This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

LionelNashe · 17-08-2017 01:28PM

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Just finished reading 1984.

Blown away by how good this book is.

Is it worth reading his other books (other than animal farm as I already read that)?

I haven't read this since I was a teenager, but I've just ordered it from BookDepository, along with Animal Farm. Was surprised that they were €11 or so in Easons & Chapters. I really don't like paying that much for books that were written 70 years ago. In the meantime I picked up 'Down and Out in Paris and London' 2nd hand - am about 5 chapters in - I like it so far.

Oops69 · 19-08-2017 11:34AM

Slaughterhouse 5 , Kurt Vonnegut , had to read a couple of interpretations afterwards as I'm a little thick and didn't really' get it ', but i find I'm still thinking about poor Billy pilgrim a couple of days later , will read again to ' get it ' a bit more , I Think it's a wonderful thought - provoking novel, beautifully written .

Oops69 · 19-08-2017 11:37AM

LionelNashe wrote: »

I haven't read this since I was a teenager, but I've just ordered it from BookDepository, along with Animal Farm. Was surprised that they were €11 or so in Easons & Chapters. I really don't like paying that much for books that were written 70 years ago. In the meantime I picked up 'Down and Out in Paris and London' 2nd hand - am about 5 chapters in - I like it so far.

Chapters tend to have a couple of editions of a lot of classics , the penguin modern classics tend to be 11 or 12 euro , prettier cover etc. but they often have other editions published by vintage for 5.99.
Hodges figgis , while good in variety , tends to be overpriced ...must be something to do with the southside of the city

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 19-08-2017 12:20PM

I finally finished "We Were The Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates. I can't say I was a fan. The writing is perfectly good but the story is just beyond annoying. It's basically about a family who fall apart after the teenage daughter is raped at a prom after party. My problem with it though is that the parents are just awful, awful people and yet it feels the whole way through like we're supposed to sympathise with them or at least not judge them too harshly but really I spent most of the book thinking they should just f**k right off and the kids should cut all ties and never look back.

Anyway... on to Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sarah Baume.

Fathom · 19-08-2017 05:57PM

A Feast for Crows (2005)
by George RR Martin
(Had started it earlier. Put it aside. Restarting)

marienbad · 19-08-2017 10:49PM

Swansong, A collective diary of the last days of the Third Reich - Walter Kempowski

Kempowski has taken four dates in the last days of WW2 , Hitler's Birthday, The American and Russians linking up at the Elbe ,Hitler's death , and Germany's unconditional surrender and brought together diary entries, letters , dispatches , reminiscences , whatever, all written on those days and bringing the despair elation relief of the closing days of the war . All done without commentary thus letting the entries speak for themselves .

The entries themselves range from Hitler Stalin Churchill right down to soldiers on all sides , civilians on all sides ,concentration camp inmates and guards , anyone and everyone .

All in all an outstanding achievement to collect and curate such a range of documents. I believe this is the last part of a 12 parts series that he has done for the whole of the Nazi period ,but the only one translated into English

Callan57 · 21-08-2017 09:10AM

Finished Echoland ... set in Dublin 1940 during "the emergency" .... innocent times, enjoyed it a lot.

Next is The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Xofpod · 21-08-2017 02:21PM

The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead. Fantastic stuff.

IMHO the Booker longlist is phenomenal this year; I already had three of them in my stack to be read and each was better than the last. I have another at home to read (Exit West) and still have the always brilliant Zadie Smith and the sporadically excellent Paul Auster to get to. That's excluding the stuff I know nothing about.

Maybe it's just that the list clicked with my own personal taste this year but I'm blown away by how strong it is.

eire4 · 21-08-2017 04:46PM

Finished Steig Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. The final book in his trilogy and as brilliant as the first two. A classic thriller and page turner.

marienbad · 22-08-2017 12:23PM

High Noon - Glenn Frankel . The story of the making of an American film classic amid the chaos and persecution by the HUAC in Hollywood in the early 50's . John Wayne really was a mindless bully . And Gary Cooper surprisingly steadfast . The real heroes are Carl Foreman and Fred Zinnemann and Cooper.

A great read for anyone interested in cinema and censorship.

Prussian Blue - Philip Kerr . The latest instalment in the Bernie Gunther saga . Always a pleasure

Belle E. Flops · 22-08-2017 06:54PM

Read 'Conclave' by Robert Harris a few days ago after hearing a few people raving about it. I didn't find it great to be honest. Found it a bit boring and I couldn't care less which one of them became Pope.

I've moved on to 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' by Edgar Allan Poe. I love me some Poe.

Fathom · 23-08-2017 08:05PM

A Dance with Dragons (2011)
by George RR Martin

Callan57 · 24-08-2017 11:28AM

Little Deaths by Emma Flint

Thomas__ · 24-08-2017 12:35PM

Finished Battleground – The Battle for the General Post Office, 1916 by Paul O´Brien a couple of days ago. Was an interesting read with some details in it I didn´t know. The book has also a map on which the important Locations are marked so that one can look it up when he refers to them in the chapters. The focus is of course more on the military aspects of the Rising, but it also tells about some backgrounds of the people involved.

http://newisland.ie/product/battleground-battle-general-post-office-1916/

I have the other books this author has written as well and will go back to read them after I have finished what I have started recently to read which is A City in Turmoil, Dublin 1919-1921, By Padraig Yeates. From what I can tell from the first chapter, it´s interesting to read and there is a book review available about it.

http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/10/28/book-review-a-city-in-turmoil-dublin-1919-1921/#.WZ64f02Qwzs

I´ve read that review before I decided to order the book. There are plenty of books about that period in Irish history and I try to choose the better one.

PuppyMcPupFace · 27-08-2017 09:51PM

I'm reading A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.

I quoted it the other day and realised it was years since I read it. Hope it's as good as I recall!

Callan57 · 27-08-2017 09:59PM

The Last Days of Summer by Vanessa Ronan

Caroleia · 27-08-2017 10:31PM

Xofpod wrote: »

The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead. Fantastic stuff.

IMHO the Booker longlist is phenomenal this year; I already had three of them in my stack to be read and each was better than the last. I have another at home to read (Exit West) and still have the always brilliant Zadie Smith and the sporadically excellent Paul Auster to get to. That's excluding the stuff I know nothing about.

Maybe it's just that the list clicked with my own personal taste this year but I'm blown away by how strong it is.

Yes I agree! Read all 13 the year The Luminaries won (2013) and this is the first year I've felt like doing it again. I'd read Days without End and Lincoln in the Bardo (it was on the kindle daily deal) before the list was announced. So far I've also read The Underground Railroad, Swing Time and Elmet. I'm looking forward to reading the rest, especially 4 3 2 1 and Solar Bones.

lizzylad84 · 28-08-2017 08:51AM

Just finished reading the girl before. Part gone girl, part girl on the train. Quite good.

Paddy Samurai · 28-08-2017 12:45PM

Part three of a top notch historical series.About half way through and loving it.No other writer IMO knows more about medieval combat as Cameron does.He really brings the period to life and shows a indepth knowledge of the politics of the time.That along with the amazing characters both real and invented ,raise his historic fiction to among the best in the genre.

One of the finest historical fiction writers in the world - Ben KaneAfter the bloody trials of Alexandria, Sir William Gold is readying for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to ease the burden on his soul. He hopes, too, that the Holy City might allow his relationship with Emile, cousin of the Green Count of Savoy, to develop.
But the Roman Emperor of Constantinople has been taken hostage by an unknown enemy, and the Green Count is vital to the rescue effort. It is up to Sir William to secure his support, but he soon finds that his past, and his relationship with Emile, might have repercussions he had not foreseen...
Suddenly thrust onto the stage of international politics, Sir William finds himself tangled in a web of plots, intrigue and murder. He must hold true to his chivalric principles, and to his knights, if he is to save the Emperor and survive to tell the tale

Callan57 · 01-09-2017 04:03PM

All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski

Fathom · 01-09-2017 04:06PM

A Dance with Dragons (2011)
by George R. R. Martin
(almost completed)

Oops69 · 02-09-2017 09:29PM

finally reading Catch 22 after multiple recommendations .... really struggling with this one , it better be one of those ones where all is revealed in the last chapter , making all the pain worth it .. or just about .

Wyldwood · 03-09-2017 01:37PM

Have read a few reasonably good books lately, He Said She Said by Erin Kelly, Dark Corners by Ruth Rendell and Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land. The latter is a quite disturbing story but well told.

Now on to MacLaverty's Midwinter Break.

Callan57 · 05-09-2017 10:39PM

The House On Parkgate Street by Christine Dwyer Hickey

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 05-09-2017 11:22PM

Villette by Charlotte Bronte.

When will I take my own advice and stop reading books that are more than ~400 pages. They're never worth it.

Harry Angstrom · 06-09-2017 01:02AM

Oops69 wrote: »

finally reading Catch 22 after multiple recommendations .... really struggling with this one , it better be one of those ones where all is revealed in the last chapter , making all the pain worth it .. or just about .

Don't want to disappoint you, but if you're not enjoying it from the start, it's unlikely to get much better for you. Catch-22 is a bit like marmite - some love it, some hate it. There's not much in between.

Fathom · 06-09-2017 11:05PM

The Silent Wife
by Kerry Fisher

minnow · 07-09-2017 10:30AM

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin.

Callan57 · 07-09-2017 08:53PM

Mistaken by Neil Jordan

eire4 · 08-09-2017 06:05PM

Finished Greg Bears Vitals. Have liked some of his other books but was not impressed with this one I must say.

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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