This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Callan57 · 07-02-2011 12:31pm

Finished Fall of Giants ... superb

Starting 'A Death in Calabria' by Michele Giuttari

Asphyxia · 07-02-2011 6:25pm

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown.

emeraldstar · 08-02-2011 11:11am

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith.

wonder88 · 08-02-2011 2:08pm

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 3:48pm

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 4:20pm

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 8:57pm

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 9:01pm

^ 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 9:22pm

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 2:29pm

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 2:33pm

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 9:48pm

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 2:44pm

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 8:04pm

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

anothernight · 14-02-2011 11:41pm

The Bell Jar. I didn't expect to like it as much as I currently am

ReacherCreature · 15-02-2011 10:11pm

Finished George W. Bush's Decision Points. Enjoyed it but had to skip some tedious sections that held no appeal. His discussions on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran were insightful. At home, his rise to power, the Katrina time, personal life were all really interesting. I liked it more than expected.

AnnyHallsal · 15-02-2011 10:21pm

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. So interesting!

Callan57 · 16-02-2011 10:58am

The Stray Sod Country by Patrick McCabe

Vim Fuego · 16-02-2011 12:40pm

I liked Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. It has an interesting concept that is laid out straight in the first few pages. An ageing rock star buys a ghost on the internet and then bad things start to happen.

However, I didn't find it all that creepy and unsettling moments are few and far between (the content of a certain videotape being described is the darkest event of the novel, far more so than later twists and turns in my opinion).

The few characters are likeable enough despite being somewhat unsympathetic when we first meet them; Jude and Georgia start out seemingly out of sorts with each other but grow closer as terrible, supernatural events happen to both of them.

The pace slackens before the halfway point and ultimately, it felt like the novel was missing a crucial third dimension. The villainous ghost had a lot of potential but became less and less of a malevolent spirit, more like an ever-present bogeyman.

He could have laid on the chills a lot more than he actually did. Craddock could have been much more terrifying had he felt like less of a flesh-and-bones character. His supernatural chatter on the tv and radio felt a bit harmless in the end.

Despite all this, there's lots to like. Good use of Jude's dogs Bon and Angus, I had really grown to like them as characters in their own right, and I loved all the nods to pre-2000 rock music, guitars and life on the road.

His later novel Horns feels much more complete and well rounded, not to mention less conventional, so I would definitely recommend that before Heart Shaped Box. Still though, it's a fun romp for a first novel and has a number of interesting passages.

Asphyxia · 18-02-2011 12:49am

Take Another Look At Me Now - Anita Notaro

Travel is good · 18-02-2011 7:52pm

Guards, Guards by terry pratchett.

It is the first book I've ever read by Terry Pratchett.

Just finishing "The Bankers" by Shane Ross (very appropriate to read it now) and "61 Hours" by Lee Child.

I'm on a bit of a crime thriller theme at the moment, next up is "Silent Scream" by Linda La Plante.

Vim Fuego · 19-02-2011 4:25am

White Jazz by James Ellroy

I quite liked the stripped down style that a lot of people seem to have a problem with. After reading The Big Nowhere and LA Confidential in the past month, this was like reading James Ellroy in fast forward. The mixture of dialogue, inner monologue and newspaper reports worked quite well.

However, I think it's the weakest book in the LA Quartet. Not to say it's a bad novel but in terms of plot, it's not really as interesting or involving as the rest.

The Kafejian burglary case doesn't really get interesting until the linked-by-incest family are murdered. While Klein is uncovering the whole conspiracy (say 75% of the book), I'm just thinking "It's Dudley, get to Smith/Exeley showdown".

That said, satisfying conclusion to the whole thing, the last few pages left me wondering

if Dave does come back (in the 1980s?) and set things right as he's threatening to do.

I'm going have an Ellroy break for a few months before starting American Tabloid.

Asphyxia · 21-02-2011 6:06pm

Love Hurts - Linda Kavanagh

I've been reading lots of Irish books lately this one is amazing so far but quite graphic.. I've been close to tears at some parts.

Busi_Girl08 · 21-02-2011 8:29pm

Currently reading Room by Emma O Donohue (Or, as my housemate calls it; "The Fritzl book" :pac:)

One of the best books I've read in a while. Can't put it down.

I picked up Cloud Atlas at Stansted after hearing all the recommendations here. Might give that a bash next.

Callan57 · 21-02-2011 9:20pm

Self's Punishment by Bernhard Schlink

MonkeySocks24 · 21-02-2011 10:25pm

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

It is a brilliant book although some parts of it are not for the faith of heart. Set in Egypt the book deals with the hypocrisies of power, religion, and love. It's one of those books that you look forward to going home and reading.

loveacca · 21-02-2011 10:31pm

Getting into the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. Was slow to start it because of the commercial hype behind it but actullay finding it very enjoyable. Some of the violence is a little bit OTT, seems to be a random sex act thrown into the middle of it

Overall very enjoyable

Blobby George · 21-02-2011 10:33pm

'Kafka On The Shore' by Murakami.

Vim Fuego · 22-02-2011 11:25am

I finished The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It feels incredibly dated, all the characters are very prim and proper, though very few of them are fleshed out in any great detail. That said, I got chills on two separate occasions and it contained enough good ideas to see how it's considered such a horror classic.

Callan57 · 22-02-2011 2:24pm

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Saw the movie & felt somewhat dissatisfied with the ending ... hope the book proves more satisfying.

AnnyHallsal · 22-02-2011 5:47pm

Awakenings, Oliver Sacks.

Like all of Sacks's books, it changes how you see the world, making it seem a far stranger, more interesting place.

ReacherCreature · 22-02-2011 9:50pm

Picked up Christy O' Connor's The Club in my local library. It's promising thusfar. I had read O' Connor's previous work Last Man Standing and it created an interest in Hurling and GAA in general. I'm a fan of the game now and have a keen interest on goalkeepers. O' Connor has high standards to overcome.

Sephiroth_dude · 23-02-2011 9:52pm

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

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.

Just finished reading this today........it had a disturbing ending to it that I did not expect or see coming.

Pablo_ · 23-02-2011 10:11pm

this weerk, i hab been mostly readin .... actually wondering whether to read foucaults pendulum by ECO, I really liked name of the rose ? will i hold on till summer when i have more headspace?

nc6000 · 23-02-2011 11:45pm

loveacca wrote: »

Getting into the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. Was slow to start it because of the commercial hype behind it but actullay finding it very enjoyable. Some of the violence is a little bit OTT, seems to be a random sex act thrown into the middle of it

Overall very enjoyable

I read that last week and have just finished 'girl who played with fire'. Not bad and nicely set up for 'girl who kicked the hornets nest' to finish off the trilogy.

clouds · 24-02-2011 1:02pm

Pablo_ wrote: »

this weerk, i hab been mostly readin .... actually wondering whether to read foucaults pendulum by ECO, I really liked name of the rose ? will i hold on till summer when i have more headspace?

You will need a bit of headspace for it.
It's excellent, so dense and erudite. You'd want to come into it with a little bit of knowledge of medieval and Renaissance belief's, culture, religion, magic. The more you know the better you'll find it. Better than The Name of the Rose, imo.

I am reading The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd at the mo. Creepy and covers some of the same ground as Foucault's Pendulum.

AnnyHallsal · 24-02-2011 1:04pm

Sacks's The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Wife, and now Musicophilia.

Swampy · 24-02-2011 5:33pm

The Fall, Guillermo Del Toro. (Book 2 in the series)

Summary of the book below. Leaving it as a spoiler as it may give a tiny bit away from the 1st book.

The vampiric virus unleashed in The Strain has taken over New York City. It is spreading across the country and soon, the world. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather—head of the Center for Disease Control’s team—leads a small band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.
Ignited by the Master’s horrific plan, a war erupts between Old and New World vampires, each vying for total control. Caught between these warring forces, humans—powerless and vulnerable—are no longer the consumers, but the consumed.
Though Eph understands the vampiric plague better than anyone, even he cannot protect those he loves from the invading evil. His ex-wife, Kelly, has been turned by the Master, and now she stalks the city, in the darkness, looking for her chance to reclaim Zack, Eph’s young son.
With the future of the world in the balance, Eph and his courageous team, guided by the brilliant former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian and exterminator Vasiliy Fet, must combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than anyone first imagined—a fate worse than annihilation.

Asphyxia · 24-02-2011 7:39pm

Enchanting Alice - Anne Dunlop

Another Irish novel

nermal15 · 24-02-2011 9:26pm

I'm reading Atonement at the moment, after having a lecture on it last week. We were told the whole story, so there'll be no surprise ending for me, but I'm still really enjoying it. I rarely feel compelled to read anything we're told to in college!

Pablo_ · 24-02-2011 9:44pm

clouds wrote: »

You will need a bit of headspace for it.
It's excellent, so dense and erudite. You'd want to come into it with a little bit of knowledge of medieval and Renaissance belief's, culture, religion, magic. The more you know the better you'll find it. Better than The Name of the Rose, imo.

I am reading The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd at the mo. Creepy and covers some of the same ground as Foucault's Pendulum.

thanks, think i'll leave it for summer so, might be doing the camino so would be nice evening read ...

AnnyHallsal · 25-02-2011 9:11pm

Camus, The Stranger

Callan57 · 25-02-2011 9:12pm

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

ktod · 25-02-2011 9:15pm

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson - ohmygod, Am-a-zing

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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