Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Started on the books of the Expanse and really enjoying them, very hard scifi but surprisingly easy read.
Also saw a bunch of Ben Elton Kindle books were massively discounted on Amazon so picked up all the remaining ones to get onto next. High Society and Two Brothers are probably some of my all time favourites, not found one of his that I didn't like
Also saw a bunch of Ben Elton Kindle books were massively discounted on Amazon so picked up all the remaining ones to get onto next. High Society and Two Brothers are probably some of my all time favourites, not found one of his that I didn't like
Teddy Lop said:
enjoyable read. Tells it like it is with regard to a few choice induhviduals and made me actually lol once or twice.
coppice said:
Teddy Lop said:
It's a pleasant read , agreed , but it is poorly (ghost) written, and needs the services of a good sub editor to weed out the stupid mistakes of fact. Amazingly . the same ghost is used in the Herbert /Hill book , which is strewn with errors. 'Ronnie Petersen' , 'Tyrell ' and 'Benneton' are some of the typos , and apparently some guy called Puccini was a Ferrari boss - that was the OPERA guy Johnny ... Prolex-UK said:
Just started book 1 of the Lonesome Dove triology.
Really enjoying it so far
Lucky you. I absolutely adored the Lonesome Dove triology. One of those where you feel a sense of loss when it all comes to an end. Just picked it up by chance in the library. Larry McMurtry’s other stuff is worth a read too.Really enjoying it so far
Edited by downthepub on Saturday 27th February 18:40
tight fart said:
Xmas present, I think it's awful, I've struggled to read more than 1 chapter at a time and they it tend to only be 2 pages long.
I'm reading this at the moment.I think that this is one of those books that you have to accept it for what it is. I mean really; it's just a bit of fun, not to be taken very seriously.
lowdrag said:
lowdrag said:
Whoa there! The first few pages found me in that comfort zone, sitting on the porch in my rocking chair smoking my pipe and looking out over the bayou. But then - chapter 2 changes everything. This is no Dave Robichaux book, and we change to WW2 and the Ardennes. As always, the prose sucks you in and you are living the experience, not just reading, and I am convinced that this will turn out to be a book to keep forever. It surprised me that it was published in 2014 and I had never heard of it, but better late than never. I am savouring the experience.
I've read everything he's published. It started with a freebie copy of Black Cherry Blues stuck to GC or something in the mid 90s.
Amazing prose, excellent character descriptions, and detailed insights into life in and around the bayou....so much so that my next US holiday will be a road trip around that part of the world.
I have JLB's latest on my Kindle to read next....
Currently, Lee Child's (and his brother''s) scribings about Jack Reacher's latest scuffles in "The Sentinel".
Legend83 said:
Now reading "Unnatural Causes" by Dr Richard Shepherd, one of the UK's top forensic pathologists. Interesting and sobering stuff.
Thanks for recommending this, it looked interesting and I was certainly it disappointed.Fascinating peek into his world, especially given he was part of so many high profile cases.
I love learning about people who have a dedication focus in their lives, and who know what they wanted to do since they were very young. He comes across as a very dedicated and professional man.
Since last posting (checked - mid Jan) I finished Alfred Hayes’s My Face for the World to See. Excellent. Biting about the emptiness and vanity of what it is to aspire to fame.
In the meantime I’ve also read:
Wintering by Katherine May. A sort of rambling essay on giving yourself time to get over difficult circumstances. Essentially the writer’s description of how she got over a breakdown.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. I love Shakespeare’s Hamlet (have seen some of the acclaimed productions) and so I was drawn to this creation of the love and death of his only son. Wasn’t sure about her style at first - too many similes but she found a decent rhythm as the book went on.
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo. The famous Mexican novel (novella?) that inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write A Hundred Years. I think I have a love-hate with South America magic realism. At times brilliant; at others so frustrating. On the fence on this one.
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. Fantastic. I can see why so many love this novel. Hilarious and heart rending at the same time. Excellent!
Currently reading:
Blindness by José Saramago. Many (15?) years ago I flew out to Brazil to meet my wife who had been at a conference. I took with me Seeing by Saramago. I didn’t realise until I was reading it that it was written as a sort of sequel to Blindness. Saramago’s style is really distinctive - sentences are often a paragraph long with speech being separated by commas and the odd capital letter. The setting is an unnamed city Europe/South America) where a sudden epidemic of blindness descends. It deals with the breakdown of social order as a result. Whereas Seeing was about a political movement and the state’s response, this is rather closer to home given the current pandemic....
In the meantime I’ve also read:
Wintering by Katherine May. A sort of rambling essay on giving yourself time to get over difficult circumstances. Essentially the writer’s description of how she got over a breakdown.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. I love Shakespeare’s Hamlet (have seen some of the acclaimed productions) and so I was drawn to this creation of the love and death of his only son. Wasn’t sure about her style at first - too many similes but she found a decent rhythm as the book went on.
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo. The famous Mexican novel (novella?) that inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write A Hundred Years. I think I have a love-hate with South America magic realism. At times brilliant; at others so frustrating. On the fence on this one.
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. Fantastic. I can see why so many love this novel. Hilarious and heart rending at the same time. Excellent!
Currently reading:
Blindness by José Saramago. Many (15?) years ago I flew out to Brazil to meet my wife who had been at a conference. I took with me Seeing by Saramago. I didn’t realise until I was reading it that it was written as a sort of sequel to Blindness. Saramago’s style is really distinctive - sentences are often a paragraph long with speech being separated by commas and the odd capital letter. The setting is an unnamed city Europe/South America) where a sudden epidemic of blindness descends. It deals with the breakdown of social order as a result. Whereas Seeing was about a political movement and the state’s response, this is rather closer to home given the current pandemic....
RC1807 said:
JLB is my all time favourite author!
I've read everything he's published. It started with a freebie copy of Black Cherry Blues stuck to GC or something in the mid 90s.
Amazing prose, excellent character descriptions, and detailed insights into life in and around the bayou....so much so that my next US holiday will be a road trip around that part of the world.
I have JLB's latest on my Kindle to read next....
Currently, Lee Child's (and his brother''s) scribings about Jack Reacher's latest scuffles in "The Sentinel".
Finished "The Sentinel".... 6/10I've read everything he's published. It started with a freebie copy of Black Cherry Blues stuck to GC or something in the mid 90s.
Amazing prose, excellent character descriptions, and detailed insights into life in and around the bayou....so much so that my next US holiday will be a road trip around that part of the world.
I have JLB's latest on my Kindle to read next....
Currently, Lee Child's (and his brother''s) scribings about Jack Reacher's latest scuffles in "The Sentinel".
Jack Reacher and technology just don't gel. He can't use more than a phone or his toothbrush!
Anyway, it made bedtime reading and a couple of bus journeys a bit more acceptable.
Now I'm back to my favourite author with James Lee Burke's latest about Dave Robicheaux, A Private Cathedral.
ETA: corrected auto fill
Edited by RC1807 on Sunday 7th March 08:31
Mezzanine said:
Thanks for recommending this, it looked interesting and I was certainly it disappointed.
Fascinating peek into his world, especially given he was part of so many high profile cases.
I love learning about people who have a dedication focus in their lives, and who know what they wanted to do since they were very young. He comes across as a very dedicated and professional man.
Fascinating peek into his world, especially given he was part of so many high profile cases.
I love learning about people who have a dedication focus in their lives, and who know what they wanted to do since they were very young. He comes across as a very dedicated and professional man.
I agree - the theme running through it was a single-minded dedication to his field, to the detriment of other parts of his life. Part of me wishes I had stumbled across an obsession at a young age which had given me a path to something meaningful (like my BIL who is a pilot and RNLI volunteer, all he ever wanted to do), rather than the dreamer I ended up who fell into his career by accident. The other doesn't mind missing being on-call at 10pm on a Sunday...
Glad you enjoyed it - try "Do No Harm" by Henry Marsh, a leading brain surgeon. Another fascinating insight into a brilliant but flawed human.
Legend83 said:
Mezzanine said:
Thanks for recommending this, it looked interesting and I was certainly it disappointed.
Fascinating peek into his world, especially given he was part of so many high profile cases.
I love learning about people who have a dedication focus in their lives, and who know what they wanted to do since they were very young. He comes across as a very dedicated and professional man.
Fascinating peek into his world, especially given he was part of so many high profile cases.
I love learning about people who have a dedication focus in their lives, and who know what they wanted to do since they were very young. He comes across as a very dedicated and professional man.
I agree - the theme running through it was a single-minded dedication to his field, to the detriment of other parts of his life. Part of me wishes I had stumbled across an obsession at a young age which had given me a path to something meaningful (like my BIL who is a pilot and RNLI volunteer, all he ever wanted to do), rather than the dreamer I ended up who fell into his career by accident. The other doesn't mind missing being on-call at 10pm on a Sunday...
Glad you enjoyed it - try "Do No Harm" by Henry Marsh, a leading brain surgeon. Another fascinating insight into a brilliant but flawed human.
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