[Archived] Holiday Reading

[salothsar]

Well, as you do, you take a recommendation for a book from a fellow poster on a Blackburn Rovers' supporters web site, and you go and read it.

Fabulous book. Thanks Rovermatt.

Also belated thanks to Bryan for (I think) "The Butterfly & The Diving Bell."

Equally thought-provoking.

Keep 'em coming

Haven't read it myself but the wife has, said it was ok. It was passed to her by a friend who knows an Afghan lady. When asked about it she said it was realistic, except the happy bits.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is excellent so far. About a hermaphrodite, told in the first person. Story of his/her life and his/her family going back a few generations.

Also really liked Life of Pi.

Have read a couple of (I think the only 2 novels) Wally Lamb's. Very very good indead - one about a pair of twins and the other about an obese teenage girl.

And you can't beat a bit of Trollope.

[Rovermatt]

Well, as you do, you take a recommendation for a book from a fellow poster on a Blackburn Rovers' supporters web site, and you go and read it.

Fabulous book. Thanks Rovermatt.

It's a brilliant piece of literature. I haven't finished it yet. I've just read past the bit where Amir meets the Talib in John Lennon glasses. I thought I knew who he was and it was confirmed as soon as the book states that his 'beard was of a lighter colour than the other Talibs.'

[American]

Anyone with even a passing interest in baseball should read "Shoeless Joe" by WP Kinsella. This is the book that was made into the movie Field of Dreams. I consider that movie one of the top 50 films of all times, but it pales in comparison to the brilliance of the novel.

[Rovermatt]

Awesome film. I might just read the book.

[mjs]

If looking for something in the crime/thriller genre, I would recommend anything by Mo Hayder. The Treatment in particular is shocking but gripping stuff.

[Cheeky Sidders]

Valerio Massimo Manfredi's "The Last Legion" is a very good try (as are the rest of his books) combining Roman and British legends together.

Having taken what feels like a lifetime to read The Last Sodding Legion I can say without any doubt that it is a crock of sh1te from cover to cover. Great landscape descriptions, but that's it. The only redeeming thing is the (unintentionally) hilarious villain whose ineptitude in catching the main "characters" ( I use the term as loosely as possible) surpasses the lamentable efforts of Wily Coyote in apprehending Roadrunner. Absolutely bobbins.

[LeChuck]

Has anyone read any of Mark Steel's books? I'm very fond of his pieces in The Independent and he's always come across as an intelligent and witty person on television...but I'm generally not a fan of (semi-) autobiographical books, as these appear to be from reviews I've read. Any opinions would be welcomed greatly.

[Flopsy]

Having taken what feels like a lifetime to read The Last Sodding Legion I can say without any doubt that it is a crock of sh1te from cover to cover. Great landscape descriptions, but that's it. The only redeeming thing is the (unintentionally) hilarious villain whose ineptitude in catching the main "characters" ( I use the term as loosely as possible) surpasses the lamentable efforts of Wily Coyote in apprehending Roadrunner. Absolutely bobbins.

So you liked it then?

Sorry - I enjoyed it - each to their own I suppose.

Anyone else tried Cloud Atlas? Its rather good (Sidders honestly you will )

Le Chuck - I havent heard anything about the book - but I saw his live show earlier in teh year which was very good. What've you got to lose?

[FourLaneBlue]

If people like reading about adventure and extreme climates then an excellent writer to try is Fergus Fleming. All his books are superb. The best was probably 'Barrow's Boys', which follows the expeditions sent out by Sir John Barrow in the nineteenth century to try to explore Africa, Antarctica and the Arctic. Mostly the tales end in gruesome deaths but they are fascinating nonetheless.'Ninety Degrees North' tells the tale of the fight by many countries to plant their flag on the North Pole, a pursuit that lasted for centuries involving a host of nations and many thought it couldn't be done. Another very interesting read...includes lots of death, losing toes to frostbite and how people over a century ago put themselves in situations where they had to survive at temperatures of -50 and more...and that's without taking the windchill factor into account

Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero

by Ruy Castro is also recommended.

On the back cover is a quote from Pele - "Without Garrincha, I would never have been a three-time world champion"...and this tells the rags-to-riches tale of a boy who really did come from a dirt-poor village. Garrincha was seen as being so simple that when other players negotiated their contracts they used to say "Hey...who do you take me for? Garrincha?". The poverty he grew up in was, in a way, his making as his managled legs - one knee pointed inward, the other out - meant he could bamboozle opposing fullbacks.

The background was also his downfall as his later years were spent in alcoholism and fathering, it seems, countless kids and having the reputation of being hung like a donkey. Which makes the reader feel all the sorrier for the goat the country hick 'lost his virginity' to!!!

An excellent book about a great player who really did have a life so messed up that you couldn't make it up!

I'm currently reading 'The Sea' by John Banville, last year's Booker winner. It's excellent so far but as it is very small probably won't last for long.

Edited September 21, 2006 by FourLaneBlue

[FourLaneBlue]

Oh and I recently read 'No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency' by Alexander McCall Smith. A very pleasant and easy read following the trail of the only female private detective in Botswana.

Don't think I can be bothered reading all the sequels though, it wasn't that good!

[Hasta]

Having now read all four of Dan Browns books I have to say the Da Vinci code was my least favourite. In order they'd be Digital Fortress , Deception Point , Angels and Demons then Da Vinci code.

Out of interest I've been recomended to read Orson Scott Card's series The Tales of Alvin Maker. If anyone has read them could they tell me if they thought they were any good and if they were 'deep'. books (I can't do deep fiction, I like my reading to move at a fast pace.)

[Radagast]

Out of interest I've been recomended to read Orson Scott Card's series The Tales of Alvin Maker. If anyone has read them could they tell me if they thought they were any good and if they were 'deep'. books (I can't do deep fiction, I like my reading to move at a fast pace.)

I've read the first three. They move fairly quickly but are very oddly paced books. The first book has only six chapters but takes place over about ten years. Similarly around nine years are skipped in the space between two chapters in the third book.

The first book, Seventh Son, is something of an appetiser for the rest of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the second book, Red Prophet (there is a twenty page period towards the end that ranks highly among the best things I've ever read) and though the third was good. I've been thinking about going back to the series lately.

Anyway, intiligent but briskly written stories. Recommended.

[Rovermatt]

Anyone else read Noami Novik's Temeraire? It's a cracking story set during the Napoleonic wars, only battle is waged not only on land and sea, but in the air. On dragons.

It's one of a trilogy and Peter Jackson just bought the film rights. Nice.

Edited October 13, 2006 by Rovermatt

[Flopsy]

Im reading the God Delusion br Richard Dawkin, rather good for a cynical athiest like myself

[FourLaneBlue]

I'm reading 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation ' by Lynne Truss, which is wonderful for all us sticklers and pedants!

Recently read 'Dude, Where's my Country?' by Michael Moore - interesting but miserable...the guy likes to whinge and while I often agree with him it is difficult to look past his often shoddy research and utter bias. Still funny in parts though and that is after all the most important thing.

Can also recommend 'The Good Life' by Dorian Amos which relates how a couple from Cornwall upearthed themselves to the Yukon Territory in Northern Canada in an attempt to leave behind modern life. Stirring stuff!

Edited October 12, 2006 by FourLaneBlue

[Cheshireblue]

I'm currently reading "Pitch Invasion" by Barbara Smit. It is the story of Adidas and Puma and how big money was introduced into sport by the warring Dassler brothers. If you are interested in Sport, Economics or history, it is very engrossing.

[Hasta]

The first book, Seventh Son, is something of an appetiser for the rest of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the second book, Red Prophet (there is a twenty page period towards the end that ranks highly among the best things I've ever read) and though the third was good. I've been thinking about going back to the series lately.

I've just finished the first book now and see what you mean. Its well written, interesting and sets the characters out quite well. However at the end of the book you do get a feeling of 'is that it, nothing really happened'.

I've got books 2 and 3 so I'll get stuck into them now.

[FourLaneBlue]

Recently read 'The spy who came in from the cold' by John le Carre. The best spy story of them all? Maybe.

[Radagast]

I've just finished the first book now and see what you mean. Its well written, interesting and sets the characters out quite well. However at the end of the book you do get a feeling of 'is that it, nothing really happened'.

I've got books 2 and 3 so I'll get stuck into them now.

Exactly, in a way it feels like 'The Gunslinger' of the series (if you've read any Dark Tower). The second book tells a much better overall story and there is some very clever retconning of events in the first book.

--

I just finished reading Fight Club. Pleasantly nasty misanthropy, the only problem is I read it in a few days and now I'm out of reading material.

[Ste B]

I just finished reading Fight Club. Pleasantly nasty misanthropy, the only problem is I read it in a few days and now I'm out of reading material.

Get Survivor or Invisible Monsters from the same author then. Similar style, but imho better, but prob because I read the book of Fight Club after the film. Survivor was supposed to be turned into a film, with Trent Reznor involved, but because of 911 it was shelved.

[Al]

I enjoy anything by Wilbur Smith. Usually very thick books that keepyou entertained for a long time.

Most of them are about the development of Africa through the eyes of two families. They are well written and historically factual in terms of the politics and warring factions.

The stories are interesting and descriptive but maybe a little bloodthirsty in places.

[colin]

Just finished Sebastian Faulkes' "Birdsong"

Possibly not everyones cup of tea, but worth a punt if you're buzzing around the library with not much else on your mind.

Or if you haven't the faintest idea about the mass slaughter of WW1

[Flopsy]

Ben Elton's latest offering is nowhere near as bad as you'ld expect - it paints a really vivid picture of the insanity and carnage of the Trenches.

Im reading "Life and other near death experiences" by Mill Millington, its making me laugh if that helps

[FourLaneBlue]

As Colin mentioned 'One hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on another thread I will recommend it on here. An awesome book by one of the greatest writers in the world. It is in a genre described as 'magical realism' and is a pleasure to read.

[Rovermatt]

I just read Richard Matheson's classic, indeed seminal, sci-fi novel I Am Legend. It is absolutely incredible and with only 160 pages, it's over in no time at all.

I've now moved onto The Good German by Joseph Kanon. It's very good if a little hard going.

Edited April 4, 2007 by Rovermatt