What book are you reading atm??

44leto · 19-02-2012 10:35pm

Collie D wrote: »

Another thing I agree with, I find it hard to believe that he never killed anyone and he points that out repeatedly throughout the book (assuming it's true that is :P). I like to ignore whether it's fictional or not kind of like when watching Idiot Abroad andnot wanting to believe it's scripted. A kind of ignorant bliss.

On another note, to 44leto...we seem to have similar taste so I'll be watching your posts in this thread for tips.

LOL
Ditto

I also thought the book seem to lacked sex, he just didn't seem to get enough of it for were he was, or the situation he was in. But maybe that's me, I am a dog after all.

foxinsox · 19-02-2012 11:02pm

I always forget to come in here and post

I read a lot, so thought I'd mention a few books that I have really enjoyed in the past and would recommend:

These are in no order, just as they spring to mind.

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - or any of his books, all excellent.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Wild Swans - Jung Chang

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson - and the following two books - best thriller story I have read in a long time.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Kite Runner -Khaled Hosseini

Kane and Abel - Jeffery Archer

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

The Accused - Mark Gimenez - recently discovered him, very like Grisham's early work and I've read all his books now and enjoyed them, think he has about 5 books.

The Bookseller of Kabul - Åsne Seierstad

Perfume - Patrick Suskind

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillippa Gregory - I have read all her books, I like them.

I've been reading through this thread to try and get a few ideas for a few new books..It's a great thread, because I can pick out users who have similar taste in books and try out their recommendations..

Happy Reading

Lady von Purple · 20-02-2012 1:12am

About six months later than intended, I'm finally onto George RR Martin's Dance With Dragons. Trying to read it as slowly as possible because who knows when the next one'll be finished!

GLaDOS · 20-02-2012 1:22am

SlinkyKittin wrote: »

Bill Bryson, The Lfe and Times if the Thunderbolt Kid, laugh out loud for real

I've heard a lot of good things about him, meaning to pick up something. Is he comparable to Terry Pratchett?

Gi joe! · 20-02-2012 1:23am

Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome by Steven Saylor.

Only about 200 pages in, but am enjoying so far. I'm a sucker for anything to do with history, especially Roman or Greek, so its right up my alley.

Overcoming depression by Prof Paul Gilbert

Have just dipped in and out of this to parts I found interesting, especially the biological and evolutionary nature of depression. Written in an extremely simple manner, although I can see why. Reading some convoluted dissertation is the last thing you'd want to do when your down. Would recommend it.

Agricola · 20-02-2012 2:14am

Hitchens' memoir Hitch 22, enjoyable but a very often frustrating read due to the sheer amount of digressions and needless name dropping. The things that make made

him such a compelling speaker to listen to, count against him here I find. Just when hes crafting some great prose about a given topic, he will swerve onto something loosely related to it for a paragraph just so he can grandstand about some revolutionary or other he drank with and/or shagged!

mattjack · 20-02-2012 2:35am

foxinsox wrote: »

I always forget to come in here and post

I read a lot, so thought I'd mention a few books that I have really enjoyed in the past and would recommend:

These are in no order, just as they spring to mind.

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - or any of his books, all excellent.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Wild Swans - Jung Chang

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson - and the following two books - best thriller story I have read in a long time.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Kite Runner -Khaled Hosseini

Kane and Abel - Jeffery Archer

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

The Accused - Mark Gimenez - recently discovered him, very like Grisham's early work and I've read all his books now and enjoyed them, think he has about 5 books.

The Bookseller of Kabul - Åsne Seierstad

Perfume - Patrick Suskind

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillippa Gregory - I have read all her books, I like them.

I've been reading through this thread to try and get a few ideas for a few new books..It's a great thread, because I can pick out users who have similar taste in books and try out their recommendations..

Happy Reading

Wild Swans was very good, Asne Seierstad .. I've read something else by her too , cant remember the name.

ibarelycare · 20-02-2012 10:38am

foxinsox wrote: »

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

I love this book and have read it a few times. However the last time I read it I was doing some googling to see how much of it was based on fact and I read that Arthur Golden was sued for defamation and breach of contract by a geisha he had interviewed while writing the novel. He had used loads of her story but promised to keep her anonymity, however he listed her as a source in the acknowledgements and there was uproar about it. She received death threats and everything. She wrote her own book afterwards with what she says is a much "truer" story about geisha. Her wiki is here. I haven't read her book but would like to. It apparently shows the lives of geisha in a much more positive light, but it would be interesting to know how much she felt pressured into writing it after the backlash over Memoirs.

Ormus · 20-02-2012 6:00pm

Slattsy wrote: »

Have to say re Shantaram, that in no way was everything in that actual, was def more fiction novel. An awful lot of bull****.
He tries so hard to portray himself as such a good guy, it almost annoyed me.

Great read though it has to be said

People have the wrong idea about Shantaram. The author never ever said it was an autobiography. He freely admits that most of the characters are fictional and that the events are inspired by personal experiences, rather than entirely autobiographical.

A lot of the events in the novel did really happen to him, but basically the best way to read it is as a novel. It's an amazing story and well told.

sakit2me · 20-02-2012 6:37pm

ive just finished reading the hunger game trilogy there aswel and while i enjoyed it couldnt help but feel suzanne collins just took elements from the film battle royale and the final fantasy computer series (particulary seven) and smashed them together to create the hunger games...just wondering if people whove read them felt the same??

El Horseboxo · 20-02-2012 6:48pm

Arnold Schwarzenegger - The new encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding.

PatA · 20-02-2012 6:58pm

I've also just read 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and the two following books. I didn't much fancy them, but really enjoyed them.

Fluorescence · 21-02-2012 1:44pm

Just finished YesMan by Danny Wallace. It is full of win

Standard Toaster · 21-02-2012 1:46pm

William Burroughs - 'Naked Lunch'

Tis a little.....erm....different.

Sonnenblumen · 25-02-2012 1:10am

Now reading 'Even the Dogs' my third Jon McGregor book in less than three weeks. A great contemporary writer of everyday small living.

batm!ke · 25-02-2012 2:03am

Just finished reading "The War for Late Night: When Leno went early and Television went crazy" by Bill Carter. If you have any interest in the American Late Night chatshow format it's a must-read. Personally I'm a fan of Jimmy Kimmel and Dave Letterman, Conan is decent too. The book chronicles the decision made to replace Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on NBC's 'The Tonight Show' and give Conan's old slot to Saturday Night Live's Jimmy Fallon. Didn't really work out though

It goes behind the scenes and shows the craic all the other late night hosts had with such great material (Kimmel, Letterman, Ferguson) I couldn't get it locally as wasn't published outside America so had a local shop order it in for me. It's probably on Amazon or some such though.

py2006 · 25-02-2012 6:49pm

batm!ke wrote: »

Just finished reading "The War for Late Night: When Leno went early and Television went crazy" by Bill Carter. If you have any interest in the American Late Night chatshow format it's a must-read. Personally I'm a fan of Jimmy Kimmel and Dave Letterman, Conan is decent too. The book chronicles the decision made to replace Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on NBC's 'The Tonight Show' and give Conan's old slot to Saturday Night Live's Jimmy Fallon. Didn't really work out though It goes behind the scenes and shows the craic all the other late night hosts had with such great material (Kimmel, Letterman, Ferguson) I couldn't get it locally as wasn't published outside America so had a local shop order it in for me. It's probably on Amazon or some such though.

Does it give an insight into how the shows are produced behind the scenes? I might pick up a copy of this.

Wattle · 25-02-2012 7:36pm

Faces In The Water - Janet Frame.

I've been meaning to read her for a while especially since seeing the autobiographical movie of her life 'An Angel At My Table' which is also great.

GLaDOS · 26-02-2012 5:50pm

Wandered down to the book shop today, picked up "The Colour Out of Space" by HP Lovecraft and Orwell's 1984. Been meaning to read 1984 for ages, really enjoyed animal farm.

luckyfrank · 26-02-2012 5:52pm

'how to cure raping'

S/hite read

MagicMarker · 26-02-2012 8:06pm

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Very interesting read, almost half way through and I'm sure the worst is still to come.

Temptamperu · 26-02-2012 8:09pm

Mistborn book one - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. Its amazingly easy to read and very enjoyable.

Bobby42 · 26-02-2012 8:12pm

Reading The Stand by Steven King. I must say it's fantastic. I unintentionally picked up the extended version, so a 1300 page book is a lot to get through. It was slow starting off but after getting half way through I'm loving it.

hairyprincess · 27-02-2012 8:19pm

Finally finished 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'; it was a terrible, terrible read, absolutely rubbish. DO NOT READ!! Glad I only paid 50c for it in the charity shop.
Just started 'Sister' yesterday by Rosmund Lipton; it is brilliant. I can hardly put it down. I'm almost half way through and dreading getting to the end. I've decided I'm going to be re reading it! Definitely worth the €9.50 I paid

Millicent · 29-02-2012 12:51am

hairyprincess wrote: »

Finally finished 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'; it was a terrible, terrible read, absolutely rubbish. DO NOT READ!! Glad I only paid 50c for it in the charity shop.

What?! No way! What didn't you like about it? I thought it was one of the best reads I've had in a long time.