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This week I have been reading
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Algarveaddick said:
Finished the book. Billingham is worthy of the hype. If you like a crime thriller I can recommend it.Algarveaddick said:I am reading Mark Billingham's Scaredy Cat, first one of his crime thrillers I have read - brilliant and compelling read.
Finished Sleepyhead followed by Scaredy Cat over the last week... Billingham is a great recommendation thanks AlgarveAlgarveaddick said:
Finished the book. Billingham is worthy of the hype. If you like a crime thriller I can recommend it.Algarveaddick said:I am reading Mark Billingham's Scaredy Cat, first one of his crime thrillers I have read - brilliant and compelling read.
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Just about to finish this and I don't want it to end.Lincsaddick said:'The Goldfinch' .. Donna Tartt .. so far so good
A really satisfying read...very rich narrative...great characters...a good old fashioned novel.0 -
Zero History .. William Gibson0
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All good, but I particularly recommend 'A Quiet Belief in Angels' and 'A Simple Act of Violence'.Algarveaddick said:
Not read any - I shall look out for him...IdleHans said:
How does he compare with RJ Ellory, who I like very much?Algarveaddick said:
Finished the book. Billingham is worthy of the hype. If you like a crime thriller I can recommend it.Algarveaddick said:I am reading Mark Billingham's Scaredy Cat, first one of his crime thrillers I have read - brilliant and compelling read.
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Just finished Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. Will read The Quarry next - Iain Banks' last novel.0
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Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. His usual brooding, bleak, depravity following an outsider and murderer around Tennessee as he plumbs the depths of humanity. There are a couple of moments which may be the most disgusting McCarthy that I’ve read. It’s not his best book but it’s a worthy contribution to his bibliography.
Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. I saw the film roughly 9 years ago, the book is a great hard-boiled, quick witted, private detective page turner. The final twist seemed a little superfluous but it stands the test of time.
Under the recommendation of someone I am trying something different now, The Cuckoo’s Calling by ‘Robert Galbraith’. Although I’m not a fan and I’ll never read any Harry Potter, it’s actually a crime thriller by JK Rowling. 35 pages in it seems a quick/easy, if a tad simple read, following a private detective in London.0 -
Just finished Never Somewhere Else by Alex Gray, the first book by another of the "tartan noir" set. Enjoyable, if a little predictable - I got who the villain was about half way through, and I am pretty slow on the uptake. She has gone on to write loads more, so I am guessing that like Ian Rankin she gets better with experience, good enough for me to want to try more of her books.0
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American Pastoral (Philip Roth) - set in the late 60s, the story of a successful businessman and college sports star who appears to have everything going for him before his and his family's lives are wrecked by his daughter's radical involvement in the anti-Vietnam/anti-capitalist movement. A good read but, whilst many have acclaimed this novel as Roth's masterpiece, I personally preferred 'Portnoy's Complaint'.0
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The Chimp Paradox1
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Just read JM Coetzee's Disgrace again - last time was about 15 years ago - kind of like whiskey - gets better with age (since it's about a university professor hitting middle age and having an affair with a student that goes badly wrong) - but when you finish it leaves more of a hangover the older you get.0
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Currently reading Mark Cavendish's first book "Boy Racer" isn't a bad read about his early career and also how British Cycling's domination kinda of begun (especially with Rod Ellingworth's coaching)0
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Tony Parsons - Starting Over. Middle aged copper has a heart transplant and finds himself mentally turning into the 19 year old it came from (although he is not aware who the donor is). Not as silly as it sounds, an interesting look at age and attitude.0
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the big sleep - raymond chandler1
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The Bark of the Dogwood by Jackson Tippett McCrae.
Offbeat and funny novel about a writer from the south of the US returning from New York to write about southern homes and gardens, but in th process examining his life history, US culture and social attitudes. I have not sold it well, but I am 3/4 through and enjoying it a lot. Very similar in style to "Katzenjammer: Soon to be a Major Motion Picture" by the same author. Cracking title anyway.0 -
Dance, Dance, Dance - Haruki Murakami. Japanese surreal. Best known in the UK for IQ84.1
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Spell It Out - David Crystal. Explores how English spellings have evolved to be as they are. Fascinating for anyone with an interest in etymology, and I would imagine very useful to English teachers. Can't imagine anyone else wanting to read it though.0
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Just finished "I Am Pilgrim" by Terry Hayes. For a book that has had such good reviews and hype massively disappointing. It is very easy to read but the central character is just too good to be true and didn't think the plot was sufficiently complicated to warrant 700 odd pages. Think Dan Brown tackles biological terrorism...0
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I'm looking for some recommendations for holiday reading, if anyone's got any.
I usually read more factual books, in particular popular science, but I fancy something lighter for holiday reading - something easy to pick up and put down without the need to backtrack, probably something funny. I enjoy comedies and mysteries. I'm not so keen on, disasters, romances, westerns, war or biographies. Books I've particularly enjoyed recently include Portnoy's Complaint, 100 Year Old man, Periodic Table, Mice & Men, The Stranger, Psychopath Test. Books I've struggled with are Catch 22, Epicurus reader, The (not so) Portable Atheist.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.0 -
Funny books obviously try Tom Sharpe, hilarious. Crime fiction with great one-liners both Robert B Parker's Spencer and Colin Bateman. Carl Hiassen is quite amusing. Comedians turned novelists like Ben Elton can be decent. The Rabbit series by John Updike will have you smiling at the situations he gets in without actually being humurous.0
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In terms of mysteries, I think the Colin Dexter 'Morse' books are a good and pretty easy read. Agree with harveys gardener on Tom Sharpe - the Wilt books are very funny0
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DBC Pierre is an author that would meet your requirements Stig.0 -
Yes I did... more by luck though. I didn't realise Dance...Dance...Dance was a follow-up! Was a great surprise.Shrew said:
great read, Did you read 'wild sheep chase' first as 'dance dance dance' this is the follow on.cafc-west said:Dance, Dance, Dance - Haruki Murakami. Japanese surreal. Best known in the UK for IQ84.
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Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat. A book of short stories or fables about the residents of a small immigrant village in California. Not his best but a quaint and interesting read.
Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men. I’ve read this before but only a few years ago before getting into Cormac McCarthy. The film is pretty much identical.
Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley. Steinbeck crosses the States with his dog, aiming to learn more about the land he writes about. He is incredibly knowledgeable, noble and wise so it should be a good read.0 -
the man in the high castle - philip k dick0
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The Hare with Amber eyes.
Best book I've read in years.0 -
I recommend David Mitchell's "Number9 Dream" for a brilliant pastiche of Murakami for all HM's fans. I was an avid reader of Murakami, but thought the quality had been declining a bit. Not read IQ84 - is it worth it?Shrew said:
great read, Did you read 'wild sheep chase' first as 'dance dance dance' this is the follow on.cafc-west said:Dance, Dance, Dance - Haruki Murakami. Japanese surreal. Best known in the UK for IQ84.
Read a couple of crackers recently:
Augustus by John Williams (who wrote Stoner, popular in book clubs up and down the country), brilliant account of the great Roman emperor, told largely through letters.
Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart - Glenn Taylor - funny, quirky slice of Americana which would appeal to John Irving fans.
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I enjoyed IQ84,perhaps not up there with the wind up bird chronicle. but theres lots of underlying layers as usual.1
