Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 843337 times)

nobby · « **Reply #6350 on:** 11 July, 2021, 08:19:40 am »

Not sure if I have mentioned this book before because I have been reading it all year: Everyday Day Nature by Andy Beer.
A nature related entry for each day of the year.
Very interesting

citoyen · « **Reply #6351 on:** 12 July, 2021, 09:47:42 pm »

My copy of Perfume by Patrick Suskind

I haven’t got to the bit where he invents a robot that smells cheese yet.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6352 on:** 13 July, 2021, 01:18:37 am »

For some inexplicable reason Miss von Brandenburg thinks Parfum is one of the bestest book evvah, to the extent that she gave me a copy for my birthday.

Twice

citoyen · « **Reply #6353 on:** 13 July, 2021, 07:20:54 am »

But no iPod?

I’m enjoying it very much so far.

nobby · « **Reply #6354 on:** 14 July, 2021, 04:21:02 pm »

Blood, Metal and Dust by Ben Barry.

The withdrawals from Iraq 2 and Afghanistan by a British Army Brigadier.
Interesting to read the events in their correct order, the politics and military actions behind the events and covering all the nations involved.
The author has a tendency to tell you something in a sentence and then repeat it in a different sentence in the same or next paragraph. A method taught to all British Army instructors in days of yore to successfully teach dangerous things to a wide range of IQ's learning together. It's a tad irritating

T42 · « **Reply #6355 on:** 14 July, 2021, 04:50:14 pm »

I seem to be on a Dan Simmons kick just now. Just got a sample of his The Crook Factory on my tablet. Apparently about the spy ring that Ernest Hemingway ran in Cuba. I'll get round to it when I've done re-reading The Fall of Hyperion.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #6356 on:** 14 July, 2021, 09:03:13 pm »

I'm re-reading Doktor Glas by Hjalmar Södeberg. My parsimony got the better of me and I bought the £1 version for the Kindle, not the £7 one. The cheapo one uses the old Swedish alphabet and I'm having to reacquaint myself with it. Good yarn though; about a doctor who poisons a priest to set free his oppressed wife. Written as a series of diary entries over one summer by the eponymous doctor, who gradually convinces himself that doing away with the priest would be the right thing to do.

nobby · « **Reply #6357 on:** 16 July, 2021, 08:17:34 am »

Has anyone read Sarah Outen's 'Dare to Do'?
Is it a worthwhile read for an armchair adventurer?

hatler · « **Reply #6358 on:** 16 July, 2021, 08:42:47 am »

She had a couple of films in the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Amazing woman.

nobby · « **Reply #6359 on:** 16 July, 2021, 12:31:17 pm »

Quote from: hatler on 16 July, 2021, 08:42:47 am

She had a couple of films in the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Amazing woman.

Thank you. I take it that is a recommend

fd3 · « **Reply #6360 on:** 24 July, 2021, 05:43:18 pm »

Hyperion, due to it being mentioned upthread. I had not idea what it would be like and it's very good - found the Sol/Rachel story proper moving. Two more chapters to go - not sure I want to "spoil it" with the sequels.

woollypigs · « **Reply #6361 on:** 24 July, 2021, 08:38:14 pm »

I've read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion and enjoyed then. There is two more in the series, I hear that they are good.

T42 · « **Reply #6362 on:** 25 July, 2021, 01:30:13 pm »

I've read them both but it was so long ago I can't remember much. I'm just approaching the end of The Fall of Hyperion. I think I enjoyed them more this time around than the last. I'll do Endymion etc. after The Crook Factory.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6363 on:** 25 July, 2021, 10:23:51 pm »

I have finally hacked my way through the 10-foot jungle of prose that is John Le Carré's “Smiley” novels and have concluded that Le Carré's spies are the ones that most of Len Deighton's spies regard as a bigger enemy than the Soviet Union. Also, what happened to Peter Guillam's wife and unborn child?

Now assaulting the same author's non-Smiley novels starting with “A Small Town In Germany”. I am halfway through. Someone might have gone walkabout with the SEEKRIT files, a fan and a typewriter. Or not.

Peter · « **Reply #6364 on:** 26 July, 2021, 02:08:12 am »

There was a recent radio production of "A Small Town In Germany" and I've got a "Talking Book" of it, too. I enjoyed them both. And the great thing is - I already can remember nothing about them, other than that I enjoyed them.

nobby · « **Reply #6365 on:** 26 July, 2021, 08:26:55 am »

The Battle for History - re-fighting WW2 by John Keegan
Old - 1995 - but a good look at the revision of WW2 history to that time by historians for whom "controversy is a way of life".

woollypigs · « **Reply #6366 on:** 26 July, 2021, 09:53:55 am »

I gotta stop starting and start finishing books cause I got these on the go :

Falling by T.J. Newman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56614951-falling. Just started and a nice page turner, turn brain off and read kinda book.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16902.Walden Never heard about this fella before, but an interesting book. I might give the "canoeing in the wilderness" book a go too, as I have been thinking about renting a canoe and revisit the holidays of my youth.

Blood Legacy: Reckoning with a Family's Story of Slavery by Alex Renton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56997241-blood-legacy Enjoying this one.

Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan, Graham McTavish, Charlotte Reather (co-writer), Diana Gabaldon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55851555-clanlands This one sounded like it would be be a good read. I haven't seen the tv show(s ?) this is booked about. Yes I know I have seen some of the Hobbit that one of the actors are in. But from what I read it sounded like a nice/fun tour of Scotland. But I should really learn shouldn't I, actors do like to talk about their parts in various things and the awards they got (or just the parties attached to that.) Not much about Scotland as I hoped and it ain't as funny as people said it would be. I might DNF on this as I can't be arsed to read actors going on about Me, Me, Myself, I and Me oh did I tell you when I was at so and so's after awards party, Me.

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49247043-this-is-how-they-tell-me-the-world-ends Nice and spooky about the "cyber war" that is going on out there. So do update!

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #6367 on:** 26 July, 2021, 04:28:26 pm »

Le Carré may have to be put on hold after “Rabbit Hole”, a brand spanking new offering from Mark Billingham, hopped off the shelf and into my trolley just now. Not advertised as featuring Thorne but I expect he'll put in a cameo appearance. He always does, the shameless tart.

fimm · « **Reply #6368 on:** 26 July, 2021, 05:07:24 pm »

Quote from: nobby on 16 July, 2021, 08:17:34 am

Has anyone read Sarah Outen's 'Dare to Do'?
Is it a worthwhile read for an armchair adventurer?

Yes, I have. I enjoyed it.

Legs · « **Reply #6369 on:** 27 July, 2021, 08:17:17 am »

My eldest has just devoured the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books (recommended by citoyen, I think). Now I'm enjoying them too!

citoyen · « **Reply #6370 on:** 27 July, 2021, 11:43:41 am »

Quote from: Legs on 27 July, 2021, 08:17:17 am

My eldest has just devoured the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books (recommended by citoyen, I think). Now I'm enjoying them too!

Hurrah!

nobby · « **Reply #6371 on:** 27 July, 2021, 05:20:56 pm »

Quote from: fimm on 26 July, 2021, 05:07:24 pm

Quote from: nobby on 16 July, 2021, 08:17:34 am
Has anyone read Sarah Outen's 'Dare to Do'?
Is it a worthwhile read for an armchair adventurer?
Yes, I have. I enjoyed it.

Thank you. I now have a copy

Legs · « **Reply #6372 on:** 28 July, 2021, 08:48:14 am »

Quote from: citoyen on 27 July, 2021, 11:43:41 am

Quote from: Legs on 27 July, 2021, 08:17:17 am
My eldest has just devoured the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books (recommended by citoyen, I think). Now I'm enjoying them too!
Hurrah!

Very witty, I can see why Andrew enjoyed them!

Wowbagger · « **Reply #6373 on:** 28 July, 2021, 06:26:37 pm »

Quote from: nobby on 16 May, 2021, 10:30:48 am

I finished the Emily Chappell book "What goes around" yesterday.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable read about a subject that doesn't mean much to me by an author that I wouldn't usually consider.
Beautifully written and I've just ordered her one about the European endurance race - another aspect of cycling that I would usually pass by.

Does anyone know if she wrote one about her around the world trip? I cannot find anything.

A late reply to this one: she wrote an excellent blog that won the National Travel Writers' Blog of the Year. For some time it wasn't working properly but I think it's OK now:

http://thatemilychappell.com/

Wowbagger · « **Reply #6374 on:** 28 July, 2021, 06:41:00 pm »

I have just finished Nevil Shute's "On the Beach".

It's many years since I have read a book so quickly - took me less than 3 days, and a similar number of session. Completely gripping, it's left me utterly depressed and realising that the world is currently in a very similar state, albeit (probably) in rather slower motion for many of us.

Edit: towards the end of the book, there's a brief bit of analysis as to how they got to that state, and the press gets a mention, but one difference is that in Shute's book, there's no vociferous bunch of denialists making any sort of counter-action impossible.