Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Skyedriver said:
Xenoous said:
ZedLeg said:
I’m a big fan of dystopian fiction and Brave New World is probably my favourite
Desiderata said:
Fahrenheit 451 for me, I love Ray Bradbury's work.
Brave New World is on the way, Fahrenheit 451 will likely follow after. andy_s said:
^ Funny enough it's the anniversary of his death in 1950 today. [Orwell's]
If I was a suspicious man, I'd call it something else other than a coincidence! F 451 sticks in my mind as a great read, sadly the film didn't have the same effect on me.
|https://thumbsnap.com/ASfduSfB[/url] coppice said:
Martin Amis' great friend . God , it bloody years since I read Bellow and like Hemingway and Fitzgerald , his is not a name one hears much now . I need to revisit .
Yes...I'd say it is worth your time. I am onto an Ian McEwan now and although it is breezing by much more easily I am missing Charlie Citrine's self-reflections.Slowboathome said:
MC Bodge said:
I am mid-way thorough "A Gentleman in Moscow".
After a slow, slightly turgid, start that felt (presumably deliberately) like a translation of a classic Russian novel it has become a very enjoyable read.
Absolutely loved that book. One of my favourites of the past few years. A celebration of Life. I wish I could have read it during lockdown - it would have helped.After a slow, slightly turgid, start that felt (presumably deliberately) like a translation of a classic Russian novel it has become a very enjoyable read.
There are a small number of quite critical reviews of it on Amazon, bit I feel that most miss the point a little. I suspect that it was not supposed to be ultra-realistic or a comprehensive history of the Soviet Union, but the premise works well.
Ian Fleming of James Bond fame. Thought it would be mainly about his wartime service, not to be still classified possibly.
Did not realise that he was grandson of a RL Fleming from Dundee, a street named after him, invested in American railroads and made an obscene amount of money.
Fleming himself I admired his books as a teenager in the 60’s but go between admiration and disgust and the way he treated women and other people’s wives. His contact book must have made interesting reading from army, navy personnel to Winston Churchill and Kennedy, allegedly gave assistance in the building of the American secret service.
Fascinating to see how friends names and locations were interwoven in the books wot he rote.
Personal life not so good though a womaniser and surprisingly not the best of businessmannwhen it came to negotiating the film rights for his books.
Worth a read if you are a fan of JB
Did not realise that he was grandson of a RL Fleming from Dundee, a street named after him, invested in American railroads and made an obscene amount of money.
Fleming himself I admired his books as a teenager in the 60’s but go between admiration and disgust and the way he treated women and other people’s wives. His contact book must have made interesting reading from army, navy personnel to Winston Churchill and Kennedy, allegedly gave assistance in the building of the American secret service.
Fascinating to see how friends names and locations were interwoven in the books wot he rote.
Personal life not so good though a womaniser and surprisingly not the best of businessmannwhen it came to negotiating the film rights for his books.
Worth a read if you are a fan of JB
I've just finished "The Fireman" by Joe Hill. Millions of people are infected by a fungus that causes them to spontaneously combust, and a pregnant woman heads off in search of a man who is rumoured to have found a way to control the effects, in the hope she can hang on until her child is born. A decent story, a bit long perhaps, but good.
andrewcliffe said:
Wanting some mildless entertainment, I tried the first of Scott Blade's "Jack Widow" series - Gone Forever. Its a Poundshop Reacher clone with none of the charm. I won't be continuing with the series.
One or two had merit but i have to agree with you overall, i think after book 6 or 7 i gave up and moved on to toehrs stuff.I read Sojourner which had promise and then ended in the most ridiculous way
Now reading - or at least trying to - Cradle of Oblivion.
I tried the Adrian Hell series but couldn't get on with them either.
droopsnoot said:
I've just finished "The Fireman" by Joe Hill. Millions of people are infected by a fungus that causes them to spontaneously combust, and a pregnant woman heads off in search of a man who is rumoured to have found a way to control the effects, in the hope she can hang on until her child is born. A decent story, a bit long perhaps, but good.
Sounds very much like a variation on The Girl With All The Gifts. (Or Last of Us, for gamers, which was released around the same time and well before The Fireman)havoc said:
droopsnoot said:
I've just finished "The Fireman" by Joe Hill. Millions of people are infected by a fungus that causes them to spontaneously combust, and a pregnant woman heads off in search of a man who is rumoured to have found a way to control the effects, in the hope she can hang on until her child is born. A decent story, a bit long perhaps, but good.
Sounds very much like a variation on The Girl With All The Gifts. (Or Last of Us, for gamers, which was released around the same time and well before The Fireman)The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell
A newspaper dedicated to the weird. Which in its world (our own with added oddnesses) is often real events.
Think Colin Bateman's Mystery Man, Robert Rankin's Brentford trilogy with dashes of Jasper Fforde & Chris Brookmyre.
Quoted reviews are somewhat hyperbolic (as usual) and suggesting Pratchett as a reference is a stretch but if you like well characterised fantastical witty who/howdunnits then this is for you!
A newspaper dedicated to the weird. Which in its world (our own with added oddnesses) is often real events.
Think Colin Bateman's Mystery Man, Robert Rankin's Brentford trilogy with dashes of Jasper Fforde & Chris Brookmyre.
Quoted reviews are somewhat hyperbolic (as usual) and suggesting Pratchett as a reference is a stretch but if you like well characterised fantastical witty who/howdunnits then this is for you!
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