Paid Members waters44 Posted January 13, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 13, 2016 Im about halfway through Dean Koontz's 77 Shadow Street. So far its been a complete mess but with some interesting moments. Has anyone else read it? Without giving too much away is the payoff worth battling through the book or shall I just quit now? Its becoming a struggle to pick up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted January 13, 2016 Moderators Share Posted January 13, 2016 I heard Dean Koontz sucks and have never read any of his books. Do you normally like him? Maybe he's just not for you. I would just jack it in if I were you. Reading shouldn't be a chore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Monkee Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) I'm almost finished reading The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. I'd heard it was good but I read The Men Who Stare at Goats by him and I got bored half way through and never finished. Â The Psychopath Test is a very good read though. Fascinating stuff about the test itself and Bob Hare's development of it as well as characters such as David Shayler (ex-MI5 spy, 9/11 and 7/7 denier, Jesus reincarnated and part-time transvestite) and "Tony" the [supposedly] sane man who pretended he was mentally ill to get out of a prison sentence and ended up in an institution for 14 years. Â Anyone else read it? Edited January 14, 2016 by Monkee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Yeah I've read it, found it fascinating. I was worried that I was displaying a lot of sociopathic tendencies but the book said if you're worried about it, that shows you aren't one! The David Shayler stuff was really odd, especially when the woman who was on the tube that was bombed went to the meeting just to prove that she was real and not a government false flag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nexus Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 Yes, I read it as well - I really like Jon Ronson's style. Â If you get a chance, get "So you've been publicly shamed", which is just as interesting, and increasingly relevant every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Monkee Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) I've just read two non-fiction books back-to-back so I think I'm going for something different next but I'll definitely check out more of Jon Ronson's stuff. Â I'm currently up to the bit where he met Paul Britton (whose books I've also read) and it's a good insight into what happened with the Colin Stagg incident. I kinda feel sorry for him (Stagg) after the honey trap plot but you can see what the police were trying to do even if they did go about it the completely wrong way. The bit about David Shayler that really got me was that he thinks 9/11 never happened because the planes were holograms. Ok, I could possibly suspend my beliefs enough to see that 7/7 was a cover-up but going so far as the planes of 9/11 being holograms is just nonsense. I guess that's all for another thread though... This book is definitely food for thought. Â Keith: I was thinking the same too but the reassurance was a good thing! Edited January 14, 2016 by Monkee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted January 14, 2016 Moderators Share Posted January 14, 2016 I just finished the aforementioned Fahrenheit 451. I enjoyed it a lot. I had only just read 1984 recently for the first time, so it made a nice companion piece for that. These classics can seem a little heavy handed in some ways when you read them after many years of being reference points for literature and other cultural artefacts that have used them as a building block, but then in other ways that also reinforces the power and impact that they have. Â Well worth reading anyway, and I can see why it has the regard it has. Â Now moved on to Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood pal. I wanted something to read and there was a thread on the front page of Reddit recently for "books that made you laugh out loud" and this received a few mentions. Thought I'd give it a go. Will report back when I finish it, or am suitably far through it to comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 Just started reading Matt Bayliss' "Man Belong Mrs Queen" - it's a non-fiction account of the author's experiences when he went to the Vanuatu island of Tanna to investigate the cargo cult that sprung up around the idea that Prince Philip is the Son of God. So far, it's funny and fascinating; it doesn't just focus on the Philip-worship, it also covers anthropological and historical perspectives of the island and its people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) Just started reading Matt Bayliss' "Man Belong Mrs Queen" - it's a non-fiction account of the author's experiences when he went to the Vanuatu island of Tanna to investigate the cargo cult that sprung up around the idea that Prince Philip is the Son of God. So far, it's funny and fascinating; it doesn't just focus on the Philip-worship, it also covers anthropological and historical perspectives of the island and its people.  HAHA! I typeset that! It's very interesting book.  EDIT — correction. I don't think that's one I did, although I might be wrong. I do a lot of their books (Old Street Publishing), it's all a blur. Edited January 14, 2016 by Bill Diarrhea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016  Just started reading Matt Bayliss' "Man Belong Mrs Queen" - it's a non-fiction account of the author's experiences when he went to the Vanuatu island of Tanna to investigate the cargo cult that sprung up around the idea that Prince Philip is the Son of God. So far, it's funny and fascinating; it doesn't just focus on the Philip-worship, it also covers anthropological and historical perspectives of the island and its people.  HAHA! I typeset that! It's very interesting book.  EDIT — correction. I don't think that's one I did, although I might be wrong. I do a lot of their books (Old Street Publishing), it's all a blur.   I also read the first of his three "north London noir" novels, "A Death At The Palace", mainly because it's set in my local area of Haringey - maybe you did that one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 I did The Tottenham Outrage and Black Day at the Bosphurus Cafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 14, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2016 I did The Tottenham Outrage and Black Day at the Bosphurus Cafe. Got both of those - going to read them soon, but don't want to read too much Baylis in one run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted February 25, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) Â Â Now moved on to Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood pal. I wanted something to read and there was a thread on the front page of Reddit recently for "books that made you laugh out loud" and this received a few mentions. Thought I'd give it a go. Will report back when I finish it, or am suitably far through it to comment. Â Â I couldn't finish this book. It was shit. Â Since that though, I read Ender's Game, which was recommended by Nexus in this thread. Thanks for that! I really enjoyed it (once I got over giggling at the word "buggers"). Â I also read The Martian. Really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to watching the film now, which I held off doing until I finished the book. IT could have got really dry with the amount of science that it got into, but it remained engaging throughout, and kept the narrative drama and pacing strong. Â Just started Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. Not a novel, but like a pop sociology book. I've not read much yet, but so far it seems like if you don't generally like Aziz you definitely wouldn't like it. He really leans into it with his usual style, and it is very much written in his voice. It explores all the kind of stuff he explored about relationships in Master of None. It's interesting so far, but I think the subject matter might get a bit tedious for me. More than anything, it makes me relieved that I am happily married and no longer have to deal with all the bullshit and neuroses that he's discussing. Â The interesting bit though is how and why we've got the point that we're at in the way we approach relationships. Like I said though, I'm still very early in the book.. Edited February 25, 2016 by Chest Rockwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted February 25, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted February 25, 2016 by Aziz Ansari.- it is very much written in his voice. Fucking hell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted February 25, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 25, 2016 Yeah, you'd absolutely hate it. Wouldn't even make it through the introduction, I'd wager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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