Assassin's Apprentice? Best fantasy series ever imo, well worth reading if you liked Kingkiller. Have you read Ready Player One? I read that just before I read The Martian, thought they were both equally good but I preferred RPO overall. For adventure books check out the Tales of the Ketty Jay, they're awesome.
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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This week I read The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor (superb writer) and also revisited Animal Farm.
Starting The Border Trilogy by McCarthy today. Can't wait, he's probably my favourite author.
Starting The Border Trilogy by McCarthy today. Can't wait, he's probably my favourite author.
Just got 'The kraken wakes' by John Wyndham yesterday. Old school sc-fi/dystopian future.
Amazing books. The Crossing is my personal favourite.
Anyone read karl Ove's books?
Agreed. That's the second one, right?
Yep. The first part with the wolf is perfect. Most people seem to prefer the other two in the trilogy.
Just (started and) finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Need to let it sink a little to form a proper opinion, but all in all it was a great read.
Beyond the literal story, I think it offered a take on some of the themes I struggle with on an almost daily basis, such as growing up and becoming a "proper adult," and it even skirted the whole meaning of life thing. Not necessarily a very cheerful take on those things, mind.
Currently scouring Goodreads for my next book to read. My previous two reads were Becoming Steve Jobs and Hatching Twitter, so I'm a bit eclectic in my taste, but I think I'm leaning towards another fantasy read. Or perhaps even a clever crime novel, if I can find one that looks decent.
Beyond the literal story, I think it offered a take on some of the themes I struggle with on an almost daily basis, such as growing up and becoming a "proper adult," and it even skirted the whole meaning of life thing. Not necessarily a very cheerful take on those things, mind.
Currently scouring Goodreads for my next book to read. My previous two reads were Becoming Steve Jobs and Hatching Twitter, so I'm a bit eclectic in my taste, but I think I'm leaning towards another fantasy read. Or perhaps even a clever crime novel, if I can find one that looks decent.
I'm on book three at the moment. First two are incredible, especially the second. Not for everyone though.
I didn't like it so much for some reason. I like the way his stories are framed, but the delivery seems to wander around and the potency gets lost. I did really like his collection of shorts "Fragile Things". The story about the seasons telling their stories was fantastic.
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I can certainly see how it isn't for everyone. Personally, I think the delivery really suited the setting, as in a grown up communicating the thought of his seven year old self. I felt the lack of character development for instance, perfectly relayed the limited reflections of a child.
I haven't read Fragile Things, in fact this was my first encounter with Gaiman, but I've heard a lot of good things about it so I'll make sure to check it out.
I did make my pick for the next read, and I'm currently halfway through The Martian. Read a lot of good things about it. I don't quite feel the tension I had expected from it, but it's certainly interesting, even if it becomes a bit too technical for my taste at times (which I suppose might be one of its strengths? Not really qualified to say either way).
I'm re-reading Thomas Harris' Hannibal at the moment, and finding it incredible that such a talented author could produce something so disappointingly poor. Amidst some interesting and finely-written passages, there's a great deal of sheer awfulness (not least the ludicrous conclusion) and black comedy so self-indulgent and obvious that the in-joke can barely be funny even to its author. Astonishing stuff from the man behind The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon; it's as if Harris became truly tired of his own creations.
Well, I finished The Martian on Saturday (side note: Vacations are the best for reading. I just plow through books!) and on the whole my impression of the book halfway through is still valid. A bit too technical for me, thought educational and fun to some extent, and it didn't really manage to create the kind of tension for me that I had expected. Gave it a three out of five on Goodreads. Two felt a bit too harsh.
E.L Doctorow passed away, aged 84. RIP.
I just finished The Goldfinch. I thought it was excellent, would recommend to anyone looking for something to read. Unputdownable really. I actually thought the last 1/4 of the book (approximately) was the weakest bit, and the very, very end, the last 10 pages or so, I wasnt that impressed with. I didnt think it fit well with the rest of the story, stylistically. It reminded me a bit of the end of an episode of Jerry Springer, where he sits down and does the whole, "what have we learned today?" bit. I would have liked something a bit more abrupt, or dramatic. It felt a bit anticlimactic. But that is just the last few pages. The last 1/4 generally was still very good, just not quite as good as the middle part of the book.
Just started reading War & Peace, so I guess Ill be reading that for the rest of 2015.
I read a lot, but I'm not a very fast reader. I think it took me a week of non-stop reading to finish that book, the Russian names didn't help much. But the reward was immense. It might be the greatest novel ever written.
Yeah, a lot of people say that, that's why Im taking it on. Itll be a slog, I dont read that often (Goldfinch took me a week but I read that faster than usual, a couple of long coach trips and some early nights as I was so engrossed), I reckon Ill be reading this for a long time but a lot of people have said, besides its length, it is very readable. So we'll see.
I bought a copy of the Goldfinch after flying through The Secret History but I just can't will myself to read a book about a child.
A nice piece on Conrad's elusive Heart of Darkness in the Guardian today:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/bo...literature-heart-of-darkness-by-joseph-conrad
http://www.theguardian.com/books/bo...literature-heart-of-darkness-by-joseph-conrad
Nice.
Finished Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut last week and just finished All The Pretty Horses by McCarthy. I'm can't begin to explain how much I adore McCarthy's writing.
You're in for a treat then as I expect you'll continue with the trilogy. Be sure to also save room for "Blood Meridian", "Outer Dark", and "Child of God". Probably his darkest works.
Blood Meridian is probably my favourite novel of all time. Child of God was pretty damn good too.
Suttree is my favourite McCarthy novel and one of my favourite overall. Well worth a read if you fancy a change from westerns but enjoy his writing style.
I've started reading the Clancy Jack Ryan series from the beginning in chronological order. I have read different books prior but they're making make much more sense in order. Quite like them but I don't like that I'm only managing a chapter a night before going to sleep. I'll be able to read more when I go on Holiday next month.
How many of these books have you read? 44/100. Might have to give the others a go!
http://www.listchallenges.com/kaunismina-bbc-6-books-challenge
http://www.listchallenges.com/kaunismina-bbc-6-books-challenge
55/100.
20/100. About 10 of them are on my bookshelf waiting to be read, but that's still a really poor number. :/
Only nine of them. Doh.
It's a pretty weird list, though. I've read pretty much all of the classics (a lot for college, though I set myself a goal years ago to read the most significant works from Homer to Joyce) but am quite poor on the modern classics.
Also, they have the Complete Works of Shakespeare and also include Hamlet, which makes no sense.
Also, they have the Complete Works of Shakespeare and also include Hamlet, which makes no sense.
For anyone that enjoyed Shantaram a few years back, Gregory David Roberts new book is out in Oct.
I really enjoyed his first so will be giving this a go too.
I really enjoyed his first so will be giving this a go too.
I just got an epub of this. I have a week off from Saturday so might give it a go.
Anyone recommend me some good non-fiction books? Just finished Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell, fantastic read if anyone is interested!
What kind of stuff you into? History, politics, travel, etc.?
Pretty much anything if it's interesting to be honest. I do enjoy books about human endurance, things like Shackleton, into thin air, Endurance that kind of thing though.
One I'd recommend is Arabian Sands by Wilfrid Thesiger, his account of crossing the Empty Quarter of the Arabian desert back in the 40s. Amazing guy. Rory Stewart's The Places In Between is in a similar vein, an account of him walking across the middle of Afghanistan in the winter of 2001/02. Krakauer's Into the Wild is great as well, there's a good bit more to it than the movie.
That's exactly the kind of books, I'll get onto these, thanks
See here, mate:
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-book-thread.155497/page-72#post-16896395
An absolutely outstanding book.
Just finished reading this
Will be reading this one now. Dunces is really funny, the characters, the prose style. Really worth a read for lovers of satire/comedy
Will be reading this one now. Dunces is really funny, the characters, the prose style. Really worth a read for lovers of satire/comedy
Reading An Evil Mind by Chris Carter. It's bloody awful.
Cheers Steve, gonna get this as well.