What books are we reading at the moment ?

[Peter]

Wonder why they used a picture of Noel Coward to illustrate the Chinese?  Probably for the same reason that they used all the others!

[Ham]

They used him for the Japanese, too

[Mr Larrington]

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.

[interzen]

Dividing The Great by John Metcalfe.
Yet another account of the GDMBR and more research material for next year's Silly Bike Adventure - there seems to be a large number of detailed descriptions of bodily functions performed under duress, which is probably a sure sign that it was written by a Brit.

A bit light on detail, but quite funny nonetheless. No photos, though 

[Mr Larrington]

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.

I'm now halfway through Red Bones, the bok on which Shetland was based.  I don't think watching the thing has detracted in any way from my enjoyment of the book.  Why TF do TV adaptions take such liberties with the story

[Riggers]

Just found this in a charity shop. Invaluable.

That one looks an absolute hoot! Any interesting and informative musings from within the book that can be passed on Mr Chumley-Walker? Er, Biffers? You lucky devil.

Actually Biffers, having slipped unknownst onto a certain Scarfolk blog website, I realise I've been 'sucked in', if one may use that term without certain members (there I go again) fanarr-fanarr-ing behind their hands. Duped. But … enjoyably duped. Well done.

[PaulR]

strornery indeed, that book!

Anyway, I''ve just finished "The Finkler Question" (didn't really get much out of it) and "Barring Mechanicals" (a real joy to read) and am now in the middle of Terry Eagleton's "Why Marx was right" and Ian Sinclair's "London Orbital".

[tiermat]

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.

[LindaG]

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 

[mmmmartin]

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

[tiermat]

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 

Not yet, no, book first, then film, the way I always like to do it (otherwise I start reading the book and think "I know what happens")

[Riggers]

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

Just had a quick look on Amazon, and dipped into the section Look inside. Looks jolly interesting. A trip of a lifetime. Sadly, I can't justify forking out £18.00 for a book, and a paperback as well.

[RJ]

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'm working my way rather slowly through this - slowly, because it's so well-written I can't really leave chapters unfinished, and I don't often have time to read a whole chapter.  Davies strikes me as a very human and humane historian, which IMO is a good thing.

As pcolbeck says, it's not only entertaining, but also thought-provoking.  I'd add a level of complexity, which is that of the (political) state, on top of that of "people" and "nation".  Well worth the effort, even if non-fiction or history are not your thing(s).

[citoyen]

I forced myself to finish The Art Of Fielding. God, it's awful. Tawdry, pretentious, pseudo-literary twaddle. Dull clichéd prose, dull predictable plot, dull one-dimensional characters. The universally positive reviews in the highbrow press are a clear case of Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome.

Vanished Kingdoms sounds good. I've added it to my to-read list.

[citoyen]

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)

Cor! I think that trumps the letter I got from Christopher Fry when I was directing a student production of The Lady's Not For Burning.

d.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

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!

[her_welshness]

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!

  Cool! She was on Radio 4's Open Book yesterday with Mariella Frostrup, it sounds intriguing. Going to order these for my Reading Group!

[ian]

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.

Hmm, this petered out pretty quickly (soon after I'd ponied up the cash). After a while the jokes, whilst funny in a short format, became tiring and didn't make up for a lack of plot or narrative when stretched to novel length. A bit of a trudge in the end.

Currently reading 'Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History' by S. C. Gwynne. A well-told narrative about the frontier clash between two very different civilisations.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Anyone read any Dale Maharidge? 

A US author who seems follow in the wake of Steinbeck except as a journalist.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Maharidge

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

No? 

Oh well, I have ordered 'Homeland' (£6, mostly postage, from the USA).

Amazon says: "This exceptional collection shows Gifford at the height of his powers, navigating with ease the new, more fragmented imaginative landscape of post-9/11 America. Gifford seems to have anticipated themes that suddenly are recognisable everywhere: the fragility of identity; the power of coincidence; the illusion of a secure future. In contrast to his often nightmarish novels of the 1990s, Wild At Heart, Perdita Duranga, and Night People, this is a gentle overture, a submission of grace and beauty at a time when cultural discourse has moved in the opposite direction."   (Which is strange because the book is by Maharidge)

A UK reviewer says:

"..an excellent introduction to the nationalist psychopathologies that haunt the American heartland and came dramatically and dangerously to the surface after 9/11. Maharidge is an excellent journalist who concentrates on individual and atypical Americans but at the same time never loses sight of the bigger picture behind the emergence of a more aggressive and intolerant America and that picture is economic decline."

A US reviewer says:

"Maharidge makes no secret of his left-wing perspective, but that doesn't mean this book is a political tract. On the contrary, he bends over backwards to be fair and non-judgmental toward the people he interviews, even when he's talking with white supremacists and other unsavory characters. Maharidge has his own opinion, but thankfully, he also has a genuine desire to understand events from the perspective of those who differ from him politically."

[citoyen]

Never heard of him. Sounds interesting though.

[mark]

'The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks', by Jeanne Theoharris. For those who don't remember, Rosa Parks was the political activist/seamstress who started the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s in the US when she refused to comply with Alabama's segregation laws while riding a public bus. Turns out that she was a much more complex character than the one I learned about in school.

[Wascally Weasel]

'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline - so much fun I got public transport to work today rather than cycled so I could continue reading it.

Almost as much fun as 'Snow Crash' was the first time round.

[citoyen]

Communion Town by Sam Thompson

A collection of ten short stories, all set in a fictional city that seems to be a blend of various elements of London and New York. It's a bit of an exercise in literary showboating. Technically accomplished writing but slightly pretentious and wilfully oblique, attempting to create a sense of mystery by hinting at underlying threads that tie the stories together. The story I've just finished is a neat pastiche of Chandler. Meh. Chandler pastiches are so old hat, however well they're done. I'm mostly enjoying it so far though.

[billplumtree]

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???

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.

And the wonderfully forumly

Like the previous advertiser, but +1.  Box no. 2850