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I was reading Rupert's website earlier, for the first time in an age. www.pollydeluxe.com.
Well, one of my senior colleagues said she wouldn't have shown that to anyone if it were her son. Hmph.
I said "So this is the Equal Opportunities Council I'm working with, eh?" Ah. She blenched and apologised.
Anyway, books (sorry had to get that off chest, onto keyboard and therefore came out on screen): am currently re-reading 'Tail-End Charlies' about World War II bombers and their crew. Research but still a good read.
Finished it! Definitely took less than a day, probably less than an hour.
Here's a little gem culled from page 99:
"We turned around and found Joey, looking as lickable as ever in a tight gray tank top and jeans that managed to show off every attribute of his exquisite manhood."
I don't think it's meant to be funny or rude. By the way, a tank top is a sleeveless vest - the sort of thing you'd wear in hot weather, not one of those woolly things your granny knitted back in the seventies.
gave up at shaman's crossing. odd. didnt quite like the style. and for a fantasy book, it was a bit too modern for my liking. i like my fantasy books to have a very simple, old historical setting. no guns, just swords and archery :P.
now RE-reading the belgariad series by david eddings. i think its about the 6th time ive read it.
I've just finished an Ambrose Bierce collection on Audio, and am now listening to "Heavy Water and other stories" by Martin Amis. Reading wise, i'm a fair way through "Letting go" by my favourite author, Philip Roth.
I listen to a lot of Audio books because I travel about quite a bit in my job so it's an excellent use of the time.
Yeah, Rich, I wish. Anyway, I'm staggering on with nothing quite purposeful at the moment. Re-trying White Teeth again as put it down in the middle of some former family crisis and regretted it. What a pain to feel I'm catching up with something I've done before.
Tail-End Charlies can't recommend enough even after second read. If you're into what people did so that we can live now, that is.
A Dangerous Man by Anne Brooke (if its not on Amazon, Annes on Writers News links page).
I always knew Anne could write, and this was very, very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was in a different league from two other books of hers that Ive read. Its as if shes found her voice (I hate that expression, too).
It was taut, edgy, gripping, exciting, a page turner, and I read it slowly because I didnt want to finish it. It was powerful and passionate, and I wished Id written it myself. (Apologies if any of thats tautology. Also, when I say I wish Id written it myself, it doesnt mean its up with The Grapes of Wrath. It means its the sort of thing I aspire to on an extremely good day! And I know the topic is What Are You Reading Now, and I've finished the book.)
The cover was very good, too. The ending was the only thing where I felt let down.
If you like languages and numbers and understanding how our minds work, then this is for you. The author has Savant Syndrome, a rare form of Aspergers (think Rain Man). A thought-provoking read.
Jay, my OH has read that, he reckons it's brilliant.
Me, I'm halfway through 'Oracle Bones' by Peter Hessler, the second book by the writer who went to Sichuan as part of the Peace Corps to teach English for two years and made a point of learning Chinese (had to get to grips with Mandarin and Sichuanese, which is apparently Mandarin reversed). He now lives and works as a writer in Beijing (jealous? me?). It gives a good insight into what life is like in modern China and how people think.
After running out of Mark Billingham books (I wish he'd write faster!) and Mark himself recommending I try Ian Rankin if I liked his books, I've bought the lot (some off Trade Me, our version of Ebay) and am working my way through them. I'm on Watchman now, the fifth I've read, and I'm really enjoying them.
I'm also reading a great book called Hidden Kitchens by the Kitchen Sisters, two American radio presenters. It delves into kitchens everywhere, from the racing pits of NASCAR to midnight cab-yard kitchens. Lots of photos and I am just reading the part about the popularity of the George Foreman grill with those who live in studio apartments without kitchens. Mind you, it was a little odd to read George has five boys, all called George, as he wanted them to know who their father was... right!
Just started reading 'Paper Houses' by Michele Roberts, her memoirs of the 70s and beyond. She's such a fantastic writer, I had to get it. I've actually been waiting for it for a couple of weeks, as I'd had it ordered at the local bookshop to do my bit in keeping them afloat, and I got it today. Brilliant. I love this writer.
Did someone reawaken this thread just to bring it to the top? It takes so long just to scroll to the bottom, there's no time left to actually read any books! But I am in fact reading Maeve Binchy's Whitethorn Woods. So many interwoven stories and characters, but so well done.
I know what you mean Viv, I have just completed a book and it was called "what are you reading now", although I did cheat and look at the last page first, cos it was a long book (war & peace length you know.)
But seriously I am reading the book of lost things at the moment by john connelly and really enjoying it. It is one of those books you can't put down, but when you have to it is easy to pick up, which I feel is important as writer, because who knows when inspiration is going to hit you.
Viv - are you using the thingy on the far right of your screen to move down with? It's a lot faster than the arrow symbol at the bottom of the (screen) page.
Done it again! Just started reading from the top of this thread not realising how old it was until I noticed Lixxy was expecting Forever Odd, by Dean Koontz, for Christmas. I love his writing style.
And Lixxy, is that the Kelley Armstrong who wrote Bitten? I wouln't normally pick up a book about werewolves but this one grabbed me by the throat and pulled me in.
I took "Rosemary & Thyme - And No Birds Sing" out of the library for easy reading at bedtime.
It reads as though the book was taken from the TV script, rather than the other way round.
On the front cover it gives the author's name as Brian Eastman, but inside it adds "with Rebecca Tope", so I don't know who is to blame for the several examples of amateurish phrasing and holes in the plot.
This is the funniest mistake:
"........ Laura entered the church. The familiar musty smell hit her, along with the rows of pews and softly-playing organ."
I'm currently reading CJ Cherryh's Merchanter's Luck, an SF story about the captain of a small ship trading between space stations. He's down on his luck, but then he meets a girl from one of the big trading families.... CJ Cherryh wrote several books set in the same universe, of which Downbelow Station and Cyteen are probably the most famous.
I like TP's recommendation. I may try that next.
Currently, it's 'WARTIME - Britain 1939-1945' by Juliet Gardiner. Fantastically well-researched and documented. She makes the whole thing so readable that you can pick up where you left off very easily. Many books on WWII are very dry, technical and hard to get into. She quotes from ordinary people living at the time, as well as looking at how people, children, areas, industries and so on were affected by the thing. The Bibliography is amazing.
It is filling in the gaps that my mum and nan (one now can't talk and is in a home, one is dead) couldn't tell me. But I remember my mum telling me all about her experience of the war, being evacuated, then nanny dragging her back to the East End and it all rings true and is confirmed in this book. I'll never forget my mum telling me about standing on the back step of their East London house and watching a doodle-bug approach. Then go silent. Then know that they'd been lucky this time, yet someone somewhere had met their maker.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - one of those fantasy types that Im not too keen on - it was a gift though so I might as well give it a whirl.
I corresponded with CJ Cherrhy for a while, charming person, entertaining letters. I don't think she is with us any more.
I've read The Book of Lost Things, which was superb, read Martin Cruz Smith's Rose, the research was unbelievable, and Victorian Wigan not a place to live and work in. Now have a Jeremy Dronfield on the go but am not sure about it.
Currently on Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down". Enjoying the 4 different vewpoints, although one of the 4 still isn't working for me. Also hoping for a little bit more depth of insight into the characters' mental states - at the moment it's still a bit flippant, although flippancy suits this point in the story.
At work today, after a long search, I think I've found the kind of book I like. It's by Will Eaves (who I think was/is Arts Ed of the TLS) and called "Nothing To Be Afraid Of". Thank God for that because, other than non-fiction, I was beginning to despair.
I've started reading The Third Secret, by Steve Berry, but it's really flat and boring. Before that, I had read The Rule of Four and The Fulcanelli Manuscript.They were both brilliant, so I suppose I was expecting the same standard with this one. Thank goodness I bought it from a charity shop.
Similar thread: Michael Tolliver Lives
Similar thread: Books youve just finished reading
Similar thread: What are you reading now?
See last thread for review of book.
Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin
Get past the awful UK cover and you will find a book full of compassion and nostalgia. Michael is still alive, despite being HIV positive; and is married now. But hes no longer called Mouse and the characters from the Tales of the City series are older.
Maupin writes tenderly of middle-aged love, although some of the references to sex may make you blush. Unlike Tales, this book is written in the first person, leaving you to wonder whether any of it is autobiographical.
Not as enchanting as Tales, and you may prefer to remember the characters as they were.
Heretic by Bernard Cornwell. I have become deeply involved in the Grail trilogy, despite the fact he has every last knight riding a destrier (too expensive, very unlikely, there weren't that many of them about) and ignoring the questions I keep asking - when the knight is killed on the battlefield, who employs the squire left behind ...
Next book, The Time Traveller's Wife. You lot convinced me, I got myself a copy, it arrived this morning.
Just finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Terrific story (whether fiction or non!) but at first I couldnt get into the style. I persisted and then got hooked and felt that it was probably the best style for the subject matter. I think the style has influenced the story Im currently writing as well.
Just started Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz the sequel to Stormbreaker which I read a while ago before the film came out. So far its good. I like to intersperse the light and the heavy when Im reading!
The chapter, The Queen of Outer Space, made me laugh aloud. Then there was the visit to the zoo. 'My grandma lit the fag. After she put me out, she lit the cigarette.' The old ones are the best.
Also "Bilico" by Paola Barbato (no, I don't know what it means, either).
It's started pretty grimly with a pathologist working on a man who died, basically, from the pain of someone pulling his teeth out. The pathologist sounds a bit weird, too, with puberty going awry (unless it's my Italian). Oh, she's female, I think. There's a bit on the back cover which leads me to think she might not be.
I've only got up to page 14. Not sure if I'll persevere to the end or if I'll pass out first.
Just finished "Not Forgotten" - can recommend if you would like to know something about the history of those memorials in virtually every single town across the UK after WW1 and 2. Cried at times for those young people who lost their lives so I can sit here idly typing today.
I am not really into politics, just people, and know that times change and they did what they felt they had to do. In fact, many were pushed and press-ganged into it below age.
Secondly, Bedside Stories (Confessions of a Junior Doctor) - wanted to know about a doctor's life for part of the book I'm writing. This is an hilarious book you can dip into at bedtime and go to sleep with the giggles.
Finally getting round to Margaret Attwood's The Blind Assassin and also to The Bookseller of Kabul, both of which I feel a bit embarrassed about reading so late in the day but colleague recommended the second and I've always meant to read both.
Have just finished 'The Meaning of Everything', about the OED, by Simon Winchester. Having read his 'The Surgeon of Crowthorne' about one of its contributors who was a mad American murderer and ex-soldier, I knew this one would be good, and it was - excellent, in fact. I want to go back to it, but the story finished.
Am also in the process of reading Stephen King's 'On Writing' - but in French this time. It's refreshing to read it again, and the challenge of reading it in French is good for me (though I've had to ask the OH a few times for sayings I've not heard of before).
Dividing my time between a book of Dickens' ghost stories, and Joanne Harris's "Jigs and Reels". Enjoying both, although I'm longing for a bit more edge to some of Ms. Harris's short stories.
I'm halfway through 'Gerald's Game' (Stephen King). I'm also reading 'The Fastest Way to Write Your Book' (Dave Haslett) and 'Wannabe a Writer?' (Jane Wenham-Jones).
'Until I Find You' - John Irving. Took a bit of getting into, as his sometimes do, but always worth it. Chesil Beach sitting in the shelf for next. From a very long to a very short.
Just read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne in one sitting. Almost had me in tears. Struggling to enjoy Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. Many people have told me it's great and when that happens I always end up thinking there's something wrong with me if I don't like it. Heather, I found John Irving's Until I Find You a slow starter too. Enjoyed it in the end, though not his best work in my humble opinion. A Widow for One Year and A Prayer For Owen Meany are amongst my favourite books ever EVER. Ever.
Soobdoo: you're not alone, I cannot STAND "Cider with Rosie" and was well and truly put off it when we did it as a class reader at school. One of my few published short stories has a whole subtext about why that book epitomises everything that's rotten in 20th-century literature...
Comments
Well, one of my senior colleagues said she wouldn't have shown that to anyone if it were her son. Hmph.
I said "So this is the Equal Opportunities Council I'm working with, eh?" Ah. She blenched and apologised.
Anyway, books (sorry had to get that off chest, onto keyboard and therefore came out on screen): am currently re-reading 'Tail-End Charlies' about World War II bombers and their crew. Research but still a good read.
Here's a little gem culled from page 99:
"We turned around and found Joey, looking as lickable as ever in a tight gray tank top and jeans that managed to show off every attribute of his exquisite manhood."
I don't think it's meant to be funny or rude. By the way, a tank top is a sleeveless vest - the sort of thing you'd wear in hot weather, not one of those woolly things your granny knitted back in the seventies.
And it was a pleasant read despite the mistakes.
now RE-reading the belgariad series by david eddings. i think its about the 6th time ive read it.
I listen to a lot of Audio books because I travel about quite a bit in my job so it's an excellent use of the time.
Rich
Tail-End Charlies can't recommend enough even after second read. If you're into what people did so that we can live now, that is.
Rich
I always knew Anne could write, and this was very, very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was in a different league from two other books of hers that Ive read. Its as if shes found her voice (I hate that expression, too).
It was taut, edgy, gripping, exciting, a page turner, and I read it slowly because I didnt want to finish it. It was powerful and passionate, and I wished Id written it myself. (Apologies if any of thats tautology. Also, when I say I wish Id written it myself, it doesnt mean its up with The Grapes of Wrath. It means its the sort of thing I aspire to on an extremely good day! And I know the topic is What Are You Reading Now, and I've finished the book.)
The cover was very good, too. The ending was the only thing where I felt let down.
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
If you like languages and numbers and understanding how our minds work, then this is for you. The author has Savant Syndrome, a rare form of Aspergers (think Rain Man). A thought-provoking read.
Me, I'm halfway through 'Oracle Bones' by Peter Hessler, the second book by the writer who went to Sichuan as part of the Peace Corps to teach English for two years and made a point of learning Chinese (had to get to grips with Mandarin and Sichuanese, which is apparently Mandarin reversed). He now lives and works as a writer in Beijing (jealous? me?). It gives a good insight into what life is like in modern China and how people think.
I'm also reading a great book called Hidden Kitchens by the Kitchen Sisters, two American radio presenters. It delves into kitchens everywhere, from the racing pits of NASCAR to midnight cab-yard kitchens. Lots of photos and I am just reading the part about the popularity of the George Foreman grill with those who live in studio apartments without kitchens. Mind you, it was a little odd to read George has five boys, all called George, as he wanted them to know who their father was... right!
I'd be more interested in reading something by him that wasn't as similar as his Dad's work. I await more of his output..
Rich
I'm reverting back to my childhood reading habits and fantasy novels, so I am just about to start Eragon.
Enjoying them both very much.
Richard
But seriously I am reading the book of lost things at the moment by john connelly and really enjoying it. It is one of those books you can't put down, but when you have to it is easy to pick up, which I feel is important as writer, because who knows when inspiration is going to hit you.
And Lixxy, is that the Kelley Armstrong who wrote Bitten? I wouln't normally pick up a book about werewolves but this one grabbed me by the throat and pulled me in.
It reads as though the book was taken from the TV script, rather than the other way round.
On the front cover it gives the author's name as Brian Eastman, but inside it adds "with Rebecca Tope", so I don't know who is to blame for the several examples of amateurish phrasing and holes in the plot.
This is the funniest mistake:
"........ Laura entered the church. The familiar musty smell hit her, along with the rows of pews and softly-playing organ."
I'm currently reading CJ Cherryh's Merchanter's Luck, an SF story about the captain of a small ship trading between space stations. He's down on his luck, but then he meets a girl from one of the big trading families.... CJ Cherryh wrote several books set in the same universe, of which Downbelow Station and Cyteen are probably the most famous.
Currently, it's 'WARTIME - Britain 1939-1945' by Juliet Gardiner. Fantastically well-researched and documented. She makes the whole thing so readable that you can pick up where you left off very easily. Many books on WWII are very dry, technical and hard to get into. She quotes from ordinary people living at the time, as well as looking at how people, children, areas, industries and so on were affected by the thing. The Bibliography is amazing.
It is filling in the gaps that my mum and nan (one now can't talk and is in a home, one is dead) couldn't tell me. But I remember my mum telling me all about her experience of the war, being evacuated, then nanny dragging her back to the East End and it all rings true and is confirmed in this book. I'll never forget my mum telling me about standing on the back step of their East London house and watching a doodle-bug approach. Then go silent. Then know that they'd been lucky this time, yet someone somewhere had met their maker.
I've read The Book of Lost Things, which was superb, read Martin Cruz Smith's Rose, the research was unbelievable, and Victorian Wigan not a place to live and work in. Now have a Jeremy Dronfield on the go but am not sure about it.
Similar thread: Books youve just finished reading
Similar thread: What are you reading now?
See last thread for review of book.
Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin
Get past the awful UK cover and you will find a book full of compassion and nostalgia. Michael is still alive, despite being HIV positive; and is married now. But hes no longer called Mouse and the characters from the Tales of the City series are older.
Maupin writes tenderly of middle-aged love, although some of the references to sex may make you blush. Unlike Tales, this book is written in the first person, leaving you to wonder whether any of it is autobiographical.
Not as enchanting as Tales, and you may prefer to remember the characters as they were.
28, Barbary Lane has gone.
There is no fifth destination.
Next book, The Time Traveller's Wife. You lot convinced me, I got myself a copy, it arrived this morning.
Just started Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz the sequel to Stormbreaker which I read a while ago before the film came out. So far its good. I like to intersperse the light and the heavy when Im reading!
The chapter, The Queen of Outer Space, made me laugh aloud. Then there was the visit to the zoo. 'My grandma lit the fag. After she put me out, she lit the cigarette.' The old ones are the best.
It's started pretty grimly with a pathologist working on a man who died, basically, from the pain of someone pulling his teeth out. The pathologist sounds a bit weird, too, with puberty going awry (unless it's my Italian). Oh, she's female, I think. There's a bit on the back cover which leads me to think she might not be.
I've only got up to page 14. Not sure if I'll persevere to the end or if I'll pass out first.
I am not really into politics, just people, and know that times change and they did what they felt they had to do. In fact, many were pushed and press-ganged into it below age.
Secondly, Bedside Stories (Confessions of a Junior Doctor) - wanted to know about a doctor's life for part of the book I'm writing. This is an hilarious book you can dip into at bedtime and go to sleep with the giggles.
Finally getting round to Margaret Attwood's The Blind Assassin and also to The Bookseller of Kabul, both of which I feel a bit embarrassed about reading so late in the day but colleague recommended the second and I've always meant to read both.
bilico = something to do with balance. Unbalanced???
Am also in the process of reading Stephen King's 'On Writing' - but in French this time. It's refreshing to read it again, and the challenge of reading it in French is good for me (though I've had to ask the OH a few times for sayings I've not heard of before).
This was a compulsory read during my school days and I hated it.
My daughter read it recently and raved about it so I thought I'd better give it a go.
Whilst I can see the language is good I'm still not that keen but I finished it.
Owen Meany is my equal first book ever, along with Of Mice and Men.