2013 Reading Challenge Thread

[braindancer]

1/30 Mockingbird - Walter Tevis
2/30 More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
3/30 Bottle Factory Outing - Beryl Bainbridge
4/30 Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West
5/30 Mister Johnson - Joyce Carey
6/30 The Death of Bunny Munro - Nick Cave

 

[idumea]

1/50- City of Gold - Len Deighton
2/50- Outside- Shalini Bolan
3/50- Deep Black - Stephen Coonts and Jim Defelice
4/50- Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercombie
5/50 - Last Arguments of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
6/50 - The Horse At The Gates - DC Alden
7/50 - Shakespeare's Local - Pete Brown

really enjoyed this, a London History, centres on the George near London Bridge, which has been in existence in one form or another since maybe the 15th Century (he reckons even earlier), Discusses the history of the area, the stage coach years, wagon trains, the railway, and keeps going back to the pub and how it coped with change. Thoroughly recommend it, I do slightly know the author, he lives in Stoke Newington, and I've met him a few times in the Jolly Butcher, a nice chap too.

I used to work near to this pub and have always been intrigued by the book...will check it out.

And you drink in the Jolly Butcher, Marty?

 

[marty21]

I used to work near to this pub and have always been intrigued by the book...will check it out.

And you drink in the Jolly Butcher, Marty?

It's well worth the read..
yep - used to drink there a lot - but since the Clapton Hart opened up around the corner I do go there less.

 

[pennimania]

10/100 Wild Strawberries. Angela Thirkell

11/100 Let the Right One In John Ajvide Lindquist

God, I was soooooooooo disappointed by this. Struggled to finish it. Meandering plot, far too many inconsequential characters all called Benny, Genny or Lenny, far too many proper nouns altogether ( endless lists of place names that contributed nothing to plot).

If that is what Sweden is really like god preserve me from ever visiting it.

I could not sympathise with a single character. The setting was revolting, and I didn't care that s/he was a vampire, whether s/he got his dinner or indeed anything else in the book.

And Oskar was a wimp.

Edited because I spelled author's name incorrectly

 

[petee]

1/30 los yermos de los camaldulenses de monte corona en las américas (mulitzer)
2/30 a critical history of early rome (forsythe)

3/30 travels with a donkey (stevenson)

 

[starfish]

1/20? The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

 

[BoatieBird]

11/100 Let the Right One In John Ajvide Lindquist

God, I was soooooooooo disappointed by this. Struggled to finish it. Meandering plot, far too many inconsequential characters all called Benny, Genny or Lenny, far too many proper nouns altogether ( endless lists of place names that contributed nothing to plot).

If that is what Sweden is really like god preserve me from ever visiting it.

I could not sympathise with a single character. The setting was revolting, and I didn't care that s/he was a vampire, whether s/he got his dinner or indeed anything else in the book.

And Oskar was a wimp.

Edited because I spelled author's name incorrectly

I've just bought this.
I'm pleased I only paid a couple of quid for it secondhand

 

[marty21]

1/50- City of Gold - Len Deighton
2/50- Outside- Shalini Bolan
3/50- Deep Black - Stephen Coonts and Jim Defelice
4/50- Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercombie
5/50 - Last Arguments of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
6/50 - The Horse At The Gates - DC Alden
7/50 - Shakespeare's Local - Pete Brown
8/50 - Ash - James Herbert
9/50 - Capital - John Lanchester

 

[BoatieBird]

What did you think of Ash marty21?

 

[marty21]

What did you think of Ash marty21?

quite liked it in the end - started really slowly and I was getting a bit bored initially - but once the ghostly happenings began , I got into it

 

[BoatieBird]

quite liked it in the end - started really slowly and I was getting a bit bored initially - but once the ghostly happenings began , I got into it

The reviews on Amazon aren't great
I might give a go

 

[marty21]

The reviews on Amazon aren't great
I might give a go

I got it cheap on the kindle tbf

 

[pennimania]

I've just bought this.
I'm pleased I only paid a couple of quid for it secondhand

Don't take my word for it!

Most people here rate it highly (I think).

 

[BoatieBird]

Don't take my word for it!

Most people here rate it highly (I think).

Someone on this thread (firky?) really rated it.
I'll get round to it at some point

 

[pennimania]

Someone on this thread (firky?) really rated it.
I'll get round to it at some point

I'll probably read it again in a while.

I was travelling when I read it so probably did not concentrate properly.

 

[ringo]

1/30 The Room Of Lost Things - Stella Duffy
2/30 At Hell's Gate: A Soldiers Journey From War To Peace - Claude Anshin Thomas
3/30 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
4/30 Altered Carbon - Richard K Morgan
Best sci-fi writer I've read since William Gibson, looking forward to the rest of his stuff.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

still only 9% of the way through les miserables...

 

[petee]

3/30 travels with a donkey (stevenson)

4/30 the servile state (belloc)

 

[Kidda]

1/15 - North by Northwestern (Deadliest Waters) by Sig Hansen.

Fantastic book, thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[imposs1904]

1/100 Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter
2/100 Ramones by Nicholas Rombes
3/100 The Train by Georges Simenon
4/100 Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran by Andy Taylor
5/100 Physical Resistance: A Hundred Years of Anti-Fascism by Dave Hann
6/100 Walking With Ghosts by John Baker

7/100 Cupid's Dart by David Nobbs

 

[BoatieBird]

1/50 - Grits, Niall Griffiths
2/50 - Suicide Hill, James Ellroy
3/50 - Children of Men, P D James
4/50 - Worlds of English, Module guide
5/50 - Whit, Iain Banks

6/50 - Paula Spencer, Roddy Doyle

 

[ilovebush&blair]

So who's winning ATM? Anyone read over 10 books yet?

 

[pennimania]

11/100 Let the Right One In John Ajvide Lindquist

God, I was soooooooooo disappointed by this. Struggled to finish it. Meandering plot, far too many inconsequential characters all called Benny, Genny or Lenny, far too many proper nouns altogether ( endless lists of place names that contributed nothing to plot).

If that is what Sweden is really like god preserve me from ever visiting it.

I could not sympathise with a single character. The setting was revolting, and I didn't care that s/he was a vampire, whether s/he got his dinner or indeed anything else in the book.

And Oskar was a wimp.

Edited because I spelled author's name incorrectly

12/100. Excellent Women. Barbara Pym. Wonderful dry humour and an acute sense of the ridiculous.

 

[ilovebush&blair]

pennimania FTW

 

[marty21]

1/30 The Room Of Lost Things - Stella Duffy
2/30 At Hell's Gate: A Soldiers Journey From War To Peace - Claude Anshin Thomas
3/30 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
4/30 Altered Carbon - Richard K Morgan
Best sci-fi writer I've read since William Gibson, looking forward to the rest of his stuff.

Morgan is excellent !

 

[pennimania]

But a lot of mine are trash.

Not Barbara Pym tho

 

[Pickman's model]

pronto
ride the rap
3-100

 

[colbhoy]

pronto
ride the rap
3-100

I've started reading Elmore Leonard in the last year or so (inspired by the very under-rated TV show Justified). He is very good.

 

[Pickman's model]

I've started reading Elmore Leonard in the last year or so (inspired by the very under-rated TV show Justified). He is very good.

yeh, i read maximum bob some years ago, but got into justified through deadwood and so back to elmore leonard. got raylan the other day which i'm reading now.

 

[districtline]

Joseph Roth - The Wandering Jews (2/50)