Book thread: what are you reading?

[Tongs ya bas]

Just now, Futtocks said:

I'd second that; his factual writing is great, but I really don't enjoy his fiction. The Old Patagonian Express sees him take the train from his hometown of Boston, all the way to the bottom of South America.

In The Kingdom by the Sea, he travels round the coast of Britain by public transport or on foot. This was written in the Eighties, and is an interesting snapshot of the country at that time.

Sunrise with Seamonsters is an anthology of non-fiction on various subjects, not just travel.

The kingdom by the sea sounds like something I might do now that I have a bus pass

[Vernon]

Just reading some Carl Hiaasen (Finished Bad Monkey, started Razor Girl)  -  maybe a bit lowbrow for some of our resident boffins on here, but very funny.  Very reminiscent of Joseph Wambaugh - I had to check to confirm one is not a pseudonym !

[marklaspalmas]

Jasper Fforde, First among Sequels.

It's the 5th of 7 books (so far) in the Thursday Next series.

Very clever. Very funny.

[ckn]

I got the Gordon Brown autobiography on audiobook and started it today. The preface and introduction took one hour twenty three minutes.  This might be a tough book if that’s the level of concise writing throughout.

[Robin Evans]

Books??

What is this medium you talk of?

[Futtocks]

Amazon just contacted me with an offer on Kindle books. One of the titles was The Hope that kills. After the World Cup Final, that was a low blow!

[Futtocks]

[Bleep1673]

Fitting Carpets by Walter Wall

Daylight Robbery by Hans Zupp

Breakfast Cookery by Hammond Degs

Home Security by Barb Dwyre

Spanish Bloodsports by Matt Adore

[Phil]

Confessions of an Irish rebel by Brendan Behan

what an interesting life he led, he would have been a great fellow to sit and have a few beers with.

[shaun mc]

First look at this thread - I'll have a look at the Old Patagonia Express as going there next month, and the Theroux book

I'm just finishing There Is No Map in Hell by Steve Birkinshaw. What these fell runners put themselves through is insane. I wish I had a small amount of their resolve

 

[ckn]

The best way to tell that an Audible "2 for 1" sale is coming is to pay attention to how many emails they're throwing at you trying to tempt you to use any spare credits.  The more emails you get, the closer the sale is.

[JonM]

Read "The road to Nab End" by historian William Woodruff, on a long plane journey this week. It's an account of his childhood growing up in 1920s Blackburn and the poverty experienced in East Lancs during the collapse of the cotton industry, which was a bestseller about 10 years ago. He went on to a place at Oxford and a Fulbright scholarship at Harvard after leaving school at 14, so it's a pretty thought provoking book.

[Route66]

First look at this thread and it's given me plenty of ideas of potential reeds,just finished Stephen Frys Mythos,Greek stories you knew but forgotten took me less than a week and absolutely loved it.Reading Orwells Down and out in Paris and London (2 for £5 section of HMV)and also got books by Bernard Cornwall,William Mcilvanney and James Kelman lined up for next couple of weeks.

Can anyone remember the old Sven Hassel paperbacks, found some while clearing out an ex work colleagues locker a few years ago,all the rage back in the day

[Dunedan]

We recently started a book club at work. I'm currently reading our first selection - A Handmaid's Tale. I didn't watch it when it was on TV so I had no preconceived ideas about (I didn't even know what it was about!). I'm not sure what to think about it yet (I'm about a third of the way through), other than it is very different from the sci-fi book I usually read!

[Amber Avenger]

5 minutes ago, Dunedan said:

We recently started a book club at work. I'm currently reading our first selection - A Handmaid's Tale. I didn't watch it when it was on TV so I had no preconceived ideas about (I didn't even know what it was about!). I'm not sure what to think about it yet (I'm about a third of the way through), other than it is very different from the sci-fi book I usually read!

My girlfriend sat down to watch the tv show with me, and she similarly had no idea what it was about, except she'd seen the title and the outfits and thought it was some Downton Abbey style Victorian drama. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Luckily she did enjoy it for what it was...eventually!

[Bleep1673]

Mitch Albon

Tuesdays with Morrie

Very helpful

[Trojan]

The Real Britannia by Colin Brown.  "Our ten proudest years, the glory and the spin."  So far we've had Magna Carta, the Spanish Armada, the Glorious Revolution and Waterloo myths all debunked.  Quite good if you're an iconoclast.

[Oxford]

On 2/16/2018 at 9:45 AM, Trojan said:

The Real Britannia by Colin Brown.  "Our ten proudest years, the glory and the spin."  So far we've had Magna Carta, the Spanish Armada, the Glorious Revolution and Waterloo myths all debunked.  Quite good if you're an iconoclast.

Imaginary glory v very real gory, all heroes have clay feet sadly and all of it is fantastically funny like Richard the Lion-heart outside Parliament ... the king who would have sold London if it meant he could afford to go and kill people somewhere else!

In the meantime The Ascent of Man J Bronowski & Al la Reserche du Temps Perdu  Marcel Proust.

[MattSantos]

Just finished Mask of Dimitrios by Ambler and have bought Sapiens as i was passing by a book shop this morning.

Much prefer paper books to kindle and as bookstores are a hassle to get to, i tend not to bother reading anymore. Sad really.

Edit - Its a book shop not store. Shop!!

Edited March 1, 2018 by MattSantos

[Futtocks]

I have just started A Sort of Life, the autobiography of Graham Greene. It is a pretty short book, for someone who lived a long and fascinating life.

One line that already stands out is "My sister Molly fell off a mountain and married the man who photographed her fall - perhaps she admired his presence of mind."  

[ckn]

I came to a realisation last night that I now prefer audiobooks when the book is written in the first person and regular books when it's written in the third person.  All depending on the quality of narrator though.  First person audiobooks seem like someone telling you THEIR personal story, third person seem like someone telling A story and it becomes impersonal.

I base that primarily on The Martian and the Dresden Files books I've just ploughed through on Audible.

[Maximus Decimus]

On 16/04/2018 at 3:41 PM, ckn said:

I came to a realisation last night that I now prefer audiobooks when the book is written in the first person and regular books when it's written in the third person.  All depending on the quality of narrator though.  First person audiobooks seem like someone telling you THEIR personal story, third person seem like someone telling A story and it becomes impersonal.

I base that primarily on The Martian and the Dresden Files books I've just ploughed through on Audible.

Due to time constraints, I virtually exclusively get my reading from Audiobooks. The narrator makes a huge difference. 

I decided to give a Bill Bryson a go based on everyone saying they are great and I really haven't taken to it, I put that down to the narrator. 

[Futtocks]

I am nearing the end of Graham Greene's autobiography, A Sort of Life.

A slim volume; he could have given readers more than 160 pages, considering his life story. Still, an interesting read.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Futtocks

[JohnM]

Just finished Dombey and Sons. Got to be the worst book that Charlie D ever wrote. Turgid in tbe extreme. Good story, great characterisations spoiled by making them use 1000 words when one would have sufficed. One for avoiding.

[Maximus Decimus]

I recently finished Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson and it was decent enough, the ending scenes were pretty exciting. 

That said I think I've reached a point where I want my main characters to be a bit more multi-dimensional. 

Often in these action thrillers the main protagonist can not only best anyone in a fight, they bed literally every woman they come into contact with and never make a wrong move when it comes to the plot. In addition in this book the hero could speak virtually any language at a level that could pass with locals. In my life I can only think of one person who learnt English without living here who speaks without a noticeable accent. 

In this respect I'm much more George Smiley than James Bond.