Read Any Good Books Lately?

[Toast 16,150]

Checked, apparently both are North American in origin, with "stupid mistake" coming some while before "erection". This is one definition.

 

Love how that link thoughtfully supplies a list of rhymes for 'boner'. And good to see that 'moaner' is one of them.

[En Passant 3,743]

 

Checked, apparently both are North American in origin, with "stupid mistake" coming some while before "erection". This is one definition.

 

Love how that link thoughtfully supplies a list of rhymes for 'boner'. And good to see that 'moaner' is one of them.

 

heh, if i hadn't already used up my poetic licence for probably the next 2 months, I'd have a play with that .....

[Bibliogryphon 9,588]

Currently reading Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch, the second book in his Rivers of London series.

 

It involves the deaths of Jazz musicians - so all good then.

[Lard Bazaar 3,800]

[maryportfuncity 10,655]

Coffee table tome for the discerning deathlister - expensive collection of fatal road crash photos of the rich and famous. Someone could lose their head over this, oh wait; that's Jayne Mansfield on the cover.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Drive-There-Are-Accidents/dp/0993072127?ie=UTF8&keywords=death%20drive%20stephen%20bayley&qid=1459099649&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

[Toast 16,150]

Coffee table tome for the discerning deathlister - expensive collection of fatal road crash photos of the rich and famous. Someone could lose their head over this, oh wait; that's Jayne Mansfield on the cover.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Drive-There-Are-Accidents/dp/0993072127?ie=UTF8&keywords=death%20drive%20stephen%20bayley&qid=1459099649&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

 

Is that our "Bibliophile" who's left the review, I wonder.

[maryportfuncity 10,655]

Just ordered this obvious masterpiece - once I've finished Olivia Laing's The Lonely City (okay, but not gonna change lives IMHO) I'll let you know

 

[maryportfuncity 10,655]

Just ordered this obvious masterpiece - once I've finished Olivia Laing's The Lonely City (okay, but not gonna change lives IMHO) I'll let you know

 

 

 

Oh aye and from the same publisher...

 

 

[msc 18,479]

 

I've never heard of her and don't intend to google her.

 

Not that anyone else cares about her beyond getting the deadpool points....but as someone who had heard of her before she got ill (see above), I can recommend her books. IMO there is a strong Doris Lessing influence to her work, although Diski might not agree with this assessment.

 

Not a stranger to taxing mental states herself, Diski writes very eloquently about madness and, as well as some of her more recent tweets, Rainforest (1990, available here for just 1p + P&P) is an excellent example of a descent into insanity...

 

 

After DDT's recommendation, I picked up a copy of Rainforest cheaply second hand. Our Jenny has a nice way with words, and the book flows along quite well. It is a bit obsessed with sex, and focuses on mental breakdown, and mother figure issues (who'd have guessed), and daddy issues (dear god, in one daydream the main character has in her rainforest, distinctly graphic daddy issues!).

 

Recommended to folk who like gripping descents into the maelstrom of the mind, or, alternatively, books with scenes of student/teacher adultery.

 

Decided not to follow this up in Diski's actual thread, as that's more with her tweets and the whole dying thing.

 

 

There's also, probably, something savagely satirical about how the mum is seen as The Other due to mental instability, and yet at the end of the book, she is the sanest character left! Or something.

 

 

[gcreptile 10,979]

I finally finished Moby Dick after 2 months of reading a couple of pages during each subway ride to and from work. It was beautifully written, but there was a bit too much filler about the biology of whales, the history of whale hunting, how to extract oil out of a whale, and so on... In the end, the book wasn't quite what I expected, because the meat of the story is not that much.

 

Now I'm rushing through Robinson Crusoe. I thought it was fitting to read another maritime classic.

[Tempus Fugit 214]

I finally finished Moby Dick after 2 months of reading a couple of pages during each subway ride to and from work. It was beautifully written, but there was a bit too much filler about the biology of whales, the history of whale hunting, how to extract oil out of a whale, and so on... In the end, the book wasn't quite what I expected, because the meat of the story is not that much.

 

Now I'm rushing through Robinson Crusoe. I thought it was fitting to read another maritime classic.

If you want a real classic, try; The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding.

[maryportfuncity 10,655]

 

Just ordered this obvious masterpiece - once I've finished Olivia Laing's The Lonely City (okay, but not gonna change lives IMHO) I'll let you know

 

 

 

Oh aye and from the same publisher...

 

 

 

 

 

Done reading Ass Goblins - bit too clever for its own good in places but surreal and sick at its dullest moments. Posted on the William Shatner thread about another book from the same publisher I've just bought.

[Lard Bazaar 3,800]

 

 

Just ordered this obvious masterpiece - once I've finished Olivia Laing's The Lonely City (okay, but not gonna change lives IMHO) I'll let you know

 

 

 

Oh aye and from the same publisher...

 

 

 

 

 

Done reading Ass Goblins - bit too clever for its own good in places but surreal and sick at its dullest moments. Posted on the William Shatner thread about another book from the same publisher I've just bought.

 

 

Mine must be haunted too, because it's old, dusty, hardly anyone ever goes in there but when they do they shit themselves.

[gcreptile 10,979]

 

I finally finished Moby Dick after 2 months of reading a couple of pages during each subway ride to and from work. It was beautifully written, but there was a bit too much filler about the biology of whales, the history of whale hunting, how to extract oil out of a whale, and so on... In the end, the book wasn't quite what I expected, because the meat of the story is not that much.

 

Now I'm rushing through Robinson Crusoe. I thought it was fitting to read another maritime classic.

If you want a real classic, try; The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding.

 

Thanks, I might actually try it some day. As a non-native english speaker, my reading of english classics barely touches the surface. Shakespeare, yes, Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and Ernest Hemingway and the like, but not much beyond, as of now.

[gcreptile 10,979]

 

 

I finally finished Moby Dick after 2 months of reading a couple of pages during each subway ride to and from work. It was beautifully written, but there was a bit too much filler about the biology of whales, the history of whale hunting, how to extract oil out of a whale, and so on... In the end, the book wasn't quite what I expected, because the meat of the story is not that much.

 

Now I'm rushing through Robinson Crusoe. I thought it was fitting to read another maritime classic.

If you want a real classic, try; The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding.

 

Thanks, I might actually try it some day. As a non-native english speaker, my reading of english classics barely touches the surface. Shakespeare, yes, Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and Ernest Hemingway and the like, but not much beyond, as of now.

 

So I've found The History of Tom Jones at a flea market last week. Unfortunately, it's a german translation, not the original english. I hope it doesn't ruin the experience. I finished Robinson Crusoe fairly quickly. I really liked it, though it's maybe a bit too much on the "White man rules the earth" side. Next up was Pride and Prejucide. I'm surprised by how much I like it. Oh, Mr. Darcy! I wonder if it ends like that one episode of The Simpsons about Lisa's failed marriage because her husband cannot deal with her family. I'm on the final 50 pages.

[rockhopper penguin 2,265]

Have finally got round to reading Mr Nice prompted by the death of Mr H Marks formerly of this parish. It falls into the 'it's so implausible it must be true' category. However like any story told under the influence of narcotics it's best to just go with flow and enjoy it. It should make a good film...oh, it didn't.

[The Dead Cow 620]

I just finished reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar yesterday. It was a fascinating read, beautiful prose and plenty of discussion on suicide methods, which is good enough for me.

 

I've now gone back to slowly making my way through The Brothers Karamazov. I can't help but feel as if it would be a much quicker read if all the names weren't so farking hard to pronounce. Very enjoyable nonetheless.

 

Would love to read some Graham Greene though, could anyone suggest some Graham Greene?

[rockhopper penguin 2,265]

I just finished reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar yesterday. It was a fascinating read, beautiful prose and plenty of discussion on suicide methods, which is good enough for me.

 

I've now gone back to slowly making my way through The Brothers Karamazov. I can't help but feel as if it would be a much quicker read if all the names weren't so farking hard to pronounce. Very enjoyable nonetheless.

 

Would love to read some Graham Greene though, could anyone suggest some Graham Greene?

There's a good chunk of Karamazov which is pretty much a book in a book which you can skip without losing too much. On Greene, Our Man in Havana would be topical.

[Youwanticewiththat 611]

Brighton Rock TDC.

[Tempus Fugit 214]

[maryportfuncity 10,655]

Almost done with both volumes of Peter Guralnick's massive two volume biography of Elvis.

 

Easily the best bio out there and a treasure inasmuch as it presents a human being, albeit incresingly flawed as his life progresses. Got to early 1976 so sometime tomorrow when I'm reading it on the train he's gonna die.

[CarolAnn 926]

About finished with Another Day in the Death of America, which is a very dispassionate look at the statistic that an average of seven children die every day from gun violence in the United States. The author - who is a British journalist living in Chicago at the time - chose a day at random and chronicled the 10 documented gun violence victims from that day, all under the age of 18, regardless of their race, religion or socio-economic status. It's a very powerful book and a very even handed examination of US gun laws from an outside perspective with a clear understanding toward why they are as they are. It is also clear about the price the US pays, and how it chooses to pay that price. Highly recommended regardless of which side of Second Amendment one is on.

 

Waiting in the wings are Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film and Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. I might re-read Duel of Eagles: The Mexican and US fight for the Alamo.

 

When this all gets too overwhelming and heavy I'm also working my way through the Discworld books for the eleventy-billionth time, this time in publication order, with the exception of Monstrous Regiment. I hated that one.

[rockhopper penguin 2,265]

Almost done with both volumes of Peter Guralnick's massive two volume biography of Elvis.

 

Easily the best bio out there and a treasure inasmuch as it presents a human being, albeit incresingly flawed as his life progresses. Got to early 1976 so sometime tomorrow when I'm reading it on the train he's gonna die.

Aw, I hate it when people give away the ending.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

The Secret History of Twin Peaks, by Mark Frost.  Read the whole thing in one sitting and am looking forward to strange dreams tonight.

[gcreptile 10,979]

The Martian, by Andy Weir, that book they made the movie with Matt Damon from. It's as interesting as I hoped.

Also: Why Nations Fail by Future Nobel Laureate Daren Acemoglu and James Robinson