Read Any Good Books Lately?

[Heef 171]

8 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

The Last Devil to Die - the 4th in Richard Osman's series about 4 nearly-80 year olds who go round solving murders that the police can't. Found the previous 3 a mixed bunch and wasn't entirely convinced that a 4th helping was the way to go, but I found this possibly the best to date. This is a bit darker than previous ones and the gear changes between light comedy and serious murders are a bit less clunky than previously.

 

No specific comment on Richard Osman as I've not read any of his books yet, but this growing trend of celebrities writing novels or books for children and using their profiles to achieve sales that writers can't hope to achieve without marketing support is quite annoying. I don't want to hear constant drones about what celebrity has managed to churn out a novel

 

8 hours ago, Toast said:

 

These are useful - can be used as a bookmark as well as a place to make notes. I bought a set as a gift for a friend who is in a book group.

Reader's Notes

 

Hmm. That's a decent idea. When I think of something of interest when reading, I'm rarely near paper and pen. Most of my reading is done on the daily commute when I'm on the train.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 797]

8 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

The Last Devil to Die - the 4th in Richard Osman's series about 4 nearly-80 year olds who go round solving murders that the police can't. Found the previous 3 a mixed bunch and wasn't entirely convinced that a 4th helping was the way to go, but I found this possibly the best to date. This is a bit darker than previous ones and the gear changes between light comedy and serious murders are a bit less clunky than previously.

 

You still need to suspend belief about a couple of central conceits (why don't the hardened criminals just shoot all the annoying geriatrics on initially encountering them rather than engaging with them, why are some of these supposedly masters of evil essentially comic characters rather than objects of fear, etc) but, once you've accepted this, if you enjoyed the first three there's no reason not to buy the 4th instalment (or have someone give it to you for a birthday present, as I did).

I haven't read the Thursday Murder Club series yet, but have heard (non-spoiler) good reviews about them. Additionally, I found Osman to be quite funny on Taskmaster and other UK panel shows so could imagine that showing in his writing. Gave the first book as a christmas present to my partner, I will probably read it sometime later this year.

[maryportfuncity 10,791]

On 21/12/2023 at 09:29, Spade_Cooley said:

 

 

Having been sat on my "to read" list for nearly a year, finally got around to cracking open "In Perfect Harmony - Singalong Pop in '70s Britain" and it's a very, very enjoyable read that I'm sure would appeal to a bunch of DLers. Some great stories and revelations from in there, everything from Middle of the Road drinking Motorhead under the table to Clive Dunn being an avowed socialist and The Foundations nearly scuppering their career by stealing microphones from every recording studio they visited and selling them on.

 

 

Thanks - may well have to get myself this. Middle of the Road were working class Scots one and all, not that surprising!

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,349]

On 09/01/2024 at 23:17, maryportfuncity said:

On 21/12/2023 at 09:29, Spade_Cooley said:

 

 

Having been sat on my "to read" list for nearly a year, finally got around to cracking open "In Perfect Harmony - Singalong Pop in '70s Britain" and it's a very, very enjoyable read that I'm sure would appeal to a bunch of DLers. Some great stories and revelations from in there, everything from Middle of the Road drinking Motorhead under the table to Clive Dunn being an avowed socialist and The Foundations nearly scuppering their career by stealing microphones from every recording studio they visited and selling them on.

 

 

Thanks for the recommendation. Just finished this and I agree it's a very good read for the most part, although the early chapters are stronger on the music and the latter ones are a bit heavy on the social history (bit too much winter of discontent and the like).  Leo Sayer was a strange choice to devote most of the chapter on disco to and a few of the band choices I had never heard of, despite growing up in the 70s and being something of an authoritative sad case on its pop music - I had no recollection of Design or Hector, for example.

Fwiw it was Rita Ray from Darts, not Middle of the Road, who drank Motorhead under the table.

Recommended, particularly for the older ones amongst us on here. 

[YoungWillz 21,696]

On 25/05/2020 at 15:43, Toast said:

 

I quite enjoy the Shardlake novels by CJ Sansom, Henry VIII period.  I've read four so far, but I need a long break in between them because they are far too long, padded out to the point where the story could be told in half the page count.  Good stories though, and the period detail is fascinating.

Maybe worth a re-visit now CJ Sansom has died?

 

Disney are apparently doing a Shardlake series based on the works.

[Bibliogryphon 9,757]

4 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Maybe worth a re-visit now CJ Sansom has died?

 

Disney are apparently doing a Shardlake series based on the works.

 

Arthur Hughes is playing the lead role who was brilliant at the RSC as Richard III a couple of years ago. Was notable as the first disabled actor to play Richard III

[GrumpyRabbit 57]

14 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Maybe worth a re-visit now CJ Sansom has died?

 

Disney are apparently doing a Shardlake series based on the works.

Available from 1st May.  Shame he didn’t get to see it broadcast.

[Toast 16,335]

2 hours ago, YoungWillz said:

Maybe worth a re-visit now CJ Sansom has died?

Disney are apparently doing a Shardlake series based on the works.

 

Never felt the desire to re-read any of them. I didn't read the last one, Tombland, as it was even more ridiculously long.  There has long been a rumour of another book in the series, called Ratcliff.

I have a sub to Disney+ which comes with upgrading my Lloyds current account, so I'll be watching.

 

2 hours ago, Bibliogryphon said:

Arthur Hughes is playing the lead role who was brilliant at the RSC as Richard III a couple of years ago. Was notable as the first disabled actor to play Richard III

 

I don't know him, but from the only photo I've seen he's nothing like my mental image of Shardlake.

Sean Bean is Thomas Cromwell, which is a bit of a spoiler as to how his storyline will end

[gcreptile 11,371]

Since Michael "Moneyball" Lewis got captured by Crypto faker Sam Bankman-Fried, I had to change my "favorite author" to "Shock Doctrine" writer Naomi Klein.

I am now reading her recent "Doppelganger" book and continue to be impressed by her, shall we say, flexible mind. Times aren't easy for a politically progressive person, and it seems kind of hard to make sense of it all. I think she makes a good effort (by not simply ignoring or condemning "the other side").

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,349]

Re-reading Great Expectations.

Whilst hardly primarily a comedy, there's a lot of humour in it. If you want a 'classic' that you've not read before, it's a fairly enjoyable read.

[ladyfiona 2,769]

15 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Re-reading Great Expectations.

Whilst hardly primarily a comedy, there's a lot of humour in it. If you want a 'classic' that you've not read before, it's a fairly enjoyable read.

 

I had to study this at school and it makes me want to kill myself (joke), because there's also new TV adaptations every couple of years. I need Miss Havisham out of my life.

[Heef 171]

On 31/12/2023 at 15:04, Heef said:

Only 12 books left before I've read every shortlisted Booker Prize nominee from 1969-2009.

 

83 shortlisted books left to read in total. Currently reading Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland.

 

 According to Goodreads, I have given the following books 5 stars:

 

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard

The Redundancy of Courage - Timothy Mo

Troubles - JG Farrell

English Passengers - Matthew Kneale

Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry

Disgrace - JM Coetzee

Beside the Ocean of Time - George Mackay Brown

The Life and Times of Michael K - JM Coetzee

The True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

Morality Play - Barry Unsworth

Good Behaviour - Molly Keane

Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth

A Month in the Country - JL Carr

Rates of Exchange - Malcolm Bradbury

The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan

His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrae Burnet

Confederates - Thomas Keneally

 

In hindsight, I might have also underrated Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson.

 

A year on, and I've not read all the nominees from 1969-2012 and read a total of 35 books in 2024. There's 54 in total left to read, but only 15 from 2013-17. Currently reading 4-3-2-1 by Paul Auster, which will take a while. It's fair to say that the Booker list changes significantly when the limitations to Commonwealth countries were removed. I still find it unnecessary to extend the remit when American books in particular are covered by a host of America-centric prizes. And the style of the selections changes significantly as a result. I suspect there's some really decent literature that would have made the list in the past which now remains unread because it no longer makes the shortlist.

 

Not many 5-star books over the past year, but the couple I did have were Cloud Atlas by the other David Mitchell and The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Jamrach's Menagerie and Half Blood Blues were also decent. Umbrella by Will Self was a contrast in that the use of language, the way the plot line shifted eras mid-sentence and the general awful pretentiousness of the style were somewhat offset by the story - based on the Oliver Sachs memoir of patients with Sleepy Sickness being brought out of their long-term stupor by L-DOPA. Snowdrops by Andrew Miller was the only book I gave 1-star this year, and that was mainly because it seemed like stereotyped Russian-set slop.

[maryportfuncity 10,791]

Currently on Bernie Taupin's autobiography - mentioned elsewhere when I commented on the Ringo Starr thread about Taupin spilling the beans on Starr's party-hard lifestyle before rehab. Wouldn't recommend this half as much as Elton's gloriously indiscreet and self-depreciating tome. I'm no big fan of their work but both books are quite revealing about insiderdom at the top of the celebrity tree and - against all expectations - it's Elton who comes out as the most self-aware and humble.