Books - What are you reading?

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished reading "Ordinary Thunderstorms" by William Boyd. A chap gets caught up in a murder and has to go on the run. I'm sure from one or two details that I have read it before, but then other parts of it didn't seem familiar. Good, though. Onto the new/old Ian Rankin book now.

[zygalski]

Servants of the People by Rawnsley.

[Ransoman]

I am almost finished "Ghost in the wires" by Kevin Mitnik.

My resolution for next year is to read more, A lot more. This is to stop me spending so much time on my phone - FB, Instagram, PHeads (sorry). As a warm up I read "This is going to hurt" cover to cover in 3 sittings.

Next book lined up: "The secret Barrister".

[200Plus Club]

Started on a new Stephen king book " The institute" and also got follow up to handsmaids tale The Testaments to follow. Wife just finished "The train was on time " short story so that little lot will keep me going a while!

Edited by 200Plus Club on Friday 27th December 18:22

Edited by 200Plus Club on Friday 27th December 21:38

[Tony Angelino]

Ransoman said:

I am almost finished "Ghost in the wires" by Kevin Mitnik.

My resolution for next year is to read more, A lot more. This is to stop me spending so much time on my phone - FB, Instagram, PHeads (sorry). As a warm up I read "This is going to hurt" cover to cover in 3 sittings.

Next book lined up: "The secret Barrister".

Not read This is Going to Hurt but plan to (noticed the stage show though at the local theater when at the panto, this has reminded me to get it purchased). The Secret Barrister is decent enough and both interesting and a fair bit shocking, the author does though labor the point that there isn't enough money in the system for legal aid and the ordinary man in the street could really be caught out as a result.

[dr_gn]

“Sea Harrier over the Falklands” by Sharkey Ward.

I’m one chapter in. Someone really should tell him that it’s good manners to put yourself last when referring to your colleagues and yourself.

[peterperkins]

'The Red Rocks of Eddystone' Lighthouse pron.

Tough visionaries building something vital with pickaxes, gnarly hands and grim determination in an impossible location for the benefit of us all.
Lets just say there were various approaches to the problem over the years, from the short lived ornately chic to the tough as old boots 100 year old towers we now admire.

I quite fancied being a lighthouse keeper in those golden days of the early 19th century.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/b...

Edited by peterperkins on Monday 30th December 12:50

[matchmaker]

RDMcG said:

lowdrag said:

Well, I've finished "In a House of Lies" by Ian Rankin and it was quite a plot with an unusual ending. I give nothing away by saying that Big Ger Cafferty is still lurking in the background!

I enjoyed that very much. Once had a pint with Ian Rankin..absolutely down to earth fellow, and his characters reflect that. There is a humanity to Rebus that I enjoy even if his taste in music is a bit off now and then.

I've a copy signed by the author which my wife bought for me at a signing in Waterstones. When she told Ian Rankin that I speed read he said "tell him not to start it yet, I haven't started writing the next one !"

Edited by matchmaker on Sunday 29th December 11:16

[Blatter]

andy_s said:

Next up is a Joe Rogan inspired choice: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.

I read this a while back. A really well researched book and gave a good insight into a subject I knew very little about.

[200Plus Club]

The Institute by Stephen King was quite a good read I thought, typical of the author if you like his stuff.

[Bungleaio]

I don't read many books but I had the urge to pick one up on the way home on Monday. I bought The family upstairs by Lisa Jewell, I did about 50 pages on the train home and then the rest of it today. It was a good read, slightly confusing with the different parts at the beginning but it soon started to knit together.

[lowdrag]

Degrees of Guilt, by H S Chandler. As a barrister, you'd expect a courtroom drama, and that is what you get. At first it reminded me of the film "The Jury" but as it progressed and things come to a climax you get the twist in the tail. Well written but I found it more turgid than spellbinding.

[lowdrag]

This is much more like it. "The Reunion" by Guilbert Musso. His books are intelligently written, and always grab me from the off, with sharp prose, good plots and keep you guessing. I'm not one too rush a book, savouring it and taking my time, but I realised I had read 75 pages in no time. The strangest part of this is that SWMBO loves them too, but the book, released last July, is only available in English. She is French as is the author! I'd strongly recommend any of his books.

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished "Westwind" by Ian Rankin, a book that he wrote and published years ago but wasn't very successful. It's a pretty good book, a little dated in parts but he does warn in advance in the foreword. Not a waste of time by any means, though, a good story.

[Chris Type R]

Bungleaio said:

I don't read many books but I had the urge to pick one up on the way home on Monday. I bought The family upstairs by Lisa Jewell, I did about 50 pages on the train home and then the rest of it today. It was a good read, slightly confusing with the different parts at the beginning but it soon started to knit together.

You might also enjoy "Then She Was Gone".

[towser]

Just completed a few over the holidays.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper - I had really enjoyed her debut The Dry so thought I’d give this a shot. Not as good in my opinion, a bit laboured and fizzles out before the end. 6/10.

Reread The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne as I’d enjoyed it so much the first time around. On second reading I enjoyed it less - too many contrived coincidences to make it sit well with me. Still a good book, but not the great one I’d initially thought it was. 7/10

Also reread Any Human Heart by William Boyd. I still view this as a modern classic. The audiobook version is fantastic. 10/10

Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem. Read on a whim as the premise seemed interesting. Basically a love story to the Thames and a nicely structured history of the river told through the eyes of a mudlarker (riverside treasure / relic finder). 8/10

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. Enjoyed his previous titles set in this world. This one didn’t grab me in quite the same way, the characters not quite as engaging and the pace too slow. It’s the first book of a trilogy so hoping the rest pick things up a bit. 5/10

The River by Peter Heller. Nuts and bolts thriller, readable but not memorable. 6/10

Just starting Scrubland by Chris Hammer. Another Aussie outback thriller. Apparently the genre is called Bush Noir - who knew! Promising so far.

[Alias218]

Started reading ‘On the Future’, by Martin Rees, over Christmas. Effectively an essay on the risks and benefits of continuing along our current path societally and technologically, providing analysis on what we might expect over the coming decades with regards to various subjects as energy production, climate, communications technology, space flight et al, and their potential for benefit or harm on a global and existential basis. Interesting stuff if you’re so inclined.

[SistersofPercy]

Having watched 'Mystify' over Christmas I've started to read:

Paula, Michael & Bob: Everything you know is wrong by Gerry Agar

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paula-Michael-Bob-Everyth...

It's an old book, but the title is very much true and is revealing a side of all three I didn't know. I expected to go into it and hate Geldof but find myself warming to him. Paula and Michael on the other hand do not come across well.

I've added "michael my brother, lost boy of inxs" to my reading list when I've finished.

[MC Bodge]

I'm currently reading "Dead Man's Walk" by Larry McMurtry, a prequel to the fantastic "Lonesome Dove".

I'm really enjoying it. Something about the harshness of the Old West and the way the characters deal with it appeals to me, as a 21st century suburbanite.

[Stan the Bat]

'Catch and Kill' by Ronan Farrow. (Mia Farrow's son)


About the Harvey Weinstein saga.