*What book are you reading ?

[muser]

just finished a great book called As Used On Nelson Mandela by a comedian called mark thomas its all about the arms trade good mix of comedy and some serious issues tackled.

I loved the mark thomas project. I'm seriously tempted to go and get it.

 

[muser]

The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene

I'm on a science tip at the moment

Glad you mentioned this, please let me know if it delves into the murky world of everett's many world's theory and the higgs theory. Some post grads on the newsgroup, seem to think that higgs boson won't be found when the LHC is tested at full capacity 2 years time. Just curious to know whether you have read 'a brief history of time', a very respect friend of mine actually gave up on it after several chapters, citing the fact that its too indepth. This has put me off reading it. Could he be wrong?

 

[muser]

Oh, persevere - I loved that. Banks is about the only sci-fi I read. It is an interesting thing about SF though - It's seen as the preserve of teenage boys, geeks and fantasists with no life, but i think at it's best it's a really good genre for exploring socio-political issues, and can be really intelligent and inspiring, eg Ursula le Guin's stuff.

I am reading Peter Ackroyds 'Life of Blake' (ie william). What a loon, man. Really interesting placing his work in the social context of the time.

Also 'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell. I found it in a skip the other day, I've never seen the film, but fuck me I'm addicted to it. I'd always assumed it was some cartlandesque romance but it's so much more.
Fascinating, and deeply uncomfortable.

I'm in a bit of a silly mood of late, which enables me to read excession, and I'm surprisingly enjoying it. I like the idea of 'infinite fun' and the names given to the minds; peace make plenty, anticipation of a new lovers arrival, shoot them later and one of my favourites a frank exchange of views. The latter being a warship.

 

[jodal]

I'm still reading We Need To Talk About Kevin but I'm savouring every word - most impressive book I've read in a long time

I can see whyyou might like that OU. Great book.

 

[Philbc03]

I'm now reading Ray Kroc's autobiography, 'Grinding it Out'. And on the train to Cov tomorrow my light reading will be 'Complexity and Social Movements' by Graeme Chesters and Ian Welsh. Look out for a piece on it in the Sociological Review in about 6 months social theory fans!

 

[trashpony]

I'm still reading We Need To Talk About Kevin but I'm savouring every word - most impressive book I've read in a long time

You haven't finished it? Blimey - I assumed you had. Just as well I didn't discuss the twist in the tale with you at Offline the other week

 

[zenie]

this week i read:

On Beauty - Zadie Smith: easier to read than the autograph man and similar to white teeth, didnt blow me away though.

Yep although it was a realy pageturner i sort of got that 'was that it?' feeling at the end

The Abortionist Daughter - Elisabeth someoneorother: not as good as i was expecting.

Damn I liked the sound of that when I was in the book shop

Diary of a Manhatten Call Girl - say no more

Better then Belle de Jour? The London call girl one rocked

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey. Fuck me. it blew me away. the most thought introspective provoking book i've read in a while. it made me cry (and chuckle) and i want everyone i know to read it.

I'll get it out the library

I'm about to finally read the Alchemist can anyone persuade me not to?

 

[zenie]

am halfway through the Count of Monte Cristo, never thought I'd stick at it to be honest, I seem to have trouble focusing on long books but this one has kept me wrapped up in it all the way through

I had a really bad crush as a kid on Richard Chamberlain so not sure I can read the book now I've seen the film so many times

Have you seen the film version?

 

[Orang Utan]

You haven't finished it? Blimey - I assumed you had. Just as well I didn't discuss the twist in the tale with you at Offline the other week

Yeah, had to take a break for book group book. I can see a twist coming actually - she really keeps the surprises coming

 

[Augie March]

Just over halfway through Everything Is Illuminated, very funny and unique book.

 

[Strumpet]

Am half way through a very old relatives personal account of when he was in WW2. My mam gave it to me the other day.
It's bloody fascinating, heartwarming and scary.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

MOSQUITO
A natural history of our most persistent and deadly foe
by Andrew Spielman, Sc. D. & Michael D'Antonio
Faber & Faber

Really good read and packed with all sorts of obscure facts and social history as well as interesting entomological stuff.

 

[chazegee]

Any old Iron-A Burgess.
It's tough reading when You've got broadband though.

 

[han]

I'm reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins at the moment. Brilliant. Quite funny in places too, but also scary the way it demonstrates the power religion seems to have had over people and the world since the beginning of time.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Andrea Levy - A Small Island.

It's fantastic. I am really enjoying it. It's well written, but easy to read, with characterisations which are believable and well rounded, and a gripping story. It's also very informative about what it was like being Black in the UK in the recent past. It's also got some funny bits, thankfully!

I am loving it. Has anyone else read it?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Yup, just lent it to a mate.

 

[MysteryGuest]

Best Ghost Stories - Algernon Blackwood


It is all spooky!

 

[cyberfairy]

Best Ghost Stories - Algernon Blackwood


It is all spooky!

I likes your ghostie I gave up on The Historian (forgot authors name) which had rave reviews as found it puerile badly written sub da Vinci Code cliched nonsence even though had nice descriptions of Europe. She made vampires sound silly. Now reading So He Takes The Dog by Jonathon Buckley, about a dead tramp found on a beach in Devon. Am enjoying

 

[MysteryGuest]

I likes your ghostie I gave up on The Historian (forgot authors name) which had rave reviews as found it puerile badly written sub da Vinci Code cliched nonsence even though had nice descriptions of Europe. She made vampires sound silly. Now reading So He Takes The Dog by Jonathon Buckley, about a dead tramp found on a beach in Devon. Am enjoying

I got it by googling "ghost smilie" - which means I've effectively pinched it from another board.

 

[maya]

i'm on a victorian/fin-de-siècle horror tip at the moment- not so much the "silly skeletons and castles/blood and gore" stuff (which i hate), but more the "psychological tension/slooooowly creeping suspension" side of things...

and there's LOADS to choose from...just wish they'd stock more of it at my local book haunts (wooh wooh), seems right now i need to go to england just to get more of these damn eerie tales on my crumbling shelves...ho-hum.

 

[MysteryGuest]

i'm on a victorian/fin-de-siècle horror tip at the moment- not so much the "silly skeletons and castles/blood and gore" stuff (which i hate), but more the "psychological tension/slooooowly creeping suspension" side of things...

Definitely check Algernon Blackwood then - he's really rather good at that sort of thing. And Gustav Meyrink too - a brilliantly original writer of the spooky and strange, sometimes with a bit of a tongue in cheek quality where he's obviously really into what he's taking the piss out of.

 

[maya]

.

he wrote "the golem", right? ...i've been meaning to check that out for ages, thanks for the reminder!

although i do perhaps feel i need to slow down a bit and take a long break away from all the "occult mindf*ck" shit i've been ruminating over- a bit more than what is healthy- for the past two years...
(yeah, as you say, you start out fully convinced that you won't let it affect you, the next thing you know you're waffling on about kabbalistic ciphers and nature forces from the neolithic stones...lol)

 

[MysteryGuest]

he wrote "the golem", right? ...i've been meaning to check that out for ages, thanks for the reminder!

although i do perhaps feel i need to slow down a bit and take a long break away from all the "occult mindf*ck" shit i've been ruminating over- a bit more than what is healthy- for the past two years...
(yeah, as you say, you start out fully convinced that you won't let it affect you, the next thing you know you're waffling on about kabbalistic ciphers and nature forces from the neolithic stones...lol)

Yeah the Golem is nang, bruv! As is the Angel of the West Window (an exciting read-it-to-see-what-happens-next thriller apart from anything else), and the Green Face.


But yes, good long walks, watching lots of football on the box, putting up shelves, and being practical - all the Jungian sensation function stuff, is good for the soul. Always be grounded, young maya! Mind you I think all football is mindblowingly dull, so I never, ever, or not very often look at it tbh. Grown men kicking a ball about!

 

[MysteryGuest]

I never put up shelves either.

 

[maya]

of course you don't put them up, it's the sort of experience that will put you down!
erm...

(and your former handyman boasts would include...what exactly? )

 

[Dubversion]

coming to the end of Innocent When You Dream, the Tom Waits collection. Probably the best book about a single musician I've ever read (and i've read bloody hundreds). I can't recommend this enough, seriously... Utterly inspiring, actually quite moving.. And the role his wife has played in his life and his art is captivating, and gives the lie to the usual macho artist bullshit about "yeh, he treated his women like shit but WHAT a singer" and all that

 

[madamv]

Stephen Fry - Making History.

The words sound like they are coming from his mouth directly whilst I am reading

 

[Philbc03]

Alexandra Kollontai - Love of Worker Bees and A Great Love. Very good so far. I've read a bit of Kollontai in the past and she seems like someone contemporary socialists could do with revisiting.

 

[Kanda]

Better then Belle de Jour? The London call girl one rocked

Sequel is out now btw

 

[Dubversion]

The Story of Crass - George Berger.

not that well written, to be honest, a bit of a cut and paste job. although it's interesting to find out a bit more about Penny, Eve et al's background in the 60s / early 70s./