This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Carl Sagan

Critical Mass by Philip Ball. Loving it but barely have any time to get through it.

George83

Non fiction - Rebels (Peter de Rosa)

Fiction - Brooklyn (Colm Tobin)

Asphyxia

Decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows since the movie came out and for the last movie next year.

GBX

Im getting through most books by Simon Kernick. Really enjoying them. Just picked up "The last ten seconds"

Callan57

I'm about to start reading 'The Death Instinct' by Jed Rubenfeld

I really enjoyed The Interpretation of Murder so I have high hopes for this one.

It's the weather for a good book

Grievous

A Christmas Carol by some dude named Charles Dickens.

Bah! Humbug! Merry Christmas!

All of the above phrases have been made famous by this wonderful little book by Charles Dickens.

A true classic and one that lives up to it's immense popularity. As great as any of it's adaptations; even the one with the muppets!

This is my third Dickens work. He is always an interesting author with something important to say about morality, politics and social topics.

Grievous

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

This was a decent read. It certainly wasn't as great as I thought it might be. I can see Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine taking quite a bit of inspiration from the likes of Twain with this novel in particular.

There isn't really a huge plot in Tom Sawyer, but many fun and interesting sketches of childhood bliss mixed with some dark events as well.

The book is laugh-out funny at times, and others it is sombre and moody. I like Twain's prose, despite some of the language being a product of the times he lived in.
Also, Racism---Just a generational thing here, I mean, this novel is old. The N-Word wasn't unusual in American literature at the time. Still, The N-word is always horrible to read.

I'd say Huck Finn is much more compelling than Tom Sawyer and for this reason I am looking forward to reading The Adventures Of Huck Finn some day (I have a copy of it here somewhere).

Grievous

AnnyHallsal wrote: »

Kafka's The Trial

Heh,

Did you enjoy The Trial?

Kafka's nightmarish novel has inspired and influenced gallizons of novelists and screen-writers since it's publication.

I like the fact Franz Kafka has the term Kafkaesque named after him. Meaning Bizarre, complex, nightmarish, impending danger..................

Peace.

Grievous

Censorsh!t wrote: »

Reading Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. I like it so far... it's quite humorous, although I'm wondering how exactly that will work out when the srrious subject matter comes up. I like that it's in reverse, it's very different from anything i've read before, in that regard. Sometimes confuses me a bit, but getting used to it.

Time's Arrow is a decent read. I read it a few weeks ago, here's my brief thoughts and review of it.

An interesting novel. I can see why it didn't win the Booker prize it was shortlisted for; the novel is ambitious and has a cool creative take on it but I can't help feeling it would be lost on most readers.

The story unfolds backwards and it would be a logistical nightmare trying to remember or follow everything the writer puts forward, or should I say backwards?

I would be willing to try more of Amis's work some day.

Pocketfizz wrote: »

I'm starting The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner tonight.

Have you finished this wonderfully complex and difficult novel yet?:)
I found it rewarding by re-reading it and taking some notes: I.eWhen the Nickname of one important character is mentioned in the text, that means the narrative has skipped back to the childhood days of all our lead characters.

Fortune_Cookie

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

emeraldstar

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. Have had it for the best part of a year but never opened it. Decided to start the other day and am almost finished (it's a big book!). Loving it.

Dibble

If This is a Man & The Truce by Primo Levi (single volume).

I bought this book on the back of a recent trip to Auschwitz. He really was a gifted writer.

Callan57

Finished The Death Instinct last night ... 10/10:)

Censorsh!t

Finished White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Was pleasantly surprised by it. Very good book.

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Probably should have read it before the movie. It was a humorous account of life in a mental hospital.

Currently reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Very funny, I really like it!

Callan57

Picked up 'The Heart of the Matter' by Graham Greene today & I about to start it

IvyTheTerrible

Dibble wrote: »

If This is a Man & The Truce by Primo Levi (single volume).

I bought this book on the back of a recent trip to Auschwitz. He really was a gifted writer.

If you liked that, you should also read The Periodic Table, it's a collection of short stories, each one titled after an element in the periodic table. It's fantastic. Funny in parts, sad in parts but always full of humanity.

Blush_01

Snow - Orhan Pamuk.

I don't know why I have such difficulty with this novel. It's very easy to read, but I seem to get to page 100 and lose it, or leave it somewhere, and never get much further.

I've started it again (and am actually as far as 156, which is a major achievement) so hopefully I'll get to the end this time.

Callan57

Blush_01 wrote: »

Snow - Orhan Pamuk.

I don't know why I have such difficulty with this novel. It's very easy to read, but I seem to get to page 100 and lose it, or leave it somewhere, and never get much further.

I've started it again (and am actually as far as 156, which is a major achievement) so hopefully I'll get to the end this time.

Agree with you totally I too found it an extremely difficult book to read ... I dd finish it eventually but did not enjoy it at all.

Dibble

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

If you liked that, you should also read The Periodic Table, it's a collection of short stories, each one titled after an element in the periodic table. It's fantastic. Funny in parts, sad in parts but always full of humanity.

Thanks for the recommendation Ivy, much appreciated.

Asphyxia

I'm reading the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens I seem to always read it around Christmas time

BopNiblets

Mystery Man by (Colin) Bateman
Main character is one part Bernard Black and one part Dirk Gently (Douglas Adams detective character)
Funny stuff.

emeraldstar

Pocketfizz wrote: »

I'm reading the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens I seem to always read it around Christmas time

I plan to read this in the next week or so. Oddly I've never read actually it before so am looking forward to it!

George83

Just after starting The Salesman by Joseph O'Connor

AnnyHallsal

The Ginger Man by J P Donleavy. What a read. Funny, dissolute, a tribute to dirty Dublin.

Callan57

Just a few pages into 'No and Me' by Delphine de Vigan & loving it so far

E.T.

Just read the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris. Very enjoyable - easy reads but slightly dark at the same time. Went through a phase of reading really dark thrillers - Val McDermid/Jo Nesbo, so needed something to lift the mood a bit!

Fortune_Cookie

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

anothernight

Re-reading Dune for the third time (I think). This book never gets old

ValJester

A Happy Death by Albert Camus.Can't get enough of that man.

Asphyxia

I recently finished reading Joyce's Kaleidoscope: An Invitation to Finnegans Wake by Philip Kitcher. It was very interesting, definitely going to read again.

Not sure what to start now!