SuperBacon Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: It might be a little much for a 10 year old. There's a few puzzles and so on that are reliant on a working knowledge of a few periods of history, and of Shakespeare, and in general it can be difficult to follow at times. I don't fully remember, but I think there's at least a couple of (non-explicit) sex scenes in the earlier books, too. Fair dos. Put it on the list for her. Might read it myself first as it sounds interesting. Cheers dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 I finished Stephen King's newest one, The Institute, last week which I enjoyed. I haven't read a huge amount of his stuff but it was weird reading on of his set in the present day. Lot's of forced modern pop culture references like him moaning about Trump, the TV show Riverdale and kissing George R.R. Martin's arse. A TV adaptation is apparently in the works which I reckon would be pretty enjoyable but may also seem a bit too similar to Stranger Things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Got back into a book I'd started last year. Common Ground by Rob Cowen. It's incredible. Blurs memoirs with delightful adventures out in the British countryside, and it has you pausing to reflect at almost every page. I won't spoil it in case you want to read it, but the first chapter is easily my favourite opening chapter to any novel. If you're looking for escapism in a book then I highly recommend you give this a shot. Is there a saying about how a great book finds you? Gotta say this is 100% how I feel with Common Ground. Unlike anything I've read before and I'd never even heard of it before I'd seen it in the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 12, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Long shot perhaps, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about books on government paranoia? Doesn't need to be specific but if it touches on it at least. Nothing too Alex Jones please. Edited February 12, 2020 by ColinBollocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted February 12, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Currently 3/4s of the way through Imperium by Robert Harris. A historical fiction(although losely based on fact) story of Cicero's journey from Senator to Imperium of Rome. Not necessarily my favourite period of history but is a fantastic read on what theoretically could be a dry subject matter. I held out reading it due to only mild interest in Roman history but if you're a fan of historical fiction and haven't read it definitely give it a twirl. Edited February 12, 2020 by ElCece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Just finished this months Audible purchase American Gods. It's great. It's reminds of one of the better Dark Tower books. It does that big book thing of having a really long ending but it's all so good I didn't want it to end. The voice of Wednesday is bang on for Ian McShane's American accent too, I'm guessing the audio version doesn't pre date the tv show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPDTT Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success - Andy McNab Mid way through this one. Recommended by a colleague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 24, 2020 (edited) After having been on top of my "to read" list for a while, I've let myself fall behind and ended up with unread books scattered all over the flat again. I'm currently on March Of The Lemmings by Stewart Lee, which is a collection of his Brexit-related Guardian/Observer columns, and then an annotated transcript of the Content Provider show. The problem with a compilation of columns, or any short-form writing, is that you end up with a lot of repetition that isn't all that apparent when you're reading it in a newspaper once every couple of weeks, but becomes really obvious when you're reading it all back to back. Lee's stuff does a good job of avoiding the worst of that by relying on a lot of footnotes where he obsesses over some of his repeated frames of reference and attempts to justify them, or uses the footnotes to go off on tangents - to the point that some of them are the highlight of the book so far - but some of the repetition still wears thin. Reading the columns in this format does highlight some of the running jokes of his column - every time he mentions his children, he gives them different names and ages, for example. He's also included a selection of online comments after each article, meaning that after an obvious piss-take of middle-class liberal sentiment you get a bunch of comments saying, "the left are beyond parody at this point", which falls somewhere between funny and sad. Next I have to choose between a collection of writing on women's wrestling, The Five: The Untold Lives Of The Women Killed By Jack The Ripper, Of Mud And Flame: A Penda's Fen Sourcebook, Letters From Tove, or Angela Davis' autobiography, I reckon. Edited February 24, 2020 by BomberPat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted February 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 24, 2020 I'm halfway through that collection of writing on women's wrestling. It's fan-writing, so variable. There's some nice stuff in there, though. There's a weirdly ill-fitting segment which is the (male) editor's coverage of his visit to Wrestlemania, which... okay. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper - my favourite book of last year. Talked about it earlier on the thread, but as a long-time reader of the subject, it's in amongst the top two or three I've ever read on the subject, and I'm not sure exactly where in the top three it is. I'd suggest also watching the Yorkshire Ripper documentary from last year, which is similar in terms of highlighting the women in the case, and why that's so important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 24, 2020 I've had The Five on my "to read" list since it came out, and I've read a lot of the discourse around it, just not got round to the book itself. Definitely keen to get stuck in, though - it's very telling that it's been very well received by historians, and not at all by "Ripperologists". I'm not expecting a huge amount from the women's wrestling book, for the reasons you said, but I know a couple of people who contributed to it, so wanted to support it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Exploited Audlibles no questions asked returns policy and traded in Gotta Get Theroux This for Blood Meridian. IT'S FUCKING GRIM. I'm trying to imagine it as a film and even the Coens would struggle. It's a relentless slog but I can't stop listening. Outside of cinematic adaptations I'm not familiar with anything by McCarthy so the style and delivery was quite jarring. I listen whilst working so when he goes off describing everything in his wonderful/terrible way I tend to drift away from time to time but a dead baby tree or eye gouge later I'm right back in it. As much as he bloody loves an adjective I wish "niggerish" wasn't one though. It works when it's from the mouth of a character but when it's the authors tongue it definitely sets a different tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted February 24, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted February 24, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mr_Danger said: Exploited Audlibles no questions asked returns policy and traded in Gotta Get Theroux This for Blood Meridian. IT'S FUCKING GRIM. I'm trying to imagine it as a film and even the Coens would struggle. It's a relentless slog but I can't stop listening. Outside of cinematic adaptations I'm not familiar with anything by McCarthy so the style and delivery was quite jarring. I listen whilst working so when he goes off describing everything in his wonderful/terrible way I tend to drift away from time to time but a dead baby tree or eye gouge later I'm right back in it. As much as he bloody loves an adjective I wish "niggerish" wasn't one though. It works when it's from the mouth of a character but when it's the authors tongue it definitely sets a different tone. Blood Meridian is typical of McCarthys style but absolutely the book of his I found most bleak (I've never read the Road to be fair). No country for old men I enjoyed the most and came away impressed with how true to the novel the film stuck. Edited February 24, 2020 by ElCece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted February 24, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted February 24, 2020 The Road was like a gut punch followed by having your breath stolen from you, but nothing tops Blood Meridian for bleakness. There were rumours of Ridley Scott adapting it at one point but they did not come to pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Started reading H is for Hawk, because what's better than a book about someone training a hawk that itself is based on a book about someone training a hawk? Struggling to get into the swing of it though, probably due to having recently read a similar book (Common Ground). Ironically, I've switched onto The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu. Only a couple of chapters in but I've been laughing out loud at some of the anecdotes. It's discussed the earliest newspapers and the crazed personalities behind them. I can see this being one of my books of the year. I've got Cosmos by Carl Sagan to read after, which I'm obviously excited about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Having been a big Stephen King fan when I was younger, I thought I would give a go on the ones I missed now that I have a bit of time. Started on Mr Mercedes. Enjoying it so far. King's always been somewhat clunky at times, but he always has a good hook in his books. I've got the other 2 in the series, so will dive in. Also re-reading Joan Didion at the moment. Felt I needed something to relax me. SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM is just incredibly atmospheric and evocative of that era. PLAY IT AS IT LAYS remains a masterwork. Edited March 23, 2020 by Factotum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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