Books - What are you reading?

[coppice]

towser said:

Recently finished.

“The Romantic” by William Boyd. I’d expected a partner to his other big life history book “Any Human Heart” instead got a set of loosely connected stories and a bunch of unlikeable characters. I can live with the latter if the story is good - sadly it’s not that great. 2/10.

“

I have read every Boyd book and enjoyed them hugely - he's a very fine writer. But God above , what went wrong with The Romantic ? Plodding , dull and incoherent narrative - I simply didn't care what happened to whom , or why , assuming I even cared enough to remember who they were .

I am now reading Ian McEwan's latest , Lessons, and it is as superb as we have come to expect from him

[MesoForm]

On the book review show "Between the Covers" David Baddiel recommended Jane Austen's Emma and not having read anything pre-1900 unless forced to at school I thought I'd give it a go.
It's hard work. Really hard work to get 'into' the style of writing, the characters seem very similar so often I find myself wondering who they are talking about, etc. I am persevering with it but maybe reading just before bed doesn't give me the concentration levels needed...

[smithyithy]

I was just over half way through Glamorama by Brett Easton Ellis, but I'm shelving it for a while, just finding it to drag a bit..

Just started A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, forgot I bought it a few months ago so fancied reading that instead, I'll probably stay on the trend and read a few more of his books back to back

[Kes Arevo]

MesoForm said:

On the book review show "Between the Covers" David Baddiel recommended Jane Austen's Emma and not having read anything pre-1900 unless forced to at school I thought I'd give it a go.
It's hard work. Really hard work to get 'into' the style of writing, the characters seem very similar so often I find myself wondering who they are talking about, etc. I am persevering with it but maybe reading just before bed doesn't give me the concentration levels needed...

Might be worth having a pop at Patrick O'Brian. It's basically Jane Austen for blokes.

[Mezzanine]

Kes Arevo said:

MesoForm said:

On the book review show "Between the Covers" David Baddiel recommended Jane Austen's Emma and not having read anything pre-1900 unless forced to at school I thought I'd give it a go.
It's hard work. Really hard work to get 'into' the style of writing, the characters seem very similar so often I find myself wondering who they are talking about, etc. I am persevering with it but maybe reading just before bed doesn't give me the concentration levels needed...

Might be worth having a pop at Patrick O'Brian. It's basically Jane Austen for blokes.

@Meso - Is this a new series of Between The Covers I have missed or a previous series? I remember someone on a previous series giving Emma a really good review and I put it on my 'to purchase' list as it is not something I would usually read. I had all intention of widening my parameters and taking in this well recommended classic off the back of that recommendation but never got around to purchasing it (yet).

@Kes - Thanks for the recommendation, never heard of that author before but will look some of his work up now

[Kes Arevo]

Mezzanine said:

@Kes - Thanks for the recommendation, never heard of that author before but will look some of his work up now

It's 'Master and Commander' a la Russel Crowe film.

[skeeterm5]

The Little Grey Men By BB.

A captivating and beautiful book, it is one of my favourites and I have owned a copy since childhood. Now in my 50s it is a hook I return to at least once a year.

While arguably a childrens book it really isn’t childish (if you can accept gnomes) and I would heartily recommend it for a gentle, sometimes politically questionable, and delightful read.

[akirk]

skeeterm5 said:

The Little Grey Men By BB.

A captivating and beautiful book, it is one of my favourites and I have owned a copy since childhood. Now in my 50s it is a hook I return to at least once a year.

While arguably a childrens book it really isn’t childish (if you can accept gnomes) and I would heartily recommend it for a gentle, sometimes politically questionable, and delightful read.

love this book

[MesoForm]

Mezzanine said:

@Meso - Is this a new series of Between The Covers I have missed or a previous series? I remember someone on a previous series giving Emma a really good review and I put it on my 'to purchase' list as it is not something I would usually read. I had all intention of widening my parameters and taking in this well recommended classic off the back of that recommendation but never got around to purchasing it (yet).

@Kes - Thanks for the recommendation, never heard of that author before but will look some of his work up now

Emma was from an old one (it’s been on my to read list a while!) but I think a new series of between the covers has just started.

[Mezzanine]

MesoForm said:

Mezzanine said:

@Meso - Is this a new series of Between The Covers I have missed or a previous series? I remember someone on a previous series giving Emma a really good review and I put it on my 'to purchase' list as it is not something I would usually read. I had all intention of widening my parameters and taking in this well recommended classic off the back of that recommendation but never got around to purchasing it (yet).

@Kes - Thanks for the recommendation, never heard of that author before but will look some of his work up now

Emma was from an old one (it’s been on my to read list a while!) but I think a new series of between the covers has just started.

[Mezzanine]

Kes Arevo said:

Mezzanine said:

@Kes - Thanks for the recommendation, never heard of that author before but will look some of his work up now

It's 'Master and Commander' a la Russel Crowe film.

Ah right - that gets recommended on this thread heavily!

[Kes Arevo]

Mezzanine said:

Ah right - that gets recommended on this thread heavily!

It really it good. It's a mashup of CS Forester, with the language and themes, sort of, of Austen.

It's worth a pop.

[coppice]

skeeterm5 said:

The Little Grey Men By BB.

A captivating and beautiful book, it is one of my favourites and I have owned a copy since childhood. Now in my 50s it is a hook I return to at least once a year.

While arguably a childrens book it really isn’t childish (if you can accept gnomes) and I would heartily recommend it for a gentle, sometimes politically questionable, and delightful read.

I am a lifelong angler and was given BB's Fisherman's Bedside Book (1946 edition ) when I was 13 and the book was nearly twenty . It was an inspiration and it still is.I have read all BB's work , I think, and I doubt if anybody has written more lyrical prose about the English countryside . There 's an endearing , almost childlike naivete about his style and God , those drawings..

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished "Don't look back" by Laura Lippman. A woman is contacted by the man who kidnapped her when she was a teenager. He's now on death row and hopes that by meeting her, he can get his sentence reduced. A good book, easy to read.

[jimwilli]

droopsnoot said:

I've just finished "Don't look back" by Laura Lippman. A woman is contacted by the man who kidnapped her when she was a teenager. He's now on death row and hopes that by meeting her, he can get his sentence reduced. A good book, easy to read.

Non fiction?

[droopsnoot]

jimwilli said:

droopsnoot said:

I've just finished "Don't look back" by Laura Lippman. A woman is contacted by the man who kidnapped her when she was a teenager. He's now on death row and hopes that by meeting her, he can get his sentence reduced. A good book, easy to read.

Non fiction?

Not as far as I was aware. I just checked the cover, and nothing on there suggests that it's even based on a true story.

[mat205125]

mat205125 said:

I picked this up at an airport recently, and am thoroughly enjoying working through it.

I'm a big fan of the layman books from Michael Brookes, and this is in a very similar vein, on a fascinating topic.

If you like a science non-fiction book, then I'd recommend it.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/being-you/profess...

Just finished the above whilst on holiday, and can't recommend it enough if you've an interest in the topic.

Also managed to binge the below, cover to cover, in a couple afternoons by the pool. A fair few diagrams and dialogue to trim it down.

Very entertaining, even if the depth of the exploration of the topics is covered in more depth through other Brooks publications.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/science-ish/rick-...

[ZedLeg]

grumbledoak said:

Following the success of The Ocean at the End of the Lane I read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. This one is less successful, for me.

In style it is an urban fantasy equivalent of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, complete with a Dentarthurdent protagonist and jokes. Apparently it was a BBC TV series. I can picture it, and not in a good way. I bet it aged liked Blake's Seven.

A bit lightweight and juvenile, I think I've read this one several decades too late in life.

Yeah Neverwhere's an odd one, iirc it was written with the intention of being made into a tv series from the start. I watched the TV series when it came out and rewatched it a few times on VHS, not watched it for years but it was very 90s BBC. Great cast though and some nice design work from Dave McKean who collaborated with Gaiman on Sandman and Mirrormask.

I've just picked up Jeff Vandermeer's most recent book Dead Astronauts, set up is very similar to Borne which is cool but I'm only around 100 pages in so far.

[paulguitar]

mat205125 said:

mat205125 said:

I picked this up at an airport recently, and am thoroughly enjoying working through it.

I'm a big fan of the layman books from Michael Brookes, and this is in a very similar vein, on a fascinating topic.

If you like a science non-fiction book, then I'd recommend it.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/being-you/profess...

Just finished the above whilst on holiday, and can't recommend it enough if you've an interest in the topic.

Also managed to binge the below, cover to cover, in a couple afternoons by the pool. A fair few diagrams and dialogue to trim it down.

Very entertaining, even if the depth of the exploration of the topics is covered in more depth through other Brooks publications.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/science-ish/rick-...

Anil Seth's recent podcast with Adam Buxton was an interesting listen.

[Ronstein]

Kes Arevo said:

It's 'Master and Commander' a la Russel Crowe film.

And a brilliant book series it is too!!