Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
toasty said:
Just finished To Kill a Mockingbird, another classic I'd somehow missed. It may be over 50 years old but the themes still ring true today.
Now on to this...
Just read Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee's follow up to To Kill A Mockingbird. Set 20 years on from TKAM, with the same characters, written in the '50s but only published last year, frankly it was a disappointment to me.Now on to this...
The same quality of writing as the original which brings you into the story very easily, but the plot itself was a non-event, I spent most of my time reading it waiting for it to start, then 3/4 of the way through it, realising nothing was happening, I started waiting for the big finale, which also never happened.
I was left very unsatisfied at the end. Made me wonder if that was the reason it wasn't published till just before Harper Lee's death last year.
brrapp said:
toasty said:
Just finished To Kill a Mockingbird, another classic I'd somehow missed. It may be over 50 years old but the themes still ring true today.
Now on to this...
Just read Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee's follow up to To Kill A Mockingbird. Set 20 years on from TKAM, with the same characters, written in the '50s but only published last year, frankly it was a disappointment to me.Now on to this...
The same quality of writing as the original which brings you into the story very easily, but the plot itself was a non-event, I spent most of my time reading it waiting for it to start, then 3/4 of the way through it, realising nothing was happening, I started waiting for the big finale, which also never happened.
I was left very unsatisfied at the end. Made me wonder if that was the reason it wasn't published till just before Harper Lee's death last year.
Just given up on Splinter the Silence by Val McDermid after yet again feeling lectured at by her prose.
Found Skeleton Road tedious because it felt like she had to explain to the reader in great detail who all the nasty people were in the former Yugoslavia and now, one chapter into Splinter I'm being lectured on male privelege.
Sorry Val, good stories but your increasing media profile seems to be going to your head, whether or not I agree with you, it all feels just a bit too much like being lectured by a know-it-all student, I want to be entertained, not preached at. I'll be giving you a miss for a while I think.
Really enjoyed Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan, though I have to confess a slight link with the author (wife of someone I knew as a child) it's nontheless a great psychological thriller about a missing boy and how the media and public can form an opinion on guilt and culpability, as well as being a whodunnit and police procedural as well.
Also enjoyed Lamentation by C J Sansom, always enjoy the Shardlake books but this one was particularly good as the hardback has an essay at the back by the author on what we know about the period (running up to the death of Henry VIII) and how he wove his story into the known facts.
Found Skeleton Road tedious because it felt like she had to explain to the reader in great detail who all the nasty people were in the former Yugoslavia and now, one chapter into Splinter I'm being lectured on male privelege.
Sorry Val, good stories but your increasing media profile seems to be going to your head, whether or not I agree with you, it all feels just a bit too much like being lectured by a know-it-all student, I want to be entertained, not preached at. I'll be giving you a miss for a while I think.
Really enjoyed Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan, though I have to confess a slight link with the author (wife of someone I knew as a child) it's nontheless a great psychological thriller about a missing boy and how the media and public can form an opinion on guilt and culpability, as well as being a whodunnit and police procedural as well.
Also enjoyed Lamentation by C J Sansom, always enjoy the Shardlake books but this one was particularly good as the hardback has an essay at the back by the author on what we know about the period (running up to the death of Henry VIII) and how he wove his story into the known facts.
Ace-T said:
Quite entertaining urban fantasy with the Met Police. Kind of 'The Sweeney' with supernatural horrors.
Now on to the second, enjoying so far.
Interesting find, I'll give them a go.Now on to the second, enjoying so far.
In a similar vein, try also Ben Aaronovitch- Rivers of London, and Charles Stross- Laundry Files.
The first is very much Met police meet the supernatural, the second is MI5 meets Cthulhu.
Another similar find is Tim Powers- Declare.
Just finished "Already Gone" by John Rector. Pretty good, a bit similar to Lynwood Barclay in the sense of plot twists and finding that people have unexpected backgrounds, and a small amount of Harlan Coben in having a convenient psychopath as a best friend.
The paperback was spoiled by some annoying typos that I'd have thought being published by a proper company (Simon and Schuster) wouldn't have been present - stuff like "But your not" and using "of" where it should have been "off". Little stuff, but annoying. Didn't detract too much from the story though.
The paperback was spoiled by some annoying typos that I'd have thought being published by a proper company (Simon and Schuster) wouldn't have been present - stuff like "But your not" and using "of" where it should have been "off". Little stuff, but annoying. Didn't detract too much from the story though.
TheJimi said:
Kinda Dresden-esque?
Quite different IMO. More serious police story with weird stuff approached from the only way they know how: normal police investigation protocols.
jimmyjimjim said:
Interesting find, I'll give them a go.
In a similar vein, try also Ben Aaronovitch- Rivers of London, and Charles Stross- Laundry Files.
The first is very much Met police meet the supernatural, the second is MI5 meets Cthulhu.
Another similar find is Tim Powers- Declare.
Haven't read the latest Ben A book as the cliffhanger in the previous one really annoyed me! In a similar vein, try also Ben Aaronovitch- Rivers of London, and Charles Stross- Laundry Files.
The first is very much Met police meet the supernatural, the second is MI5 meets Cthulhu.
Another similar find is Tim Powers- Declare.
Wanted to like the Laundry Files more than I did. 
New favourite is The Rook and its sequel Stilletto.
That is MI5 for weird stuff. 
Veeayt said:
Finished 'the kindly ones', and I'm left speechless. A story about a Nazi officer who is gay because he's had an incest with his twin sister, and is one of the brains behind the holocaust. It may sound like a joke, but it's a powerful, detailed and deep book. Very hard read in places to the point of distress, but it's one of the best books I've read.
Over-riding impression - doesn't the author like the word 'anus' an awful lot. I'm glad I've read it. Not I'm not. Yes I am. Not sure. Am I? Don't know. Hmm.
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