This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

fruvai wrote: »

Definitely - it's a brilliant book

Right, I'll persevere. I will come find you if it's not brilliant. :eek:

fruvai

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Right, I'll persevere. I will come find you if it's not brilliant. :eek:

Let me rephrase that - I thought it was a brilliant book

chanelfreak

I've an awful habit of reading a few books at the same time, so I just finished The Regulators (Stephen King) because I wanted a dose of schlocky horror, I'm re-reading Rivals (Jilly Cooper) for about the millionth time, I'm also in the middle of The Reality Dysfunction (€1 special on Amazon kindle) and my night-time read is The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham.

That list is keeping all my personalities happy for the moment

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished The Iron King by Maurice Druon which is part of a seven-book series called The Accursed Kings. Goerge R.R. Martin is a big fan and wrote the foreword on the version I read.

The bulk of the book concerned plots for power occurring in the background. There wasn't a great deal of action but perhaps that is still to come. I intend to read the next one in the series.

Belle E. Flops

I'm rereading The Order of the Phoenix at the moment. I'm loving reading a HP every few books.
Ive never really understood the appeal of audiobooks but I decided to try one because Audible have some trial offer thing so I downloaded Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles. I've found it quite nice listening to him talking when I go for a walk. I love his voice so he could read the phone book and I'd be happy out. It just makes a nice change. I do zone out every so often getting lost in my own thoughts but it's nice to listen to something other than music.

eire4

Finished a re read of 2 books recently. Amongst Women by John McGahern and on a totally different tack The Revolt of Silken Thomas by Laurence McCorristine.

Fathom

Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence.

Junior D

About to start Any Human Heart by William Boyd

I've heard good reviews and again moving out of my comfort zone in regards what I usually read, so this should be interesting. I'll either love it or hate it!

Fathom

Still reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom. T.E. Lawrence popular as Lawrence of Arabia. Authored book. Eye opener. Ethnographic study of Arabia. Tribal context. WWI times. Lost 1st manuscript on train. Started over. From scratch. Driven personality. In more ways than one.

Mr.Nice Guy

I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams as I'd heard it was a classic and one of the funniest books out there. Perhaps it's that it's just not my type of humour, or maybe it's just that comedy has adopted many of these elements in the years since it was first published, but I didn't really get the hype.

I did like it. I found it amusing. But it didn't have me laughing.

I did nevertheless whiz through it and I found it an easy read. And despite being a bit underwhelmed by it, I would read the others in the series if I came across them. I guess I just expected better as it had been built up to me so much.

Aenaes

Death Comes To Pemberley by P. D. James.

Wyldwood

Read An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. Based on the story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French soldier, who was accused of spying for the Germans.
It's an intriguing story which highlights the corruption and abuse of power. Really enjoyed it despite it's rather horrifying subject matter.

heathledgerlove

Us by David Nicholls. It's okay so far although a bit "luvvie" as Stephen Fry would say, with the focus on achingly hip Londoners and their obsessions with art and slightly dippy drugs and travelling to France to eat baguettes and lounge on benches. Pure affectation of course, as visited before by Nicholls in the character of the twattish Dexter in the hugely popular One Day.
Starter for Ten remains my favourite of his books for sheer hilarity and likeability factor (and, thanks to the movie, welcome evocations of James McAvoy :P ), with, perhaps surprisingly, The Understudy a close second. Always readable of course, I'll see whether Us reveals itself to be a little deeper and more generous to its reader beyond catchy prose and the extremely familiar male mid-life crisis theme littered with pop (and artistic) culture references.

ivytwine

Reading Jamaica Inn at long last. Loving it!

I gave up on the finkler question literally because I have no idea where I put the flipping book. I'll go back to it when I find it :pac:

Swiper the fox

heathledgerlove wrote: »

Us by David Nicholls. It's okay so far although a bit "luvvie" as Stephen Fry would say, with the focus on achingly hip Londoners and their obsessions with art and slightly dippy drugs and travelling to France to eat baguettes and lounge on benches. Pure affectation of course, as visited before by Nicholls in the character of the twattish Dexter in the hugely popular One Day.
Starter for Ten remains my favourite of his books for sheer hilarity and likeability factor (and, thanks to the movie, welcome evocations of James McAvoy :P ), with, perhaps surprisingly, The Understudy a close second. Always readable of course, I'll see whether Us reveals itself to be a little deeper and more generous to its reader beyond catchy prose and the extremely familiar male mid-life crisis theme littered with pop (and artistic) culture references.

I gave up on us but did enjoy one day. Nice work, so much better than just posting a book title.

eire4

Finished a re read of John McGahern's The Collected Stories a very enjoyable compilation of some of his short stories.

Fathom

Martin Eden by Jack London

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. It's quite a short book with just over 100 pages.

Overall, it was okay. Not sure I'd call it a classic of literature the way some describe it, but it's fine for a weekend read.

Callan57

Finished Wally Lamb's We Are Water - a big read addressing major themes handled adroitly by a superb author.

Next is what I expect will be a quick read Becoming Moon by Craig A. Hart

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I finished The Sound and the Fury a few days ago. It's alright, I mean.... when you wade through the first two chapters and get a vague idea of what's actually going on. I found it quite annoying because there's potentially a really great story in there but why he had to go an write it in such a way I do not know. I had to go and look up the Cliffs Notes on it to make sure I actually did get what was going on and although I got most if it there were still a few bits that I missed. I might go back and read the first section again now I know what it was about.

I'm now reading Invictus by John Carlin. Originally called Playing the Enemy I guess it's been renamed after they made that film of it with Matt Damon. It's basically the history of the Rugby World Cup in South Africa in 1995 and how Nelson Mandela used it to unite the nation post apartheid. I'm only a few chapters in but already I'm amazed at how easy it was for him to manipulate his jailers and members of the apartheid government just by using his charm. They were either extremely dumb or, by that point, not really very committed to their regime. I never realised either just how hated the Springboks were by the black South Africans. I had figured they maybe didn't play rugby or weren't allowed to, I didn't realise the national team was basically seen as a symbol of oppression and the black South African's would only ever watch a match if they were playing someone guaranteed to beat them, like New Zealand. Mandela obviously had to charm his own people into supporting them once he'd finished charming the whites to give them freedom.

chanelfreak

I just finished Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam trilogy and I have to say that I would totally recommend all three, I really enjoyed and absolutely blasted through all of them.

I finished Stephen King's Revival on Monday night and I think that one is going to require a re-read. I liked it, the ending was completely mental but I think it needs a second read to fully appreciate it.

Callan57

Starting The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan

Busi_Girl08

Finished Hello Mr Bones, Goodbye Mr Rat the other night. It was pretty disappointing. Both stories felt like they would work better as a short story rather than a novella. It really dragged out in places, felt like the stories weren't really going anywhere.

Going to start The Seventh Mrs Hatfield soon (got it free at Comic Con!), might wait until I'm on my flight to Toronto next week, though.

Aenaes

"Death Comes To Pemberley" was a bit disappointing. It seems to recall ALL of the events "Pride And Prejudice" and who married who. I can see how some may have been necessary but they felt thrown in whenever the author wanted to explain something similiar or to further the story along easily.
The murder itself was too "neat".
Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth barely spoke during the entire thing but I think that was intentional as their lack of time together was mentioned a couple of times. I can't decide if it was done out of respect for Jane Austen not to put too many words in her most endearing characters mouths or as a continuation of "Pride And Prejudice" as, if I remember correctly, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth had very few private converstaions.

I'm now reading "The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission" by Martin Middlebrook. Describes a daylight bombing raid in 1943 by American B-17s on a Messerschmitt aircraft factory and ball-bearing plants. A surgical strike that "could shorten the war" it was one of the first daylight raids deep into Germany (I think it said Regensburg was only forty miles from Czechoslovakia) and resulted in one of the largest losses suffered by the American bomber fleet.
The author seemingly goes into a lot of detail, tracing which fighter or Flak unit shot down which bomber.

SarahBM

Just finished the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Absolutely loved it.
Still haven't finished the Body, but really not enjoying that.

syklops

Without Remorse by Tom Clancy.

Set during the Vietnam War, a retired Navy SEAL tries to get over the horrors of war but gets called back into action to rescue an Air Force officer in a Vietnam concentration camp.

sadie06

I am engaging mostly with novellas at the moment. I have recently read Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan lliyich, a straight-forward but hard-hitting read, particularly for the middle-aged who may be evaluating their chosen path in life.

I am just finished Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and it's an absolutely wonderful piece of writing. I shall certainly seek out more by her.

Next up, The Trial by Kafka.

eire4

Finished a re read of John McGahern's By The Lake. An enjoyable look at life in a small rural Irish community.

Decuc500

Struggling to finish Wolf Hall. I enjoyed about the first half of it but eventually the style of writing and lack of any real narrative dragged me down.

One of those hyped up novels that just doesn't do it for me.

Belle E. Flops

I read 'The Invisible Library' by Genevieve Cogman. I downloaded it because there was a kindle deal on it or something. It was ok but daft. I won't be reading the sequels.

I've moved on to 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde which I've been meaning to read with years. I'm about 1/4 way through it and I love it. His use of language is a pleasure to read. Really enjoying it.

mejulie805

Finally finished Fahrenheit 451! Read Only Ever Yours out of curiosity- it's OK, didnt have great expectations. Onto A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley- love the tone so far.

chanelfreak

mejulie805 wrote: »

Finally finished Fahrenheit 451! Read Only Ever Yours out of curiosity- it's OK, didnt have great expectations. Onto A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley- love the tone so far.

Oh i really liked Only Ever Yours! But I am a complete sucker for dystopian/sci-fi novels. I'm going to start The Girl with All the Gifts tonight - a friend recommended it, so I said why not

SarahBM

I finished the Body. It was ok. I wouldn't be pushed to read more Stephen King tbh.
Started Wool by Hugh Howdy. Only about 40 pages in but I am intrigued!

chanelfreak

SarahBM wrote: »

I finished the Body. It was ok. I wouldn't be pushed to read more Stephen King tbh.
Started Wool by Hugh Howdy. Only about 40 pages in but I am intrigued!

I really liked Wool, had me riveted til the end. If you like it, he has another one in the series called Shift and that is even better IMO.

MagicMarker

I didn't like Wool, it was interesting at first but just got stupid.

mejulie805

chanelfreak wrote: »

Oh i really liked Only Ever Yours! But I am a complete sucker for dystopian/sci-fi novels. I'm going to start The Girl with All the Gifts tonight - a friend recommended it, so I said why not

Oh don't get me wrong- I read it in 2 days! I just couldn't justify giving it 4 stars on Goodreads or anything! That other book looks weird and interesting- could be a good one to read when recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out!:pac:

chanelfreak

mejulie805 wrote: »

Oh don't get me wrong- I read it in 2 days! I just couldn't justify giving it 4 stars on Goodreads or anything! That other book looks weird and interesting- could be a good one to read when recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out!:pac:

EEEEK you poor thing, I hope it's not too painful and that you recover quickly

minnow

Just finished "The Circle" by Dave Eggers, a novel about the dangers of the rise of Google-type companies. I don't particuarly like his style, but it was OK as a holiday read.
Just started "The Wallcreeper" by Nell Zink.

Callan57

Lies of Silence by Brian Moore .... on a bit of a Brian Moore binge at the moment

Gonzovision

'The Killer Inside Me' by Jim Thompson

Gonzovision

Enjoyed 'The Killer Inside Me', the film sticks pretty close to the overall story.


Next up is 'Post Office' by Charles Bukowski. Haven't read anything by him before.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I was about to start War and Peace but I'm going away this weekend and need something to read on the plane, W&P would take up most of my baggage weight allowance So I picked up The Children Act by Ian McEwan on offer in Easons. The only book I've read by him before is Atonement, which was pretty good.

MagicMarker

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I was about to start War and Peace but I'm going away this weekend and need something to read on the plane, W&P would take up most of my baggage weight allowance So I picked up The Children Act by Ian McEwan on offer in Easons. The only book I've read by him before is Atonement, which was pretty good.

You need to get yourself a kindle.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MagicMarker wrote: »

You need to get yourself a kindle.

Ha! It never even crossed my mind. I don't really like reading off screens, to be honest.

Callan57

MagicMarker wrote: »

You need to get yourself a kindle.

Kindle was invented specifically to annoy Ml O'Leary

Swiper the fox

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I was about to start War and Peace but I'm going away this weekend and need something to read on the plane, W&P would take up most of my baggage weight allowance So I picked up The Children Act by Ian McEwan on offer in Easons. The only book I've read by him before is Atonement, which was pretty good.

I read and enjoyed the Children's Act but it's not as gripping or accessible as Atonement. If you enjoy it and want to read more McEwan then I cannot recommend On Chesil Beach highly enough, it is a beautiful book, among my all time favourites.

I'm continuing on a sports buzz at the moment after a long run of fiction. Last week I reread House of Pain which chronicles the bad luck of Mayo football since 1951, brilliant book and very topical with them in the Semi Final again this year with a strong team.
Started on a book called Living on the Volcano which is a brilliant insight into the life of football managers in England, I've a feeling it will be superb.

Fathom

Guilty as Sin, Tami Hoag.

Callan57

Another Brian Moore - No Other Life

sadie06

MagicMarker wrote: »

You need to get yourself a kindle.

Or a Kobo….great for adding long articles from to net to Pocket…instantly on your Kobo along with your books.

SarahBM

I don't want to go to work! I just want to stay home and read! I am reading Wool and I am hooked!