MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I am trying to read Two books One Auto biography of Eric Sykes and Mick Imlah Selected Poems.
Only thing is having Dyslexia I am constantly struggling to find
where I am on the page and having to go back as i seem to
read something that is not there.
Apart from that Two good books
I'll give paint by numbers a go next !
1Q84.
2/3rds of the way through the book 1&2 volume.
It's very... long. And slightly odd. It's holding my interest though.
war of the worlds.
Just finished 'Paper Towns' by John Green.
Excellent.
batman "the dark knight returns" 😉
just finished solaris by lem.def reccomend.
The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest. Not bad at all.
Nothing intellectual ......
Just the new Alan Sugar book; [i]'The Way I See It: Rants, Revelations And Rules For Life.'[/i]
The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry's book
Orbus by Neal Asher. I love his books but I've almost read them all now 🙁
Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe. interesting.
#5 in Steve Erikson's Malazan books.
Really impressed tbh. Something to be said for waiting till these mammoth series are complete, then just reading them in order. You forget what's happened if you're waiting 3 years for the next one to come out.
Rob Roy & William by Martin Evans.
How I won the yellow jumper.
Just started it but pretty funny so far 😀
#5 in Steve Erikson's Malazan books.
A monstrous series steeped in all kinds of colourfully weird shit. IMO you don't 'have the time' to figure everything that's happening - you just go with the flow. Cracking read in parts.
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding here. Strangely not nearly as 'clever' as the first book, so may give it a miss if it doesn't pick up.
Saxon, check out LOOKING FOR ALASKA. it isn't as awesome as papertowns, but by far better than everything else he has written.
I am about 30 pages into JOHN DIES AT THE END/ David Wong and half way though Parrot in the Pepper Tree/ Chris Stewart
Grantway, if you want a drill to the brain... Check out HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Dan..Z...something
"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer.
Excellent reading whether you are a climber or not.
Also dipping in an out of "We Need To Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver but finding it a little tough to get into.
David Wong
Is he not a bit like Gaiman?
Managing my Life- Alex Ferguson
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick. Very good yet a bit disturbing.
the counterlife - philip roth.
it's keeping me engaged....
[i]Paintwork[/i] by Tim Maughn. Interesting series of short stories involving Grafitti and high tech. Slightly cyberpunk in feel, and set in Bristol, which is neat.
Just bought three Tim Powers ebooks, [i]The Drawing Of The Dark, The Anubis Gates[/i] and [i]On Stranger Tides[/i],
(which might sound familiar to some), and I'm trying to decide which one to read first. Haven't read any of them in ages,
eeny, meeny, miney...
Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K Jerome.
The first Game of Thrones book.
"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer.
Great read, though some of it is hotly contested by other accounts.
God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
The Mammoth Book of new Sherlock Holmes Adventures
Bad Blood by Jeremy Whittle
This is what having a Kindle and a Nespresso machine does for you!
David Wong. Is he not a bit like Gaiman?
Dont think so. David Wong is one of the editors of cracked.com I believe he has only had the one book... and it is more of a glorious gush of conscious thought in no conscious order. Makes sense though.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
S'okay, but I'm struggling to see what all the fuss is about.
Creg - Member"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer.
Excellent reading whether you are a climber or not.
Have a read of this when you've finished it:
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As Grum says, you really need to know both sides to the story.
just read Fall of Giants by Ken Follet.
it's probably the biggest novel i've ever read - 900+ pages, but it took me very little time to get through as i couldn't put it down.
The Restoration Game by Ken Macleod. Not really sure what to make of it yet, seems to be a bit of a return to form but it doesn't really seem sure what it wants to be.
My left foot by Christy Brown . I have been meaning to read it ever since i saw the film 2O years or so ago and its really good.
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Well worth a read as well as another a few years later.
Currently reading Band of Brothers---fills in some gaps in the DVD series.
Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde.
Enjoyable, witty, funny, entertaining stuff. Perfect for whiling away a few hours on a plane.
Ulysses, although I'm just about to give up on that. Got to about page 200 and it's just painful.
The Brentford Triangle and the antipope
Just started Notes from a small island
Sex, lies and handlebar tape - just got to the bit where it's revealed he nailed his daughter in law with consent from his wife.
Just finished Jill Homer's book about riding the Tour Divide, so good I'm just about to start her book about the Iditarod Trail in Alaska.
Just finished Daphne du Maurier Rebecca, which was fantastic.
Now reading J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Been catching up on some books I should have read years ago. Which included Catch 22, Fahrenheit 451 and 100 years of solitude.
All of which I enjoyed apart from Catch 22, which I realise puts me into a minority.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Its very long. Its very grim. Its good enough to keep me reading.
Dividing the Great
Been catching up on some books I should have read years ago
Yeah me too, although I'm checking out authors that I've not bothered with before.
Currentlty reading Iris Murdoch's "A Severed Head" which is great.
Before that I read The Great Gatsby which I also enjoyed.
Don't forget to check out project gutenberg if you're after classics for free, I might have a go at few of the greek classics next.
Bit of trash called Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks.
I like trash occasionally.
Dracula
Ok but a little slow going. My internal reading voice keeps using Keanu Reeves' accent from the film 😀
All of which I enjoyed apart from Catch 22, which I realise puts me into a minority
I thought it was alright but somewhat overrated and could have done with some editing.
'Quicksilver' by Neal Stepehenson, excellent
Just finished Catch 22 some 20 years after I first read it. Bonkers and brilliant.
Dark Matter before that. Scary.
And before that I had a Robert Rankin fest.
This
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Sobering stuff
I think Catch 22 has more laugh-out-loud (or should I say LOL?!) moments than any other book I've read. Does waffle on in some sections though.
Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow.
Just finished The **** Up by Arthur Nersesian, enjoyable stuff in an Alan Warner vein.
Before that was Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, which was fantastic.
I think Catch 22 has more laugh-out-loud (or should I say LOL?!) moments than any other book I've read. Does waffle on in some sections though.
I just didn't get it, I had a little bit of joy with it 1/2 way through when I started reading it with black adder goes forth picture in my mind.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though I need a break now as good as it is I don't really want to read every single Sherlock Holmes story ever written back to back.
Very entertaining though and only a fiver from my local secondhand bookshop.
Also have recently finished reading The Great Gatsby which was good and For Whom The Bell Tolls which I really enjoyed. Never read any Hemmingway before and was expecting it to be really hard going for some reason when it is actually completely the opposite.
I think Catch 22 has more laugh-out-loud (or should I say LOL?!) moments than any other book I've read. Does waffle on in some sections though.I just didn't get it, I had a little bit of joy with it 1/2 way through when I started reading it with black adder goes forth picture in my mind.
I've read Catch 22 twice and never fully 'got' it I don't think. I just can't see what all the fuss is about. I do like Yossarian but I'm not sure if I can be bothered trying it again.
Did you know, samurai, that when warriors of feudal Japan confessed to mental weakness, they were honour bound to commit the ritual of seppuku? Just a thought..Ulysses, although I'm just about to give up on that. Got to about page 200 and it's just painful.
Another reading the re-released Catch 22, am finding it alternately excellent and a chore, I remember it as brilliant but less so now. I suspect I don't have the time or maybe have too many distractions to let me fully concentrate on it.
[i]Suspended in language: Neils Bohr's life, discoveries and the century he shaped[/i] just arrived today. Looking forward to reading it.
Hey Grantway, and other dyslexia sufferers, how do you cope with graphic novels? Do the pictures help or hinder.
Re-reading (after a gap of some years):
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The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
One of if not the best book I've ever read.I've just finished East of Eden and can't believe I waited 25 years after reading the Grapes of Wrath to read it.
Ron jeremy the hardest working man in porn 🙂
Three.
Main read is a collection of stories on themes military from The Economist which I am reviewing for a website. The second book is Losing Small Wars, with the alternate read being Dark Market.
All three are pretty good to be honest.
Flashmans Lady
Took two on my travels, selected not least for their compactness: A Moveable Feast by Hemingway and JA Baker's The Peregrine.
The Hemingway is simply superb. It's really 'just' a memoir, written not long before his death, of his time in Paris as a struggling writer (who could hang out with Ezra Pound, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein etc). It's concise but concentrated. He was a man's writer and never mind the bravado of the big game hunting or the bull fighting (Death in the Afternoon is a must), he was heartbreaking in the last couple of pages about his own failings (I won't spoil it further, suffice to say, it's very short book and could be finished over a few beers in a dilapidated Parisian bar).
The Peregrine is also recommended. The author follows a pair of peregrines in his patch of Essex one winter in the 1960s ,becoming part of their lives. Sounds repetitive - peregrine wakes up, bathes, kills, eats, sleeps - but the imagery he uses means it's never dull. Worth it for one page-long description of a high-speed stoop.
Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Leopard - Jo Nesbo
Good Vibrations - Tom cunliffe
The Sign - Raymond Khoury, this was recommended by a chap in Waterstones who when I was wandering around looking for anything new by Paul Sussmann pulled this out of the shelves and said "it's in a similar vein", we'll see, I've only got to page 4..
I think Catch 22 has more laugh-out-loud (or should I say LOL?!) moments than any other book I've read. Does waffle on in some sections though.
I just didn't get it, I had a little bit of joy with it 1/2 way through when I started reading it with black adder goes forth picture in my mind.I've read Catch 22 twice and never fully 'got' it I don't think. I just can't see what all the fuss is about. I do like Yossarian but I'm not sure if I can be bothered trying it again.
I never got on with this book... mainly because it is too close to the truth.
Disgusting.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped to be honest. A third in though so some way to go.
I think Catch 22 has more laugh-out-loud (or should I say LOL?!) moments than any other book I've read. Does waffle on in some sections though.I just didn't get it, I had a little bit of joy with it 1/2 way through when I started reading it with black adder goes forth picture in my mind.
I've never simultaneously hated and enjoyed a book as much as Catch 22.
I ran out of books to read the other night, so i borrowed 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' from my housemate. It was dreadful. I rarely start a book without finishing, and i've plowed through some really dire novels, but it was a total waste of my time. I'm amazed at how much hype it got when it first came out.
I took Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor out of the library yesterday instead.
Buttercup - track down a book called one people by guy kennaway - thats the funniest book Ive ever read with the most lol moments! Tony Hawks is good for it as well - round ireland with a fridge and playing the moldovans at tennis both stand out.
Thanks for that, Thunder. It's now on my list.
Mugabes war machine! its a hoot
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Just finished Caitlin Moran's "How to be a Woman".
By her definition, I am a feminist and always have been; also by her definition, women should be fawning over me.
Dave
Finished "The Business" by Iain Banks last night. A good light weight easy read. Just reading Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" now. Collected short stories and surprisingly good - does not really feel dated at all.
And put me down in the Catch-22 refuseniks group. Didn't really get on with it at all. At least I tried.
[i]Did you know, samurai, that when warriors of feudal Japan confessed to mental weakness, they were honour bound to commit the ritual of seppuku?[/i]
oh dear.
Ah well, if them's the rules, I best go and do the necessary.
It really is a hard book, I'm not sure it's a terrible failing to struggle with it. Anyway, i'll just go and kill myself.
"The Road" Cormac McCarthy.
Excellent but unswervingly bleak. Had to put it away for 6 months as I have a young son about the age of the boy in the book, which made it a very depressing read.
I ran out of books to read the other night, so i borrowed 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' from my housemate. It was dreadful. I rarely start a book without finishing, and i've plowed through some really dire novels, but it was a total waste of my time. I'm amazed at how much hype it got when it first came out.
How far did you get ? It does start off a bit slow and strange, but then it develops into a truly great book.
If I recommend it to someone I always warn them its a slow starter.
"The Road" Cormac McCarthy.
Put this on my amazon wish list this morning to remind me to order it.
#8 in Steve Erikson's Malazan books
Nicholas Roche biog. Reasonably interesting but was half price on kindle otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought it. A lot is reprints of his very good race diaries which appear in the Irish independent. Before that it was Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII - not bad either.
How far did you get ? It does start off a bit slow and strange, but then it develops into a truly great book.If I recommend it to someone I always warn them its a slow starter.
Not very far 😳 . But the vulgarity of the ear problem in the first chapter, combined with the irritating monologue from the Italian dictator in the second chapter, was enough to put me off. Actually someone else said it's a good book to start halfway through and then read the beginning at the end. Perhaps i'll revist it.
Just finished: The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow - ace
Just now: I, Partridge - rubbish but funny
Then: The Day of The Jack Russell by Bateman. I have high hopes.
"The Road" Cormac McCarthy.Excellent but unswervingly bleak. Had to put it away for 6 months as I have a young son about the age of the boy in the book, which made it a very depressing read.
Yup, phenomenal isn't it?
We now make frequent reference to what the "Road-Like Existence" will be like when it comes. 😐
Im always surprised by how many people seem to be read fiction books. Until I brought my kindle I had nt read a fiction book for like 5-7 years.
Almost got to the point when I felt fiction books were just something you read as a kid.
Since I got my kindle alot of fiction book you can download for free so have read more.
Something I havent read since I was a child are books of short stories. This one is good http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Gods-Other-Tales-ebook/dp/B000JMKWKM/ref=pd_ys_iyr87
I suppose I like stories for the same reason I tend to like short TV programs rather than films.
I've also read great gatsby = pants and three men in a boat = good