Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Just finished The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - think it was recommended on here. Not my usual sort of book...
..but I really enjoyed it. Hard to pin-down - not sci-fi (not in the true sense), not a crime or spy thriller (although it has clear elements of both), but a nicely meandering and well-written story about people. Found myself not wanting to put it down.
lowdrag said:
One of the best novels it has been my pleasure to read for some time. Two men in their early twenties decide to canoe the river in Canada before returning to their studies. The description of the wilderness is so good you can almost touch it and smell it. But they come across problems, a woman nearly dead, two drunks in another canoe and the husband of the woman out for revenge so he can escape prosecution. I've given nothing away in this description because all of this happens early on, but the twists and turns make this one you'll remember. This seems to be his first book but I'll surely look out for any sequel. This man knows all about nature and the backwoods.
Could you post the author and title please, I can't see the picture in your post.Edited by lowdrag on Monday 5th August 02:56
ElectricSoup said:
Could you post the author and title please, I can't see the picture in your post.
The River by Peter Heller. 99p on Kindle at the moment, that's my holiday reading sorted!First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is excellent, I'd also recommend that.
I've been struggling since finishing the Carlos Ruiz Zafon Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, problem with a really great series is nothing else quite seems up to the job afterwards!
wombleh said:
ElectricSoup said:
Could you post the author and title please, I can't see the picture in your post.
The River by Peter Heller. 99p on Kindle at the moment, that's my holiday reading sorted!First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is excellent, I'd also recommend that.
I've been struggling since finishing the Carlos Ruiz Zafon Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, problem with a really great series is nothing else quite seems up to the job afterwards!
I've just finished "Freedom's Child" by Jax Miller. It's taken me ages to get through it, and I can't put my finger on why. The story is good - woman in witness protection learns that her natural daughter (who is unaware of her real mother) has gone missing / abducted and set off to try to find her - but for some reason I struggled with it.
Nom de ploom said:
i've moved straight onto Treasons' Harbour by Patrick O'brien after book 8 which was a tad slower than some of the previous books but ended well.
Book 9 looks like it will be a land based affair for the most part again but its always good reading
Just finished Blue at the Mizzen, the 20th and last. It was my third time through and as usual I want to start the whole lot again immediately as they are so stupendously good! I have to force myself to stop and catch up with some other stuff. Book 9 looks like it will be a land based affair for the most part again but its always good reading
Into Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky as recommended here, it's very good so far.
Meet Tucker Wayne, who can only be described as Jack Reacher on both crack and steroids. He is ably accompanied by his faithful friend Kane, who had lost his brother Abel a few years before. Kane is a Belgian shepherd dog by the way, but unlike any such beast I have met before he wears kevlar and a two way radio, understands 1,000 words and commands in english, and seemingly can understand five commands at a time and carry them out. I think I will pass on the next derring-do.
On recommendations here, I took a break from Sherlock Holmes and read The Great Gatsby and On The Beach.
Both good reads (actually listens) but I don't quite understand the love for Gatsby. Slightly overrated IMHO.
Now back to Holmes and Watson's frequent ejaculations. Only 24 hours left to go out of 72.
Both good reads (actually listens) but I don't quite understand the love for Gatsby. Slightly overrated IMHO.
Now back to Holmes and Watson's frequent ejaculations. Only 24 hours left to go out of 72.
Well, while waiting for the latest Nick Stone and Jack Reacher, (both out in OCT), I fancied going back to Nietzsche, in particular 'The AntiChrist'. The only Kaufmann translation I could find though was in a compendium, which is a bit unsatisfactory on one hand but on the other, one of the other books is 'Twilight of the Idols' which I'd also wanted to read anyway. Looking forward to ploughing through a good old rant by the old boy 
Oh - along with Firefall by Peter Watts, a sci-fi recommended by Richard Morgan of 'Altered Carbon' fame, so thought I'd give it a go.
Oh - along with Firefall by Peter Watts, a sci-fi recommended by Richard Morgan of 'Altered Carbon' fame, so thought I'd give it a go.
Edited by andy_s on Saturday 10th August 19:03
ElectricSoup said:
lowdrag said:
One of the best novels it has been my pleasure to read for some time. Two men in their early twenties decide to canoe the river in Canada before returning to their studies. The description of the wilderness is so good you can almost touch it and smell it. But they come across problems, a woman nearly dead, two drunks in another canoe and the husband of the woman out for revenge so he can escape prosecution. I've given nothing away in this description because all of this happens early on, but the twists and turns make this one you'll remember. This seems to be his first book but I'll surely look out for any sequel. This man knows all about nature and the backwoods.
Could you post the author and title please, I can't see the picture in your post.Edited by lowdrag on Monday 5th August 02:56
I'm halfway through and enjoy as a summer holidays book :
"For two decades Robert Stone made his living on the high seas. A modern-day pirate, he was a pioneer saturation oil-field diver, treasure hunter and smuggler, which brought him more money than he knew how to spend. Stone spent the last ten of his smuggling years in Africa, where he traded in illicit fuel. The murky waters of the Niger delta were his place of business as he operated in the most corrupt regime in the world, a place ruled by money and guns. Protected by the military he sold his black cargo to legitimate businesses all over the world, making millions of dollars in the process.
Chasing Black Gold is a tale straight out of Hollywood, one which throws the reader into a world where suitcases full of millions in cash are flown around the globe on private jets, where the corrupt practices of Third World governments and military regimes must be mastered and a world of numbered bank accounts and countries of convenience, where living under false IDs and money laundering are all in a day s work."
"For two decades Robert Stone made his living on the high seas. A modern-day pirate, he was a pioneer saturation oil-field diver, treasure hunter and smuggler, which brought him more money than he knew how to spend. Stone spent the last ten of his smuggling years in Africa, where he traded in illicit fuel. The murky waters of the Niger delta were his place of business as he operated in the most corrupt regime in the world, a place ruled by money and guns. Protected by the military he sold his black cargo to legitimate businesses all over the world, making millions of dollars in the process.
Chasing Black Gold is a tale straight out of Hollywood, one which throws the reader into a world where suitcases full of millions in cash are flown around the globe on private jets, where the corrupt practices of Third World governments and military regimes must be mastered and a world of numbered bank accounts and countries of convenience, where living under false IDs and money laundering are all in a day s work."
I just finished The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky, by N.K.Jemesin, which won a Hugo in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Fantasy/Sci Fi, but not Elves or Vulcans, it is set in the very far future on something that is recognizably Earth mostly because the people are clearly people and they still call it Earth, though more often Evil Earth. It's post a massive apocalypse which cost the Earth it's Moon, and pissed it right off. Humans struggle to survive on a single landmass with frequent massive, and genuinely malicious, volcanic activity. The humans blame a sub-breed who are particularly sensitive to seismic activity, and treat them rather badly. The story follows one female of this breed, and the somewhat "challenging" life that she has to carve out. It's very good. Thus the awards. The world and it's history are unique and complete and complex and very well brought to life. I am rather sad that it is over.
Fantasy/Sci Fi, but not Elves or Vulcans, it is set in the very far future on something that is recognizably Earth mostly because the people are clearly people and they still call it Earth, though more often Evil Earth. It's post a massive apocalypse which cost the Earth it's Moon, and pissed it right off. Humans struggle to survive on a single landmass with frequent massive, and genuinely malicious, volcanic activity. The humans blame a sub-breed who are particularly sensitive to seismic activity, and treat them rather badly. The story follows one female of this breed, and the somewhat "challenging" life that she has to carve out. It's very good. Thus the awards. The world and it's history are unique and complete and complex and very well brought to life. I am rather sad that it is over.
Not a book as such, but an article about the moral issues that a particular book raises.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49294861
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49294861
I've just finished reading "Scorched Earth" by David Mark, another book featuring Aector McAvoy. For some reason I can't put my finger on, I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous one I read (which was the first in the series) - I don't know if that's because I've obviously missed quite a lot of things by not reading the books in the proper order, usually that doesn't bother me. It was good, but just not quite as enjoyable.
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