Mel Hutchwright Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Richard Ford ~ The Lay Of The Land This is the third part of the trilogy that also contains The Sportswriter and Independance Day. Ford bores the arse off of a few folk I know but I'm a big fan of his. It's a fairly long novel where not that much happens until the end; basically a bloke in New Jersey recovering from cancer and facing middle age whilst preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving with his two kids, which granted does make it sound a bit dull. However, he's such a brilliant writer that I find his novels completely engrossing. Went to see him at the Book Festival last month and he was great. 9/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bhoys67 Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 The Road to success....by Gordon strachan..........funny thing was it was a one page, special edition of the green final in Aberdeen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenayr Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 The Sign of the Cross by Chris Kuzneski. So many books like this at the moment, about christianity and secrets that have been kept for over 2000 years. An Archeologist uncovers a scroll from 2000 years ago that has a piece of information that could shock the world of christianity, people in different areas of the world are being killed by being hung on a cross, and a family have been protecting a secret for the last 2000 years. All connected but you know the good guys are always going to come through in the end. Did enjoy this book but felt it dragged on at times and was a bit far fetched in areas. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wug Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 I've just finished Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini, absolutely brilliant novels and don't let the shit film put you off reading the books. Can't wait for the 3rd book in the trilogy to be released. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 Saw him a couple of times at the Book Festival and he is an extraordinarily smug, self satisfied man. Mind you I found Rankin a bit smug too and Iain Banks was really full of himself. Without wishing to appear sycophantic the regular contributor to PnB who appears at the Book Fest is one of the best authors to see. I've never been to the Book Festival to see anyone specifically, though I have browsed through the books and attended the Amnesty International thing. Maybe they could schedule 10 minutes for me and halfaperson to systematically abuse Jardine's laughable writing skills. Might remove the smug grin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 HB, your starting to sound like the Literature Police!Books are like music, one man's meat is another man's poison. True, and I have no issues with books being easy to read. I loved the Harry Potter series, and also like Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar novels, which have a laughable premise throughout, and fairly one-dimensional characters. It's more the quality of writing I admire. Coben is excellent, as is Rankin to be fair, certainly latterly. Someone like Jardine, or Val McDermid, I can't take seriously, as I find them laughably poor. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Hutchwright Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Jeffrey Eugenides ~ Middlesex Great novel that follows the story of three generations of a Greek-American family living through the twentieth century, beginning in a village overlooking Mount Olympus and ending up in Detroit. It's narrator is a hermaphrodite now living in Berlin. Thought it was fantastic and totally absorbing. Reminded me quite a bit of the novels John Irving was writing when he was at his best, which is something I'd consider high praise. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BasraTon Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Having Been a Soldier - Col Mad Mitch Mitchell Condor Blues - Inbedded reporter with the troops in Iraq 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 The Guv'nor - Lenny McLean 10/10 Biography of Britains hardest man tells of his bare knuckle boxing matches, his celebrity friends, his enemies, his time spent behind bars and various attemps on his life. Although he was a hard man and took no shit he was also a big hearted, kind family man who was much loved and well respected. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiders For Life Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Trainspotting 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 The Exception - Christian Jurgensen.An absolutely fantastic book, one of the best I've ever read. It's about four women who work in the Danish Centre for Genocide Information, a research centre/library for those researching and writing about the history of Genocide. The story begins with two of the women, the University educated researchers Ibena nd Malene, recieving threatening emails they think from a Serb war criminal they have written about. It soon becomes clear that everything in their ostensibly well meaning place of work isn't as it seems. The librarian, Anne-Lise, feels she is being horribly bullied by the two younger women and is having her life driven into a complete misery by this. She states her feelings on this and sets in train confrontation and pyschological warfare that profoundly changes all the women and the centre. It's a truly fantastic, gripping book. Each chapter is told from a different women's point of view and the first few concentrate on Iben and Malene, you think it's going to be a more run-of-the-mill whodunit until the first chapter from Anne-Lise's perspective. When you read it the creeping realisation that the perspective of the first few chapters has missed the whole sinister underlying tension of the office is chilling, really very creepy and unsettling. I suppose in a way the book could be seen as depressing as when you develop sympathy with one character, a side is revealed that can disabuse you of the notion of 'hero' or 'villian' in a novel. The book is also interesting in it's treatment of the psychology of groups, even groups of two or three, and how it relates this to the mass murder and atrocities the characters research in their work. It's unsettling to think that the casual office bullying that goes on can be linked to Srebrinica but the book makes the point, subtley, that the motivations and justifications aren't so different. I would absolutely recommend it a million percent. I am going to read this again,it is brilliant. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I'm getting deja vu...might have posted this already. T. M. Devine - The Scottish Nation 1700-2007 Tim O'Brien - If I Die in a Combat Zone The Scottish Nation was a bit heavy going but was educational. I only bought it because I have very little knowledge of Scottish history. A few good titbits of info were gleaned, such as why some areas of Scotland have certain demographics and how the term 'steaming' came about. Tim O'Brien's book was a nice easy read for the train. Young guy's experience of the Vietnam war. Doesn't glorify it at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Long Way Round - Ewan Mcgregor and Charlie Boorman 6/10 Ewan Mcgregor comes across as a bit of a greeting faced erse 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak QOSFC Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Lord of the Flies - William Golding It was tough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviClyde Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I've pretty much exhausted Lee Child, Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly recently. Some sggestions in a similar vein will be appreciated. I put my trust in the P&B book club! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Half A Person Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I've pretty much exhausted Lee Child, Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly recently.Some sggestions in a similar vein will be appreciated. I put my trust in the P&B book club! Robert Crais is a good bet. John Sandford's 'Prey' series is in a similar vein, too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pub car king Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 taking down vegas by ben mezrich a tale of some card counters who develop a black jack system that doesn't involve them winning traditionally but instead manipulating the cards so the dealer goes bust. have read a couple of his other books but i found this one a bit lacking. but it did the job on a couple of short flights 6/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Cuddy Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 Currently reading Dying Light by Stuart McBride. It's good stuff, but I'm 341 pages in, and I've still not seen the link between the 2 running stories yet! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Pele - The autobiography 10/10 Pele shagged 2 miss Brazil's, he's a legend! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaKnollBoy Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Back from the Brink:The Autobiography by Paul McGrath How he managed to play professional football at the top level for 14 years is a miracle, quite a tragic tale really. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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