Books The BOOK thread

Jippy said:
Going from Rich Osmond's The Thursday Murder Club -readable, funny here and there, but sentimal- to JM Coetzee's Waiting For The Barbarians has been quite a change of tone.
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Coming back to this, would strongly recommend. It's up there with Life and Times of Michael K.

Finally read A Streetcar Named Desire yesterday. Dark, gritty and brilliantly written, with really sharp dialogue and I like the moral ambiguity running through it.
 
Anybody read any books on Colditz POW camp during WW2?
 
The Horse by Willy Vlautin.

Absolutely loved it. Every chapter really tugged at my heartstrings. Highly recommend.
 
Finished Piranesi by Susanna Clarke yesterday. Really enjoyed it!

The way the 'house' is described is very vivid and really makes you feel like you're in that world each time you pick the book up. I really enjoyed the journal entry chapter style to it as well and it helped make the main character Piranesi very likable and although naive it's in an endearing way and obviously makes sense due to the circumstances he finds himself in.

I always enjoy books that are a little bit different and 'out there'. Especially when you're unraveling the story as you go.
 
Reading more than I ever have recently. Just finished The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre. An amazing biography of Russian KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky who was secretly spying for Britain for years and eventually needed exfiltrating from Russia. Such an interesting read and I found myself taking a second now and then to remind myself that this was not fiction. Crazy story.
 
The Devils Delusion: Atheism and it’s scientific pretensions by David Berlinski.

Picked this up almost by accident and will now read some more David Berlinski. Really good, thoughtful and pretty witty at times, take on the dance between theism and science driven atheism. So much food for thought and interesting takes, even views I struggled with were considered and really well put forward.

Will pick up another of his books.
 
I'm one chapter into Drood, by Dan Simmons, if anyone wants to start a book club with me.

On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens -- at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world -- hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?

Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, Drood is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.

https://a.co/d/5FmaD2U
 
Is Audible any good?? Really like the idea of listening to audio books when commuting or walking.

£7.99 a month for subscription is one thing but the prices to then download the audiobooks seems really expensive.
 
Heardy said:
Is Audible any good?? Really like the idea of listening to audio books when commuting or walking.

£7.99 a month for subscription is one thing but the prices to then download the audiobooks seems really expensive.
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You could try downloading stuff free off BBC Sounds to see if you take to listening. Also some local authority libraries do a selection of free audiobooks via Borrowbox, that's luck of the draw where you live. Handy way to get to sleep as well.
 
Heardy said:
Is Audible any good?? Really like the idea of listening to audio books when commuting or walking.

£7.99 a month for subscription is one thing but the prices to then download the audiobooks seems really expensive.
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You do did 1 credit a month and most books will cost 20+ so if you listen to at least one a month it's cheaper than buying individually. You can also buy credits for cheaper than buying an individual book and they often have lesser knowns for free so if you're using it a lot I'd say it's worth it if you don't have something like a local library where you can listen for free. Not sure if it works in the UK but check out Libby first
 
About to start Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic.
roadside-picnic-2.jpg
 
Sweating my arse off in Rhodes but using the opportunity to reread (for the first time surprisingly) two of my all-time faves: Suttree and The Savage Detectives :p
 
EverReddy said:
HAven't looked through this thread to see if it's been previously recommended but The Pilgrim is the best thriller I've read for a long time. Brilliantly plotted, bio-terrorist page turner.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Possibly the best thriller I've ever read. Can't put this thing down :lol:
 
Mihai said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Possibly the best thriller I've ever read. Can't put this thing down :lol:
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:+1: It's "I am Pilgrim" of course but you know that. Cracking book, eh? I believe he's published a second book this year, 10 years after Pilgrim. "The Year of the Locust". I've just bought it and am taking it on hols next week.
 
EverReddy said:
:+1: It's "I am Pilgrim" of course but you know that. Cracking book, eh? I believe he's published a second book this year, 10 years after Pilgrim. "The Year of the Locust". I've just bought it and am taking it on hols next week.
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Oh, nice. Let me know what you think about that.
 
Paul Murray - The Bee Sting

It piqued my interest in the airport bookshop. Needed something to read while on holidays. Was really surprised how good it was. It’s at times hilarious, at times tragic. I did wonder if he would stick the ending but I was genuinely left floored by the time I finished it.

10/10
 
Volumiza said:
The Power of now by Eckhart Tolle.

I think this book has waited to present itself to me at just the right time. Read it. Started it again straight away and enjoyed it more so the second time round.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who suffers with racing thoughts and unhelpful thought patterns.
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I just started this today. A friend was speaking very highly of the book and Tolle's 'teachings' so I thought I'd give it a go. I wouldn't consider myself depressed or anxious thankfully, but I have noticed recently that I seem quite fidgety and just unable to sit there and 'be' - I feel like I need constant stimulation.

Maybe this isn't the exact right book for that, but it can't hurt I guess. I just hope I'm not too cyclical - while reading the preface, I couldn't stop picturing the cult leader in The Simpsons cycling the supposed spaceship away with bags of money hanging from it.
 
weetee said:
How was it?
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Still reading it. Very enjoyable and quite a comfortable read too. Tonally different to Andrei's film Stalker though.
Tarkovsky's film is far more metaphorical , poetic, mysterious and grim. This is equally mysterious but with more fantastical elements and the characters are more dramatic and charismatic.

I could easily imagine this as a science fiction TV show.
 
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FrankDrebin said:
Still reading it. Very enjoyable and quite a comfortable read too. Tonally different to Andrei's film Stalker though.
Tarkovsky's film is far more metaphorical , mysterious and grim. This is equally mysterious but with more fantastical elements and the characters are more dramatic and charismatic.

I could easily imagine this as a science fiction TV show.
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Wait, is Stalker based on this book? Alright then, insta-buying this.
 
Finished the Three Body trilogy last night. So much shit to get your head around but I'm pretty sure I got the majority of it. Really enjoyable reads too, despite that. It's insane that one man came up with all of it.
 
Any suggestions for similar "Indiana Jones" (ish) styles if I really really like Amazonia by James Rollins? One of my favourite science/adventure fiction that doesn't get too heavy.
 
jeepers said:
Any suggestions for similar "Indiana Jones" (ish) styles if I really really like Amazonia by James Rollins? One of my favourite science/adventure fiction that doesn't get too heavy.
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Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels might scratch the itch.
 
Autocracy Inc. by Anne Applebaum.

Really lacked nuance. Painted all of America's adversaries as near-cartoonishly stereotypical baddies.

I pulled the plug 119 pages in, the book is 176 pages long.

Wouldn't recommend.
 
I am rereading A storm of Swords and also, Truman by David McCullough. It won a deserved Pulitzer.
 
Have been rereading the Reacher books by Lee Child and when I'd finished the last one I thought I'd look for something similar since I like the genre. When I said similar I didn't realize I would find something virtually identical. The John Puller series by David Baldacci is a total ripoff. Puller is an army MP, drinks lots of coffee, goes by his surname only, is about 6'5" and is somewhat of a loner. The only real difference is that Puller is still in the army and Reacher is not (although Child has written a few books about Reacher when he was still in the military). I'm amazed Child didn't sue.

Having said all that for anybody who does like the Reacher novels, Baldacci's books are pretty good.
 
Finished Maurice by EM Forster, a gay novel written in the early 1900s. I found it started a bit slow but really picked up and I read the second half in basically one sitting. A nice short read, would recommend.
 
charlton66 said:
Have been rereading the Reacher books by Lee Child and when I'd finished the last one I thought I'd look for something similar since I like the genre. When I said similar I didn't realize I would find something virtually identical. The John Puller series by David Baldacci is a total ripoff. Puller is an army MP, drinks lots of coffee, goes by his surname only, is about 6'5" and is somewhat of a loner. The only real difference is that Puller is still in the army and Reacher is not (although Child has written a few books about Reacher when he was still in the military). I'm amazed Child didn't sue.

Having said all that for anybody who does like the Reacher novels, Baldacci's books are pretty good.
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Have you read any Karin Slaughter books? Im sure she did a cross over with lee childs Reacher books.

Her Grant County series and then the Will Trent series are really good - shes also done some stand alones.
 
I recently finished the 3 Body trilogy and also The Redemption of Time by Baoshu. I really enjoyed the trilogy - it's a pretty epic tale - and I suppose the Baoshu book filled in some of the blanks, but I've since discovered that Liu wasn't overly keen on it.

Also read The Dirtiest Race in History, about the Ben Johnson vs Carl Lewis 100m final in the Seoul Olympics. It was good to get some insight into what was going on behind the scenes. Johnson cheated, admits he cheated but claims PEDs didn't help him become faster, they only helped with training and recovery. Lewis denied taking PEDs, despite tests showing traces of three banned stimulants in his tests before the Seoul Olympics.

I remember disliking Lewis as a kid - he was so full of himself and portrayed himself as the only clean sprinter - and being delighted when Johnson annihilated him in that final, only to be gutted a few days later when the news broke. The book doesn't really change my mind. Lewis doesn't fool me. He's as dirty as everyone else.

Of Mice and Men. Obviously a literary classic but I hadn't read it before. Set during the Great Depression era of American history, George and Lennie are itinerant workers trying to scratch together enough money to buy a little plot of land, plant crops, raise animals and live off the land. They are employed as ranch hands when the story begins, and we quickly learn that George is the brains of the operation. Lennie is a big brute of a man who has some form of learning difficulties. He is obsessed with petting rabbits because of the softness of their fur.

We get to know the other characters who live and work on the ranch, and hints are dropped as to the real reason George and Lennie don't seem to stay in one place very long. I don't want to spoil it, even though it was published almost 90 years ago. But there is a reason it is such a highly regarded book.

It's a very short book, by the way, easily read over a weekend.
 
I’m reading A Flag For Sunrise by Robert Stone. Early days, but reminds me of Nostromo.
 
Some recent reads.

Anna Burns, Milkman, the structure of the book is interesting, with a fairly minimalist plot, but through the protagonist's breathless streams of consciousness she evokes a very vivid picture of the sectarian hatred gripping 1970s Belfast and the claustrophobic life within these communities. A brilliant read, though getting into the rhythm of its Krasznahorkai-esque sentences and paragraphs takes a few pages to get into.

Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train, she's brilliant at plotting and the book rattles along at a decent pace, building genuine suspense. I like how Highsmith infuses her work with a moral ambiguity, so you're often kinda rooting for the protagonist, despite their heinous actions, similar to The Talented Mr Ripley. A couple of major decisions by said protagonist did baffle though.

Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, his writing is so sharp and funny at times with it. Always such dark stories, exploring human frailties and the misery stemming from them, but an excellent read with an interesting minor twist at the end.
 
The Surgeon of Crowthorne

Excellent little book. Only 200 pages long, so easy to get through. The Oxford English Dictionary was the result of thousands of volunteers sending in definitions of words, along with their first known usage in literature. One of the most prolific contributors was William Minor, a surgeon who hailed from America. James Murray, the editor of the OED, invites Minor to various shindigs to celebrate the release of each new volume, but he never shows, despite only living an hour away by train. Curious to meet Minor and thank him in person, he travels to Crowthorne and discovers that the doctor is an inmate of the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, having murdered a man 20 years earlier.

The two become firm friends, bonded by their shared love of literature and language, and the book does a great job of hopping back and forth between their life stories and the travails that led them to cross paths in the first place.

Highly recommended.
 
Badunk said:
The Surgeon of Crowthorne

Excellent little book. Only 200 pages long, so easy to get through. The Oxford English Dictionary was the result of thousands of volunteers sending in definitions of words, along with their first known usage in literature. One of the most prolific contributors was William Minor, a surgeon who hailed from America. James Murray, the editor of the OED, invites Minor to various shindigs to celebrate the release of each new volume, but he never shows, despite only living an hour away by train. Curious to meet Minor and thank him in person, he travels to Crowthorne and discovers that the doctor is an inmate of the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, having murdered a man 20 years earlier.

The two become firm friends, bonded by their shared love of literature and language, and the book does a great job of hopping back and forth between their life stories and the travails that led them to cross paths in the first place.

Highly recommended.
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That sounds interesting- is it meant to be a legit history or dramatised?
 
Badunk said:
Also read The Dirtiest Race in History, about the Ben Johnson vs Carl Lewis 100m final in the Seoul Olympics. It was good to get some insight into what was going on behind the scenes. Johnson cheated, admits he cheated but claims PEDs didn't help him become faster, they only helped with training and recovery. Lewis denied taking PEDs, despite tests showing traces of three banned stimulants in his tests before the Seoul Olympics.

I remember disliking Lewis as a kid - he was so full of himself and portrayed himself as the only clean sprinter - and being delighted when Johnson annihilated him in that final, only to be gutted a few days later when the news broke. The book doesn't really change my mind. Lewis doesn't fool me. He's as dirty as everyone else.
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The bold is a giggle. He’s literally describing the purpose of PEDs. There aren’t really any reliable ‘Run faster drugs’ at that distance. Drugs are just used to ensure you can maintain your training volume and load… which makes you faster.

Book sounds good though. Will grab it and read it.
 
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