*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[D'wards]

Just finished Shuggie Bain. Completely depressing but utterly compelling tale of how alcoholism can tear lives and families apart.
Even though fiction, your heart aches for the titular character.

Living in poverty on estates/schemes can be as grim as it gets.

 

[T & P]

Have his Carcase by Dorothy Sayers. I’m working through her Peter Wimsey detective mystery novels, and this is so far great.

I only got to read very recently an article on Sayers’s personal life and struggles and how they influenced her novels, and it certainly adds an extra dimension to the main recurring characters in the series.

One of my all-time favourite golden era crime mystery authors anyway

 

[rubbershoes]

I've finally finished Antonia Fraser's The Six Wives of Henry VIII. What a great book. It's informative and interesting but with an easy style.

And I think I've got this topic nailed down next time it comes up in a pub quiz.

Top fact - none of the six wives have any living descendants.

 

[sojourner]

Invisible Women (Exposing data bias in a world designed for men) by Caroline Criado Perez. Fascinating stuff, scary, some of it I already knew, some I'm deeply shocked by. I read the article in the Guardian ages ago about it, and only just got round to buying the book.

And I'm also reading Heidi! Well, re-reading. It was one of my favourite books as a child, must have read it tens of times. Very comforting, great bedtime reading.

 

[belboid]

Paul McCartney - The Lyrics

In which Paul discusses the circumstances in which the songs were written. I’m just reading odd songs, as it were.

I am disappointed that The Frog Chorus is not included.

 

[sojourner]

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Prequel to the Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

A friend has introduced me to the Murderbot Diaries series. I've no idea how I missed this before, it's wonderful.

I just binged the 6 books in about 3 days.

Now I'm checking out her rakusa books.

 

[Nikkormat]

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Dystopian sci-fi from 1920. I'm only a few pages in but am enjoying it so far.

 

[ginger_syn]

The eye of the world. by Robert jordan, aiming for a re-read of the series.

 

[rubbershoes]

I'm enjoying The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius

 

[D'wards]

Just finished Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

Wonderful, brilliant, Fantastic.

Best book I've read for years. Don't look up what it's about, just read it if you fancy it

 

[chainsawjob]

Those Who Were Dancing: from the rave to the grave by Mark Sleigh



A murder mystery set in the aftermath of the illegal rave scene.

 

[Dillinger4]

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

 

[Nikkormat]

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Dystopian sci-fi from 1920. I'm only a few pages in but am enjoying it so far.

Excellent and I recommend it.

Now on Travelers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd, accounts by visitors to Germany between the wars.

 

[planetgeli]

Empires of the Indus - The story of a river. By Alice Albinia.

Travel/history book starting with partition in 1947. Good so far and has the best opening paragraph of any travel book I've ever read - wouldn't have been out of place as the opening to a novel.

 

[D'wards]

ATTENTION

There's an app called Moodreads where you put which book you are reading in and it plays specific tailored music to match.

Free on android at the moment

 

[rubbershoes]

I'm enjoying The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius

Just finished this and really liked it. It's classed as a children's book but it needn't be. Enjoyable and touching. And easy to read.

 

[sojourner]

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Loving it so far, halfway through.

 

[surreybrowncap]

I have just started reading Andrew Birkin’s “J.M. Barrie and The Lost Boys”
I’m also viewing his excellent BBC drama on the subject from 1978.

 

[BigMoaner]

Item no longer available

The item you are looking for is no longer available. <br/>

www.abebooks.co.uk

 

[rubbershoes]

Transition by Iain M Banks.

As ever, you're thrown straight in and have to wait for it to be revealed. Enjoying it so far

 

[shifting gears]

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Loving it so far, halfway through.

This is on my list!

 

[shifting gears]

Michael Moorcock - The Whispering Swarm

Kinda a personal memoirs crossed with fantasy of a hidden, alternate historical London… intriguing so far after 70-odd pages…

 

[sojourner]

This is on my list!

Good, because it's excellent.

 

[Nikkormat]

An Evening With Claire by Gaito Gazdanov. Of his books translated into English, this is the only one I've not yet read.

 

[DotCommunist]

Transition by Iain M Banks.

As ever, you're thrown straight in and have to wait for it to be revealed. Enjoying it so far

I was looking for things from him I hadn't read, and this was it. Good book. I read a comment from Iain regarding the writing of it:
"With Transition, I wanted to prove something. I wanted to show I could do something like The Bridge again because until now, that has been my favourite."

now I'll have to re-read the bridge for a compare and contrast

 

[BristolEcho]

Just finished The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie. I fucking love him and the books are great. Apparently he's starting a complete new series, but there will hopefully be more TFL in the future. First 1/4 was a bit slow, but then it gets building.

I listened to all the audio books this year by Stephen Pacey. I'll definitely get this one to complete the set as he really brings it alive.

 

[krtek a houby]

Getting bogged down in the third book of the Riverworld saga. Philip Jose Farmer's pulpy sexist style grates after a while. Knew it was going to be hard going but ugh, still another book to go after this...

 

[krtek a houby]

I was looking for things from him I hadn't read, and this was it. Good book. I read a comment from Iain regarding the writing of it:
"With Transition, I wanted to prove something. I wanted to show I could do something like The Bridge again because until now, that has been my favourite."

now I'll have to re-read the bridge for a compare and contrast

It's good enough (love that kind of sci-fi theme, etc) but The Bridge is the superior book, imho

 

[MrCurry]

Shamed by today’s realisation that I never read any more, I’ve just picked up Flashman’s Winter and started reading. Let’s hope i stick with it to the end.