What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

Flinty997 · 10-05-2022 9:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119028974#Comment_119028974

I liked Nemesis myself. Offered some new perspectives.

reReading Gunboat 658 By Leonard C. Reynolds. K

19yr old experiences of a fast motor gun boat (torpedo boat with no torpedos and more guns) from Gibraltar to Malta, from Malta to the Sicilian invasion, from Sicily to Sardinia, Corsica, and Yugoslavia during WW2.

It's a modest, understated record of the experience of the boat, crew and operations in a lesser known campaign from a 1st hand perspective. Some might find it a bit light but I enjoyed it.

put_the_kettle_on · 11-05-2022 6:15pm

I move around the genres a bit but always find myself back at hard sci fi for pure escapist enjoyment. I wish Cixin Liu would write another corker like The Three Body Problem but he hasn't yet.

At the mo I'm reading a Brandon Q. Morris book, The Disturbance. As always with his books it's enjoyable without being demanding.

Loafing Oaf · 13-05-2022 7:46pm

Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind by Charles Nicholl

Lively, beautifully written biography, full of fascinating quirky details

14-05-2022 9:47am

The Brothers Karamazov.

A much easier and more entertaining book than you might suspect. Long though!

silliussoddius · 16-05-2022 9:45pm

has anyone ever read anything by Harlan Ellison? He seems to be a very influential Sci Fi writer.

Seathrun66 · 16-05-2022 9:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119059850#Comment_119059850

Overlong I think, though brilliant as is everything he did. I felt they could have cut out much of the religious treatises, adds nothing to the book and slows it down. Crime & Punishment, Notes From Underground and The Idiot far more concise. Not read him in ages, time to return. Enjoy it.

Seathrun66 · 16-05-2022 9:51pm

Hellfire by Nick Tosches, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, rated by The Guardian and Rolling Stone as the greatest rock 'n' roll book of all. Not on that level thus far but veery decent stuff.

EmmetSpiceland · 16-05-2022 10:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119072607#Comment_119072607

Read ‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’ awhile ago. Decent story, mainly got it because I remember the computer game from back in the day.

Haven't read anything else by him, though.

Arghus · 20-05-2022 11:33am

Been a while since I took stock of what I'd been recently reading.

Over the last while I have read:

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova

Spring by Karl Ove Knausgaard

The Magician by Colm Toibin - perhaps not as good as The Master, but, after a bit of a struggle, found myself engrossed by it.

Absolute Zero by Artem Chekh

Checkout 19 by Claire Louise Bennett

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney - Couldn't help but feel a bit dissapointed by it

War by Margret MacMillan

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada - absolutely stunning, riveting and, ultimately, devastating. Excellent novel.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Welcome to America by Linda Bolstrom Knausgaard

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart - a lot to commend in it, plenty of what made Shuggie Bain so good is still there, but parts of the novel didn't land as effectively for me: the misery was laid on a bit too thick at times and parts of the novel didn't ring true with authenticity IMO.

There were some others too that have completely slipped my mind. Of that bunch Alone in Berlin was the one I would recommend most heartily.

At the moment I'm reading Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante and once again she is absolutely blowing my mind. Jesus Christ, what a writer! Her novels are so readable, but so textured and evocative and filled with such depths. How she manages to pull off being so hypnotic, even easy to read and yet also while being so totally uncompromising and brutally frank is astounding.

pavb2 · 02-06-2022 8:47pm

‘I Claudius’ is one of my favourites and ‘Count Belasarius’ is also a good read so I just finished Robert Graves’ biography ‘Goodbye to all That’. I’ve read quite a few books on the subject and watched many films but don’t think I’ve ever read such an authentic account of life in the First World War trenches.

Some interesting stories of climbing with Mallory and conversations with Lawrence of Arabia among others.

bullpost · 03-06-2022 10:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151035#Comment_119151035

Read that biography a while back and also found it excellent. The graphic detail of the trenches is an eye opener.

growleaves · 03-06-2022 11:00am

Apparently some of the trenches were so water-logged soldiers used to joke that they'd be relieved by the Royal Navy.

_Godot_ · 09-06-2022 12:10pm

I picked up the complete books of Earthsea on kindle (it's one volume but all six books) because it's on sale, and now I'm rereading A Wizard of Earthsea.

Tauriel · 20-06-2022 3:58pm

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

This the final book in the Farseer Trilogy and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. Quite an unusual not so happyish ending which is refreshing.

I cannot believe that I didn't see the Fool being the White Prophet coming!

GiftofGab · 21-06-2022 9:57am

Thinking fast and slow.

Interesting book but just not sure if it's right for me. Feels like good-to-know knowledge but forcing myself to read it.

Dial Hard · 21-06-2022 10:10am

Just finished Did Ye Hear Mammy Died by Séamas O'Reilly (he of Tommy Bowe's "Ten siblings?!?!" gaffe). Loved it.

Had been trying (and largely failing) to read Marian Keyes' Again, Rachel for weeks but finally gave up on it last night in a fit of exasperation at possibly the most contrived and unbelievable scene set-up I've ever come across in a lifetime of bookwormery. Avoid like the plague.

pottokblue · 21-06-2022 10:20am

Finished @'Peopleperson' by Candice Carty-Williams light comedy London novel.

Trying to read @Transparent city@ by Ondjaki, a magical surealism kaleidoscope of Luanda city

growleaves · 21-06-2022 10:22am

"Masters of Atlantis" by Charles Portis

Enjoyable novel. Very dry humour.

Say Your Number · 25-06-2022 8:52pm

Just finished My Fouth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden, very grim and harrowing read but an important book.

Moving on to George Hamilton's autobiography now, some much needed light relief after that.

Dial Hard · 28-06-2022 12:55pm

Currently reading Sophie's Choice. It's a bit of a slog, tbh. Mostly because the three main characters are so annoying.

Lefty2Guns · 30-06-2022 8:14am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119037626#Comment_119037626

In my opinion, one of the greatest stories ever told. The only book I have read twice and also listened to the audio of it online.

Class book. Would recommend The 3 Musketeers if you enjoy The Count. Its not as long big as The Count but a great story.

Lefty2Guns · 30-06-2022 8:23am

Have been a keen book reader all my life but drifted the during the pandemic to wasting time looking at stuff on my phone and social media. Have tried to park the phone in the evening times since the turn of the year. Books I have read since.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Crazy story and I enjoyed reading it the way Hunter thought people would

1984 - First time reading an Orwell book.

Desperation - Stephen King

The Ridge - Michael Koryta

The Pelican Brief - John Grisham

Currently reading:

The Wheel of Time - First Book in Series

Life or Death - Michael Robotham

Dead Wake - The Last Crossing of the Lusithania

Yes, I do tend to read 3 books at a time.

bullpost · 01-07-2022 10:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119270005#Comment_119270005

I'll return the favour and recommend both Down and Out in London and Paris and Homage to Catalonia by Orwell.

mariaalice · 01-07-2022 4:51pm

Devils day Andrew Micheal Hurley it is literary folk horror, a good book very unusual. I like the way it realistically conveys the hard work and casual cruelty of farming.

Anyone who likes Irvine Welsh or Ben Myers would like the book.

Tauriel · 01-07-2022 9:33pm

Agent Sonya by Ben Macintyre

Extraordinary read that is fast paced yet detailed to perfection. This is the true story of a female spy in WW2 for the Soviet Union and despite the large number of people involved in her story (handlers, lovers, her own cell of spies and family), Macintyre gives just the right amount of pertinent detail on each without it becoming cumbersome.

Dial Hard · 02-07-2022 2:09pm

I need a break from Sophie's Choice so started The Watchers by A.M. Shine the other day, it's a modern-day Gothic horror set in Connemara. So far, so good.

Tauriel · 06-07-2022 5:33pm

The Irish Princess by Elizabeth Chadwick

I picked this up as I would be very into my history (both fact and fiction) and based on the reviews it seemed to have gotten when it came out. But I found this novel to be totally and utterly boring and pointless. I won't be going to have a look at Chadwick's other work. Don't get me wrong, it is a a very quick, simple read, not taxing in the slightest but not for me.

07-07-2022 3:53pm

Am in one of my alternating between fiction and non-fiction stages. So am going between "The Thursday Murder Club" and "The Journey of Humanity - the Origins of Wealth and Inequality" depending on what room I'm in.

Each the perfect antidote to each other and do what they're meant to do very well.

I Blame Sheeple · 07-07-2022 4:29pm

Finished 'The Enemy' by Lee Child & 'Shadow of the Dragon' by Tom Clancy.

Currently reading 'Splinter Cell: Checkmate' by David Michaels & Tom Clancy. Great read for anybody who played the games, it's bringing me back decades.

McGinniesta · 07-07-2022 8:54pm

I'm on a week long sickie and I'd just finished catcher in the rye this afternoon.

Will be starting homage to catalonia later and hope to finish it in one sitting.

What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

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