Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ?  (Read 836148 times)

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5525 on: 31 December, 2018, 03:03:36 pm »
“Malice”, the first of Keigo Hiroshino’s new Detective Kaga series. I’ve just finished the second, and enjoyed that too.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

ian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5526 on: 31 December, 2018, 06:39:20 pm »
At least they’re not Dan Brown, eh?

Reminds me, I still have Inferno on my Kindle...

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5527 on: 03 January, 2019, 11:23:01 am »
Just read 'The girl with all the gifts'. 

It is good. I'm not going to watch the film, it could only be a shallow, americanized version of the book.

How good? Well, I intended to go to bed early last night. Started book about 8pm last night. Finished it last night.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

ian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5528 on: 03 January, 2019, 11:47:39 am »
Actually, the movie is a British production (and a reasonable version of the book). I'm famously (here at least) averse the zombie genre because anything you can evade with a two-step with a shovel ain't no monster. I am scared of fungus though.

I'm reading the prequel (the Boy on the Bridge) which is interesting, though ultimately the problem with prequels is that you know what will happen later, which tends to mean it's just a bit of retread of the first novel.

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5529 on: 03 January, 2019, 12:50:53 pm »
Actually, the movie is a British production (and a reasonable version of the book). I'm famously (here at least) averse the zombie genre because anything you can evade with a two-step with a shovel ain't no monster. I am scared of fungus though.

I'm reading the prequel (the Boy on the Bridge) which is interesting, though ultimately the problem with prequels is that you know what will happen later, which tends to mean it's just a bit of retread of the first novel.
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<i>Marmite slave</i>

ian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5530 on: 03 January, 2019, 01:05:19 pm »
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is better, of course. Anything has to be better than the dread Walking Dead where the zombies' main weapon is the cast's unalloyed stupidity. Oh, and they're definitely walking.

I like the idea of a fungus, though in reality it's not how fungal lifecycles work. The hungries would sporulate and stop being, well, zombies and start being dead. As threatening as a bag of quorn mince.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5531 on: 03 January, 2019, 01:13:17 pm »
Going back to Dave Hutchinson , he's just started another series. "The Aftermath"  Sounds cheery stuff..... not.

https://locusmag.com/2018/06/paul-kincard-reviews-shelter-tales-of-the-aftermath-by-dave-hutchinson/

https://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2018/06/12/shelter-by-dave-hutchinson/

Aw shit.  I was looking forward to the further adventures of Ruudi.


Well, I've just finished "Shelter".  Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days.   Grim, bleak & nasty.  That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse.  Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy.   A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.


It's a world setting that's been determined by the publishers, to highlight their stable of writers, so the next one in the series will not be written by Dave Hutchinson but Adam Roberts, who's new to me.   Not so sure I'll bother, if I want to get this depressed about human nature I can watch the news instead.

Sounds like a horse designed by a committee.

Incidentally, in Dawn Hutchinson makes a minor issue of town squares in Europe not actually being square, but AFAIK English is the only language that turns Platz, place or equivalents into square, so he's a bit off-target.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5532 on: 03 January, 2019, 01:24:48 pm »
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is better, of course. Anything has to be better than the dread Walking Dead where the zombies' main weapon is the cast's unalloyed stupidity. Oh, and they're definitely walking.

I like the idea of a fungus, though in reality it's not how fungal lifecycles work. The hungries would sporulate and stop being, well, zombies and start being dead. As threatening as a bag of quorn mince.
Very true.
For me, the biggest weakness was
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<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5533 on: 08 January, 2019, 03:29:04 pm »
Just finished The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean Pendziwol.  Quite engaging and it paints a very vivid image of Lake Superior in fair weather and foul, and the lives of the lighthouse keeper's family. 
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Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk.  Probably going to be on this one for a while...

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5534 on: 14 January, 2019, 03:01:35 pm »
Looking forward to starting volume 3 of Andrew Cartmels Vinyl Detrective series, "Victory Disc".  I thought originally there were only going to be three - he'd written them all but was releasing one annually from 2017 (and I forgot last years until now) but I see that there's going to be a 4th later this year.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5535 on: 14 January, 2019, 04:20:46 pm »
Well, I've just finished "Shelter".  Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days.   Grim, bleak & nasty.  That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse.  Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy.   A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.

Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5536 on: 14 January, 2019, 08:38:40 pm »
Well, I've just finished "Shelter".  Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days.   Grim, bleak & nasty.  That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse.  Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy.   A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.

Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.


You're safely out of it.  We need the hints & tips post Brexit.
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5537 on: 14 January, 2019, 09:39:45 pm »
Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk.  Probably going to be on this one for a while...
How are you getting on with it? I read it last year and enjoyed it. I'd never been to Istanbul before reading it (IYKWIM), and wanted to get back after I'd finished it.

professor palindrome

  • Sex at noon taxes
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5538 on: 14 January, 2019, 09:54:01 pm »
C J Sansom   Tombland

Not entirely convinced about the integration of the "Shardlake" plot and the actual Kett Rebellion, but grateful for the tale of the historical events.  Easy to feel sympathy for people utterly frustrated by their inept rulers. 

professor palindrome

  • Sex at noon taxes
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5539 on: 14 January, 2019, 10:26:15 pm »
Just finished "Want You Gone" by Chris* Brookmyre.

*When did he change from Christopher?

The change of name was announced in 2011 and was meant to reflect (something like) extra darkness.

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5540 on: 15 January, 2019, 08:19:26 am »
Now just getting started on A Strangeness In My Mind (a.k.a. the yoghurt-selling book) by Orhan Pamuk.  Probably going to be on this one for a while...
How are you getting on with it? I read it last year and enjoyed it. I'd never been to Istanbul before reading it (IYKWIM), and wanted to get back after I'd finished it.
It was your recommendation that prompted me, actually  :).  It's quite early days but I'm finding that it takes me off to a different world and culture, which is the kind of experience I really relish in a book.  Trying to avoid getting bogged down amidst all the names of various neighbourhoods etc...

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5541 on: 15 January, 2019, 09:12:02 am »
Well, I've just finished "Shelter".  Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days.   Grim, bleak & nasty.  That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse.  Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy.   A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.

Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.


You're safely out of it.  We need the hints & tips post Brexit.

;D
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

essexian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5542 on: 15 January, 2019, 01:17:03 pm »
With today being the day our MP's vote on Mrs May "deal" I thought it apt to start reading: "World War Z."

Quite good so far.  :thumbsup:

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5543 on: 15 January, 2019, 02:22:43 pm »
No need to search for the index case there. Call Mr. Cameron.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5544 on: 15 January, 2019, 02:27:43 pm »
Well, I've just finished "Shelter".  Hutchinson writes well & this is a page turner with a good bit of action, I finished it in a couple of days.   Grim, bleak & nasty.  That's just the weather, the storyline & characters are worse.  Our "hero" is not above a bit of gruesome revenge murder, and his employers believe in gun barrel diplomacy.   A big part of the plot features an established community destroying itself, this was very well done. think "Survivors" morphing into the Balkans wars.

Downloaded the sample, read a couple of chapters and baled. Nothing against the writing, I'm just tired of novels about folk eking out existence after an apocalypse.
He should stick to funny books about cycling.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Ruthie

  • Her Majester
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5545 on: 16 January, 2019, 05:53:57 pm »
Centuries of Meditations by Thomas Traherne.  Beautiful, beautiful short meditations on God, and how he speaks to us. 

Just finished the Ben Aaronovich Rivers of London series - entertaining, but it's not Pratchett.  And I didn't touch the graphic novels because I can't read them properly on my Kindle.

Milk please, no sugar.

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5546 on: 23 January, 2019, 02:36:05 am »
Just finished Max Hastings' book, "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy", which is excellent. I'm now working on Volume 1 of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, The Path To Power. LBJ seems to have blended the egotism, greed and dishonesty of Donald Trump with enough brains to actually do some real damage.

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5547 on: 23 January, 2019, 07:50:38 pm »
About to start "Pax Romana" Adrian Goldsworthy ia study of life in the Empire through conquest and the long periods of peace. It's my reading whilst at a tech conference in Barcelona next week and a proper paper book (for some reason I always read factual books in physical form). I think I will download Good Omens to my Kindle for some light relief as well.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5548 on: 24 January, 2019, 08:36:41 am »
One of the largely interchangeable 'Rivers of London' potboilers.  Witty enough not to be boring but hardly memorable.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

ian

Re: What books are we reading at the moment ?
« Reply #5549 on: 24 January, 2019, 08:43:02 am »
One of the largely interchangeable 'Rivers of London' potboilers.  Witty enough not to be boring but hardly memorable.

Glad it's not just me that finds them, well, mostly just OKish.