*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[starfish]

A Man Without Breath by Philip Kerr. Its 1943 & Bernie Gunther is sent to investigate the Katyn Forest massacre.

 

[sojourner]

Working Lives: Volume One 1905 - 45, by The People's Autobiography of Hackney, published by the Hackney WEA. Picked it up in the charity shop. Fascinating stuff, and being published by the WEA, it does make the point that ordinary working people's lives are just not accounted for in most literature.

 

[Mr Happy Orange]

The Consolation Of Philosophy - Boethius

Sometimes you just find the right book at the right time. This is certainly the case with this text.

 

[jeff_leigh]

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

 

[8115]

Half of a yellow sun.

 

[bubblesmcgrath]

Can You Forgive Her? - Anthony Trollope

I recall John Major stating that Trollope was his favorite author - and within the first few lines I could understand why - the clipped, precise style (in an entirely unnatural way) matching the way Major speaks.

Brilliant author...I loved the Barchester Chronicles.

 

[Dillinger4]

Something I read recently and recommend:

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Turning Points in Ancient History) by Eric H. Cline

In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen?

In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries.

 

[weltweit]

finally managed to finish: Tau Zero, by Poul Anderson. Glad I read it but didn't really enjoy it.

Just read: London Calling, James Craig - this kind of thriller I like, constant stuff to keep the reader interested, possible to read the whole 300 pages in a few days, sci-fi should be written like this!

 

[ericjarvis]

Just finished re-reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, I'd forgotten how much fun it was.

Next up is Ha'penny by Jo Walton, then Atonement by Ian McEwan.

 

[Frances Lengel]

Luke and Jon by Robert Williams

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Luke_and_Jon.html?id=TEdOewAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Not bad so far.

 

[izz]

The Diary of Samuel Pepys. "Thence to the office with nothing to do".

 

[DotCommunist]

did a boot sale today and in usual habit came back with a decent haul of books.

Mitch Tonks: Fish, the complete fish & seafood companion. Might have to invest in a fish kettle now

Biographies: Richard Hammond, Ozzy Osbourne. At 75 p each, why the fuck not?

also binoculars and a cobain print done in pastels, but they are not books

 

[belboid]

Just picked up David Mitchell's The Bone Clock. Can't decide whether to finish my current book or just plough into this, cos it sounds brilliant.

 

[weltweit]

The Hidden Man, Charles Cumming

Spy thriller: initially interesting, ultimately slightly less than satisfying.

 

[BoatieBird]

Currently reading If Nobody Speak of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor.

It's been on my Amazon wishlist for a couple of months after someone on here recommended it, a trawl through the 'recommend me something uplifting' thread that ringo started tells me that it was recommended by tufty79.
Thanks tufty, really enjoying it so far
I started reading it yesterday afternoon in my dentist's waiting room and I knew straight away that it was something I wanted to savour so I put it away until I got home so I could concentrate on the beautiful opening passages.

 

[sojourner]

^ pretty sure I've read that one Boatie - seem to remember I enjoyed it too

Just started Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. Had no idea she was a fan of Stalin!

 

[maya]

Just started Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. Had no idea she was a fan of Stalin!

She also had a (brief) affair with Trotsky, not that it makes it any better though.

Herrera's is the best and most authoritative biography on Kahlo so far, IIRC.

 

[sojourner]

Yeh, I flicked through the photies having a nosey and saw Trotsky!

 

[maya]

Yeh, I flicked through the photies having a nosey and saw Trotsky!

He was assasinated soon after, poor man. (*no connection!)

Kahlo was a fascinating woman, such a strong and independent character- she had a string of interesting lovers, many famous intellectuals and artists- including Josephine Baker! (Interestingly, just like Simone de Beauvoir with Sartre, she let her life become dominated by the interdependent relationship to an older and less caring man, whose artictic star was considered the most important one. He was 'the big Genius', she his muse and supporter.)

 

[jeff_leigh]

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane , Can't remember the urbanite who recommended this author to me but a big Thank you

 

[DotCommunist]

Echopraxia. God I've missed Peter Watts. It's the future, and its really really shit for everyone who isn't super rich. Also questions on the nature of human etc. Only two chapters in and I can tell its a keeper.

 

[billy_bob]

Steinbeck's East of Eden for the first time. One of the best books I've ever read. I usually race through fiction but I'm finding I don't want to with this because I don't want to finish it

 

[shifting gears]

Steinbeck's East of Eden for the first time. One of the best books I've ever read. I usually race through fiction but I'm finding I don't want to with this because I don't want to finish it

I read it a long time ago and must re-read it but it evoked exactly the same feelings in me that you described. Steinbeck in full flow is something else, and that's his Magnum Opus.

To quote/paraphrase him 'there is only one book to a man'

(Not that I can really agree, cos he wrote loads of good uns, but you get the point )

 

[ringo]

Farewell, My Lovely - Raymond Chandler.....I remember my best mate reading all of these when we were teenagers but for some reason I wasn't interested. Don't know why, they're brilliant. Loving this even more than The Big Sleep.

"It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window."

 

[Pickman's model]

asterix and the secret agent

 

[MrSki]

asterix and the secret agent

Never heard of that one. There is "Asterix & the Roman Agent" or "Asterix & the Secret Weapon" Is it a new one?

 

[Pickman's model]

Never heard of that one. There is "Asterix & the Roman Agent" or "Asterix & the Secret Weapon" Is it a new one?

yeh roman agent

 

[billy_bob]

I read it a long time ago and must re-read it but it evoked exactly the same feelings in me that you described. Steinbeck in full flow is something else, and that's his Magnum Opus.

To quote/paraphrase him 'there is only one book to a man'

(Not that I can really agree, cos he wrote loads of good uns, but you get the point )

I've read many of his others and loved most of them - don't know why it took so long to get round to this one.

 

[Frances Lengel]

Just finished Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers.

It's about this ostracised traveller kid who's just got out of jail n that. And how he came to end up being ostracised and his relationship with his father n that. I wasn't sure if I'd get into it at first coz on page one the narrator's on about a "green cathedral", meaning some woods and I was thinking christ, is this going to be one of those books about some kind of idiot/idiot savant who's in touch with nature and all that boring bullshit. But it isn't like that at all, what it is is a really good read, I couldn't put it down. Recommended.

 

[_mICHELLe_]

Isaac Bashevis Singer - Scum