Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 846629 times)

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #5175 on:** 26 December, 2017, 09:57:23 am »

Quote from: T42 on 26 December, 2017, 08:26:54 am

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 25 December, 2017, 10:28:15 pm
Quote from: Mr Larrington on 13 December, 2017, 08:24:22 pm
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.

Professor Larrington says she'll lend me King Rat at New Year, which she thinks I may find a bit more palatable.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5176 on:** 26 December, 2017, 11:46:21 am »

Kraken didn't work for me either, and I like Mieville. I remember King Rat being fairly enjoyable - I think it was his first novel? - and straightforward compared to his later stuff.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #5177 on:** 26 December, 2017, 06:07:37 pm »

La Belle Sausvage didn't take long, alas, and I don't anticipate Ben Aaronovitch's The Furthest Station is likely to occupy much of my time either. And then there'll be months to wait for the next instalment of either series

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #5178 on:** 26 December, 2017, 06:36:21 pm »

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.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5179 on:** 26 December, 2017, 07:13:47 pm »

Thankfully my local library had a copy of The Furthest Station on their shelves; alas, they don't seem to have the comic books, which I gather may fill in various plot details.

Possibly of interest: this year, Ben Aaronovitch is going to be one of the guests at Picocon (https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/picocon/ ), the Imperial SF society's annual mini-convention. I'm hoping to be there to catch up with old mates.

ian · « **Reply #5180 on:** 26 December, 2017, 07:22:32 pm »

I did find the latest Aaronovitch books a bit dull. Sorry, I know. Seemed to be a lot of treading water and no sharks.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #5181 on:** 27 December, 2017, 10:05:40 am »

Quote from: Mrs Pingu on 26 December, 2017, 06:36:21 pm

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.

Novellas? You mean there's more than one? Anyway, "The Furthest Station" had plenty of LOLZ in it and Abigail is shaping up nicely as a sidekick.

Now I have to choose between trying to finish some fat sci-fi thing by an Adrian Tchaikovsky that has made a permanent nest in the bottom of my rucksack, or the splendidly-monikered Edward Brooke-Hitching's "The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies And Blunders on Maps". I am tending towards the latter.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #5182 on:** 27 December, 2017, 10:14:31 am »

That one sounds up Pingu's street.

Canardly · « **Reply #5183 on:** 27 December, 2017, 10:20:11 am »

A Legacy of Spies, Le Carre.

professor palindrome · « **Reply #5184 on:** 04 January, 2018, 06:33:17 am »

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, which conjures up a long-vanished New York (burnt by Brits), weaves a tale of a mysterious stranger who has a bank draft for a worryingly large sum of money. "A life crowded with incident" ? Not one that would have given Lady Bracknell anything other than severe displeasure. And all the better for it.

The most fun I've had in the historical line since Pure by Andrew Miller (boneyard clearance in 18th century Paris: as in how did the city get Montrouge, Montparnasse and the one with the Moulin ?).

T42 · « **Reply #5185 on:** 04 January, 2018, 08:54:57 am »

Coming to the end of my M. John Harrison kick with Climbers, being about an unlovable bunch of Yorkshire rock-climbers. He never says so, but I can't not think of them as being smelly, too. Full of jargon but that's what reading on tablets is for, only Google Books have simply knocked out any accented characters so that looking for their version of arête took me to a Franco-German TV station. "Enjoying" isn't quite the right word for it. "Ploughing through", maybe.

DaveJ · « **Reply #5186 on:** 04 January, 2018, 11:06:46 pm »

The Essex Serpent, Victorian Essex, not my normal fare, but very enjoyable. Going from that to Blindsight, vampires in space, what's not to like?

Quint · « **Reply #5187 on:** 04 January, 2018, 11:11:59 pm »

WTF by Robert Peston, very very good.

Legs · « **Reply #5188 on:** 05 January, 2018, 09:14:06 am »

A Column of Fire, the latest in Ken Follett's Kingsbridge historical fiction series. Nothing too taxing, quite entertaining in a low-brow kind of way.

T42 · « **Reply #5189 on:** 05 January, 2018, 09:49:11 am »

Nice to see old Follicle's still alive. I always mix him up with Leslie Thomas.

Legs · « **Reply #5190 on:** 05 January, 2018, 10:28:38 am »

Wikipedia says he's only 68. I don't think there's much threat of imminent daisy-pushing for him, though of course you never can tell.

Never heard of Leslie Thomas. Was wondering how you could get Follett mixed up with Leslie Ding Dong Phillips, who I'm surprised (and happy) to see is still with us.

T42 · « **Reply #5191 on:** 05 January, 2018, 01:49:51 pm »

LT is worth a look-up. A lot of his stuff was on the best-seller lists of the 60s. The Dearest and the Best was my favourite.

Which reminds me of Home Fires Burning by Robert Inman, about a small town in the southern US during WW2. Some lovely bits in that.

perpetual dan · « **Reply #5192 on:** 05 January, 2018, 08:59:27 pm »

Spain to Norway on a bike called Reggie by Andrew Sykes was top of the christmas present pile of books. Gentle touring in Europe, makes me want to ride again.

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

mark · « **Reply #5193 on:** 05 January, 2018, 10:29:25 pm »

I'm most of the way through "Winston's War",by Max Hastings. Excellent portrait of Winston Churchill during the war years.

After reading the reviews and a few excerpts, I downloaded "Fire and Fury" to my kindle, and am really looking forward to it.

fuzzy · « **Reply #5194 on:** 05 January, 2018, 11:22:33 pm »

Gibraltar- The greatest siege in British history by Roy and Lesley Adkins.

What it says on the tin.

I am enjoying reading about a far away place (which I love) back in a far away time where many of the places mentioned are still there.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #5195 on:** 07 January, 2018, 11:52:33 am »

Quote from: mark on 05 January, 2018, 10:29:25 pm

I'm most of the way through "Winston's War",by Max Hastings. Excellent portrait of Winston Churchill during the war years.

Try "War Diaries" by Alan Brooke who was CIGS during WWII. Very illuminating on Churchill. Brooke was a fan but Churchill still drove him potty.

T42 · « **Reply #5196 on:** 07 January, 2018, 02:12:26 pm »

Years ago I ploughed through WC's own "Second World War" series. Interesting, but as he said himself "History will treat me well as I shall write it."

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #5197 on:** 08 January, 2018, 01:21:12 pm »

Just finished Vixen by Rosie Garland. Set in SW England in the 1300s during an outbreak of The Pestilence (plague), with priests, abuse, lesbians, hypocrisy, relics of saints and lots and lots of horse piss.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5198 on:** 09 January, 2018, 08:11:52 am »

David Reynolds' _In Command of History_ is all about the writing of Churchill's _The Second World War_, it's fascinating to see just how he shaped his reputation, as well as the other factors that influenced the books (WC's need to pay his bills, mainly...)

On a related note, _No More Champagne_ by David Lough is an economic and business historian's biography of Churchill via his finances. This sounds dull, but is actually really interesting; a lot of the things Churchill ended up doing were driven by his habit of living far beyond his not inconsiderable means.

Wascally Weasel · « **Reply #5199 on:** 10 January, 2018, 02:38:05 pm »

Quote from: Ashaman42 on 13 December, 2017, 10:30:25 pm

Reading The Player of Games for the fourth or fifth time.

That's my favourite Banks book.

Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 846629 times)

ian

fuzzy