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

fd3 · « **Reply #6575 on:** 03 April, 2022, 01:20:26 am »

Mieville's Kraken, the library have supplied it in EXTRA LARGE HARDBACK edition.

TheLurker · « **Reply #6576 on:** 03 April, 2022, 02:43:19 pm »

Brideshead Revisited. A bit odd, but very readable.

rafletcher · « **Reply #6577 on:** 05 April, 2022, 11:10:19 am »

Well, finieshed the Inspector McClean, and felt. a little disappointed at the number of unresolved threads.
Anyway, now on to Betrayal, David Gilman's second outing for his character Dan Raglan aka The Englishman, a sort of British Orphan X or Reacher I suppose. Shallow but entertaining.

coops456 · « **Reply #6578 on:** 06 April, 2022, 09:39:38 am »

Quite enjoying Bonita Norris' The Girl Who Climbed Everest. Even more extreme than audaxing.

ravenbait · « **Reply #6579 on:** 06 April, 2022, 02:35:14 pm »

The Order of Sounds by Francois J Bonnet.

Fluvial Forms and Processes by David Knighton.

My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones.

Sam

T42 · « **Reply #6580 on:** 06 April, 2022, 02:55:39 pm »

Fell off the end of Blood Meridian and decided to re-read No Country for Old Men. The film is really true to the novel: I can hear Tommy Lee Jones' voice in the sheriff's interludes.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6581 on:** 06 April, 2022, 06:13:28 pm »

I see that James Oswald has also been a busy boy during teh Plague, having released a new Constance Fairchild bok at the tail end of 2021. This has become fairly silly very quickly and will almost certainly get a good deal sillier as DC Fairchild gets mixed up with MOAR Things that Are not Dreamed of in Horatio's Philosophy.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #6582 on:** 07 April, 2022, 01:40:37 pm »

Twelve Caesars - Mary Beard

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6583 on:** 09 April, 2022, 07:56:16 pm »

Professor Larrington informs me that the latest instalment of the Rivers Of London series has just been published. Presumably in these Days of Plague not even Ben Aaronovitch can delay publication indefinitely…

fd3 · « **Reply #6584 on:** 09 April, 2022, 11:28:33 pm »

^ I already haz my library booking.

T42 · « **Reply #6585 on:** 10 April, 2022, 08:40:35 am »

^Got it on Google Books yesterday. Now 64pp in so it's not going to last long.

fd3 · « **Reply #6586 on:** 10 April, 2022, 03:22:48 pm »

Never do. Mieville is a big shock in comparison, I would have finished a river of London in the time it took me to not get through half of Kraken.

Andy64 · « **Reply #6587 on:** 10 April, 2022, 04:50:54 pm »

Rather than start a different thread, I thought this might be the best place to post this.
Amazon Kindles are reduced for now. Basic one is £39.99, Paperwhites/Kids £99.99/£94.99.
So if you want one, the reduced prices usually last a week or so

Ruthie · « **Reply #6588 on:** 10 April, 2022, 05:25:33 pm »

To Drown in Dark Water by Steve Toase

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6589 on:** 10 April, 2022, 07:57:09 pm »

Waterloo Sunrise by John Davis, as previously noted. So far we've had the Introduction and chapters on strip clubs, fashion and restaurants. Just started the one about housing.

T42 · « **Reply #6590 on:** 11 April, 2022, 08:53:03 am »

Quote from: fd3 on 10 April, 2022, 03:22:48 pm

Never do. Mieville is a big shock in comparison, I would have finished a river of London in the time it took me to not get through half of Kraken.

Kraken is a right cynical pot-boiler. I reckon he was just turning the handle and thinking the punters would buy it anyway. It put me right off him, though. Embassytown was OK, though, if you liked Kafka's In the Penal Colony.

fd3 · « **Reply #6591 on:** 11 April, 2022, 11:30:17 am »

I’m enjoying it, but it does have some issues: un/ill-explained plot, heavy use of the thesaurus for no good reason, short dabbling in side plot that doesn’t get expanded for no discernible reason.

Legs · « **Reply #6592 on:** 11 April, 2022, 12:16:47 pm »

The Regulators by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. I'm about halfway through and struggling because it's just a bit shit.

fd3 · « **Reply #6593 on:** 11 April, 2022, 03:05:23 pm »

Quote from: Legs on 11 April, 2022, 12:16:47 pm

The Regulators by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. I'm about halfway through and struggling because it's just a bit shit.

Must say that is my general sentiment about King.

Legs · « **Reply #6594 on:** 11 April, 2022, 03:46:27 pm »

I gave up on the execrable Lisey's Story, but other than that I find him very readable (I've read about 50 of his books and collections). À chacun son goût, of course, but I really rate his characterisation and enjoy his yarns. I prefer the non-supernatural stuff (Dolores Claiborne, Blaze, Misery, Shawshank...) to the supernatural.

T42 · « **Reply #6595 on:** 11 April, 2022, 04:50:10 pm »

Quote from: fd3 on 11 April, 2022, 11:30:17 am

I’m enjoying [Kraken], but it does have some issues: un/ill-explained plot, heavy use of the thesaurus for no good reason, short dabbling in side plot that doesn’t get expanded for no discernible reason.

Yes: sometimes I had the impression that he was using the thesaurus at random and not bothering too much about meanings, leaving the connections as an exercise for the student. IOW, condescendingly bullshitting.

ian · « **Reply #6596 on:** 11 April, 2022, 07:44:59 pm »

Does the River of London improve on the last one, if not, I won't bother following the thrilling adventures of Peter delivering food and being told for the 9,565,461st time where his mum is from.

Never managed to get to the end of a China Mieville book, there's only so much suffering I can do under the avalanche of superfluous detail.

I have, on the other hand, quite enjoyed the works of Stephen King – there are a few misses, of course – but he's really written some great stuff. Admittedly, a lot of it has been turned, with a few exceptions, into some terrible movies.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6597 on:** 11 April, 2022, 10:07:47 pm »

They didn’t have the latest from Mr Aaronovitch is Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles chiz, so I'll either have to buy it online or launch An Expotition to travel the whole mile-and-a-bit to Waterstones in 'stow Central. In any case it’s going to take a while to finish my b-i-l's tome as it’s too weighty to be comfortably read in bed.

Nuncio · « **Reply #6598 on:** 12 April, 2022, 10:13:33 pm »

Crossroads by Jonathan Frantzen. More dissections of dysfunctional American family life. Funny bits. Poignant bits. Squirmily embarrassing bits. Masterfully structured and plotted. I found the end somewhat underwhelming and then found out it's the first of a trilogy.

coops456 · « **Reply #6599 on:** 13 April, 2022, 12:11:31 pm »

The Pride of the Lionesses by Carrie Dunn, covering the changes to women's football with the professionalisation of the WSL. It's not a history of the game (for that see her previous work, The Roar of the Lionesses) but more a snapshot of events over the 2017-19 seasons concluding with the 2019 World Cup.
It raises some very interesting issues about the drawbacks of turning professional, and around the relationship and balance between grass-roots opportunities, investment, and national team success. A timely read with less than 100 days to go before England hosts the Euros in July.