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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Sammy Jennings

...continued from this thread

A Good School by Richard Yates

Slight, but some great moments

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Callan57

Finished City of Shadows - a super good read

Now it on to the much publicised The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan ... hope it lives up to the hype

SarahBM

Callan57 wrote: »

Now it on to the much publicised The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan ... hope it lives up to the hype

I'd be interested to see what you think as I know a few ppl who read it for their book club.

I haven't read anything other than science journals in the last few wks as I have 2 assignments due. I'm starting to think I'll never finish the Count of Monte Cristo.

Belle E. Flops

I'm enjoying The Beautiful and the Damned, but it's a funny format. It seems to switch between being a novel and a play!

It also doesn't seem to have the memorable lines that you find in Gatsby, so far anyway.
Still enjoying it though.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I finished The Daughters of Mars last night and I have to say I'm annoyed with the ending. I'm not even entirely sure how it ended but I am annoyed.

The five hundred or so pages before it were superb though.

Saorenza

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch...a cross between the supernatural/fantasy and police procedural, which works well. My husband picked it up for me when we were in London, knowing I like The Guards series by Terry Pratchett. I am enjoying it all the more since I was recently in the streets described in the book.

I also started The Maias by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz which is brilliant. It is set and (was written in) 19th century Portugal and is a family saga. I recommend it.

I also raced through Patrick Pearse: A Life in Pictures by Brian Crowley - partly for essay research purposes,and partly because my husband is related to him, so there were photos of his ancestors in it. Not much new information but a lot of photos that I hadn't seen before.

I got The Goldfinch the other day- I think I'll keep it for when my next essays are finished.

[-0-]

Unacknowledged Legislation by Christopher Hitchens.

fruvai

Finished Cormac McCarthy's Child of God last night and am now going to start Blood Meridian

Callan57

Finished The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan ... didn't quite live up to the hype but an enjoyable enough read. Not easy to hold the stories of 21 different characters and their relationships in mind at one time.

Anyway, now I'm on to his second book The Thing About December

Gamayun

I read two Haruki Murakami stories published in the New Yorker, Town of cats and Samsa in Love, both great. I also read a Walk to Kobe which he wrote for Granta, it's an article detailing his visit to Kobe in 1997, two years after the large earthquake there, interesting little autobiographical piece.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
I just finished this, the first of the 190 or so Dragonlance books. This was a total nostalgia read, this was one of the first non-school novels that I ever read. The book belonged to my older brother and I probably picked it up due to the cover art. This was actually written in order to flesh out the world of a Dungeons and Dragons game! There's no point seriously critiquing this as I didn't really read it as a serious piece of fiction. I liked reacquainting myself with the characters though, a good, light, fun, nostalgia tinged read.

AnnyHallsal

I loved both Middlesex and The Marriage Plot, but then my college life reminded me of the heroine's!

Finished Hawthorn and Child. I thought this was the most overrated book I've read in a while. Found it dull and a bit depressing with little to say beyond the mundane meaninglessness of urban life. His style grated on me after a while too - short sentence overload.

Now happily ensconced in Morrissey's Autobiography - loving it!

I also read The Tell-Tale Brain, which was full of interesting bits of neuroscience though the author had some annoying quirks, like needless use of "hot babes" kinda talk.

upstairs for coffee

Capital by John Lanchester. Decent, quick read. 6/10

At home by Bill Bryson. Again decent. Sometimes abit tedious but some good stories nevertheless. 6-10

Tom Joad

Finished Notes from a small island and loved it. Started now on Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children - bit off a slow burner and just getting into it after about 60 pages in - jury's out on it at the minute!!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper.

It's alright so far. Fairly easy read.

Aenaes

I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It was good in a non-serious way but it has also piqued my interest in Lincoln so I may look out for some material on him or the Civil War.

Currently reading Dominion by C. J. Sansom. Set in 1952, in a world where Britain and France sued for peace in 1940 thereby making Britain a "dominion" of Germany. It's interesting enough, I've read a couple of other books that dealt with the same alternate history but this seems a bit more believable regarding appeasing/defeatist factions in the House of Commons surrendering rather than the German army crossing the English channel somehow.

Also, I'm the first person to have checked it out from the library so woohoo.

Callan57

Aenaes wrote: »

I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It was good in a non-serious way but it has also piqued my interest in Lincoln so I may look out for some material on him or the Civil War.

Currently reading Dominion by C. J. Sansom. Set in 1952, in a world where Britain and France sued for peace in 1940 thereby making Britain a "dominion" of Germany. It's interesting enough, I've read a couple of other books that dealt with the same alternate history but this seems a bit more believable regarding appeasing/defeatist factions in the House of Commons surrendering rather than the German army crossing the English channel somehow.

Also, I'm the first person to have checked it out from the library so woohoo.

I love C J Sanson - I have Dominion on my to read shelf at the minute (saving it for the Xmas hols)
Have you read Fatherland by Robert Harris? It has a similar storyline - Germany winning the war.

Aenaes

Callan57 wrote: »

Have you read Fatherland by Robert Harris? It has a similar storyline - Germany winning the war.

Yeah, that's one of the books I was referring to. Another was SS-GB by Len Deighton but I never got around to finishing it.

The political situation in Dominion seems more plausible.

Saorenza

Aenaes wrote: »

I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It was good in a non-serious way but it has also piqued my interest in Lincoln so I may look out for some material on him or the Civil War.

Currently reading Dominion by C. J. Sansom. Set in 1952, in a world where Britain and France sued for peace in 1940 thereby making Britain a "dominion" of Germany. It's interesting enough, I've read a couple of other books that dealt with the same alternate history but this seems a bit more believable regarding appeasing/defeatist factions in the House of Commons surrendering rather than the German army crossing the English channel somehow.

Also, I'm the first person to have checked it out from the library so woohoo.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin is very good.

I got Dominion but didn't get very far in, which disappointed me. I think it was just too gloomy as I was going through some sad stuff at the time. I will give it another shot some time.

Anyway, raced through Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch and started Moon Over Soho. Am definitely enjoying these all the more because I was recently in London. They are a nice distraction which I need this week.

Gamayun

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Charming fantasy novel, aimed at both adults and a younger audience, about a boy who is raised in a graveyard. Very enjoyable, loved it.

emeraldstar

Gamayun wrote: »

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Charming fantasy novel, aimed at both adults and a younger audience, about a boy who is raised in a graveyard. Very enjoyable, loved it.

I liked that one a lot

Read it when it came out.

Callan57

Finished The Thing About December by Donal Ryan - I actually prefer this book to The Spinning Heart.
Reading the story of Johnsey I could not get the picture of Pat Shortt in the film Garage out of my mind.

Next for me is How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (author of the really brilliant The Reluctant Fundamentalist)

Swiper the fox

Callan57 wrote: »

Finished The Thing About December by Donal Ryan - I actually prefer this book to The Spinning Heart.
Reading the story of Johnsey I could not get the picture of Pat Shortt in the film Garage out of my mind.

Next for me is How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (author of the really brilliant The Reluctant Fundamentalist)

I absolutely loved the Spinning Heart, perhaps the fact that I live in Limerick where it is set added somewhat to my enjoyment of it but I think he is remarkably successful in finding the many disparate voices required to pull it together, I would regard it as my favourite fiction book of the last couple of years.
I have the new one on my shelf and will get around to it soon but I was put off somewhat by reviews I read which seem to suggest it is extremely dark and devoid of any levity whatsoever, love the size of it though, shouldn't take long to get through it when the time comes.

I'm still on a sportsbook buzz for the moment, I've enjoyed the Eamonn Dunphy and Sean og O Hailpin books in the past few weeks, there's been a hell of a lot of sportsbooks published in the last few months, anyone got a recommendation, I've read all the classics and am looking for newer books.

Callan57

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I absolutely loved the Spinning Heart, perhaps the fact that I live in Limerick where it is set added somewhat to my enjoyment of it but I think he is remarkably successful in finding the many disparate voices required to pull it together, I would regard it as my favourite fiction book of the last couple of years.
I have the new one on my shelf and will get around to it soon but I was put off somewhat by reviews I read which seem to suggest it is extremely dark and devoid of any levity whatsoever, love the size of it though, shouldn't take long to get through it when the time comes.

I'm still on a sportsbook buzz for the moment, I've enjoyed the Eamonn Dunphy and Sean og O Hailpin books in the past few weeks, there's been a hell of a lot of sportsbooks published in the last few months, anyone got a recommendation, I've read all the classics and am looking for newer books.

Certainly it's dark but there are parts hilariously funny in a "sad but funny" way ... exactly the way Josie in Garage was funny yet the story was incredibly sad & dark. The ending is taken straight from a factual event (but I won't spoil it!)
I found keeping track of 21 characters very difficult in Spinning Heart - I was constantly stopping trying to figure out whose story I was reading & who they were in relation to the others.

[-0-]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Saorenza

Still alternating Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch with The Maias by Jose Maria Eça de Queirós.

Also I went into Charlie Byrne's yesterday and picked up Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy by Diana Preston which I started last night, well written and lots of detail.

Paddy Samurai

Deep under the calm water of a Caribbean lagoon, salvage diver David Moore discovers a sunken Nazi U-boat entombed in the sand. A mysterious relic from the last war. Slowly, the U-boat rises from the depths laden with a long-dead crew, cancerous with rot, mummified for eternity.
Or so Moore thought.

I have heard mixed reports about this one by McCammon,and I have been waiting to read it for years.
I'm only about two chapters in ,so time will tell if it's any good.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I'm reading Amongst Women by John McGahern.

About a year or so ago I started a thread asking for the essential Irish books I must read. This one popped up quite a lot so I finally got around to picking up a copy.

Eh............ I'm not sure. It seems almost like a stereotype of an Irish novel. It's well written, I suppose, and it's probably very realistic of the time and location and all that, but there's just not a lot going on. I'm not finished yet but so far I can't say I'm overly impressed.

Call Me Jimmy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I'm reading Amongst Women by John McGahern.

About a year or so ago I started a thread asking for the essential Irish books I must read. This one popped up quite a lot so I finally got around to picking up a copy.

Eh............ I'm not sure. It seems almost like a stereotype of an Irish novel. It's well written, I suppose, and it's probably very realistic of the time and location and all that, but there's just not a lot going on. I'm not finished yet but so far I can't say I'm overly impressed.

Horrible book in my opinion.

DazMarz

Just started reading Black Chalk, the début novel by Christopher J. Yates. Was just scanning in Easons earlier, looking for something to kill a bit of time, and was drawn to this.

Excellent so far, have to say.

Taglines:

One Game.
Six Students.
Five Survivors.

How well do you know your best friends?
How far would you go to protect them?
How far would you go to break them?

Callan57

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood ... loved the first 2 book so hopefully this will be equally as gripping.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Finished Amongst Women.

Terrible, to be honest. Like reading someone's "here's what I did for Summer holidays" essay but 20 odd years worth.