Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 846639 times)

rafletcher · « **Reply #5425 on:** 17 September, 2018, 04:19:40 pm »

Against my better judgement, I'm giving Val McDermid's latest, "Broken Ground" a go. Early days yet, but there's already two female characters "Willow" and "Dandy"

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mark · « **Reply #5426 on:** 19 September, 2018, 03:35:24 am »

Fear:Trump in the White House, by Bob Woodward. That stupid, ignorant crook just might destroy what's left of democracy in the US.

Legs · « **Reply #5427 on:** 19 September, 2018, 10:43:01 am »

The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).

I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.

ian · « **Reply #5428 on:** 21 September, 2018, 10:12:25 pm »

Quote from: ian on 17 September, 2018, 10:05:35 am

Catching up on John Connolly's excellent Charlie Parker series.

Charlie's going to West Virginia.

Oh, there was blood. Splendid. A perfect blend of crimifying and spookosity. And I wish I could write that well.

T42 · « **Reply #5429 on:** 22 September, 2018, 11:23:34 am »

Dan Simmons' Joe Kurtz series. He's been reading James Ellroy.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5430 on:** 22 September, 2018, 01:24:36 pm »

Quote from: ian on 21 September, 2018, 10:12:25 pm

Quote from: ian on 17 September, 2018, 10:05:35 am
Catching up on John Connolly's excellent Charlie Parker series.

Charlie's going to West Virginia.

Oh, there was blood. Splendid. A perfect blend of crimifying and spookosity. And I wish I could write that well.

Annoyingly, none of my local libraries have the first books in the series; worth tracking down to start there, or dive in with what they've got?

I've finally finished painting the alcove shelves downstairs, so have been emptying boxes of books and finding stuff I'd forgotten I had; the size of my to-read pile has just doubled again, mind. (And seeing how much space they free up, I think I'm going to have to build some for the living room as well...)

ian · « **Reply #5431 on:** 22 September, 2018, 01:46:11 pm »

You can read them standalone, but it's really worth reading them in order as things develop over time, especially the supernatural elements. It's a no bad thing because each book is so well done, but the actual individual plots are to a degree formulaic, the real story is in the background and spans the series.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5432 on:** 22 September, 2018, 02:59:56 pm »

Ta; will see if I can get a copy reserved and sent to my local branch then.

perpetual dan · « **Reply #5433 on:** 22 September, 2018, 07:33:40 pm »

I’ve just started “capitalism without capital”, as an alternative to being angry on twitter during my commute.

Jakob W · « **Reply #5434 on:** 27 September, 2018, 02:56:13 pm »

Iain M Banks' _Consider Phlebas_, picked up for 50p from a hospital charity bookstall as something to keep me occupied while I waited for my appointment. I read one or two of the Culture books about 15 years ago, and for some reason I never read any more; at the time they mustn't have grabbed me so much, but this is terrific space opera. Will have to try the rest now.

rafletcher · « **Reply #5435 on:** 02 October, 2018, 08:19:51 am »

Having skim read the McDermid (Broken Ground, full of cliches), and then ditched the latest Stephen Booth (Fall Down Dead, juvenile) after 30 pages, I'm into "Memo from Turner" by Tim Willocks. So far so good.

citoyen · « **Reply #5436 on:** 02 October, 2018, 12:52:18 pm »

Quote from: Legs on 19 September, 2018, 10:43:01 am

The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).

I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.

I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.

I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...

T42 · « **Reply #5437 on:** 02 October, 2018, 01:21:17 pm »

Having watched Netflix's The Expanse I downloaded Leviathan Wakes, the first of the James S. Corey novels it was based on. Pleasing: he got the conventional physics right and made the unconventional halfway convincing. I nearly baled out when I watched the first Expanse episode, snorting at people clumping around in Ceres' 0.029 g as if they were on Earth, and of course at spaceships making a noise. The book is much better: Ceres was spun up to yield 0.3 g just inside the surface and the rockets don't even hiss. I'm a wee bit sceptical, though, that spaceship hulls would all be ferrous enough for mag boots to work.

Legs · « **Reply #5438 on:** 02 October, 2018, 01:49:58 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 02 October, 2018, 12:52:18 pm

Quote from: Legs on 19 September, 2018, 10:43:01 am
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).

I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.

I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.

I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...

I'm rather enjoying it. The protagonists are all complete cockwombles, though. No monocles, yet, but I'm quite eager for Bunny to FOAD (which - it won't be too much of a spoiler to reveal - he will).

ian · « **Reply #5439 on:** 02 October, 2018, 01:52:01 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 02 October, 2018, 12:52:18 pm

Quote from: Legs on 19 September, 2018, 10:43:01 am
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).

I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.

I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.

I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...

I think you have to be a certain impressionable age. I read The Goldfinch when that came out and it was an awful trudge. On that basis I dipped back into The Secret History, and it turned out to be much the same.

T42 · « **Reply #5440 on:** 02 October, 2018, 02:30:28 pm »

I believe there was quite an upturn in the fortunes of the Birdsplat Pen C° when TSH came out.

ElyDave · « **Reply #5441 on:** 03 October, 2018, 10:12:48 am »

Finished H is for Hawk, slightly peters away at the end but a good read

Then zipped through a book on the SOE missions to destroy the heavy water projets in Norway. A bit wider scope than the Ray Mears book which focussed on the group on the Hardanger Vidda.

Now ploughing through A Brief History Of Time. The bit on fundamental particles is screwing with my head, It's green, no it's blue, but if it's down and next to an up, it's red - I think these theoretical physicists are making it up as they go along.

citoyen · « **Reply #5442 on:** 03 October, 2018, 10:38:58 am »

Quote from: ian on 02 October, 2018, 01:52:01 pm

I think you have to be a certain impressionable age. I read The Goldfinch when that came out and it was an awful trudge. On that basis I dipped back into The Secret History, and it turned out to be much the same.

I've had The Goldfinch on my Kindle for a while but haven't got round to starting it yet. I suspect I never will.

ian · « **Reply #5443 on:** 03 October, 2018, 11:19:28 am »

It's not, imho, time well spent. It reads like a laboured SH. It just doesn't flow, everyone in it is unlikeable and rather dull, and the plot contrived. And it goes on forever. Buying a cup of coffee would take eight pages of description. I slogged through to the end. You know it's a bad book when you keep checking the per cent read.

It looks like you're trying to write a book to win literary prizes? asks Clippy.

citoyen · « **Reply #5444 on:** 03 October, 2018, 11:28:09 am »

I felt much the same about The Little Friend. Some good stuff in it but it's far, far too long.

LongDistanceClara · « **Reply #5445 on:** 07 October, 2018, 09:09:33 pm »

The Goldfinch is excellent value (especially for me since it was one of 3 books for a pound at the village fete, boom) and could have been edited down but then you’d lose the almost unbearable sharpness and drama of the ending. I think it was quite clever in the way that the page count matched the weight/duration of the experience therein

Quote from: ian on 02 October, 2018, 01:52:01 pm

Quote from: citoyen on 02 October, 2018, 12:52:18 pm
Quote from: Legs on 19 September, 2018, 10:43:01 am
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (yes, I know I'm about 25 years behind the curve).

I'm only 3% through and the cast of pretentious bellends is already getting on my wick. I'm waiting for someone to crop up reciting Proust, wearing a fucking monocle soon.

I first read it when I was an impressionable 19yo. ISTR I loved it at the time.

I read it again a couple of years ago and HATED it...

I think you have to be a certain impressionable age. I read The Goldfinch when that came out and it was an awful trudge. On that basis I dipped back into The Secret History, and it turned out to be much the same.

ElyDave · « **Reply #5446 on:** 18 October, 2018, 08:40:43 pm »

finished A Brief History of Time, quite enjoyed it, may read selected bits again.

Now Reading Dave Gorman's America Unchained

Next a book about Edward IV

Only one more week of Saudi to go.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #5447 on:** 19 October, 2018, 12:16:48 pm »

Max "Hitler" Hastings' breeze-block sized history of the Vietnam War is staring accusingly at me every time I go into the kitchen, as if to say "stop twatting around with Babbage-Engines and start reading me!"

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #5448 on:** 19 October, 2018, 05:49:33 pm »

Charles Stross, Singularity Sky.
Quite enjoying it actually.

Gattopardo · « **Reply #5449 on:** 19 October, 2018, 05:52:58 pm »

Quote from: Jakob W on 27 September, 2018, 02:56:13 pm

Iain M Banks' _Consider Phlebas_, picked up for 50p from a hospital charity bookstall as something to keep me occupied while I waited for my appointment. I read one or two of the Culture books about 15 years ago, and for some reason I never read any more; at the time they mustn't have grabbed me so much, but this is terrific space opera. Will have to try the rest now.

See my earlier comment about m.banks