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Oh and my guilty Space Opera pleasure has been Backyard Starship series by JN Chaney. Man that bloke writes fast. This one is a collaboration and you can kind of tell. So much stuff going on in each book, hard to keep track but a great humorous easy read when you’re not in the mood to concentrate.
I like popcorn books, Discworld are my go to if I want something I can just flap through quickly and brainlessly 😆
Kitchenly 434 by the writer of Morvern Callar. Lighter in tone, very funny in places.
Nick - yeah I read that Trespass one as well. I know what you mean tho, kind of beating you over the head with the same thing.
Nothing wrong with Discworld- I must have most of them a number of times. And listened to a few audiobooks. Still think Night Watch is my fav.
Still working my way through the Harry Potter series in French, reading the book whilst listening to the French Audio on Audiable...
Really enjoying them if I'm honest. Sadly the narrator, who is very good, died mid series so I think this is the last book before it switches to someone else..
Trespass is a great book, bit repeaty in feeling. But, it does remind us plebs we dont have a look in on true land ownership and its ramifications.
I know my place now 🙁
How about a thread resurrection? I've missed hearing what you're all reading.
I'm currently reading A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. The back cover says it is 'a sunny, brilliantly witty comedy of manners.' Too early to comment, but hoping it will be a tonic. I did enjoy the film back in the day.
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson.
Back to some sci-fi / cyberpunk.
Currently Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Just started it but it's immediately very real and engrossing.
I need to finish it quickly, and then get onto Boys in Zinc* for the next book club meeting.
* Stories from the Soviet/Afghan conflict
Michael Palin's Into Iraq. Birthday present from Mrs Fazzini. As much as I love the TV programmes, the books are usually way better. I have them all, and I'm hopeful this is too but only 2 pages in.
Oo, good thread ressurection! Currently switching between Diary Of An Apprentice Astronaut by Samantha Cristoforetti and the excellent Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. I love the clash of westerners and Japanese culture. 🙂
How about a thread resurrection? I’ve missed hearing what you’re all reading.
I forgot how long the Harry Potter books got as the series progressed, plus add a 20% uplift as French is just more verbose than English. Two 1000 page books later and I'm currently on book #6! "Harry Potter et le Prince de sang mele".
Not very exciting..
The first 3 HP books are quite good, the rest are under edited rubbish.
Just finished Rotherweird - not bad at all, bit gormenghast, bit Nancy Drew but ok.
Currently reading Yiddish Policemans Union by Michael Chabon and its very good so far (100 pages in)
I started reading the guns of August by Barbara tuchman, its a classic take on the build up to and early days of WW1. Unsurprisingly, it's quite heavy going! I think it's written in quite a snappy style, but it's very heavy on the detail, I've just not taken to it.
Given the recent developments with pooti pants, I thought I'd go for something lighter, nuclear Armageddon related. So I found a free download of Alas, Babylon by pat Frank. Few pages into that.
The first 3 HP books are quite good, the rest are under edited rubbish.
When I read the English ones many years ago, I thought the 4th one was the best, and after that she just ran out of ideas but wrote very long books full of nothing....
They then took the last 3 books, containing very little actual plot, and made 4 films out of them!
I've sort of committed myself to reading the whole lot in French, so will see it out to the bitter end 😉
After reading all the Discworld novels I thought I would change rack and am currently reading Under the net by Iris Murdock. Not exactly whizzing through it though
Currently reading The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding. Pretty good so far, about half way through it. Traditional fantasy romp and all the better for it.
Bones of the Hill by Conn Iggulden.
3rd in the series about the rise of the Mongol empire.
Really good.....if you like this sort of thing.
I need to finish it quickly, and then get onto Boys in Zinc* for the next book club meeting.
You are Ken Barlow & ICMFP.
Lee Child here, Reacher.
Simple reading for a simpleton like me.
Started on Let My Children Go Surfing by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.
Very good so far and learning some climbing history etc.
Seemed relevant given their setting up of trust to run the business and continue the work.
Book 183 of the endless shadows of the apt/empire in blood and gold series by adrian tchaikovsky. It's still really good but an awful long way from where it started, and I have to admit I haven't a clue who half the characters are. Oh it's that dude from then? No idea. He just threw in an injoke about all the towns having interchangable names that nobody can remember and, yes it's funny but also, kind of an admission of defeat...
Still, it's good. Excellently daft and pageturney.
The Sound Of Being Human (how music shapes our lives) - Jude Rogers
It's lovely, but makes me cry a lot.
You are Ken Barlow & ICMFP
Trying but failing to make sense of this I'm afraid
Been on a bit of a Rowland White binge. Started with 'Into the black', then Vulcan 607 a couple of years ago. Just finished Harrier 809 and Phoenix Squadron. The Harrier/Falklands stuff was fascinating. The Belize/British Honduras stuff was a short story made into a large book, but fair play to the Bucc pilots with the absolutely on the limit air-to-air refuelling.
Recently finished
The Battle for Spain. Anthony Beevor. Realised there was a huge gap in my understanding about the Spanish Civil war, and a conversation with one of the guides on evening while on holiday with Basque MTB lead me to find out a bit more. Shocking stuff indeed. Especially the involvement of Stalin's NKVD. No wonder Orwell was so anti-communist.
Read a couple of the Tim Moore epic cycle tours books, very much enjoyed The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold.
Bit more history, The Anglo Saxons by Marc Morris, is a good proper look at English history between the fall of the Roman Empire in Britain and the invasion of William 1, and Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones, a whistle stop tour of the early medieval period which has really just created a list of "stuff I need to read more about"
Also for the all the book worms out there;
Tsundoku, A Japanese word defined as; the habit of collecting stacks of books that you haven't read and might never get around to...
Currently on with Alastair Reynolds' Redemption Ark. I bought it along with Revelation Space in a bundle of books from eBay -- I was certain I'd read Revelation Space years ago, but decided to re-read it. I got about 90% of the way through before it became clear the specific scene I'd had in mind wasn't going to materialise and I had to accept that I hadn't read it before after all. This is the opposite of what usually happens with big space opera novels 😀
Anyway, Redemption Ark is yet to grip, so a bit slow going at the moment.
Jut finished George Pelacanos The Way Home - was great. Now on something my mum gave me, seems ok, but about a third through and getting slightly bored (The Brave, Nicholas Evans (wrote the Horse Whisperer))
I see Cormac McCarthy has 2 new books coming later this year. Can't wait (Although I will, cos I don't really need a hardback 🙂 )
Forgive the digression but Orwell was more anti-Stalinist than anti-communist (supported the orthodox Trotskist Max Schachtman who took the view that state capitalism in the USSR was worse than western capitalism, hence passing names to the authorities).
The Sound Of Being Human (how music shapes our lives) – Jude Rogers
It’s lovely, but makes me cry a lot.
This sounds fascinating. I've added it to my to-get list.
#Tsundoku, A Japanese word defined as; the habit of collecting stacks of books that you haven’t read and might never get around to…
Sounds familiar and is something I've actively tried to manage in the last few years. I don't need 40 books sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read. I think the oldest one in my pile was still bought about 10 years ago, though.
I see Cormac McCarthy has 2 new books coming later this year. Can’t wait
Good news, although I've had one in my tsundoku pile for a couple of years and haven't braced myself to read it yet. Cormac McCarthy needs some preparation, for me. 😀
Reading Sebald's The Emigrants atm - top drawer. Read Rings of Saturn earlier this year and thought it was breath-taking - it's a shame there aren't that many other books of his to read.
The last story of The Emigrants is based in Manchester, where Sebald taught in the late 60s - I live in Manc so looking forward to reading the Sebaldian vision of the city.
Read quite a bit of Robin Hobb fantasy in the summer (Assassins and Liveships trilogies) - enjoyed them enough to finish (they are pagey) but wasn't in love with them. She's got a superb gift for character and inner voice but the trad fantasy structures she writes causes all sorts of pacing issues, and there are some severe plotting missteps. She's still amongst the best at this style of book - will prob read the third trilogy at some point.
The Battle for Spain. Anthony Beevor. Realised there was a huge gap in my understanding about the Spanish Civil war, and a conversation with one of the guides on evening while on holiday with Basque MTB lead me to find out a bit more. Shocking stuff indeed. Especially the involvement of Stalin’s NKVD. No wonder Orwell was so anti-communist.
Might have to add that to my ever lengthening list. We were listening to Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia' in the van coming back from Italy. Shameful gaps in my knowledge as well! I did get a bit confused with all the different splinter groups but I was a bit sleep deprived. Might just get the actual book.
Currently on with Alastair Reynolds’ Redemption Ark. I bought it along with Revelation Space in a bundle of books from eBay — I was certain I’d read Revelation Space years ago, but decided to re-read it. I got about 90% of the way through before it became clear the specific scene I’d had in mind wasn’t going to materialise and I had to accept that I hadn’t read it before after all. This is the opposite of what usually happens with big space opera novels 😀
Anyway, Redemption Ark is yet to grip, so a bit slow going at the moment.
I'm also reading Redemption Ark, having just got round to reading Revelation Space (which I also thought I might have read in the past, but soon realised I hadn't...)
I quite enjoyed the Revelation Space books - IIRC there are a few that are kind of sidebar stories of characters who later turn up in Redemption Ark and others, too. But I'm not sure I'll be racing out to find more Alastair Reynolds books: they're great, but I feel like they were a bit hard work at times.
Currently I'm reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine; sci-fi political machinations etc, surprisingly gripping and enjoyable.
I wanna be yours. John cooper Clarke. Bought today on holiday, so far the forces of darkness are preventing me from getting past paragraph 1.
Couple of Jeffrey Archer's - sorry about that.
Have you eaten Grandma by Gyles Brandraeth. A very good guide to English grammer.
Of mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Currently I’m reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine; sci-fi political machinations etc, surprisingly gripping and enjoyable.
I read that and the second book this summer, they were pretty good.
You are Ken Barlow & ICMFP
Trying but failing to make sense of this I’m afraid
If I have to explain, then you won’t understand.
Bit like owning a Harley & you have to explain why.
I'm not far into Leonard and Hungry Paul. Not much seems to be happening although a girl in Leonard's office just spoke to him.
I like it so far.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, after reading Silverview in the summer. Really enjoyed Silverview as my first John Le Carre (I know, very late to the party!) and thought I'd jump in to TTSS as it's very well rated out of all his books. However I'm struggling a bit with all the characters and the feeling that I'm supposed to know who everyone is. Will persevere though.
You can tell Mick Herron is a fan.
In a crossover of STW threads, I'm sure Paul Whitehouse was reading a Mick Herron in the last Gone Fishing episode 🙂
Mark Gatiss: Black Butterfly.
Fun, and it’s been serialised for Radio 4.
Read a couple that were recommended on here recently:
Disgrace - I found the original affair rather unbelievable and kept getting the feeling that the second half of the book was trying to say something clever that I just wasn't smart enough to get.
This way to the gas ladies and gentlemen - A "survivor's" tale from the camps, if you can call someone who takes their own life a few year later a survivor. Thought I'd read all there was to read about the holocaust but there are scenes in this one that will stay with me for a long while.
Brave New World - Agree with the earlier comment that it is an easier read than 1984, but I also prefer the latter
Recently read Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov - A satire on Stalinism but subtle enough to avoid getting the author killed, which means a lot of it is just plain strange.
The Handmaid's Tale - I'd avoided this one as it is labelled young adult so didn't think it would appeal. I've never read any Harry Potter for similar reasons. But I ran out of things to read and my daughter had a copy lying around so I picked it up. Glad I did as it's quite wonderful. No idea why it is labelled young adult though. The protagonist and narrator is in her 30s and the themes are all decidedly adult.
Also currently reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (first Le Carre) but only a few chapters in. The first chapter is beautifully written, but no idea what it has to do with the rest of the book yet.
@garry_lager one of my mates is married to his daughter and was going out with her when Max had the accident, in fact she was in the car too. We were all quite young then and I really didnt appreciate quite hiw amazing his writing was - we just thought he was this super bright guy who also wrote books but later in life I read some of his work and it was like nothing I’d ever read before. Massive loss to literature as well as to his family.
Tried reading the D-Day by Anthony Beevor. Very disappointing. Way too much military organisational detail, which he generally avoids very well in the other books of his that I’d read - Stalingrad, Berlin. Gave up in the end.
@garry_lager one of my mates is married to his daughter and was going out with her when Max had the accident, in fact she was in the car too. We were all quite young then and I really didnt appreciate quite hiw amazing his writing was – we just thought he was this super bright guy who also wrote books but later in life I read some of his work and it was like nothing I’d ever read before. Massive loss to literature as well as to his family.
Wow that is quite a connection - it was a tragic loss. He no doubt wrote academic work his whole life but his novels came in just a ten year period. He left an immediate and massive legacy, few writers more influential in recent times (I guess once your surname becomes an adjective you've achieved a measure of influence).
River Kings. Interesting read about the Vikings and their travels.
I'm reading Nixonland, by Rick Perlstein. America during the rise and fall and rise and fall of Nixon.
I am just old enough to remember Gerald Ford being sworn in. I don't normally read history books but this is very well written.
Apparently this is what Liz Truss has been reading and has based her economic policy on. Make of that what you will.
Wow that is quite a connection – it was a tragic loss. He no doubt wrote academic work his whole life but his novels came in just a ten year period. He left an immediate and massive legacy, few writers more influential in recent times (I guess once your surname becomes an adjective you’ve achieved a measure of influence).
My Aunt is (among other things) a literary translator. She tends to recommend good books and occasionally sends me them out of the blue.
Years ago she sent me Austerlitz and i remember thinking that it was written in a really different way to anything i'd read before (in a good way), i thought maybe it was because English wasn't his first language. I really should read more of his books.
I've just read John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley - worth picking up. I like his novels and reading his thoughts on US culture in 1960 is great.
Before that Saturday by Ian McEwan. Great, one reason being I went to uni in the surrounds of the book about 5 years before it was written so it was quite nostalgic.
Currently on Bringing up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel. So far i'm liking it more than Wolf Hall. It seems easier to follow.
The Handmaid’s Tale – I’d avoided this one as it is labelled young adult so didn’t think it would appeal. I’ve never read any Harry Potter for similar reasons. But I ran out of things to read and my daughter had a copy lying around so I picked it up. Glad I did as it’s quite wonderful. No idea why it is labelled young adult though. The protagonist and narrator is in her 30s and the themes are all decidedly adult.
Are you sure? I've never seen anything to suggest that this book was for young adults, and there are very adult scenes and themes. (I read it earlier in the year and thought it was fantastic - genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.)
Thinking out loud though, my 18-year-old bought it - that's why I read it - and she has tended to buy young adult books until recently. Maybe this is recent marketing thing that I'm not familiar with. We didn't have YA books when I was growing up. 😀
I reread the Discworld and Reacher series when the pandemic started, and have just re-read the Wheel Of Time books 1-12 that I've previously read, plus the final two books that for some reason I'd not got round to reading.
Read quite a bit of Robin Hobb fantasy in the summer (Assassins and Liveships trilogies) – <snip> – will prob read the third trilogy at some point.
Robin Hobb's next on my list. I might also have another go at Katherine Kerr's Deverry books, I re-read the first 2 * quadrilogies about four or years ago but recently learned there are another SEVEN books now that I haven't read yet
Other stuff I've enjoyed recently include Box 88 and Judas 62 by Charles Cumming (espionage novels), Dead Man's Grave by Neil Lancaster and The Puppet Show my M.W. Craven (crime novels). A bit further back other authors I've read and enjoyed include Mick Herron's Slow Horses (the TV series is a excellent also), Jo Spain, William Shaw and Chris Simms
I read McCarthy's The Passenger over the weekend - anyone else got on this at publication? It's part of a pair of novels, he might call it a diptych, with the other coming out early Dec.
No spoilers but I thought it was immense - interested to hear what other fans of CM think. It feels quite different - there's no mistaking his writing, it channels his classic work (Suttree in particular) but into a very different space influenced by his time spent amongst physicists and mathematicians. I believe it was written over a very long time and there are some big shifts in tone - I've avoided reviews but can see it splitting opinion.
I wasn't sure it was going to be something at this level, thought it might be a more straightforward thriller like No country for old men, or something quiet. But it's definitely not that, huge book to be putting out at nearly 90 years of age.
Narcissus and Goldmund, by Herman Hesse. He's my favourite author.
I've just finished 'Brothers in Arms' by James Holland' The Sherwood Rangers (tank regiment) post D-day landings to VE day What a story incredible! The ultimate sacrifice of so many young men is truely humbling
Having finished "Boys in Zinc", quite a heavy and powerful series of accounts from the Afghan/Soviet conflict, I'm looking forward to re-reading A Confederacy of Dunces after about fifteen years.
Just finished Elspeth Beard's Lone Rider, first British woman to travel round the world by motorcycle. Amazingly frank account of herself and the difficulties faced. Really excellent read, if you liked Jupiter's travels you'll like this too.
I'm now back to the fantasy genre with Brandon Sanderson and his Mistborn books, starting with the initial trilogy. Shaping up nicely so far.
My big sis returned my copy of ‘where did the twin towers go?’ by dr. Judy Wood.
Just as freaky a read as when I first read it. Highly recommended 😜
The Great War Explained by Philip Stevens - I have only just started it, but I can tell already that it is going to be a very good read. Beautifully written, and factual but with a certain pace and style that makes it feel less like a historical account, and more like a guided tour.
is that the one where the author suggests an energy beam was directed at the towers to make them turn into dust?
I'm pretty sure i got given a copy of it waay back.
I read McCarthy’s The Passenger over the weekend – anyone else got on this at publication?
I was reading his Child of God when The Passenger was released, so won't get around to reading the latter for a few months. Child of God was excellent. It says something about a writer when you can feel some sympathy for a weird loony serial killer/rapist, who lives in a hut in the woods. But that's also why I need time between McCarthy books!
I am currently reading Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. I heard the R4 Book Club talking about it a week or two ago. I'm enjoying, but not finding it quite as funny as the Book Club suggested. It is a complete antidote to Cormac McCarthy though.
I'm re-reading Piece Of Cake by Derek Robinson, fantastic WWII fiction-based-on-fact about an RAF fighter squadron - decided to get a couple of his other books and, most unexpectedly, a biography of Albert Ball turned up as well. So must contact WoB to advise and pay for it, and I'm now looking forward to learning about a WWI fighter ace. 🙂
Still reading Game of Thrones book 4.
Also, this... savouring this read as its my hobby and satisfies the inner nerd.
"Suspended Animation: Unauthorised History of Herald and Britain's Plastic Figures "
by Peter Cole.
Ps they are not toys but accurate representations of historical figures.....alright toys;)
Lord of the rings. Just started return of the King. Very much enjoying them.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. Very Orwellian, maybe even more so than the man himself!
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs. A collection of gonzo rock 'n roll writings by Bangs from the 70s which will not make any sense to anyone under 60. Quality nostalgia for me.
Change of plan.
Just started reading Ignition! An informal history of rocket propellants by John D Clark
I've just lost my Along the Divide, by Chris Townsend. I think I left in the hotel room 😕
I was enjoying, only halfway through and have 3 hours in airports tonight.
Airports have bookshops - good luck!
Frankie Boyle's Meantime (still 99p on kindle). It started well,reading like an extended Frankie Boyle monologue, then I started to get bored with the constant drug references (drugs are ****ing boring to read about!) .. so it's ok, but looking forward to moving on from it now.
Just finished Lost Realms by Thomas Williams - What happened to some of the Old kingdoms - Elemet Rheged etc. some interesting theories about why they didn't survive. One for the Dark Age geeks (me).
Now Rading James Hollands Invasion of Sicily - nice mix of personal stories from all sides and details of the campaign itself - enjoying it.
Just finished 'Captive', a French romantic thriller (just picked as it was in Audible's French top 10). Not really my scene, but slightly embarrassed to confess I was completely hooked by mid way and was totally sucked in by the plot. Disappointing ending though, pretty much forces you to buy the next one to find out what happens....
Wide Window No3 in the series of unfortunate events.
There is nothing for you here - Fiona Hill.
The Kingdom - Jo Nesbo.
Next up...The Passenger.
Spaceships Over Glasgow - Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai)
And
The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer
When The Evil Waits, a DI Ridpath novel by MJ Lee. It was a quid in the RSPCA shop and they will get it donated back when I've finished it.
Finished Tokyo Vice, which the Beeb made into a telly thing - it's not bad,just kind of felt like it ran out of steam at the end, lots of unresolved stuff. Otherwise pretty good, he writes real good. 🙂
Enjoying The Satsuma Complex. 🙂
The Dark Forest (2nd Three Body Problem book) - it certainly doesn't have the cracking start that the first book has, but I'll stick with it (15%-ish in at the moment).
Looking forward to a complete change and reading How To Build a Car next (Adrian Newey's book)
Reading Cormac McCarthy The Passenger.
Its about… er not a ****ing clue. Its certainly different. Must admit, I just skipped a big section where 2 fellas were having an extremely detailed scientific conversation. You can’t tell who’s saying what and… well, what did it have to do with the plot? Baffling! Yeah, sure is different.
Just finished reading a Sebastian Faulks book - The Snow something or other (I don’t remember). I do, now, remember why I dislike fiction so much - it can be really shite at times. Back on my World War books again now.
I do, now, remember why I dislike fiction so much – it can be really shite at times
Got to agree with this. I've struggled to really engage in any fiction books for ages except re-reading stuff I know is alright that I haven't read for a while.
Struggling with the non fiction as well. Some of the WW2 stuff I've picked up of late lacks real balance and writing is all a bit Daily Wail. The better quality writers in terms of material are sadly too heavy on micro detail to hold my attention as a relative beginner at history books.
it can be really shite at times
Yeah, it can also be ****ing amazing. Hey! like most things really.
Dismissing the whole universe of fiction writing… LoLZ.
Ive just reread my way thru all of John Scalzi's science fiction. Old mans war series and end of all things series.
Looking forward to a complete change and reading How To Build a Car next (Adrian Newey’s book)
Awesome book, enjoy! 🙂
I haven't read a book in years, just tool catalogs.
Ooh, want that, and that 😆