This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

eire4 · 29-05-2021 6:13pm

Finished Lars Brownworth's Lost To The West. A concise but very good look at the 1000 odd years that the Eastern Roman Empire lasted after the Western half collapsed in the 5th century CE. Makes some very good points about how important the Byzantine Empire as the Eastern Half of the Roman Empire became know was to the development of Europe in later centuries and to also how some of the mistrusts between east and west in Europe can be traced back to the later centuries of the Byzantine Empire.

Wyldwood · 31-05-2021 6:52pm

Snow by John Banville. I was very disappointed in this offering by the much-lauded Banville. It plods along at a slow pace, there's a lot of sloshing about in the freezing cold in a borrowed coat and gloves. The murder of the priest was obviously heading down a predictable route. DI Strafford imagining himself in love with all the female characters who, in turn, all seem to throw themselves at him, is totally out of sync with the rest of the novel. I felt the ending was unsatisfactory too.

Mr.Nice Guy · 01-06-2021 9:56pm

I read The Institute by Stephen King. Without giving too much away, it's about a facility for children with special abilities.

I found it a fun read. I found myself rooting for the main character Luke and his friends. I could see this working well as a TV series.

The White Feather · 01-06-2021 10:12pm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I read The Institute by Stephen King. Without giving too much away, it's about a facility for children with special abilities.

I found it a fun read. I found myself rooting for the main character Luke and his friends. I could see this working well as a TV series.

I loved that book too. It is already getting a limited tv series made about it! Shots for Dots!!!

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/10/stephen-king-the-institute-tv-series/

Xofpod · 02-06-2021 9:18am

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I read The Institute by Stephen King. Without giving too much away, it's about a facility for children with special abilities.

I found it a fun read. I found myself rooting for the main character Luke and his friends. I could see this working well as a TV series.

Liked it too. I thought it was a real return to 80s Stephen King - reminded me a lot of Firestarter.

HalloweenJack · 03-06-2021 12:14pm

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. 600-odd pages in, just under 500 to go.

It's interesting and, for the most part, doesn't delve too much into preaching, though I find some of the time dedicated to backstories excessive and they get in the way of properly getting into the story.

03-06-2021 12:26pm

HalloweenJack wrote: »

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. 600-odd pages in, just under 500 to go.

It's interesting and, for the most part, doesn't delve too much into preaching, though I find some of the time dedicated to backstories excessive and they get in the way of properly getting into the story.

Read it when I was a student and really enjoyed it. Of course back then I had 12 hours of lectures a week and made about 6 so time wasn't such an issue...

eire4 · 05-06-2021 12:11am

Finished book 12 of Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series Spellbound. The first book which brings together all the different supernatural characters introduced earlier and another fun read.

07-06-2021 8:31am

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I read The Institute by Stephen King. Without giving too much away, it's about a facility for children with special abilities.

I found it a fun read. I found myself rooting for the main character Luke and his friends. I could see this working well as a TV series.

Enjoyed this recently too

RandomViewer · 07-06-2021 1:38pm

Dirty South by John Connolly, okay so far

09-06-2021 6:20am

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. The first time I’ve used two bookmarks on the same book. Enjoying it very much.

Xofpod · 09-06-2021 9:35am

Deleted User wrote: »

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. The first time I’ve used two bookmarks on the same book. Enjoying it very much.

Second one for appendices?

miamee · 09-06-2021 11:15am

Reading The Liar by Steven Cavanagh. I've seen a few mixed reports for his booksl this is the first one I ahve read and enjoying it so far. I'm only 4 chapters in though

(Yes I know it's part of a series and this is not the first one but I'll go back and read others if I enjoy this one)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 09-06-2021 1:51pm

I finished Pachinko last night, and it's just ok. It's over 500 pages but very easy to get thorough, however the pacing is weird, like it spends 100 pages at the start getting to the point that's already set up by the blurb, but then near the end it's just skipping 6, 7, 8 years at a time between chapters, and characters that were previously important have just died in the meantime. There is a large chunk in the middle though that's really great and compelling and heartbreaking and all the good things you want from a book, but overall I think it was just good, not great.

09-06-2021 2:44pm

Xofpod wrote: »

Second one for appendices?

Yes, for the “commentary”. I’ve not read a book structured anything like Pale Fire before. Some book lovers may say it’s “intriguing”. For once, it is!

eire4 · 10-06-2021 7:16pm

Finished Thirteen which is the 13th and final book in Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld supernatural series. The last book carries on right from where book 12 ended and is a good conclusion to the series with all the various different supernatural characters involved in the final book.

thefasteriwalk · 13-06-2021 10:18am

Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Series arrived yesterday. I started the first book last night and she is after immediately gripping me by the throat. I really hope it continues this well.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 13-06-2021 1:25pm

thefasteriwalk wrote: »

Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Series arrived yesterday. I started the first book last night and she is after immediately gripping me by the throat. I really hope it continues this well.

I read all 4 of them a few years back and I think the first 2 are really great but I struggled through the 3rd one, and I can't even remember the 4th one. The TV adaptation of it is a decent watch too, when you're finished.

Wyldwood · 14-06-2021 8:48pm

I bought Victoria Hislop's new book, One August Night, which was promoted as a follow-up to The Island. I loved the Island when I read it many years ago and decided to reread it before starting One August Night.

The new book is readable but not to the same extent as The Island which remains one of my favourite all-time reads. It follows the story of Maria, Manolis and Andreas but a lot of it is repetition of material covered in The Island and there is no real plot. Overall a bit disappointing.

PMBC · 18-06-2021 4:26pm

Finished John Banvile's 'Snow' early this week. A little disappointed in the story-line but terrific writing.
In a different vein almost finished Monday's purchase of Heylin's well reviewed 'Double Life of Bob Dylan' revealing insights into his song writing, recording and other side/s.

19-06-2021 2:52am

Wyldwood wrote: »

I bought Victoria Hislop's new book, One August Night, which was promoted as a follow-up to The Island. I loved the Island when I read it many years ago and decided to reread it before starting One August Night.

The new book is readable but not to the same extent as The Island which remains one of my favourite all-time reads. It follows the story of Maria, Manolis and Andreas but a lot of it is repetition of material covered in The Island and there is no real plot. Overall a bit disappointing.

Agree

eire4 · 20-06-2021 6:35pm

Finished Susan Wright's Slave Trade a sci-fi action adventure which I enjoyed.

echo beach · 22-06-2021 10:57pm

Wyldwood wrote: »

I bought Victoria Hislop's new book, One August Night, which was promoted as a follow-up to The Island. I loved the Island when I read it many years ago and decided to reread it before starting One August Night.

The new book is readable but not to the same extent as The Island which remains one of my favourite all-time reads. It follows the story of Maria, Manolis and Andreas but a lot of it is repetition of material covered in The Island and there is no real plot. Overall a bit disappointing.

I loved all her books until this one. It felt as if it was written to meet a deadline with no clear idea of where it was going. The disappointing part was that it could have been very good.

New Home · 24-06-2021 10:32pm

I can't find a generic chat thread, hope it's ok to post this here.

Most definitely suitable for work, despite the web address. Feast your eyes on this: https://bookshelfporn.com/

My idea of heaven (well, one of them).

Busi_Girl08 · 24-06-2021 10:41pm

Finished Pachinko. Like another poster above mentioned it was good, maybe a bit long and disjointed with the time jumps throughout. I did like the Chronicle of japanese v korean relations over the years.

Onto Song of Achilles next!

KJ · 26-06-2021 12:41pm

Emma Dabiri - Don't Touch My Hair

Wyldwood · 27-06-2021 8:36pm

Stacey Halls' Mrs England. I loved her previous two books and this one is a beautifully written historical piece. It's a slow burner and there's no great mystery or suspense but there are a couple of plot twists. Worth a read but not as good as the first two.

Next up Anna McPartlin's Waiting for the Miracle

HalloweenJack · 28-06-2021 5:07pm

Currently making my way through Milkman.

I've found it tough-going at times. The way it's written can be a bit head-wrecking. I find it a bit repetitive and long-winded. If I wasn't Irish, it'd be a nightmare to wrap my head around the political stuff with the way she describes it. It took me a while to get into it, though I am properly getting into it now.

Xofpod · 29-06-2021 9:47am

reading The Mobster's Lament, Ray Celestin - third in his planned quartet of books about the mob and jazz in America in the 20th century. Not spectacular but I enjoy them.

eire4 · 30-06-2021 1:22am

Finished Catherine Ryan Howard's debut novel Distress Signal's. Really enjoyed it and thought she did a great job of building the story and throwing in some good twists in this crime thriller.

Xofpod · 30-06-2021 9:07am

eire4 wrote: »

Finished Catherine Ryan Howard's debut novel Distress Signal's. Really enjoyed it and thought she did a great job of building the story and throwing in some good twists in this crime thriller.

I'm definitely going to pick this up considering how much I (unexpectedly) enjoyed the The Nothing Man. I also remember reading a long article a few years ago about the spectacular amount of shady stuff that happens on cruise ships - unresolved and underinvestigated murders, missing persons, etc. - so the premise is also very interesting.

eire4 · 01-07-2021 3:58am

Xofpod wrote: »

I'm definitely going to pick this up considering how much I (unexpectedly) enjoyed the The Nothing Man. I also remember reading a long article a few years ago about the spectacular amount of shady stuff that happens on cruise ships - unresolved and underinvestigated murders, missing persons, etc. - so the premise is also very interesting.

I would for sure recommend it. I had never read a book with that whole cruise ship shady stuff goes on unpunished premise and really liked the book. Will definitely be buying more of her books in future.

01-07-2021 7:56am

eire4 wrote: »

Finished Catherine Ryan Howard's debut novel Distress Signal's. Really enjoyed it and thought she did a great job of building the story and throwing in some good twists in this crime thriller.

I enjoyed it too

branie2 · 01-07-2021 11:26pm

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

02-07-2021 1:13am

Started the Count of Monte Christo. I sometimes find it hard to begin a book of that size, I have to tell myself to relax and just enjoy the long period of time it will take - it's stupid worrying about other books I need to read, just enjoy the journey however long it takes. And it's been a great journey so far, a really easy read actually considering it's translated (maybe that's because of how it has been translated?)

eire4 · 02-07-2021 2:39am

Deleted User wrote: »

Started the Count of Monte Christo. I sometimes find it hard to begin a book of that size, I have to tell myself to relax and just enjoy the long period of time it will take - it's stupid worrying about other books I need to read, just enjoy the journey however long it takes. And it's been a great journey so far, a really easy read actually considering it's translated (maybe that's because of how it has been translated?)

Love that book. A long read but well worth the effort. Enjoy.

Slightly Kwackers · 02-07-2021 3:31am

callmescratch wrote: »

you lucky thing

Just read The Question of Bruno by Aleksandar Hemon. His writing is just stunning.

I'm reading Zoo Station by David Downing now

Have you read any more of the Station books?

I read Zoo station and wasn't sure what order to read further novels in. I assume as historical fiction, there should be a sequence, but wasn't sure what the next one should be.

SK

megaten · 02-07-2021 9:59am

Count of Monte Cristo was a great starting point for getting into reading older novels. Escpially if you pick up the penguin version that has a more modern translation.

Daisy78 · 04-07-2021 11:12am

Holding by Graham Norton. In holiday mode this week so wanted something a bit lighter than usual. It was between this one and Home Stretch, which I’m sure il get to at some stage.

wreade1872 · 07-07-2021 12:31am

The Doctor of Souls by W.Kobold Knight (1927) free pdf made available by the Merril Collection. A very interesting manipulation of the Yellow Peril genre.

and Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (1926) an odd early fantasy that i'm finding quite unpleasent.

wreade1872 · 18-07-2021 10:39pm

Now reading the non-fiction book of the expedition Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl, really good stuff. And just started By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart which is incredibly overwrought.

Xofpod · 23-07-2021 11:09am

Just started reading the Slough House spy series by Mick Herron. They've been on my radar for a while but finally got around to the first, Slow Horses. Absolutely loved it, but what's even better is that feeling that you've got a whole series of them ahead of you, apparently of consistent if not increasing quality. See you all in 2022....

eternalblame · 23-07-2021 5:30pm

'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy. Cant believe I have never got round to reading this before, its so good.

eire4 · 31-07-2021 3:36am

Finished book 2 in Susan Wright's Sci-fi trilogy Slaves Masters. A fun action adventure read.

wreade1872 · 01-08-2021 3:13pm

Figures of Earth, another of James Branch Cabells Biography of Manuel sequence from the 1920's which are all worth reading so far. Also one of the later H.G.Wells books Star-Begotten, from 1937. Seems to be about people who start to think they're loved ones etc. are actually aliens :) .

eire4 · 01-08-2021 8:34pm

Finished Lars Brownworth's In Distant Lands which is an account of the Crusades from the first one in the late 10th century through the last one in the 13th century. Really enjoyed the book.

miamee · 09-08-2021 11:14am

My reading time/sttention span has gone way down in recent times but eveni at that, I have been reading A Gentleman in Moscow since 3rd July! And I am still only 72% of the way through. Is it worth sticking with? I feel like if I give up now I am not going to miss much but I ahve read this much so...

I might just set it aside and start something new for now. I'm enjoying it but it's not pulling me in to read whenever I have a few spare minutes like other books would.