This week, I are mostly reading....

silvine

Charles Bukowski -Tales of Ordinary Madness.

He's nuts!

rowlandbrowner

Kurt Vonnegut, I read my first book by him last week, slaughterhouse 5, currently reading Breakfast of Champions with Cats Cradle next on the list, it’s been a while since I’ve read the same author for several books but I can’t get enough of him… it’s going to take something special to wean me off him, I hear Dan Rhodes is writing a new book… suppose there is enough Vonnegut to carry me through until then.

iFight

Just started a collection of Kafka short stories this morning.

stovelid

That they may Face the Rising Sun - John McGahern.

'Ol Jack Chance

Started Woody Guthries Bound for Glory

The_Minister

The Time Machine -H.G. Wells

Kold

Something wicked this way comes - Ray Bradbury

IvyTheTerrible

Last week on holidays I flew through The Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne, it was brilliant, it moved along at a cracking pace, I couldn't put it down, and was pretty original, considering how well known the story is.

Now I'm reading Redemption Falls by joseph O'Connor. It's a bit hard going but I like his style..I'll see as I go on if I like it or not!

Lizzykins

Redemption Falls is worth the work involved in reading it. Very original.

I'm reading Harlen Coben- "The Innocent" at the moment.

cuyahoga

I've just finished Things the Grandchildren should know by Mark Oliver Everett (eels frontman).

He writes in a very straightforward style, as if he's sitting there talking to you, and you feel like you get to know him a little bit through the book. He's had such a difficult life but ultimately his story is an inspiring one, and it's interesting to see how the different albums came about and how he had to constantly battle to get his music out, even after initial success.

Sad Professor

Currently making my way through Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It's good, not up to some of King's other work but an easy read so far. Just started the 4th book Wizard And Glass today.

SP

Scruff

Deer wrote: »

have now been reading for the past two days The Sparrow by Maria Dora Russell. I'm finding her writing very unique. Can't put my finger on it. The subject is also quite unique - a jesuit mission to outer space. Good book and worth a read.

Finished reading that book this week. Excellent and unique sci-fi book, though i found the ending kind of rushed.

From wikipedia:

A reviewer at the Library Journal felt that this book was mistakenly categorized as science fiction, and that it is really "a philosophical novel about the nature of good and evil and what happens when a man tries to do the right thing, for the right reasons and ends up causing incalculable harm".[3]

Lizzykins

owlwink wrote: »

1. A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston

Not only is this the best introductory text on the civil war, but it's also an enlightening read for anyone already versed in the subject. Preston's clear and precise text is a perfect backdrop for his marvelous selection of quotes and pithy style, a combination that has - quite rightly - received widespread praise. Aim for the revised edition, first published in 1996.
2. The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor

Beevor's concise and detailed account of the Spanish civil war presents the complex mix of events in a clear manner, using a smooth and readable narrative with an excellent appraisal of both the broader situations and the difficulties faced by individual soldiers. Add to that a fairly cheap price and you have a praiseworthy text! Get the expanded version, first published in 2001.
3. The Coming of the Spanish Civil War: Reform, Reaction and Revolution in the Seco

While many accounts of the civil war concentrate on bloodshed, this text outlines the preceding events. Newly republished in an updated form, Preston discusses the changes, decline and possible collapse of political and social institutions, including that of democracy. This book is certainly essential reading for anyone studying the civil war, but it is also fascinating in its own right.
4. Franco: a Biography by Paul Preston

A biography of Francisco Franco - the man who led certain forces to victory in Spain's civil war before ruling until his death in 1975 - this masterful book uses a combination of new sources, older texts and the author's own deep insights to create a compelling biography. Preston's style is, as ever, highly enjoyable.
5. The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas

If you want real depth - and you like reading - ignore the other books in this list and get Thomas' mammoth history of the Spanish Civil War. Numbering over a thousand pages, this weighty tome contains a reliable, accurate and impartial account that examines the full range of nuances with deft and style. Unfortunately, it will be simply too large for many readers.
6. A New International History of the Spanish Civil War by Michael Alpert

Instead of focusing on the conflict in Spain, this text examines the surrounding events, including the reactions - and (in)actions - of other countries. Alpert's book is a well-written and convincing piece of historiography which would augment most studies of the Civil War; it's also essential for anyone studying international politics in the twentieth century.
7. Comrades by Paul Preston

This is the fourth of Preston's books to appear in this list, and it's the most intriguing. In nine biographical 'portraits' (essays) the author examines nine key figures from the Spanish civil war, starting with those on the political right and moving over to the left. The approach is fascinating, the material excellent, the conclusions enlightening, and the book wholly recommended.
8. Spain's Civil War by Harry Browne

Part of Longman's 'Seminar Studies' series, this book offers a compact introduction to the Spanish Civil War, covering such topics as international aid, 'terror' tactics and the conflict's legacy. Browne has also included a subject bibliography and sixteen annotated documents for study and discussion.
9. The Spanish Civil War by Patricia Knight

If pick eight is still too large, try this very concise introduction by Patricia Knight; it only fills 128 pages. Despite that, the author enhances the basic discusses with comparisons between Spain and later fascist regimes in Europe, as well as providing a small amount of source material and bibliographic information.
10. The Spanish Tragedy by Raymond Carr

This text is probably the classic work on the Spanish civil war, and unlike other historical 'classics', the work is still very valid. Carr's style is good, his conclusions thought provoking and his academic rigour excellent. Although the title may suggest otherwise, this isn't an attack on the civil war in the same manner as some works on World War 1, but an incisive and important account.

Any help?????????????????????//

Gosh thanks for all of those recommendations! I'll pick one or two up. I hate to let a topic defeat me!

crotalus667

Junk by Melvin Burgess

I ecken flew threw it great read

Skittles!

I'm half way through The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It's sad but it's quite gripping. I've ever read anything so captivating before. I'm so intrugued with the story and I can't put it down. I just started it a few hours ago and I'm already on page 160.

IvyTheTerrible

Lizzykins wrote: »

Redemption Falls is worth the work involved in reading it. Very original.

I got through a fair bit of it this weekend, and it's great! You're right, it's worth sticking with it!

Chumpski

Just beginning The Stand by Stephan King.

I am on book 3 of the Dark Tower. I like it. I thought book 1 was excellent but book 2 wasn't as good. I'm debating whether I'll go on with the series now or not.

Redemption Falls is a great read as is Star of the Sea.

Thanks for the recommending The Sparrow. Sounds interesting, I'll give it a go soon.

monroe

Skittles! wrote: »

I'm half way through The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It's sad but it's quite gripping. I've ever read anything so captivating before. I'm so intrugued with the story and I can't put it down. I just started it a few hours ago and I'm already on page 160.

I really loved that book also, was a bit surprised by the ending, but I guess thats a good thing...and the film is being made now

Currently 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.... Loving it, can't believe I never came across it before..its a real epic...:)

stink_fist

Brave new world - Huxley
Body hunters - Sonia Shah

dsup

Ok, I am going to Africa for a couple of months and need some recommendations for books. I've read all the African travel stuff like Paul Theroux, or Joseph Conrad, so I'm wondering in your opinion which of this huge stack of fiction should I bring and read. I've narrowed it down considerably to Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Don Quixote, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, The Leopard by Lampedusa, A Complete Plays of Ibsen, and something or other by Tolstoy.

Whats your opinion, whats a good read, from this list or otherwise?

monroe

dsup wrote: »

Ok, I am going to Africa for a couple of months and need some recommendations for books. I've read all the African travel stuff like Paul Theroux, or Joseph Conrad, so I'm wondering in your opinion which of this huge stack of fiction should I bring and read. I've narrowed it down considerably to Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Don Quixote, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, The Leopard by Lampedusa, A Complete Plays of Ibsen, and something or other by Tolstoy.

Whats your opinion, whats a good read, from this list or otherwise?

With the African theme, have you read many of Maya Angelou's biogs?? Some of them cover her time in Africa, theyre some of the most interesting, addressing her position as an African American seeking to find a place in Africa.. just a thought.......:)

IvyTheTerrible

Chumpski wrote: »

Just beginning The Stand by Stephan King.

I am on book 3 of the Dark Tower. I like it. I thought book 1 was excellent but book 2 wasn't as good. I'm debating whether I'll go on with the series now or not.

Redemption Falls is a great read as is Star of the Sea.

Thanks for the recommending The Sparrow. Sounds interesting, I'll give it a go soon.

I love The Stand, particularly the first half! Scary stuff!

navin.r.johnson

Reading a great Murray Leinster short called 'Sidewise in Time'. It's about parallell universes with alternate historys overlapping into our own timeline. A Roman garrison slaughtering their way through Missouri, people eaten by dinosaurs, the Soviets own America, Vikings, Neanderthals, Indians. It has it all!

oxygen_old

monroe wrote: »

I really loved that book also, was a bit surprised by the ending, but I guess thats a good thing...and the film is being made now

Currently 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.... Loving it, can't believe I never came across it before..its a real epic...:)

did you get that she killed him? Earlier on in the book she said she killed people in her murder game with icicles, cause they melted. And he died from an icicle.

theCzar

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

Tar.Aldarion

Terry Pratchett - Interesting Times.

Delirium

Kristalnacht - Martin Gilbert

Following from the back of book:

Kristallnacht - the night of broken glass - saw the destruction in a single night of more than a thousand synagogues, the ransacking of tens of thousands of Jewish shops and homes, and more than 30,000 Jewish men rounded up and taken to concentration camps, a sinister forewarning of the Holocaust to follow. This utterly compelling account examines a night which, by setting the tone for the terrible war to follow, shaped the second half of the twentieth century and continues to haunt us seventy years later.

blackhead

Blindness by Jose Saramango, really good so far, bit like 1984?

Tar.Aldarion

Terry Pratchett - Going Postal

BurnsCarpenter

theCzar wrote: »

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

Re-reading that at the moment as well. Dwellers ftw.

Just finished Life After God by Douglas Coupland.