Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body

xebec

Have been reading through some of the logs here and I think keeping a log is a great idea

I often end up in the situation where I wondering whether or not I've read a book and a log would be a great way to keep track!

My reading tastes are a bit all over the place, I mix it up with everything from Tom Clancy to classics, and there are a few series of books I like reading too.

So, (what I remember of) this years books:

Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres - data mining has practical uses...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Nothing But Blue Skies by Tom Holt

Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder

Chi Running by Danny Dreyer - good ideas, not sure how many I'll put into practice though.

The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy - I'm running out of Tom Clancy books, one of his best.

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman - re-read after many years, great story.

Flashman and the Redskins by George McDonald Fraser - one of my favourite series of books is the Flashmans, absolutely hilarious stories about the biggest coward/hero in the British army c. 1850 who spends more time whoring around and getting into trouble than he does actually soldiering!

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay - thriller about a CSI who leads a double life as a homicidal psychopath.

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black - A must for anyone who is a fan of Irish fiction or the crime thriller genre, John Banville writes these as Benjamin Black as they are a very different style to his other books and very readable.

The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black

Currently reading:

Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond - on human evolution and evolution of races

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris - satire

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - about to start

Future reading:

I've to try to ease back on the buying books for a while, there's a pile of about 25 sitting on the fireplace here in front of me waiting to be read!!

xebec

Finished:

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - really enjoyed this, a lot more than I expected to. Some interesting themes which are still prevalent in modern Europe.

Next:

Vanish by Tess Gerritson

eclectichoney

Loved that Jared Diamond book xebec and the David Sedaris too

I'm noticing a strong correlation between people with fitness logs and reading logs :pac:

xebec

eclectichoney wrote: »

I'm noticing a strong correlation between people with fitness logs and reading logs :pac:

I'm not afraid of the odd sci-fi though :pac:

Finished:

Vanish by Tess Gerritsen - very short and far too easy reading - perfect for exam time...

Next:

Haven't totally made up my mind yet, still have last weeks copy of Time unopened on my bedroom floor... Think The Rainmaker by John Grisham will be the next one.

xebec

Finished:

The Rainmaker by John Grisham - I'm not a particularly big fan of Grisham, but this was an interesting, if predictable trial story.

xebec

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks (writing as Ian Fleming) - great addition to the Bond series of books. Fast paced and intriguing thriller set in the 60s.

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Eragon by Christopher Paolini - excellent fantasy novel based around dragons, really looking forward to the 2nd book in the series. The original of this was written when the author was 15, fantastic book considering...

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The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman - second of the Dark Materials trilogy, took a bit longer to get going than the Northern Lights but excellent finish and set up nicely for the final book.

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Night of the Fox by Jack Higgins

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - bought it ages ago but never got around to reading it, but after hearing loads of great things about it on here I finally picked it up. Superb book, absolutely hilarious and utterly confusing!! I didn't want it to finish...

raah!

xebec wrote: »

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - bought it ages ago but never got around to reading it, but after hearing loads of great things about it on here I finally picked it up. Superb book, absolutely hilarious and utterly confusing!! I didn't want it to finish...

Read this a few days ago too, I also found it rather confusing (especially near the start), but over all brilliant. Apparantly there is another one of Heller's books with Yossarian in it, don't know if it's a sequel or not ......

Maybe you can read that and give your opinion? atm I have a good 12 books in the stack that I'm gonna read first.
(actually that's a ridiculous thing to say :P)

xebec

raah! wrote: »

Read this a few days ago too, I also found it rather confusing (especially near the start), but over all brilliant. Apparantly there is another one of Heller's books with Yossarian in it, don't know if it's a sequel or not ......

Maybe you can read that and give your opinion? atm I have a good 12 books in the stack that I'm gonna read first.
(actually that's a ridiculous thing to say :P)

Yeah, the sequel is Closing Time and does indeed have Yossarian in it, but unfortunately my book pile is more like 30 books so won't be buying more anytime soon...

xebec

Holes by Louis Sachar - very short and quick read, excellent little book.

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The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy - I've read almost all the Tom Clancy books, but had skipped over this one because I had seen the movie so often. This book, while not being quite as good as some of his others, is a fantastic read. Full of suspense and action - and submarines, planes and boats!! - with a plot which is becomes very different to the movie as the book goes on. If you're a fan of Tom Clancy or political thrillers then definitely give this a go, and see the movie too!

cautioner

The only Tom Clancy I've read is The Sum of All Fears. It was exhausting, but worthwhile. I really don't have the willpower to pick up another one though.

xebec

Attention All Shipping by Charlie Connolly - a very interesting book about travels around the different areas mentioned in the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4. Some very quirky places visited, one of my favourites was Sealand. I'm going to be sailing through some of these areas in a few weeks, so was good to learn something about them.

xebec

The Good German by Jospeh Kanon - fantastic murder thriller set in 1945 Berlin.

xebec

Eldest by Christopher Paolini - follow up to Eldest, another fantastic book about dragons, elves, dwarves and humans.

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Wow, it's been a while... And I haven't finished too many books...

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor

In the Beginning was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson - interesting essay on the origin of operating systems and how they were developed. A bit outdated now as it was written in the late 90s, but Stephenson is still my favourite author.

xebec

Animal Farm by George Orwell - reading it again after about 10 years, different perspective on it compared to when I was in school. Quite sinister look at society.

MrJones

raah! wrote: »

Read this a few days ago too, I also found it rather confusing (especially near the start), but over all brilliant. Apparantly there is another one of Heller's books with Yossarian in it, don't know if it's a sequel or not ......

Maybe you can read that and give your opinion? atm I have a good 12 books in the stack that I'm gonna read first.
(actually that's a ridiculous thing to say :P)

im reading this at the mo as well. read 6 chapters over 2 months! so decided to start again. Going well now. It is utterly confusing but think will prob be worth it in th end -heres hoping!!

xebec

Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box by Ross O'Carroll Kelly (aka Paul Howard) - well not exactly literature, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The best and most original of the books in a long time.

xebec

Whispers by Dean Koontz

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Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - the introduction to Hannibal Lecter...

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Catch-up time...

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - another collection of short stories from the famous sleuth.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - just because...

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand - not high quality literature, but still an excellent read from an excellent comic.

xebec

The Hijack by Duncan Falconer - cheap buy picked up in Chapters for €1. Thoroughly enjoyed this story about SBS soldiers, MI6 and a nuclear bomb. Will deffo get another one of his books, it's only €1 too

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The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

The Lemur by Benjamin Black - the latest by Wexford author John Banville, shorter than the others but great still.

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Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell

1984 by George Orwell

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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Free Range Chickens by Simon Rich - short and funny pieces from a SNL writer...

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Glue by Irvine Welsh - fantastic book that took me ages to read because of all the Scottish accents... Hilarious and tear jerking with some of the funniest sex scenes I've ever read.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

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When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow - another great short story by Doctorow, going to try one of his full novels soon. If you're into Sci-Fi check him out...

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Executive Orders by Tom Clancy

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The Conspiracy Club by Jonathan Kellerman

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The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

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Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel - fantastic book, took me forever to read but thoroughly enjoyed it!

femur61

I was reading the posts and thought that the books are very masculine and then noticed all the replies are from the same poster. In my 40s now and started to read more feminine books. The "Kite Runner" is one book that has left an imprint on me.

xebec

Flash Point by Paul Adam - easy read, not up to much...

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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - short and excellent book about the effect of long distance running on life... A must for anyone interested in running!

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The Chamber by John Grisham

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The Damned United by David Peace - story of Cloughie's days managing Leeds Utd as well as some of his management career before that... Seems like he was a very disturbed and unhappy man who found it hard to be happy with his lot...

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The Web by Jonathan Kellerman

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The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

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By the Light of the Moon by Dean Koontz

Hmm... Been a while, took me ages to get into this book, deffo not his best. Was ok in the end but nothing to write home about. Am studying at the moment now too so not as much time for general reading.

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The Watchman by Chris Ryan

Easy reading, took a while to get going but was ok in the end...

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The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet (A Novel) by Reif Larsen

Fantastic book! Anyone with an interest in science or history, particularly mixed into a fictional story should give this a go. Also ideal for someone who enjoys an unusual adventure in their books. One of the things that make this book particularly special are the side notes and illustrations which adorn almost every page.

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Black Jack Point by Jeff Abbott

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The Snapper by Roddy Doyle - hilarious!

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Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt - had this on the bookshelf for ages, finally picked it up after news of his death. Very enjoyable story of growing up in Limerick.

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The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

Jees, it's taking me a long time to get through books lately...

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If You Liked School, You'll Love Work by Irvine Welsh

Fantastic collection of short stories from the hilarious and filthy Mr Welsh.