What are you currently reading..

I've rebought House of Leaves after losing it in a house move.

Determined to get through it but it's a tough read due to the formatting of it!
 
Leslie said:
I've just bought The 1st 15 Lives of Harry August for my Kindle as I was also getting one of the free books in that offer, essentially 2 books for £2.99. As you have read 4 of them already which one would you recommend?
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In order I'd say dragon tattoo, sleepy head, then black echo, tho that probably says more about my tastes than anything else!
Of the three the stand out for me is dragon tattoo. (the two sequels aren't too shabby either!)
But I'd advise real the reviews/synopses of all six, as tastes vary hugely.
 
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Wolf Hall. Took some getting into because of the writing style, but I shall persevere.

Then watch it on Tele.
 
CheshireChap said:
In order I'd say dragon tattoo, sleepy head, then black echo, tho that probably says more about my tastes than anything else!
Of the three the stand out for me is dragon tattoo. (the two sequels aren't too shabby either!)
But I'd advise real the reviews/synopses of all six, as tastes vary hugely.
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Thanks for that. I'd always resisted 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' for some reason. Probably just one of my idiosyncrasies!
 
Leslie said:
Thanks for that. I'd always resisted 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' for some reason. Probably just one of my idiosyncrasies!
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I did the same, until I was given the trilogy as a present, but found them compelling, cracking story, interesting as its a different country and culture and subsequently watched the films ( Swedish originals and remake with Daniel Craig). Tough going in places, but worth it. (IMHO)
 
DorsetDude said:
Interesting ripping apart of the Steig Larsson books here

(and no its not my personal website!)
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I wouldn't go so far as to say "interesting" ;) but he makes his point well, expresses his opinion reasonably well too.
I disagree wholeheartedly with his take on most "Scandi-Noir" , but as with his, that's just my opinion :D
What I would question is why anyone would bother, having clearly loathed the first in a trilogy, to plough their way through parts 2 and 3. Life's too short :p
 
CheshireChap said:
What I would question is why anyone would bother, having clearly loathed the first in a trilogy, to plough their way through parts 2 and 3. Life's too short :p
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Yes does seem a bit odd. My Dad read lots of thriller/crime books and he thinks Larsson is rubbish as well so I'll not be bothering.
 
Just finished reading "One Day as a Tiger" by John Porter, documenting the life of alpinist Alex MacIntyre. Cracking read for anyone interested in the mountains!
 
MartynK said:
Jon, could you post comments when you've read Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles? I used to enjoy Bernard Cornwell but I found the books getting increasingly formulaic a while back, and I haven't bothered with the later ones. This is his first foray into non-fiction, and I've heard that there are some basic factual errors. I'd be interested in your opinion, and whether you think these really matter in the greater context of the events. Thanks.
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As requested :)
Thoroughly enjoyed it ! It is pitched really at someone with little or no knowledge of events, it is in no way a scholarly work, and whilst it isn't a novel , does use some novelist style in the writing. There is a lot of use of direct quotes from contemporary accounts of the battle, by soldiers from both sides who were there.
As for the factual errors, there are a couple, whilst they are small, it is surprising that they slipped through the editing process, however they are so minor as not to distract from the overall book. In summary...

  • If you are writing a PhD thesis on the Napoleonic wars, this book will be next to useless BUT...
  • If you are looking for a really good, involving, descriptive introduction to the Battle, it's cracking.
  • I'd recommend the paper copy over the e-book version, as there are a lot of maps and illustrations, which frankly on a standard B&W e-book are useless.
 
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Currently reading Emporers Blades by Brian Staveley. Generic high fantasy stuff but sometimes it's what I need!

I'm building up the courage to read the latest Peter Hamilton but this means having to re read the rest of the Commenwealth sage first as I read them years ago and I've forgotten a lot of it.
 
just downloaded The book thief by Markus Zusak (written by death)
 
Finished my generic fantasy and now having a quick re read of Anansi Boys by Gaiman.
 
CheshireChap said:
As requested :)
Thoroughly enjoyed it ! It is pitched really at someone with little or no knowledge of events, it is in no way a scholarly work, and whilst it isn't a novel , does use some novelist style in the writing. There is a lot of use of direct quotes from contemporary accounts of the battle, by soldiers from both sides who were there.
As for the factual errors, there are a couple, whilst they are small, it is surprising that they slipped through the editing process, however they are so minor as not to distract from the overall book. In summary...

  • If you are writing a PhD thesis on the Napoleonic wars, this book will be next to useless BUT...
  • If you are looking for a really good, involving, descriptive introduction to the Battle, it's cracking.
  • I'd recommend the paper copy over the e-book version, as there are a lot of maps and illustrations, which frankly on a standard B&W e-book are useless.
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Thanks Jon, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The local library are expecting to get it soon, so I'll probably borrow it and then decide whether to buy a copy. I know quite a lot about the battle, but it sounds as if the errors are trivial/irrelevant in the broader context.
 
Lullaby Town - Robert Crais
As Im beginning to expect with his, eminently readable and a fair amount of intrigue and action. If you like Lee Child you'll love Robert Crais I suspect.

Has anybody read any Patrick Robinson "Master and Commander" books and are they easy to read or bogged down in detail and heavy going?
 
Keith, they get a bit "samey" after a while but they seem to be fairly common in charity shops so buy a couple and see what you think. Been a while since I borrowed my Grandfather's and I can't remember which were the best to cherry pick.
 
MartynK said:
Thanks Jon, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The local library are expecting to get it soon, so I'll probably borrow it and then decide whether to buy a copy. I know quite a lot about the battle, but it sounds as if the errors are trivial/irrelevant in the broader context.
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I'll check my library, having read it on e book would like to see the pretty pictures too.

Nothing to do with the book, but Mrs Chap got me tickets to the 200th Anniv re-enactments over 4 days in Waterloo this summer! Can't wait :) However do need to learn how to tog battles from a distance :eek:
 
About a third of the way through Joe Abercrombie's latest, 'Half the World'. Second in a trilogy and as excellent as always... if you like fantasy and have never read Joe Abercrombie then you're missing a real treat.
 
A slight tangent for the moment.

Fancied having a read of the Hunger Games books so had a look on Amazon (Kindle)

Hunger Games - £2.71
Catching Fire - £1.90
Mockingjay - £2.49

Total (inc VAT) - £7.10

Or

The Hunger Games Complete Trilogy - £14.39 :thinking:
 
If you are allowed to listen to books in this Thread- - King Coal by Upton Sinclair (previously read The Jungle by same author)
 
I am reading Guy Martin's book about his life, only a dozen pages in so too early to give an opinion.
 
Just finished Hammond Innes - Air Bridge, an author I remember from when I was a nipper in the 70's (like Alistair Maclean and Desmond Bagley) but never got round to reading. Have to say it wasn't bad, will definitely try another of his if I ever see one.
 
Just started the third in the Peter James Roy grace series
 
Reading a lot of Black Library titles - Sons of Dorn at the moment. Anyone else read Warhammer?
 
Just finished reading, A Song of Ice and Fire, the first of the Game of Thrones books. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I had already watched the TV series but as I was reading the book I decided to go back and re-watch season 1. There is so much more in the books than is in the TV series but it would be nigh on impossible to get it all in. I found the appendices in the book really helpful for putting characters into the correct families etc.

As much as I enjoyed it I think I'm going to read something else before moving onto the second book.
 
Rereading, 'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula Le Guin. One of the classics of 20th century science fiction by a master of the English language.

Dave
 
A feast, a glut, a load of mostly crap £0.00 SciFi books on the kindle. There's a reason most of them cost nothing :)
 
Another reread of The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. Haven't read it for a few years and am finding new things that I must have missed/skipped when I was ill. Will possibly read the whole series again after I finish the first one of the Earth's Children hexology (if that's what a series of 6 is called!)
 
The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin, not read any of his stuff before but it is a good read.
 
Just about to start reading The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M Banks. Gutted that this will be the last time I can read one of his sci-fi novels (for the first time anyway).
 
Almost finished book #2 in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord (Aurthurian) Chronicles. First time I've picked up an author I've avoided for years based on preconceived ideas and had everything turned on its head. It's brill. Humourous and told from a pagans view of Christianity which is really refreshing and interesting.

Lots of spitting in it too.

Has anyone read any of his other stuff? Is the style of writing the same? On his wiki, he states these were his favourite books, so it would be interesting to see if people thought his other stuff was not up to scratch...
 
Harlequin565 said:
Almost finished book #2 in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord (Aurthurian) Chronicles. First time I've picked up an author I've avoided for years based on preconceived ideas and had everything turned on its head. It's brill. Humourous and told from a pagans view of Christianity which is really refreshing and interesting.

Lots of spitting in it too.

Has anyone read any of his other stuff? Is the style of writing the same? On his wiki, he states these were his favourite books, so it would be interesting to see if people thought his other stuff was not up to scratch...
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I've read about half the Sharpe ones and 2 or 3 of his yachting/sea based ones. Enjoy them pretty much all as I recall.
Are the warlord ones "The winter king" and so on? I do fancy giving those a go.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Has anyone read any of his other stuff? Is the style of writing the same? On his wiki, he states these were his favourite books, so it would be interesting to see if people thought his other stuff was not up to scratch...
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I've only read Agincourt. It was an enjoyable read - it was clearly well-researched, but it seemed to take a bit too much pleasure in gory descriptions that didn't really add much to the narrative. Would probably delight a teenage boy (Yay! Blood! Cool!) but seemed a bit out of place to me, given the effort that had gone into the work as a whole.
I much preferred Robert Harris (Pompeii and the two Cicero novels) and, of course, Hillary Mantel.
 
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