This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Whippersnapper

squeakyduck wrote: »

I went into chapters yesterday to treat myself as I handed my thesis in yesterday. Started reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. (3.99 in Chapters) I'm finding it quite a slow book to get into....I'm not really impressed by it but I bet there is a plot twist that will blow my mind nearing the end, as many people love the book!

It's not so much the plot you need to get into, rather the dynamics of the group.

Shakeandbake!

I've just finished reading Go Like Hell - Ford, Ferrari and their battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans by AJ Baime. A fantastic book for anyone with the slightest interest in the auto industry or motorsport. The author excellently blends the link between business and racing and how important the mantra "win on sunday, sell on monday" was. The book has a cast of legendary characters like Henry Ford II, Enzo Ferrari, Lee Iacocca, Carroll Shelby, Luigi Chinetti, John Surtees, Ken Miles, Bruce McLaren, Phil Hill etc, men who were obsessed with winning the Le Mans 24hrs despite the dangers of racing and the regularity with which drivers got killed.
Advice - GET IT! 10/10.
http://golikehellthebook.com/home

Ostrom

With a week off coming up, i stocked up on 'things i really should have read by now'. I have Heart of darkness, hard times, a new translation of notes from underground, and a collection of William Trevors short stories to keep me going.

Busi_Girl08

Finished Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on Saturday night (well, started and finished it ).

I was a bit stuck on what to read next and planned to go to the library today (3 of them actually) and load up, but then I started rummaging through the books in my Dad's study and found some good'uns.

Perfume
The Dalkey Archives
The Book of Lost Things
Freakonomics

So I started with The Book of Lost Things.:)

rgt320q

Flying through Bukowski's Factotum at the moment. Enjoying as much as, if not more than, Post Office so far.

Roomic Cube

Read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the other day in an airport.

2 chapters from the end of The Hobbit at the moment, and then onto Children of Húrin me thinks

Pyongyang

Roomic Cube wrote: »

Read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the other day in an airport.

Brilliant book. If you're a Thompson fan (like I am) get yourself a copy of Screwjack. That will absolutely melt your brain. Guaranteed.

This week I am reading The Underdog by Joshua Davis. Very entertaining read so far.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Underdog-Joshua-Davis/dp/0552154393

Busi_Girl08

Finished The Book of Lost Things last night. It was good, but the ending left me disappointed.
I suppose I should have expected it, really

and I saw the twist with Jonathan Tulvey being the King from a mile off

, I guess I just expected something different while reading it. Ah well.

Up next; Perfume.

8mv

Just finished three books
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - excellent, but I'm a sucker for Tudor era novels.
The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg - very good. Not full of vitriol as I expected (and hoped, tbh) but an interesting study of Ws life and family and the back stories of some of the people who engineered his rise to the White House. Blame for the Iraq fcuk-up is shared between Bush and all the dangerous, screwed up people he surrounded himself with.
The Great War For Civilisation by Robert Fisk - amazing. This one is, as you would expect, full of vitriol and righteous anger, aimed at all governments and dictators who have manipulated and exploited people for political and financial gain in the Middle East. This book is quite an epic, so I read one chapter every so often. Highly reccommend.

Now for part three of this Millenium Trilogy. The first two were pretty good - not the best thrillers I've ever read but I should allow for the fact that they are translated from the original. Lisbeth Salander is an interesting character, though.

Travel is good

Roomic Cube wrote: »

Read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the other day in an airport.

2 chapters from the end of The Hobbit at the moment, and then onto Children of Húrin me thinks

I have "Fear & Loathing" on my bookshelf, must get around to it. I must have a bit of a Beat thing going on as I have "The Post Office" too by Charles Bukowski & plan re-reading "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac.

A boards book club member recommended this book & I've just started it:
"Life's Lottery" by Kim Newman

You have to make various life decisions as you go through the book, to see which way your life would turn out. I'm really enjoying it!

The Amazon review is here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0671015974/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

squeakyduck

Whippersnapper wrote: »

It's not so much the plot you need to get into, rather the dynamics of the group.

The ending of LOTF (lord of the flies) blew my mind. Although it did take a long time to get into. I flew through the second half because I panicking for Ralph himself.

Now I'm beginning to read The Great Gatsby, and then maybe after that some Fear and Loathing!

Pyongyang: what is Screwjack like? is it interior stuff like Fear and Loathing? I was looking at all his writings the other day in Chapters. Huge book.

kylith

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

Up next; Perfume.

That is a fantastic book I really must read it again. The film's not awful either.

emeraldstar

kylith wrote: »

That is a fantastic book I really must read it again. The film's not awful either.

Just finished it! I enjoyed it but thought the first half was far better than the second.

Busi_Girl08

emeraldstar wrote: »

Just finished it! I enjoyed it but thought the first half was far better than the second.

I'm 40 pages from the end, and I have to disagree. I'm finding the 2nd half so far much better than the first. Not to say that the first half was bad/boring, I did enjoy it, I just now feel more engaged in the story now

BopNiblets

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, hardcore seedy futuristic cyber detective story, cool stuff so far.

Asphyxia

I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the moment, more than half way through probably be finished it tomarrow. Certain parts can be fairly graphic which makes me have to put it down but other than that I am enjoying it.

I will probably start to read The Girl Who Played with Fire afterwards, I have a couple of books to read yet so i'm excited now! Happily getting back into been swamped with books

girvtheswerve

Magician Raymond E Feist.

Loving it so far!

dnsmybolix

Just read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompsom, brilliant book very very funny!

Busi_Girl08

Finished Perfume, loved the ending.

Also read Of Mice and Men. Really enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it wasn't unnecessarily fluffed up. It just got right to the point.

Next: The Butcher Boy.

Bagmagnet

Reading 'The Place of Dead Roads' by William S. Burroughs..

UpCork

I finished 'The Legacy' by Katharine Webb on a flight home yesterday - brilliant!!!

Just started 'Ellis Island' by Kate Kerrigan last night

Kalimah

Just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Would recommend very highly.
Also finshed Lustrum by Robert Harris. I really liked that. And finally Alone in Berlin which was full of atmosphere and dread. An excellent translation too. I ususlly have two or three books on the go together!

tHE vAGGABOND

Just finished the Millennium Trilogy [very good, but totally understand who many people dont like the 3rd book as much as other two]

Ive now gone back to Crime and Punnishment [the book, rather than lifestyle choice!]

Slaygal

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, thanks for the great recommendations I'm reading Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. It's her memoirs of working as a Midwife in the East End of London in the 1950's and I'm really enjoying, it's well written.

kylith

Dead in the Family by Charlene Harris, gods help me.

Busi_Girl08

Finished The Butcher Boy. Jaaaaaysus.

I'm now about 50 pages into The Historian.

So far, it's pretty interesting. I've heard mixed reviews, so hopefully it lives up to my expectations.

Monkeybonkers

Roots by Alex Haley

Kevlyn20

Also just finished The Help by Katherine Stockett, really enjoyed it.

Reading Let the Great world Spin, Colum Mc Cann now, also a great read so far.

What next methinks?

Sergeant

Just started Red Plenty by Francis Spufford.

Got it from the bookdepository.co.uk website. Series of short stories on the Soviet planned economy and the affect it had on its citizens, mixing fact and fiction. Very enjoyable so far.

Kalimah

I loved The Historian but I know a huge number of people hated it

Callan57

Kalimah wrote: »

I loved The Historian but I know a huge number of people hated it

Brilliant book ... found it revetting.

politicsdude

Kalimah wrote: »

I loved The Historian but I know a huge number of people hated it

count me amongst them

politicsdude

was reading assasins apprentice by robin hobb - very good but a hard read if your an animal lover

Busi_Girl08

politicsdude wrote: »

count me amongst them

I'm about 100 pages in. The whole "I could see my father struggle, and knew he didn't want to tell me anymore, but he had to..." spiel is wearing a little thin.

emeraldstar

Kevlyn20 wrote: »

Also just finished The Help by Katherine Stockett, really enjoyed it.

Reading Let the Great world Spin, Colum Mc Cann now, also a great read so far.

What next methinks?

Fab book! Read it a couple of weeks ago.

Currently reading Gaston Laroux’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ – enjoying it!

kylith

Just started Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I very much enjoyed the first two in the series, and am very much looking forward to this one.

RolandIRL

Ringworld by Larry Niven. good sci-fi book and easy to follow and get through. reading through it for the second time

filmfan

Reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and 61 Hours by Lee Child. As soon as Autumn starts to kick in I'm going to start reading The Lord of the Rings again, perfect time of year to get started:)

Callan57

Just beginning another Jonathan Kellerman book 'Evidence'

Busi_Girl08

Still tackling my way through The Historian.

I'm just wondering,

While the daughter is reading her father's letters, did she ever once wonder "Dad, stop ****ing on about Turkish and Hungarian infrastructure. What happened to my mum?!!"

:pac:

I also can't help but chuckle about the fact that the whole book is written in the first person, by at least 3 different characters.

Kurtosis

Finished The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins. I really enjoyed it and found it very informative. Although I like his style I don't know if I'd be keen on reading any of his other books any time soon, he seems to cover some of the same ground across a few of them.

I'm about two thirds of the way through 1984 now, enjoying it so far.

Busi_Girl08

Finished the Historian. The ending was quite rubbish.

3 words, Kostova; Less. Is. More.

Up next; Brave New World.

Callan57

Completely disagree with you ... I loved that book

Busi_Girl08

Meh. It was at least 200 pages too long, the main characters were annoying and the whole notion of

Dracula looking for scholars to look after his library

was just stupid.

If you are interested in long-winded descriptions of Eastern European infrastructure, then this is the book for you


But then I have heard a lot of good reviews about it, so maybe I'm missing something.

Ho hum...

Paddy Samurai

About 60% through it ,and finding it hard to finish.Keep hoping it will get better,hate giving up on a book.
Decided to take a break from it tonight and started The Taking by Koontz. Already a third into it,easy reading with a good story.:D

The Cool

Is anyone else reading Room by Emma Donoghue?

http://www.emmadonoghue.com/room.htm

I bought it just the other day and am in the last few pages, couldn't put it down, it's the first book in a while that's gripped me in ages. A must-read.

Isle

At the moment I'm reading Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne. I've only got about 30 pages left. It's a quick read... there's only 300 pages in it. It's one of his best books if you haven't read it yet.

Kalimah

The Taking frightened the living daylights out of me. I had dreams about it off and on. One night on hols I had a very vivid dream/nightmare and woke up in a terror. It was just like the beginning of the book with the storm. We did have a storm the next night! After that I was nearly ready to go back to Mass again!

bullpost

Reading "Leni" by Steven Bach.

This is the biography of Leni Riefenstahl , the film director and photographer who directed those iconic propaganda films for the Nazis .

She always denied knowledge of Hitler's intentions but this book exposes her complicity in those events. She lived to the ripe old age of 101 and only died in 2003.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780349115535/Leni

emeraldstar

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. I'm only about 90 pages in but so far it's good and I'm preferring it to The Little Stranger. I love WW2-era novels set in England.