What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

ClydeTallyBump wrote: »

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.

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

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?

TheRepentent wrote: »

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.

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

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

completedit wrote: »

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

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.

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.

The Grand Chessboard by David Talbot.

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

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.