What books are we reading at the moment ?

[andrewc]

Just started re-reading Jon Courtenay Grimwood's Arabesk trilogy.

Those were very good.  I made a false start with "Transition" and put it to one side while I re-read Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff. 

[Flying_Monkey]

Tim Powers excellent "Declare". I must look up some of his other stuff. 

The Anubis Gates is one of my favourite ever SF novels (or perhaps it's urban fantasy...) - by turns ridiculous, literary, zany and really quite beautiful, it has time-travel, magic, gypsies and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a dirty, dangerous London... what more could you want?

[clarion]

I'm reading a fun little book that Butterfly persuaded me to buy at Stanfords in London on saturday.

It's Byways, Boots & Blisters by Bill Laws.  It's a personal selection of the history of walking as a pastime, a sport, and a political force.  But it's very light-hearted, and great for dipping into.  A good 'bathroom book', though I'm reading it through.

[Mr Larrington]

Just started re-reading Jon Courtenay Grimwood's Arabesk trilogy.

Easily his best work so far IMHO, and very good fun. I thought his earlier stuff was a bit too over-interested in weapons and had sketches for plots rather than real plots

I en't read any of his other stuff; I got given Felaheen as a birthday present coz TWFKAML had seen it given a good review somewhere, and only after the first Several of confusing chapters did I discover that:

• it was the third part of a trilogy, and
• I really ought to read the first two, that I might then make sense of the third

[alan]

My recently acquired AUK member's Handbook 

[clarion]

I finished reading Ruth Rendell's 'Shake Hands Forever' today.  I found it on the shelves at work.  I don't normally read crime ficiton, but I know a few people who do, and it's a Wexford, which are supposed to be good, so...

It was light & fluffy, and a bit dated, which is fine, cause it was written in the 70s, and I'm a retro kinda guy.  The story was quite well written, though one of the subplots was ridiculous.  The tension ramped up OK until the last 30pages, when it just got to 'oh, let's finish it anyway'.  The twist at the end was very neat, but really deeply deeply implausible, and ill-thought out, which was a shame.  I'd started expecting very little, but the early part of the book made me hope for much more.

[mark]

"Fat Land", by Greg Critser. An excellent description of how the US acquired it's obesity problem, and an explanation of why the UK is following right behind.

[Really Ancien]

'Chainsaws a History', almost the archetypal blokey book, except in our house, where Heather will be wanting a look at it.

Damon.

[Wowbagger]

"The Upside of Down" by Thomas Homer-Dixon.

It's a treatise on the coming calamities: climate change, peak oil, food shortages, riots - all that sort of reassuring stuff. He draws a parallel between the state of the modern world with that of ancient Rome. I particularly like the calculation he does regarding the amount of energy required to build the Coliseum.

Later in the book (I'm just short of half-way through) he describes ways in which we, as a species, might survive the onslaught of these calamities.

Eminently readable - considering it was considered essential reading for my son's PhD.

[αdαmsκι]

I've just finished Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa, which I rather enjoyed. I don't have any interest in hunting wild animals, but Hemingway's descriptions of the hunts, and Tanzania in general, is very evocative.

[Really Ancien]

That reminds me of 'The Weather in Africa' three novellas by Martha Gellhorn, who was married to Hemingway at one time. I shall reread it I think. She had a beautiful style.

Damon.

[Flying_Monkey]

I've just reread The World Inside by Robert Silverberg, which is minor but interesting early 70s eco-disaster / overpopulation SF. It's a bit too earnest to match the intensity of Harry Harrison's Make Room, Make Room! (AKA Soylent Green, for film fans) and isn't up to the quality of John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, but it's interesting none the less. It seems quite influenced by Huxley's Brave New World, but I am not sure if that is deliberate or not.

[αdαmsκι]

I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages........

I've finally struggled my way to the end of Cryptonomicon. The first two-thirds of the book were good, but I got bored by the rambling nature of the book by the end and just wanted it to finish. Not a ringing endorsement for the book.

I'm now reading Daisy Miller by Henry James.

[citoyen]

I realised the other day that my son is now the same age I was when I first read The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, so I dug out my well-thumbed old copy and gave it to him to read.

I was concerned it might seem a bit dated now, but not a bit of it. And he absolutely loves it. It's the first time in a while he has had a book that he has chosen to pick up and read rather than do something else, like watch telly or talk to girls on facebook.

I also had a look at it myself - for the first time, I think, since I became a parent, and there's lots in it that you probably only get as a parent. I've never really thought about it this way before, but I now realise it is essential reading for any young person reaching that time of their life when the hormones are starting to kick in and wreak havoc. Totally and utterly brilliant.

d.

[Mr Larrington]

I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages........

I've finally struggled my way to the end of Cryptonomicon. The first two-thirds of the book were good, but I got bored by the rambling nature of the book by the end and just wanted it to finish. Not a ringing endorsement for the book.

Don't read his Baroque Trilogy then...

[Frenchie]

Chuck Yeager's biography. Light enough and very 'merican.

[Mr Larrington]

The Hell Of It All ~ Charlie Brooker

I'm utterly ignorant concerning 95% of the TV programmes he writes about, and his descriptions thereof mean that this will probably continue to be the case.

He's spot-on about David Attenborough and Oliver Postgate too.

[citoyen]

He's spot-on about David Attenborough and Oliver Postgate too.

His brilliant obit of Oliver Postgate on Screen Wipe moved me to tears.

From the sound of it, I must get that book.

d.

[cyclone]

Finished in the past week, "In search of Robert Millar" and Wiggos book.. Now re-reading Nick Cave's "And the ass saw the Angel" - probably the most difficult book I've read (more like Southern Poetry...) then I'll attack the "Death of Bunny Munroe" (which at first glance doesnt seem as good...)

[Mr Larrington]

He's spot-on about David Attenborough and Oliver Postgate too.

His brilliant obit of Oliver Postgate on Screen Wipe moved me to tears.

From the sound of it, I must get that book.

d.

You can probably still read 99% of it on the Grauniad's webby SCIENCE, but books are, well, Better.  £7.99 from Sainsbury's.

[TheLurker]

Just finished my annual fix of Pratchett - Unseen Academicals.
He still seems to be on form.

[Arno]

"The Upside of Down" by Thomas Homer-Dixon.

It's a treatise on the coming calamities: climate change, peak oil, food shortages, riots - all that sort of reassuring stuff. He draws a parallel between the state of the modern world with that of ancient Rome. I particularly like the calculation he does regarding the amount of energy required to build the Coliseum.

Later in the book (I'm just short of half-way through) he describes ways in which we, as a species, might survive the onslaught of these calamities.

Eminently readable - considering it was considered essential reading for my son's PhD.

Not unlike 'Collapse' by Jared Diamond then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_%28book%29

[geoff]

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton. Another largely Oxford-set, children's novel with elements of fantasy. It's romping along at the moment...

[Mr Larrington]

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton. Another largely Oxford-set, children's novel with elements of fantasy. It's romping along at the moment...

IRTA "Edmonton Spring" and wondered why anyone would set a book in what Mr. Sunshine refers to as "The Death of The Soul"

[clarion]

I'm reading a fun little book that Butterfly persuaded me to buy at Stanfords in London on saturday.

It's Byways, Boots & Blisters by Bill Laws.  It's a personal selection of the history of walking as a pastime, a sport, and a political force.  But it's very light-hearted, and great for dipping into.  A good 'bathroom book', though I'm reading it through.

Just finished.  Really interesting (boot poorly proofread - an increasing trend, IME ).

I could have done with less about the poets, and more about Benny Rothman, GHB Ward etc, but that may have been a different book.  I'd have liked a bit more about equipment over the years, too.