What book are you reading atm??

9959

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Have you read A Walk In The Woods? That the book of his I laughed at most. It's brilliant

Yes, extremely funny
IMO, Bryson is one of the most humorous, accessible and unpretentious of writers.

MurdyWurdy

9959 wrote: »

Yes, extremely funny
IMO, Bryson is one of the most humorous, accessible and unpretentious of writers.

I agree. Have you ever seen him on TV or heard radio interviews though? He's not nearly as funny in real life. I was quite disappointed

9959

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

I agree. Have you ever seen him on TV or heard radio interviews though? He's not nearly as funny in real life. I was quite disappointed

Well yes, but he's not a comedian as such, just a very funny writer.
I've seen the likes of P.J. O'Rourke, Martin Amis and A.A. Gill fall flat on their faces trying to 'give voice' to their humour, perhaps Bill is smart enough to know that he's not a performing 'funny man' with impeccable....................................................................................................................................................timing!

Leftist

El Narco. Documenting how and why Cartels have grown so powerful in Mexico. Dating back to early 20th century. Well written, enjoying it so far.

Mars Bar

The Black Box - Michael Connelly.

Corkfeen

muppetkiller wrote: »

The Psychopath Test:A Journey Through the Madness Industry By Jon Ronson
Brilliant Book !!!

Says the 'Muppetkiller'.... I'm actually reading the same book at the moment. T'is a light read and rather entertaining. A nice change from reading largely academic texts in the past few months.

azezil

Just finished Star Trek Titan Book 3 - Orion's Hounds last night and started Star Trek Titan Book 4 - The Sword of Damocles.

ismiseuisce

Currently reading A Game of Thrones. I had tried to read it a long time ago and found it a bit hard to keep up with who's who . I've since seen season 1 of the TV show and am now reading the books. I usually hate watching the TV shows/films before reading books but in this case I'm happy I did it the other way round.

Also reading The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets. Kind of enjoying it but not loving it. Using it as my "bath book" - as It's fine to read for short bursts of time but I don't love it so don't mind if I drop it in to the bath

Custardpi

carolmarx wrote: »

If you like that I'd recommend The River Between by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o next!

Thanks, have added it to my wish list, looking at the Amazon blurb it definitely looks like something I'd enjoy.

Custardpi

holystungun9 wrote: »

Never new where the album name came from. I ADORE the track with Erykah Badu's sweet sweet voice...and then the drum break at the end. If you get the chance to see Badu live, I highly highly recommend it. (Jill Scott, too).
Will make a note about this book so I can check it out. Cheers.

Yeah definitely worth it. Very short as I mentioned so easy to fit in between other reading. The title is of course borrowed by Achebe himself from the poem "Second Coming" by our own W.B. Yeats.

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

With regard to the lovely Ms Badu have yet to catch her live, will have to try & do so in future. If you haven't already done so check out (you should find it on Youtube) the track "Afro Blue" which features on the recent album "Black Radio" by acclaimed jazz-fusion artist Robert Glasper. Her vocals on it are simply sublime.

TheLastMohican

Queen Camilla - Sue Townsend. Hilarious, post revolution Britain with the Royal Family living in a sink estate in the West Midlands.

MurdyWurdy

TheLastMohican wrote: »

Queen Camilla - Sue Townsend. Hilarious, post revolution Britain with the Royal Family living in a sink estate in the West Midlands.

Didn't she already write a book like that? Called the Queen and I - written in the nineties before Diana died so she was in it. I have it on my bookshelf. Did she just write a similar one with Camilla in it or is it the same book with a different name?

Chocoholic84

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner)

Fantastic, would highly recommend!

emeraldstar

The past week:

Finished The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming. Pretty meh.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Good. Took me so long to get around to reading this one.

Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka. Interesting enough.

Currently: A House and its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett. This one is great. Very dry humour!

Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst.

Nice suspenseful read, plenty of intrigue. A good read for anyone who likes a spy yarn.

TheLastMohican

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Didn't she already write a book like that? Called the Queen and I - written in the nineties before Diana died so she was in it. I have it on my bookshelf. Did she just write a similar one with Camilla in it or is it the same book with a different name?

No, it's a completely new (old) book about Charles, Camilla en famille in Hells Close. Prince Philip is in a nursing home, Princess Anne is shacked up with Spiggy and Princess Michael of Kent is on the make.
To me it's Townsend's funniest so far.

Have just ordered The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year (no relation)

MurdyWurdy

TheLastMohican wrote: »

No, it's a completely new (old) book about Charles, Camilla en famille in Hells Close. Prince Philip is in a nursing home, Princess Anne is shacked up with Spiggy and Princess Michael of Kent is on the make.
To me it's Townsend's funniest so far.

Must look into it - I really enjoyed the queen and I. that was set in Hells Close too with Spiggy etc

Collie D

TheLastMohican wrote: »

Queen Camilla - Sue Townsend. Hilarious, post revolution Britain with the Royal Family living in a sink estate in the West Midlands.

Thanks for that. Just added to my basket on Amazon. Was a big fan of the Adrian Mole series in my teens.

IrishExpat

I usally read on cycles of fiction, comedy and serious/business related.

Right now it's 'True Grit'. It beats the film adaption, hands down.

Celly Smunt

It-Stephen King

One of those thrash books i've always wanted to read but never got around to.50 pages in and i'm engrossed,that should be the next week or two sorted anyway

pmcmahon

pmcmahon wrote: »

It-Stephen King

I read it in my early teens and it scared the bejesus out of me. I still get creeped out by clowns.

Great big entertaining read though, enjoy!

Corkfeen

pmcmahon wrote: »

It-Stephen King

One of those thrash books i've always wanted to read but never got around to.50 pages in and i'm engrossed,that should be the next week or two sorted anyway

It's not trash! While much of King has tended towards being trash, The Stand and IT are superb.

py2006

Seriously, Stephen King is trash??? You cannot be serious.

py2006

py2006 wrote: »

Seriously, Stephen King is trash??? You cannot be serious.

Some Stephen King is trash though. Lots of his work isn't, some of his work is brilliant, but there's some trash in there too. I read Dreamcatchers, I know.

emeraldstar

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Barna77

A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast

Odysseus

Re-starting Romeo and Juliet as there is a production of the play on in a few week I want to see.

Lollipops23

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron (she wrote Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally).
It's a collection of short essays and general musings of hers, but very entertaining.

Mars Bar

The Moab Is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry.

beans

Corkfeen wrote: »

While much of King has tended towards being trash, The Stand and IT are superb.

Just finished The Stand, it's fantastic. Read IT maybe 20 years ago, and it's been my favourite King book since. I may have a new favourite though

Currently reading 'Interesting Times' by Terry Pratchett. First of his books I've started. Slowly being drawn in, but it's a bit painful for the first 10 minutes or so, then I get into the swing of his whimsy.

Also reading Clive Barker's 'Books of Blood' Vol 1 in between.