[Archived] Holiday Reading

[American Rover12]

Hahah still reading 5 now, about 200 pages into it.

[Cheeky Sidders]

I've now finished A Storm Of Swords and I'm totally blown away. The saga just gets better, more absorbing and more labyrinthine. Absolute genius. I was going to wait a while before purchasing A Feast For Crows, but found myself unable to resist this morning.

[Flopsy]

I very much enjoyed Marcus Brigstock's Godcollar, Id really recommend the audiobook version.

As an aside, I joined audible and for about £8 a month I get any audiobook and big discounts off others. I really cant recommend it highly enough, especially as you can get most of the books unabridged.

[colin]

Back up to the top then..... at least for a while

Andy Kershaw's autobiography "No Off Switch"

You may remember him from having been on Radio 1 & Radio 2 & (indeed) Radio 3 and being banged up a few years ago for violating a "stay away from your wife" court order on the Isle Of Man.

It's a thoroughly entertaining read, if not only for his complete enthusiasm for music & travel, but for his complete enthusiasm for life in general.

He's from Rochdale, so it's OK, he's a Lancastrian.

[rebelmswar]

Finished "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk... laughed my ass off and was disturbed at the same time. If you have ever wanted a glimpse into the world of a sex addict who likes to pretend he is chocking in restaurants so someone will love him, have at it.

and "Stir of Echoes" by by Richard Matheson. I would feel rather more for the main character if he were not such a soppy tool. Good book though and didn't see the end coming, well I kind of did, but not quite like that. Oh, it also does not matter if you have seen the slightly rancid movie, as it is nothing like it. Much like the abortion of "I am Legend"

[colin]

One of you lot could have warned me that "A Game Of Thrones" needs a bloody wheelbarrow to get it home. 800 pages.....

[American Rover12]

Only a little ways into "The Black Banners" by Ali Soufan. Very interesting and informative stuff from a FBI interrogator pertaining to terror pre, during and post 9/11.

[rebelmswar]

One of you lot could have warned me that "A Game Of Thrones" needs a bloody wheelbarrow to get it home. 800 pages.....

Is that all of them or just the first?

[Alan75]

My holiday reading these days seems to be - B & Q and Wicks catalogues

[Cheeky Sidders]

One of you lot could have warned me that "A Game Of Thrones" needs a bloody wheelbarrow to get it home. 800 pages.....

Colin, I remember you were similarly startled with Ths Thing Of Darkness. Don't be put off by the numbers just get stuck in. Once you are past the prologue it flows beautifully. Absolute genius. Several of my family and friends are now engrossed by this saga and my 20 year old niece was genuinely upset today by developments in Book 3. Any book that gets anyone so involved has got to be worth reading. You will come to really care about some of the characters and will hate others... and then later on you'll question your judgement. It's a masterclass in point of view literature.

By the way, two of the younger members of my clan have declared this series to be better than Harry Potter and those bloody awful Twilight books and one of them now realises the difference in page turners aimed at kids and the grown up stuff.

[Rovermatt]

Agreed. About 150 pages into book 3. Stunning.

I've now finished A Storm Of Swords and I'm totally blown away. The saga just gets better, more absorbing and more labyrinthine. Absolute genius. I was going to wait a while before purchasing A Feast For Crows, but found myself unable to resist this morning.

Bought A Feast For Crows brand new off Amazon last week (£3.69). Haven't even finished book 3 yet.

[American Rover12]

Is that all of them or just the first?

If i remember correctly they get longer

Quick Wiki search (US hardcover)

1: 694

2: 768

3: 973

4: 753

5: 1040

Edited October 24, 2011 by American Rover12

[yeti-dog]

Finished "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk... laughed my ass off and was disturbed at the same time. If you have ever wanted a glimpse into the world of a sex addict who likes to pretend he is chocking in restaurants so someone will love him, have at it.

and "Stir of Echoes" by by Richard Matheson. I would feel rather more for the main character if he were not such a soppy tool. Good book though and didn't see the end coming, well I kind of did, but not quite like that. Oh, it also does not matter if you have seen the slightly rancid movie, as it is nothing like it. Much like the abortion of "I am Legend"

Ouch..sometimes you need to get off the fence rebelmswar

I actually liked both of those movies (Stir of Echoes & I am Legend )...I'll get my coat before you tear me a new one..

[rebelmswar]

Ouch..sometimes you need to get off the fence rebelmswar

I actually liked both of those movies (Stir of Echoes & I am Legend )...I'll get my coat before you tear me a new one..

Have you read "I am Legend?" if you had you would have probably leapt toward the screen like the Gremlins did at the end the classic that bears their name.

[BiggusLaddus]

Agreed. In isolation, with a different title, that film might have been just about alright. As it is, it completely missed the entire point of the book and replaced it with Will Smith and a hand grenade.

[yeti-dog]

Have you read "I am Legend?" if you had you would have probably leapt toward the screen like the Gremlins did at the end the classic that bears their name.

No, I've not read the Matheson novel so I better give it a go as I do like a bit of sci-fi.

Being a dog lover,the saddest part of the movie was when he lost his canine friend. The thought of being suddenly totally alone without even your canine pal for company I found very disturbing.

[rebelmswar]

Being a dog lover,the saddest part of the movie was when he lost his canine friend. The thought of being suddenly totally alone without even your canine pal for company I found very disturbing.

Don't read the book then.

Matheson did a fantastic job with that relationship, in my opinion.

The whole title is more understandable and more apt in my opinion in the book as opposed to the film. I had such hope for it until I heard who would star in it and then saw the poster. "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) staring the quite brilliant Vincent Price was a far, far, better movie adaptation, while still being grossly inaccurate to the book.

[Rovermatt]

Have you read "I am Legend?" if you had you would have probably leapt toward the screen like the Gremlins did at the end the classic that bears their name.

I Am Legend is a very fine novel.

Don't read the book then.

Matheson did a fantastic job with that relationship, in my opinion.

The whole title is more understandable and more apt in my opinion in the book as opposed to the film. I had such hope for it until I heard who would star in it and then saw the poster. "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) staring the quite brilliant Vincent Price was a far, far, better movie adaptation, while still being grossly inaccurate to the book.

I honestly don't understand how it can be so hard to make a decent film from brilliant but very straightforward source material.

[Flopsy]

Jonathan Wilson (of Inverting the Pyramid fame) has written a biography of Ol' Big 'Ead http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brian-Clough-Nobody-Thank-Biography/dp/1409123170/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1321457960&sr=8-3 supposed to be very very good

[Rovermatt]

Got to the 'Red Wedding' bit in A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold a few days back. I guessed the fate of one character but not the other... Crikey.

A tip for all those reading these ASOIAF books. Try and resist the urge to look up things online to clarify a plot point/to help with your understanding of a character. I've inadvertently learned of the demise of at least two characters doing this. :-(

Edited December 2, 2011 by Rovermatt

[Cheeky Sidders]

There are plenty more "crikey" moments to come. I really enjoyed Storm Of Swords as aside from being a well written yarn there's just so much going on.

I have finished Feast For Crows and to begin with the pace is far slower but then stuff starts to happen. Not started Dance With Dragons yet as I am taking a break and reading Vlad: the Last Confession by C.C.Humphreys. Very good and seemingly closely following real events. The impalement scenes really are as gruesome as you'd expect.

[Rovermatt]

Got to the 'Red Wedding' bit in A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold a few days back. I guessed the fate of one character but not the other... Crikey.

A tip for all those reading these ASOIAF books. Try and resist the urge to look up things online to clarify a plot point/to help with your understanding of a character. I've inadvertently learned of the demise of at least two characters doing this. :-(

Oh and I also learned who killed Jon Arryn early on though at my current point in the above mentioned title, that's becoming increasingly obvious.

[colin]

"At Home" by Bill Bryson.

I don't suppose that he is everyone's cup of tea but, to my mind, he's a wonderful, warm & friendly writer and brings all kind of interesting and wonderful things into a book. In this case its just about the evolution of the basic British house/home.

He flits here and there and brings in all manner of interesting facts from all over the place. For example: terrace houses used to be built with the joists parallel to the road, but these were fire hazards as the fires spread, so the joists were laid at 90 degrees to the road. It's that kind of detail that I love.

[American Rover12]

Had the pleasure of reading a book a friend of mine wrote and it has received amazing feedback and success. I think it is a very sweet, touching and funny story of a girl and the bond her and her eccentric father share. It's called "the reading promise" by Alice Ozma. Please let me know if anyone reads it, I'd love to hear what you thought and pass along some feedback.

[Mike Graham]

"At Home" by Bill Bryson.

I don't suppose that he is everyone's cup of tea but, to my mind, he's a wonderful, warm & friendly writer and brings all kind of interesting and wonderful things into a book. In this case its just about the evolution of the basic British house/home.

He flits here and there and brings in all manner of interesting facts from all over the place. For example: terrace houses used to be built with the joists parallel to the road, but these were fire hazards as the fires spread, so the joists were laid at 90 degrees to the road. It's that kind of detail that I love.

I finished that very book last night Colin. I enjoyed it immensely and far more than recent Bryson books which did not live up to his earlier promise.

Highly recommended.