What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

Arghus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122837567#Comment_122837567

Hate to say it but that one did nothing for me. The endless misery and suffering just felt so OTT to eventually become unbelievable.

_BAA_RAM_EWE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122839146#Comment_122839146

yup, just the description alone is enough for me to avoid it.

nachouser

I re-read The Day of The Triffids and The Old Man and The Sea recently while on a weekend away, I knew I'd have some downtime and I wanted something quick and easy to burn through. They're both from the early 50's and the style of writing used in each is so very similar, very concise and almost clinical.

Loafing Oaf

The Short Oxford History of English Literature by Andrew Sanders

In truth more of a cultural history of England with a focus on literature but that's right up my street. A section on Civil War-era political pamphlets, fir instance, not sure they would generally be seen as 'literature'…

Full of handy little intros to writers who were just names to me, like Howard Brenton, or not even that, like Dorothy Richardson.

ottolwinner

Surrender Bono autobiography

Good read, open and honest I believe.

AMTE_21

The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre

This was a book about a series of suicides which start to look like murders when investigations commence. This book started out well, but then it got complicated, for me anyway, it involved the theft and invention of computer games, which I have no interest in. The investigation was by an amateur sleuth in her eighties and a disgraced LAPD detective. Also, there were suspects who had two names and it got a bit confusing. The last part of the book where the mystery was solved still left me with questions.

Jack Daw

Just finished Interview with The Vampire by Anne Rice.

It was good although not quite as good as I hoped it would be based on the premise and my expectations for it, I thought it would be up their with Stephen King level good and it wasn't.

One thing that really annoyed me about it was the lack of chapters , the book is split into 4 parts of about 80 pages each and there are no chapters in between and very few breaks in the story so it's difficult to pick up from where you left off from when you were last reading.Also it rambled a bit too much for my liking for the type of book it was (the prose does not have Cormac McCarthy-esque beauty to it)

_BAA_RAM_EWE

I'm an audiobook guy. Dungeon Crawler Carl is great. Jeff Hayes does a great job reading it so I'm working my way through his stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D81YQJSY?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi

Nearly finished Book 1 of this now. Little bit slow at the beginning, bit in a Tavern dragged on I thought but it really develops nicely after. I hate having to stop it.

Theirs 2 books total. Book 2 not out till second half of next year.

Tauriel

Epic Tales: Viking Folk & Fairy Tales by various

A bit tedious if I'm being honest. Small writing coupled with very repetitive tales made for a challenging read. I don't know how many times I encountered stories about 3 brothers each separately undergoing some task set by a King to win half the kingdom and the hand of the most fairest princess.

AMTE_21

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman.

I’ve read a few of her books and they are always a good read. This one was about a woman who following a traffic accident, say she is a woman who went missing 30 years ago along with her sister. She refuses to talk about it or explain what happened and where she has been for the last thirty years. The police don’t believe her and set out to find out the truth about the disappearance. The book went back and forth to the time of the disappearance and explored the lives of the mother and father and how their lives turned out after their two children disappeared.

bullpost

The lamp and The Lullaby by Bill Long.

Re-reading this short autobiography of an idyllic childhood based in coastal County Waterford.

Written partly in response to Frank McCourts "miserable Irish catholic childhood" from the same time period as portrayed in Angelas Ashes.

AMTE_21

Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo.

I was given some of the Harry Hole books during lockdown and have continued reading them. The usual fare, a serial killer is on the loose in Oslo and Harry Hole returns from America to solve it. A good read with a twist at the end, but a bit gruesome in parts.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122851751#Comment_122851751

I'm not sure I ever thought I'd see Anne Rice and Cormac McCarthy compared to eachother. McCarthy she is not, as you've discovered 🤣

Tauriel

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

A really well researched and put together account of the Challenger disaster. The book takes you through the very beginning of NASA and the management structures, internal and external pressures to reach launch deadlines, and failure of protocols, which contributed to the circumstances that brought about the explosion in Challengers right solid rocket booster. The author also superbly catches the essence of the unfortunate astronauts by telling their stories of how they came to be in a position to fly on Challenger and the ramifications on their loved ones after disaster struck.

The Golden Miller

Flashman

AMTE_21

Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson

A detective series set in a small village in Yorkshire. This was a good story involving human trafficking and Albanian gangsters. I enjoyed it, the Police Dectective is Alan Banks and is a good character. This is only the second book I’ve read in this series and I will try to read some more.

bullpost

Light of the World - James Lee Burke

Long running crime series featuring a New Orleans detective.

This is book 20 in the series and even though enjoyable, its getting a bit samey .

Tauriel

Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton's Legendary Ship by John Shears and Nico Vincent

Shears was the expedition leader of the successful Endurance22 Expedition and Vincent was the deputy leader and subsea manager.

This book is a brief account of the expedition and contains many coloured pictures of the members of Endurance22, the equipment, and most importantly of all, beautiful pictures of the Endurance shipwreck.

AMTE_21

Thr Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

This was a good read. It was about a Cuban American woman trying to get out of poverty and move to Hollywood to become an actress. She wants to write her autobiography and gets a ghost writer to come to her apartment to write it. Each husband is given a chapter and we are told her life story that way. It created the atmosphere of that time in Hollywood well and the studio system then.

Tauriel

The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb

A standalone book on the origins of the Farseer line and how the hatred snd fear of witted ones came to be.

AMTE_21

Playboy by Joe Thomas

This book is set in São Paulo, Brazil. It was about corruption and set against the backdrop of Dilma Rousseff being accused of bribery and corruption. The body of a young man is found and the body is moved and disappeared by the police before any investigation. Detective Lame feels he is being set up for the murder and sets out to find out who he was and what happened to him. His murder is tied up with money laundering and police corruption. It took a while to get into his style of writing.

Terrier2023

Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier is about how this generation are not growing up and therapy is part of the problem.

I was attracted to this book as i really enjoyed her Irreversible Damage book on the trans issues in the USA both well worth reading & eye opening !

nigeldaniel

The Bourne Deception, wayyy better than the movies. I finished Mary Shelley's The Last Man two weeks ago, 5 stars. I can't understand why this book is not given more credit than the likes of, ear aching 'wuthering heights'.

Citizenpain

Lisa Jewell . The third wife . Slow going

Tauriel

The Fram Museum's Guide to the Exploration of the Arctc: An Introduction to the Exploration of the Northwest Passage, the Northeast Passage, and the North Pole by Geir O. Kløver and Susan Barr.

A brilliant yet brief account of a significant number of Arctic expeditions by the Norwegians, Russians, British, Americans, Italians and Swedes. Contains plenty of photographs from various expeditions, paintings, and maps.

Jack Daw

Just finished Mr Midshipman Hornblower the first of the Horatio Hornblower series by CS Forester.

Very enjoyable book , just good old fashioned action and adventure.

Comic Book Guy

Finished Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer couple of weeks ago.

Had seen the Sean Penn movie years ago about the life and off the grid travels of Chris McCandless. Box gives a bit more back ground and depth. Very good read as was the same authors story of the Everest tragedy Into Thin Air.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122987716#Comment_122987716

Did you see the Jake Gyllenhaal film, Everest? It is the event that Into Thin Air was based on, I done a little bit of reading on it after watching it, apparently a lot of people don't like Krakauer's telling of events.

AMTE_21

A Refiners Fire by Donna Leon.

This is the latest book in the series of books set in Venice and featuring Detective Brunetti. This is comfort reading for me. Not much happens in this book, it’s about teenage gangs meeting up to fight, and this uncovers a story of a hero from the Afghanistan war that is not all he seems to be. An easy read.

Tauriel

The Book of the Skelligs edited by John Crowley and John Sheehan

This book details many aspects of the Skelligs from their use by monks as a monastery, how they built it and survived on Skellig Michael. The Viking raids are also discussed as well as the geology, animals and flora of the Skelligs.