*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[nicksonic]

the view from castle rock - alice munro.

munro is supposed to be 'the greatest living short story writer'...

 

[sojourner]

the view from castle rock - alice munro.

munro is supposed to be 'the greatest living short story writer'...

I've never actually heard of her - but just looked her up and she sounds intriguing. I absolutely LOVE good short stories, and so far my favourites are Annie Proulx, Elmore Leonard, and Tennessee Williams

What do you think of her then?

 

[starfish]

In a complete departure from my normal literature, i have started to read, The Frock Coated Communist by Tristram Hunt. Its a biography of Friedrich Engels. My mum picked up a copy as an wee extra gift for my birthday as Hunt was doing a signing at the recent Aye Write festival in Glasgow. I was a bit surprised.

 

[nicksonic]

I've never actually heard of her - but just looked her up and she sounds intriguing. I absolutely LOVE good short stories, and so far my favourites are Annie Proulx, Elmore Leonard, and Tennessee Williams

What do you think of her then?

i only found out about her when i read this interview with richard russo who said she got a scandalous lack of attention despite being brilliant.

i'm only about 50 pages in, interesting so far, will report back when i'm finished

 

[Roadkill]

Anthony Seldon - Trust: How we lost it and how to get it back. Fifty pages in I still can't work out whether it's rather good or very crap. It's interesting either way, though.

 

[sojourner]

i only found out about her when i read this interview with richard russo who said she got a scandalous lack of attention despite being brilliant.

i'm only about 50 pages in, interesting so far, will report back when i'm finished

nice one

 

[ericjarvis]

Neil Gaiman - Coraline

 

[Orang Utan]

i've started in again on jg ballard's short stories. they are arranged in chronological order and i was struggling at the beginning but now i'm on a roll, probably cos i'm seeing him improve and mature. highlights so far are the voices of time, the overloaded man, the concentration city, billenium, mr f is mr f and the last world of mr godddard. he's proper blowing my mind and keeping me awake at night, marveling at mysteries of the world like calvin from calvin and hobbs.

 

[ericjarvis]

Now on to Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.

 

[rollinder]

Barbara Vine - The Chimney Sweeper's Boy

grim.
at the fucking stupid, posh, spoiled brats obsessed with their darling daddy.

Spoiler: the 'twist/revelation'

When it went on and on about how much he loved families and how wonderful he was with children. I expected him to turn out to be a peado, instead of an ultrarepressed homosexual who accidentally fucked his brother

 

[stethoscope]

Lynsey Hanley - Estates

 

[Bajie]

A Brief History of Tea - Roy Moxham, not as dull as it sounds.

 

[Voley]

'Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family' by Nicholas Pileggi.

It's the memoir of Mafia associate and government witness Henry Hill (a former associate of New York's Lucchese crime family, that was used as the basis for the classic gangster film 'Goodfellas.' An excellent read all round.

Ace book.

I'm just starting 'My Shit Life So Far' by Frankie Boyle.

 

[G. Fieendish]

Frank Herbert - The Dosadi Experiment...

 

[rollinder]

William Haggard - The Unquiet Sleep

 

[Roadkill]

A Brief History of Tea - Roy Moxham, not as dull as it sounds.

I read that a couple of months back - it's good.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Lynsey Hanley - Estates

I enjoyed that. It's good to read something about estates from someone who lived on one from childhood, rather than the POV of sociologists, architects, planners etc

 

[Mungy]

black house - stephen king and peter straub

 

[QueenOfGoths]

The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Am enjoying it, quite dark and gothic at times

 

[Fictionist]

The Enchantress of Florence (again) - Salman Rushdie (14)

Beautiful and beguiling, his best novel for years.

 

[Itziko]

The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes and no, I don't work for Amazon. My copy hasn't that pretty cover either

A wonderful story of the early scientists in late XVIII - early XIX Century in Britain, very well narrated and with great anecdotes.

 

[rollinder]

^ is that your affiliate link?

 

[Itziko]

No, it was the first link I found when googling up the title

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I'm re-reading Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage by Peter Forbes.
I'm getting into a lot of re-reading, especially non-fiction as I find after I've had time to mull over what I've read, plus then reading further stuff on the subject, re-reading a few months later means I have a greater understanding and get loads more stuff that passed me by before.

 

[nicksonic]

The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Am enjoying it, quite dark and gothic at times

i finished that last week and won't go into further detail for obvious reasons

 

[5t3IIa]

I'm on English Passengers by Matthew Kneale again as I don't have the energy to start something new.

 

[ericjarvis]

I'm on English Passengers by Matthew Kneale again as I don't have the energy to start something new.

It's a great book though. Must re-read it myself.

 

[5t3IIa]

It's a great book though. Must re-read it myself.

If you're interested in transportation may I recommend The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes

 

[the button]

"Planet of slums" by Mike Davis. A bit heavy on facts & figures and light on analysis so far. But perhaps he's just warming up.

 

[mark1234]

reading sophie's world now..