What book are you reading atm??

Joe Dog

Just finished The Given Day by Dennis Lehane it's mainly about an Irish American Cop family in Boston and the trade union movement in Boston just after the first world war.

It's a brilliant novel really really interesting information about America of the time in it so you'll learn stuff and the story is great.Very long book it's around 750 pages long.

Dennis Lehane never disappoints.

Shenshen

I'm half-way through "Walkaway" by Cory Doctorow.
I picked it up on a whim recently, looking for a good SciFi book - I don't like the cookie-cutter space hero sagas, but I am generally fascinated by the way a good author will imagine a future world.

This one so far is really exactly what I was looking for. A future society in which jobs and work are becoming fewer and fewer, with a small number of oligarchs controlling the distribution of goods and wealth.
A group of young people decide to become Walkaways - a movement the turns its back on "default" life, and instead turning to a gifting society. The idea being that any work you do, anything you create is a gift to everyone else. You should not expect anything in return, you should not keep count of how much you've done and contributed, and you should accept the gifts of others as true gifts, not as payment.
The book assumes technological advances that allow the Walkaway community to generate all they need relatively easily, in an "age of affluence", while resources are tightly controlled by the oligarchs in "default", mainly through copyright laws.

It's a gripping read, the perspective of the narrator changes every couple of chapters, but remains consistent throughout a particular section of the book.
A lot of the conversations remind me of the all-night discussions I would have had in political forums over the years, debating ethics, consumerism, personal responsibility, etc.

I would highly recommend it!

gutenberg

Maja Lunde's The History of Bees.

Dial Hard

Joe Dog wrote: »

Just finished The Given Day by Dennis Lehane it's mainly about an Irish American Cop family in Boston and the trade union movement in Boston just after the first world war.

It's a brilliant novel really really interesting information about America of the time in it so you'll learn stuff and the story is great.Very long book it's around 750 pages long.

God, I found that book unutterably dull. To the point where I can't actually remember now why I persisted with it when I could have been reading something else.

Joe Dog wrote: »

Dennis Lehane never disappoints.

I'd have to disagree with you there, I've been disappointed by him so many times that I've given up on him altogether. His ideas and plotting are fantastic but he just doesn't have the writing chops to pull it off.

Joe Dog

Dial Hard wrote: »

God, I found that book unutterably dull. To the point where I can't actually remember now why I persisted with it when I could have been reading something else.



I'd have to disagree with you there, I've been disappointed by him so many times that I've given up on him altogether. His ideas and plotting are fantastic but he just doesn't have the writing chops to pull it off.

You obviously just don't like him then which is fair enough I've loved pretty much every book of his I've read.He's probably my favourite author.

Paddy Samurai

Just started this one and liking it big time,so far.............

Defender is lifted way above other novels in the over-subscribed post-apocalyptic subgenre by Todd's sympathetic characterisation and superb pacing' Guardian

Lady Spangles

Just finished Margaret Attwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" (been meaning to read it for yunks). Now starting Robin Hobb's "Fitz and the Fool" series.

JustAThought

I just finished 'The Strangers Child' by Alan Hollinghurst.All 3 inches of it.

I perservered because the author had won a bucketfull of awards.

I am now having a well earned DRINK.

iLikeWaffles

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Fantastic short story (Hellraiser)
Tried to start reading 'Insomnia' Stephen King, Though after Hellbound Heart its very hard to get into. So,
Re-Reading 'What did I do last night: A Drunkard's Tale' Tom Sykes. Found it hilarious first time round!

Clive Barker is such a good writer, highly recommended! will probably read Imajica next.

Shenshen

JustAThought wrote: »

I just finished 'The Strangers Child' by Alan Hollinghurst.All 3 inches of it.

I perservered because the author had won a bucketfull of awards.

I am now having a well earned DRINK.

I read "A line of beauty" by him and really loved it. So I thought I'd also love "A stranger's child" - but honestly, I didn't even finish it. And for me, that's a rare thing indeed.
So well done for persevering on this! I'd say don't give up on the author just yet, though

Thargor

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Just started this one and liking it big time,so far.............

Oh God for a second I thought you were talking about this Defenders:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18453098-defenders

My go-to answer when someone asks me whats the worst book I ever read...

Carry

Just finished The Last Hours by Minette Walters.

What a story! Time is the mid-1300s and place is a demesne and village in Dorset, when the plague broke out and devasted Europe. One woman, the lady of the manor, and her serfs/farmers defy not only the plague but also the clergy and the aristocracy and thereby religious and feudal rules.

I know Minette Walters as a fantastic thriller writer and her skills to create a sense of place, interesting characters, realistic circumstances, gory details and a gripping story shows in this historical novel. It is well researched and I was really "living" in medieval times while reading it.

It's supposed to be a trilogy. Can't wait for the next installment.

Highly recommended!

Rubberlegs

I am reading Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz.
It's OK, I like the short chapters as I have lost my reading mojo lately. There are so many books that I want to read and not enough time

Autosport

Just at the end of Lisa Gardner's Look for me, really enjoying this and I'm liking the twists.

Thargor

Carry wrote: »

Just finished The Last Hours by Minette Walters.

What a story! Time is the mid-1300s and place is a demesne and village in Dorset, when the plague broke out and devasted Europe. One woman, the lady of the manor, and her serfs/farmers defy not only the plague but also the clergy and the aristocracy and thereby religious and feudal rules.

I know Minette Walters as a fantastic thriller writer and her skills to create a sense of place, interesting characters, realistic circumstances, gory details and a gripping story shows in this historical novel. It is well researched and I was really "living" in medieval times while reading it.

It's supposed to be a trilogy. Can't wait for the next installment.

Highly recommended!

This is right up my alley, thanks for this, ordered.

optogirl

Starting Hitchhikers Gide again.... so enjoyable

Hector Savage

Explorers of the Nile by Tim Jeal.


Excellent read

Paddy Samurai

Defender by G X Todd


Finished this and liked it big time.A apocalypse novel that reminded me of "The Last of Us" , one of my favourite video games.

A real page turner this one.

Paddy Samurai

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Defender by G X Todd


Finished this and liked it big time.A apocalypse novel that reminded me of "The Last of Us" , one of my favourite video games.

A real page turner this one.

Then started Hunted by G X Todd

Todd uses the narrative of Defender to explore in a thoughtful and credible manner some deep themes. Such as the consequences of violence, loneliness and psychology of survival. These themes are handled in such a way that they are allowed to get their message across without ever getting in the way of the story, elevating Defender above your usual end of the world story.

Emmersonn

The Nazi Titanic by Robert P Watson

The incredible untold story of a doomed ship in Word War 11

Built in 1927, the German ocean liner SS Cap Arcona was the greatest ship since the RMS Titanic. When the Nazi seized control in Germany, she was used as a floating barracks and troop transport, cast as the "star" in a propaganda film about the sinking of the Titanic, and ultimately packed with thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Just days before Germany surrendered, the vessel was mistakenly bombed by the Royal Air Force and nearly all of the prisoners were killed in what was the last major tragedy of the Holocaust and one of history's worst maritime disasters.

Chev_Chelios

Emmersonn wrote: »

The Nazi Titanic by Robert P Watson

The incredible untold story of a doomed ship in Word War 11

Fúckin hell two of them was bad enough.

the purple tin

The Shipping News by Anne Prolux

optogirl

Listening to audiobook of 'The Blade Artist' by Irvine Welsh - about Begbie now 'reformed' and living in California but has to return to Edinburgh for a family funeral - excellent listen

gmisk

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng

Enjoying it so far.

gutenberg

Does anyone else experience that in-between feeling with books? I've just finished one, and I have a stack of books to bring away on holiday, but I'm not departing for another few days, and I don't want to start those books just yet?! So I'm trying to find something to tide me over

So I'm reading Rebecca Solnit's The Mother Of All Questions, a collection of her essays, perfect for dipping in & out of.

optogirl

gutenberg wrote: »

Does anyone else experience that in-between feeling with books? I've just finished one, and I have a stack of books to bring away on holiday, but I'm not departing for another few days, and I don't want to start those books just yet?! So I'm trying to find something to tide me over

So I'm reading Rebecca Solnit's The Mother Of All Questions, a collection of her essays, perfect for dipping in & out of.

Yes definitely - have a Zadie Smith essay collection and VIZ annuals for just such an occasion!

optogirl

optogirl wrote: »

Listening to audiobook of 'The Blade Artist' by Irvine Welsh - about Begbie now 'reformed' and living in California but has to return to Edinburgh for a family funeral - excellent listen

I read it last year and was pretty disappointed with it.

RIGOLO

Memoirs of a British Agent - R.H. Bruce Lockhart.  - A bestseller when first published in 1934

Lockhart  was acting Consul-General in Moscow when the first revolution broke out in 1917. Sent home because of an affair with a married woman, he returned to Russia the following year as Head of the British Mission to the Bolsheviks. his graphic first-hand description of the Moscow of 1918, his frequent encounters with Lenin, Trotsky and the other architects of the Revolution, his experiences as a prisoner in the famous Loubianka prision, all combine as a fascinating picture of one man present at history in the making. 
Apart from being as thrilling and unputdownable as any masterpiece of fiction, it is also an indictment by the man on the spot of the total failure of politicians and diplomats in Western Europe to grasp the significance of the russian Revolution - the conseqeunces of which we still have to live with today.

appledrop

White Chrysanthemum -Mary Lynn Bracht. I've just started it. It's an unreal read so far. Set in WW2 but from perspective of Korean girl + horrors of being kidnapped by Japense soilders. I'm on pg 57 + have cried twice already.

I know it's fiction but I'd say it's based on horrors of that time. I thought I knew all about WW2 but in reality only from European perspective.

Buford T. Justice XIX

The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts. The daring US mission to rescue the priceless stallions kidnapped by the Nazis. Just finished it and really enjoyed it. A mix of history and the decisions people had to make to save what they found precious.