Books and reading thread

[NeverYield]

Currently rereading Blood Meridian. Again.

What a book. Might go for Lonesome Dove after, and then Congregation of Jackals.

[Jesse]

Currently working my way through the John Le Carre George Smiley novels. The first few are interesting enough as he's figuring out what this thing is, but you get to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it becomes genuinely gripping. I'm on the third of that informal trilogy (Smiley's People) and I'm hooked. I take breaks to read other novels between each one because they really are bleak reads but you can see why they've been held up for so long.

[BomberPat]

They really are so good. I put off reading them forever because I had categorised them as "spy books", and figured they were the sort of thing your dad buys at the airport, but they're genuinely some of the most gripping novels I have ever read, and George Smiley is just a brilliantly observed, tragic character. 

[Nexus]

I've ended up just inhaling the Dungeon Crawler Carl books on Kindle Unlimited, because they're 100% my shit. They are D&D/Video Game pastiches, but actually quite funny and well written. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

8 hours ago, Nexus said:

I've ended up just inhaling the Dungeon Crawler Carl books on Kindle Unlimited, because they're 100% my shit. They are D&D/Video Game pastiches, but actually quite funny and well written. 

I did this recently too! Spent the end of last year blasting through them one after the other - partly because they’re so readable and I wanted to know what happened next, partly because there’s so much to keep track of I wouldn’t have remembered half of it if I’d left a gap or read something else in between.

First one definitely my favourite, and I did find them a bit hit and miss from then on. I prefer the ones that focus on a core group of main characters and the overarching story, rather than the ones that are mostly throwing a bunch of new crazy stuff at you. I have a Christmas book token that I’m saving for the day book 8 comes out, which I think is in May.

[I Bent My Wookie]

Found a bunch of books I bought last year during my January Resolution that never even got started. 

Gonna use any free time away from screens and not tasked to start How To Kill My Family by Bella Mackie again as the first 40 or so pages were good before bright lights distracted me. 

That and a somewhat unlikely goal to reread most Shakespeare plays as I've avoided them like the plague since I left teaching. 

[cobra_gordo]

I started reading to my wife over Christmas. She'd seen a post online about someone who's husband started reading to her during lockdown so thought it would be something nice to do in an evening instead of just mindlessly watching telly. She gets comfy, I get to do the voices. She'd previously expressed some interest in the Discworld series, books that I've read a million times each and a few of them are particularly special to me, so seemed like the ideal thing for us to share together.

We started at the beginning with The Colour Of Magic which she enjoyed. Pratchett likes long sentences so I discovered fairly early on that they're not always the easiest to read aloud. It's been quite the learning curve when you're so used to reading in your head. Same goes for his made up place and people names- it's all well and good to skim a name or mis-pronounce it in your head but a bit embarrassing when you've got someone actively paying attention. The Colour Of Magic is funny but quite heavy going in places in terms of world building. It's a lot to take in but she stuck with it. I knew she was hooked though when Pratchett starts alluding to The Luggage making an appearance to save the day towards the end and she was visibly getting giddy when she twigged what was happening. It's been such an enjoyable experience reading to her, I'd definitely recommend it if you want a go-to activity instead of just lounging about.

We've now started on The Light Fantastic, the second book in the series, and a book I actually prefer to the first. The writing style and humour that is synonymous with the Discworld series isn't quite there in The Colour Of Magic but here it's fleshed out and the wittiness I fell in love with as a kid is there from page one. I really hope we stick with this as there's some absolute gems to come in the series that I can't wait to get to and for her to discover for the first time. She's already a fan of Rincewind and the luggage so I'm hoping she's as keen on the witches and the nights watch. 

[NeverYield]

3 hours ago, Ralphy said:

Really enjoy this book

I find reading fiction to be very difficult, so true story's like this are great for me (the book description is in the spoiler tags below)

I

  Hide contents

The Barefoot Bandit tells the riveting true story of Colton Harris-Moore, America's twenty-first-century outlaw. Born into a poor family marred by alcohol abuse, Colt had the local sheriff after him before the age of ten. Colt survived by breaking into homes to forage for food, and learned to evade the police by melting into the Pacific Northwest wilds. As a teenager, he escalated to stealing cars, boats, and identities. An extensive manhunt finally caught Colt, but he escaped juvenile prison and fled to nearby Orcas Island, where he assured his place alongside outlaw legends such as D. B. Cooper by stealing an airplane without ever having a formal flight lesson. And that was just the beginning.

As a resident of Orcas Island, author Bob Friel witnessed firsthand as local police, FBI agents, SWAT teams, and even Homeland Security helicopters pursued Colt around the island. Colt's crime spree infuriated and terrified many locals, while others sympathized with the barefoot young criminal-the controversy tearing at the formerly quiet community. The story gained international fame, with Time calling Colt "America's Most Wanted Teen" when he stole and crashed his third airplane. After more than two years on the run in the Northwest, Colt fled Orcas and began a spectacular cross-country trek. Friel followed the Barefoot Bandit all the way to the Bahamas, where the chase finally ended in a hail of gunfire at 3 a.m. on a dark sea.

Through his personal experiences and hundreds of interviews with witnesses, victims, local authorities, Colt's family, and, indirectly, Colt himself, Friel gives readers an exclusive look at an outlaw legend. Set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest's evergreen islands, where Internet millionaires coexist with survivalists and ex-hippies, this is a gripping, stranger-than-fiction tale about a neglected and troubled child who outfoxed the authorities, gained a cult following, and made the world take notice.

 

I'll put this on my to be read list. Sounds a wild story, and I love real crime stories, this sounds a lot more than just a book about crime though so I'll definitely get round to it.

[hallicks]

If YA fantasy is your bag, I’ve just finished Songlight and I’m racing through the sequel Torchfire, by Moira Buffin. Post apocalyptic world due to climate change, some humans have developed telepathy but the country of our main protagonist is ruled by an authoritarian regime that subjugates and persecutes them. There’s a lot of themes: religious authoritarianism, patriarchy, imperialism, propaganda, plus your usual amount of YA throbbing biological instincts.

Like any YA fantasy, it’s a bit tropey at times, and sometimes it’s a bit heavy handed in how it approaches things but the prose is excellent, such an easy and compelling read. 

[I Bent My Wookie]

2 hours ago, hallicks said:

If YA fantasy is your bag, I’ve just finished Songlight and I’m racing through the sequel Torchfire, by Moira Buffin. Post apocalyptic world due to climate change, some humans have developed telepathy but the country of our main protagonist is ruled by an authoritarian regime that subjugates and persecutes them. There’s a lot of themes: religious authoritarianism, patriarchy, imperialism, propaganda, plus your usual amount of YA throbbing biological instincts.

Like any YA fantasy, it’s a bit tropey at times, and sometimes it’s a bit heavy handed in how it approaches things but the prose is excellent, such an easy and compelling read. 

Excellent recommendations I'll search those out after I'm through my current haul. Sound very up my street. 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Im reading '168 Songs of Hatred and Failure', a Manic Street Preachers history. Im finding it really interesting going.

 

Ive also just bought, and am waiting on delivery, of a proof copy of David Gemmells 'Lord of the Silver Bow', and Im really excited to actually have a collectable book!

[FLips]

Signed up for a new Library card as I haven’t used the library since I was a teenager (mostly due to my local one being knocked down and the nearest one being a bus away) but also reading was just something I grew out of for lack of a better phrase.

Took three books out to start, though the librarian offered up to 20 which I think was a bit optimistic.

I can’t speak for two of them yet, Bob Mortimer’s The Hotel Avocado, and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, but I binge-read Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits over the last day and a half.

A tragicomedy set during or just after the Athenian invasion of ancient Sicily, two young laddish potters Lampo and Gelon secretly feed the Athenian prisoners of war, that have been rounded into the Quarry to die, in exchange for recitals of Athenian poetry and theatre. They decide against all best interests to turn this into a full theatre production of both Euripedes’ Medea and The Trojan Women.

It’s a slow starter, the author’s writing style being something I think will be jarring for some as the ancient Greek and Italians speak abrasive Celtic. Once you get past it though I found the book to be quite gripping, dark and unexpectedly funny in parts. There’s a natural misery that comes with two young men exploiting prisoners of war for entertainment but it finds heart by the end in a way that doesn’t leave a bad taste.

 

Edited April 12 by FLips

[NeverYield]

On 4/13/2026 at 5:59 AM, Ralphy said:

Did you ever get round to it? The smaller paperback version of the story i do not recommend, its really very, very vague 

If not, the cheapest used hardback one i can find, that ships from the UK (in case of import taxes) is this one which is £10.71 with a coupon code that is auto applied at checkout)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/157545554783?_skw=The+Barefoot+Bandit%3A+The+True+Tale+of+Colton+Harris-Moore&epid=200321353&itmmeta=01KP2KHTT6NSBGP62DT8MJNF0A&hash=item24ae72635f:g:CFgAAeSwuEVpQG2I&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAABIGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDpcZxx8Y0cwJayHZiml4g74Jxo7KZNTRtdRkm6HGHd5WxKEs6qJYga9qCh3o5tcvwgBOmdzQiExWkwfymqx8jSHEISQAUcJt4jd2PrSnxTuru8aLvmrxqatozyO8B851%2FUjKxYsywWlZzedcelzdz8RFMFsAN%2F6MyeqKl9QV1BXCHz59ZWXzNDybKLDrK4dA0lCNCPJYRXHfr3BXC%2FGqcnOsjIloxN9dapgxi10bfH547%2F5MZaOpAIiWCCOjVOuc9UFJMB35yGZQLLSRiF9AFEXjIxayuSP87sbvNt2aGP%2FUB6oDINHlELCGJZO9G%2Fe2wAN%2FT7%2B%2Fe%2FW%2Fo1xXTTAgcbzDxPW0qo8m7Ar0GUg99iPA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6Stx9OwZw

I didn't mate been reading a couple of other books but I do have the sample to that book on my kindle, I much prefer a physical book but I'd probably get that one on kindle when I get round to reading it. 

I wonder what the kindle version is like. 

[FLips]

Returned Bob Mortimer's The Hotel Avocado back to the library. I'll be honest, I managed roughly 20 pages of "they had an X like a Y" jokes and got sick of it. Turns out there is such thing as too much Bob Mortimer and I tapped out prematurely before I ruined him for myself.

Finished Suzanna Clarke's Piranesi earlier tonight and thought that was marvellous though. A complete puzzle of a book about a marble labyrinthian house with infinite rooms, filled with crashing waves and statues, and a young man who lives there unraveling a mystery about the house and it's (mostly) deceased residents. One of those things where you figure what you're reading is total nonsense until pieces click and suddenly it isn't. Completely engrossing, felt like a world within a book. The structure of the writing is unique too. Really liked this one.
Turns out it got critical acclaim and Laika, the studio behind Coraline, Box Trolls and Paranorman I think, are making a movie about it.

I've still got Sol Yurick's The Warriors on order, and my ordered copy of The Count of Monte Cristo has arrived for me to pick up this weekend. Other than that I have Simon Scarrow's Praetorian, Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time, Stuart Turton's The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Veronika Dapunt's Death and Other Occupational Hazards out on loan. Praetorian and Seven Deaths were both recommendations from my wife and my mate's wife respectively, or in the case of the former she picked it up and handed it to me because she knows I enjoyed Glorious Exploits and that was set in Ancient Greece too. I was too polite to say no to her. Hopefully it's good.

My plan is to read at least two of the above this week as I've started to let them pile up.

 

Edited April 22 by FLips

[SuperBacon]

4 minutes ago, FLips said:

My plan is to read at least two of the above this week as I've started to let them pile up.

And this is how it goes. Just a never ending pile that I add and add to like an idiot. I still haven't finished the book in the first post of this thread! I get distracted and start another.