Last Book You Read....

[Cowden til i die]

Chris Ryan - The Increment.

All his books are similarly written but it doesnt make them any less exciting. Some parts become predictable when you have read a lot of his stuff but still a really enjoyable read.

7\10.

Just started Tom Clancy's Powerplay 'ruthless.com'

[Granny Danger]

Peter James - Dead Tomorrow. 7/10

Reasonable read, British crime fiction. Deals with the very harrowing subject of killing of disdvantaged Romanian youngsters and 'harvesting' of their organs for demand from affluent Westerners. Probably goes on - worrying to think just how wide spread it is.

[thistleburd1876]

The host by Stephanie Meyer. Amazing!

[The Idiot Bástard Son]

You know something is special when you're agreeing with the rants about the state of society that come from a serial killer. It's very clever indeed to make your evil character in a book so easy to admire (unless there's something very wrong with me).

I found myself in a similar situation with the killer in Iain Banks's Complicity. He doesn't get killed and even though he gets away he may get caught but opines that that's no bad thing as there are plenty inside who deserve something. A very excellent book and well worth a read.

[uberman]

Colby Buzzell - My War - Killing Time In Iraq 8/10

The author tells of his time serving in Iraq as a machine gunner for Stryker brigade Combat Team. Originally started as an online blog which attracted the attention of CNN and all the other major newspapers and news channels in America until he was censored by the army and forced to stop the blog.

[phil-zoff-fn-ri]

Thanks to Centre Stand Her and Kilt I've now got Damn Rebel Bitches , looks good , report back later.

[morrison]

Not long finished The Stand by Stephen King. I'm not sure exactly what they cut in the original published version, but this made for good reading. Just stole IT from my brother, one I've been meaning to get for a wee while now.

Decided on some light relief after that, so reading Pratchett's The Truth, the 25th Discworld book. Funny stuff as always.

[Granny Danger]

Not long finished The Stand by Stephen King. I'm not sure exactly what they cut in the original published version, but this made for good reading. Just stole IT from my brother, one I've been meaning to get for a wee while now.

Decided on some light relief after that, so reading Pratchett's The Truth, the 25th Discworld book. Funny stuff as always.

The Stand is a really good read; the original version had a bit more detail but no significant changes to the plot.

Avoid the film (a TV movie) it was really, really bad.

[Suspect Device]

Just back from holiday so I got through a few

Snowball in Hell - Brookmyre 9/10 has already been covered so I can't add anymore to it than has already been said except to say that I've read all his books except 1 and this was my favourite.

God is not great - Christopher Hitchen 6/10. Well worth it for more ammunition agaist the god botherers I know who still insist that the lack of evidence for a god doesn't matter and religion is a force for good. Read this book and you'll see why I disagree. Fairly funny when it could have been a very dry read and did tell me a few things I didn't already know.

We need to talk about Kevin 8/10 - 16 year old serial killer's Mum's memoirs in the form of letters to her husband. Very good and fairly disturbing take on the spate of schoolyard slaughters in the US. Did he do it because he was inherently evil or did his lack of Motherly love make him turn out the way he did? Would certainly put you off having kids if you thought there was a chance they might turn out like Kevin.

Black Swan Green - David Mithcell 6/10 - Not nearly as good as his other books. Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten are far far better but it's worth a read if you're around 40ish simply for the nostalgia as it's based in 1982 and he does well in getting the flavour of that fairly important period in British history. Well written but I wasn't as interested in it as his others.

Howard Mark's Book of Dope Stories 3/10 - Meh. Not worth bothering with. Nowhere near as interesting as Mr Nice and smacks of just an attempt to cash in on the popularity of his previosu book. A cobbled together collection of stories about drugs No surprise there! Some decent but most just kind of dull.

The bedroom secrets of the Masterchefs - Irvine Welsh 6/10 - Similar to Welsh's other stuff. About Edinburgh and involves drugs and football casuals but also a wee nod to Picture of Dorian Gray and an attempt to find out why people lead a destructive life when they should know better. This time it's a lack of a father figure that gets the blame.

[phil-zoff-fn-ri]

Just back from holiday so I got through a few

Snowball in Hell - Brookmyre 9/10 has already been covered so I can't add anymore to it than has already been said except to say that I've read all his books except 1 and this was my favourite.

God is not great - Christopher Hitchen 6/10. Well worth it for more ammunition agaist the god botherers I know who still insist that the lack of evidence for a god doesn't matter and religion is a force for good. Read this book and you'll see why I disagree. Fairly funny when it could have been a very dry read and did tell me a few things I didn't already know.

We need to talk about Kevin 8/10 - 16 year old serial killer's Mum's memoirs in the form of letters to her husband. Very good and fairly disturbing take on the spate of schoolyard slaughters in the US. Did he do it because he was inherently evil or did his lack of Motherly love make him turn out the way he did? Would certainly put you off having kids if you thought there was a chance they might turn out like Kevin.

Black Swan Green - David Mithcell 6/10 - Not nearly as good as his other books. Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten are far far better but it's worth a read if you're around 40ish simply for the nostalgia as it's based in 1982 and he does well in getting the flavour of that fairly important period in British history. Well written but I wasn't as interested in it as his others.

Howard Mark's Book of Dope Stories 3/10 - Meh. Not worth bothering with. Nowhere near as interesting as Mr Nice and smacks of just an attempt to cash in on the popularity of his previosu book. A cobbled together collection of stories about drugs No surprise there! Some decent but most just kind of dull.

The bedroom secrets of the Masterchefs - Irvine Welsh 6/10 - Similar to Welsh's other stuff. About Edinburgh and involves drugs and football casuals but also a wee nod to Picture of Dorian Gray and an attempt to find out why people lead a destructive life when they should know better. This time it's a lack of a father figure that gets the blame.

Six books on holiday ?? Good time then ?

[StewartyMac]

The Stand is a really good read; the original version had a bit more detail but no significant changes to the plot.

Avoid the film (a TV movie) it was really, really bad.

I enjoyed the film, but then I watched it not long after I finished the book (which is one of my all time favourites), so it was still fresh in the mind. The acting's pretty ropey but Gary Sinise nailed the part of Stu Redman.

Edited July 27, 2009 by StewartyMac

[Gnash]

A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away - Christopher Brookmyre

5/10

Ordinary Scottish bloke teams up with a black female cop to save thousands of people from a terrorist plot. I found it really hard to get into it - the first 50 pages or so were very disjointed - but eventually it settled down into an enjoyable enough story. But further into the book, it got more and more far-fetched. I know this was intentional (well, I think it was), but it didn't work for me.

The Flood - Iain Rankin

7/10

The trials and tribulations of a woman and her son, outcasts in the close-knit (and incestuous - surprise, surprise!) Fife village they live in. Fairly slow-paced, but gave a real feeling of being in the village, and story was very engaging.

Inconceivable - Ben Elton

6/10

I put this in just to rile the forum's book nazis. Decent read, but not one of his better efforts.

[Centre Stand Hero]

Thanks to Centre Stand Her and Kilt I've now got Damn Rebel Bitches , looks good , report back later.

[saint dave]

I enjoyed the film, but then I watched it not long after I finished the book (which is one of my all time favourites), so it was still fresh in the mind. The acting's pretty ropey but Gary Sinise nailed the part of Stu Redman.

agree mate,Gary Sinise is who I picture as Stu when I reread the book.max headroom is good as trashcan man too.

also its the miniseries I've watched was there a film too,like Salems lot?

[centralparker]

Just finished reading Slash's autobiography. Pretty good rock and roll tale. However, not in the same league as The Dirt: The Motley Crue Story. Talk about eye opening.

Slash 7/10

Aye, Slash's book was a good read. A detailed history of the band with tales of debauchery woven in. I got it at the same time as Ronnie Woods bio, very lightweight in comparison.

Just now I'm working my way through the Rebus novels. Can't believe I've never read them before. It's always good when a story is set in a place you have first-hand experience of.

Edited August 16, 2009 by centralparker

[GypsyTillIDie]

I read Treasure Island by R.L Stevenson over the summer. Excellent read, probably my favourite book.

9/10

[uberman]

James Herbert - '48 6/10

After Hitler was defeated in WWII his last act was to send Blood Death Bombs which wiped out almost all the population leaving only a handfl of survivors with a rare bloodtype which wasn't affected by the poison, not bad, not great

[Lisa Cuddy]

Pandaemonium - Christopher Brookmyre.

Ooooh, my word!

[Monster]

Pandaemonium - Christopher Brookmyre.

Ooooh, my word!

Gies!

*does hand gesture*

[Lisa Cuddy]

Gies!

*does hand gesture*

You're in for a treat. There's a particular passage on pages 251-252 that is just brillliant (for anyone that has read it or reads it soon, you'll know exactly what I mean). I was reading that in bed around midnight last night and had to get up and carry on reading in the living room as there was no way I could put the book down. I ended up staying up until 5am because I'd have had nightmares if I'd tried sleeping after it, plus the old adrenaline kicked in meaning I'd have been wide awake anyway. By 5am, I could no longer keep my eyes open, which was the only reason I stopped then!