[Closed] What are you reading?

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Just finished chrimbo prezzie no.1 'Letters to my grandchildren' by Tony Benn. Very enjoyable and timely despite being written around 2009 I think.

Just started reading prezzie no.2 Eric Hoffer's 'The True Believer' after recommendation on the EU Referendum thread

Got a Graham Greene 'Travels with my Aunt' and a Heseltine book lined up after that.

scotroutes - Member - Block User - Quote
Singletrackworld Forums

I'm reading SR's reply to Denis99's question.

The City and City

China Mieville

Just finished Zen and the Art of... and just started The Bourne Identity. There is always a book on the go in la casa de capitansasquatch.

Reading this at the moment.
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Then gonna re-read this, which I haven't read for ages but is great:

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On the Map, by Simon Garfield. History of cartography. Rather good.

Babylon's Ashes by James SA Corey. The expanse stuff is brill.

I thought I'd had my fill of sailing books, theory and rhyme, tales and travels.. but no, I had this handed to me at Christmas and it's a thoughtful read.
Ideal for whiskey, warm living rooms and piece and quiet.

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Captainsasquatch - was it the first time you've read Zen and the Art...? What did you think? I first read it when I was 18 and it really profoundly effected the way I thought about things. I go back to it periodically and read it again. Changed my life.

Skunk works by Ben rich.

Prior to that was the hanging tree by Ben aaronovich which is really good, and the first of the new national geographic series on maths which cooked my poor brain

Crisis, by Frank Gardner. Pretty good.

Essels' reply.

http://www.julianjaynes.org/bicameralmind.php

Ulysses - I've got a lot of time on my hands at the moment

We found a hat by Jon Klassen.
Very funny . Final part of a trilogy which has gripped our household.

The Iliad.

It's really good.

The Devil's Chessboard - David Talbot.

All about Allen Dulles, the CIA and the rise of America's secret government.

This guy Dulles is a real piece of work!

Gomorrah: Italy's Other Mafia by Roberto Saviano

Rereading Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, I reread the whole trilogy every couple of years, love it...

Just started this today. It's about the organised crime, smuggling and total chaos that sprang up after the collapse of the USSR. I'm not far in but it's eye opening stuff.

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Just finished To The Sea in Ships by Horatio Clare.

Moving on to Death And The Penguin by Andrey Kirkov

+1 for bikebouy

Warm living room, Whisky and some peace and quite to get into a book.

Would it be worth setting up a group on Goodreads to see what Singletrackers are reading?

My next book will be Descent into chaos by Ahmed Rashid, really interested in getting some insight into some background on 9/11.

Some smashing current reads in this thread.
Fortunately I can read for about 2 hours a day these days, since having a recent cataract op and new reading glasses.

I always have a few books on the go so the first two are from a recommendation on the chat forum before xmas :

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And from my bro for xmas (along with a bottle of Balvenie 21yr old port wood which is finished 🙁 )

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Five on Brexit Island.

For some light relief The Brothers Karamazov - but not in Russian.......

Hell and High Water by Alastair Macintosh. Thought provoking book on climate change and how we live. It's, eh, [b]unlikely[/b] to be on Clarksons reading list

Just finished

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About to start on 'If this is a man' tonight...

Just read through the thread and noticed reference to "Zen And The Art of....."

My fav book of all time, with perhaps "Fear And Loathing - Hunter S Thompson" running it a very close second.

I first read it 25 odd years ago and didn't understand it but it tweaked something in my subconscious mind that would carry through to my daily interactions with the outside world so every so often i would pick it up and read it again.....and again. I dunno if i fully understand everything he talks about or the subtle meaning of every word or phrase but I'll get there...eventually...... and i'll never tire of reading it.

After seeing it pop up a few times on here.
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I really enjoyed Chickenhawk but probably loaned it to someone.

*must read it again*

Chickenhawk is awesome.
Along that them low level hell is another one, about the recon scouts in Vietnam abs is seriously nuts

Found a few old books when we cleared my Aunt's house a few years back. So, having just finished "Cities of the Plains", the 3rd in Cormack McCarthy's series (fantastic books, all of em) currently half way through the quite well known "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. Quite hard going in places with the olde worldy language (1851!), but very entertaining, many laugh out loud (huh, lol) sections. Two sailors meet for the first time and sleep in the same bed together like it's a normal thing! Great stuff.

A collection of stories by Fritz Leiber, called The Black Gondolier. Got a shit-load of books to read, but I've also got loads on my phone, which I've always got with me, handy fo those occasions when I've got some spare time available.
Large hardcover books are heavy, and easily damaged, just too cumbersome to carry around in my bag all day, just in case.

Raw Spirit, Iain Banks
An interesting / amusing tour around Scotland, visiting whisky distilleries.

Some interesting books that folk are reading on here.

I have added a few to my to read list.

Also created a group on Goodreads , imaginately called Singletrackers.

If you want to join and share your opinions on the books you have read / currently reading /want to read, then join the group.

redthunder - Member
The Iliad.

It's really good.

The Iliad and Oddysey are both excellent reads, and often overlooked as being too academic or something.

A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.

I'm not a Bryson fan, but this is Brian Cox at a level that I can understand! Truly illuminating.

I only read on once or twice a month train journeys, so a book lasts me 6 months at a time. I normally forget what happened in the first half by the time I get near the end 🙁

In addition to earlier post..... The North Water by Ian McGuire; the Red Riding quartet (again) by David Peace; with these you can almost feel the grubbiness and sleaze oozing off the page and into your skin so read and then shower.
No, I'm not being funny; they are worth reading but......visceral?

For those wot like rhyme - Piccadilly Bongo by Jeremy Reed.

Just finished 'Carrier Pilot' a first hand account of a WWII Royal Navy pilot serving in the pacific, very easy and enjoyable read though no Liad...though some action is set in the Mediterranean and being the Navy there is the odd Homer encounter.

IGMC

I don't want to reveal what I'm reading, as it's so deep, it would be beyond you all, and make me seem pretentious.

@frankconway: what do you think of The Brothers Karamazov?

I've been re-reading Terry Pratchett Discworld. Taking a break ATM and trying something different. Fatherland by Robert Harris. Enjoying it.

Must be weird but I'm reading 'Ask your father' by Emma Cook, it prepares you for all the embarrassing questions kids have like 'what were the noises coming from your room last night'...

The newest ST mag.

My 4 year old (who likes to interrupt me whilst I'm on the throne) recently said, "Daddy, all your stories have bikes on the front of them. Did you know Mammy's stories don't have any pictures [i]at all[/i]!"

I really like these threads - my Amazon wish list always grows on the back of these!

I've got a couple on the go at the moment;

The unlikely voyage of Jack de Crow - a tale about an unlikely English and drama teacher who sets off quite unintentionally and ends up rowing a mirror dinghy from Shropshire to the black sea. His writing is full of quirky observational description and wry humour.

Also just stated "As I walked out one midsummers morning" by Laurie Lee. A take of a chap who walks to / accoss Spain in the 1930's during the great depression and a description of the folk he meets along the way.