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Last Book You Read....


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Just finished the excellent "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.

A Dracula book with a twist, which is as much travelogue of the Carpathians as anything else. Very well written, and is surprisingly a debut.

8.5/10.

I thought the ending was very disappointing

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I am heading off on holiday in the next four weeks so any suggestions for a good book would be appreciated. I am looking for one on the war in the Balkans and/or the Spanish Civil war, if anyone could recommend one on these subjects that would be great. :)

Giles Tremlett - Ghosts Of Spain, not just Civil War though

Phil Ball - Morbo! If you want something lighter and to immerse yourself in Spanish Football culture

Last reads were Peter Robinson's Friend Of The Devil and Ian Rankin's Exit Music. Think the Robinson Inspector Banks series is excellent and this one was one of the best. Exit Music was one of the better Rebus books.

Currently reading Stephen Booth's Dying To Sin who I would rate along with Robinson as best crime writer in Brtitain at moment.

I'm on a crime spree at the moment :lol:

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The Other Side of the Dales - Gervase Phinn

Story of Gervase Phinn's first appointment as a school inspector - filled with anecdotes from his day to day job. I thought it was really funny. Very touching in places - brought a tear to the eye. The stories about some of the kids he met made me giggle. Can't wait to read the next one (I think there are 5 in the series?).

Edited by Reina
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The Dirt - Motley Crue. :ph34r:

I thought I was genuinely too old and gnarly to be shocked anymore, but blinking flip if this didn't have my eyeballs on stalks. Normally there is an element of vicarious thrill to hard-living rock memoirs, but at absolutely no point did I want to be in their unwashed skin-tight leather breeks. :yucky

A truly astonishing book. Unflinchingly honest, toe-curlingly ghastly, as well as being starkly insightful and surprisingly touching in places.

Moving on to "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" - an oral biography of Warren Zevon compiled by his ex-wife Crystal. Old Warren will have to go some to compete with the Crue, but one chapter in I've already learned his dad was on the FBI's list of top 20 gangsters when Warren was a teenager, so it's looking promising...

Edited by HeartsparkDollarsign
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Just finished Nation by Terry Pratchett - a very thoughtful work based on survival after a Tsunami event, children having to grow up fast and a rather moving ending. A very worthwhile read.

Currently a third of the way through Ian Rankin's latest, Open Doors. :)

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Just finished Boy A by Jonathan Trigell. It is about a boy who commits a horrific crime when he is a child (hence the title) and has been in prison from from the age of 11. It is the story of what he goes through when he is released from prison at the age of 22. How he, Jack (the name he chose before going into his new life) struggles to make relationships knowing that if the friends he does make knew who he really was they would despise him. A lot of it also focused on Jack's relationship with his Parole officer Terry which as its not a very glamorous role that of a Parole Officer so we never hear anything about it normally it was good to get that insight. My favourite though was the media witch-hunt that follows his release. Interesting to see it from the 'hunted' point of view.

The way the story is told is what makes this book really great. The story starts upon his release from prison where we get to know Jack who is immensely likeable but we are told nothing of the crime he has commited. The details of his horrible crime are gradually relealed throughout the book in flashback giving us details on his life leading up to and imedietly after the event took place. Its loosly based on the Jamie Bulger killing so you get the idea.

Really enjoyed this book, only criticism would that the ending was a real let down. There were still a lot of story threads that had to be tied up. I actually thought for a minute my copy of the book was missing pages The ending was really unsatisfying. Its not a long book only 194 odd pages so there was definetly room to go further with this.

Excellent read everyone should give it a bash.

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'78 - How a Nation Lost the World Cup

A light-hearted look at Scotland's attempt to win the World Cup in Argentina. Only in this country can we produce a book like that :lol:

I'm still quite early on, but the chapters about Ally McLeod are good and how he got the Scotland job

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I read a Good Day to Die by Simon Kernick, it's the second time I've read it, it keeps me on the edge of my seat!!

It's a about an ex London cop who had to hot foot it out he country as he was also a hitman on the side and ended up commiting murders that he shouldn't of.

He goes back to London to avenge the murder of a friend and to find out why he has been murdered, which unravels a series of clues which leads eventually to the truth and to why others along the way have been murdered to keep this secret save. There's lots of twists and turns along the way and obvioulsy at the end justice is done!!!!!

I love this author and have read all his books, everyone is a belter but this one is defo my favourite.

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I just finished reading PORNO by irvine welsh, prob the best book i ever read. not that ive read many.

You should read Glue by Irvine Welsh, you don't want to put it down. It's a brilliant story about 4 pals in Edinburgh, their lives growing up and what paths they go down. You actually feel like you know them when you have read it! I think if you like Porno and Irvine Welsh you'll defo like Glue.

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I'm currently liking Michael Marshall.

Read The Straw Men and The Intruders, and halfway through The Lonely Dead. If you like John Connelly's books, you will like Marshall.

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The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum

I've read a few of his books over the summer, one being the Promethius Deception and another one I forget - both superb.

This book was excellent, page turning stuff. Rather shamingly, I only read this because I loved the films, but happily it's a completely different story, and Bourne/Webb/Cain/Delta is much easier to feel for than Matt Damon's robotic man of steel.

Next up is Choke by Chuck Palalalalauckich...yla. Fight Club guy. Or No Country For Old Men. Haven't decided.

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Not long back from holiday in Spain and impulse bought the Paul Weller book, "Changing Man", by Paulo Hewitt at the airport. Big mistake, the book is not the best that could have be written about Weller, by any means. Hewitt was/is a NME type journalist and his style and content gave me a headache <_< . I won't rant on but, in summary this book was bollocks imo.

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Ian Rankin Resurrection Men

One of the later Rebus novels, but one of the best I've read. Rebus is sent back to Tullialan after a serious breach of the rules to take a "refresher" course for cops on their last chance, hence the title. But as usual all is not quite what it seems.

If you like Rebus, this is brilliant.

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I read a Good Day to Die by Simon Kernick, it's the second time I've read it, it keeps me on the edge of my seat!!

It's a about an ex London cop who had to hot foot it out he country as he was also a hitman on the side and ended up commiting murders that he shouldn't of.

He goes back to London to avenge the murder of a friend and to find out why he has been murdered, which unravels a series of clues which leads eventually to the truth and to why others along the way have been murdered to keep this secret save. There's lots of twists and turns along the way and obvioulsy at the end justice is done!!!!!

I love this author and have read all his books, everyone is a belter but this one is defo my favourite.

I read that one not long also and have to agree.

Currently reading The sinner by Tess Gerritsen.

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