef's interpretation of 'The Lady is a Tramp', which she wrote the German lyrics for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnmkHMFdoAk&feature=related
The plan was to give it to Heather's sister for her birthday, but I'm enjoying it, and it has rekindled my interest in German, which I've neglected for my French, although I'll end up with a Berlin accent.

[Feline]

I am reading Graeme Obree's 'The Obree Way'.
His training tips are legendary and not what I was expecting at all. Forget recovery drinks, just eat Mackerel on toast 
I now understand why despite my miles on the bike I am not fast. Not only do I not like pain, but I don't actually want to win anyway 

[David Martin]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

[lou boutin]

Inspired by seeing the dramatisation on TV and not quite remembering what happened in the book, I am re-reading Parades End.

[her_welshness]

Currently reading 'The Harbour' by Francesca Brill. Her Mum is one of my Reading Group ladies 

And so onto this years 'Reading the Shortlist of the Booker Prize' Challenge.

It is a bad start. I have not begun reading any of them yet  It does not help that I have not even read 'Wolf Hall' as the follow-up to 'Bring up the Bodies' has also been nominated. Plus this year, the focus is on prose as to readability. Will Self's 'Umbrella' has no paragraphs or chapters 

[spesh]

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.

A quote from geneticist and evolutionary biologist J.B.S. Haldane springs to mind:

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.

Having just finished reading The Secret Race myself, it's fair to say that the world of professional cycling is not only dirtier than we imagined, it is dirtier than we can imagine.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I think that it will be just as interesting to see what is happening in the peloton now, when the current racers start spilling their guts. Things haven't got much better, just more devious IMHO.

[tiermat]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

I have that on my e-reader, ready.  Saw the film, loved it, Mrs T won't watch it due to it "making me cry"!!!

I have finished Skagboys, very good, makes me want to re-watch Trainspotting.

Read "Swimming Home" in one sitting, it's ok, but not really my kind of thing, could spot what was going to happen from about page 20, the rest of it was just filling.

No reading "Hilarity Ensued" by Tucker Max.  I don't know if I feel sorry for the guy or sympathy for anyone who happens to share a bar with him, especially if they are female.  The guy, in a word, is a dick, he knows it and plays up to it.  He obviously makes a good living from being a dick.  Sort of a book version of Jackass.

[citoyen]

Talking of Mrs T*, I'm now reading The Champion by Tim Binding. Both my parents liked it and it's been compared favourably to In The Line Of Beauty, which I loved, but I'm really not feeling it so far. Finding it quite irritating, in fact.

d.

*See what I did there?

[RJ]

Andy Wightman's The Poor Had No Lawyers

Good, if slightly depressing/angry-making stuff ...

[her_welshness]

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

[tiermat]

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...

[her_welshness]

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...

Cool - what did you think? What are you going to read next?

[tiermat]

h_w, I am thinking The Lighthouse next, going to try to keep what appears to be the heaviest (The Garden of Evening Mists) until last.

Shall report back, once done (I have a 3 hour train journey on Friday, that should see me get through a good chuck of The Lighthouse.

[citoyen]

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! 

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. 

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.

[her_welshness]

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! 

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. 

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.

I saw Will Self at a cycling seminar and I thought he was brilliant, although Obree was also speaking so it was hard to tell who was better  I never really got Self's 'Psychogeography' articles, so it put me off reading his books!

Have not come across Ned Beauman before, am always on the lookout for inspiration for my Reading Group, thanks!

Tiermat - looking forward to reading what you think about The Lighthouse. I think am going to read 'Narcopolis' next.

[Lady Cavendish]

Today my world has changed. I've got a kindle. Why on EARTH have I not had one before?!?" I've been happily downloading away today It's hard to know where to start though..... so many books, not enough time.

[Auntie Helen]

Yeah, and so many rubbish books. I've spent the last two years downloading free books because I am a cheapskate. I'd say that 50% of them are completely hopeless and I give up, 40% are pretty mediocre but OK for free, 5% are quite good and 5% are very good.

I find iBooks cheaper than Kindle generally for the same book so use that if the book is available on it (I'm reading on an iPad) but iBooks doesn't have everything. Still, the ability to just pick up a book wherever you are is fab - particularly as the iPhone and iPad remember where you got to reading the book, irrespective of the device, which is really handy!

[tiermat]

The Lighthouse is another short one, I am 1/4 of the way through it already.  Thoughts so far are that is quite pedestrian, but has spent so far in the book just setting up the characters (the person going on a walking holiday to "find himself", the weird dutchman with a fractious relationship with his mother, the slutty, DV-victim hotel keeper's wife, and the hotel keeper himself).

Hope it picks up a bit soon otherwise I might just find myself nodding off whilst reading it.  I think after this will either be Narcopolis or "Bring Up The Bodies"

[citoyen]

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.

Following a visit to Rye last weekend and a conversation with my wife, I've also downloaded the complete Mapp & Lucia novels for just 77p.

As if I don't already have quite enough on my to-read pile to keep me going for years...

d.