I am just finishing the Last Argument of kings triology by Joe Abercrombie and I enjoyed them a lot! Daft but funny.

Also read Rivers of London by Ben Aarovitch (or something similar) and thats was good too. However I did get a b it confused towards then end but I tend to read a lot, put it down for a few days, read a bit more etc….may have lost the thread a bit!

Currently reading Traitors Kiss by Gerald Seymour

Finishing up rendells death of marco pantani

gonna look for ronchis book next as i found it rendells interestingn

Another book i read recently that had me gripped was rosie swale popes a little run round the world – for some reason i find runnin books to be much better reads than alot of cycle touring books. Beaumont, humphreys and lillwalls books just seem to be full of wallow and self pity and moaning alot of the way through – you almost feel sorry for them then i remember i would very happily swap my life for what they are doing …..

An exception to that is “long ride for a pie” by tim mulliner

Next trip i have the hungry cyclist and born to run to work through – my buddy reckoned i should get a kindle as he forgot to factor in you cant read a kindle in a helichopter – as he sat bored for a 1.5 hour flight.

chipping away at ‘the fountainhead’ by Ann Rand.

thoughtful ideas and characters

<Hijack>

Who’s writing good murder mystery novels right now? Kind of looking for something in the style of Iain Rankin.

</Hijack>

‘A Game of Thrones’.

Can’t be bothered to wait for the boxset.

I was reading ‘Revelation Space’ but got to page 102 and felt completely battered – real hard going, in fact too much.

Hereward by James Wilde – novel set around the Norman invasion of 1066. I am a big fan of historical fiction (Flashman, Hornblower, some Sharpe and other Cornwell) but I am struggling with this. The central character lacks charm and the supporting characters are not engaging. I will struggle on with it but it is a chore.

Before this I read the Game of Thrones books by George R. R. Martin and really enjoyed them. His characters were really great and he makes you care about even the supposed villains. His habit of killing off major characters makes you almost scared to turn the pages – compulsive.

The song of Phaid the gambler – Mick Farren (again!)
A history of the TDF – various
Just about to start Put me back on my bike too

Just finished Keith Richards Biography, Life
and just started The Fry Chronicles vol 1. and Hells Angels, Hunter s Thompson.

Just an idea…
Seeing as this kind of threads pop in on a regular basis, should we ask the mods for a sticky on the classified for books?
Something in the line of :
I have this books, who want it. Would be cool if we could keep it old STW like, cheap book (a couple of pounds) + postage or maybe better, swap only.
Who would be in?

I’m interested to hear how you like Super Sad True Love Story

I really enjoyed it. The near-future speak and semi-Tyrell Corporation stuff doesn’t always ring true, but the satire is bang on (sometimes terrifyingly so). And the super sad true love story is deftly handled.

Currently meandering through “Smoke and Mirrors” by Neil Gaiman. Excellent if a little quirky in places.

just finished ‘one day’ by david nicholls.

I thought it was very good, very moving and definitely not the chick lit I was expecting.

Disappointed to hear just after I finished it that it has been made into what sounds like a thoroughly mediocre film with ‘merkins pretending to be English. bah!

Dave

Just finished “the case for working with your hands…” on the train in this morning.

Not really a very good book Im afraid. Tries too hard to crowbar the language of philosophy in there, and most of the book peppered with autobiographical experiences linked to tortuous philosophical gymnastics in order to illustrate rather simple and self-evident truths.

Still, it wil be on its way to you tomorrow, Juan. Hope you get more out of it than I did…but then you will have studied philosophy so….

Belive it or not Treasure Island. Got it free on Kindle.

Shaun Ryder’s autobiography.. 😀

Currently:

The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald
Chronicles, Bob Dylan
Donnie Brasco, Joseph D. Pistone

Trail Rat- I recently read The Death of Marco Pantani. Really well researched and I liked the non-judgmental tone of the author. Excellent book though ultimately very sad of course.

I think the author Matt Rendell is the guy who does the pundit stuff on ITV4’s tour coverage and also the Vuelta (I’m sure someone on here can confirm whether this is the case or not?)

Just an idea…
Seeing as this kind of threads pop in on a regular basis, should we ask the mods for a sticky on the classified for books?
Something in the line of :
I have this books, who want it. Would be cool if we could keep it old STW like, cheap book (a couple of pounds) + postage or maybe better, swap only.
Who would be in?

I’d be in for this. I have loads of books that need getting rid of as I don’t have the space. I’d be happy to send them on in exchange for another book or if somebody was willing to cover the postage they can have them.

Who’s writing good murder mystery novels right now? Kind of looking for something in the style of Iain Rankin.

I’m quite liking Jo Nesbo at the moment. The Harry Hole series:

The Redbreast
Nemesis
The Devil’s Star
The Redeemer
The Snowman
The Leopard

Haven’t read them all yet. I recommend reading them in order. I been buying them in the wrong orderby mistake it is annoying.

Back on thread: I’ve just read Jame Ellroy’s American Tabloid. Recommended.

‘Arguably’ by Christopher Hitchens.

Typical Hitchens – wit, erudition and uncompromising. An unparalleled essayist on culture/politics/life.

Hopefully this will not be his last book.

Currently I’m reading “A visit from the goon squad” by Jennifer Egan, it’s good if a bit messy, but in a good way. Just finished The Finkler Question which was ok, clever writing but a bit self satisfied.

I’ve also got Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow on the go but struggling to get past the first few pages, is it worth perservering with?

Reading the Saxon Series from Bernard Cornwall, read pretty much everything he’s written, like his style, bit of historical fact with plausible fiction, well researched.
I’m an airport reader mainly don’t get stuck in at home, too many distractions, forums, movies and bikes not necessarily in that order.
Other stuff anything Michael Crichton sadly denied anything more, occasional Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy he pads stuff way out. George Macdonald Fraser (That’s Flashman to y’all) is hilarious and love them all. Like Tom Sharp occasional Grisham but not lately, that’s about it for the past few years..

Just finished three books on the phone by Scott Westerfield; Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath. Sort of Steampunk fantasy, based on the events surrounding the start of WW1, only with the world divided into factions centred on their being ‘Darwinists’ or ‘Clankers’, the relevant societies using either steam or electric powered machines, or fabricated creatures using genetic engineering. The likes of Randolph Hearst, Tesla, and many other factual characters pop up, and Leviathan is a fabricated whale that generates it’s own hydrogen to turn it into a huge airship. I loved the books, very detailed, and proper page turners. I’ve been on holiday for a week, and had plenty of leisure time to hand. Also discovered, to my delight, that all of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons
books are now available from iBooks, so I’ve just started the first book, and I’ll be downloading all of them over time. Kathy Reich has a new Tempé Brennan book out as well, which I must get.

True Grit by Charles Portis on my kindle

Snow – Orhan Pamuk (translated from Turkish to English by Maureen Freely)

A novel set in the Turkish city of Kars. An opening (and recurring) theme concerns reasons behind a suicide epidemic among teenage girls (which actually took place in the city of Batman)..

Heavy snow cuts off the town for about three days during which time Ka (a poet and journalist investigating the suicides) is in conversation with a former communist, a secularist, a fascist nationalist, a possible Islamic extremist, Islamic moderates, young Kurds, the military, the Secret Service, the police and in particular, an actor-revolutionary. In the midst of this, love and passion are to be found. Temporarily closed off from the world, a farcical coup is staged and linked melodramatically to a stage play. The main discussion concerns the interface of secularism and belief but there are references to all of Turkey’s twentieth century history.

It’s quite compelling, humorous, and good for lulling me to sleep in the evenings

Have just had a run on Harlan Coben books. Will definitely be reading some more of those!

Have now just started lord of the rings, have seen the films but never read the book so thought I should 😛

I’m at a bit of a loss trying to find something decent having finished the Flashman series.

Try Julian Rathbone’s historical stuff – Kings of Albion, The Last English King, Mutiny and a few others. I thought they were very good indeed.

Just finished Reamde by Neal Stephenson. A massive story about gold farming, Russian organised crime, jihadists and online role plying games. Tremendous.

Just started on Rebreast by Jo Nesbo too which was recommended to me after finishing and really enjoying the Millenium trilogy.

It’s a little bit shoddy in places and the author keeps the plot flowing with a few too many convenient happenings for my liking, but overall not too bad. Apparently Ridley Scott has snapped up the film rights too, and I reckon it would make a decent one in an “early Cold War Russian Jason Bourne” type affair.

Just finished The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry and started The Liar also by him. Not read either before, pretty decent.

Just finished the Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell, he of The Company fame. Very good – if you like Bernard Cornwell I think you’ll like it. Puts across the 1930’s Stalin era in a very believable and scary way. The Company is just superb, so I’m going to find more of his…

The City and the City is great. Read it on the Eurostar last year and couldn’t put it down.

Reading this:
http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2011-General-Nonfiction

“The Emperor of Maladies”, by Siddartha Mukherjee. A history of cancer and its treatment. Its a brilliant read.

I have “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel to get into next, and should finish “Blood’s a Rover” by James Ellroy soonish.

Just read the first one of Erikson’s Malazan books – very good, in an amps up to 11, Ima dungeons and dragons the shit out of you, style. World-building the best I’ve read for a long time – I can see why they’re so popular. I’m in for the rest of the series (another nine of them I think!).
[Mieville is a good reference point for Malazan – interesting to compare the two styles].

I bought Franzen’s last opus, but my wife has filched it to read. Might go for the latest Stephenson that Riksbar mentions – thought his last one was bang on form.

Finished ‘White Mughals’ by William Dalrymple last night. Read it back to back with his later book ‘The Last Mughal’ during/after a trip to India earlier in the year. Both excellent, but the former edges it.

Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate

It’s early days but I think I’ll enjoy it: heavy, Russian, battles, lots of characters.

Try Julian Rathbone’s historical stuff – Kings of Albion, The Last English King, Mutiny and a few others. I thought they were very good indeed.

I read Last English King a few years ago, it’s in my all time top 10 and a defo re-reader.

Maybe you’d like Grave’s I Claudius, similar dysfunctional family intrigues, better to read than on the TV, which was a bit dry. If it’s for action, try Gale’s 4 Days in June, a near blow by blow account of the battle of Waterloo from several personal perspectives. Gripping.