Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Just finished "Gun Street Girl" by Adrian McKinty.
Picked up with another book (from the Charity Shop)by the same author which I liked the title of "Rain Dogs" (A Tom Waits song).
If you can imagine Gene Hunt in the RUC in the mid 1980's.....
Easy read, quite entertaining, written in a similarish vein to Nic Pizzalatto with a bit of Andy Weir humour.
Starting Rain Dogs tonight
Picked up with another book (from the Charity Shop)by the same author which I liked the title of "Rain Dogs" (A Tom Waits song).
If you can imagine Gene Hunt in the RUC in the mid 1980's.....
Easy read, quite entertaining, written in a similarish vein to Nic Pizzalatto with a bit of Andy Weir humour.
Starting Rain Dogs tonight
Edited by Skyedriver on Monday 22 April 07:18
A few lately....
Erebus by Michael Palin - follows the life of the ship HMS Erebus from Antarctica under John Ross to the hunt for the North West Passage with John Franklin. I knew parts of the story already but this was wonderfully pulled together and researched and a great read. 5/5
Viking Britain by Tom Williams - this book had really strong reviews and I was hoping to learn something new. Pretty disappointing to be honest, was certainly more focussed on Viking England and the inter-region wars in what would become England during the times of the Viking invasion. Too much speculation and waffle aswell. 2/5
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - Family drama set in Ireland that time travels back and forth focussing on different characters in each part of the book. On paper it sounded interesting and it started off well enough but it just descended into generic, trashy nonsense - a shame if this is what passes as Booker Prize material these days! 2/5
Erebus by Michael Palin - follows the life of the ship HMS Erebus from Antarctica under John Ross to the hunt for the North West Passage with John Franklin. I knew parts of the story already but this was wonderfully pulled together and researched and a great read. 5/5
Viking Britain by Tom Williams - this book had really strong reviews and I was hoping to learn something new. Pretty disappointing to be honest, was certainly more focussed on Viking England and the inter-region wars in what would become England during the times of the Viking invasion. Too much speculation and waffle aswell. 2/5
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - Family drama set in Ireland that time travels back and forth focussing on different characters in each part of the book. On paper it sounded interesting and it started off well enough but it just descended into generic, trashy nonsense - a shame if this is what passes as Booker Prize material these days! 2/5
MC Bodge said:
I have almost finished reading Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.
I began it some time ago, got half-way through, stopped, and then resumed a couple of weeks ago.
I found myself getting into it in the middle section, but it now feels like a test of endurance. I will hopefully finish it in the next day or two.
Wolf Hall was very good, despite the unnecessarily quirky writing style, but Bring Up the Bodies is just not as interesting. It is shorter than Wolf Hall, but feels very long-winded (Henry VIII contrives the end of a second marriage), petty and most of the characters seem tedious and one-dimensional . It feels as if it is not as clever as the author thought It was.
It seems significantly over-rated.
I doubt that I will read the third book for a very long time, if ever.
I have now finished reading it.I began it some time ago, got half-way through, stopped, and then resumed a couple of weeks ago.
I found myself getting into it in the middle section, but it now feels like a test of endurance. I will hopefully finish it in the next day or two.
Wolf Hall was very good, despite the unnecessarily quirky writing style, but Bring Up the Bodies is just not as interesting. It is shorter than Wolf Hall, but feels very long-winded (Henry VIII contrives the end of a second marriage), petty and most of the characters seem tedious and one-dimensional . It feels as if it is not as clever as the author thought It was.
It seems significantly over-rated.
I doubt that I will read the third book for a very long time, if ever.
I have read a few reviews. Unlike many other people, I did not find the final 150 pages fascinating.
Despite being fairly long and drawn-out, It was a foregone conclusion with no real justification, other than vested interests wanting to get rid of Anne Boleyn and sacrificing others in the process. The very end was quite brief.
towser said:
Erebus by Michael Palin - follows the life of the ship HMS Erebus from Antarctica under John Ross to the hunt for the North West Passage with John Franklin. I knew parts of the story already but this was wonderfully pulled together and researched and a great read. 5/5
I agree, brilliant book. Lots of fascinating facts about the construction of the boat, I'd never really thought about how thick the planks they used and other stuff. Great that the book contains a plan of the ship.In a different approach to the North West Passage story, I'd thoroughly recommend Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan. It tells the story of John Rae, the Orcadian adventurer who arguably found the final link in the North West Passage and discovered the final fate of Franklin and his crew but was censured for it rather than lauded.
andrewcliffe said:
Stan the Bat said:
Found that a bit hard work.
It was the in-game chat channel transscripts that I found slowed things down. zetec said:
This is where I am struggling with it. With 3 different transcripts per page, I end up reading each chat, then going back pages and reading the next.
I listened to the audiobook version where its all read out verbatim by Robert Glenister. Given this is the next one to be televised I wonder how they'll do it? Probably try to trim as much out as possible apart from the important sections with Anomie and the various other characters.
Desiderata said:
towser said:
Erebus by Michael Palin - follows the life of the ship HMS Erebus from Antarctica under John Ross to the hunt for the North West Passage with John Franklin. I knew parts of the story already but this was wonderfully pulled together and researched and a great read. 5/5
I agree, brilliant book. Lots of fascinating facts about the construction of the boat, I'd never really thought about how thick the planks they used and other stuff. Great that the book contains a plan of the ship.In a different approach to the North West Passage story, I'd thoroughly recommend Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan. It tells the story of John Rae, the Orcadian adventurer who arguably found the final link in the North West Passage and discovered the final fate of Franklin and his crew but was censured for it rather than lauded.
RizzoTheRat said:
Desiderata said:
towser said:
Erebus by Michael Palin - follows the life of the ship HMS Erebus from Antarctica under John Ross to the hunt for the North West Passage with John Franklin. I knew parts of the story already but this was wonderfully pulled together and researched and a great read. 5/5
I agree, brilliant book. Lots of fascinating facts about the construction of the boat, I'd never really thought about how thick the planks they used and other stuff. Great that the book contains a plan of the ship.In a different approach to the North West Passage story, I'd thoroughly recommend Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan. It tells the story of John Rae, the Orcadian adventurer who arguably found the final link in the North West Passage and discovered the final fate of Franklin and his crew but was censured for it rather than lauded.
I haven't read it for a while as I lent it to a friend a while ago, but I was pretty impressed by it.
I've just finished "As Serious as Death" by Quintin Jardine. Primavera Blackstone, who was a supporting character in some of the Oz Blackstone books, is living in Spain and takes on the job of managing an economy airline to try to get to the bottom of some vandalism which escalates into murder. A decent enough story, perhaps a bit slow in some parts and not much of an ending. I generally enjoy his stuff, just this one is a bit light. I think the Bob Skinner books are probably the better ones, with the Oz Blackstone ones coming just behind them.
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