The book thread

Used to be an avid reader of Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov, have read all their works several times. Brilliant and inventive Sci-Fi writers both. Clarks for cummunications satelites (wonder if his space lift will ever be built)? Asimov for robotics.

Cerbera wrote:

Reading Alan Clarke's diaries on the Kindle at the moment.

Damned fine read. The man made a lot of sense, back in the day when you didn't have to be just as PC as you do now. He also makes me cringe too though.

I do realise that being a fan of a (albeit deceased) right wing Tory on here may not go down well................


Might have to bring a food tester to the FM!!!

I've read the Clark diaries,classic stuff-"Janet Fookes vast arse!"

I'm into the habit of dipping in and out of books ATM.It's all this damned sport on telly which stops me from concentrating more on reading.Anyway,The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is on the go ATM,as are biographies of Jack Hobbs the cricketer,Ali and Oliver Bulleid,a great but controversial locomotive designer.Bit of mxed bag,really.

Who'd have thought all these freaks and weirdos are so cultured.

Greenskin wrote:

.......
I'm into the habit of dipping in and out of books ATM.It's all this damned sport on telly which stops me from concentrating more on reading.Anyway,The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is on the go ATM,..........

One of my daughters read that and then wondered why she needed to have read a book by someone so convinced there wasn't a god who actually wrote as though he was god.

Dougie wrote:

Who'd have thought all these freaks and weirdos are so cultured.

I think in some quarters all this reading would be seen as proof that we are indeed freaks and weirdos. Not to mention sad and lonely.

Being ex-military I find Anthony Beevor really "the man" for military history (Crete/Stalingrad/Berlin/Spanish Civil War). Robert Kershaw "War without Garlands" (Barbarossa) good one. I devour military history, and enjoy reading past experts on China etc only to see how far off the mark they were.

Len Deighton good for novels (usually military again) - not brainwashed honest!!

Merv Plummer

Ian M. Banks leaves me cold as does most sci. fi. however, Ian Banks, The Crow Road, The Wasp Factory are absolutely fascinating. Have just started Narrow Dog to Carcassonne (can't remember who by) my missus loved it and as we want to travel the French Canals in a boat it is interesting, but not brilliant.

Having loved Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother (brilliant characterisations and frequently laugh out loud funny), I started reading The Curious Incident, but I'm sorry to confess I've put it back on the shelf and started something else (Jo Nesbo's Headhunters, to be precise).

Not that there was anything specifically wrong with The Curious Incident - I could see it was very good, but it just wasn't grabbing me enough, and there was tastier fare on the to be read pile. When I turned 30, I decided not to carry on with any book I wasn't looking forward to getting on with: so many books, so little time

Your over thirty

Yes. Further over 30 than I care to remember

Iggy wrote:

Ian M. Banks leaves me cold as does most sci. fi. however, Ian Banks, The Crow Road, The Wasp Factory are absolutely fascinating. Have just started Narrow Dog to Carcassonne (can't remember who by) my missus loved it and as we want to travel the French Canals in a boat it is interesting, but not brilliant.

Which M. Banks have you tried, Iggy? I've read all his non-sci fi stuff too. Feel they've dropped off a little in recent times, while the sci fi has gotten stronger. Complicity is my fave.

I know he is currently unpopular, but Bill Oddie on birdwatching is both informative and amusing.

"The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart"



It is a great story. Nothing too complicated, but really enjoyable.

Jon Ronson's book The Psychopath Test is very good and covers loads of ground in a readable way, although I'd have liked some of the stories to go on a bit longer. I never knew David Shayler - the M15 bloke who leaked info to the papers and then ran away to France - later became a vociferous denier / conspiracy theorist of the 7 July attacks, and then later still pronounced himself the new messiah.

I'm now reading, and really enjoying, the Bernie Gunther novels by Philip Kerr. He writes like Raymond Chandler, very hard boiled, but his hero (who's a bit like Philip Marlowe in that you both like and dislike him) is variously a police officer and private detective in Nazi Germany. I picked up one of the later ones in the library on spec, and before I was halfway through I'd ordered all the rest.

I am reading "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris he of Hannibal Lecter fame. Stieg Larsson's trilogy is a favourite of mine along with all things Mcnab

Mock Cuncher wrote:

"The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart"



It is a great story. Nothing too complicated, but really enjoyable.

Not sure I did that much justice there, I did REALLY enjoy it and would HEARTILY recommend it.

I am now reading the Wisden Almanack

While doing my paid work today, I had a chance to read. So much time, indeed, that I finished my book, Thank You for the Days by Mark Radcliffe, which I'd borrowed off of Mr Symons of this parish, before lunchtime. A very pleasant read, with lots of anecdotes about music and radio (and Manchester City), and a number of laugh out loud bits.

I then had a long break to fill up, and the possibility of more reading once I'd returned to work, so I went to the library (I've always got my ticket on me, mercifully) and by strange twist of coincidence found a copy of Phill Jupitus' book Good Morning Nantwich. I'm now on page 98 and so far it's a very pleasant read, with lots of anecdotes about music and radio (but not Manchester City), and a number of laugh out loud bits.

While doing my last bit of paid work today, I got through a fair bit of an art book. One of the names new to me was a Renaissance geezer called Arcimboldo, who did portraits made up of appropriate items - flowers for a posh lady, vegetables for a gardener and so on.

His librarian seemed made for this thread:

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Grumpy wrote:

I am reading "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris he of Hannibal Lecter fame. Stieg Larsson's trilogy is a favourite of mine along with all things Mcnab

I feel pretty crap contributing to this erudite thread as my pleasure from reading (and I do every night in bed...sad act) is just for a good yarn, but the mention of Red Dragon struck a bell. I remember reading it yonks ago and thinking "what kind of an imagination does this guy have to write such graphic disturbing descriptive stuff".

The Flashman books by George Macdonald Fraser, read all 12 of them ...hilarious, might wait a few years then read them all again they were that good.

Bill Bryson - Made in America.

About the evolution of English language...

A bit of a slow read compared to the rest of his stuff I've thumbed through, but witty enough so far.

pepsipete wrote:

Last book I read was a Terry Pratchett who I find very amusing.

Terry has two new books coming out at the end of June.

The Long Earth and The World of Poo!

Am a massive Pratchett fan and have been forever, always make me smile and have revisited them often.

Also Read :
James Patterson, Mark Billingham, Lisa Gardner the list goes on but there is a defnite them, Pratchett aside. Don't get as much time to read now as i used to but still make a poin t of getting at least fifteen minutes in before i fall asleep at night!

Just started Bats, Pads and Cider by a chap called Charles Wood (Charlie, is that you?!). One could describe it as a whimsical meandering through the 2010 cricket season in Somerset...

A history of the Fitzwilliam family and their ultimate implosion, their home at Wentworth and the coal-mining industry.

Riveting stuff.

I've just started 'The Forgotten Highlander' by Alistair Urquhart.

He really hates 'the nips' so far. Reminds me of Tony Pasoti and Kagami. Didn't they send one or two emmissaries to try and get him to pouir money into our sinking ship? Laughable.

How does one pronounce 'Urquhart'? This might be one for Jock. I'm fairly certain it's not 'Urk-a-heart', but it bugs me that I can't recall the correct way.