Tommy Nooka Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 20 minutes ago, Shandon Par said: Anyone have any Audiobook recommendations? I have a spare credit and at a loss as to what to get. I've read or listened to everything by James Ellroy and would like something not too dissimilar. I've gone through most of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen and enjoy these lighter-hearted books too. Read a few Phillip Roth ones. Maybe something I'm missing? I don't really do audio books, I find my attention drifts too much and I lose the place. I think the only one I could recommend is I, Partridge as it's read by Alan partridge and is the best way to enjoy that book. I'll assume since you've read Carl Hiaasen then you've probably already read Christopher Brookmyres earlier stuff which is in a similar vein, not sure if they are available on audio book or not though. Christopher Moores books are also quite enjoyable comedies, for example The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove is about a giant monster that makes people horny but I'd recommend A Dirty Job as a good place to start as it's more of a drama-edy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 1 minute ago, Tommy Nooka said: I don't really do audio books, I find my attention drifts too much and I lose the place. I think the only one I could recommend is I, Partridge as it's read by Alan partridge and is the best way to enjoy that book. I'll assume since you've read Carl Hiaasen then you've probably already read Christopher Brookmyres earlier stuff which is in a similar vein, not sure if they are available on audio book or not though. Christopher Moores books are also quite enjoyable comedies, for example The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove is about a giant monster that makes people horny but I'd recommend A Dirty Job as a good place to start as it's more of a drama-edy. I saw the Partridge one and also Toast sounds funny (but short). I have a couple of decorating jobs to rattle through and find audiobooks or podcasts ideal. Anything more taxing and my attention drifts. I read all of Brookmyre's early books when they came out and saw that similarity to Hiaasen (eg the freakshow baddies). Will check out Christopher Moore - thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Nooka Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 31 minutes ago, Shandon Par said: I saw the Partridge one and also Toast sounds funny (but short). I have a couple of decorating jobs to rattle through and find audiobooks or podcasts ideal. Anything more taxing and my attention drifts. I read all of Brookmyre's early books when they came out and saw that similarity to Hiaasen (eg the freakshow baddies). Will check out Christopher Moore - thanks. I'm a bit sad, I actually made the I,Partridge playlist from the book and read it again with that playing in the background/headphones at the appropriate parts, made it even funnier though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRob72 Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 The Spirit of 58' Evan Marshall, Northern Ireland's 1958 World Cup Campaign![emoji6] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal McGuire Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 His Bloody Project - 8/10Girl on the train - 6.5/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Bought two books last week. Both a bit 'boy-sy' but it gets me back into reading after the Christmas period. Jean Larteguy 'The Centurions' - It's about the French army in Vietnam and Algeria. Quite long (over 500 pages) and there are a LOT of characters all with backstories but I'm enjoying it so far. They are currently in a Vietminh prison camp not got to the Algeria section yet. The other book is a 1930's spy novel set in Nazi Germany, 'Uncommon Danger' by Eric Ambler. Haven't read either author before so its something new. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 On 24.1.2017 at 16:52, Miguel Sanchez said: Let's see, what have I read this year All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. Nice. About horses and that. The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. A desolate journey through the limits of human resilience. I think it's hopeful. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Patronising shite. Give better books to your weans. The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands by Mary Seacole. Quota fulfilment before mixed race couples in adverts were a thing. But it made the Crimean War seem nice and jolly, so that's something. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. Enthralling. As high-octane an experience reading as the journey itself is, was, whatever. Read a few McCarthy books in the last few years, including both mentioned. I just can't get into him, I think he has a tendency to use 10 words when 3 would suffice. Jules Verne is always worth reading, though I would say Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea are both far better than Around the World in Eighty Days. I'm currently reading one of the Rebus books that I hadn't previously got round to, Black and Blue. Seems standard Rebus so far. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Just now, Ross. said: Read a few McCarthy books in the last few years, including both mentioned. I just can't get into him, I think he has a tendency to use 10 words when 3 would suffice. That's American literature for you in general. All verbosity, no style. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverton End Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Reading "A season with Verona" by Tim Parks just now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 1 minute ago, Ya Bezzer! said: That's American literature for you in general. All verbosity, no style. There may be an element of that to it, but at the same time you have guys like Hiaasin, Elmore Leonard and Raymond Chandler who can all tell a good story in short order, as well as the likes of James Ellroy and to an extent Brett Easton Ellis who can go all out on the detail without making it seem overdone. Personally I think he is just a bit of a pretentious bawbag who read too many novels from the Russians and didn't realise they use so many words because they are fucking Russian and that's just how they are. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 1 hour ago, Ross. said: Read a few McCarthy books in the last few years, including both mentioned. I just can't get into him, I think he has a tendency to use 10 words when 3 would suffice. 1 hour ago, Ya Bezzer! said: That's American literature for you in general. All verbosity, no style. Criticising McCarthy for overly wordy descriptions. What planet am I living on 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 5 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said: Criticising McCarthy for overly wordy descriptions. What planet am I living on It's perhaps not his over wordy descriptions, more the fact he has to describe everything. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 7 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said: Criticising McCarthy for overly wordy descriptions. What planet am I living on I've never read any McCarthy and never claimed to. I was making a general point about 'The Great American Novel' which is almost always long, tedious and pretentious. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I'm sorry, I should have specified the "all verbosity no style" bit as the target of my incredulity. You can have both. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. Not since How Late it Was, How Late have I been so simultaneously heartened and depressed by the psyche of Scottish adults. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee_62 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Peter May's Coffin Road - crime thriller featuring memory loss and a slight eco theme. I've read a few of his other books set in the Western Isles. An enjoyable addition to those books. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town - Stephen Leacock It's not as funny as its press (or the first two chapters) suggest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dysartrovers Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Currently reading the twelve by Justin cronin. 2nd book in the trilogy which is apparently being made into a series by fox. Hopefully that will be as good as the books 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Black and Blue, by Ian Rankin. Standard Rebus. Worth reading. Now reading "The Gravy Star" by Hamish McDonald. Started it on the train on the way to work this morning. Enjoyable so far. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomCat Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I tend to read 2/3 at same time then change round so finished a few at the same time. The last week .... The papers of Tony Veitch: second in the laidlaw trilogy. Enjoyable and big fan of McIlvanney but can maybe cut the similes down. Saturday 3pm: Nice wee book on football, lots of mentions of Scottish football. The House with green shutters: Good Scottish novel, bit like Zola. Flowers for Algernon: Good sci-fi book, I hope to read more of the genre. Hotel du lac: Good writing, it won the Booker. The Cold War/John Gaddis: Good concise book on the politics of the era. ....Started but couldn't be bothered after ten pages - How late it was, How late/Kelman. Not for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Nooka Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 4 hours ago, dysartrovers said: Currently reading the twelve by Justin cronin. 2nd book in the trilogy which is apparently being made into a series by fox. Hopefully that will be as good as the books I read The Passage a couple of months ago and I was hugely underwhelmed. It was incredibly drawn out, the premise has been used a hundred times and other books do it better. I've felt no urge to read the rest of the trilogy, coincidentally there's a much better 'vampire' series that begins with a book called Twelve by Jasper Kent, there's also quite a bit of Russian history in those books which i found interesting. Finished Wool by Hugh Howey last night which I really enjoyed and blitzed in a week. It's quite a slow book but it's actually needed to help explain the dystopian future. The surface of the earth is completely inhospitable and a small community of people are living in an underground silo with all of the strange politics they believe is necessary to ensure survival. I'll definitely be reading the rest of this trilogy. Just started Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey, it's the first book in the Expanse series, Season 2 of the TV show should be arriving on Netflix in a month or two. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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