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What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 258 ✭✭ClydeTallyBump


    gutenberg wrote: »
    Started Philippe Sands' 'The Ratline' about the Nazi Otto van Wachter, his wartime career and his escape after the end of WW2. I'm a few chapters in and it's already gripping.

    I loved Sands' East West Street so couldn't wait for this one (had to wait for husband to finish it first, grrr!).

    Great books! Was lucky to attend a lecture of his a few years ago. What an amazing speaker, so animated and engaging.

    Disobedience by Naomi Alderman.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭gutenberg


    Great books! Was lucky to attend a lecture of his a few years ago. What an amazing speaker, so animated and engaging.

    Disobedience by Naomi Alderman.

    I saw him talk about the book at the virtual Hay Festival this year and yes, he was very engaging - can imagine even more so in person!

    I've read Alderman's The Power and liked it, would be interested to know about her other books.


  • Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,228 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    breezy1985 wrote: »
    Small God's might be his best book in the series standalone or otherwise.

    Unrelated to Prachett I would highly recommend the recently deceased Carlos Ruiz Zafons series Cemetery of Forgotten Books which begins with "Shadow of the Wind" outside of a cracking story the man had a real love for books

    I loved Shadow of the Wind, no idea it was part of a series. How do the others compare?

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,026 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    GLaDOS wrote: »
    I loved Shadow of the Wind, no idea it was part of a series. How do the others compare?

    I think it is widely accepted to be the best of the 4 but my favourite is number 2 "The Angels Game" because I loved the protagonist and he's probably my favourite literary character


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,129 ✭✭✭TheRepentent


    Reading Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor...he is a great historian and manages to write it in a way that you don't get too bogged down with a wall of dates and names. A very easy read for a war history book.

    Wanna support genocide?Cheer on the murder of women and children?The Ruzzians aren't rapey enough for you? Morally bankrupt cockroaches and islamaphobes , Israel needs your help NOW!!

    http://tinyurl.com/2ksb4ejk


    https://www.btselem.org/



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 744 ✭✭✭Kewreeuss


    Trudging through The Human by Neal Asher. Oh it is so tedious. I've liked his other books but this one is just not hitting the spot. Which leads me to admitting I had to look up the online dictionary to find out what a bell end was, regarding 52 ways Britain was.
    I'd never have guessed!
    Does anyone like Barbara Nadel's books set in Istanbul?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,628 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Reading Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor...he is a great historian and manages to write it in a way that you don't get too bogged down with a wall of dates and names. A very easy read for a war history book.

    Berlin is equally as good.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,989 ✭✭✭griffin100


    Reading Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor...he is a great historian and manages to write it in a way that you don't get too bogged down with a wall of dates and names. A very easy read for a war history book.

    If you like Beevor you’ll also like Max Hastings books (at least I do!).

    If you haven’t red them yet I’d recommend Hastings books Nemesis (about WW2 in the pacific region) and Vietnam.


  • Registered Users Posts: 323 ✭✭Phoenix32


    I'm reading the first Game of Thrones book for the first time. I've already watched the series. I know I'm a bit late to the party but I'm hoping Winds of Winter gets released soon!


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 16,287 Mod ✭✭✭✭quickbeam


    Phoenix32 wrote: »
    ...I'm hoping Winds of Winter gets released soon!

    tenor.gif


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    griffin100 wrote: »
    If you like Beevor you’ll also like Max Hastings books (at least I do!).

    If you haven’t red them yet I’d recommend Hastings books Nemesis (about WW2 in the pacific region) and Vietnam.

    Just finished Hastings' Chastise on the dambusters raid. Not as detailed or absorbing as the vietnam book, but still a decent read.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,026 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    griffin100 wrote: »
    If you like Beevor you’ll also like Max Hastings books (at least I do!).

    If you haven’t red them yet I’d recommend Hastings books Nemesis (about WW2 in the pacific region) and Vietnam.

    Tony Judt:Post War a detailed look at the rebuilding and aftermath of post WW2 Europe from the fall of Berlin up to 2000s

    And a nice accompaniment to that is Robert Gerwarths The Vanquished which is the same jist but covering the interwar years


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,402 ✭✭✭McGinniesta


    The Undoing project by Michael Lewis


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,066 ✭✭✭✭neris


    Slowly getting through zero zero zero by roberto saviano. heads not in place for reading much at the moment


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭completedit


    I read different books on the go. I've slowed down a good bit. Wasn't bothered with TV at the start of 'rona and with the decent weather, was outside a lot which is generally where I enjoy reading.

    So at the moment, I'm reading

    Black Swan- Only started it but really like the gist of it so far. Seems to be about how we as humans think that we can rationalize away everything as an impossibility unless we see it. We are great at talking retrospectively about things but completely incapable to see the bigger picture. And this affects everyone, just some people are able to waffle better to give the idea that they know what's happening.

    1984- No introduction needed. Got obsessed with Soviet Union and totalitarian regimes over last few months and it took me to this book.

    Europe- The struggle of supremacy 1453 to the Present- A bit rigorous for my liking but when you get into it it's good. Interesting to get an understanding of history from the German perspective. I feel in Ireland, everyting is from the Anglo POV.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,026 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    I read different books on the go. I've slowed down a good bit. Wasn't bothered with TV at the start of 'rona and with the decent weather, was outside a lot which is generally where I enjoy reading.

    So at the moment, I'm reading

    Black Swan- Only started it but really like the gist of it so far. Seems to be about how we as humans think that we can rationalize away everything as an impossibility unless we see it. We are great at talking retrospectively about things but completely incapable to see the bigger picture. And this affects everyone, just some people are able to waffle better to give the idea that they know what's happening.

    1984- No introduction needed. Got obsessed with Soviet Union and totalitarian regimes over last few months and it took me to this book.

    Europe- The struggle of supremacy 1453 to the Present- A bit rigorous for my liking but when you get into it it's good. Interesting to get an understanding of history from the German perspective. I feel in Ireland, everyting is from the Anglo POV.

    1453 onwards that must be some big book


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,129 ✭✭✭TheRepentent


    griffin100 wrote: »
    If you like Beevor you’ll also like Max Hastings books (at least I do!).

    If you haven’t red them yet I’d recommend Hastings books Nemesis (about WW2 in the pacific region) and Vietnam.
    good shout as Vietnam and even the pacific theatre wouldn't be something I'd be too familiar with

    Wanna support genocide?Cheer on the murder of women and children?The Ruzzians aren't rapey enough for you? Morally bankrupt cockroaches and islamaphobes , Israel needs your help NOW!!

    http://tinyurl.com/2ksb4ejk


    https://www.btselem.org/



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,628 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    The Mirror and The Light by Hillary Mantel - The concluding novel of the Thomas Cromwell saga. In many ways this is a brilliant novel. It brings the history to life amazingly well, the quality of Mantel's prose is top notch - she has a style that's poetic but yet very earthy and even horrifying when required, she's surely amongst the first rank of contemporary novelists - the plotting and the bringing together of disparate strands of narrative is often breathtaking, there's individual scenes and interactions between characters that are as good as fiction gets. It's first class historical fiction, first class literature really, and if you're a fan of the previous books of the series you'll want to read this. They're an outstanding series of books all in all.

    But it does go on. The middle section sags and with the thing running to 900 pages there is a lot of middle section. Bring Up The Bodies was so tight and focused in comparison, whereas this just gives you more of everything, which isn't a wholly terrible thing, but a definite readers fatigue can assert itself after a while. For all it's brilliance there are times you find yourself wondering how many pages are left - if it was about 300 pages shorter I don't know if it would have been any the worse for it. I still recommend it though.

    So after that beast I've decided to go for something light. I started Infinite Jest.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭completedit


    breezy1985 wrote: »
    1453 onwards that must be some big book

    Ah man, needed to open the double doors out the back to get it in. Thing is humongous.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭gutenberg


    Finished The Ratline. I enjoyed but thought the final section, the more 'investigative' bit, dragged on compared to the first half.

    I'm now reading Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns about the Great Migration of African Americans from southern states in the early 20th century, to escape Jim Crow laws. I heard the book discussed on a podcast and it sounded brilliant so I bought it.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 624 ✭✭✭Jenna James


    I recently finished Hidden Valley Road. I really enjoyed it. Fascinating study of an American family.

    Currently reading 'The Uninhabitable Earth'. Sobering and thought provoking but I am also learning alot and it is prompting me to research and learn about many things so half way through and I recommend.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Deacon King Kong for me at the moment, it's pretty different. Get plenty of funny moments in conjunction with the more dark aspect of the Projects. If your a fan of things like The Wire, you'll enjoy it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1 LiteraryFan


    I too am reading A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom – halfway through. It's very different to his other work, don't you think?

    I see he's doing an interview with An Post tomorrow, might be interesting to see if he addresses his approach to this work compared to previous.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,402 ✭✭✭McGinniesta


    The Grand Chessboard by David Talbot.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 548 ✭✭✭JasonStatham


    James Hogan..... Echoes of an Alien Sky.

    It's sci-fi and it's tough going.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,251 ✭✭✭bonzodog2


    A Private Cathedral
    (Dave Robicheaux #23)
    by James Lee Burke


  • Subscribers Posts: 41,830 ✭✭✭✭sydthebeat


    The dresden files by Jim butcher

    I'm on #2 at the moment, fools gold


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,025 ✭✭✭pavb2


    Just finished City of Bohane and not really sure what to make of it. The plot was a bit thin but the study of A dystopic West of Ireland city In 2053 and its inhabitants was interesting. Reminded me of Gangs of New York for the costumes and violence and Deadwood.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    pavb2 wrote: »
    Just finished The City of Bohane and not really sure what to make of it. The plot was a bit thin but the study of A dystopic West of Ireland city In 2053 and its inhabitants was interesting. Reminded me of Gangs of New York for the costumes and violence and Deadwood.

    Not read his latest, but my take on Barry is that his interesting and clever ideas are better suited to the short story format. City of Bohane didnt sutain my attention and Beatlebone lost me even before half way. Like the short story collections, though.


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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 16,287 Mod ✭✭✭✭quickbeam


    sydthebeat wrote: »
    The dresden files by Jim butcher

    I'm on #2 at the moment, fools gold moon

    It's a great series. And easy reading.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 684 ✭✭✭farmerval


    Finished Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin. Brilliant finish to the book, thought it dragged for a while, disparate threads for well over half the book. In other time might not have finished it.
    Still the last third of the book was really good.
    Off to find something different now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,031 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    I’m currently halfway through This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay’s description of life as a junior doctor with the NHS in the UK. I know it’s not exactly as bad here in Ireland ... I just hope it’s not worse, since I have some fairly major surgery coming up here in a few months. :eek:

    Death has this much to be said for it:
    You don’t have to get out of bed for it.
    Wherever you happen to be
    They bring it to you—free.

    — Kingsley Amis



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,302 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    bnt wrote: »
    I’m currently halfway through This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay’s description of life as a junior doctor with the NHS in the UK. I know it’s not exactly as bad here in Ireland ... I just hope it’s not worse, since I have some fairly major surgery coming up here in a few months. :eek:
    It's a terrific book and eye opening, he is hugely engaging.
    His small book set at Christmas is also good too.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I've just finished Thud by Terry Pratchett. I'll start Snuff tomorrow. I've really enjoyed the city watch series, Night Watch was outstanding.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 154 ✭✭Nexytus


    just fin ished Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World mark kurlansky


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,615 ✭✭✭✭mariaalice


    Ann Devine, Ready for Her Close-Up by Colm O'Regan

    Very easy read, enjoyed it a lot.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,026 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    I've just finished Thud by Terry Pratchett. I'll start Snuff tomorrow. I've really enjoyed the city watch series, Night Watch was outstanding.

    Night Watch is one of his best. Young Nobby and anything to do with the shades in that book cracked me up


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,803 ✭✭✭✭Loafing Oaf


    Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century by Geoffrey Parker

    Taking a while...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,862 ✭✭✭mikhail


    bnt wrote: »
    I’m currently halfway through This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay’s description of life as a junior doctor with the NHS in the UK. I know it’s not exactly as bad here in Ireland ... I just hope it’s not worse, since I have some fairly major surgery coming up here in a few months. :eek:
    After I finished it, I looked him up to see if I knew any of his work in his new role as a TV writer, and was surprised to learn that he's gay. He makes numerous references to his partner in the book, but only by the letter H. I wonder was that driven by a desire for privacy, or a fear of homophobia.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,740 ✭✭✭Foweva Awone


    mikhail wrote: »
    After I finished it, I looked him up to see if I knew any of his work in his new role as a TV writer, and was surprised to learn that he's gay. He makes numerous references to his partner in the book, but only by the letter H. I wonder was that driven by a desire for privacy, or a fear of homophobia.

    I'm pretty sure he used male pronouns when referring to him a couple of times in the book?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,302 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    I'm pretty sure he used male pronouns when referring to him a couple of times in the book?
    He did I think.

    It's no big deal in the book and rightly so


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,862 ✭✭✭mikhail


    I'm pretty sure he used male pronouns when referring to him a couple of times in the book?
    Oh, fair enough.
    gmisk wrote: »
    He did I think.

    It's no big deal in the book and rightly so
    Did I suggest otherwise?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,803 ✭✭✭✭Loafing Oaf


    bnt wrote: »
    I’m currently halfway through This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay’s description of life as a junior doctor with the NHS in the UK. I know it’s not exactly as bad here in Ireland ... I just hope it’s not worse, since I have some fairly major surgery coming up here in a few months. :eek:

    The doctor-turned-comedian/comedy writer seems to be a thing in the UK: Phil Hammond, Paul Sinha, Harry Hill. I wonder is a medical career a different sort of 'ghetto' that these guys are desperate to escape from...


  • Registered Users Posts: 728 ✭✭✭bertiebomber


    King Leopolds Ghost - the story of greed terror and hedonism in colonial Africa.I am trying to understand why so many africans want to leave their own continent & come to western Europe . Some shocking tales to be sure.

    I just finished Tim Butchers ' Blood River' about the Congo. So i am on a roll.. of african history./ They have been treated **** all through the last 2 centuries its no wonder they have such chips on their shoulders.


  • Registered Users Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    irelands own. class stuff :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,026 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    King Leopolds Ghost - the story of greed terror and hedonism in colonial Africa.I am trying to understand why so many africans want to leave their own continent & come to western Europe . Some shocking tales to be sure.

    Is that fiction or non. I really want to read more about Leopold as he was considered a brutal evil racist b****** even by his peers in his own time.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,025 ✭✭✭pavb2


    King Leopolds Ghost - the story of greed terror and hedonism in colonial Africa.I am trying to understand why so many africans want to leave their own continent & come to western Europe . Some shocking tales to be sure.

    .

    Yes I read it a few years ago and the atrocities don’t seem to get the same exposure as those carried out by other colonial regimes. The role of Roger Casement was also interesting.


  • Registered Users Posts: 728 ✭✭✭bertiebomber


    breezy1985 wrote: »
    Is that fiction or non. I really want to read more about Leopold as he was considered a brutal evil racist b****** even by his peers in his own time.
    its factual and gives insight to the character, ambition and the duplicity of Leopold . He was worse than hitler and its cloaked over to be honest a hidden secret.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,803 ✭✭✭✭Loafing Oaf


    He was worse than hitler

    ?s=fatherted&e=S02E09&i=S02E09-NacUZdDG&t1=YOU%20WOULDN%27T%20FIND%20HITLER%20ANNEXING%20VAST&t2=TRACTS%20OF%20JUNGLE%20AT%203%20IN%20THE%20MORNING


  • Posts: 8,647 [Deleted User]


    Finished McMafia. Got a bit samey by the end.

    About 40 pages into the truth about the harry quebert affair. Very good so far.


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