Books - What are you reading?

[IanA2]

K12beano said:

Ishiguro

IanA2 said:

Good, but he's written better.

Would you recommend anything in particular?

Probably The Buried Giant. Everyone has their own opinion/favourite.

My opinions and favourites frequently change, although I hold firm on the idea that Primo Levi is one of the greatest modern writers.

[TobyLerone]

It's definitely not academic or cerebral at all, but it is quite interesting. A pretty fun, light-hearted, easy read.

[Welshbeef]

Finally finished Stuart McBride Cold granite.

A good thriller worthy of a read.


Just started Tim Weaver “Broken Heart” this is superb.

[perdu]

Welshbeef said:

Finally finished Stuart McBride Cold granite.

A good thriller worthy of a read.


Just started Tim Weaver “Broken Heart” this is superb.

I've got that up on the shelf over there, I'll get it down and stack it in Ready Use

Recapping on turgid bilge I am a great action/adventure reader but I don't enjoy anything if I think I'm being taken for a chump by the author, some of my favourite writers have been equally guilty but when I was a kid it was all hoovered up, now I need to be a bit more discerning
Does "Although they went in for dinner at eight o'clock they didn't leave the table for cigars until eleven..." sound familiar?

This was one of the authors I grew up enjoying, but the frequency of That ^ Phrase began to grate eventually

[K12beano]

IanA2 said:

K12beano said:

Ishiguro

IanA2 said:

Good, but he's written better.

Would you recommend anything in particular?

Probably The Buried Giant. Everyone has their own opinion/favourite.

My opinions and favourites frequently change, although I hold firm on the idea that Primo Levi is one of the greatest modern writers.

Thanks - I feel I may just need to get around a few more - just didn't know where I might start.

Murakami is a bit like that - they're all quite good, but where to start!?!

[Welshbeef]

perdu said:

I've got that up on the shelf over there, I'll get it down and stack it in Ready Use

Recapping on turgid bilge I am a great action/adventure reader but I don't enjoy anything if I think I'm being taken for a chump by the author, some of my favourite writers have been equally guilty but when I was a kid it was all hoovered up, now I need to be a bit more discerning
Does "Although they went in for dinner at eight o'clock they didn't leave the table for cigars until eleven..." sound familiar?

This was one of the authors I grew up enjoying, but the frequency of That ^ Phrase began to grate eventually

Ive read 3 of McBrides now - Dark and gritty

[Stan the Bat]

K12beano said:

K12beano said:

CardinalBlue said:

Just finished "This is Going to Hurt" by Adam Kay. It's the diary of a junior doctor, and quite eye opening. I'd certainly recommend it.

Ooo - I think I’m going for that next. I generally like his sense of humour and hope it’s an overall balance of laughter and a serious take on the realities.

Ooo oooo ooooooo!

Rattled through this on my commutes.

When it makes you laugh it really splits your sides - embarrassing in front of your fellow commuters.

It brings you sadness and then it makes you cry - I was listening over Audible and the author was cracking up and so was I.

It comes with a Political Message - but when it gets there, so would probably the most apolitical you know.

I’m reporting this partly because you’re warned in the foreword - something to the effect that you know the story of the Titanic but you still went to see the fking film

It’s a roller coaster and thoroughly, thoroughly recommended for all its facets!

A very good and informative read.

[anonymous-user]

I'm currently working my way through Moby Dick. Still waiting for it to get going and feel like I might be waiting quite a while longer! I'm perservering though, there's enough there to keep me interested so far.

[droopsnoot]

plasticpig said:

I am not adverse to the techno thriller genre. I have enjoyed the Michael Crichton books I have read for example.

I find he's quite changeable - I very much enjoyed "Airframe" if I recall correctly, but one of his more recent ones just wasn't for me. But I'd think of him as quite a bit more "midbrow" than Cussler and the like.

I've just finished "Death do us part" by Steven Dunne, and it was very good. I recognise the authors name so I think I've read something else by him, but I don't recall any of the character names so maybe it was a standalone.

I've read all the Stuart McBride, all very good though I was a bit disappointed he's started doing non-Logan McRea books now. Probably better than writing them for the sake of it.

[Nom de ploom]

so I plumped in the end for Sapiens by Yuval Noah Haran

about 50 pages in and I'm not convinced about this at all - in trying to be relevlatory the author feels like he is piecing together several elements of unproven theory and repackaging them as alternate facts and versions of biology / history that in themselves are almost impossible to prove.

I can;t work out if this is a piece of work aimed at readers who dabble in popular science and need to be wowed or if its a serious scientific essay pitched at a higher intellectual level....

I'd welcome other views on this....my sense is that its average so far

[havoc]

Nom de ploom said:

so I plumped in the end for Sapiens by Yuval Noah Haran

It's been on my radar for a while but the comments I've heard suggest that the author seems to be 'pitching' his vegan view of humanity a little too hard, and I hate proselytising in scientific material.
(Not sure whether he addresses or ignores inconvenient facts from our hunter-gatherer* past, which evolutionarily speaking is little more than an eyeblink ago...)



* Let alone the more recent pastoral-farming past.

[Nom de ploom]

i'm erring on your side with this one - way too much conjecture...


"A hunter gather could fashion a flint tool in less than 5 minutes" really? could he? how do you know?

"the Invasion of Australia most likely began from coastal settlements on the indonesian coasts..." didn't realise it was an invasion

constant references to sexuality, conflict between ancestral tribes living 15,000 years ago with absolutely no way of verifying beyond assumption....

[Sway]

Just on the flint tools bit - there are still small groups of humans who use flint tools, and they take almost no time at all to make.

A few years ago I went on one of these crappy team building things with work. Made a flint axe that was lethally effective. That took less than 15 minutes, and was my first go...

[brrapp]

Got a box set of Hemingway for Christmas and been working my way through them slowly.
The five on the right are done, three on the left still to go.
Think I might take a break though, his stacato schoolboy storytelling style is beginning to grate.
I'll have a look for something a bit different this week then back to finish off the Hemingways after that.

[Adam B]

Nom de ploom said:

I can;t work out if this is a piece of work aimed at readers who dabble in popular science and need to be wowed or if its a serious scientific essay pitched at a higher intellectual level....

I am hoping for the former given I would be a dabbler and got Sapiens and Homo Deus of Christmas

[havoc]

Nom de ploom said:

i'm erring on your side with this one - way too much conjecture...

"A hunter gather could fashion a flint tool in less than 5 minutes" really? could he? how do you know?

"the Invasion of Australia most likely began from coastal settlements on the indonesian coasts..." didn't realise it was an invasion

constant references to sexuality, conflict between ancestral tribes living 15,000 years ago with absolutely no way of verifying beyond assumption....

I've been given Home Deus by a good friend, who liked both books...he's told me I should read Sapiens first.

So either you and I are wrong, or we're the last two card-carrying cynics in the room and we're only out-of-step with modern 'spoon feed me fake news' society.

[Nom de ploom]

i'll take that as a compliment - I don't get many on here.

Obviously make your own mind up and there are alot of 5 star reviews on amazon and it was a radio 2 fave iirc.

i'm just not sold on the way yuval uses convenience instead of fact to make his point. its just my opinion of course but i can't help but feel a little patronised by the way he ask me as a reader to accept his view of human evolution with scarcity of evidence...

[anonymous-user]

havoc said:

Nom de ploom said:

so I plumped in the end for Sapiens by Yuval Noah Haran

It's been on my radar for a while but the comments I've heard suggest that the author seems to be 'pitching' his vegan view of humanity a little too hard, and I hate proselytising in scientific material.
(Not sure whether he addresses or ignores inconvenient facts from our hunter-gatherer* past, which evolutionarily speaking is little more than an eyeblink ago...)



* Let alone the more recent pastoral-farming past.

I’ve got it ready to start - will let you know when I’ve given it a fair innings.

[havoc]

Nom de ploom said:

i'll take that as a compliment - I don't get many on here.

Obviously make your own mind up and there are alot of 5 star reviews on amazon and it was a radio 2 fave iirc.

i'm just not sold on the way yuval uses convenience instead of fact to make his point. its just my opinion of course but i can't help but feel a little patronised by the way he ask me as a reader to accept his view of human evolution with scarcity of evidence...

[droopsnoot]

I've just read "Blacklands" by Belinda Bauer. I've never heard of her, but it was 10p in "The Works" clearance box last weekend, and it's very good. Written largely from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy trying to find his uncle who went missing some years previously, and sometimes from that of the serial killer suspected of taking him.