Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
BRISTOL86 said:
Hi Guys
Can you recommend authors similar in genre and style to Bill Bryson (the travel stuff rather than the sciencey stuff)
I really like the blend he gets of informative enough to be interesting from a learning point of view but humorous enough to keep it light and easy going...especially his earlier stuff on the Americas and Europe.
Cheers!
Try something by Tim Moore, or for slightly less humour, the unrelated Peter Moore. Or Pete McCarthy, or Tim Cahill (slightly dated maybe), or Redmond O'Hanlon, or Stuart Stevens?Can you recommend authors similar in genre and style to Bill Bryson (the travel stuff rather than the sciencey stuff)
I really like the blend he gets of informative enough to be interesting from a learning point of view but humorous enough to keep it light and easy going...especially his earlier stuff on the Americas and Europe.
Cheers!
Spumfry said:
Patrick DeWitt's 'The Sisters Brothers'.
Two hired guns on the trail of a mysterious prospector in 1850's gold-rush California. I guess it's literary fiction as it was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, but it's just a good, compelling, dark read.
Opinions and all that, but I found this mind-numbingly dull.Two hired guns on the trail of a mysterious prospector in 1850's gold-rush California. I guess it's literary fiction as it was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, but it's just a good, compelling, dark read.
Legend83 said:
Opinions and all that, but I found this mind-numbingly dull.
Having finished it I may need to revise my opinion, starts out good/compelling/dark etc then gradually peters out, gets slightly odd, then finishes off with a 'is that it?' ending.Now reading 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls' a history of 70's Hollywood. Second hand but unread and so far, I can see why...
thelittleegg said:
SilverSixer said:
You poor sod. Still, at least it isn't 'Crime and Punishment'.
I've already read that and thought it was fantastic, albeit pretty epic. Each to their own of course! ;-)
Black Eyed Susans, by Julia Heaberlin. A crime thriller.
Recommended by a friend.
Excellent read. I'm only a third of the way through but it's great. Here is a typical excerpt. She is describing the plant Black Eyed Susans:
The Susans are a greedy plant, often the first to thrive in scorched, devastated earth. Pretty, but competitive, like cheerleaders. They live to crowd out others.
The description is pertinent to the plot in all probability and having it so memorably phrased means I won't forget it.
Recommended by a friend.
Excellent read. I'm only a third of the way through but it's great. Here is a typical excerpt. She is describing the plant Black Eyed Susans:
The Susans are a greedy plant, often the first to thrive in scorched, devastated earth. Pretty, but competitive, like cheerleaders. They live to crowd out others.
The description is pertinent to the plot in all probability and having it so memorably phrased means I won't forget it.
Finished this recently.
Loved it. Tells the tale of a pioneering 1200 miles trip up the Himalayas in a prototype hovercraft. Bit like Bill Bryson with balls.
While I was looking for the book to take a picture I also found this:
It's a 1956 biography of Shepa Tenzing and I didn't actually know I had it. That's my next read sorted then.
Loved it. Tells the tale of a pioneering 1200 miles trip up the Himalayas in a prototype hovercraft. Bit like Bill Bryson with balls.
While I was looking for the book to take a picture I also found this:
It's a 1956 biography of Shepa Tenzing and I didn't actually know I had it. That's my next read sorted then.
g3org3y said:
Finished this, thought it ok, imo not his best. He does (almost) the entire journey using public transport citing his hate of cars and driving as the reason. Fair enough, however he then spends too much of the book complaining about infrequent trains and buses, waiting at stations, generally rubbish service etc. For me it detracted from what was otherwise a decent book. Even Bryson thought Bradford was a sthole.Just started this, Begbie's back!
g3org3y said:
Just started this, Begbie's back!
Just finished this and not really sure what I thought to be honest. It seemed pretty farcical in places but I quite enjoyed it regardless. It's not Trainspotting, that's for sure, but if you enjoyed Trainspotting, it's probably worth reading. "Jack Reacher, meet Carter Blake". If any of you have read Le Child you'll know of his taciturn loner with independent means who can outwit the FBI and CIA together when it comes to solving a crime. One of his happened to be the last off the pile and blow me down but "The Samaritan" by Mason Cross is a complete plagiarism, but curiously so acknowledged on the front cover where it is stamped "Perfect for fans of Lee Child". I am hurrying to the end since the death toll is reaching epidemic proportions across this nation of unsolved crimes, suddenly all pulled together by a - female - police detective and Carter Blake. I won't read another if one turns up in the next pile.
lauda said:
g3org3y said:
Just started this, Begbie's back!
Just finished this and not really sure what I thought to be honest. It seemed pretty farcical in places but I quite enjoyed it regardless. It's not Trainspotting, that's for sure, but if you enjoyed Trainspotting, it's probably worth reading. Now onto this. Much more enjoyable.
Edited by g3org3y on Sunday 24th April 12:57
I'm going through the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell at quite a pace. Have two left to read and will then have to buy the final 5 books. Very engrossing but then I do like Cornwell's style.
I only have one other unread book on the shelf and it is Time and Time Agin by Ben Elton which I am looking forward to reading.
I only have one other unread book on the shelf and it is Time and Time Agin by Ben Elton which I am looking forward to reading.
krallicious said:
I'm going through the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell at quite a pace. Have two left to read and will then have to buy the final 5 books. Very engrossing but then I do like Cornwell's style.
I only have one other unread book on the shelf and it is Time and Time Agin by Ben Elton which I am looking forward to reading.
Have you read Cornwell's Warrior Chronicles (also known as The Last kingdom Series)? I really enjoyed them - Cornwell's battle descriptions are second to none.I only have one other unread book on the shelf and it is Time and Time Agin by Ben Elton which I am looking forward to reading.
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