welshbairn Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 On the subject of crap books I got about 10 pages through one of Richard Osman's "cosy" detective novels before binning it, I suspect it was written by a special needs AI, clunky, unfunny, self satisfied cringe. Glad to see somebody agrees with me.. https://www.gawker.com/culture/the-thursday-murder-club-books-are-criminally-bad-richard-osman On the plus side I've ordered James Ellroy's new epic, The Enchanters, supposed to be coming out today I think, can't wait.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig fae the Vale Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Sundial by Catriona Ward. Absolutely dreadful. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooooft. Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 23 minutes ago, welshbairn said: On the subject of crap books I got about 10 pages through one of Richard Osman's "cosy" detective novels before binning it, I suspect it was written by a special needs AI, clunky, unfunny, self satisfied cringe. Glad to see somebody agrees with me.. https://www.gawker.com/culture/the-thursday-murder-club-books-are-criminally-bad-richard-osman On the plus side I've ordered James Ellroy's new epic, The Enchanters, supposed to be coming out today I think, can't wait.. I’d been mildly curious about these books, but your post - along with that review - has made me decide to swerve them! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 6 minutes ago, Ooooft. said: I’d been mildly curious about these books, but your post - along with that review - has made me decide to swerve them! I'm not against "cosy" crime books on principle, I enjoyed the Ladies Detective books for example, I just think Osman is a really bad writer, and smug with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnash Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 2 hours ago, welshbairn said: On the subject of crap books I got about 10 pages through one of Richard Osman's "cosy" detective novels before binning it, I suspect it was written by a special needs AI, clunky, unfunny, self satisfied cringe. Glad to see somebody agrees with me.. https://www.gawker.com/culture/the-thursday-murder-club-books-are-criminally-bad-richard-osman On the plus side I've ordered James Ellroy's new epic, The Enchanters, supposed to be coming out today I think, can't wait.. I'm currently reading the Thursday Murder club. It's no literary masterpiece, but enjoyable enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbitterandgrumpy Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, welshbairn said: On the subject of crap books I got about 10 pages through one of Richard Osman's "cosy" detective novels before binning it, I suspect it was written by a special needs AI, clunky, unfunny, self satisfied cringe. Glad to see somebody agrees with me.. https://www.gawker.com/culture/the-thursday-murder-club-books-are-criminally-bad-richard-osman On the plus side I've ordered James Ellroy's new epic, The Enchanters, supposed to be coming out today I think, can't wait.. He’s been on the go for long enough but I’ve never read any James Ellroy stuff. You’re bang on the button with the Osman shit. Edited September 22, 2023 by oldbitterandgrumpy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Glad to hear Osman panned. Wouldn’t wipe my arse with his “books”. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 6 minutes ago, oldbitterandgrumpy said: He’s been on the go for long enough but I’ve never read any James Ellroy stuff. You’re bang on the button with the Osman shit. I'd recommend the LA Quartet as a starter, the film LA Confidential would give you good idea if it's your kind of thing. I know people who enjoy the Osman books, they're just not for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbitterandgrumpy Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 5 minutes ago, welshbairn said: I'd recommend the LA Quartet as a starter, the film LA Confidential would give you good idea if it's your kind of thing. I know people who enjoy the Osman books, they're just not for me. LA Confidential was James Ellroy? That’s enough for me. If LA Confidential is a benchmark I’m going for the James Ellroy thing. Cheers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 The Outsider. Another Albert Camus. Essentially we should all be happier if we don’t conform to society’s norms. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Internet Citizen Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 On 23/09/2023 at 00:35, Melanius Mullarkay said: Glad to hear Osman panned. Wouldn’t wipe my arse with his “books”. I didn’t mind Osman too much on Pointless but his twitter feed was insufferable, self-satisfied drivel. I fully expect his books to be in the same vein. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 Criminal by Karin Slaughter. The wife got me this to read. Turgid pish. The twist being that the person you thought was the killer all along...actually is the killer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbitterandgrumpy Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 On 23/09/2023 at 19:05, Melanius Mullarkay said: The Outsider. Another Albert Camus. Essentially we should all be happier if we don’t conform to society’s norms. Essentially we would. But only if everyone else conforms to society’s norms. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight minge Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 Read Shantaram, then the Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts A long slog for both, but all in all decent reads and excellent depictions of India. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Currently reading Lanark by Alisdair Gray. Like A Clockwork Orange, this is a book I gave up on years ago. Enjoying A Clockwork Orange when I gave it another go recently prompted me to give this another go as well. I am enjoying it this time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHF-23 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Why do dads read popular history books? I saw some fella with a belt-holstered glasses case reading the new Max Hastings today and got me thinking. They don't take any less time to read or are any less impenetrable than most decent scholarly work, and never have anything worthwhile in them (Obvious caveat for CV Wedgewood) Likewise all the newspaper columnists 300 page think pieces that fill up Waterstones. Who's reading Douglas Murray's or Owen Jones' pish? Writing this reminded me there was a quite funny NS article on this the other month https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2023/06/rise-waterstones-dad-library-history-bookshops 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWL Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Just finished Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart. Enjoyed it but I did feel it ran out of steam about 3/4s through. Understandable given everyone knows the outcome I guess. Nothing revealed about the political world most didn't already know - Truss a thick robot, Boris a charlatan etc - but some good one liners. My 'bought but not yet read' pile beside my bed is getting ridiculous but moved onto In Search Of Berlin just published by John Kampfner. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coprolite Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 On 05/10/2023 at 17:13, GHF-23 said: Why do dads read popular history books? I saw some fella with a belt-holstered glasses case reading the new Max Hastings today and got me thinking. They don't take any less time to read or are any less impenetrable than most decent scholarly work, and never have anything worthwhile in them (Obvious caveat for CV Wedgewood) Likewise all the newspaper columnists 300 page think pieces that fill up Waterstones. Who's reading Douglas Murray's or Owen Jones' pish? Writing this reminded me there was a quite funny NS article on this the other month https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2023/06/rise-waterstones-dad-library-history-bookshops Funnily enough i came on here to post about a history book i'd just read. It's in the "popular" style but not a particularly popular book. River Kings by Cat Jarman was an accessible overview of the archaeological and historical evidence of Viking trade, settlement and influence in the East. It wasn't an area i knew a lot about previously. I thought she did a pretty good job of not over-speculating where there was little evidence and presenting both sides of controversies. Would recommend. I'd question why anyone would want to read an article like that New Statesman pish, but each to their own. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHF-23 Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 8 minutes ago, coprolite said: Funnily enough i came on here to post about a history book i'd just read. It's in the "popular" style but not a particularly popular book. River Kings by Cat Jarman was an accessible overview of the archaeological and historical evidence of Viking trade, settlement and influence in the East. It wasn't an area i knew a lot about previously. I thought she did a pretty good job of not over-speculating where there was little evidence and presenting both sides of controversies. Would recommend. I'd question why anyone would want to read an article like that New Statesman pish, but each to their own. Lol hoisted by my own petard I have also read River Kings. It was alright, although I'm not sure she would really count in what I was describing, as if I remember right she has an actual PhD in bioarchaeology and is actually sharing research, if not in a strictly academic fashion. I'm more talking about your "Dunkirk: 3 Days to Save Blighty", the new best seller by Max Hastings/Anthony Beevor/for some reason Al Murray or Damian Lewis 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieKTID Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 On 29/09/2023 at 22:39, Richey Edwards said: Currently reading Lanark by Alisdair Gray. Like A Clockwork Orange, this is a book I gave up on years ago. Enjoying A Clockwork Orange when I gave it another go recently prompted me to give this another go as well. I am enjoying it this time. Amazing book, I'll need to give it another read although I'm not sure my tattered old copy will survive another read through. I almost got to see him being interviewed live on stage, back in 2007 Chemikal Underground records released an album called Balads of the book - Scottish writers wrote the lyrics and Scottish musicians performed the songs, there's a music and literature festival in Den Haag called Crossing Borders and they were having a Scottish evening a lot of the writers and musicians involved came over to perform including Alisdair Gray, I was chatting with my mate who was working as a sound tech and he told me Alisdair couldn't find his passport so couldn't make it, I had a mental image of him rummaging through piles of of artwork and notes looking for it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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