Read Any Good Books Lately?

[maryportfuncity 10,642]

Two of the last three books I've read were called Fake History and they were by different authors (Otto English and Graeme Donald) - English's book is by far the more detailed and incisive. 

 

[En Passant 3,741]

17 hours ago, maryportfuncity said:

English's book is by far the more detailed and incisive.

 

The other is a fake.

 

I'll get my coat.

[Death Impends 7,957]

On 26/04/2022 at 12:52, Death Impends said:

Not much a reader but mostly inbetween jobs atm so using it to catch up on some stuff on my shelves. Got through Alex Trebek's autobiography, which was more or less a string of two-three page anecdotes and a good mix of amusing and sweet stories. Very poignant near the end when he talked about his looming death. Also really funny seeing the occasional curse word given how polished he was on TV

 

Will have to get to Ronnie Spector's next of course, which I see has a final edition released in a week's time.

 

As promised, have gotten and completed Ronnie Spector's memoirs. Obviously, lots of difficult bits that made a few tough nights, despite knowing and bracing for it. It was really a bloody miracle she survived both Phil Spector and the addictions she developed during those years - she nearly "did a Jack Cassidy" once, for instance, on top of two other near-death incidents. But the end story of a loving, healed wife and mother was of course fulfilling, and it was very powerful that she didn't think much either way when Phil Spector died and cared far more that it was her 38th wedding anniversary that day!

 

But yes, well worth the read, and lots of good funny bits. One of my favorites? Reporting on what her 60s contemporaries were like backstage, she related that when Dusty Springfield got frustrated, Dusty threw so many plates at her (Dusty's, not Ronnie's) door that she even had to ask her valet for more!

 

On 16/03/2022 at 11:18, maryportfuncity said:

 

Incidentally DI, re your avatar - there's a fair bit about John Lennon's thwarted attempts to shag her in One, Two, Three, Four...at which point I'll quit banging on about the book.

 

Can confirm that we get this from her POV in her book. She also shagged Bowie in the 70s!

[maryportfuncity 10,642]

Finished this today and loved it - true story of a brief attempt to create a means of gathering predictions about the future led by a psychiatrist and an Evening Standard/ITN journalist both of whom had an eye for the main chance in terms of career advancement and fame - their story (especially the story of the doctor) is way more interesting than much of the premonition stuff. Also packs a mighty twist at the end (though that twist was the one thing I knew well before starting to read it)

 

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Just finished 'How to be Both' by Ali Smith. Not a good book.

 

Can't believe how this nonsense won several prizes in 2015, unless they wanted to tick a box or two and a couple of stories about lesbians fitted the virtue-signalling criteria. Actually, 'stories' is putting it a bit strongly. The two stories are tenuously connected (one concerns a 16yo girl who spends much time looking at a painting done by the subject of the other story several hundred years previously). The two tales can apparently be read either way round, I read the 21st century one first and it worked OK that way.
The first story (a 21st century girl grieving for her recently departed mother) is remarkably uneventful, a schoolfriend comes round and they have a series of conversations that might conceivably be had by pretentious drama students but certainly not by 99% of 16 year old girls in the UK. The schoolfriend makes a couple of passes at her, to which she doesn't respond. The second story involves a girl dressing up as a man to pursue a career as a painter, while having lots of lesbian sex whenever the opportunity arises - pausing only for a brief encounter with an infidel who she passes on the road, pausing only to administer a blow job (as you do) and goes on her way after 10 minutes. At least I think she does, these stories (particularly the second one) use such verbose and obscure prose that it's never 100% clear exactly what's going on. There are also a lot of very long and tedious descriptions of paintings. There is a lack of punctuation throughout, both stories are written in a stream of consciousness  style rather than in any structured format and the first  - and last - few pages  of the second story are not laid out conventionally on the page but in the shape of forked lightning. How achingly clever.
I'm not averse to a spot of literary pretension - I possess books of Wilde poetry, for example - but this farrago is just a step too far.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Leading the Cheers by Justin Cartwright

Continuing my series of random Costa prize winners purchased with a Christmas book token.

Enjoyed this. It's mildly comic with a lot of perceptive insights into the human condition. Centred around a Brit's school reunion in America (where he went to school for 2-3 years while growing up), not that much happens - and some of what does is rather far fetched -  but I enjoyed the ride nevertheless. Surprised it won prizes but it;s a massive improvement upon 'How ot be Both' (which I hated, see above).

Worth acquiring for your 'to read' pile, if not necessarily fast-tracking to the top of it.

[Toast 16,130]

Just finished reading "Sun Horse, Moon Horse" by Rosemary Sutcliff.  She was primarily a children's author, but this one was published when I was older and I only discovered it recently.

It's set in the Bronze Age and tells a story of why and how the Uffington White Horse was made.  This is in my part of the world.

Only 110 pages, a bittersweet tale told in simple but lyrical prose that conjures up the timeless sounds and scents of the Downs.  I loved it.

 

[Summer in Transylvania 2,173]

Just bought Rise of the School for Good and Evil, prequel to Soman Chainani's The School for Good and Evil Hexalogy and it is just as brilliant as the other six. Initially a retelling of the tale of Aladdin, another side that, until now, has yet to be explored, which turns into another story much more sinister, feeding off of the sparks conjured by the first part. A thrilling read. As with all prequels, the end is spoiled by the stories released beforehand, but it is still interesting to find out how such things came to be. 

 

Edit: Finished this a while ago. Brilliant, like the rest of Chainani's works. It has been set up to be followed by another prequel. 

[Grim Up North 3,725]

On 05/04/2022 at 22:26, DevonDeathTrip said:

Winter is Coming (2015) Garry Kasparov's eerily prescient warning about the dangers posed by Vladimir Putin.

 

Kasparov is opinionated at times and has been at loggerheads with Putin for years, but he's spot on in his analysis.  His writing skills are not quite as unparalleled as his chess genius, however he gets his points across well.  I've got another of his books, Deep Thinking - Machine Intelligence and Human Creativity which I'm saving for a rainy day.

 

Just like to say I've finished this book now - thanks DDT very insightful and quite an easy book to read considering the subject matter (it did take me a couple of months to read the 268 pages but I read it as a bedtime book). Very relevant today obviously despite the fact that Ukraine has been demoted from the front pages by the twin horrors of a couple of hot days and Lynn Truss being our next PM.

[Summer in Transylvania 2,173]

Finished Jennifer Bell's Wonderscape a few days ago, and have nearly finished its sequel, Legendarium. 

 

 

Both have been vastly enjoyable companions, even if I predicted the twist at the end of the second one.

[TQR 14,385]

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Middle England, by Jonathan Coe.

I had read the same author's the Rotters Club (featuring some of these characters) a few years ago, but had forgotten about doing so - even if the long descriptions of Birmingham and unlovely bits of the west midlands seemed vaguely familiar -  until there was an explicit mention of it towards the end. This is a guided tour of the events in the UK from 2010 - 2018 - Riots, Olympics, Referendum, Aftermath of Brexit etc. Unfortunately Coe's own political views and slender characterisation cloud the 'story,' such as it is. Everyone who voted leave is old, racist, bigoted etc while everyone under 50 is liberal, tolerant, voted Remain and (supposedly) sympathetic. Even as someone unsympathetic to Brexit I found this both preachy and lazy. The main female character, with whom we are presumably supposed to sympathize, is selfish and annoying  and the fact that she didn't go through with the final act of her planned one night stand/act of infidelity  with the handsome Frenchman didn't redeem her in my eyes at all. The pages where she , having given up on her 'safe' husband, decides to throw herself at the former again, only to be rebuffed by his explanation that he now has a wife and child, were the high point of the book. The privileged teenager with the rich family but ultra left wing views was so impossibly annoying I assume she is supposed to be funny, but isn't. The mid-fifty somethings are all dull and no surprise that I had forgotten all their doings and undoings from the previous book.
Dull and - for a professed comic novel - rarely funny. I have been on a run of Costa-winning novels. It's not as bad as Ali Smith's 'How to be both', which I hated, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell.

I have read quite a few of this type of book (often billed as psychological twisty thrillers but basically domestic dramas) as undemanding holiday reads. The sector is dominated by a bunch of middle aged female authors, many of them ex-journalists, most of whom rave about their competitors' work on each others' dustjackets. The central character is always a needy female with emotional baggage who falls for an apparently perfect man, who to no one's surprose turns out not to be. While this is fairly well-written, what was 'going on' was blindingly obvious from about a third of the way in, which took all the jeopardy out of it Recommended only if you haven't read many of these before.

[Toast 16,130]

1 hour ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell.

I have read quite a few of this type of book (often billed as psychological twisty thrillers but basically domestic dramas) as undemanding holiday reads. The sector is dominated by a bunch of middle aged female authors, many of them ex-journalists, most of whom rave about their competitors' work on each others' dustjackets. The central character is always a needy female with emotional baggage who falls for an apparently perfect man, who to no one's surprose turns out not to be. While this is fairly well-written, what was 'going on' was blindingly obvious from about a third of the way in, which took all the jeopardy out of it Recommended only if you haven't read many of these before.

 

Yes, these type of tales are usually all too predictable.  I think I've read too many books and there are no surprises left!

I'm still hoping to find someone as good as the late lamented Ruth Rendell - although even she lost some of her edge in her later novels. 

[gcreptile 10,964]

On 20/08/2022 at 13:39, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell.

I have read quite a few of this type of book (often billed as psychological twisty thrillers but basically domestic dramas) as undemanding holiday reads. The sector is dominated by a bunch of middle aged female authors, many of them ex-journalists, most of whom rave about their competitors' work on each others' dustjackets. The central character is always a needy female with emotional baggage who falls for an apparently perfect man, who to no one's surprose turns out not to be. While this is fairly well-written, what was 'going on' was blindingly obvious from about a third of the way in, which took all the jeopardy out of it Recommended only if you haven't read many of these before.

Hm.. are there any books where the man is actually a decent person but is instead driven to suicide or into a catastrophe by the needy woman - but we only can read that in between the lines - because it's written from her perspective?

[gcreptile 10,964]

Oh, and personally, I'm trying to battle through World War Z, the zombie book by Max Brooks, son of DeathList entry Mel Brooks.

Currently, I'm only managing to read in the evening, and when I'm extremely tired. Guess I'm not giving it a fair trial.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

Two years after everyone else, Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Big fan of house of games and like Osman generally, but have to say this would not have sold in its thousands if it didnt have his name on the front cover.. It's not dreadful and thee are a few nice turns of phrase, but the plot is weak and the book much longer than it needed to be. 

 

Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy by (producer/arranger) Tony Visconti, who worked with a lot of big names in the late 60s through to the 90s, most notably the two names in the title. Bolan is painted as a narcissist with less talent than his own estimation would suggest, The 'still living' (at the time of writing, 2007)' Bowie by contrast, benefits from having Visconti positioning himself further and further up his rectum as the book progresses (partly, I unkindly surmised, as he was still a potential source of income at that time and had been Visconti;s most lucrative client for much of his career). Bowie's character remains largely elusive. The book itself is interesting until the last few chapters but Visconti himself comes over as a bit of an arse, doing drink and drugs while condemning others who do likewise and being unfaithful to each of his wives- the second of whom was the angelic-voiced Mary Hopkin (a guilty pleasure of mine, despite being the late 60s equivalent of an X factor winner) and the third being May Pang (who made a career out of the fact that she lured John Lennon out of Yoko's bed into her own for a year or so in the 1970s), who Visconti marries having impregnated her following a drunken shag at a party. None of is wives' personalities are discussed either. Worth a read.

[time 8,594]

17 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Two years after everyone else, Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Big fan of house of games and like Osman generally, but have to say this would not have sold in its thousands if it didnt have his name on the front cover.. It's not dreadful and thee are a few nice turns of phrase, but the plot is weak and the book much longer than it needed to be. 

 

/edit

TTMC (as I believe its sometimes known) is still sitting on my bookshelf, at about 12th in line to be read. Osman is writing faster than I'm reading, currently (though that might change once winter arrives).

 

I've currently got 3 books on the go - one book of short stories (one more story to read), one diary, which I'm reading to correspond with the actual dates, so will finish next spring, and Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which is really three books in one volume. I've read book one, two more to go. I started reading that a few years ago but it hasn't grabbed me like others he's written. Maybe it's the translation? Who knows. 

 

 

[Book 3,551]

17 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Two years after everyone else, Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Big fan of house of games and like Osman generally, but have to say this would not have sold in its thousands if it didnt have his name on the front cover.. It's not dreadful and thee are a few nice turns of phrase, but the plot is weak and the book much longer than it needed to be.

 

I read this book almost exactly a year ago and actually found it quite enjoyable. A bit stereotypical, yes, but I didn't have too many expectations either. The book was light fare and kept me entertained while on vacation. At least I didn't remember it so badly that it stopped me from buying the second part (The man who died twice) last week...

[Toast 16,130]

19 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Two years after everyone else, Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Big fan of house of games and like Osman generally, but have to say this would not have sold in its thousands if it didnt have his name on the front cover.. It's not dreadful and thee are a few nice turns of phrase, but the plot is weak and the book much longer than it needed to be.

 

I read that and found it quite entertaining.  But I had no interest in reading a sequel.  These things usually suffer from diminishing returns.

[Handrejka 1,903]

On 17/09/2022 at 17:48, Toast said:

 

I read that and found it quite entertaining.  But I had no interest in reading a sequel.  These things usually suffer from diminishing returns.

Same for me. I might read the sequal one day, but not too bothered if I don 't.

 

I am  currently reading The Island of Extraordinary Captives by Simon Parkin about The Hutchinson Square Internment Camp.

I live quite literally found the corner from there so it's about time I read up on the history of somewhere which is almost on my doorstep.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

About 10-12 years after everyone else, The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by Mark Haddon. This won a lot of awards and there is now a stage version in London.As the literati amongst you no doubt know already, it's about a boy with an unspecified condition, but presumed to be autism or aspergers (although Haddon has denied the latter), who is the narrator. It may be that, having two close family members with mental health issues, I have used up my tolerance of 'abnormal' behaviour, particularly when it's carried out by a boy in a novel. There is some humour at the outset and you think you might be in for something along the lines of 'Young Sheldon' (as in Big Bang Theory spin off), but as events get more depressing my enjoyment waned accordingly. The rubicon was crossed about 3/4 of the way through when he detailed his favourite dream, in which 99.9% of the population dies, including his family, so he can inherit the house. I know the book won awards, mostly I suspect for promoting the autistic standpoint rather than any particular literary merit, but I read most books to be entertained and I confess I found him annoying.

 

Bonus review - several months ago I read The colour of Bee Larkham's murder. by Sarah Harris.  Unlike the abnormally behaved teenage boy investigating a murder (as in Haddon's book), this is about another afflicted (this time with faceblindness, not to mention autism and OCD) teenage boy, investigating a murder (!). Having read this before the Haddon book, I had not appreciated what a shameless rip off the Harris book is. This protagonist is even more annoying than Haddon's and the book is even duller. 

 

The Haddon is worth reading (once) if only to see what the fuss was about, don't bother with the Harris. 

[lilham 752]

I just picked up Jennette McCurdy's "I'm Glad My Mom Died."
Should be an interesting read for those curious about child actors, stage parents, and the tv network Nickelodeon (who, along with Disney, have an abysmal record for how their stars turn out).

[The Immortal 634]

Mike Mullane's Riding Rockets is a fantastic book to read if you are into spaceflight, gives a great insight especially of the Space Shuttle era and what it was like being an astronaut in that period of time.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

A Bride's Nightie by Tony Thorpe (formerly of the Rubettes). There is a lot about his time in the industry before fame hit (some of it interesting) and quite a lot about his post pop-star career (most of it less than fascinating). What there isn't is much about his time in what was a very successful singles band that had 9 hits over a couple  of years in the mid-70s. Given how litigious some of his former bandmates turned out to be, this may have been deliberate, but there are as many pages devoted to his comeback fronting the Firm (singing the novelty song 'Arfur Daley') as there are to his time  in the band - all rather like reading a Paul McCartney autobiography which glosses over the Beatles in one chapter only to spend another one wallowing in the pleasure that the Frog Chorus song brought him. A bonus point for writing it all himself rather than getting someone else to do it for him, but  a little disappointing on the whole.

 

Much the same applies to Dave Hill's 'So Here it is.' There's a lot of his philosophy on life and a lot of detail about his nice house in Solihull, but the Slade years chapters are full of platitudes for the most part, you get little feel for which of his bandmates he liked (or didn't), which is remarkable for a band that were together nearly 25 years (and then 2 of them carried on as Slade II for another 20). Presumably he didn't want to fall out with/get sued by any of them either.