This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

chasmcb

Aeneas, if you enjoyed the Little Big Horn book, another very good book in that vein is S.C. Gwynne's 'Empire of the Summer Moon' all about the Comanches, with special reference to their most famous war chief Qanah Parker whose mother was kidnapped as a kid from white settlers ( her story inspired John Ford's film 'The Searchers'). They were fearsome boyos the Comanches and absolutely the last thing you'd want to see coming over the horizon toward you if you were plodding across the prairie in your wagon or tending to your frontier farmstead -it was sure to end very, very badly for you! The book's a great read.

Dial Hard

Tom Joad wrote: »

Just finished Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and really didn't like it. I found it contrived and just not believable and really struggled to finish it.

Awful, awful book. I chucked it out two-thirds of the way through. I've said it before and I've said it again, life is too short to force yourself to finish shite books.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I felt like Skippy Dies had a decent short story in it somewhere but there was just way too much going on around it.

eire4

Finished a re read of Brett Easton Ellis Less Then Zero.

Zeek12

Tom Joad wrote: »

Started on Norman Mailer The Executioners song

It's always been my intention to read that some day, sounds like a fascinating read, but I'm intimidated by the 1,000+ pages

Maybe you could post your thoughts on it here later? I'd be interested to learn how accessible and readable it is....(or isn't)!!

vepyewwo

Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race about his time cycling with Lance Armstrong and the US postal team. I've never followed cycling but I'm interested in doping in sport and the science behind it. This book was a real eye opener and a great read but I'm afraid it will make me extremely cynical when watching any sport from now on!

City of Women by David R Gillham. I saw this recommended by Stephen King in his best reads of 2012. Set in Berlin in 1943 about a woman who becomes involved in helping to hide Jews in the city. I would recommend.

Just started American Gods by Neil Gaiman last night. I've never read anything by him before. About 100 pages in and not sure about it yet.

Zeek12

Currently re-reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night.

I'd forgotten just what a truly brilliant writer he is.

Ice Storm

eire4 wrote: »

Finished a re read of Brett Easton Ellis Less Then Zero.

Now I want to re-read it (again!)

Any key?

Reading Winter's Tale. It is ruining my Summer. Beautifully written but the story has lost me at this stage. I don't really care about any of the characters either. I can't stand not finishing a book though

Callan57

Finished Longbourn, more or less Pride & Prejudice the servants story, an entertaining light read.

For the weekend it's my favourite author Joyce Carol Oates & Carthage

Aenaes

Not looking forward to reading is bad enough but if you find yourself dreading picking up the work again or it has become a chore to you then it's time to replace with better things.

There's so many brilliant, beautiful works that we most likely won't be able to finish all the ones we wish to that it's almost a crime to waste time on unengaging, boring dross.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Aenaes wrote: »

Not looking forward to reading is bad enough but if you find yourself dreading picking up the work again or it has become a chore to you then it's time to replace with better things.

There's so many brilliant, beautiful works that we most likely won't be able to finish all the ones we wish to that it's almost a crime to waste time on unengaging, boring dross.

I used to hate not finishing a book and would force myself to finish even the worst of books but then I thought it was a bit ridiculous that I was spending maybe a month reading something I hated whereas I'd sometimes have something I loved read in a few days. Life's too short and all that jazz.

Last week I didn't finish 2 books!

Aenaes

New thread needed, "This week I am mostly NOT reading.."

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Aenaes wrote: »

New thread needed, "This week I am mostly NOT reading.."

This Week I Mostly Can't Be Arsed to Finish...

Any key?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I used to hate not finishing a book and would force myself to finish even the worst of books but then I thought it was a bit ridiculous that I was spending maybe a month reading something I hated whereas I'd sometimes have something I loved read in a few days. Life's too short and all that jazz.

Last week I didn't finish 2 books!

I feel like if I don't finish it I can't really judge the whole novel. Must force myself to finish last 200 hundred pages....

eire4

Any key? wrote: »

I feel like if I don't finish it I can't really judge the whole novel. Must force myself to finish last 200 hundred pages....

I tend to be the same myself. I feel like I have to finish a book to really be able to make a verdict.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I think if you're writing a review or going to book club then you need to read it all to have a proper informed opinion but as far as just reading it for yourself goes I don't think so. Sure, you have to give it more than a few pages but I usually find with books I enjoy that a few pages are enough to get me hooked. If i'm struggling to make it to 100 pages then it's probably not going to improve.

IvyTheTerrible

vepyewwo wrote: »

Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race about his time cycling with Lance Armstrong and the US postal team. I've never followed cycling but I'm interested in doping in sport and the science behind it. This book was a real eye opener and a great read but I'm afraid it will make me extremely cynical when watching any sport from now on!

City of Women by David R Gillham. I saw this recommended by Stephen King in his best reads of 2012. Set in Berlin in 1943 about a woman who becomes involved in helping to hide Jews in the city. I would recommend.

Just started American Gods by Neil Gaiman last night. I've never read anything by him before. About 100 pages in and not sure about it yet.

If you're interesting in doping in sport, The Dirtiest Race in History is excellent. Technically it's about the rivalry between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis but actually gives a great overview of doping in athletics.

SarahBM

Surprisingly I'm struggling to get stuck into the Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden. Surprised because I found the 100 year old man so easy to read. Might try give it a good run today.

eire4

Finished a re read of Brett Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction this evening.

doriansmith

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

If you're interesting in doping in sport, The Dirtiest Race in History is excellent. Technically it's about the rivalry between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis but actually gives a great overview of doping in athletics.

I must pick this up, really interested in this topic.

Wyldwood

Finished That They May Face the Rising Sun. One thing that annoyed me was the way he kept referring to country roads as streets. Even here in suburbia we don't call the roads streets not to mind out in the heart of the country.

On to Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 next.

Callan57

Wyldwood wrote: »

Finished That They May Face the Rising Sun. One thing that annoyed me was the way he kept referring to country roads as streets. Even here in suburbia we don't call the roads streets not to mind out in the heart of the country.

On to Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 next.

I could be wrong as it some years since I read the book, but if I recall correctly, when he uses the term "street" he is referring to the area immediately outside a house - between the door and the road. It is not at all uncommon in rural Ireland to refer to this area as the street.

Wyldwood

Well you learn something new everyday! Thanks Callan57

chasmcb

Finished 'Middlemarch' last week, had never read George Eliot before. Really enjoyed it; she has an incredible insight into human psychology and the way her characters' thoughts and actions arise from a bubbling psychic stew of hopes, fears, self-delusions, prejudices, etc. And the way she portrays the inter-actions between characters is terrific as she shows us all the emotional undercurrents coursing beneath their words. Next up, on the strength of it getting a rave review in The Irish Times last week, I'm going to read 'Iron Gustav'.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Finally got through The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan. I don't read a lot of non fiction so it takes me a while with these books.

Some interesting things here, some I had a fair idea of, some came as a horrible shock to me, the last chapter about propaganda in the English media particularly. Given what's going on with Israel/Palestine/Gaza right now a lot of this was eerily familiar. Some of the one sided reporting on that situation has made my jaw drop, it's slightly horrifying to realise it's been going on for centuries in various forms.

My only issue with this book is I'm not 100% sure on his motives for writing it? I understand being sad/upset/angry about what happened back then but it almost seems like he's set out to rile people up rather than to educate them on the history of England's role in The Famine. Either way it be an interesting book to stick on the English school curriculum, give them a whole new perspective of their Empire.

Dial Hard

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Finally got through The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan. I don't read a lot of non fiction so it takes me a while with these books.

Some interesting things here, some I had a fair idea of, some came as a horrible shock to me, the last chapter about propaganda in the English media particularly. Given what's going on with Israel/Palestine/Gaza right now a lot of this was eerily familiar. Some of the one sided reporting on that situation has made my jaw drop, it's slightly horrifying to realise it's been going on for centuries in various forms.

My only issue with this book is I'm not 100% sure on his motives for writing it? I understand being sad/upset/angry about what happened back then but it almost seems like he's set out to rile people up rather than to educate them on the history of England's role in The Famine. Either way it be an interesting book to stick on the English school curriculum, give them a whole new perspective of their Empire.

Tim Pat Coogan is something of a joke amongst Irish historians and third-level students of Irish history are warned early and often to disregard pretty much everything he writes.

He's a journalist, not a historian and pretty much everything he writes on that period is ill-informed, poorly researched and extremely biased, which you obviously picked up on if you're questioning his motives.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Dial Hard wrote: »

Tim Pat Coogan is something of a joke amongst Irish historians and third-level students of Irish history are warned early and often to disregard pretty much everything he writes.

He's a journalist, not a historian and pretty much everything he writes on that period is ill-informed, poorly researched and extremely biased, which you obviously picked up on if you're questioning his motives.

I had no idea who he even was to be honest. It did feel like a really long essay on why we should hate the English rather than just a presentation of facts.

iwantmydinner

Dial Hard wrote: »

Tim Pat Coogan is something of a joke amongst Irish historians and third-level students of Irish history are warned early and often to disregard pretty much everything he writes.

He's a journalist, not a historian and pretty much everything he writes on that period is ill-informed, poorly researched and extremely biased, which you obviously picked up on if you're questioning his motives.

Jaysus, did not know that. I thought he was a serious, respected historian! Glad I decided against picking up his Michael Collins book a few days ago...

Dial Hard

Thomas Bartlett and Alvin Jackson are both experts on the subject, if anyone does want to read up on it more. Better again, they're both engaging, erudite writers.

mdolly123

Anyone else reading The Passage by J Cronin, can't put it down, been a while since i've read a book as gripping.

mdolly123

Ipso wrote: »

I recommend going to A Forum of Ice and Fire, they have a chapter by chapter discussion. It will help you as there is so much you can miss, don't stray into spoiler areas though.

Might do just that, lots of info and characters to get a handle on, Am watching series one at the mo but the book is richer and explains better obviously, will look this up, ta.

mdolly123

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I've just finished Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, which I loved. It's a focused, witty and acutely observational book, but that's not why I loved it. I loved it for the characters. It took me a while to realise why, but there was a major plot development near the end that left me genuinely upset. Upset about the consequences it would have for everyone involved. Their reactions and responses would be crystal clear, and I felt genuinely sorry for them, which to me is a rare reaction to fictional creations. The Berglunds and their friends are such beautifully drawn individuals that I just loved every minute I spent reading about their joy, their sadness, their decisions, their mistakes, their victories. It's all there in the title, because this is a book about people with the freedom to decide the path they take in life, and all the consequences those decisions will have. And it makes for hypnotic reading. A truly great novel.

Loved this too, The Corrections is even better

mdolly123

Tom Joad wrote: »

Just finished Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and really didn't like it. I found it contrived and just not believable and really struggled to finish it.

Started on Norman Mailer The Executioners song

I found it very funny in parts but agree that overall it did not ring true

AnnyHallsal

I read Elizabeth Costello by J M Coetzee, a masterful meditation on writing and the duties of the writer. Now reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman‎.

Esterhase

mdolly123 wrote: »

Anyone else reading The Passage by J Cronin, can't put it down, been a while since i've read a book as gripping.

I absolutely loved it! The final part of that trilogy, City of Mirrors, is out later this year so I'll probably re-read the first two before then.

But before that happens I'm finishing off a lot of Le Carré books. I will probably finish The Spy Who Came in from the Cold on the bus home from work today.

Dial Hard

Have about 10 pages of The Secret History left. Tbh, I think Tartt and I will have come to a parting of ways then. I don't think I can read any more about angsty male protagonists who blunder through their late teens/early twenties in a drug-fuelled haze.

Next up - Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.

iwantmydinner

mdolly123 wrote: »

Anyone else reading The Passage by J Cronin, can't put it down, been a while since i've read a book as gripping.

Started reading someone else's copy a few months ago and will definitely be picking up my own copy soon! Was hooked into it from the start.

Ice Storm

Dial Hard wrote: »

Have about 10 pages of The Secret History left. Tbh, I think Tartt and I will have come to a parting of ways then. I don't think I can read any more about angsty male protagonists who blunder through their late teens/early twenties in a drug-fuelled haze.

Next up - Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.

I read The Secret History and Never Let Me Go one after the other quite a few years ago.

I liked them both but while I was disappointed by Donna Tartt's subsequent efforts, I have enjoyed nearly everything else I've read by Ishiguro.

Swiper the fox

I love Ishiguro, he's got a new novel out early next year.
Strange to read that "Skippy dies" is criticised for not being believable or "ringing true", it's a work of fiction and comedic at its core. I loved it.
Good post above about Tim Pat Coogan also, 100% true although I always found him entertaining in interviews etc. You'd want to be careful about referencing his work in an undergraduate history essay as many lecturers have zero time for him.

Finished "Room" by Emma Donoghue last night, glad I stuck with it after a tough start. Finishes beautifully, one of those books where the last page will live long in my memory.

IvyTheTerrible

Finished "Gone Girl".
Great first half, had me guessing all the way. Second half though, just got more and more ridiculous. Disappointing finish.

ivytwine

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Jaysus, did not know that. I thought he was a serious, respected historian! Glad I decided against picking up his Michael Collins book a few days ago...

I don't think the Michael Collins book is as bad, I remember my friend using it as a source for her LC project, and my teacher would definitely have directed us against it if she felt it inaccurate. She wasn't particularly nationalistic either. I think it is very anti-DeValera tho?

I also used his 1916 Rising book for my LC project (I didn't do history-well Irish at least- in college I'm keen to stress) but it was most facts and pictures iirc.

My mother would be very nationalist and she was a bit unimpressed with his famine book, she said it was poorly edited and even she felt he was a bit hard on the Brits :eek:

I really enjoyed Skippy Dies, but I think it was the writing that carried through, plot was pretty thin. Some midlife crisis teacher comparing himself to the slaughtered of the trenches was a bit of a stretch too, especially knowing the Irish curriculum- you don't even do WW1 past primary school (a disgrace imo).

minnow

Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis. Read it for the first time 20 yrs ago, giving it another spin.

Dial Hard

minnow wrote: »

Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis. Read it for the first time 20 yrs ago, giving it another spin.

I read it on holidays last year and was rather non-plussed. I find it very hard to warm to dithery, self-conscious, woe-is-me type main characters, though.

Anyway, Never Let Me Go is on hold (was going to buy it today) because I needed something to read in the bath last night after finishing The Secret History, so I'm re-reading Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World.

Callan57

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

psychoniamh

Wanted to read a Maeve Binchy book, so I read Tara Road. I thought it was ok, very long though; as light as it is, it still took me a good while to make my way through it. Going to watch the film soon.

Staring Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes, which I'm very excited about. "Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well".... sounds like it's gonna be a good'un!

Dial Hard

psychoniamh wrote: »

Staring Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes, which I'm very excited about. "Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well".... sounds like it's gonna be a good'un!

Hopefully you'll end up disagreeing, but I thought that book was utterly, utterly dull. Maybe a lot of the humour got lost in translation from the German, but I kept waiting for it to get funny and it steadfastly refused to do so. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

a0ifee

currently flying through Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's nothing like I expected really but it's really interesting and well written, can't put it down at all!

iwantmydinner

a0ifee wrote: »

currently flying through Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's nothing like I expected really but it's really interesting and well written, can't put it down at all!

She's fantastic. She has done a brilliant Ted talk as well, if you're interested!

Belle E. Flops

Read the 100 year old man... And the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry lately. Not much to say on them really. Easy, entertaining reads that were perfect for holiday reading.

Starting Tess of the D'Urberville's now.