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This week I have been reading
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I'm a bit wary of recommending books to others, but I would like to mention a Robert Elms " London Made Us" because Its a book that really only Londoners of a certain age will get, but will really appreciate. Which is a large number of Lifers, I guess.
i also see that Robert Elms isn't everyone's cup of tea on here, but I think that when you leave London as I have, you do relate to someone like him who really sticks up for the place and tries to show the best of it. I didn't realize he is already 60, so he is able to describe a childhood and early years that will resonate with many of us. But the differences, between life on his side of town and ours were also a revelation. He suggests that we from SE tended to stay more within our suburban patch than they did (gravitating into the West End as soon as they were half way old enough) because of our lack of Tube lines. I reckon he's on to something there. He also helped me understand better why I have always felt and claimed that being born and bred Londoner prepares you for urban life just about anywhere. There are also some great factual arguments to remind people that London has always been about welcoming and embracing immigrants, always, even if relatively fewer of them chose SE.
He's not the most elegant writer, but if you are a born and bred Londoner of his sort of age I challenge you not to enjoy this book in a very personal way, and be reminded why you still Luv Lundern Town.1 -
He hosts one of the best radio shows around.PragueAddick said:I'm a bit wary of recommending books to others, but I would like to mention a Robert Elms " London Made Us" because Its a book that really only Londoners of a certain age will get, but will really appreciate. Which is a large number of Lifers, I guess.
i also see that Robert Elms isn't everyone's cup of tea on here, but I think that when you leave London as I have, you do relate to someone like him who really sticks up for the place and tries to show the best of it. I didn't realize he is already 60, so he is able to describe a childhood and early years that will resonate with many of us. But the differences, between life on his side of town and ours were also a revelation. He suggests that we from SE tended to stay more within our suburban patch than they did (gravitating into the West End as soon as they were half way old enough) because of our lack of Tube lines. I reckon he's on to something there. He also helped me understand better why I have always felt and claimed that being born and bred Londoner prepares you for urban life just about anywhere. There are also some great factual arguments to remind people that London has always been about welcoming and embracing immigrants, always, even if relatively fewer of them chose SE.
He's not the most elegant writer, but if you are a born and bred Londoner of his sort of age I challenge you not to enjoy this book in a very personal way, and be reminded why you still Luv Lundern Town.1 -
Transcription by Kate Atkinson: Not bad but disappointing after the brillliance of her last two0
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This is going to hurt - Adam Kay. Tales from a former doctor. Couldn't recommend it more, both hilarious and heartbreaking1
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I’m on the third book as well, equally a bit ambivalent but something is keeping me going with it.RedPanda said:I’m struggling on with Margaret Atwood’s ‘Oryx & Crake’ trilogy (sort of post-apocalyptic sci-fi).
Just 100 pages to go in the final book, the series definitely peaked with the first novel.
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'No One Home' .. Tim Weaver .. a new author for me, but he's written several bestish sellers on the theme of missing people mysteries featuring the same protagonist ..
This book ? .. superbly written and plotted thriller/who dunnit ..
and this book .. very thought provoking and superbly argued .. https://www.theinflamedmind.co.uk/
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'The Bottom Corner' by Nige Tassell
A season with the dreamers of non league football
Very readable and funny book which visits a range of clubs across a season, interviews with the people who keep football alive at this level and understands what makes non league so appealing to so many. Highly recommended, especially as it's 99p on Kindle at the moment.
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I've read most of Murakami's books. Started with IQ84. Love his surrealistic style. My favourite is A Wild Sheep Chase. Started Killing Commendatore but finding it hard to get into.JamesSeed said:Started 'Kafka on the Shore' by Haruki Murakami a few days ago and am completely engrossed in it. First book I've read of his but if this one is anything to go by I will probably become a big fan of his. Anyone else read much Murakami?
I’ve read all of his and loved them. Except for one that I couldn’t get into. It was like someone else wrote it. Reading Men Without Women now.1 - Sponsored links:
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Just finished Use of Weapons and it's even better on the second reading. Absolutely superb writing and storytelling. Now well up for a complete rereading of the Culture series, starting with Consider Phlebas. Would like to read some of his non-Culture sci-fi as well.CharltonMadrid said:Re-reading Iain Banks' Use of Weapons. Miss the great man, who sadly died far too early and wrote so many fantastic books.
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Solidgone said:
I think it's more subject matter. Like my girlfriend likes trash like Sophie Kinsella - a bloke probably wouldn't write a good book about shopping, not that Kinsella can.
One of my favourite novels is 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy, maybe I'm being misogynistic but I don't think a woman could write that. It is so violent and perverse.
I think we do have pre-conceptions about books and subject matter. JK Rowling's 'Strike' novels - I wonder why she called herself Robert Galbraith over Roberta Galbraith..?
Shrew, yep it’s a bit annoying. I was enjoying Snowman and his storyline then there was a few hundred pages of filler/backstory. Hopefully the ending is worth the slog.
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Mo Hayder - Ritual. She can write violent and perverse, BTW. As can Karin Slaughter.
But back to Ritual. Not as good as the first two Jack Caffery books, bit long on psychology and short on plot. Also the action moves from South London to Bristol (as the author moved to Bath, apparently) so not so much relating to places and things I know. Not awful, but six out of ten as opposed to nines for the first two.
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Currently reading Philippa Perry’s The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read - fascinating so far. One for all parents and children.1
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The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100 Year Old Man.
Bit boring, not a patch on The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.1 -
PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf. A complete discovery. A small community in Colorado, the quiet, seemingly insignificant lives of some of the inhabitants. Written simply and honestly, it is very moving.0
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A Season with Verona . Great read1
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You might be right, and I doubt it's even subconscious... I doubt a woman would want to write all the geeky non fiction I read, or indeed the Flashman series of novels. That said, I find that the equivalent type of novels written by women tend to have far better characterisation than those written by men, and the stories are just as good. For example, I love Ian Rankin, but find that Val mcdermid and Kate Atkinson are fantastic as well. And if you want fucked up crime novels, Karen Rose and Karin Slaughter deliver the goods. Horses for courses... I find men funnier, women more empathetic. Best advice is to mix it up.Solidgone said:
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I agree. I read another one of his which was quite good, The girl who saved the King of Sweden.North Lower Neil said:The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100 Year Old Man.
Bit boring, not a patch on The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.1 -
Moving the Goalposts, A Yorkshire Tragedy - Anthony Clavane
sport history and politics
Excellent book
Half way through Munich - Robert Harris, which is as good as I hoped it would be0 - Sponsored links:
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Yes - I loved Munich @SheffieldRed. Good mixture of fact and fiction - It lead me to find and photograph the Furerbau…
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Got that one on the Kindle but haven't got round to it yet.LawrieAbrahams said:
I agree. I read another one of his which was quite good, The girl who saved the King of Sweden.North Lower Neil said:The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100 Year Old Man.
Bit boring, not a patch on The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.0 -
The Girl Before - JP Delaney. Delaney writes different kinds of books under various pseudonyms, this one is his mystery face.
It has a great premise, I loved the way it is told - two first person narratives, each taking a (short) chapter in turn. The plot is gripping, the lack of straight dialogue is unusual. One woman is renting a beautiful house previously occupied by the other. The house is owned by an intriguing character who becomes entwined in their lives. I shall say no more about the plot. But the ending...
It just stops. Sure the book comes to a conclusion, but the rest of the characters lives are literally wrapped up in two paragraphs. It might suit some, but I found it wholly unsatisfactory.
It's worth reading for the rest of the book, but be ready for the "wall".0 -
Re reading George owell’s 1984. It’s gobsmacking how scary it fits in today’s society.0
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I'd heard very differing thoughts about The Girl Before, maybe the ending was why.0
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It also might be that the back-and-forth narrative doesn't suit everyone Neil? It worked for me though.0
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This:. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-missing-lynx-9781472957344/
The missing Lynx by Ross Barnett. Superb book so far, all about the recent (in earth terms) and current megafauna extinction, and how humans are to blame. It focuses on several species that used to live in the UK such as the cave hyena. I love my natural history so this book is right up my street. It's very accessible, and funny. I've learned several new facts to bore my family with0 -
'Patronising Bastards' .. Quentin Letts .. no member of the 'establishment', no 'mega corporation' escapes the scalpel sharp, rapier analytical wit of Mr Letts.
A book full with outrageous laugh out loud comments .. on Davos .. 'never was an avalanche more desperately needed' ..
one person who escapes the 'wrath of Letts', is Jeremy Corbyn .. he is many things but he is not a patronising bastard ..
most amusing, and I'll say, most accurate read so far this year
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The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong - Sangharakshita0
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Started Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and really enjoying it so far. Second one I've read of his and he is such a unique writer with a dreamlike quality to his work. Imagine I'll be wrapped up in this for a good few weeks.1
