This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Dibble

Currently reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Great fun!

Paddy Samurai

About 2/3's through and loving it.Hardin as they say had sand.:D

A stunning snapshot of the life of one of Texas’s most notorious outlaws


For his forty-two years on this earth, John Wesley Hardin’s name was synonymous with outlaw. A killer at fifteen, in the next few years he became skilled enough with his pistols to back down Wild Bill Hickok in the street. By the time the law caught up with Hardin when he was twenty-five, he had killed as many as forty men and been shot so many times that, it was said, he carried a pound of lead in his flesh. In jail he became a scholar, studying law books until he won himself freedom, and afterwards he tried to lead an upright life. It was not to be.

By the time he was killed in 1895, Hardin was an anachronism—the last true gunfighter of the Old West. In this volume, western master James Carlos Blake retells Hardin’s life, exposing the many different sides of the man who became a legend.

chasmcb

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

About 2/3's through and loving it.Hardin as they say had sand.:D

The Pistoleer sounds right up my street! I must check it out, thanks for the mention.

Paddy Samurai

chasmcb wrote: »

The Pistoleer sounds right up my street! I must check it out, thanks for the mention.

If you end up liking Blakes writing I would also suggest you try.......

In the Rogue Blood my favourite book by Blake.

Wildwood Boys and The Friends of Pancho Villa are on a par with The Pistoleer.

A World of Thieves was the only one I was'nt mad about ,but that was more to do with the setting.

Happy reading.:D

chasmcb

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

If you end up liking Blakes writing I would also suggest you try.......

In the Rogue Blood my favourite book by Blake.

Wildwood Boys and The Friends of Pancho Villa are on a par with The Pistoleer.

A World of Thieves was the only one I was'nt mad about ,but that was more to do with the setting.

Happy reading.:D

I suspect the above titles will indeed provide me with happy reading! Have you read 'Desperadoes' by Ron Hansen about the Dalton gang? That's really good. Another similar one I enjoyed was Daniel Woodrell's Civil War novel 'Woe to Live On' which was the basis of Ang Lee's film 'Ride With The Devil'.

chasmcb

Currently chortling my way through the mightily funny 'How to be a Public Author' by Francis Plug/Paul Ewen. Our hero and narrator, Francis Plug, is a gardener, wannabe author and half-cracked, with a booze habit that would put Kingsley Amis to shame. He attends readings, talks, and book-signing events by Booker winners and regales us with his observations and musings, alternately sharp and surreal, on same. Each chapter is prefaced with an image of a signed book jacket by the author whose event he was attending and each one features Plug's hilarious brief encounter with perplexed author in question as he is getting his book signed. The satire is aimed less at the writers themselves than the whole literary showbiz, readings & signings razzamatazz of today's book-buying, book-flogging scene. Plug's gardening life is also described including such zinger tips as sourcing free horse manure outside Buckingham Palace after a cavalry parade -he goes to a John Berger reading with a satchel full of poop! Funniest book I've read in a long time.

Paddy Samurai

chasmcb wrote: »

I suspect the above titles will indeed provide me with happy reading! Have you read 'Desperadoes' by Ron Hansen about the Dalton gang? That's really good. Another similar one I enjoyed was Daniel Woodrell's Civil War novel 'Woe to Live On' which was the basis of Ang Lee's film 'Ride With The Devil'.

Hav'nt read any of them ,but if I get a chance in the future I will try Desperadoes.My problem is I have more books than I have time to read them.I currently have 80+ books on my shelf waiting to be read and a few more in the post.

Birneybau

Finally finished 'The Crimson Petal and the White', amazing start, kind of got bogged down in the middle which at 840 pages was a lot.

Onto 'Revival' by Stephen King as a palate cleanser. Also, have Bill Bryson's book about Shakespeare on the side.

Callan57

Finished Lila by Marilynne Robinson ... truly brilliant if you like her style. Loved it

Now it's John Kelly's From Out Of The City

Wyldwood

After 4 weeks of pretty solid reading I can say I have read A Suitable Boy.

I loved the story of the four featured families. Got totally involved in each of their lives but especially Maan and Lata. Seth did a wonderful job of developing the personalities of each of the characters and their interactions with each other. I'm going to miss them.

The only negative I have is that, unless you're really au fait with Indian politics and social classes, it can get a bit heavy going at times. I found myself googling constantly in order to understand a lot of the background goings-on and the Indian terms used. In fairness to Seth he did try to keep the setting of the novel as historically accurate as possible but that may not be everyone's cup of tea. Highly recommend it though.

ivytwine

Finished The Bone Clocks and I enjoyed it but felt it lost its way in the last third.

I enjoyed the references to his previous books when it was subtle- like the Thousand Autumns takeaway- but I really didn't like Marinus being a sojourner. In a weird way it kind of spoiled The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet for me, which I really loved. Probably my problem. The Anchorite/Horologist stuff was quite tedious imo. Also the end was probably more depressing because it was set in Ireland :pac:

Birneybau

The Flamethrowers-Rachel Kushner.

Enjoyable so far.

IvyTheTerrible

ivytwine wrote: »

Finished The Bone Clocks and I enjoyed it but felt it lost its way in the last third.

I also felt that the last part could have been made into another novel altogether.

fruvai

Just finished Catch 22 - thought it was pretty great, it was kind of like slapstick Kafka :pac:. Gonna watch the Mike Nichols film adaptation tonight

eire4

Finished a re read of Irish Hunger which is edited by Tom Hayden. It is a series of essays by various Irish and Irish-American's from various walks of life and their personal reflections on the famine. Absolutely outstanding read and at times very moving.

Hidalgo

Finished 'The World is Flat. The Globalised World in the Twenty-First Century' by Thomas L. Friedman

So so. Dragged through it but was probably a much more interesting read when it was published in 2005.
Paints a very positive view of globalisation.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I have started Frankenstein, and by started I mean I read the introduction to the text.

minnow

Re-reading The Ginger Man by JP Donleavy

Swiper the fox

I'm quite liking (enjoying would be the wrong word) Nora Webster from Colm Toibin, it's quite amazing how well he appears to be able to tap into the thought processes of a middle aged woman,

For anybody interested in sports biographies I've read a few lately, the Anthony Daly book is superb, Paul Galvin's is fairly decent and Shane Curran's is probably best used for mopping up a spill (very interesting character but very dull book)

Aenaes

I finished The Death Zone by Matt Dickinson.

The author was a tv show creator who assembled a team to follow the actor Brian Blessed's attempt to climb Mount Everest in 1996. Blessed didn't make it but Dickinson did with three Sherpas and an experienced British climber. Dickinson himself had little climbing background and none over 8,000 metres.

They summited right after the after-math of a particularly bad storm which claimed the lives of eight climbers inlcuding two of the very best in the world and put the climbing of Everest into the scrutinising eye of the world media.

Very interesting and very honest account.

Ice Storm

Aenaes wrote: »

I finished The Death Zone by Matt Dickinson.

The author was a tv show creator who assembled a team to follow the actor Brian Blessed's attempt to climb Mount Everest in 1996. Blessed didn't make it but Dickinson did with three Sherpas and an experienced British climber. Dickinson himself had little climbing background and none over 8,000 metres.

They summited right after the after-math of a particularly bad storm which claimed the lives of eight climbers inlcuding two of the very best in the world and put the climbing of Everest into the scrutinising eye of the world media.

Very interesting and very honest account.

Oh, interesting! Have you read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer who was part of one of the expeditions that got caught in the storm? I read it a few years ago and might give this one a go too.

Aenaes

Ice Storm wrote: »

Oh, interesting! Have you read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer who was part of one of the expeditions that got caught in the storm? I read it a few years ago and might give this one a go too.

No, this was actually the first climbing book I've read. Dickinson did mention Into Thin Air actually so I will probably keep an eye out for it.

Ice Storm

Aenaes wrote: »

No, this was actually the first climbing book I've read. Dickinson did mention Into Thin Air actually so I will probably keep an eye out for it.

There are a few books that were written around this incident and I've only read the one. But I believe all the accounts portray the events in quite a different light. I suppose they are personal accounts and spending time at high altitude with oxygen deprivation will affect people's perceptions / memories.

Aenaes

I read "Danny, The Champion Of The World" by Roald Dahl last night. I had read a synopsis or abridged version somehow years ago so I knew the general plot but it was nice to read the story from start to finish.

Even as an adult it's easy to like Dahl's stories but I don't know whether it's because I read quite a few of them growing up.

Callan57

The Railway Station Man by Jennifer Johnston

Wyldwood

Just finished Catherine Dunne's The Things We Now Know. At it's core is a chilling story about teenage suicide.
I don't generally like Irish female authors but this was lent to me and I must say it's thought provoking.

You have to wonder about how this modern phenomena of cyber bullying can be controlled.

Force5to6

I have been reading Kate O'Brien's "The Land of Spices" for some time. I usually fly through a book but this one needs to be read slowly. Beautiful, slightly archaic language. I think she was way before her time. That is my humble opinion. It is the second one of hers I have read.

Paulownia

Force5to6 wrote: »

I have been reading Kate O'Brien's "The Land of Spices" for some time. I usually fly through a book but this one needs to be read slowly. Beautiful, slightly archaic language. I think she was way before her time. That is my humble opinion. It is the second one of hers I have read.

Have you read Elizabeth Bowen, wonderful if you like land of spices?
I knew Kate O'Brien from Dublin in the 70s

Force5to6

Paulownia wrote: »

Have you read Elizabeth Bowen, wonderful if you like land of spices?
I knew Kate O'Brien from Dublin in the 70s

I will look out for Elizabeth Bowen, when I can. I wuld love to hear more about Kate O'Brien. I live in the village where she had a house in the west. They are hoping to get the library called after her.
Do you think she would have approved?

AnnyHallsal

Read Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Fascinating! Has changed how I think about a lot of things. A must if you're into psychology.