What book are you reading atm??

arybvtcw0eolkf

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity

by Izzeldin Abuelaish

This is one of the most inspiring books I've read in the last twenty years.

I borrowed this from another review of it because I couldn't put it better;

Be warned, don't read this book in public. In spite of knowing what was coming I was unable to stop tearing up, or just outright crying. In fact, I had to take breaks in order to pull myself together.

The book didn't grip me from the beginning but as I followed Izzeldin's story I became more and more awe-inspired by him. It wasn't just his attitude which, in itself, is extraordinary given his experiences, nor was it what he has achieved in spite of the obstacles in his way. It was his ability to take what has become a political situation and make it a human one that made his story so inspiring.

I suspect that he is accused of oversimplifying a very convoluted situation with Israel and Palestine but that was the beauty of his approach. Breaking it down, making a difference "to this one starfish" at a time seems a real possibility.

My mind is still buzzing.
Strongly recommended no matter where you come from and no matter your level of interest in Middle Eastern politics. A truly human story.

An absolutely breathtaking read.. In fact I was telling someone today how if there's one person in the world I'd love to meet is Doctor Abuelaish.

Rumpy Pumpy

gutenberg wrote: »

Reading A. Roger Ekirch's At Day's Close: A History of Nighttime. Fascinating stuff so far, looking at ideas of darkness and night in pre-industrial society, and also what people got up to during the hours of darkness.

That sounds extremely interesting.

ben.schlomo

Look who's back by Timur Vermes, a very enjoyable read, funny and moves along at a good pace.

gutenberg

Rumpy Pumpy wrote: »

That sounds extremely interesting.

It's very good so far, I'd recommend it if you have an interest in early modern (i.e. pre-Industrial Revolution) history. It's an interesting social and cultural history of a phenomenon that affects us all but no one really thought to examine much before.

Also, your username is very apt for some of the goings-on in this book...

Currently reading Finder's keepers. Good read, ties in nicely with Mr. Mercedes.

boobar

Ian Rankin The Black Book

Detective series with Inspector Rebus set in Scotland...very gritty, half way through very gripping so far.

lanomist

Jonathan Kellermans, " The murderer's Daughter " Keller man is one of my favourite author's. Think I have read everything he has written.

arybvtcw0eolkf

'Eyes in Gaza' by Mads Gilbert.

During the course of Israel's twenty-two-day military offensive in 2009 on the Gaza Strip 1,300, mostly civilian, Palestinians were killed, with many thousands more injured. Once again, the Palestinian Community lay in ruins. Despite the Israeli authorities' attempt to shut out aid workers and the media from the conflict zone, NORWAC (the Norwegian Aid Committee) succeeded in getting some of its envoys into the heart of Gaza City, including two doctors: Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse. For some time, the two were the only Western eyewitnesses in Gaza. This book is an account of their experience during sixteen harrowing days from 27 December 2008 to 12 January 2009. Each chapter covers just one day, as the reader follows the doctors' journey through the ravaged city, treating local Palestinians and hearing their stories. Hailed by the influential Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen as 'the best book of 2009', this shocking yet sober account sheds much-needed light on this recent chapter of one of the most prolonged and complex conflicts of our time.

If you're wondering about a book for Christmas can I recommend my last read;

'I Shall not Hate' Doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish

This book is a life changer. Its a heart breaking account of a Gazan doctor who's three daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli tank fire in 2009 (Operation Cast Lead).. Tbh I balled by eyes out over the last 40 pages.. An incredible book.

Beanntraigheach

"Do It Yourself: Circumcision"

- it comes with a free scalpel!

arybvtcw0eolkf

Beanntraigheach wrote: »

"Do It Yourself: Circumcision"

- it comes with a free scalpel!

We have us a comical genius.

Aglomerado

Noel Some Cornbread wrote: »

We have us a comical genius.

It's supposed to be full of handy tips...

05eaftqbrs9jlh

8mv wrote:

Read The Thrill of it All by Joseph O'Connor. Love JOCs writing and it was all present and correct, but I just couldn't warm to the characters for some reason. Maybe because the members and music of the fictional group, The Ships, were never clearly defined. From the description in the book they seem to be an ugly hybrid of The Pogues, Queen and old Fleetwood Mac.

I love music books.

Currently I'm torn between a combination of Mr Nice and Morrissey and Marr to shake things up. Auto+ biographical leads to all sorts of narrative voices and interesting anecdotes.

Lisha

Constance Hall 'Like a Queen'

Wouldn't be for everyone but I enjoyed it.
Anything that promotes kindness is ok in my book.

lawred2

Latest Ross O Carroll Kelly

It's an annual guilty pleasure

donegal.

Hypernion by Dan Simmons fantastic science fiction classic

lawred2

gramar wrote: »

I finished The Girl on the Train. It took me a week to read the last 50 pages as I was struggling to summon the will to do so. Absolute rubbish from start to finish. It moved as slowly as the commuter train that annoying woman travelled on every morning.

There are no twists or if there are they are so slow to materialise they don't count as being twists. There are ridiculous amounts of repetiton and the book reads in monotone. There is no suspense. There are no surprises. There are no cliff hangers at the end of any chapter. The characters and I mean each and every one of them are unlikeable.

I don't know where the hype came from but it is completely unwarranted.
On the back of the book Stephen King wrote 'kept me up most of the night'.
I can only imagine that was due to the horrible bout of diarrhoea reading it caused him.

Thought the exact same about that over hyped rubbish.

Contrived, unbelievable and not one character was remotely identifiable. I finished it but each page turn was often accompanied by extremely unparliamentary language.

The whole fabricating the lives of those she saw through the window of the train premise was beyond laughable..

Lisha

lawred2 wrote: »

Latest Ross O Carroll Kelly

It's an annual guilty pleasure

I loved it .

Rubberlegs

I'm reading NOS4R2 by Joe Hill. I'm thoroughly gripped by it so far, the first I have picked up of his. It is very similar to his father Stephen King's style, which is no bad thing ! Learned a little way in that the title is pronounced Nosferatu.

Liam28

Thargor wrote: »

I always plough through a book even if I dont like it because I hate leaving something unfinished but my God Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell is going to defeat me I think, its won every award going but in my opinion it is borderline unreadable. It just never stops droning on, all the characters and conversations are the same. Worst of all it started out promising with the story of his youth as an abusive blacksmiths apprentice but after that it stalls and never recovers. I put it on my phone just so I can read it at work and get it over with.

Totally agree with this review from the Wiki link:

I found it in a cage full of free books at the Bray recycling dump and thats where its going the minute its finished, not having an unfinished trilogy on my shelf and not a hope Im reading the second and third books.

This. I too 'ploughed' through Wolf Hall. Although there is some interesting historical context in there, as a novel it is turgid nonsense. The glowing critics reviews and literary awards smacks of psuedo-intellectual snobbery, and I am glad someone else called Emperor's New Clothes on this.

I usually alternate between fact and fiction books, and right now am reading The Philosophy Book, part of a series of Big Ideas books. For anyone curious about the subject, it is an interesting crash course, sort of a Philosophy 101, from Socrates to modern thinking.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philosophy-Book-Big-Ideas-ebook/dp/B00TK751Y4/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1480514466&sr=1-3&keywords=big+ideas

StupidLikeAFox

Currently reading the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I will probably be lynched for this but I can't get into it - quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness, absurd situations happen and the main character reacts with a typical droll response. Each situation is wackier than the next. Am I missing something?

kirk buttercup

It's cool. Same thing took me half the book to realise that too
I'm reading his new one the Fireman.

lawred2

Lisha wrote: »

I loved it .

Same as. Think it was one of the better in the series actually.

FunLover18

StupidLikeAFox wrote:

I will probably be lynched for this but I can't get into it - quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness, absurd situations happen and the main character reacts with a typical droll response. Each situation is wackier than the next. Am I missing something?

I honestly don't know how to explain it, I love them myself but don't ask me to explain why. I wouldn't call it quirky and definitely not for quirkiness sake. I would say that Arthur's droll response is more an English response, he's a typical Englishman in extraordinary situations and he spends large sections of the book just wanting a cup of tea.

mikhail

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Currently reading the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I will probably be lynched for this but I can't get into it - quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness, absurd situations happen and the main character reacts with a typical droll response. Each situation is wackier than the next. Am I missing something?

The zany scifi comedy side of it has been aped so much that it diminishes the original. It is written with some real craft though. A personal favourite is the ship's attempt at a cup of tea that tastes "almost, but not quite entirely, unlike tea." If you enjoy wordplay, it is still a fine book.

micar

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Currently reading the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I will probably be lynched for this but I can't get into it - quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness, absurd situations happen and the main character reacts with a typical droll response. Each situation is wackier than the next. Am I missing something?

I loved it... Gave my copy to a friend of an ex and never got it back....must buy a new copy.

Have just started Rasputin by Douglas Smith... Fascinating so far

eviltwin

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor. Not the type of thing I'd normally go for but it's just wonderful. Should be on the Leaving Cert course.

Belle E. Flops

'The Storyteller' by Jodi Picoult. I read one of hers once before and didn't like it at all and haven't read anything by her in years. Picked this up because I thought it looked interesting.
Sage is a young woman with a facial scar who hides away from the world and works during the night in a bakery. Her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. Sage becomes friends with Josef, an elderly man who is seen as a pillar of the community. Josef decides to confess a secret that he has kept to himself for decades....he used to he in the SS.
I'm about half way through and this part of the book is the grandmother's story of her experiences during the Holocaust.

I wouldn't use say that I'm 'enjoying' it, but I'm finding it really good so far.

bonzodog2

Just finished another superb James Lee Burke book
https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Rainbow-Dave-Robicheaux-Novel/dp/1439128316

UsedToWait

mikhail wrote: »

A personal favourite is the ship's attempt at a cup of tea that tastes "almost, but not quite entirely, unlike tea."

And the way the spaceships hung in the air "in much the same way that bricks don't"

9or10

Came across this in one of my aimless browsing sessions.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101613307&postcount=1

I've just finished the free simple and its hooked my attention. Quite spicy in places .

Plus he's "one of us" and its nice to show a little love