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Books enjoyed

Enter here to talk about books, art, literature, film, TV and anything else to do with popular culture.
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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#21 Post by animist » November 10th, 2012, 12:10 pm

Latest post of the previous page:

just read Alexander McCall Smith's "The Sunday Philosophy Club". Basically it is thriller mystery, but the hero is a female amateur sleuth and moral philosopher (reminded me of someone here). Also, if you know and like Edinburgh, Sandy (as he likes to be known) provides a lot of local feel. And he introduces one of his own hobbies, the Really Terrible Orchestra, into the story.

Also, a couple by Robert Harris - "Fatherland" (an alternative universe where Germany won the war and the Holocaust was kept secret) and "The Fear Index" (again kind of SF, with a financial market background)

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Tetenterre
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Re: Books enjoyed

#22 Post by Tetenterre » November 10th, 2012, 5:01 pm

Christopher Logue's War Music. I found it to be an amazing experience; I could only read it in 20 minute sessions because it was so exhausting, in a good way: very, very intense. then itching to get back to it because it was so good to read. I really liked the way that he transforms Homer's allusions into modern ones.
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Ninny
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Re: Books enjoyed

#23 Post by Ninny » November 11th, 2012, 8:40 am

Jasper fforde, Shades of Grey, is a superb read. Darker than his previous stories, intricate and satisfying plot. Waiting with bated breath for sequel!

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#24 Post by Dave B » November 11th, 2012, 9:46 am

There are four, different, books on Amazon called "Shades of Grey" (apart from the infamous "Fifty . . .") Including one that is book 2 in a series, just to add the confusion when I looked at it just now!

Er, Mister Fforde's style is a little, er, distinctive - but I like that, might give it a go. Thanks Ninny :)
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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Ninny
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Re: Books enjoyed

#25 Post by Ninny » November 12th, 2012, 8:02 am

I believe Jff's second in his Shades of Grey series is pre-orderable, but not yet published.

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#26 Post by Dave B » January 21st, 2013, 4:20 pm

Ken, herewith my reply to your bit on books recommended:

If you have not read them already I can happily recommend Daniel Suarez's "Daemon" and "Freedom" (parts 1 & 2 of the story) you might be able to read them without keeping a computing dictionary handy! Also Gregg Bear's "Quantico" and "Mariposa" (parts 1& 2 again) - not sure if one would call them sci-fi, detective story, spy novel or, sort of , a meld of all three. Whatever, both those stories have some very clever ideas in them. I have read all of these twice now and am still finding detail or nuances I missed before.

I am also a Modesitt fan and found "Octagonal Raven" very good, a sort of detective story again - but he rarely writes anything not worth reading (though I was not inspired by the "Forever Hero" series after book one.) It always amazes me the different styles Modesitt can produce and I do wonder if it is not actually "Modeitts" sometimes! :D

In ebooks I am getting to like space operas a lot I admit but most of my favourites are not there at a price I want to pay yet. I will take a look at your recs when I have worked through the stuff I already have. I was sold on the Liaden Universe series but have all the full length books in paper. It annoys me when the authors or publishers use the ebooks as a way of padding their pockets - often with short side stories that are not always easy to place in the whole saga. In the Liaden case the last paper book may have put me off, it was basically an advert for the next books in the series, leaving three story threads unfinished and having no real plot of its own.

When an author (or authors in this case) have built up a healthy fan base they do not need serialisation and "tasters" to keep their fans. In fact this fan is usually put right off by such ploys.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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getreal
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Re: Books enjoyed

#27 Post by getreal » January 21st, 2013, 6:57 pm

Recently read Ian Rankine's new Rebus. I was a bit unsure that there would be more mileage in the now retired detective, but I was wrong!

He also very cleverly wove one of his new detectives (Malcom Fox) into the story. A very good read and I'm itching to know what will happen to Rebus now.


I am currently reading paul Trynka's biography of David Bowie. having read numerous biographys of the wonderful man, I have to say that this is absolutly the best.
i have to admit, I am on my 5th reading of it. Perhaps that is a little obsessive?
"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on his head"-Tyrion Lannister.

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Ken H
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Re: Books enjoyed

#28 Post by Ken H » January 21st, 2013, 9:34 pm

Thanks for the tips Dave, I'll have to check them out. I don't recognize many of the authors today, having been introduced to Sci-Fi in the 50's and then stopped reading it until recently. I read some of the old magazines where it was actually called "Scientifiction". One of my recent favorites is Philip K. Dick's Ubik. I like a lot of Dick's works, at least the ones that are approachable!

That's strange about the price of Wool in the UK (the book, not the fur :D ). I see that the UK "Trilogy" is actually longer than the US "Omnibus" (576 vs. 464 pages). Still, over priced, imho.
This is one of the great social functions of science - to free people of superstition. - Steven Weinberg

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#29 Post by Dave B » January 21st, 2013, 10:23 pm

I had the feeling that you were an "old" s-f reader from some of your suggestions. I started reading it at about age 7, so that was about 1951. I have a copy of one of the first novels I can remember reading, "Kemlo and the Star Men" (first pub 1955). I was surprised as to how "grown up" the English was and how many fairly adult concerns were included. It is definitely a book with moral overtones! But, a good story even now.

I do find a lot of the older books a bit "stuffy" now I have to admit. Asimov was always pretty good in his science - to be expected I suppose! I must read the Foundation trilogy again, IIRC Asimov "invented" the tablet computer and the CD/DVD ROM in that series. I could listen to it I suppose, have the audio version (8 hours of it) on my phone ready for any boring stays in hospital!

I have to admit to preferring the modern style of writing and themes. So long as it is well written of course . . .
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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demi
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Re: Books enjoyed

#30 Post by demi » January 22nd, 2013, 7:19 am

Just now im on the very last Twilight book [ hangs head in shame ] I'v read them all, and not just the ones the made into the movies, oh no, there are more! :laughter: I like vampires ( watched Buffy religiously when it was on, with my mum and dad i might add! :D ) Anyway, this last book, Rising Sun, is from Edwards point of view and it's starting back at the beginning again of the first book. Kind of feels like iv read it before but it's good to get an incite into Edwards thoughts about Bella this time and the reasons he did the things he did. Like all the books it kind of drivels on at times and i can feel myself wanting to skip pages, it seems to take the writer ages to get to the point which the reader has already worked out pages before, so that's annoying. But overall i enjoyed reading all the books and if she wrote another i'd probably have to reads that too.

I'm also reading 'In Search Of Schrodingers Cat' by John Gribbin, which explains chemistry and physics well for the lay person. Although it kind of hurts my head sometimes which is why i keep putting it down and forgetting about it for a while. Right im going to read some more now.

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MarkAlmond
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Re: Books enjoyed

#31 Post by MarkAlmond » January 22nd, 2013, 8:50 am

Ooohhh Books. :) My favourite books are Stephen Hawking ABHOT, Hemingway’s 'A moveable feast', Sati by Christopher Pike, Utopia by Thomas More, The Hobbit by Tolkien, the Elminster books by Ed Greenwood and I am currently reading the Mass Effect books which are much better than I expected. :popcorn:

Does anyone remember those fantasy books with the green spines? The ones where you had to make a choice and turn to a certain page. I can not for the life of me remember what they were called or the name of the author. :shrug:
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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#32 Post by Dave B » January 22nd, 2013, 8:55 am

It's surprising (though it should not be) who reads what. I was talking to the neighbour of a friend, a very large bloke with a no neck, a shaved head, tattoos and chunky bling, who erected a ladder with one hand that took me two hands to carry. For some reason Harry Potter came into the conversation and I said I had enjoyed the books. He gave me a sort of speculative look and then said he was a fan of vampire stories. Including Buffy! After a while it was obvious that he read them fairly critically as well.

Maybe it was a case of, "Judge the person by their books, not their looks"!
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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demi
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Re: Books enjoyed

#33 Post by demi » January 22nd, 2013, 10:34 am

Dave B wrote:It's surprising (though it should not be) who reads what. I was talking to the neighbour of a friend, a very large bloke with a no neck, a shaved head, tattoos and chunky bling, who erected a ladder with one hand that took me two hands to carry. For some reason Harry Potter came into the conversation and I said I had enjoyed the books. He gave me a sort of speculative look and then said he was a fan of vampire stories. Including Buffy! After a while it was obvious that he read them fairly critically as well.

Maybe it was a case of, "Judge the person by their books, not their looks"!

I wonder if he's read Twilight :laughter:

What does that say about me too? Im in no way like a big baldy bloke. Can i also point out that it was my mum who go me into Twilight! We went to see one of the movies in the cinema when it came out, i think it was Breaking Dawn part 1, and we were the oldest people there, sitting in the back with a whole load of school kids in front of us throwing popcorn at each other and carrying on. What does that say about my mum and me? :laughter:

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demi
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Re: Books enjoyed

#34 Post by demi » January 22nd, 2013, 10:36 am

MarkAlmond wrote:Ooohhh Books. :) My favourite books are Stephen Hawking ABHOT, Hemingway’s 'A moveable feast', Sati by Christopher Pike, Utopia by Thomas More, The Hobbit by Tolkien, the Elminster books by Ed Greenwood and I am currently reading the Mass Effect books which are much better than I expected. :popcorn:

Does anyone remember those fantasy books with the green spines? The ones where you had to make a choice and turn to a certain page. I can not for the life of me remember what they were called or the name of the author. :shrug:

I haven't heard of those books. Is that for alternate endings?

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Tetenterre
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Re: Books enjoyed

#35 Post by Tetenterre » January 22nd, 2013, 12:15 pm

MarkAlmond wrote:Does anyone remember those fantasy books with the green spines? The ones where you had to make a choice and turn to a certain page. I can not for the life of me remember what they were called or the name of the author. :shrug:
I remember teh books, but not the titles or author -- never actually read one, but my son had some about 15-20 years ago.
Dave B wrote: then said he was a fan of vampire stories. Including Buffy! After a while it was obvious that he read them fairly critically as well.
I was a Buffy fan -- had all the videos about 12 years ago. Couldn't get on with Twilight at all (too "chickflick" -- if one is permitted to use such derogatorily sexist language here :wink: -- for my liking), but am partial to the Sookie Stackhouse stuff (on TV as True Blood).
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Re: Books enjoyed

#36 Post by Maria Mac » February 9th, 2013, 12:19 pm

Hilary Mantel's award-winning 'Wolf Hall' was given to me for my birthday in November and I've just finished it - it's a massive book. I'm really glad I've read it because I love the Tudor period and have read countless novels set in that period and 'Wolf Hall' is far and away the best of them and a deserving winner of the Man Booker prize it won.

The book is full of extraordinary, colourful detail and fab dialogue like this Thames boatman gossiping about the rumoured incest between the despised Anne Bolyen and her brother before her marriage to Henry VIII:

"...she don't give in to Henry, because if she lets him do it and she gets a boy he's, thanks very much, now clear off, girl – so she's oh, Your Highness, I never could allow – because she knows that very night her brother's inside her, licking her up to the lungs, and then he's, excuse me, sister, what shall I do with this big package – she says, oh,don't distress yourself, my lord brother, shove it up the back entry, it'll come to no harm there.”

Source.

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Tetenterre
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Re: Books enjoyed

#37 Post by Tetenterre » February 9th, 2013, 2:27 pm

It was Louise's birthday this week; at her request, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies were amongst her gifts. I'm waiting impatiently for her to finish Wolf Hall.
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Alan H
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Re: Books enjoyed

#38 Post by Alan H » February 9th, 2013, 2:39 pm

Tetenterre wrote:It was Louise's birthday this week; at her request, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies were amongst her gifts. I'm waiting impatiently for her to finish Wolf Hall.
You will likely have a long time to wait. I suggest reading a book meantime.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Tetenterre
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Re: Books enjoyed

#39 Post by Tetenterre » February 9th, 2013, 3:10 pm

Alan H wrote:I suggest reading a book meantime.
Actually, I need to finish writing one - I have a 1st March deadline!


On the batphone, so expect typos...
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#40 Post by animist » February 9th, 2013, 5:45 pm

anyone read Philip Pullman's "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ"? Nearly finished it, and JC is now a multiple personality of bumptious preacher Jesus (who loses faith) and Judas-like figure Christ

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#41 Post by animist » February 9th, 2013, 5:47 pm

demi wrote:
MarkAlmond wrote:Ooohhh Books. :) My favourite books are Stephen Hawking ABHOT, Hemingway’s 'A moveable feast', Sati by Christopher Pike, Utopia by Thomas More, The Hobbit by Tolkien, the Elminster books by Ed Greenwood and I am currently reading the Mass Effect books which are much better than I expected. :popcorn:

Does anyone remember those fantasy books with the green spines? The ones where you had to make a choice and turn to a certain page. I can not for the life of me remember what they were called or the name of the author. :shrug:

I haven't heard of those books. Is that for alternate endings?
doubt that, but it might be for an alternative ending

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