Read Any Good Books Lately?

[msc 18,437]

1 minute ago, Toast said:

 

I have read a book that pulled that rug from under my feet, so don't be so sure.

 

There is a widely read short story in schools from the Victorian or Edwardian era I forget the name and author of (big help there) about a chap giving a ripping yarn at a kids party about his time in India. The story ends with him trapped in a cave as a tiger closed in. "How did you escape?" asked a child. "Oh I didn't", the guy goes, "the tiger mauled me to death". The twist being this revelation caused a big panic and the owners of the house banned the ghost from telling stories after that one.

[gcreptile 10,964]

So I've read Mary Trump's book on her family and how it created Donald. The juicy bits have all been leaked and there is not much really new information. 

But similar to the Jeffrey Epstein documentary on Netflix, it does a good job of giving a narrative to make sense of what's happening. Maybe the price tag for the book is a bit too high though.

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,684]

As recommended to me by another DL member, I'm enjoying We Need to Talk About Kevin at the moment. Nearly got to the pivotal denouement.

 

It features the 'worst villain in all of literature' and no I don't mean surly spree killer Kev. 

[Boudicca 702]

That's the best exegesis of that book ever, and you haven't even finished it. 

 

Kev is just a wee bit misguided. He almost certainly wouldn't be barred from here.

[time 8,592]

On 26/05/2020 at 13:12, time said:

I used to read voraciously but haven't read finished anything for ages. I've currently got 6 books that I've started with a further 15 in the queue. The latest was delivered last week, and the one before that the previous week, so the fact that I've stopped reading hasn't stopped me buying. This is the one I initially started struggling with. I just couldn't get into it, which given the subject shouldn't  have been a problem (and no, its not Benedryl Cummerbund that's putting me off).

Update on this, three months on -

 

Books read/completed still none.

Books previously started and progressed, one.

New books started, one.

Additional books bought, eight.

 

I need to get off the internet.

[runebomme 377]

not bad

 

 

 

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,684]

It's not a book, but it's longer than many - the liner notes for the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music boxset are keeping me infotained. Even Greil Marcus's essay is less irritating than his other writings.

 

[Bentrovato 1,085]

Given that I seem to have inherited the concentration of a gnat in the last couple of months I have started going through all the British Library Crime Classics series. Marvellous throwaway stuff. Did not realise that cocaine was such a huge problem in the 20s, 30s and 40s. I recommend Anthony Roll's Family Matters if you need to get rid of a spouse.  

[gcreptile 10,964]

So I finally finished Stephen King's The Stand. I wanted to do it during lockdown, although, as I know now, the actual plague only makes up about a 3rd of the book, and the rest is, well, post-apocalyptic good vs evil.

It's a good book. It has its King-isms, might just add lots of people here and there, fleshes them out too much, and so on, but it's entertaining, and actually easy to finish, which is not bad for a 1100+ pages novel.

 

There's apparently a new mini-series out, on the CBS streaming service, reviews are so-so - but that might be because the internet boys really don't like that Amber Heard is in it, you know, the one who has separated from Johnny Depp and accuses him of having beaten her. She might be making it up, or not. It seems a lot of the criticism comes from the Harold Lauders of this world.

[maryportfuncity 10,641]

Finally read this - awesome, haven't seen the movie of this book (something I'll put right over the Christmas break), though I've seen The Room

 

 

 

[time 8,592]

Still in book-buying mode, I've just ordered Edward Gorey's "The Gashlycrumb Tinies". How could I not?

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Enjoyed Ben Elton's Identity Crisis - he has a tendency to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut in some of his books, but this one stays believable and is amusingly written. Has a pop at both the Tory right and their connections to Russia on one side of the political spectrum and the excesses of gender politics on the other.

[Bibliogryphon 9,570]

Just finished Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch. This is the fourth book in the Rivers of London series. These are very light reads and breeze along really well but this is not a stand alone novel. You need to understand the cast of characters from the previous books and he is more interested in the bigger picture plot than the story he tells i this book. I got the impression that the ending was rushed to fit within a page count and so he could get to his big reveal. However I do need the next one now

[Toast 16,129]

9 minutes ago, Bibliogryphon said:

Just finished Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch. This is the fourth book in the Rivers of London series. These are very light reads and breeze along really well but this is not a stand alone novel. You need to understand the cast of characters from the previous books and he is more interested in the bigger picture plot than the story he tells i this book. I got the impression that the ending was rushed to fit within a page count and so he could get to his big reveal. However I do need the next one now

 

I picked up the latest one, False Value (hardback) in a charity shop the other day for £3.  It's a special limited edition with a glow-in-the-dark cover!

[Bibliogryphon 9,570]

6 hours ago, Toast said:

 

I picked up the latest one, False Value (hardback) in a charity shop the other day for £3.  It's a special limited edition with a glow-in-the-dark cover!

Nice. This one only cost me 50p

[Toast 16,129]

2 hours ago, Bibliogryphon said:

Nice. This one only cost me 50p

 

I can do better than that!  The only one I've skipped is Moon Over Soho which has never turned up in a charity shop at the same time as me.

Then somebody on a local Facebook page posted a picture of a boxful of books they had put outside their house for people to help themselves to, and guess what was on the top

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Read?  No.

But this one makes an excellent doorstop.

 

[gcreptile 10,964]

6 hours ago, Sir Cunto said:

Read?  No.

But this one makes an excellent doorstop.

 

Heh...

..I am kind of waiting though for a good 2-in-1 deal for his and Michele's book. 

[Bibliogryphon 9,570]

On 23/12/2020 at 00:50, Toast said:

 

I can do better than that!  The only one I've skipped is Moon Over Soho which has never turned up in a charity shop at the same time as me.

Then somebody on a local Facebook page posted a picture of a boxful of books they had put outside their house for people to help themselves to, and guess what was on the top

I got Foxglove Summer for Christmas

[j0neseur0 118]

My brother bought me this book about graveyards and tombs in a "I saw this and thought of you" way.

 

I thought I'd mention it here as I'm sure being a DL forum lurker and a Taphophile/Tombstone Tourist goes hand in hand for more people than just me. It's a nice easy read, some interesting anecdotes etc.

 

 

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Just finished 'Hunky Dory - Who Knew?' by Laurence Myers - former manager, accountant and financier supposedly at the heart of British music (and the odd film) for 20 years. Nowhere near as interesting as the blurb would have you believe, while he came into contact with a lot of famous musicians, he had no input into the creative side at all and his involvement was primarily drawing up contracts with record companies, about which we get quite a lot, not much of which is fascinating. There are brief anecdotes about David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull (sadly not involving novel uses for a Mars Bar) but he remained steadfastly in the background while most of the interesting stuff was happening. Not worth the £17 my brother paid for it to be my Christmas present.

[time 8,592]

I haven't read these, J Oliver Conroy read them so I didn't have to.

 

Apparently its quite a popular genre.

 

[gcreptile 10,964]

During my holidays I read the book "Chavs" by Guardian journalist and author Owen Jones. A feisty book that helped me actually crystallize my vague discomfort with how working people are often portrayed or caricaturized by supposedly left or center-left parties.

And before that, I had actually started to read "White Trash" by Nancy Isenberg, then took a break, and picked it back up after "Chavs". Same issues, different countries, different times. 

[time 8,592]

I think I need help. A little earlier, I sat down to email, and was startled by a thump as a package was posted through the letter box. A book. A book I don't remember ordering.

[Grim Up North 3,725]

31 minutes ago, time said:

I think I need help. A little earlier, I sat down to email, and was startled by a thump as a package was posted through the letter box. A book. A book I don't remember ordering.

 

Sounds like the start of a bestselling novel....