What books are we reading at the moment ?

[BrianI]

"How To Win Friends And Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. An old book, originally published in the 1930s, but still very interesting.

[Mr Larrington]

Anzio ~ Lloyd Clark.  Could be interesting as most of what I know about the Italian campaign has been gleaned from Spike Milligoon's memoirs.

[mike]

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.  Much funnier and more readable than I expected.

[PeteB99]

Sea room by Adam Nicolson - Island life on the edge of Scotland

[E.C. Ryder]

Just started on `What you see is what you get` by Alan Sugar

[tiermat]

Just started "The Lollipop Shoes" by Joanne Harris, haven't read Chocolat, so it is a bit confusing to start with, until I realised there are two grown up female characters in the book!!!!

[Flying_Monkey]

Finally got round to reading The Siege by Ismail Kadare (which for some reason had slipped down my 'to read' pile). It really was brilliant. More people should read Kadare. I guess a lot of people haven't head of him, and those that have are put off by the fact that he's Albanian and 'intellectual'. But actually he has a really readable style, his English translator (David Bellos) is superb, and his novels can be read in many different ways. I would suggest starting with the The Siege if you don't know him, or Chronicle in Stone, if you want something a bit weightier.

[Oaky]

I'm still re-reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes (but nearly finished now!).

I have a queue of new books once I finish that though, all of which I'm really looking forward to:

Hungry Cyclist - Tom Kevill Davies
Freedom Evolves - Daniel Dennett
Zero History - William Gibson
Surface Detail - Iain M. Banks
Heartstone - C.J.Sansom

[Tail End Charlie]

Waterlog by Roger Deakin. He has a real way of using three words to conjure up a huge mental image.
It's a book about him wild swimming throughout Britain.

[Mr Larrington]

Life ~ Keith Richards.

Pretty much what you'd expect, i.e. sex, drugs, rock'n'roll.  His parents were keen cyclists.

[Bledlow]

Harukumi Murakami & Hilary Mantell.

Got through Wolf Hall, The Giant, O'Brien, Fludd & After the Quake so far.

Beyond Black & Kafka on the Shore await.

[Nuncio]

The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen.  I've been meaning to read it for years but have been spurred on by the publication of Freedom.  I thought it was going to be sardonic, knowing and cruel to its characters but it's not. It's even quite funny at times, in a literary kind of way.  I'm really enjoying it. I'm surprised it hasn't featured on this thread before.

[border-rider]

The newest Iain M Banks Culture novel,  Surface Detail, onna Kindle.

It's my first ebook-only purchase.

[citoyen]

Other People by Martin Amis. I used to like Martin Amis when I was a teenager, probably would have said he was my favourite author if pushed, but I gradually went off him the further he disappeared up his own arse. Time's Arrow was the last new book of his I read. But this is one of his early works that for some reason I've never got round to reading before. I started it on the train this morning and really didn't want to put it down at the end of the journey. I'm totally gripped. So far, it's been bleak, dark, poignant and yet very funny. Beautifully written, some exquisite turns of phrase. I dare say someone more knowledgeable than me can point out where he's nicked all the ideas from, but I'm not judging it for originality. It's raw and sometimes a bit rough around the edges, but this is Martin Amis from back when he actually cared about his craft more than his teeth. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen.  I've been meaning to read it for years but have been spurred on by the publication of Freedom.  I thought it was going to be sardonic, knowing and cruel to its characters but it's not. It's even quite funny at times, in a literary kind of way.  I'm really enjoying it. I'm surprised it hasn't featured on this thread before.

I read it when it first came out and absolutely loved it. Freedom being in the news has made me want to read it again. I also want to read Freedom, of course.

d.

[her_welshness]

'Eating for England' by Nigel Slater. A book full of small chapters about the beauties and horrors of our cultural gastronomy. Nigel Slater is a food God and a fabulous writer 

[citoyen]

Another area of literature on which we shall have to agree to differ, I'm afraid! I find Slater unbearably smug. And based on a few disastrous experiences with his recipes, I find it hard to believe they can possibly be tested prior to publication.

d.

[Oaky]

The newest Iain M Banks Culture novel,  Surface Detail, onna Kindle.

A dead-tree copy of that is in my (growing) to-be-read pile.

I'm not reading it yet though - this morning,  I picked another book out of the pile.  "The Hungry Cyclist" by Tom Kevill-Davies.

I'm about a fifth of the way through and I'm hooked.

[Jord]

Death Dealer by Rudolph Hoss - very disturbing I've no idea why I thought it would be anything different! I'm sure he never chose the title!

[Flying_Monkey]

I am reading a bargain-bin find called Night Train to Lisbon. It is supposed to have sold 2 million copies worldwide and has positive comments by Isabel Allende and some top reviewers.

So far, it is bilge. Self-indulgent, overwritten, portentous, dull bilge.

[her_welshness]

Another area of literature on which we shall have to agree to differ, I'm afraid! I find Slater unbearably smug. And based on a few disastrous experiences with his recipes, I find it hard to believe they can possibly be tested prior to publication.

d.

Have we disagreed before? As you have such lovely manners I cannot believe it! I loved his TV show 'Food of my Life' .

[citoyen]

IIRC you loved Andrea Levy and didn't think much of Tom McCarthy, which is the polar opposite of my view.

I suppose, this being the Internet, I should therefore go off on a vitriolic character assassination spree and maybe compare you to Hitler, but I've long since reconciled myself to the view that other people are allowed to have different opinions on books. Even if their opinions are wrong.

d.

[her_welshness]

IIRC you loved Andrea Levy and didn't think much of Tom McCarthy, which is the polar opposite of my view.

I suppose, this being the Internet, I should therefore go off on a vitriolic character assassination spree and maybe compare you to Hitler, but I've long since reconciled myself to the view that other people are allowed to have different opinions on books. Even if their opinions are wrong.

d.

Ahhh now I remember. Perhaps I was too harsh on McCarthy because an awful lot of people really enjoyed his book.

I was in the pub last week after a cycle ride, there was about 7 of us round the table having a chat. A rather intense chap starts up a conversation about Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl who played with fire'. He thought it was the worst book of the trilogy. He rather decimated the character of Lisbeth and said that it was totally unrealistic. He then said 'well if you read the book..' to which I interrupted 'I've read all three a few times duh I am a librarian after all'. I then pointed out that most people I have spoken to enjoyed it and moved the conversation onto another subject as we were the ony two people who had read the book.

He then diverted the subject of the conversation back to the book on 2 later occasions, and went onto explain why his opinion was correct, i.e. its teaching people that revenge is OK, that the female character could hack and kill people but the men were very black and white. It's *ucking fantasy, for gods sake. Just because I read the book does not make me want to grab some electrodes and stick them on a man's b*ll*cks!

[Wowbagger]

Just because I read the book does not make me want to grab some electrodes and stick them on a man's b*ll*cks!

You're no fun any more.

[noisycrank]

The One from the other - Philip Kerr

Great dialogue, interesting setting, slightly flawed plot B+
Joe Bob says check it out.

[her_welshness]

The One from the other - Philip Kerr

Great dialogue, interesting setting, slightly flawed plot B+
Joe Bob says check it out.

He is a fab writer!

Am currently reading 'The very best of Linda Smith'.