What book are you reading atm??

Canis Lupus

endacl wrote: »

I both heartily concur with, and entirely disagree with both elements of the above.

I only read on my smartphone now with the Kindle app.....

osarusan

Merkin wrote: »

I this this is probably my most favourite book of all time

eisenberg1 wrote: »

I loved it, but for me The Grapes of Wrath was a better read.

I am torn between the two. I grew to like The Grapes of Wrath more for a while, but now I thinkI am back to East of Eden.

Spare a thought for Of Mice And Men also.

GLaDOS

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I only read on my smartphone now with the Kindle app.....

Reading a full book on a smartphone sounds thoroughly unenjoyable

bnt

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Reading a full book on a smartphone sounds thoroughly unenjoyable

It works better than you might expect, as long as you have the right app: FBReader. Totally free with no ads, even if you get the Text-to-Speech add-on, which works very well when I'm on the move.

Anyway - just finished reading Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford. The first of a trilogy of books written after the death of Isaac Asimov that fill in some of the gaps in Asimov's Foundation saga. I won't try an exhaustive explanation of Foundation, but the short version goes something like this: many thousands of years in the future, the galaxy is ruled as a single Empire. (See if you can guess where George Lucas got that idea.) At the time we join the story, however, the Empire is fraying at the edges and heading for a catastrophic collapse. A mathematician (Hari Seldon), and his colleagues (including historians), eventually produce a very detailed model (psychohistory) of how human history played out in broad strokes, and some predictions of what will happen next - and the predictions are not good. They are heading for 30,000 years of chaos unless someone does something. They can't prevent it, but perhaps they can make the coming "dark ages" shorter and less severe.

This particular book is set in the period during which psychohistory is getting close to a working model, while things start collapsing around Seldon. He hates politics, but he's about to take on the job of First Minister of the Empire, against his objections at first. If he's going to make a difference, he has to get his hands dirty ...

the evasion_kid

Just started 'kim' by Rudyard Kipling a book that I've been meaning to read for ages

boobar

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly

If you like serial killer fiction, this comes highly recommended

scream

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Reading a full book on a smartphone sounds thoroughly unenjoyable

I do this, but only as a last resort. It certainly isn't the most enjoyable method of reading. Although I will admit that once you get into the book, you kinda don't even notice after a while. Still always be a last resort for me though.

Currently reading Midnight's Lair by Richard Laymon

eviltwin

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. I'm working my way through the Harry Hole series and they are progressively getting better. The last one, The Redemer, was the best so far so I have high hopes this will be as good.

Canis Lupus

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Reading a full book on a smartphone sounds thoroughly unenjoyable

Not at all but it depends. Reading for readings sake and I'll be using a Kindle. But when I'm hanging around on a train/ during lunch and in particular before bed then my Nexus 5 is big enough.

Samaris

The Story of the Solar System, although I can't recall the name of the author offhand.

Awesome book. I'm fairly rubbish at reading novels these days (although I do like some of my old children's books circa 1950s), but I love books about the world and how it works.

gormdubhgorm

D'you Remember Yer Man?: A Portrait of Dublin's Famous Characters. Paperback – 20 Oct 2014 by Bobby Aherne
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dyou-Remember-Yer-Man-Characters/dp/1848403771

Just started it. It a mixture of a irreverent/reverent tone. Fun book to read.

Collie D

"Four past Midnight" by Stephen King. Didn't realise it was a compilation. Currently on "The Langoliers" and getting very into it.

Just finished "A Song of Shadows" by John Connolly. Decent idea but nothing much really happens. Not a bad book but felt it was more of a bridging chapter in the ongoing series rather than a novel in itself.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Leuithan

Vojera

Deleted User wrote: »

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Leuithan

What do you think of it? I got it in a 3 for 2 in Eason last year but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'm on Volume 10 of Sailor Moon. Parts of the story are quite silly and repetitive but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. It feels like it's ramping up to a conclusion now anyway.

Jijsaw

I'm about a hundred pages into The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, decent read so far but not great.
I read the anonymously diary A Woman in Berlin last week and that was truly fascinating, a really gripping and insightful novel to life just before and after the Nazis surrendered and Russians took over the city.

Ush1

The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. It's veering dangerously towards a weird self help thing but I've only started it really.

Anybody else read it?

MajorMax

I'm reading 2 books at the moment, I like to alternate between fiction & non fiction

All hell let loose - Max Hastings (a history of the second world war)
I am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes

Pumpkinseeds

I'm reading Imajica. I read it about 15 years ago and it's fantastic, I love Clive Barkers books. I've got The Great and Secret Show and Everville to follow on after that. So about 3 or so thousand pages of trilogy.:D

Ciaran_B

I finished Don Winslows new one ‘The Cartel’ last weekend. The follow up to his amazing book ‘The Power of The Dog’. This is a fictional account of the drug war in Mexico and the cartels fight for the lucrative territory along the US border.

It’s a fantastic read that really shows the futility of the war on drugs. Highly recommended to any crime or thriller fans. But you’d have to start with Power of The Dog. And if you are interested it’s only 2 quid on Kindle at the moment.

Birneybau

Ciaran_B wrote: »

I finished Don Winslows new one ‘The Cartel’ last weekend. The follow up to his amazing book ‘The Power of The Dog’. This is a fictional account of the drug war in Mexico and the cartels fight for the lucrative territory along the US border.

It’s a fantastic read that really shows the futility of the war on drugs. Highly recommended to any crime or thriller fans. But you’d have to start with Power of The Dog. And if you are interested it’s only 2 quid on Kindle at the moment.

I'm currently reading 'Power Of The Dog' myself and it's utterly fantastic. Looking forward to picking up 'The Cartel'

LenaClaire

MajorMax wrote: »

All hell let loose - Max Hastings (a history of the second world war)

I am reading this one now, after all the mentions it has received here. I am really enjoying it!

Dramatik

The Boy In The Attic - David Malone

Ireland 1973, a very different world. But the tiny village of Palmerstown was about to lose its innocence forever.
On a bright sunny June afternoon a seven year old only child was left in the care of a teenage neighbour. No one knew, or would even have dreamed of suspecting, that that the older boy was a Satanist. The two went out to the fields to look for rabbits. The seven year old was never seen alive again.

anto9

<mod snip>......this is a thread for real books.....</mod snip>

GLaDOS

Vojera wrote: »

It's been on my to-read list for years, I'm interested to hear what you think.

Finished Dune last week, really enjoyed it. The imagery describing Arrakis and the culture and history of the Fremen in particular is fantastic. If you enjoy books where you can sink into another world I'd definitely recommended it.

Moved onto The Wee Free Men by Pratchett for something lighter.

Vojera

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Finished Dune last week, really enjoyed it. The imagery describing Arrakis and the culture and history of the Fremen in particular is fantastic. If you enjoy books where you can sink into another world I'd definitely recommended it.

Moved onto The Wee Free Men by Pratchett for something lighter.

Cheers! Must make the effort to pick Dune up and read it. I saw about ten minutes of the mini-series that was on Syfy years ago (when it was still Sci-Fi ) and it looked fascinating.

I LOVE the Wee Free Men! Enjoy!

baron von something

just finished Zone One - Colson Whitehead. How on earth can somebody make zombies boring is beyond me. Terrible book

Collie D

Jijsaw wrote: »

I read the anonymously diary A Woman in Berlin last week and that was truly fascinating, a really gripping and insightful novel to life just before and after the Nazis surrendered and Russians took over the city.

Is it an actual person's diary or a novel/fictional account?

Might be interested in that. Read Savage Continent a while ago - history of the aftermath of the war with all the revenge, horror and ethnic cleansing that came with it. Horrible but gripping stuff.

Can't remember the author's name but recommended if you're into that type of thing

the evasion_kid

"Private dancer" by Stephen leather

Jijsaw

Collie D wrote: »

Is it an actual person's diary or a novel/fictional account?

Might be interested in that. Read Savage Continent a while ago - history of the aftermath of the war with all the revenge, horror and ethnic cleansing that came with it. Horrible but gripping stuff.

Can't remember the author's name but recommended if you're into that type of thing

A real diary, it was published first in English in 1954 and then in Germany in 1959, the Germans at the time hated it for it's blatant honesty about the raping of German women and the comments on German men just watching their wives, relations and neighbours being sexually assaulted by Russians and also the author's comments on how the German soldiers must have been doing the same in Russia.
It went out of print then as the author did not wish to see her work criticized again while she was still living. After her death in 2001, it was republished in 2003 and went on to sell millions of copies.
The author was a journalist and it is very insightful to the horrific events that took place.

gutenberg

I have finally started A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. It's a companion novel to Life After Life, which I absolutely love.

Major Max, I would be curious to hear what you think of I Am Pilgrim, it seems to come very highly recommended. I have a long journey coming up and am wondering about purchasing it for the Kindle (sorry, I can't seem to quote you...).