Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Working my way through Ragnar Jonasson's Dark Iceland series, police crime fiction set in northern Iceland. Was surprised by the intro to the second book saying it takes place 5 years after the events in the first one, but the third happens in between.
It appears that that the 3 book series in English are actually books 2, 6 and 3 of the original Icelandic series, with the next 2 due for publication being books 4 and 5. Confusing.
It appears that that the 3 book series in English are actually books 2, 6 and 3 of the original Icelandic series, with the next 2 due for publication being books 4 and 5. Confusing.
All the light we cannot see, by Doerr. I suppose, given the title, brilliant is the only description that's apt.
Cracking story of coming of age in WWII from various 'sides' of the conflict. Well reviewed and well worthy of them.
I'm a recent convert to Game of Thrones and read Ice and Fire before seeing the TV series. I loved the book and the TV interpretation. I am reading a history book on the period in England before the Norman invasion, Ethelred the Unread and
- nasty bloke - and all of a sudden I realised the connection. It was Game of Thrones but with more people being killed, lots more gore, but fewer dragons. Not sure about the nudity.
Cracking story of coming of age in WWII from various 'sides' of the conflict. Well reviewed and well worthy of them.
I'm a recent convert to Game of Thrones and read Ice and Fire before seeing the TV series. I loved the book and the TV interpretation. I am reading a history book on the period in England before the Norman invasion, Ethelred the Unread and
- nasty bloke - and all of a sudden I realised the connection. It was Game of Thrones but with more people being killed, lots more gore, but fewer dragons. Not sure about the nudity. 
I started into "Alone in Berlin" by Hans Fallada (aka "Jeder stirbt für sich allein) a few days ago. It's one of those books where the ending feels like it's a foregone conclusion, but you can continue to enjoy how all the different threads intertwine. I'm finding that it does a good job of depicting how pervasive Nazi ideology was in German society.
unrepentant said:
Just now reading On The Beach by Nevil Shute. I read most of his books as a teenager but somehow missed this, his most famous.
The 1950's writing style takes a little getting used to but the book is sobering in it's vision of a post apocalyptic world where those left, just a few hundred thousand in Australia, are totally resigned to the death that is moving inexorably towards them. A disturbing but good read.
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed On The Beach I decided to revisit Shute. Started with Trustee From The Toolroom (absolutely brilliant), A Town Like Alice (as good as I remember) and currently reading Requiem For A Wren (inexplicably called The Breaking Wave over here).The 1950's writing style takes a little getting used to but the book is sobering in it's vision of a post apocalyptic world where those left, just a few hundred thousand in Australia, are totally resigned to the death that is moving inexorably towards them. A disturbing but good read.
In between I read Andy Murtagh's biography of my schoolboy hero, Barry Richards called Sundial In The Shade and David Lloyd's autobiography Last In The Tin Bath. Both good reads if you're into cricket.
unrepentant said:
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed On The Beach I decided to revisit Shute. Started with Trustee From The Toolroom (absolutely brilliant), A Town Like Alice (as good as I remember) and currently reading Requiem For A Wren (inexplicably called The Breaking Wave over here).
I've read a bunch of Nevil Shute's books in recent times and have liked them all - to varying degrees. If you liked Trustee From The Toolroom, try No Highway - I loved it. Whatever Happened to the Corbetts is good too, written before WW2 and used as a training guide during the War. Like No Highway, both books are incredibly prescient. downthepub said:
unrepentant said:
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed On The Beach I decided to revisit Shute. Started with Trustee From The Toolroom (absolutely brilliant), A Town Like Alice (as good as I remember) and currently reading Requiem For A Wren (inexplicably called The Breaking Wave over here).
I've read a bunch of Nevil Shute's books in recent times and have liked them all - to varying degrees. If you liked Trustee From The Toolroom, try No Highway - I loved it. Whatever Happened to the Corbetts is good too, written before WW2 and used as a training guide during the War. Like No Highway, both books are incredibly prescient. SystemParanoia said:
Just started 1984 ..... Here we go!!
Excellent choice. As has been said, check out Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" if you get a chance. Both dystopian but they couldn't be more different. I'd also recommend "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin, if only because it's from 1921 and must surely be one of the earliest dystopian novels.In a timely way, I'm just coming to the end of Lionel Shriver's The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047 which is quite an entertainment and talks about a wall between Mexico and the US (to keep the Americans out of Mexico) among other calamities and was written before Trump was even in the running and talking about such stuff.
Interesting to hear the author too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08c04pz#play
Interesting to hear the author too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08c04pz#play
dieselgrunt said:
I envy you, one of the greatest books ever written.
unrepentant said:
Enjoy it. Then try Brave New World if you haven't read it.
Levin said:
Excellent choice. As has been said, check out Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" if you get a chance. Both dystopian but they couldn't be more different. I'd also recommend "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin, if only because it's from 1921 and must surely be one of the earliest dystopian novels.
Ordered on Amazon... got it qued up to read after Peter F Hamiltons Latest 
SystemParanoia said:
Ordered on Amazon... got it qued up to read after Peter F Hamiltons Latest
Did you get a printing that includes Brave New World: Revisited? It's an essay Huxley published in 1958 following the success of the novel. While it probably won't change how much you enjoy the novel, it's a decent read for afterwards (assuming you like it). If your version doesn't include Revisited, it's available online: https://www.huxley.net/bnw-revisited/I'm minutes after finishing Hans Fallada's "Alone in Berlin". What a fantastic novel that was. It took a while to really get into it, but from about page 400 onwards it absolutely flies. As I said when I started it, the ending is never really in doubt but the way everything links makes it a rewarding read. Now, on to the next one!
Unknown Soldiers by Finnish author Väinö Linna. Written in 1954 it's meant to be good, but I'll see just how good in due course.
Edited by Levin on Sunday 22 January 20:13
I've just finished "The Damage Done" by James Oswald, a good police thing as all of his are. Unfortunately like his other ones there's a brief element of the supernatural involved, but it's brief enough that it doesn't put me off.
Prior to that I read "Private Sydney" by James Patterson, generally quite a good read but with a bit of a nonsensical ending, an easy wrap-up to the plot almost as if they'd not really considered how to end it until a few pages before the page limit.
Prior to that I read "Private Sydney" by James Patterson, generally quite a good read but with a bit of a nonsensical ending, an easy wrap-up to the plot almost as if they'd not really considered how to end it until a few pages before the page limit.
Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff