This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

eire4

Finished Gene Kerrigan's Little Criminals. This was my first Gene Kerrigan novel and I will definitely be back for more. A brilliant thriller crime drama that I absolutely loved from start to finish. A great story about a small time Dublin criminal who dreams big his Garda nemesis and a little twist to it all.

Mr.Nice Guy

Finished 'Northern Protestants – An Unsettled People' by Susan McKay, first published in 2000. I've enjoyed reading some of her articles on Northern Ireland, and in this book she travels across the 6 counties interviewing Protestants and asking them what they think of the political situation. She's from a Protestant background herself so she gets a straight, honest account from those she meets. She says in her introduction that the Orange Order criticized the book and urged people not to read it, although the late David Ervine did praise it.

I enjoyed it, and it gives a fair insight into the unionist mindset. I remember one contributor who said Europe would eventually see the island reunited and that the DUP lunatics would be shown up over time. Seemed rather prescient given the last few years. She brought out another book last year looking at Protestants in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, so I might take a look at that.

eire4

Finished Ken Bruen's Sanctuary. It is a short read but another outstanding book in his Jack Taylor Galway mystery series. Rapidly becoming a big Ken Bruen fan.

eire4

Finished John Connolly's A Wolf in Winter another great addition to his Charlie Parker thriller and suspense series. His mix of myth, legend and the supernatural is brilliantly done alongside the thriller and suspense nature of the book.

eire4

Finished Ken Bruen's The Devil. Once again another noir suspense classic from Ken Bruen. Absolutely love the author's dialogue just brilliant.

Xofpod

Read a couple of crackers recently. A gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles - maybe a bit sentimental, but very evocative and a real page turner.

Station Eleven, Emily St.John Mandel. Absolutely not what I expected - literary and suspenseful and post-apocalyptic. Something like the Blind Assassin meets The Stand. Can't recommend highly enough and will definitely be checking out her other books. (But to flag - probably worth avoiding if you're not comfortable currently with stories about viruses wiping out huge swathes of the population....)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119398212#Comment_119398212

I haven't read it but I watched the Station Eleven mini series earlier this year, and got quite the surprise when I realised it was a global flu pandemic that took everyone out. I really enjoyed the show though, because it's more about how we rebuild and was actually quite a hopeful thing. Not sure how much it changes from the book though.

New Home

I'm finally reading "Jack", by Marilynne Robinson. It's part of the "Gilead" series. It's very good, not as good as "Gilead" or "Lila", but much better than "Home", in my book.

I'm also reading a series of books by Niall Williams, I do love how he writes.

_Godot_

After reading 60 books between January and July on my kindle, I just couldn't get into anything in July, but I just started A Murder of Quality by John Le Carre and got hooked. Maybe I just needed a bit of a break from reading.

Xofpod

Just finished McCarthy's Bar, Pete McCarthy. Very funny and particularly interesting when you know well the places being described. It's also an interesting snapshot of an Ireland at the start of the celtic tiger era. I have the follow-up, The Road to McCarthy, in the TBR pile.

Mr.Nice Guy

I read 'Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania' by Erik Larson. This is one of the best books I've read in a good few years.

It tells you about the passengers that were on the ship, using their own accounts; it also describes the U-boat commander, Schwieger, who sunk the ship, and how life was like on his sub; and it talks about the British Admiralty who had managed to crack the German code, and discusses whether they could have done more to save the vessel from the threats they knew she faced.

Larson does a good job of painting a picture of events, and building the anticipation to the moment when the torpedo hits. If I had to make a small criticism it's that the book tends to focus on American passengers more than other nationalities, but I'd still recommend it.

Eh ...the bible.

Started on the old testament as I thought that would be fairly dramatic, but it's huge and has a sizeable portion all about genealogy.

Went over to new testament and am on the first gospel of Matthew and it is kinda comforting to be honest. All the stories you'd be familiar with told through parable and, for the most part, some pretty good and very philosophical advice.

If you talk about great books it is clearly one of the greatest, considering its impact, which is why I'll read the Koran and book of the dead next.

You wouldn't be reading every word mind. It's also amazing how many every day sayings came from it e.g' "not an iota, not one dot", "last shall be first , first shall be last" and many other more obvious and better examples that I am too tipsy to recall.

eire4

Finished Jo Nesbo's The Leopard. Another excellent crime thriller in his Harry Hole series.

Xofpod

Anthem, Noah Hawley. Fairly depressing stuff tbh, with a plot that revolves around mass teen suicide, environmental catastrophe and civil war in the US. I think he was trying to address the nihilism of modern America and offer some hope, but I don't think he quite pulled it off...

I'll read more of his stuff, I really liked Before the Fall, but just wanted to put the Downersville flag on this for anyone thinking about picking it up.

Xofpod

Reading and loving Punters: How Paddy Power bet billions and changed gambling forever, by Aaron Rogan, as recommended on here earlier this year (I think). Fascinating book on the intersection in Ireland between gambling, politics, technology, criminality, business, and probably loads more. Would definitely recommend.

Fintan O'Toole's "We don't know ourselves".

He waited a few pages before referencing Beckett which is quite restrained for him.

eire4

Finished George RR Martin's Tuff Voyaging. Really enjoyed it. A fun sci fi adventure stand alone book written well before his Game of Thrones series.

Mr.Nice Guy

I read Replay by Ken Grimwood. It's set in 1988 and follows a 43-year-old man called Jeff Winston who dies of a heart attack, only to awaken 25 years earlier in the past as his 18-year-old self, but with all his knowledge and memories of the future to come still intact.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It takes some fun twists and turns along the way and reminded me of 11/22/63 by Stephen King, which is another book I liked. I think Replay would work pretty well as a film or TV series.

Amsterdam, Ian McEwan.

Feels like a lot of books were influenced by it.

Mr.Nice Guy

I read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I was a bit disappointed with this. I've read and liked works by Vonnegut in the past and this was the first time I was left pretty underwhelmed.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119398212#Comment_119398212

Station Eleven is a superb book. I had it in my pile for ages (bought pre-Covid) and because of that it took me a while to get to it, but it's an absolutely wonderful read. I would also recommend Serverance by Ling Ma in a similar-ish vein.

eire4

Finished Irving Welsh's Dead Man's Trousers and loved it. Likely the last installment in his Trainspotting series its another classic ride of chaos and hilarity. Highly entertaining and a great way to close out the series.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119645943#Comment_119645943

This reminded me to pick up her new one, Sea of Tranquility. Another addition to the looming TBR pile of doom. Thanks, poster.....

Xofpod

Small Things like These, Claire Keegan. Small but perfectly formed. I wonder is it too short (slightly over 100 pages) to go ahead and win the Booker?

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119651120#Comment_119651120

Ha! I hadn't even seen that, okay- that goes on the "list" and I might even get a copy of it this weekend to add to the "pile". 🙂

Found a lovely old Frank O'Connor collection at the weekend.

Went straight for Guests of the Nation, the Majesty of the Law, and My Oedipus Complex.

Absolutely lovely to read them again. I've never read short stories I've enjoyed as much as his. They're set a long time ago but they feel close such is the quality of the writing.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119668036#Comment_119668036

He's just a fantastic writer.

eire4

Finished Michael Connolly's The Fifth Witness a courtroom crime novel which I enjoyed.

Cloud Atlas

Xofpod

Beautiful World, where are you? Sally Rooney. If you liked her previous books you'll like this. If not, best to avoid.

Personally I think she's a great writer and this is very much her thing, but I'd still like to see her move outside her (dis)comfort zone for her next book.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119760908#Comment_119760908

I didn't love that one so much I have to say, though I loved Normal People.

Normal People felt more real to me, BW felt more like it was from her own social bubble world. Which it probably was and is fine, I just didn't love it.

She has said she is only interested in writing about relationships and their dynamics and discussions so not sure we'll see a move anytime soon.

New Home

The History of Rain by Niall Williams.

An absolute gem of a book. I've read a few of his books, so far - some I liked a lot, some I thought were just ok but if I had stopped reading it wouldn't have been the end of the world. This, on the other hand, is excellent.

eire4

Finished Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. I am a big Asimov fan but must admit this was not up to his usual brilliance. Although given it is a sci fi novel set around finding a too good to be true but nonetheless seemingly limitless source of energy to power earth it is topical.

Mr.Nice Guy

I read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this but I liked it a lot. It's an interesting concept and it's developed well, with some lovely passages. I was a bit concerned I'd hate the ending because it seemed to be heading a direction I wouldn't like, but I thought it ended well enough.

Xofpod

Read and loved The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers. Pure sci-fi but also a really lovely book.

Staying vaguely sci-fi-ish, next up is Sea of Tranquility, Emily St.John Mandel. I've heard some Cloud Atlas comparisons, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

eire4

Finished Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. I am a big Asimov fan but must admit this was not up to his usual brilliance. Although given it is a sci fi novel set around finding a too good to be true but nonetheless seemingly limitless source of energy to power earth it is topical.

eire4

Finished Morgan Llywelyn's After Rome. She is one of my favourite historical fiction writers and this one is set in the years after the Romans left Britain and the Britons were faced with the invasions from Saxon's, Angles and Jutes. It is a decent read but not up to her usually brilliant standards as I felt it was a bit underdeveloped story line wise. 

eire4

Finished Ken Bruen's Headstone. Another classic dark noir crime novel set in Galway. Loved every minute of it brilliant.

Daisy78

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Been on my list for a while.

Xofpod

Read Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel, which had jumped to the top of my list after loving Station 11.

It was.... good, but not brilliant. Certainly not up to the standard of her previous book. It's a bit Cloud Atlas, a bit Gods Without Men, a bit La Jetée/12 Monkeys, but not up to the standard of any of them.

So anyway, liked it, and will read more of her stuff but didn't love it.

Travel is good

Circe by Madeline Miller. I recently read Achilles Song by the same author. They are fiction, though loosely based on the Greek tragedies.

Thanks for all the book recommendations, some great books!

eire4

Finished Jo Nesbo's crime thriller The Phantom. Another good entry in the author's Harry Hole series with quite the twist towards the end.

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished The Hunger by Alma Katsu. It's a supernatural twist on the true-life story of the pioneering Donner party who got stuck in the mountains of the US while on their way to California in 1846.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of the story and the characters are well written. If I had to be critical, I'd say the ending was a bit abrupt for my liking, but a good horror story overall.

Daisy78

Cat among the Pigeons, an Agatha Christie for Christmas.

Love is Blind, William Boyd.

The third of his I read. Really enjoy his books.

Xofpod

The Candy House, Jennifer Egan

eire4

Finished Isaac Asimov's sc-fi adventure The Stars Like Dust and really enjoyed it. Set in the same galaxy but pre galactic empire of his Foundation novels it packs a lot of twists and turns into what is a smaller novel and first of 3 in this galactic empire series.

eire4

Finished Ken Bruen's Purgatory another classic noir crime novel featuring the Galway author's acerbic and witty Jack Taylor character. Loved every minute of it brilliant.

Mehaffey1

Nearly a quarter of the way through The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas. Very well written and a refreshing storyline so far.

Listening to White Bones by Graham Masterton on Audible, again about a quarter of the way through. Great narration but I must warn you that it really is graphic. Maybe it's because I'm listening to the audiobook but it doesn't pull any punches.

Had only finished 1 book all of 2022 and that was on the 30th December so feeling very spoilt for choice now.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120020965#Comment_120020965

Finished and enjoyed it. Some sections are stronger than others and overall, it didn't have the same impact for me as A Visit from the Goon Squad, but would definitely still recommend. It goes off on tangents from the previous book and while it could definitely be read as a standalone, I found myself checking upon details on characters, etc. om t'internet.