What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

wally1990

JasonStatham wrote: »

I'm currently on The Man who solved the Market by Gregory Zuckerman.

It's about a mathematician (Jim Simons) and his quantitative trading career. I'm only a few chapters in, but it's fascinating how the personal lives of these type of people are affected by their jobs.

If you like those type of books, then check out '' the spider network'' .

True story and fascinating book

''a brilliant but troubled mathematician with Asperger’s syndrome – The Spider Network follows Tom and a group of British bankers as they stumble on a way to manipulate the obscure number responsible for the interest rates of trillions in loans worldwide (Libor).''

gutenberg

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

I read it years ago but looking forward to rediscovering it.

ClydeTallyBump

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

Barna77

Finished the other day For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Well, after 300 pages there was finally some action, except for a previous chapter about the first day of the Spanish civil war.
Something that was really grating my ears (or eyes here :pac:) was the language used. As all the characters are talking in Spanish, Hemmingway is trying to show it using expressions that are literally translated from Spanish, which don't make any sense in English. It sounds ridiculous and patronising. Besides, shouldn't the main character, who is American, be the one speaking Spanish poorly?
And don't get me started on the use of thou, thee or thy

I had to laugh at Hemmingway's self censorship: "go obscenity yourself"

breezy1985

Barna77 wrote: »

Finished the other day For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Well, after 300 pages there was finally some action, except for a previous chapter about the first day of the Spanish civil war.
Something that was really grating my ears (or eyes here :pac:) was the language used. As all the characters are talking in Spanish, Hemmingway is trying to show it using expressions that are literally translated from Spanish, which don't make any sense in English. It sounds ridiculous and patronising. Besides, shouldn't the main character, who is American, be the one speaking Spanish poorly?
And don't get me started on the use of thou, thee or thy

I had to laugh at Hemmingway's self censorship: "go obscenity yourself"

Completely overrated as a writer and uses horrible racist language even for his time and a complete fake when it comes to conflict journalism. Always talking about gums and getting pics with soldiers far from the lines and after battles were done. I don't know how people like Martha Gellhorn were able to be fooled by him.

Just bought Giles Tremletts "The International Brigades" and thought they gave me the wrong book in the shop when I picked it up. 670 big pages and is thick enough to make me think I am about to read about every dinner and toilet break a brigader ever took

Barna77

breezy1985 wrote: »

Completely overrated as a writer and uses horrible racist language even for his time and a complete fake when it comes to conflict journalism. Always talking about gums and getting pics with soldiers far from the lines and after battles were done. I don't know how people like Martha Gellhorn were able to be fooled by him.

Just bought Giles Tremletts "The International Brigades" and thought they gave me the wrong book in the shop when I picked it up. 670 big pages and is thick enough to make me think I am about to read about every dinner and toilet break a brigader ever took

It was on my list for a while and it's been an utter disappointment.


About the international brigades, I heard Tremlett the other day in an interview in Newstalk. It reminded me when he used to be a regular guest on a Spanish radio station back in the early 2000, when he was The Guardian correspondent in Spain. His pieces were always fun to hear. He knows us alright

breezy1985

Barna77 wrote: »

It was on my list for a while and it's been an utter disappointment.


About the international brigades, I heard Tremlett the other day in an interview in Newstalk. It reminded me when he used to be a regular guest on a Spanish radio station back in the early 2000, when he was The Guardian correspondent in Spain. His pieces were always fun to hear. He knows us alright

"Ghosts of Spain" was very good but the size of this brigades one is daunting.

I'm half way through "Farewell Spain" by Kate O'Brien and really liking it and just finished "fighting for Republican Spain" by Barry McLaughlin about the Limerick men who fought against the fascists in Spain

pappyodaniel

I love a bit of true crime.
I'm a few chapters into reading The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer. Although Mailer was a big of a pr*ck you get a sense he really did his homework on researching his subject matter.

Really enjoying this one so far.

py2006

EDIT: **wrong thread

JustAThought

Because I’m locked into the house & a bit bored I finally got around to reading the Michael Connelly book someone had given me 6 months ago. ‘The Night Fire. I read it in two days & did enjoy it thou thats normally not my type of book. Entertained me well & a satisfying read.


I noticed that Connolly also wrote THE FIFTH WITNESS which I read a while back - an UNPUTDOWNABLE whodunnit/whathappened read that had me on the edge of the bed all night reading it. I’d really recommend that one. Especially in a lockdown!!

( easy read usa crime fiction with a few regular detective characters you can get into and follow if you like -not overly sadistic or vindictive towards victims which is nice for a chamge in crime)

Can’t believe he has sold SEVENTY FOUR MILLION copies of his books :0

also - e16 for his latest in my local
bookshop but e23 & delivery on the internet...

Tauriel

JustAThought wrote: »

also - e16 for his latest in my local
bookshop but e23 & delivery on the internet...

You can get 28% off at Easons using discount code "28THREE" or 25% off with code "BLACK". Free delivery on items over EUR 10.

JustAThought

mustang shelly wrote: »

You can get 28% off at Easons using discount code "28THREE" or 25% off with code "BLACK". Free delivery on items over EUR 10.

Thanks! I gave up on Easons years ago when I pearned they demanded 40% off the author to hold their book in stock. They’re not left
much after the publishers, agents, PR companies and Easons have taken their share. I prefer to keep my little bookshop alive instead if I can.

good tip thou - thank you.

JustAThought

The Wooden Overcoat by Pamela Dench. Laugh yourself sick story - written in 1950 or so but savagely funny. Available free online
with quick google of the title/name & bbc . If you love this two of her other books were also done by the BBC. I guess this makes them audiobooks but my God are they brilliant and get-sick-laughing-funny. I tried getting some
of hers to buy online but her publishing house was sold and much of the back catalogue including hers is long out of print .

David Tennant of Dr Who does some of the voices. Just BRILLIANT. (and free!)

Tauriel

JustAThought wrote: »

Thanks! I gave up on Easons years ago when I pearned they demanded 40% off the author to hold their book in stock. They’re not left
much after the publishers, agents, PR companies and Easons have taken their share. I prefer to keep my little bookshop alive instead if I can.

good tip thou - thank you.

Seriously!?! I wasn't aware of that. Such a mean spirited thing to do.

MsStote

Title: Angels’ Blood
Author: Nalini Singh
Blurb: The story is about a young woman who is contracted by an archangel to trace and track down an enemy. It is a supernatural book with there being the human race, the angelic race who makes vampires out of humans. It's loosely based on Earth and this particular book in the series is in New York mainly.
Would I recommend it: I am rereading the series before the next book is out in a few days. She has 13 books, including the new one, out so far in the series and it is freaking addictive. It is constantly on my mind that this book is out soon. Once you read it, the wait is on again.

Mars Bar

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. It's the second book in the Six of Crows series. I just love the dialogue in these books!

victor8600

To School Through The Fields by Alice Taylor. I like it, reminds me of my own summers with my grandparents.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes.

Great book. The structure is a bit hard to get the hang of, as it cuts back and forward in time, but it all clicks after a while.

victor8600

Red Plenty by Francis Spufford. A mix of documentary and fiction about the USSR's planned economy and why it failed.

JeffreyEpspeen

Mobfather by George Anastasia.

I'm a fan of true crime and mafia related books and this pertains to a particularly bloody period of mob history in Philadelphia under the Nicky Scarfo reign of the 1980s.

Scarfo took over as boss from "The Chicken Man" Philip Testa after he was blown up by a nail bomb, a murder Bruce Springsteen sang about in the song, Atlantic City.

The book is about a capo in the Scarfo crime family named Tommy Del Giorno who later ratted on Scarfo. It's written from the perspective of his wife and one of his sons.

It's very good, as are all of the mob books written by Anastasia, one of the preeminent mafia writers along with Selwyn Raab, Jerry Capeci and George Anastasia.

JeffreyEpspeen

JustAThought wrote: »

Because I’m locked into the house & a bit bored I finally got around to reading the Michael Connelly book someone had given me 6 months ago. ‘The Night Fire. I read it in two days & did enjoy it thou thats normally not my type of book. Entertained me well & a satisfying read.


I noticed that Connolly also wrote THE FIFTH WITNESS which I read a while back - an UNPUTDOWNABLE whodunnit/whathappened read that had me on the edge of the bed all night reading it. I’d really recommend that one. Especially in a lockdown!!

( easy read usa crime fiction with a few regular detective characters you can get into and follow if you like -not overly sadistic or vindictive towards victims which is nice for a chamge in crime)

Can’t believe he has sold SEVENTY FOUR MILLION copies of his books :0

also - e16 for his latest in my local
bookshop but e23 & delivery on the internet...

Used to horse into the Michael Connelly books myself. They're good, very slickly written, but they're lacking a bit of grit and authenticity. Trying to expand my horizons, I moved on to Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and James Ellroy and I prefer their oeuvre. Pelecanos is very good at writing street characters and I get engrossed in their stories; it helps that the characters are funny and relatable, whereas the characterisation in Connelly books is very dry and formulaic. James Ellroy is in a world of his own as well. His stuff is so dark and you can tell he's drawing from profoundly deep personal experience (his mother was murdered). I always feel like I need a cleansing after reading one of his books - The Big Nowhere is probably my favourite book.

kowloonkev

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Tells the story as the title suggests of just one day in his life in a Soviet labour camp. Goes into fine detail about the fight for survival, for food and for warmth in the middle of a Russian winter. They are marched to work on a construction job. The main character is a very shrewd operator having been in the camp eight years and knows the best way to survive down to small details like knowing the optimum time to line up to get the thickest soup with the most bits of food in it.

Absolutely brilliant storyteller and the characters are vividly portrayed as is the grim reality, although it does show that people can adapt to any circumstances.

I liked it so much I've moved onto reading 'The Cancer Ward' by the same author.

nigeldaniel

From Dryden to Johnson by Boris Ford.
'A Pelican Guide' book from years passed. Found it in a second-hand shop a year ago and it's only now I am getting around to reading it.

ClydeTallyBump

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Grim.

gmisk

The midnight library by Matt Haig.
I blooming love it.
Best to go in not knowing the plot.

The only other book I read of his was the humans which is really heartwarming too.

breezy1985

gmisk wrote: »

The midnight library by Matt Haig.
I blooming love it.
Best to go in not knowing the plot.

The only other book I read of his was the humans which is really heartwarming too.

Sounds like it could be my kinda thing

fixXxer

ClydeTallyBump wrote: »

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Grim.

I had a long sit down after reading that. Intended to watch the movie adaption once the book was done but I couldn't.

Re-Reading two books at the moment

The End is Always Near by Dan Carlin. He does the Hardcore History podcast so if you like that, this is worth a read. It actually feels like reading the podcast in a way, there's asides and footnotes all over the place.

Ghost Written by David Mitchell. I love all of his books and re-read them now and then as a comfort.

mariaalice

fixXxer wrote: »

I had a long sit down after reading that. Intended to watch the movie adaption once the book was done but I couldn't.

Re-Reading two books at the moment

The End is Always Near by Dan Carlin. He does the Hardcore History podcast so if you like that, this is worth a read. It actually feels like reading the podcast in a way, there's asides and footnotes all over the place.

Ghost Written by David Mitchell. I love all of his books and re-read them now and then as a comfort.

David Mitchell is a very underrated writer Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite books the film was dreadfully though.

fixXxer

mariaalice wrote: »

David Mitchell is a very underrated writer Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite books the film was dreadfully though.

I have no idea how you would understand the movie without having read the book first! Absolute monster of a story, it would be much more suited to a netflix series or something.

Joe_ Public

Is David Mitchell underrated? Twice booker nominated, frequently tops best seller lists, routinely acknowledged as one of the uks foremost writers. I wouldn't have thought so anyway. Amazed to see he's still only 50, feels like he's been around decades. Not a massive fan but will definitely be reading his latest offering.