Books - What are you reading?

[havoc]

toasty said:

Just finished Rule 34 by Charles Stross. A treat for the techy geeks with twisted minds. Very very wrong in places.

Big fan of Charles Stross. Literature his books aren't, but they're clever, engaging and well-written...don't think I've taken more than a week for any of them.

And whether you're a geek, a fan of mythology (inc. Lovecraft!) or just someone who enjoys word-play and parody, you'll find his books funny..."Laundry" series especially.




Currently alternating between the Jason Bourne series and the Iain M Banks' Culture novels. Neither are especially lightweight, but the stylistic differences are quite marked.

[soad]

Enjoyed it. One of the few books without the Dan “Spider” Shepherd character.

[E65Ross]

crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky - anyone on here read it? Just finished "part 1"/the first 7 chapters and i'm quite enjoying it

[Vipers]

Martina Cole "Revenge".

[torqueofthedevil]

lepetitoeuf said:

E65Ross said:

crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky - anyone on here read it? Just finished "part 1"/the first 7 chapters and i'm quite enjoying it

Co-incidentally, I started this on Tuesday after having just finished The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. I've only read for an hour, but am really enjoying it so far.

Doors of perception starts off great then just turns into self indulgent boring rubbish about art. Just tell us more about your crazy mescaline experiences, and maybe a little about our celebral reducin valve and then shut up.

[K12beano]

"Doors of Perception" is great......


When you just take the quote, fall forward to 1967-70 and immerse yourself in The Doors and then wake up and go "that's nice" ........


But hey!

Don't listen to me, cos I've fallen straight back into the C19th with a touch of (truly, ever, eternally the most non-PC ever, EVER!) a great read: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

[E65Ross]

lepetitoeuf said:

E65Ross said:

crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky - anyone on here read it? Just finished "part 1"/the first 7 chapters and i'm quite enjoying it

Co-incidentally, I started this on Tuesday after having just finished The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. I've only read for an hour, but am really enjoying it so far.

I'm really getting into it now. Started slowly, now read the 1st 2 chapters of part 2

[Digga]

lepetitoeuf said:

E65Ross said:

crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky - anyone on here read it? Just finished "part 1"/the first 7 chapters and i'm quite enjoying it

Co-incidentally, I started this on Tuesday after having just finished The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. I've only read for an hour, but am really enjoying it so far.

I read it one Christmas whilst suffering from a mild bout of manflu and the fevered nature of the protagonist meshed very easily and disturbingly with the symptom. A very good read though.

Just read three books by Gillian Flynn, all three of which were enjoyable, although the one which is being made into a film, Gone Girl, was annoyingly far-fetched in places. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Flynn

Now reading Clare Balding's book "My animals and other family" which is nicely written and gives a very interesting background into someone I'd always respected.

[El Guapo]

The Witches of Eastwick. I found it rather dull. Updike has written much better stuff.

[Xaero]

soad said:

Enjoyed it. One of the few books without the Dan “Spider” Shepherd character.

I enjoyed that one too.

I just finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson. It was the first time I've read his work after enjoying a few of the films (this book and the Rum Diary) based on them. It's quite nuts and relatively short but I'd recommend it.

[rambo19]

soad said:

Enjoyed it. One of the few books without the Dan “Spider” Shepherd character.

Ive found the spider books excellent, however, the last few dan 'spider' shepherd has become a bit left wing.

[Laurel Green]

Found this rather sad, though had to keep turning the pages.

[gforceg]

Letting Go by Phillip Roth. I've read one or two of his and this is as good.

[blindswelledrat]

Laurel Green said:

Found this rather sad, though had to keep turning the pages.

I've read all his others but none of them really lived up to Child 44 which was brilliant. Have you read that and if so how does it compare?

[Laurel Green]

blindswelledrat said:

I've read all his others but none of them really lived up to Child 44 which was brilliant. Have you read that and if so how does it compare?

Same here. Have read his other books but this one is a tad different being mainly in narrative. The Farm is more a psychological drama and a hard hitting one at that too - one that I'd say will stay with me for some time to come. It's an easy read and quite short at some 350 pages(quite a few being mainly blank). But yes, in its way, worthy as a contender for being as good as Child 44 IMO.

[lowdrag]

I have just finished "The Distance" by Helen Giltrow.



Firstly, after the cracking Harry Bingham, I was prepared to be let down by this, the author's first novel; and to start with indeed I was, because I wasn't really being objective enough. A tale of the secret service, with twists and turns, so tortuous one thinks of Le Carré a bit, but for me there was one thing that detracted from the enjoyment of the book. The style. I didn't like it. Staccato sentences. Just like this one. It just didn't quite flow. But an enjoyable tale nevertheless.

Now moving on to a doorstop called The Siege by Arturo Perez-Reverte, whoever he is.

[AmitG]

AmitG said:

I've just started reading "Mao: The Untold Story". It's a biography of Mao Tse-Tung by Jung Chang (of Wild Swans fame) and Jon Halliday.

I'm 50 pages (out of 700) in, and already hooked. It's very well written and researched. I never realised that the events in China depended so heavily on Russian influence and control.

There occasionally appears to be an unnecessarily negative slant placed on some of Mao's minor actions, but perhaps they are trying to address the historical imbalance.

FYI, I finished this one.

On the one hand, it's absolutely fascinating, it's one of those books that really helps you to understand 20th century politics and why the world is the way it is. It's pitched at the right level of detail and is easy to read. I found myself marvelling at how someone with (according to the book) mediocre intelligence, no military skills, no family connections, no wealth, no work ethic and no obvious leadership qualities, but possessed of a very astute survival instinct and a willingness to get as dirty as necessary, ended up running China.

On the other hand - this sounds odd, but the book comes across as rather one-sided. From Mao's birth to his death the book is relentlessly negative about every single one of his actions, however minor. He was clearly a tyrant that caused misery on a colossal scale, but the lack of balance at times leads you to question the motives of the writers - was their aim to tell all the facts, or to do a hatchet job?

Also - the book ends rather abruptly with Mao's death. I think it needed another chapter covering how Deng Xiaoping rose to power and what the implications were for Mao's legacy.

Overall - highly recommended.

[TheJimi]

lowdrag said:

Now moving on to a doorstop called The Siege by Arturo Perez-Reverte, whoever he is.

I recommend The Dumas Club, by the same author.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dumas-Club-Arturo-Per&#233...

[autofocus]

Hi there,

Not really been into reading before, but seem to have found a new passion for it.

Currently a third of the way through this: -



Its actually a great read.

Once I've finished this I have the rest of the Christmas reading to work through: -







lastly this at some point



Regards

Tim

[Welshbeef]

I've just bought Mo Hayden Poppet - very dark disturbing sadist etc are usual descriptions for one of UKs best novelists in this genre she adds so much realism the story's are so well researched I cannot wait.



However need to Finish Lee Child Echo Burning first which is quite enjoyable