This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Callan57 · 30-01-2011 10:26PM

'Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett

Up-n-atom! · 31-01-2011 05:23PM

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I've never read anything of his before and fear the film might be too fresh in my brain, but it's very readable and quietly intelligent so far.

AnnyHallsal · 31-01-2011 06:07PM

cosmic wrote: »

Lorrie Moore - A Gate at the Stairs

I'm really enjoying it!

I thought it was fantastic too

The Finkler Question for me.

DeathEaters · 01-02-2011 08:57AM

Finished The Sinwar trilogy by Richard A Knaak, awesome series for those who like to dwell in magical realms

Busi_Girl08 · 01-02-2011 09:50PM

Finished The Secret Scripture. Loved it. Would recommend it.

Just started The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy this morning.

Not bad so far, I like her writing style.

Vim Fuego · 03-02-2011 12:00AM

I've stayed up all night to finish Horns by Joe Hill. It was excellently done and not what I was expecting at all having read a brief synopsis. It's not so much a horror, more a fantasy novel. It felt like a grittier, more violent Neil Gaiman book to me. It's unexpectedly sweet in some places as well.

I had a lump in my throat reading Merrin's morse code message to Ig

.*

I'll definitely be checking out Heart Shaped Box before too long.*

AnnyHallsal · 03-02-2011 12:29AM

Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves. Gosh it's massive. Heard about it for the first time last week and had to run out and buy it. A book unlike almost any other.

Queen-Mise · 03-02-2011 01:26AM

just finished cloud atlas by david mitchell. Excellent read.

After a slight interlude into a travesty of fiction.

Just started soren kierkergaard' seducer's diary. On my list of books to read for 6 years - get there eventually

Asphyxia · 03-02-2011 02:50AM

I raided my parents house a couple of weeks ago and found some books, one of them was Honer Among Thieves I was going to start it tonight but I got myself a lazy day tomorrow so I'm going to start it then

MagicMarker · 07-02-2011 11:00AM

Up From Slavery - Booker T. Washington.

Loving it so far, a truly remarkable man!

Callan57 · 07-02-2011 12:31PM

Finished Fall of Giants ... superb

Starting 'A Death in Calabria' by Michele Giuttari

Asphyxia · 07-02-2011 06:25PM

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown.

emeraldstar · 08-02-2011 11:11AM

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith.

wonder88 · 08-02-2011 02:08PM

Queen-Mise wrote: »

just finished cloud atlas by david mitchell. Excellent read.

After a slight interlude into a travesty of fiction.

Just started soren kierkergaard' seducer's diary. On my list of books to read for 6 years - get there eventually

Read it a few years ago and agree fully with you an excellent book

Vim Fuego · 08-02-2011 03:48PM

McMafia by Mischa Glenny

This is the first non-fiction I've read in a while. It's an interesting study of organised crime that's becoming more international and connected thanks to a number of factors like the fall of soviet communism, the rise of the internet and globalisation. He doesn't dwell too much on the violent aspect of crime, it focusses more on the important figures and the history and the circumstances of each region along with interviews of involved criminals, law enforcement and victims.

Some of the facts and anecdotes he turns up are quite insane. It seems a Serb is the best man for a job of assassination, Sheriff FC in the Moldavian breakaway state of Transnistria is partially funded by arms sales (and play in the Champions League every year), Columbian cartels set up the largest pharmacy chain in the country so they could gain access to huge amount of chemicals needed to process cocaine. Some of the more personal stories are quite gripping as well, the plight of a Moldavian woman who was coerced into prostitution and transported into Israel via Egypt, the people who are beholden to "Snakeheads" who illegally transport Chinese people into Europe for a huge fee and a Brazilian banker who was stupidly suckered into one of the biggest Nigerian scams of all time.

It was a compelling read, you're never stuck on a single subject or region before he shifts to a different continent and area of organised crime. He's also not shy with his views on the war on drugs and the lack of political motivation to deal with problems like money laundering. I also agree with his assessment of drug users, happy to ignorantly fund organised crime and condone the inherent bloodshed that comes with it. On the same subject, he talks about the Canadians, making huge profits smuggling weed into the US which was one of the most interesting chapters.

I really enjoyed this, I was half-expecting a Ross Kemp-like tale of violence and gangs (which to be honest, would have been ok with me) but it had much more depth than that. He also gives his sources on a chapter-by-chapter basis so if you want to delve into anything in more detail, you have the information to do so.

tHE vAGGABOND · 08-02-2011 04:20PM

Finished the 2nd and 3rd books in the hunger games trilogy, by Suzane Collins [on my kindle]

Catch Fire and Mocking Jay

Both excellent, I guess the series runs out of steam a bit, but I flew though them in harry potter kind of speed, where you start reading and before you know it, its 4 hours later. Which can only be a very good thing

Raspberries · 08-02-2011 08:57PM

Have read Room and Never Let Me Go in the past two weeks or so. Room was very good, not as harrowing as I thought it would be given the subject matter.

Never Let Me Go was an odd one. The prose wasn't the best, but the idea behind it was intriguing.

Just started The Cloud Atlas. The first chapter was hard to get through but it seems to be getting more interesting during the second. Hopefully it will live up to my expectations!

tim_holsters · 08-02-2011 09:01PM

^ You can't go wrong with Cloud Atlas it's magnificent. You'll love it.

MagicMarker · 10-02-2011 12:31PM

The Communist Mainfesto - Karl Marx

Interesting ideas with a side order of lunacy.

useurename · 10-02-2011 09:22PM

Just finished Crime and Punishment.It was a very good book.It was long though and took me ages to finish.Started the music of chance yesterday by Paul Auster.Its really good so far

Callan57 · 10-02-2011 10:44PM

Starting The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

clouds · 10-02-2011 10:56PM

I've just finished the Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.
Was good, but a bit clunky and meandering. I love big chunky historical crowdpleasers though so I forgive it it's faults.

Now what next i wonder...

tHE vAGGABOND · 11-02-2011 02:29PM

Absolutely demolished the Curious Incident with the Dog at night time by mark Haddon - read in 3 or 4 sittings over 2 days.

Absolutely brilliant, on several levels. One of those books loads of folks have read, but was sitting on my book shelf for ages and ages.

Wyldwood · 11-02-2011 02:33PM

clouds wrote: »

I've just finished the Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.
Was good, but a bit clunky and meandering. I love big chunky historical crowdpleasers though so I forgive it it's faults.

Now what next i wonder...

You could try the sequel World Without End, same setting 200 years later. Very similar to Pillars.

Callan57 · 11-02-2011 09:48PM

Wyldwood wrote: »

You could try the sequel World Without End, same setting 200 years later. Very similar to Pillars.

Or you could go for Fall of Giants .... WW1 period

tHE vAGGABOND · 12-02-2011 02:44PM

I have read loads of Ken Follet's books, and all of those I have read are pretty damn good,

He also has a very good non-fiction one about hostage crisis involving perot systems staff in far east [as in Ross Perot's company, cant think of books name], which reads like a Tom Clancy novel.

I must say he is one of my very favorite authors. But Pillars of Earth and Fall of Giants are his best. World Without End is still very good, but its very similar in many ways to Pillars.

Sephiroth_dude · 12-02-2011 11:28PM

The travelling vampire show by Richard laymon,First book I've read in a few months,lost interest in reading for a while,loving this book so far though.

clouds · 13-02-2011 08:04PM

Thanks for the Follett recommendations. Though I only liked it, not loved it so I've gone for something completely different. Cloud Atlas. Slow start.

Vim Fuego · 14-02-2011 11:16AM

LA Confidential by James Ellroy. Blown away by this. Epic storytelling, countless plots and subplots, an enormous cast of characters and a near-apocalyptic final quarter. My head is still spinning.

Now on to Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box.

Asphyxia · 14-02-2011 11:09PM

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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