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Bought a book by one of my favourite historical romance authors- Stephanie Laurens- today. I'm saving it for my visit to Yorkshire. Waterstones are doing double points on their Waterstones card, so I'm glad I didn't buy it the other day.
I have been trying to listen to the story being serialised on Woman's Hour in the morning, and I've heard the first and third part, so must use the RadioIPlayer to catch up on the ones I've missed.
It's a dramatisation of William Boyd's thriller, Restless. Not sure I could read it as a book, but I do like audio books better.
In the Dark is a standalone, the other books are Tom Thorne books. I read one 'Lazy Bones' I think it was and I was so impressed I wrote to Mark and told him I felt like lighting up after the ending and I don't even smoke. He sent a lovely email back. The ones after that I was a little disappointed but this latest has kept me turning the pages when I should have been writing. I've In the Dark to read next.
Dorothy, if you do read it, I'd be interested to know what you thought.
The thing that made me buy IN the Dark was the blurb. It did its job by hooking me and I thought 'wow, this is the same stuff that I write' but the shocking twist promised by the blurb fizzled out. It was like being on a promise only to be stood up. The ending was somewhat, well, flaccid. I should have saved my money.
got In The Dark on buy one get one free offer in Smiths, (Lee Child was the other book) and will get Death Message as soon as I can. I like Mark Billingham's writing very much, hoping for a reasonable read. I will definitely get Death Message as I have yet to miss any of his books.
Just finished Chris Cleave's "The Other Hand" - the best book I have read in a long time (and I have read some good ones recently).
On the back it says, "Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds." It does what it says on the cover - I really recommend it.
I've never been able to get Mark Billingham (part of me will never forget him in Maid Marian and her Merry Men I suppose). Tried reading Buried, but it left me feeling queasy with the over the top gratituous violence (and against a child!)
I'm just staring Red Riding: 1974 (David Peace). Missed the TV series, so if I like it I'll buy the rest.
I've read Billingham and enjoyed his stuff, which isn't a million miles away from Simon Kernick's style (IMO).
I'm reading Kernick's 'The Murder Exchange' at the moment, but after the fast-paced, 'Relentless' and 'Deadline,' it is much slower and the plot is more profound. I'm persevering as I'm intrigued to know how it all unfolds, but I feel there are too many characters and I have to keep checking who's who? I think it's one of his older novels which may explain the difference to the others.
Dora, If you like Jack M Bickham, try 'Scene & Structure.' It's one of the best writers' 'How to' books I've ever read. I liked it so much that I felt compelled to write to him, but found he was no longer with us.
Ceka, I think you mentioned 'On Writing' by Stephen King - this is a close second to the aforementioned Bickham book.
Probably why I didn't like Billingham then (don't like Kernick that much either). Which is a shame because they both have the plots but are let down by the writing.
I wonder if it's the male/female thing creeping in again...
It's a tad controversial saying this (especially when I've just revealed my full name!!!), but generally speaking it may have some mileage. Or it could be down to taste. Both these authors' turns of phrases can make me smile.
I am also a Libra - we like aesthetically pleasing things! Reading Red Riding is enjoyable; I find that style much easier to read. For me, Billingham and Kernick clunks along.
Mark Billingham is on my list of highly rated authors because his characters are real, they eat, drink, knock themselves on desks, need the loo and generally act like human beings, instead of swanning through the stories without being affected by Life. I haven't read Kernick, will look out for his in the secondhand departments before investing. In The Dark is a complex piece of work but you can see the strands criss crossing. Good one, although I am very aware I am anxious to get back to the Delderfield trilogy I started before these books came to my notice, as it were.
Not sure if I posted this...unless I did and forgot...oh well.
Have finished both 'The Tomb of Hercules' by Andy McDermott and 'The Drawing of the Three' by Stephen King. Enjoyed both. Unfortunately, McDermott's next book isn't available in paperback until May so I'm now reading the third 'Dark Tower' book - 'The Wastelands' - and have reverted to my fall-back book. Yes, I'm rereading LOTR.
RichardS, Ray Bradbury is my All Time Favourite writer. The Martian Chronicles are sad, beautiful, moving, unbelievable.
He described Martians as 'dark they were and golden eyed'
so Hollywood made them blonde with blue eyes ... and people wonder why I say I don't want my books filmed ...
Just started How to be a Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes. He's obviously an expert but doesn't treat the subject entirely seriously - eg his description of house martins as "dapper little chaps, navy blue with white bums"!
(On the second page someone has taken a dislike to the phrase train station and has written "railway!!" in pencil in the margin! )
ha1 someone after my own heart! My grandfather worked on the RAILWAYS all his life, not on the trains and Bishopsgate was not a train station, it was a Railway Station ... (his main depot) not sure when we began saying train station instead of railway station but I agree with that vandal!
Well i'm reading Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong for the fifth time since i bought it. I'll be reading through as many of my old books as possible over the next few weeks because my sister's announced that she's moving back into the house (her son's going with his father to live in Cardiff because it's cheaper there, but she needs to work down here) so i have to get rid of the books i kept in my old room (my new room can't hold many books because the way it's built, the weight would be too much for the floor and walls).
Iain Banks' first novel The Wasp Factory because my mum just won it in a competition. Guessed the ending about half-way through but still found it rivetting and disturbing.
I'm reading Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott. It's an odd one - not as gripping as it sounded in the blurb and full of academic stuff about Isaac Newton. I'm sure academics get away with stuff the rest of us don't when it comes to getting published.
Forget-me-not, yes it is still worth reading because all the time you're given teasers about who he is and what he has done, so it's hard to leave it alone. His relationships are all odd so any normal behaviour stands out as unusual. It's bleak yet wistful. But I'll make no bones, it is horrible. I read it with a constant grimace.
[quote=LilyC]Iain Banks' first novel The Wasp Factory because my mum just won it in a competition. Guessed the ending about half-way through but still found it rivetting and disturbing. [/quote]
I read that a few years ago - it's quite dark, from what I remember, and it is rather...odd!
Yes, I remember you saying a while ago about Bradbury. I've read a couple of his short stories and have always meant to read TMC so did so. It is quite wonderful. His writing style is superb, poetic and haunting. Some of his metaphors and similies take the breath away.
I adore the man's writing. My all time favourite(s) of his are Fahrenheit 451 (very startling book and, allegedly, taken from his short story The Pedestrian and written in nine days flat out - I can believe it, it is seamless) and Dandelion Wine, a boy's summer. These are closely followed by the very dark Something Wicked This Way Comes. After that are the collections, The October Country (horror) The Day It Rained Forever (observations) The Illustrated Man (horror) R is for Rocket and S is for Space, SF. Loads of them. Love them. Read them over and over.
Just read Mark Billingham's In The Dark, strange book, incredible characterisation but not as gripping as the blurb would have you believe it was. Now reading Nothing To Lose by Lee Child, Reacher on his journeys again.
The new Lee Child novel comes out next week - it is called 'Gone Tomorrow' - however I haven't finished the new Women's Murder Club novel by James Patterson yet so it will get put on the pile of books waiting to be read for now!
I've just read the Horse Whisperer after I'd seen the film both were brilliant. Now I'm reading The Heritage of Shannara by Terry Brooks can't bear to put it down.
Nothing To Lose was good. Very much vintage Reacher, enjoyed it a great deal. Will be looking out for Gone Tomorrow, having refused to read the sample bit at the back, hate it, can't wait for the book to come out if I do that!
The Martian Chronicles was wonderful, I really enjoyed it. Next up, a bit of a change. 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante Alighieri. A bit of epic poetry's good for the soul every now again.
Comments
I have been trying to listen to the story being serialised on Woman's Hour in the morning, and I've heard the first and third part, so must use the RadioIPlayer to catch up on the ones I've missed.
It's a dramatisation of William Boyd's thriller, Restless. Not sure I could read it as a book, but I do like audio books better.
Dorothy, if you do read it, I'd be interested to know what you thought.
and
"Setting" Jack M Bickham
Has any one read any of Stuart MacBride or Simon Beckett? The blurbs make them seem quite good but I'm not sure...
Just started reading Sara Maitland's "The Writer's Way". It's a fascinating read and lots of exercises to keep fit.
On the back it says, "Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds." It does what it says on the cover - I really recommend it.
I'm just staring Red Riding: 1974 (David Peace). Missed the TV series, so if I like it I'll buy the rest.
I'm reading Kernick's 'The Murder Exchange' at the moment, but after the fast-paced, 'Relentless' and 'Deadline,' it is much slower and the plot is more profound. I'm persevering as I'm intrigued to know how it all unfolds, but I feel there are too many characters and I have to keep checking who's who? I think it's one of his older novels which may explain the difference to the others.
Dora, If you like Jack M Bickham, try 'Scene & Structure.' It's one of the best writers' 'How to' books I've ever read. I liked it so much that I felt compelled to write to him, but found he was no longer with us.
Ceka, I think you mentioned 'On Writing' by Stephen King - this is a close second to the aforementioned Bickham book.
It's a tad controversial saying this (especially when I've just revealed my full name!!!), but generally speaking it may have some mileage. Or it could be down to taste. Both these authors' turns of phrases can make me smile.
I am also a Libra - we like aesthetically pleasing things! Reading Red Riding is enjoyable; I find that style much easier to read. For me, Billingham and Kernick clunks along.
Have finished both 'The Tomb of Hercules' by Andy McDermott and 'The Drawing of the Three' by Stephen King. Enjoyed both. Unfortunately, McDermott's next book isn't available in paperback until May so I'm now reading the third 'Dark Tower' book - 'The Wastelands' - and have reverted to my fall-back book. Yes, I'm rereading LOTR.
He described Martians as 'dark they were and golden eyed'
so Hollywood made them blonde with blue eyes ... and people wonder why I say I don't want my books filmed ...
(On the second page someone has taken a dislike to the phrase train station and has written "railway!!" in pencil in the margin! )
I read that a few years ago - it's quite dark, from what I remember, and it is rather...odd!
Yes, I remember you saying a while ago about Bradbury. I've read a couple of his short stories and have always meant to read TMC so did so. It is quite wonderful. His writing style is superb, poetic and haunting. Some of his metaphors and similies take the breath away.
Just read Mark Billingham's In The Dark, strange book, incredible characterisation but not as gripping as the blurb would have you believe it was. Now reading Nothing To Lose by Lee Child, Reacher on his journeys again.
Also just started listening to 'Wicked' on audio CD and so far its very interesting!