GordonD Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 On 14/07/2019 at 14:35, Bert Raccoon said: Glue by Irvine Welsh, must've read this book about 20 times but I still love it, imo his best book. I couldn't put it down! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Seriously, the last book I read was Time and Time Again by Ben Elton - guy is sent back in time to prevent the Great War happening because he thinks it will turn the twentieth century into a golden age. Things don't go quite according to plan... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Interesting take on censorship and rings true with a lot of though processes that are prevalent in today's political climate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomCat Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Moby Dick/Melville - Its well written and the character of Captain Ahab is compelling but the fiction often takes multiple chapter detours to explain the history, mythology and study of whales. It made me think this would be a more interesting cetology work than story. Bob Dylan Chronicles Vol.1 - Good to re-read. Love the guy. Can really sense the annoyance as being labelled "voice of a generation" dragging him down in the late 60's. Intentionally making bad records to get people away etc. Wish he'd bring out volume 2 Wire in the Blood/Val McDermid - Its pretty well documented the character of Jacko Vance is Jimmy Saville. Grim but pacy. Would read more in the Tony Hill series. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Melanius Mullarkey said: Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Interesting take on censorship and rings true with a lot of though processes that are prevalent in today's political climate. Any relation to Julia Bradbury? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Steele Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 She's so hot she could make a book burst into flames. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 On 21/07/2019 at 14:31, GordonD said: Seriously, the last book I read was Time and Time Again by Ben Elton - guy is sent back in time to prevent the Great War happening because he thinks it will turn the twentieth century into a golden age. Things don't go quite according to plan... Ben Elton and time travel. Has anyone told Richard Herring about this? Read quite a lot in the first half of the year and burned out a bit. Just started up again after a month break. If I've read something reviewed on Better Than Food it was only by chance, I don't use it to pick my books, but whenever I watch it it always inspires me to get reading. And so it was this week. So thanks man. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathematics Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 The Godfather. Not exactly we’ll written, but a good story nonetheless. Shame it was mostly copied from real life examples, allegedly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathematics Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 Shawshank Redemption. Great story. Surprisingly King can write a good non-horror as well as plenty middle-of-the-road horrors. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 I seem to be going through a phase of reading novels by comedians in which somebody tries to erase a World War from history. This time it was Making History by Stephen Fry, in which somebody uses a time machine to dump sterilisation tablets in the well of an Austrian village, so that Hitler was never born. As with the Ben Elton book, the world that results is far from Utopia... Enjoyed it, though large chunks of it are written in screenplay format for no apparent reason, which was intensely irritating. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSU Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 6 hours ago, GordonD said: I seem to be going through a phase of reading novels by comedians in which somebody tries to erase a World War from history. This time it was Making History by Stephen Fry, in which somebody uses a time machine to dump sterilisation tablets in the well of an Austrian village, so that Hitler was never born. As with the Ben Elton book, the world that results is far from Utopia... Enjoyed it, though large chunks of it are written in screenplay format for no apparent reason, which was intensely irritating. I've read them both too. The Stephen Fry one was my favorite. Time and Time Again was okay but Ben Elton just tries so hard to prove to the reader that he's done his research and his scenes of "love-making" were just cringe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgow_bairn Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Just battered through several books in last 3 weeks or so.Just finished The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Brilliant follow up to The Underground Railroad. Not as good though.My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinham Braithwaite.Brilliant and darkly funny read.Rosewater by Tade Thompson.Start of a trilogy. Set in 2066, Nigeria. It goes back and forth between 2066 and 2050. Sci fi at its best. Well worth the read.The Pearl by John Steinbeck. A shirt story by one of my favourite authors. He did no wrong in my eyes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozbaird Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 (edited) Just finished ‘Ghost Rider’ by Neil Peart. As a long time Rush fan, I was obviously well aware of the double tragedy that hit Neil, and had always wanted to read this. I put it off for years, but bought the book two weeks ago and it was a difficult, but ultimately rewarding read. The guy is a wonderful writer, and it certainly isn’t bleak all the way through, far from it. If you aren’t a Rush fan, and don’t know the kind of quiet publicity-shunning character that Neil Peart is, and have no attachment to the guy through years of his music, then probably not for you. It definitely helps to be invested in the man behind the book and you go into it knowing what he went through. Edited August 21, 2019 by pozbaird 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Recently read: The Stranger by Albert Camus The Trial by Franz Kafka The Plague by Albert Camus Portnoys Complaint by Philip Roth Amerika by Franz Kafka I am currently reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Unexpectedly found some of the dialogue rather amusing: Spoiler The part when one of the inmates from the insane asylum mistakes Mr Norton for Thomas Jefferson. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Recently read:The Stranger by Albert CamusBrilliant. The Plague by Albert Camus Terrible. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverton End Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes 900 pages of repetitive rubbish, I was willing it to end. Seems a movie is being made, it should maybe work ok on screen. Just starting - The Cyclist Who Went Out In The Cold - Adventures Along The Iron Curtain Trail by Tim Moore. The author attempts to cycle the length of the old 'Iron Curtain' from Northern Finland/Russia, all the way to Bulgaria on an old, slightly modified East German shopping bicycle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 "Enver Hoxha- The Iron Fist of Albania" by Blendi Fevziu. A rather interesting read. Hoxha was a bit of a tinpot Stalin, even his death seemed to mirror Stalin's demise in that he lapsed into a coma similar to Stalin at the end. I suppose one thing I got out of it was a feeling that the Yugoslavs were perhaps lucky to have Tito. He made mistakes but compared to Hoxha they got off lightly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Managed to binge through a few novels over the last couple of months: I picked up Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland & The End Of The World and enjoyed it, although it was a bit challenging at times. I've got The Elephant Vanishes sitting on my shelf, so will delve into that at some point soon. Followed that up with another Japanese translation: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Very short, finished it in a couple of days, and bought it on a recommendation from one of the Waterstone's staff. The last two books I've read are the first two in Raymond Chandler's Marlowe series - The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. Great fun, aged terribly in some respects (although not nearly as much as the Ian Fleming stuff I read last year), but I've really enjoyed them. Bought the third and fourth novels yesterday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 The Mission Song, by John Le Carre. Illegitimate son of an Irish missionary in Africa and a local girl is packed off to England and becomes a multilingual interpreter. Recruited by British Secret Service to help interpret at a hush-hush conference between various shady forces and local warlords to thrash out the future of a small African nation. Hears more than he wants to and things all go a bits tits-up. Amazing writing. There are twists and turns but like Tinker Tailor.. he makes men in bad suits sitting about in stuffy rooms totally gripping. Also, Dr Sleep will be out in cinemas soon. It's the sequel to The Shining. Looks like it will stick much closer to the book than Kubrick did with The Shining. Would definitely recommend reading it. One of the sexiest baddies ever. Would quite happily let her eat my brains. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Man Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I've just started reading 'Shantaram'. I'll report back in about 4 months when I finish it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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