Books - What are you reading?

[droopsnoot]

I've finished "Close your eyes" by Michael Robotham today, again a book by an author I've read before where I'd forgotten how good they were. Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin helps to get to the bottom of a double murder.

[easyhome]

For those who’ve enjoyed Chickenhawk, I’d recommend his follow up. Chickenhawk:back in the world which is mainly about him flying in Alaska.

As well as Weapon and Solo.

[MikeT66]

Re-reading Bomber by Len Deighton (for the umpteenth time! ). A brilliant war/antiwar book, IMHO, told from both sides of a devastating Lancaster raid.

[MC Bodge]

easyhome said:

For those who’ve enjoyed Chickenhawk, I’d recommend his follow up. Chickenhawk:back in the world which is mainly about him flying in Alaska.

As well as Weapon and Solo.

I'll look out for that. Cheers

[jet_noise]

Prolex-UK said:

RC1807 said:

jet_noise said:

Just bought the 1st in the Holland & Robicheaux series on those recommendations
From your precis above you might enjoy Ace Atkins' Quinn Coulson series.

I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you, too, for the recommendation.


I'm currently reading Memory Man by David Baldacci.
7/10, so far....

On number 8 of amos decker

Brain out read

1/2 way through Lay Down My Sword & Shield. Not many likeable characters so far, incl. the "hero". A good read nonetheless. The Quinn Colson series is almost Dukes of Hazard (exaggerated point making) simple in comparison. Goodies and baddies are more obviously partitioned.
I've recently finished Lofty Large's bio so interesting to get Korean War POW snippets (assuming these are fact based) from the other side of the pond.

Baldacci is readable but a definite 2nd to others in his US-thriller arena. IMHO YMMV

[JeremyH5]

On Saturday I should receive this so I can continue my enjoyment of the series. It is the latest release. Philip may even have let my namesake live long enough to survive his third book in a row.

[p1doc]

lay down my...sound interesting so bought trilogy off amazon for peanuts
I like David Baldacci-thought his best was camel club series
I see Clive Cussler putting out new Fargo and Isaac bell books this year, presumably the last

[droopsnoot]

p1doc said:

I like David Baldacci-thought his best was camel club series
I see Clive Cussler putting out new Fargo and Isaac bell books this year, presumably the last

I've also read a lot of good David Baldacci books.

Not sure about whether those will be the last Clive Cussler books - both of those series (I think all his series apart from the original Dirk Pitt books) were co-written with other authors, so perhaps they'll carry on in a similar way to the Tom Clancy books that have been released since his death. I do like the Fargo books, they're mostly very readable, but I couldn't get on with the Isaac Bell ones as I don't like stuff from that period of time.

[Shadow R1]

I've read the Philip Mercer series by Jack du Brul.
River of Ruin is brilliant.

Started on the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Finished the first 2 consisting of short stories.

Can anyone suggest the read order for the rest of the books ?
Websites have them in different orders.

[K12beano]

Just starting....





...and it's a bit dry to start with, so hope I don't get bored too soon!!!

[droopsnoot]

^ I've an idea I've read that, but not entirely sure and can't find it now. I have read a similar one about Twitter fairly recently, which was reasonable but not great.

[JeremyH5]

lornemalvo said:

Some of the funniest books I've ever read were Spike Milligan's wartime experiences, genuinely laugh out loud. His other books, not so much, in my opinion

“I’ll always remember you like that” he said, pointing to a coil of greasy rope.

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished "Play Dead" by Harlan Coben. It's a very early book of his, republished once he became successful. It's OK, a decent enough storyline, one of the plot mysteries is really obvious from the point it's introduced, but it's OK.

[droopsnoot]

And now I've finished "A brush with death" by Quintin Jardine. One of the Bob Skinner series, it was a very good read as his always are. I've got through the pile of "never heard of" authors whose books I bough on a whim, and am now onto the pile of ones I had been saving. I've started a Tim Weaver book now, and that's shaping up well too.

[droopsnoot]

And as my TV switched itself off last night, I've now finished "You were gone" by Tim Weaver, which was very good.

[MC Bodge]

I'm reading "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T E Lawrence.

It's not exactly a light read. I will endeavour to finish it.

[andy_s]

MC Bodge said:

I'm reading "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T E Lawrence.

It's not exactly a light read. I will endeavour to finish it.

I remember reading it as a lad, I'm still not sure what I read and what I just looked at while I turned pages, but the first chapter stuck with me to this day - 'with the sorrow of living so great, the sorrow of punishment had to be pitiless' & 'the weak envied those tired enough to die, as success looked so remote, and failure a near and certain - if sharp - release from toil'.
Language was so lofty a hundred years ago, it's hard work but has a certain appealing quality to it.

[MC Bodge]

andy_s said:

MC Bodge said:

I'm reading "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T E Lawrence.

It's not exactly a light read. I will endeavour to finish it.

I remember reading it as a lad, I'm still not sure what I read and what I just looked at while I turned pages, but the first chapter stuck with me to this day - 'with the sorrow of living so great, the sorrow of punishment had to be pitiless' & 'the weak envied those tired enough to die, as success looked so remote, and failure a near and certain - if sharp - release from toil'.
Language was so lofty a hundred years ago, it's hard work but has a certain appealing quality to it.

Yes, I have read that passage too. It stood out.

It is a book that has been on my shelf for years. I'm working through my backlog before buying more.

[matchmaker]

unrepentant said:

Brilliant. Paddy Mayne, what a guy. Can't put it down.

Just finished Operation Mincemeat by the same author, also excellent.

If you enjoyed these I can recommend "Eastern Approaches" by Fitzroy MacLean. Fascinating account of his travels as a young diplomat in Stalinist prewar USSR, and then his fighting alongside Tito and his Yugoslav partisans in WW2.

[lowdrag]

I suppose it is only natural that we tend to look only for books written in english, but recently I have come across people I have never heard of before and their novels, translated (and in each case so well I have had to look words up; speleology for example. Authors such as Michel Bussi, Guillaume Musso, and now Ilaria Tuti. Not, for me as brilliant as the first two (of whom I'd buy every one by Musso if they were available in English) but an interesting tale of a orphanage run as a scientific testing place for seeing the childrens' reactions. Treatments based on Nazi second world war experiments.The authoress, being Austrian, I suppose it is perhaps only to be expected. So it is a good book, well written but a league below the other two I mention.