This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Mark Hamill · 20-10-2009 12:32pm

Sarxos wrote: »

I'm currently more than half-way through Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. I'm a huge fan and this book is so far keeping up with his rich tradition of truly excellent story-telling.

As I hope you can tell from my sig, I have recently finished UNseen Academicals and I loved it:).
Before that I hade read House of Leaves by Marc Z. Danielewski, really freaked me out inparts, was a great (if difficult) read.
Currently reading A Stir Of Echoes by Richard Matheson. (links to the movie page, book page had no info)

Wilde · 20-10-2009 9:49pm

The Liar by Stephen Fry. Brilliant read. If Old School by Tobias Wolff was dwritten by a snarky dandy, this would be the result. Brilliant satire.

Paddy Samurai · 22-10-2009 10:32am

Just arrived this morning in the post,although i have a load of books lined up i am going to jump straight in to this one.Tim Powers for me is one of the most exciting fantasy fiction writers around.He comes up with the maddest combinations of characters,settings,ideas,and althought they should'nt work they do.They usually work brilliantly.

This supernatural suspense thriller crosses several genres--espionage, geopolitics, religion, fantasy. But like the chicken crossing the road, it takes quite a while to get to the other side. En route, Tim Powers covers a lot of territory: Turkey, Armenia, the Saudi Arabian desert, Beirut, London, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow. Andrew Hale, an Oxford lecturer who first entered Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service as an 18-year-old schoolboy, is called back to finish a job that culminated in a deadly mission on Mount Ararat after the end of World War II. Now it's 1963, and cold war politics are behind the decision to activate Hale for another attempt to complete Operation Declare and bring down the Communist government before Moscow can harness the powerful, other-worldly forces concentrated on the summit of the mountain, supposed site of the landing of Noah's ark. James Theodora is the über-spymaster whose internecine rivalry with other branches of the Secret Intelligence Service traps Hale between a rock and a hard place, literally and figuratively. There's plenty of mountain and desert survival stuff here, a plethora of geopolitical and theological history, and a big serving of A Thousand and One Nights, which is Hale's guide to the meteorites, drogue stones, and amonon plant, which figure in this complicated tale. There's a love story, too, and a bizarre twist on the Kim Philby legend that posits both Philby and Hale as the only humans who can tame the powers of the djinns who populate Mount Ararat.

chenguin · 24-10-2009 9:18pm

Currently reading The Scarpetta Factor from Patricia Cornwell.
I am not quite sure if I actually like Patricia Cornwells books but I do keep reading them so I must do?

Also reading Life Stories from David Attenborough. I learn something new on every page.

Cadiz · 24-10-2009 9:32pm

Just finished 'Things Mother Never Told Me', Blake Morrison. Haven't read the earlier one he wrote about his father, but will definitely pick it up now.

Was gripped by this one though, which is based around Morrison's parents letters to each other during WW2. His mother was Irish but buried that part of her identity under a new life in a new country, something he still struggles to understand about her even after her death.

Just started Lake Woebegon Summer of 1956 - Garrison Keillor scraping the Woebegon barrel, I'm disappointed.

Best recent read - Attachment, by Isabel Fonseca. Totally surprised by how good it was.

The_Minister · 25-10-2009 2:29am

Dune this week, as well as Thomas Malthus Principles of population.

Cadiz · 25-10-2009 11:53am

Hermy wrote: »

Currently reading The Ginger Man. This is the first time I've read Donleavy and I'm fascinated.
Is this typical of his style?

Yeah Hermy that's the way he rolls, I re-read The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B recently, fascinating is the word!

Cadiz · 25-10-2009 11:54am

Great to see so many Pratchett fans here

Hermy · 26-10-2009 2:51am

Cadiz wrote: »

Yeah Hermy that's the way he rolls, I re-read The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B recently, fascinating is the word!

Thanks Cadiz. He certainly does roll along!
Great stuff all the same and I look forward to reading his other novels.

Seillejet · 26-10-2009 9:01pm

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. Very enjoyable.

Chris Evans autobiography. Enjoyed it but definitley a guilty pleasure.

Busi_Girl08 · 06-11-2009 3:18pm

Just started Angela's Ashes, liking it so far

I also made a little goal to read some Shakespeare plays...in the middle of MacBeth now

Jako8 · 07-11-2009 12:18am

Just about the start "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman.

I really enjoyed the oher two books in the HDM series so I hope it can end well

SarahBM · 07-11-2009 12:49am

The Phillip Pullman Books are great. dont bother with the movie though.

Im still on PS I Love You. sad I know. but just dont have the time!

emeraldstar · 07-11-2009 2:22pm

Seillejet wrote: »

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. Very enjoyable.

Chris Evans autobiography. Enjoyed it but definitley a guilty pleasure.

Oooooh, I wasn't aware Hugh Laurie had ever written a book. Thank you! Excellent, must track this down now.

Closed ac · 09-11-2009 9:51pm

Just finished:

"The Catcher in the Rye" - J.D Salinger
"The Kite Runner" - Khaled Hosseini

I've now taken on "War And Peace" - Leo Tolstoy.

God help me!

staker · 09-11-2009 9:55pm

"The Kite Runner" is one of the best books I've ever read.
Reading Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis atm, enjoying it so far....

Closed ac · 09-11-2009 9:58pm

staker wrote: »

"The Kite Runner" is one of the best books I've ever read.
Reading Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis atm, enjoying it so far....

Yes, it was fantastic!

staker · 09-11-2009 10:00pm

Often thought of picking up the Catcher in the Rye....
Is it a hard read? Any good?

Closed ac · 09-11-2009 10:57pm

staker wrote: »

Often thought of picking up the Catcher in the Rye....
Is it a hard read? Any good?

Not hard at all! It's only about 200 pages I think and it's aimed at young adults imo. It's a great read though, very slow moving but the main character in it is great! I'd recommend it!

Porkpie · 11-11-2009 11:40am

DKZ wrote: »

Not hard at all! It's only about 200 pages I think and it's aimed at young adults imo. It's a great read though, very slow moving but the main character in it is great! I'd recommend it!

It is a great read as long as you can put up with the annoyingly frequent usage of the expression 'God damn'! I read it in school and never really appreciated it. I read it again recently, partly for nostalgia. It's a very easy read and you'll fly through it. The more you can relate to the protagonist the more you'll enjoy it I'd say.

tHE vAGGABOND · 11-11-2009 1:53pm

Just finished 'Hiroshma' - Brilliant! The aftermath of the Hiroshma bomb on 6 real people. A must read for everyone on the planet tbh

Now reading Fatherland - always wanted to read it and never bothered, even if the plot seems paper thin after the 80 or 90 pages I'm into it so far

Just got Stephen Kings new book delivered, that'll be next so

Closed ac · 11-11-2009 6:43pm

Porkpie wrote: »

It is a great read as long as you can put up with the annoyingly frequent usage of the expression 'God damn'! I read it in school and never really appreciated it. I read it again recently, partly for nostalgia. It's a very easy read and you'll fly through it. The more you can relate to the protagonist the more you'll enjoy it I'd say.

Yeah, haha. And also "it killed me."

rickman · 12-11-2009 4:57pm

just read the new novel from dubliner, peter mc cluskey. it's called "here comes robert kingdom" - very funny and humourous.
saw it mentioned in the independent and got it through his website location27books dot com

paoloiaquinta · 12-11-2009 6:41pm

saw that guy in the paper - mccluskey - from dublin.
didn;'t know he had a new book out. his "boy in the river" was good. similar to the snapper in style - funny.
what's "here comes robert kingdom" like??

Cutie18Ireland · 13-11-2009 9:52am

Kathy Reichs

206 Bones

Cadiz · 13-11-2009 10:05am

On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks.

Not for much longer probably - flat characters, nothing to get teeth into..

Seren_ · 13-11-2009 6:10pm

I'm reading Ulysses for college. It's good, if a bit confusing. Especially the chapters from Stephen's point of view, I officially want to murder him!

And for my own enjoyment I'm about to start reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I've heard that it's great

Julesie · 14-11-2009 10:19am

Just finished reading...

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood (I really enjoyed this one, it had been sitting on my bookshelf for ages and I finally got around to reading it last week)

Alice Walker - The Color Purple (A little bit Oprah-ish for my liking. Which may be accurate as I have since found out she starred in the film adaptation and also bankrolled the Broadway stage show. Still not a bad book. An easy read, written in the form of a series of letters charting the development of a poor black woman from Georgia in the 1930's)

Next up... James Joyce - The Dubliners

Jako8 · 16-11-2009 10:54pm

I'm currently reading "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman.

I'm enjoying it so far.

This_Years_Love · 17-11-2009 7:55pm

I started reading Bram Stoker's Dracula yesterday. It's the first time I've read it. I'm on chapter 8 at the moment. It's good but some of the old English slang terms are hard to understand though. I didn't understand most of the things that Mr Swales character said.

herbieflowers · 18-11-2009 2:09am

Re-reading The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre. Haven't read anything in weeks!

minidazzler · 18-11-2009 10:13am

I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

It's taking AGES! It's a long book, but usually I could read it in 2/3 straight days. I am going on 5 weeks now because I find it hard to settle into!!

Good book, but hard going I think!

Sammy Jennings · 18-11-2009 11:59pm

Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse

Very funny, laid back and conversational as only Wodehouse can be.

Eliot Rosewater · 19-11-2009 12:07am

Sammy Jennings wrote: »

Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse

Any recommendations for someone beginning to read Wodehouse?

Sammy Jennings · 19-11-2009 12:10am

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Any recommendations for someone beginning to read Wodehouse?

Carry on, Jeeves is a good collection of stories about his most famous characters. I haven't read much Wodehouse but friends tell me that The Code of the Woosters is also good.

Aidric · 24-11-2009 10:58pm

I'm currently reading The Snowball:Warren Buffett and The Business of Life by Alice Schroeder.

Busi_Girl08 · 24-11-2009 11:23pm

Finished Angela's Ashes, LOVED IT. Some good laugh out loud moments, and a great sense of the author's life in Limerick when it was an even worse sh!thole.

Now, The Time Machine-HG Wells. Loving it so far, very engaging

Cadiz · 25-11-2009 12:35pm

Restoration by Rose Tremain. I like the bawdy main character and the period she's writing about is really interesting, but the protagonist isn't as lovely as the author seems to think he is.

Funglegunk · 25-11-2009 1:29pm

minidazzler wrote: »

I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

It's taking AGES! It's a long book, but usually I could read it in 2/3 straight days. I am going on 5 weeks now because I find it hard to settle into!!

Good book, but hard going I think!

That book confused the hell out of me, really hard to follow. That said, I enjoyed some of Gaiman's other books.

Closed ac · 25-11-2009 9:13pm

Reading War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy.. still.. :pac:

SecondTime · 26-11-2009 5:11pm

Recently finished "The Other Hand" by Chris Cleave for a book club - Dreadful, would never have bothered finishing it except for my golden rule Don't come to Book Club if you don't finish the book!

The_Kew_Tour · 27-11-2009 8:20pm

just starting to read "Sacred Causes" by Michael Burleigh

Anyone ever read it? Taughts?

rickman · 28-11-2009 1:53am

yep..i enjoyed it. its a good laugh. its written like a diary. "here comes robert kingdom" - the robert in the title is a stay ay home dad and he's unemployed and looking after his son. he does some band work and writes songs but he starts a diary just to keep himself fromm getting board. he ust starts writing things down that happen to him and it gets hilarious as it goes along. i bought it from his web page - he's donating the money to the childrens hospital charity. www.location27books.com

Jim · 28-11-2009 5:47pm

"Later, in England, I saw rows of little green plastic trees hardly an inch high surrounding cuts of meat and offal displayed in the shop windows of a 'Family Butchers'. The obvious fact was that these evergreen plastic ornaments must be mass-produced somewhere for the sole purpose of alleviating our sense of guilt about the bloodshed seemed to me, in its very absurdity, to show how strongly we desire absolution and how cheaply we have always bought it."

The Alps In The Sea - W. G. Sebald

Swarles Barkley · 01-12-2009 12:31am

I'm reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. It is a fictionalised novel based somewhat loosely on Laura Bush.

Quite enjoying it so far at about the halfway mark. Sittenfeld has an accessible and engaging style of writing that makes it easy to breeze through the pages.

Busi_Girl08 · 01-12-2009 1:21pm

Finished The Time Machine. Really liked it. Loved the world that was created in it.

Now...I'm actually flipping through the Bible, curiosity got the best of me.

Don't know how far I will get though to be honest...

tHE vAGGABOND · 01-12-2009 2:32pm

Wolf hall - Hillary Mantel

Interesting story, but I know all about it from reading history and watching the Tudors

Sir Gallagher · 03-12-2009 12:33am

I read Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh last week, brilliant book it has to be said but not for the faint hearted, it's extremely gritty and gets very disturbing towards the end.

That_Guy · 05-12-2009 12:09pm

Currently reading 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. Only bought it yesterday. Very good so far but the odd random part here and there. Story is good thus far though.

emeraldstar · 05-12-2009 6:02pm

That_Guy wrote: »

Currently reading 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. Only bought it yesterday. Very good so far but the odd random part here and there. Story is good thus far though.

Hehe, me too. Liking it.

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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