Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ?  (Read 835830 times)

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5675 on: 16 June, 2019, 08:35:22 pm »
And I thought that you  built the the wall   nobby ;D
the slower you go the more you see

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5676 on: 21 June, 2019, 11:55:33 pm »
The Drowned World by Ballard.  Lots of fun reading a book with a dictionary in the other hand at all times.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5677 on: 22 June, 2019, 10:01:50 am »
Think I read that one when it came out.  Anyway, I downloaded the sample on Google Books but Martin Bloody Amis's intro is so long that the real sample is only ~10 pp so I might have to go stumbling round the shelves in our spare room to locate a dusty, split-spined copy if it's there at all. Maybe I'll fork out Google's blood price and spare myself the pother.

Anyway, I'm reading a Laundry Files opus that had slipped past me unnoticed, The Nightmare Stacks.  5/10 so far but it's early days. Bob & Mo coefficient --> 0.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5678 on: 22 June, 2019, 10:41:49 am »
Shadow Captain by Alastair Reynolds - the second book in the Revenger series. SF with added steampunkiness.
There's no vibrations, but wait.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5679 on: 22 June, 2019, 05:23:15 pm »
I have disposed of the latest Logan McRae.

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Now on the most recent of Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series which, unlike all her other novels, is devoid of lesbians.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5680 on: 22 June, 2019, 10:21:19 pm »
I have disposed of the latest Logan McRae.

(click to show/hide)

Now on the most recent of Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series which, unlike all her other novels, is devoid of lesbians.

Appreciated :)
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5681 on: 26 June, 2019, 07:06:32 am »
Anyway, I'm reading a Laundry Files opus that had slipped past me unnoticed, The Nightmare Stacks.  5/10 so far but it's early days. Bob & Mo coefficient --> 0.

Finished. Opinion duly revised to 7.5/10.  Entirely worthy of Charlie.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5682 on: 27 June, 2019, 10:44:32 pm »
Miss Von Brandenburg finally finished reading MY copy of the latest Ben Aaronovitch — The October Man — thereby allowing me to:
  • Read it myself, and
  • Die with mortification at apparently having failed to notice the existence of "Lies Sleeping"
???

Next up is David Howarth's "The Shetland Bus", assuming she hasn't stolen it and hidden it at the bottom of her The Luggage.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5683 on: 28 June, 2019, 08:56:46 am »
I think my favourite Aaronovitch remains Foxglove Summer.

Currently crunching down on Charlie's The Delirium Brief. Oh my.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5684 on: 28 June, 2019, 04:10:42 pm »
Miss von Brandenburg went shopping this morning and bought her own copy of "The Shetland Bus" :thumbsup:
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5685 on: 29 June, 2019, 10:13:04 pm »
Just finished Tim Weavers “No ones hime” a David Raker story. Now into Chris Oulds second Faeroes outing.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5686 on: 30 June, 2019, 11:57:32 am »
Miss von Brandenburg went shopping this morning and bought her own copy of "The Shetland Bus" :thumbsup:

Did that for O-level English.  A terrific story.  To complete the set, you need Romeo & Juliet and (I think - it's a long time ago) Chaucer's Prologue (by Chaucer). 

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5687 on: 03 July, 2019, 04:38:24 pm »
Miss Von Brandenburg finally finished reading MY copy of the latest Ben Aaronovitch — The October Man — thereby allowing me to:
  • Read it myself, and
  • Die with mortification at apparently having failed to notice the existence of "Lies Sleeping"

Just finished _October Man_ earlier in the week, and greatly enjoyed it. I did keep thinking:
(click to show/hide)
Also, it was another short one - Aaronovitch B is clearly slacking...

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5688 on: 04 July, 2019, 12:48:41 pm »
Miss Von Brandenburg finally finished reading MY copy of the latest Ben Aaronovitch — The October Man — thereby allowing me to:
  • Read it myself, and
  • Die with mortification at apparently having failed to notice the existence of "Lies Sleeping"
Just finished _October Man_ earlier in the week, and greatly enjoyed it. I did keep thinking:
(click to show/hide)
Also, it was another short one - Aaronovitch B is clearly slacking...

He did say the other week that the next one will be a Proper Novel and will probably mostly be an account of what Abigail got up to while everyone else was mucking about in the country during the events of "Foxglove Summer".
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5689 on: 25 July, 2019, 07:40:13 pm »
"The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence", by Anita Anand. It's the story of the massacre of hundreds of Indian civilians by British troops in Amritsar, India in 1919, and one person's efforts to avenge the victims by assassinating the two British officials most responsible for the massacre. I'm fascinated by the worldwide scope of the Indian nationalist movement, with members operating in Mexico, the US, and different parts of Europe. Seeing towns in California that I've passed through or even lived in named as places where the Indian nationalist movement operated is fascinating.

Phil W

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5690 on: 25 July, 2019, 07:40:50 pm »
Dark Forest

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5691 on: 25 July, 2019, 09:19:51 pm »
Roman and Early Medieval Wales.
Apparently Cycleman was there.

I’m a late discoverer of the chap who wrote Slow Horses and Joe Country. Thoroughly enjoyed the 5 or 6 spy novels but tried another of his and couldn’t get into it at all.
Never knowingly under caffeinated

BrianI

  • Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Lepidopterist Man!
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5692 on: 28 July, 2019, 04:07:40 pm »
Fired up my kindle for the first time in over 6 months.
Found a copy of The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton on it, so I'm reading that.

 :thumbsup:

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5693 on: 28 July, 2019, 04:34:45 pm »
Quite enjoyed most of that when it came out - I even wrote a computer simulation of the

(click to show/hide)

So in the end I didn't like it that much.

(click to show/hide)
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5694 on: 28 July, 2019, 04:57:08 pm »
Anquetil, Alone by Paul Fournel

Not your usual pro cyclist biography. Which is very much a good thing. In fact, it's not so much a biography as a personal memoir of Fournel's childhood obsession with Anquetil. By leaving out a lot of tedious detail, he really gets to the heart of why Anquetil was such a great cyclist. We all know the bare facts already (or can easily look them up on the internet), so there's no need to go over them.

I suspect the translator is not a cyclist though - sometimes he doesn't quite grasp the cycling idiom and goes for something more literal instead.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5695 on: 28 July, 2019, 11:10:50 pm »
Just finished Knife, the latest Jo Nesbø. Interesting denouement and a whole lot easier to read than his take on The Scottish Play.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5696 on: 30 July, 2019, 12:33:39 pm »
Just finished Knife, the latest Jo Nesbø. Interesting denouement and a whole lot easier to read than his take on The Scottish Play.

I've just started that, then to follow I have the latest Mick Herron "Slough House" installment, Joe Country
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

hillbilly

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5697 on: 30 July, 2019, 04:53:35 pm »
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vong.

Touted as the book of the year by some and it is easy to see why.  Very tightly written debut about the experiences of a generational Vietnamese American family survival on integrating into the US.  It's predicated on being a letter from a son to his mother, revealing aspects of his life and his relationship with her as it goes on.  An excellent read.

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5698 on: 13 August, 2019, 12:26:11 am »
Maybe I'll fork out Google's blood price and spare myself the pother.
Libraries!  I have just picked up a 25p fine, but then I have borrowed ~100 books in the last three years (nothing compared with my son's haul though - and being a child he does not have to pay his fines).
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5699 on: 13 August, 2019, 08:05:52 am »
Neal Stephenson/Nicole Galland, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.  Started well, flagging a bit in the middle.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight