*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[flypanam]

Us conductors - Sean Michaels

Fictional account of the life of the inventor of the theremin.

 

[campanula]

am just finishing it too.......................to be honest am struggling not to find it a bit dull now at the end..........

Grief yes, he does that thing of compressing years and years into a paragraph or so, fails to tie up plot ends....in fact, this is exactly why I have never been too keen on his books as they often start out with an interesting premise but fail to deliver as characterisation and emotional engagement takes a big back seat to grandiosity. May never bother with the next, Ultima.

 

[ringo]

The Blacker The Berry - Wallace Thurman
Supposed to be the first novel to tackle colour prejudice among black Americans, written by a member of the Harlem Renaissance in 1929. Never heard of them but will investigate further on the strength of this.

 

[Arran1982]

Im on Dance With Dragons (Game of Thrones book 5), this is seriously becoming a chore now, after such a great start book 4 and 5 have been huge disappointments.

 

[maya]

, written by a member of the Harlem Renaissance in 1929. Never heard of them but will investigate further on the strength of this.

I haven't read enough Harlem Renaissance lit but have access to several books through my work and have picked up some pointers here and there- so far I'll recommend Nella Larsen- 'Passing' and Zora Neale Hurston- 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' as particularly good novels.

 

[ringo]

I haven't read enough Harlem Renaissance lit but have access to several books through my work and have picked up some pointers here and there- so far I'll recommend Nella Larsen- 'Passing' and Zora Neale Hurston- 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' as particularly good novels.

Cheers [emoji3]

 

[maya]

Cheers [emoji3]

You're welcome!

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

Sleepyhead (Tom Thorne #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/482889.Sleepyhead

Not enjoying it, it was a free book on promotion; it's very blandly written and i'm not sure why it has such good reviews. I've done 60% of it so i will finish it.

 

[weltweit]

Sleepyhead (Tom Thorne #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/482889.Sleepyhead
Not enjoying it, it was a free book on promotion; it's very blandly written and i'm not sure why it has such good reviews. I've done 60% of it so i will finish it.

Interesting, I quite enjoyed the Mark Billingham books I have read, I liked that every couple of pages something happened to keep me interested. That said I haven't read Sleepy Head, Does the #1 indicate it is his first book?

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

Interesting, I quite enjoyed the Mark Billingham books I have read, I liked that every couple of pages something happened to keep me interested. That said I haven't read Sleepy Head, Does the #1 indicate it is hits first book?

Yes, I think this is the first of three about the detective called Thorne. At least i hope it is because I would like this serial killer case all tied up without having to read the next book.

 

[weltweit]

Yes, I think this is the first of three about the detective called Thorne. At least i hope it is because I would like this serial killer case all tied up without having to read the next book.

I read :

Scaredy Cat, Mark Billingham
Death Message, Mark Billingham
The Burning Girl, Mark Billingham
Rush of Blood, Mark Billingham
Good as Dead, Mark Billingham
Blood Line, Mark Billingham
From The Dead, Mark Billingham
Lifeless, Mark Billingham
The Dying Hours, Mark Billingham

So there are definitely more than 3

That said I like that a case takes the length of the book as with a Ian Rankin book I just read his detective Rebus solves a case every 10 pages which seems crazy !!

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Joshua Ferris - The unnamed

His second book and a massive let down. Has it moments like some beautifully observed domestic life, but mostly it rushes to nowhere in particular. I had a real problem with all the protagonists in this novel. All were unlovable.

I think I prefer it to the dentists or the ad agency, both of which I liked.

 

[flypanam]

I think I prefer it to the dentists or the ad agency, both of which I liked.

I think I was expecting another book along the lines of 'To rise again...' and 'Then we came to the end' which the writing seemed much more comfortable, the weaving of the plot, the humour and the dialogue just didn't seem forced.

I think he's to be commended in going in a different direction with 'The unnamed' it's just that I don't think it worked and that the conceit just wasn't clever.

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

I read :

Scaredy Cat, Mark Billingham
Death Message, Mark Billingham
The Burning Girl, Mark Billingham
Rush of Blood, Mark Billingham
Good as Dead, Mark Billingham
Blood Line, Mark Billingham
From The Dead, Mark Billingham
Lifeless, Mark Billingham
The Dying Hours, Mark Billingham

So there are definitely more than 3

That said I like that a case takes the length of the book as with a Ian Rankin book I just read his detective Rebus solves a case every 10 pages which seems crazy !!

I think Billingham created the character Thorne for the book Sleepyhead i don't know if he features in the others, he said of the character; "When I am asked to describe Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, I have often said that the reader knows every bit as much about him as I do. " I think he has succeeded in that but not in a good way. I find it true of all the other characters in this book. It's an easy read, a quick read but kind of empty.

 

[weltweit]

I think Billingham created the character Thorne for the book Sleepyhead i don't know if he features in the others, he said of the character; "When I am asked to describe Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, I have often said that the reader knows every bit as much about him as I do. " I think he has succeeded in that but not in a good way. I find it true of all the other characters in this book. It's an easy read, a quick read but kind of empty.

DI Thorne is in those other books I listed. I certainly agree with you that they are an easy read and perhaps not deeper than that, but I kind of like that as a bedtime book, easy read a bit, then switch off and go to sleep

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming - Mike Brown.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7963278-how-i-killed-pluto-and-why-it-had-it-coming

 

[maya]

A cookery book for kids... I still get it wrong. I can't cook for shit. Grr. (I'll keep trying, though!)

 

[maya]

Meanwhile, for actual reading (outside the kitchen) :

A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles- Nicholas A. Basbanes

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

 

[monsterbunny]

Back to Blood - Tom Wolfe

 

[madamv]

Rabbit stew and a penny or two - Maggie Smith. Story recounted by a traveller of times in the road in the 50's

 

[DotCommunist]

I, Patridge by Alan Patridge

impossible to read without reading it in steve coogans voice

 

[sojourner]

Rabbit stew and a penny or two - Maggie Smith. Story recounted by a traveller of times in the road in the 50's

I read that last year

 

[Santino]

I, Patridge by Alan Patridge

impossible to read without reading it in steve coogans voice

That's probably the audiobook version you've got there.

 

[madamv]

I read that last year

I'm only a couple chapters in but enjoying it so far. I've not read for ages, hoping it will keep me going. Some of it is round near where I live I think so should be interesting.

 

[colbhoy]

Reading Band of Brothers by Stephen E Ambrose.

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

The Democracy Project - David Graeber.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13330433-the-democracy-project

 

[inva]

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
I've seen the excellent Nicholas Ray film of this before, so I was curious to find out what the novel it was based on is like. I'm just over a third of the way through it and so far it seems to be generally darker in tone and more direct in its portrayal of Dix Steele (the main character and the one played by Humphrey Bogart in the film) as a vile, predatory misogynist. It's been very good so far, anyway, although it did take me a little bit to really start enjoying it because Steele is so repulsive and the early part of the book is very focused on him and his thoughts before other characters begin to enter the plot much.

I've finished reading this one now and it was really very good. I think next I'll try Game for Five by Marco Malvaldi which is another crime novel from an author I don't know at all and I also want to read Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate by Kenan Malik which I started at the beginning of the year but was distracted by other books before I got very far. Malik is an excellent writer and argues so clearly and convincingly on this subject so I'm looking forward to it although I think I'll already be fairly familiar with his general argument.

 

[sojourner]

I'm afraid this Ray Bradbury collection (I Sing The Body Electric) isn't very good. I'm gutted. It's like finding out your Dad doesn't actually know everything after all, he's just a fella Been ploughing through it, and although there are a couple of wow moments, it's nowhere near the genius of absolutely everything else I have read by him

I might actually start something else tonight. Got a couple of things lying around.

 

[sojourner]

Read an absolutely class ghost story last night - The Woman In Black by Susan Hill. Not read a really good one like that for too long now. It actually had me freezing up in fear Brilliantly written, can't beat a subtle dose of suspense.

 

[gosub]