'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel. A wonderful yarn by a great writer :thumbright:
Nope, not me :DOriginally Posted by chrig
Yeah, had seen the film and hadn't realised 'til halfway through the book that it was the same writer - quite similar themes if you think about it.
On that note I knew a 'Big D' at Uni in Glasgow, would be funny if you were the same one :D
I have just finished Mr Nice by Howard Marks. Quite an interesting read and an interesting bloke really. Not that I read many autobiographies as I find them largely annoying for some reason.
Read Flowers for Algernon prior to that and before that To Kill A Mockingbird - both as a nostalgic nod of the head to my old English teacher at school. Great books, even better now I can understand the world that biut better than I could at fourteen.
Flowers for Algernon is the only book that has ever brought tears to my eyes.
+1 for Mr Nice. Very well written, and very interesting!
I've just read Sex on the Beach by Sandy Flaps. :D
Damn, that could've cajolled me into a similar fantastic adventure but seeing as you aren't the same 'Bid D' I can't be arsed :D
I am now completely absorved by Theodore Millon's "Personality Disorders in Modern Life"
It's a relatively modern textbook of psychiatry, where, after explaining a plethora of psychical mechanisms undergoes a thorough dissection of the nowadays named personality disorders ( not to be confused with severe psychiatric illnesses ) such as narcisistic, sadictic, negativistic or borderline personalities.
Very interesting and with inmediate applications to daily life.
All of which can be found within the hallowed halls of TZ-UK. ;)
Having really enjoyed the Stieg Larsson trilogy, i'm now hooked on Scandinavian thriller writers... try Jo Nesbo (The Snowman, the Leopard), and Camilla Ceder (Frozen Moment).
I forgot to add Sugar's Autobiography.
I really enjoyed it, found it very interesting and personally didnt find him too arrogant in the book.
Me too just finished the Larsson trilogy ... and I feel almost lost !!! ......... are these guys ( and gals :-) ) you mention above anywhere in the same league. Since getting a Kindle it has revolutionised my reading habits .... always got something on the go now ... and it even connects in a half assed way to the internet ... free !
Call of the Wild by Guy Grieve. Superb read !
I might be bold and say that the Jo Nesbo books are better than the Millenium series. The Snowman was the best book I read last year.
Currently Reading Keith Richards book ' life ' essential Reading if you want to learn about drugs.. Didn't know half of the ones he talks about taking existed !!
Yep, definitely in the same league. Great characters in the Nesbo books, and they run through all his titles so you feel as if it's an ongoing story, much like reading the Larsson trilogy. I've read Ceder's one and only book, and enjoyed it very much - there's a very distinctive style of writing and story structure all three writers share.Me too just finished the Larsson trilogy ... and I feel almost lost !!! ......... are these guys ( and gals :-) ) you mention above anywhere in the same league. Since getting a Kindle it has revolutionised my reading habits .... always got something on the go now ... and it even connects in a half assed way to the internet ... free !
I know what you mean about feeling lost once you'd finished the trilogy, knowing there are no more to come - I suffered withdrawal symptoms until I read the others!
Thanks Pinpull and Mark .. I have ordered the 1st 3 Nesbo books on Kindle .. it is just so easy .. you click the button and exactly 60 seconds later they are downloaded and ready to read ... So I will get the advantage from reading the series from ths start. Ceder's books not on Kindle yet so I will have to wait .. I am a long way from UK at present.. I've got a bunch of Alistair Reynolds to get through as well :-)Yep, definitely in the same league. Great characters in the Nesbo books, and they run through all his titles so you feel as if it's an ongoing story, much like reading the Larsson trilogy. I've read Ceder's one and only book, and enjoyed it very much - there's a very distinctive style of writing and story structure all three writers share.
I know what you mean about feeling lost once you'd finished the trilogy, knowing there are no more to come - I suffered withdrawal symptoms until I read the others!
Cheers ..........
Good for you - enjoy!
Never read Alistair Reynolds - must look out for his books. Ceder is very new, and only has the one book published at present.
My partner manages a small independant bookshop, and Mark Billingham, who's a local author (and strangely enough, a stand-up comedian), is a regular visitor for his book launches and talks - turns out he knows Jo Nesbo!
So... with that connection, we're off to Bath next month where they're both holding an informal presentation and talk! Be great to listen to, and meet him!
Cheers
Ricky
Why do they spend all their time eating open rye sandwiches and drinking coffee from a flask ?Me too just finished the Larsson trilogy ... and I feel almost lost !!!
Timeline by Michael Crichton, one of the few books i couldnt put down. I would regulary go to bed early to read it.
Paul
I've just finished reading "The Hacienda, how not to run a night club" by Peter Hook.
Bloody hell - how naive can anybody be, no wonder they never made any money.
And I'm half way through "Papa John" the autobiography of John Phillips out of The Mamas & The Papas. A great read. One of the very finest song writers.
Has anybody else tried Conn Iggulden.
Bit blood thirsty ?
But say goodbye to too weeks in the sun.
Tin
Cool .. :-) .... small world indeed .. Do post something on the meeting, i'd love to hear what he has to say .. It would be interesting to hear his views on why Scandinavian crime fiction writers have leapt into international recognition ... I have been reading predominantly Science Fiction/fantasy .. hence Alistair Reyolds .. but if you are not familar with the genre then maybe start with Peter F Hamilton's trilogies .. and Iain Banks is wonderful too ..Good for you - enjoy!
Never read Alistair Reynolds - must look out for his books. Ceder is very new, and only has the one book published at present.
My partner manages a small independant bookshop, and Mark Billingham, who's a local author (and strangely enough, a stand-up comedian), is a regular visitor for his book launches and talks - turns out he knows Jo Nesbo!
So... with that connection, we're off to Bath next month where they're both holding an informal presentation and talk! Be great to listen to, and meet him!
Cheers
Ricky
Cheers
Brian
Elmore Leonard does it for me - real good style, read one and see
Read Macbeth again this week, gets better every time 8)
Ryan
Yes, read quite a few of his, Bandits is one that comes to mind. Best writer of dialogue I've ever read.
Currently reading "A history of modern Britain" by Andrew Marr, his first book dealing with the last century, but covering the latter half of it. I read his second book first, which deals with the first half of the twentieth century to help make some sense of things.
I have some pretty good books on the way I've just ordered.
The Regeneration Trilogy: Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a Triumph - T.E. Lawrence
Sold to the Man with the Tin Leg - Philip Serrell
An Auctioneer's Lot - Philip Serrell
Vet on the Loose - Gillian Hick
Edit: I've also just ordered "The Mint" by T.E Lawrence which deals with the period following the first world war when he joined the RAF.
Just read "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins - excellent and engaging read. It's odd to think that many of the earliest astronaut cohorts are old men, or dead - it's akin to the Concorde thread - what one assumes are the harbingers of a more exciting future turn out to just be brief expeditionaries.
Just finished re-reading Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. I remember it as Catch-22-lite but i enjoyed it more this time, 15 years later. Very dark, fragmented, often funny and extremely bitter.
Meltdown, by Ben Elton. No matter what one thinks of the guy he's a cracking good story-teller.
This one deals with the credit crunch from the point of view of the traders who partly caused it. Very entertaining.
I just finished reading One Day by David Nicholls, linky
What a class read. Pacy, emotional with an ending of endings, not everyone's cuppa but it was for me.
Just a note to say thanks for the recommendation! I bought a John Buchan omnibus of Richard Hannay novels from Amazon for £7 (with all the above mentioned with the exception of "The Courts of the Morning") and thoroughly enjoyed reading it during a three day business trip to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. I was expecting the Thirty-Nine Steps to be good but I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of Buchan's other novels.
Regards
David
I just received some of my books I ordered, among them The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 1935 edition, fourth impression and The Mint, 1955 first edition, unabridged version. I'm really looking forward to reading these.
Just a note to say thanks for the recommendation! I bought a John Buchan omnibus of Richard Hannay novels from Amazon for £7 (with all the above mentioned with the exception of "The Courts of the Morning") and thoroughly enjoyed reading it during a three day business trip to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. I was expecting the Thirty-Nine Steps to be good but I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of Buchan's other novels.
Regards
Sounds good, I must get a copy. Just had a look on Amazon and they have a Wordsworth Classics omnibus version for £1.99. I also see they have it for the Kindle as well. I'll need to think about getting one of these. I can get Kindle books on my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S, but with only a 4" screen you do a lot of page turning. I have some free books on it just now.
David
Patrick Bishops Ground truth, a fitting sequel to his stunning 3 Para this is war. Bishop returns to Afghanistan with 3 Battalion ‘Gungy 3' he picks up where the battalion left off in 2006.
Bishop’s style of writing makes you feel as though you are one of the patrol. He tip toes with you through path ways strewn with IED’s. He give’s great coverage and background into the politics’ of a western coalition army’s in a Moslem country.
Bishops book reads like an Andy Macnab but this is not fiction. Truly wonderful, shocking and very sad. A must for anyone interested in this un winnable conflict.:(
Currently reading Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust which is appropriate given the current debate. What comes through how people are willing to turn a blind or benefit from the misfortune of others and how widespread in Europe it was.
Just finished Join Me by Danny Wallace. Found it just as enjoyable as Friends Reunited and Yes Man.
Just finished "Fade" by Kyle Mills, a cracking yarn in the Lee Childs form. I'm going to look out for motr of his output
Just finished, ' We Were Young and Carefree ' by Laurent Fignon who won the Tour de France twice in a row and narrowly missed out on a third title to the American Greg Lemond.. Very honest and sometimes moving account of the times and about the subsequent spread of epo in the peleton... It is a good read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the sport. I have also been reading ' Tomorrow We Ride ' by Jean Bobet but that has been a bit dull by comparision ... Very sad that The Professor (Fignon ), passed away last August aged only 50 to the Big C.. r.i.p. Laurent :)
Just finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Fascinating stuff about your subconcious, instincts and prejudices. Highly recommended
I love the Simon Sparrow series about a the adventures of a couple of soldiers in the legions, just finished the latest hope there's a new one soon.
Just finished the book True Grit (by Charles Portis), that both the John Wayne and recent Coen brothers film were based on. Absolutely excellent book and totally worth a read.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, A little gruesome but a nice twisted plot that although it was predictable was still nicely crafted into the story.
Reading My Life with the Leica by Walther Benser. Interesting and engagingly written - probably not my book of the year, but definitely a recommended read for any Leica enthusiasts.
Just finished 'The Battle for Spain' by Antony Beevor - tragic stuff - neighbours /relatives informing on / killing each other simply for holding the 'wrong' political convictions.
Interesting to see several esteemed authors/academics entered, supporting the republicans, only to experience the control exerted by Comintern/Moscow, for then later to support Franco !
Digesting Sebastian Faulks 'Human Traces' - at the moment.
Really enjoyed, in a peculiar way, 'Birdsong' and want to read it again at a later stage.
This guy certainly seems do substantial amount of research before writing !
I agree completely. I read this in college and I think a lot of it went over my head. I re-read it a couple of years ago and I was blown away - the blackest of black humour.
I also quite enjoyed his book 'Starter for Ten'; not great literature by any standards, but an enjoyable read with quite a few 'laugh out loud' moments and, for me at any rate, a lot of uncomfortable reminders of just how gauche and naive I was in university...
I'm currently reading Dumas's Three Musketeers for the first time; great fun and, if not as much of a page-turner as The Count of Monte Cristo, still a good read.
I just finished Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and while I thought it wasn't perfect, it was still one of the most impressive books I've read in years. Moving, funny and thought-provoking - so much so that, for about the third time in my life, I seriously considered writing to the author to thank him for having written something that meant so much to me. Thankfully, I got a grip on myself before putting pen to paper, but I would still recommend the book very, very highly.
"Bomber Boys, Fighting Back 1940 - 1945" by Patrick Bishop.
A fascinating read, and has made me realise why my Father was quite happy to talk about his 4 years as a POW but wouldn't talk about the period from joining up to being shot down in 1942
I'd like to get my hands on that !
Interesting comment - as my late dad was in the Royal Norwegian Navy based in UK during the war, and in the Murmansk convoys etc., and however much I asked, would never tell me anything :cry:
Wouldn't come with me to watch 'The Guns of Navarone', at the time one of my all time favourites.
When not revising at the moment I've started reading Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. It's very good so far.
Just finished reading this thread, by which time I could have read a good book...
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