Books you are reading

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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Tenbury wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:06 am Just been sent Stephen Fry's 'Troy'. Read his other stuff on Greek myth a bit back, love it.
If, like me, your knowledge of the subject starts and ends with the odd Harryhousen movie, thoroughly recommended.
My eldest loved all of these and now she's just started a Classics degree at university!
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Billy Hunt
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Re: Books you are reading

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Finally got around to reading Andy Woodward's "A position of trust", his account of Barry Bennell - and boy what a tough read that was.

I knew Bennell pretty well when I was a kid, luckily I was one that got away, but so much of his account of things is familiar.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Julio Cortázar ~ Hopscotch

A confusing and adventurous 'anti-novel' that pitches the reader to and fro in a sea of characters, eventually coalescing into a sort of a story about an Argentinian writer's doomed search for communication and identity, first in Paris and later in Buenos Aires. Written in 1961, this was a landmark Spanish-language novel and highly experimental. At times, I was completely lost and disorientated but at others riveted. All in all, a brilliant book though.
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Percival Everett ~ I Am Not Sidney Poitier

A razor-sharp and at times hilarious satire on race and identity by the brilliant Percival Everett which I burned through in a day and a half. His novel, Erasure, is also excellent.
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Agustin Fernandez Mallo ~ The Things We've Seen

After reading his Nocilla trilogy earlier this year, I've spent the last 3 days racing through the 500 dazzling pages of The Things We've Seen (also nominally a trilogy, in its original Spanish at least ~ 'Trilogía de la Guerra’), a book billed as W.G.Sebald meets David Lynch in some of the press material. Mallo's writing is non-linear, weird, innovative and hugely detailed, melding prose, poetry, photography, philosphy and physics. I think he's the most exciting new writer I've discovered in years.
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I've been absolutuley rinsed at work over the last month as we were handing over a project to a very agressive client. All i've been doing is working and reading and have gotten through ...

Sharpe's Assassin - Bernard Cornwall. Apparently the last Sharpe book he will write and set in post Waterloo Paris. Not the best but still good quality Sharpe novel.

Primetime Properganda - Ben Shapiro. A study in left wing bias in US TV programmes. Whilst i dont doubt that this exists, and is clear to see in our modern, 'Woke' world...Happy Days as an analogy of the Vietnam War......easy Ben !!

1st and Last - Adolph Garland. Leading Lufftwaffe Officer / Pilot during WW2 pitches his opinions on where it all went wrong. If you have an interest in WW2 and/or Air Warfare....very good.

Bloody Sunday - Douglas Murray. Very succinct appraisal of the Saville Inquiery. Very good if you have an interest in the 'Troubles'.

1983 World on the brink - Mark Bowden. 80's cold war history. I enjoyed this a lot but probably have to have an interest otherwise ....

Left Out (Labour under Corbyn) - Pogrund & Maguire. Excellent insight into the Corby leadership and the Momentum v Blarite power struggle all overseen with the Great Leader in charge, or not as it would seem. Starmer doesn't come out of it too well!!

The Curltural Revolution - Frank Dikotter. Very good account of the power struggle at the heart of the CCP and a great illustration of the madness of crowds and how good people can be fooled into complying / believing anything with the right amount of nudging.

All worth a go if it pricks your interest.

Have one on Shackletons interesting journey and one on The battles of Coronel / Falklands 1914 left to go !!
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Magnus Mills ~ Tales Of Muffled Oars

I've read everything Mills has written since he first came to attention as the bus driver who got nominated for the Booker, with 'The Restraint Of Beasts'. This is the first of two recently self-published novellas, and it seems that he has fallen out of favour somewhat. It won't make many new fans and it's definitely not one of his more essential books, but nevertheless I really enjoyed it.
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by The Old Man of Storr »

Two new books arrived this week -

The Origin Of Language - Tracing The Evolution Of The Mother Tongue - Merritt Ruhlen

Monsters In The Movies : 100 Years Of Cinematic Nightmares - John Landis
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Re: Books you are reading

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The System by Ryan Gattis. Third of his I've read after Safe and All Involved, and this is the best of the lot. He writes brilliant novels about gang life in LA in the 90s, very powerful, hard-hitting, and redemptive.
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Re: Books you are reading

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https://thebookerprizes.com/and-the-winner-is-0

The long list has usually plenty of good reads
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Re: Books you are reading

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szola wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:51 pm https://thebookerprizes.com/and-the-winner-is-0

The long list has usually plenty of good reads
I had lost a bit of faith in the Booker after a few shortlisted and much-hyped disappointments (Richard Powers' The Overstory, Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad, even Bernadine Evaristo's joint-winning Girl Woman Other) but last year's winner, Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, was one of the best debut novels I've ever read and this years winner looks good too.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Vladimir Nabokov ~ Pnin

Another one of Nabokov's astonishing English-language novels. This is a short book which reads like a succession of short stories, about the mishaps of a Russian academic at an American university. It seems benign and comic in tone, but as always Nabokov is playing narrative tricks on the reader.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Claire-Louise Bennett ~ Pond

This is a brilliant collection of 20 short stories, all but one apparently told by the same female narrator, who lives an isolated and introspective life in rural Ireland. A very good debut book, and I will definitely look out for her first novel (Checkout 19) when that comes out in paperback.
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Re: Books you are reading

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As is my way sometimes I picked out two books to read -

A Brief History Of Seven Killings - Marlon James

The Fellowship Of The Ring - JRR Tolkien
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Re: Books you are reading

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Just got into Denzil Meyrick, police procedural books based in Scotland...first one read and pretty good, just started second.

Am a sucker for Scottish crime writers, Val McDermid, Stuart MacBride, Ian Rankin...

I use this to find authors...https://www.literature-map.com/ian+rankin
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Re: Books you are reading

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Alf Garnett's (Ex) Missus wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:02 am Just got into Denzil Meyrick, police procedural books based in Scotland...first one read and pretty good, just started second.

Am a sucker for Scottish crime writers, Val McDermid, Stuart MacBride, Ian Rankin...

I use this to find authors...https://www.literature-map.com/ian+rankin
I've got just one Val McDermid book in my collection , ' A Place Of Execution ' -


Have you read Peter May's Lewis Trilogy ?

The Chessmen - The Lewis Man - The Black House

I really enjoyed them .
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Alf Garnett's (Ex) Missus »

The Old Man of Storr wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:25 pm I've got just one Val McDermid book in my collection , ' A Place Of Execution ' -


Have you read Peter May's Lewis Trilogy ?

The Chessmen - The Lewis Man - The Black House

I really enjoyed them .
TOMOS yep read them....THE Val McDermid for me is The Mermaids SInging...a bit sick but a great read
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Re: Books you are reading

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Korea Hammer wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 5:27 pm I had lost a bit of faith in the Booker after a few shortlisted and much-hyped disappointments (Richard Powers' The Overstory, Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad, even Bernadine Evaristo's joint-winning Girl Woman Other) but last year's winner, Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, was one of the best debut novels I've ever read and this years winner looks good too.
Shuggie Bain was an absolute belter. First Booker winner I've read in a long time but 100% worth it.
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Re: Books you are reading

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The Old Man of Storr wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 10:47 am As is my way sometimes I picked out two books to read -

A Brief History Of Seven Killings - Marlon James

The Fellowship Of The Ring - JRR Tolkien
Could never get into the whole Tolkein world , I suppose you either do or you don't .
A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the best ( modern) books I have ever read.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Edith Wharton - The Age Of Innocence. You could almost call this a companion piece to Gatsby, as it is set in New York amongst the high society, albeit a slightly earlier time period. Not quite as dark but equally devastating.
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