*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[ericjarvis]

Cyteen was interesting. There aren't many murder mysteries solved by the victim. Patchy though. The ideas and characters are brilliant. However it reads as if the first three quarters of the book were written (and edited) somewhat self indulgently and slowly, then there are a couple of chapters that are absolutely spot on. Then the deadline came up and the last few pages were done in a couple of hours in a desperate attempt to get the last quarter of the story covered before it's too late. Worth reading. Not Cherryh's best.

Now on some more Elmore Leonard. Valdez Is Coming. Which is brilliant so far. An anti-racist western.

 

[clicker]

The half that works - a first novel by Laurie Horner, which is an easy and enjoyable read...set in London in the world of art college/gallery and graphic design...taking an irreverent look at the pretensions that surround all three.

 

[tar1984]

I've just started 'The Catcher in the Rye' by JD Salinger.

Really enjoying it so far. It's a classic and all but it's not at all dry - really engaging and great use of language.

 

[sojourner]

The one about that Jane girl wipes the floor with this....

I was right - you really do not have a soul What a big pile of wank!

Now on some more Elmore Leonard. Valdez Is Coming. Which is brilliant so far. An anti-racist western.

I've just started 'The Catcher in the Rye' by JD Salinger.

Really enjoying it so far. It's a classic and all but it's not at all dry - really engaging and great use of language.

I hate that book. I've heard that it can make sense/seem interesting if you read it as an adolescent boy, but having never actually been one, and having read it as a late 20s woman, it did fuck all for me

 

[Part 2]

Put me back on my bike...Tom Simpson biography

 

[xenon]

A Classical Education, by Caroline Taggot. Presented in a sort of conversational style, a quick guide to all that stuff you should probably have learned at school. That said, it's surprising how much you already have a passing aquaitence with, classical Greek and Roman references being so omnipresent.

Next, back to the scifi I think. probably Holting State by Charles Stross. A near future theft in cyber space unfolds into something much more sinister. As I gathered from the blurb anyway.

 

[ericjarvis]

Next, back to the scifi I think. probably Holting State by Charles Stross. A near future theft in cyber space unfolds into something much more sinister. As I gathered from the blurb anyway.

A fun book. Ignore the blurb. It's not wrong, it's just not telling you anything much about the story. Certainly a must read for anyone who thinks about where we are going with the links between cyberspace and meatspace.

 

[Orang Utan]

dennis lehane - shutter island.
don't tell me owt.

 

[xenon]

A fun book. Ignore the blurb. It's not wrong, it's just not telling you anything much about the story. Certainly a must read for anyone who thinks about where we are going with the links between cyberspace and meatspace.

I was paraphrasing from memory, very lazily.

I'm a frequent visitor to www.sfreivews.net and it got a decent explanative review there. As Stross does generally.

 

[ericjarvis]

PD James - The Lighthouse

I like her books. They keep my intellect mildly involved without being either emotionally demanding or completely soulless. Very relaxing to read.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

PD James - The Lighthouse

I like her books. They keep my intellect mildly involved without being either emotionally demanding or completely soulless. Very relaxing to read.

Good description - I feel the same having recently read "The Private Patient"

 

[elevendayempire]

"Pistols at Dawn: A History of Duelling."

 

[nicksonic]

i've taken a break from 'the view from castle rock' (i don't feel too bad since it's a short story collection) to read 'servants of the people' by andrew rawnsley, the precursor to 'the end of the party'.

fascinating stuff, i'm completely absorbed.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

I'm reading Sex, Botany & Empire by Patricia Fara. Quite interesting but a bit simplistic.

 

[sojourner]

I am now reading my bible at lunchtimes, the Pullman book in the evenings, and The Family Frying Pan by Bryce Courtenay at bedtime

The Family Frying Pan is quite interesting actually - but incredibly annoying to read as it only has little pages and fairly big text, so I am constantly having to turn pages. This is not easy when you're lying down on your side

 

[BoatieBird]

Good description - I feel the same having recently read "The Private Patient"

I read The Private Patient a couple of months ago.
It felt to me like it could be her last book
She seemed to tie up a lot of loose ends with the characters. And the last paragraph of the book felt very much like a goodbye.
tbf she is 90 but it makes me sad that there might not be any more.

 

[Cerberus]

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

Really enjoying this.....and finding it filled with humour too (didnt expect that)

 

[sojourner]

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

Really enjoying this.....and finding it filled with humour too (didnt expect that)

One of my all time favourites is that

 

[ringo]

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

Really enjoying this.....and finding it filled with humour too (didnt expect that)

I found a copy of that by the bins the other day, 1st deition by the looks, a good find.

Lunchtime reading is currently The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold. About 8 years after everybody else was reading it at lunchtime I reckon.

 

[D'wards]

Just finished The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman by Bruce Robinson.

Loved it, made me laugh out loud at times, paints a great picture of adolescence in an England long gone. Really captures the feeling of first infatuation too.

And all the blowing up of crabs too of course.

Either gonna read Shutter Island or Miss Wyoming next, cannot decide which yet.

 

[Fictionist]

Leo T - Anna Karenina

 

[little_legs]

'Too Much Happiness' by Alice Munro.

It's an excellent collection of stories and I am enjoying it.

 

[nicksonic]

'Too Much Happiness' by Alice Munro.

It's an excellent collection of stories and I am enjoying it.

have you read 'the view from castle rock'? i'm halfway through that, hasn't grabbed me quite as i hoped.

 

[Voley]

Just about to start 'The Hell Of It All' by Charlie Brooker

 

[little_legs]

have you read 'the view from castle rock'? i'm halfway through that, hasn't grabbed me quite as i hoped.

i've not read this collection. and i have heard mixed reviews ranging from awesome to boring. i will give it a go some time in future and will submit a report on this thread.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

Just about to start 'The Hell Of It All' by Charlie Brooker

the missus says she thinks this is alright and quite amusing.

 

[Orang Utan]

is it another one of his collections of columns? i'm waiting for a proper book

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

yes it is apparently.

what's a proper book then? war and peace. naked lunch. five go mad in waitrose?

 

[Sesquipedalian]

Currently reading ;
Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking.

(Includes two CDs with inspirational tips from the author.)

 

[Orang Utan]

yes it is apparently.

what's a proper book then? war and peace. naked lunch. five go mad in waitrose?

you know, a proper book about something. not just old clippings (though they are still funny and worth rereading).