Books - What are you reading?

Books - What are you reading?

Author
Discussion

knotweed

1,979 posts

175 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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I'm about a quarter of the way through Papillon by Henri Charrière. Gripping so far.

blueg33

35,590 posts

223 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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knotweed said:
I'm about a quarter of the way through Papillon by Henri Charrière. Gripping so far.
Haven't read that since I was 15 (34 years ago). I wonder where my copy is?

lordstig

293 posts

150 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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Lee Child Die Trying
Matt Hilton Dead Man's Dust

lowdrag

12,869 posts

212 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Have now finished "The Darkest Heart" by Dan Smith. An interesting and different novel based in Brazil in, I guess, the 60's, and far from the usual run of murder mysteries that I've read. I enjoyed it.

Am now moving on to "No Safe House" by Linwood Barclay. I like his writing. By the way, it is a sequel to "No Time for Goodbye" if any of you read that and enjoyed it.

K12beano

20,854 posts

274 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I did manage, fairly quickly, to complete my read of Ulysses. Very rewarding for its crazy prose and mad delivery of an otherwise juicy day in the lives of two blokes in Dublin. Not for the feint-hearted, and not everyone's cup of Guinness....



Now moved on and almost ⅓ of the way through Murakami "1Q84" - interesting, slow reveal of the lives of two individuals in Tokyo: a teacher and wannabe author who ghost writes a strange teenager's story and a personal trainer/occasional assassin with apparent delusions of being in a parallel universe (hence instead of living in 1984 determines herself to be in 1-Question-84 and providing the title). You know almost right from the start that these quite isolated/solitary individuals and worlds must collide at some point and the longer it develops, holding off this inevitability but with slow reveals of pertinent facts, the higher desire to turn the page! Told - or maybe it's the translation - in a fairly basic style; almost the antithesis of Joyce's manic ramblings.

I knew nothing about it but some reviews (which pre-warned of a potentially pedestrian start) and very glad I've found it! Not sure if it's thriller or science fiction - bit of both.

soad

32,829 posts

175 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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soad said:
I need to order this, forgot it came out last month.

Managed to pick up a copy yesterday. smile Wonder how long it'll take to go through 390 pages...

torqueofthedevil

2,068 posts

176 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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K12beano said:
I did manage, fairly quickly, to complete my read of Ulysses. Very rewarding for its crazy prose and mad delivery of an otherwise juicy day in the lives of two blokes in Dublin. Not for the feint-hearted, and not everyone's cup of Guinness....



Now moved on and almost ? of the way through Murakami "1Q84" - interesting, slow reveal of the lives of two individuals in Tokyo: a teacher and wannabe author who ghost writes a strange teenager's story and a personal trainer/occasional assassin with apparent delusions of being in a parallel universe (hence instead of living in 1984 determines herself to be in 1-Question-84 and providing the title). You know almost right from the start that these quite isolated/solitary individuals and worlds must collide at some point and the longer it develops, holding off this inevitability but with slow reveals of pertinent facts, the higher desire to turn the page! Told - or maybe it's the translation - in a fairly basic style; almost the antithesis of Joyce's manic ramblings.

I knew nothing about it but some reviews (which pre-warned of a potentially pedestrian start) and very glad I've found it! Not sure if it's thriller or science fiction - bit of both.
A lot of people love Murakami, I have read a few and find them ultimately a bit of a let down. Yes compelling throughout as you seek to find answers to the riddle of what is going on. But it just continues on that vain to the end. No real resolution to the plot. Reminds me of programs like Lost.
Just seems a bit weak to me.

Laurel Green

30,770 posts

231 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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soad said:
Managed to pick up a copy yesterday. smile Wonder how long it'll take to go through 390 pages...
Well, what did you think of it? biggrin

Just joshing! Have it waiting in my 'to read' pile and 'tis a first SL for me.

Have just started--> Stella Rimington's latest, Close Call(another first for me).

Otter Smacker

6,524 posts

193 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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King Herald

23,501 posts

215 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Warrior Elite: The forging of SEAL class 228.

All about the training a SEAL team go through to get to be, er a SEAL. Written by a SEAL from years ago who follows the guys through the training sessions. Pretty interesting, not as full of tedious facts and figures, or macho bull**it as I expected either.

LordGrover

33,532 posts

211 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Otter Smacker said:

Smacker of Otters yesterday evening

5potTurbo

12,483 posts

167 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Asterix said:
Interesting book - funny and dark with an interesting conclusion that could be rather scary.

Having read the book's title, I now have Eminem in my head. bks. nerd



Almost finished "HMS Unseen". They really shouldn't have re-dated events in that one.
I'll be on Amazon buying a load more books this weekend for my Kindle, and will take a look at those in the prior few pages of this thread, but I was more surprised that I've read 12 books since 16th July!

Otter Smacker

6,524 posts

193 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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LordGrover said:
Otter Smacker said:

Smacker of Otters yesterday evening
The perfect enviroment!thumbup

Newc

1,846 posts

181 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Bone Clocks, the new David Mitchell. If it was a sportsman it would be a British tennis player: flashes of greatness, frustratingly close to a grand slam but ultimately fading away at the final moments and leaving an aroma of disappointment in the room. It's very much in the style of Number nine dream and cloud Atlas, but it isn't delivered as a sci-fi novel so it disappoints there, and it isn't as good as Black Swan or, particularly, Jacob de Zoet. JdZ is still his best work because while it's not as imaginative as the sci-fi books it is consistently and uniformly good and tightly written all the way through. Bone Clocks seems to have suffered from less editing - it may be that Mr Mitchell has arrived at the "too important to edit" level, which is a shame. If this had been a first novel a good editor would have ripped out all the fantasy rubbish and made it a much much better work.

So should you read it ? If you liked JdZ or Cloud Atlas then yes. If not then give this a miss. If you haven't read them then start with one of those before this. You'll understand where he's coming from and won't begrudge too much the fantasy sequences you skip over to return to the more interesting character pieces. Sadly, you will still finish it with a sense of frustration at the missed opportunities, particularly at the ending which is a real "my deadline's coming up, oh this'll do".

As I'm here, virtual pint for the Timur Vermes recommendation earlier. Hadn't heard of that before and it is excellent, thank you.

havoc

29,929 posts

234 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Finished this on holiday - second 'pair of novels' I've read by him - a little dated, but surprisingly good, not sure why he wasn't published much in the UK. Echoes of Greg Bear in there...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Across-Realtime-Vernor-Vin...


...and currently half-way through this. Quite harrowing, but surprisingly engaging - tellss very much the personal stories rather than the dry history. Highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Empty-Chairs-Heroic-Avi...

droopsnoot

11,817 posts

241 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Paddy_N_Murphy said:
I am throwing back in to the pot : The Best A Man Can Get by John O'Farrell.
I love that book - one of the very few books that had me actually laughing out loud rather than just smiling inwardly. This was the first of his that I've read, and unfortunately the others I've read since weren't as enjoyable.

Nom de ploom

4,890 posts

173 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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I inished Danny Bakers' 1st biog - Going to Sea in Sieve - pretty good, got a bit boasty towards the end, "when I toured with...", "when I met michael Jackson"...but if he did these things then fair play to write about them...

hell, if I'd met michael jackson I'd probably put it in my autobiography...

I'll probably get the next one when I buy a new kindle...it seems mine had a 3 year shelf life....

bint

4,664 posts

223 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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I've just finished this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00CYM1952?pc_redi...

The 3rd book in Neal Asher's Owner trilogy. Great scifi romp and left me going oh we've finished? But I'm not ready to leave this universe yet!

bint

4,664 posts

223 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Damn double post.

May as well add next book is a different genre as it's Hilary Mantel and Bringing Up The Bodies.

I went to see Wolf Hall at the theatre last week and realised I really should read the sequel as the TV version is out next year!

grumbledoak

31,504 posts

232 months

Friday 26th September 2014
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havoc said:
Finished this on holiday - second 'pair of novels' I've read by him - a little dated, but surprisingly good, not sure why he wasn't published much in the UK. Echoes of Greg Bear in there...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Across-Realtime-Vernor-Vin...
I just re-read that one and the follow up; a fantastic imagination he has: just that one bit of technology and how it gets used.

I also finished the Void Trilogy by Neil F Hamilton; it's good, but I think his editor needs to have a word.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dreaming-Void-trilogy-...

Now on Atlas Shrugged; seemingly an omission from my childhood.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atlas-Shrugged-Penguin-Mod...