Books - What are you reading?

[gregd]

I'm half way through John Le Carre's "A Perfect Spy".. Really enjoying it.. My first Le Carre book, although I've seen plenty of the TV/Movie adaptations. Apparently it's semi-autobiographical.. Lots in there about his relationship with his (crooked) father. Anyone else read it?

[toasty]

A Christmas present from my Hungarian brother in law. Catch 22 style humour all the way through.



Now on to this for something from the same era.

[towser]

towser said:

jbudgie said:

DUMBO100 said:

Only just started this, enjoying it so far, quite intense

Yes, enjoyed that.

Just starting this also.....enjoying it so far. A bit like a reimagined Jack Reacher.

Enjoyable enough story about a vigilante, super assassin type person.....too many damsels in distress to save for my liking though. Having said that I'll probably read the next book in the series when it's released. 3/5.

[ribiero]

Just finished powder wars about a supergrass blowing open the Liverpool drugs scene to the rozzers, great read (think I got the tip off from here)

Started Ready Player One, tried to read it a year or so ago but got bored of all the 80's references, gonna nail it this time.

[BertieWooster]

toasty said:

Now on to this for something from the same era.

I read that a year or so ago - very well written indeed.

I'm going through this at the moment:

[jimmyjimjim]

Just started 'The Heart of What Was Lost' by Tad Williams. It's a return to the world of Osten Ard, last seen nearly a quarter of a century ago in the "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' trilogy. This was one of my favourite fantasy series of the time, so I've high hopes.

Start of a new, five book series, apparently.

Fingers crossed.

[lowdrag]

Well, I finally finished "The End Game" and mightily gifted he and his family are. He killed at least four SWAT team members, his wife an FBI chappie, and a female FBI gal shot dead another 8 special forces. As if Willis/Wayne/ et al were rolled into one. Hang your heads in shame, Van Damn (sic) and Seagal! Must try harder!

Now reading a very interesting book called "Black Water Lilies" by Michel Bussi. Based at Giverny, the home of Monet, it is a police thriller, very well written in the third person, and good reading.

Edited by lowdrag on Sunday 29th January 15:29

[Junior Bianno]

Been reading "Ready Player One" based on recommendations on here - absolutely fantastic so far, love it. Being (just) the wrong side of 40 I can't get enough of the 80s references.

Just finished this - fascinating. A complex character - not all nice.

[Levin]

Levin said:

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.

Quoting myself here to ask you all - when is the right time to give up on a book? The translation is putting me off this book but it does have a reputation for being extremely hard to translate.

The earlier English translation was apparently atrocious, and at least one translator apparently refused to tackle this book due to subtleties in the original Finnish text. The translator has given it a go anyway and the result is a book that attempts to display its characters' accents but feels more like a caricature of soldiers.

I'm not the only person to have been put off by this translation; another review complained of the translator's "tin ears" so I feel a bit better about it. Do I just give up and maybe revisit it in future, or force myself through anyway?

[SystemParanoia]

Junior Bianno said:

Been reading "Ready Player One" based on recommendations on here - absolutely fantastic so far, love it. Being (just) the wrong side of 40 I can't get enough of the 80s references.

Just finished this - fascinating. A complex character - not all nice.

I got alot but not all of the references ( younger than you ) .
What helps is to have youtube ready beside you as you read, it really helped to immerse me into the book and the period vibe it was going for

Edited by SystemParanoia on Tuesday 31st January 22:22

[judas]

Just started this:

[havoc]

Interesting - Lovecraft meets Doyle?!? I'll wager it'll either be really good or just dire, derivative knock-off...

[lufbramatt]

Just finished "Race to Dakar" by Charlie Boorman seeing as the real rally was running at the same time. Quite interesting but made the mistake of looking at the photos halfway through which spoilt the outcome a bit.

As I have just decided to get rid of a car that I've had a long time and done lots of work on, I though "Christine" by Stephen King would be a good choice to read next.

[soad]

Finished this today. Entertaining enough for a quick read.

[ehonda]

3 weeks ago

Levin said:

If anyone really loved Fight Club, I'd like to hear an alternate viewpoint.

Looks like you're the only one who doesn't understand the first rule of fight club!

[andy_s]

Carlo Rovelli's 'Reality is Not What it Seems'. A fantastic book even if you only get halfway through as he takes you from the roots of scientific thinking from Democritus onwards in the first sections.

[Slushbox]

Glen Greenwald: No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the Surveillance State.

Fly on the wall journalist's account of the Snowden Affair. Complete with NSA PowerPoints of why you should not use The Internet. Also Luke Hardings: The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snowden-Files-Inside-Worl...

The books overlap each other, but Greenwald has the edge with his first person detailing of many dirty tricks, including those perpetrated by the 'lads' at GCHQ, and the passing around of intercepted user pix and data for giggles. NSA's motto; intercept everything.

[Goaty Bill 2]

Took a short break from Solzhenitsyn's gulags, to finally read Huxley's 'Brave New World'.
I managed to locate a quite decent 1952/4 hardback printing of this for more or less peanuts.
(I located an 'excellent condition' first edition for £12k if anyone is interested )

Required reading of course.
A bit slow to get going, but yes, an enjoyable read.
More than a few modern politicians would do well to understand some of the points he makes regarding human contentment. They might even consider it good advice.

[Junior Bianno]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

Took a short break from Solzhenitsyn's gulags, to finally read Huxley's 'Brave New World'.
I managed to locate a quite decent 1952/4 hardback printing of this for more or less peanuts.
(I located an 'excellent condition' first edition for £12k if anyone is interested )

Required reading of course.
A bit slow to get going, but yes, an enjoyable read.
More than a few modern politicians would do well to understand some of the points he makes regarding human contentment. They might even consider it good advice.

Yeah, but more importantly, you'll never be able to forget about "Pneumatic girls" now - ooft!

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished "The Bloodline Feud" by Charles Stross. Not quite what I was expecting to be honest, as I generally steer clear of stuff that could loosely be described as fantasy, but it picked up towards the end.