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*What book are you reading? (part 2)

sojourner said:
Really? You surprise me. You're a poet, are you not? Your own head should be a heaven, not a hell.
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i was being jokeful- but no I do hate to be without my aural or written distractions. Depending on my overall mood it can get me on the downward spiral of remembering everything bad I ever did, every humiliation or slight I dealt unwarranted or recieved in kind. Y'know, the brain is a strange thing. Other moods won't set me on the path of self loathing but it does happen often enough.

I've mainly been reading about the Man Eating Lions Of Tsavo since yesterday. After they got old Cecil I thought I'd read a bit about the boot being on the other foot
 
sojourner said:
Really? You surprise me. You're a poet, are you not? Your own head should be a heaven, not a hell.

You were. You just never realise you are being.
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I think it's a bit off to suggest I'm being tiresome just for disagreeing with you. And then condescending to me about it. I think what I said was valid and worth pointing out. As I said, there are good many arguments 'against' kindles, but the fact that they are powered by electricity is not one of them. The way we read on them is a thing to consider. How easier it is to be distracted from our reading on kindles than books, for example. Nicholas Carr's The Shallows is a good read on this subject (and others).
 
OU - we have had this before. I have called you tiresome on many occasions. You always deny it. I'm not in the best frame of mind just recently having had one of the worst fucking months of my life, and you were extrapolating. It wasn't a valid comparison. And you are simply contrasting your own opinion with mine. Let's not continue this. It feels like you're winding me up and that is THE LAST THING I fucking need right now, having felt as if I've been under attack for weeks now.
 
DotCommunist said:
i was being jokeful- but no I do hate to be without my aural or written distractions. Depending on my overall mood it can get me on the downward spiral of remembering everything bad I ever did, every humiliation or slight I dealt unwarranted or recieved in kind. Y'know, the brain is a strange thing. Other moods won't set me on the path of self loathing but it does happen often enough.
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:( I do understand how easy that can be, but it is a real shame if that happens more than the good spirals.
 
DotCommunist said:
eh, sometimes more sometimes less, its nothing new to me.

I hope whatver trials and tribulations have afflicted you this last month will smooth out and come right sis :)
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Yup, didn't mean to vex you, sojourner

Just think there's a good debate to be had about kindles vs books, with much to be said on either side, but another thread another time :)
 
Orang Utan said:
I'm reading Ian McEwan's The Children Act.
It's about an important person who ruminates on their important life whilst chewing over an important decision about some unimportant people, all whilst trying to live a normal domestic life, just like a normal person.
I'm never sure how much he's taking the piss out of these people, if at all. He doesn't seem to hold them in contempt at all. He's very sympathetic towards them, but then he talks about the protagonist's extended family holidaying 'in the cheaper sort of castle', and I wonder...is there a joke i'm missing?
He is an excellent wordsmith and observer of human relationships, but the people he writes about...aaargh
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Grief yep, I think these are the sort of circles he moves in these days - all barristers and Hampstead literati - come a long way from The Cement Garden.
I only picked this up because daughter does a bit of Cafcas guardian stuff (and is NOTHING like characters in book, although, tbf, the social workers get a decent write-up).

Currently getting through Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora - I like KSR but am finding this a bit tiresome. Always Poseidon's Wake (Alastair Reynolds) waiting for me but not really dying to read that one - just got it to be a completist
 
Now reading Dan Simmons' The Terror. I think he normally writes science fiction, but this is a historical monster thriller based on the true story of the disastrousFranklin expedition to find the North West Passage.
 
i
Orang Utan said:
Now reading Dan Simmons' The Terror. I think he normally writes science fiction, but this isa historical monster thriller based on the true story of the disastrousFranklin expedition to find the North West Passage.
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Simmons splits his time between Sci-Fi and Horror. He wrote a rather good "kids in peril" story in the '90s called "Summer of Night". it's been accused of being a bit derivative of Stephen King's "It", but isn't, except the basic "kids in peril" premise.
 
Finished Benjamin Zephaniah's "Teacher's Dead" - had forgotten I'd read it before but it's brilliant, simply written and un-patronising. Going to read "Terror Kid" next, I reckon.
 
Just finished reading 'Anglemaker' by Nick Harkaway.

Steam punk style novel but set in the present day with lots of flashbacks to the character's pasts. Really well written.
 
Just read Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Ascendancy by Eric Van Lustbader. I am a sucker for a good page turning thriller and this developed ok for me.
 
Life Drawing - Robin Black

Beautifully written book about a middle aged artist couple who have moved to the country trying to recover from one of them having an affair. Languid, but with intense emotions and atmosphere. Unfortunately I don't like any of the characters, which is putting me off. They're all quite flawed and interesting, and their nastier thoughts are more human than monstrous, but their lack of loyalty doesn't sit well with me. They feel guilty for their betrayals, but not enough to avoid committing them, and that I find indefensible.

I reckon most readers on this thread would quite like it though, very well written, taut prose and quite insightful.

ETA: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/02/life-drawing-robin-black-novel-review
 
weltweit said:
Just read Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Ascendancy by Eric Van Lustbader. I am a sucker for a good page turning thriller and this developed ok for me.
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the lustbader one is shit IMO, but the Ludlum originals are all solid gold- much better than the films
 
Finished the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare - It was a gothic steampunky prequel to the Mortal instruments set in Victorian Britain, Magnus Bane (the immortal warlock who likes to cover himself in glitter) was in it too :)
But it centred around Will and Jem who are Parabartai Nephilim shadow Hunters, and Tessa who is some kind of warlock.
I love Cassandra Clare's world building.
She has a sequel to The Mortal Instruments coming out next year called The Dark Artifices, I cant wait!!
TMI is also being turned into a TV series.. called shadow hunters :) :)
 
moon said:
Finished the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare - It was a gothic steampunky prequel to the Mortal instruments set in Victorian Britain, Magnus Bane (the immortal warlock who likes to cover himself in glitter) was in it too :)
But it centred around Will and Jem who are Parabartai Nephilim shadow Hunters, and Tessa who is some kind of warlock.
I love Cassandra Clare's world building.
She has a sequel to The Mortal Instruments coming out next year called The Dark Artifices, I cant wait!!
TMI is also being turned into a TV series.. called shadow hunters :) :)
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Wasn't it a film recently? The first book.
 
Just finished Kolymsy Heights. Not bad as a thriller but a bit too detailed for my liking. Now on to Alex v The Universe.
 
Zabo said:
Just finished Kolymsy Heights. Not bad as a thriller but a bit too detailed for my liking. Now on to Alex v The Universe.
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Is that 'The Universe versus Alex Woods' or is there another book? If it is I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
 
Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre. Superb story based on real events and people detailing the lengths women went to to try to keep their looks in the 1700's but also containing time travel.
 
Just finished Elmore Leonard's "Mister Majestyk". Melon farmer versus bad guys. Lots of shoot outs. All over in 140 odd pages.

Next up "Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. I have no idea what it's about. I'm guessing motorbikes, right?
 
krtek a houby said:
.. Next up "Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. I have no idea what it's about. I'm guessing motorbikes, right?
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Been meaning to read this myself, partly because I used to love motorbikes but I don't think that is required to enjoy the book. I would be interested to hear how you get on with it!!
 
Paul Mason - Postcapitalism

A third of the way through it now, having dealt with the 'how did we get here' stuff, which is a very good description of the rise and spread of neoliberalism, and the effect of Kondratieff waves. The next sections - on what 'postcapitalism' is, and how we might get there are probably a bit more questionable. Still, a very good read.
 
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