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This week I have been reading

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  • All Out War - Tim Shipman

    Very readable account of the events that led to Brexit, what happened on the night and the weeks thereafter.

    Gives a new complexion to some of the main players. Fascinating.
  • Lists of Note - Shaun Usher

    Fascinating and brilliant
  • Does God play dice? The new mathematics of chaos - Ian Stewart.

    Mindbending.

    Reading it alongside Why Does E=mc2 by Brian Cox.
  • The Diaries of Richard Crossman - minister in Harold Wilson's 1960s cabinet - oddly compelling
  • Gomorrah- Roberto Saviano. The book that he wrote before the Gomorrah TV series. Pretty good so far
  • McBobbin said:

    Does God play dice? The new mathematics of chaos - Ian Stewart.

    On a similar note, Chaos by James Gleick is a great book.
  • McBobbin said:

    Does God play dice? The new mathematics of chaos - Ian Stewart.

    Mindbending.

    Reading it alongside Why Does E=mc2 by Brian Cox.

    My brain hurts just reading the titles...
  • McBobbin said:

    Does God play dice? The new mathematics of chaos - Ian Stewart.

    Mindbending.

    Reading it alongside Why Does E=mc2 by Brian Cox.

    My brain hurts just reading the titles...
    Fortunately they are well written and accessible
    stonemuse said:

    McBobbin said:

    Does God play dice? The new mathematics of chaos - Ian Stewart.

    On a similar note, Chaos by James Gleick is a great book.
    I'll look into that, cheers. I like a bit of popular science
  • Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

    This novel presents a picture of the lives of ordinary people in a small coastal town in Maine through thirteen stories, spanning a period of twenty or so years, several of which feature recurring characters. The title character, Olive, appears in all of them, sometimes at the centre of the story, in others, very much on the periphery. A retired schoolteacher, she is a no-nonsense, extremely forthright individual (someone whom Ken Clarke would doubtless regard as a 'difficult woman'), but at the same time, vulnerable, compassionate and empathetic (the type of empathy without a shred of sentimentality). Her complexity emerges as the stories unfold and she tries to make sense of the changes in her life. Like pretty well all the characters in the book, she is realistically drawn and has great emotional depth. She is not a 'nice' person, as such, but I found myself drawn to her.

    This might not be everyone's cup of tea but I thought it was a cracking read. My thanks to @Jints for alerting me to the author.
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  • The racing pages in the newspapers .. enough .. all I am is confused ((:>)
  • Mike Massimino, spaceman, real life engineering on the Hubble telescope, enjoyed it a lot.
  • edited March 2017
    SDAddick said:

    RedPanda said:

    I've gone back to re-try Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men."

    It's quite a hard going US political novel, hopefully it's rewarding enough.

    I think I started reading it at one point, can't remember why I stopped (I start and stop a lot of books though).

    A lot of people really love it. I think now is as good a time as any as we've just had a "populist" take over.

    Let us know how you get on. I'm curious to know what you think of it overall, if it's worth the payoff, and how it stands up/relates to today's politics (if at all).
    I'm still only halfway through. It's not hard going in that it's tough to read, but it's still not grabbed me, I've been distracted & it's 600+ dense pages.

    It is clearly a good book and clever and insightful, plus as you say it's highly relevant today. However, at the moment it's reserved for when I'm travelling somewhere. Hopefully it will click for me soon, I'm not going to give up!

    Just seen that you were reading some Atwood, I've not read The Handmaid's Tale but I have Oryx & Crake. That is decent if you're into soft (and bleak) sci-fi, I should try more Atwood.
  • Blucher said:

    Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

    This novel presents a picture of the lives of ordinary people in a small coastal town in Maine through thirteen stories, spanning a period of twenty or so years, several of which feature recurring characters. The title character, Olive, appears in all of them, sometimes at the centre of the story, in others, very much on the periphery. A retired schoolteacher, she is a no-nonsense, extremely forthright individual (someone whom Ken Clarke would doubtless regard as a 'difficult woman'), but at the same time, vulnerable, compassionate and empathetic (the type of empathy without a shred of sentimentality). Her complexity emerges as the stories unfold and she tries to make sense of the changes in her life. Like pretty well all the characters in the book, she is realistically drawn and has great emotional depth. She is not a 'nice' person, as such, but I found myself drawn to her.

    This might not be everyone's cup of tea but I thought it was a cracking read. My thanks to @Jints for alerting me to the author.

    I'm glad you enjoyed it. There's a very good and faithful mini-series (HBO I think of it) with Frances McDormand playing the lead. I recently read Strout's "The Burgess Boys", which was of an equally high standard IMO.

  • cafc-west said:

    Just starting Murakami's "Hard-Boiled Wonderland". Have read a lot of his strange books and enjoyed most except for his short stories. 1984 - Books 1,2 and 3 were tough going but worth it.
    If you like surreal would recommend.

    I like Murakami a lot too and read the 1984 books recently. Decent though not a patch on Hard-Boiled Wonderland or the A Wild Sheep's Chase IMO. David Mitchell does some fantastic tributes/pastiches of his style, better than the originals in some way.

  • Jints said:

    Blucher said:

    Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

    This novel presents a picture of the lives of ordinary people in a small coastal town in Maine through thirteen stories, spanning a period of twenty or so years, several of which feature recurring characters. The title character, Olive, appears in all of them, sometimes at the centre of the story, in others, very much on the periphery. A retired schoolteacher, she is a no-nonsense, extremely forthright individual (someone whom Ken Clarke would doubtless regard as a 'difficult woman'), but at the same time, vulnerable, compassionate and empathetic (the type of empathy without a shred of sentimentality). Her complexity emerges as the stories unfold and she tries to make sense of the changes in her life. Like pretty well all the characters in the book, she is realistically drawn and has great emotional depth. She is not a 'nice' person, as such, but I found myself drawn to her.

    This might not be everyone's cup of tea but I thought it was a cracking read. My thanks to @Jints for alerting me to the author.

    I'm glad you enjoyed it. There's a very good and faithful mini-series (HBO I think of it) with Frances McDormand playing the lead. I recently read Strout's "The Burgess Boys", which was of an equally high standard IMO.

    Yes, I bought the HBO series for my wife's birthday and now we've both finished the book, we can watch it. I've always liked Frances McDormand since her outstanding performance in Fargo.

    Will definitely check out 'The Burgess Boys'. I've got 'My Name Is Lucy Barton' on order from the library, although there's a long waiting list and my last reservation expired after three months just when I was getting near the front of the queue. Elizabeth Strout is clearly popular at the moment.
  • Into the black, Roland White, history of space travel from ww2 to the shuttle.
  • Just finished George Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier. It is just depressing how little things have changed for those at the bottom of the social classes.
  • The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

    It's a history of humanity over the last couple of millenia, but centred along the trading routes between the Mediterranean and Asia. Personally, the earlier part was a little slow, and I thought the Mongols deserved a bit more time devoted to them, but it is a fascinating read. It offered me for the first time an intelligible explanation of the start of the first world war and why it was not simply German war mongering, which was interesting. Very readable.
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  • The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

    It's a history of humanity over the last couple of millenia, but centred along the trading routes between the Mediterranean and Asia. Personally, the earlier part was a little slow, and I thought the Mongols deserved a bit more time devoted to them, but it is a fascinating read. It offered me for the first time an intelligible explanation of the start of the first world war and why it was not simply German war mongering, which was interesting. Very readable.

    Agreed, great book.
  • Just finished Curbs' book. Pretty dull overall, few interesting parts but was hoping for a bit more goss on some of the players.

    Now onto god is not great, how religion poisons everything by Hitchens.
  • Peter Robinson, "A Dedicated Man". One of the early DCI Banks books. Usual decent plot, interestingly I thought it started off in quite an "old fashioned" way. The style akin to early PD James, or Agatha Christie - lots of flowery description and metaphors. But as it went on became more like a modern detective novel. I wonder if he actually wrote it before his first book "Gallows View", which was modern in style from the off, but it was published after "Gallows View" was a success?
  • This week I have been mainly reading 'The Accounts' by R Duchatelet. Wasn't quite sure what to make of it but it is a true story, bit of a tragedy and it had me in tears by the end.
  • Paul McCartney .. biography by Philip Norman .. not just a very well written and insightful look into the music maestro and the other Beatles, but also a glimpse into the 'recent' past .. the start of the 'swinging sixties' and an England still, after 15 years or so, emerging from the rigours of WW2 ..
    recommended .. it's a big book but can be read at leisure in small chunks
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

    This is the 1969 autobiography about the childhood of Maya Angelou, the American writer and poet, in the 1930s deep South. We've had this book for about 25 years but I've never got around to reading it. I'm glad I finally did because it's superbly written and I found it a riveting, insightful and exceptionally honest account. I can quite understand why it's regarded as a modern classic.

    A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler

    This short novel was written in 2014 by an Austrian writer and actor (he appeared in the Paolo Sorrentino film, 'Youth') and it was translated into English the following year. Its central character, Andreas, is a simple mountain man from the Alps, who spends his entire life there, leaving his valley only once in order to fight in World War II. The novel is only 149 pages long but it somehow manages to embrace and beautifully describe one man's ordinary, but at the same time, extraordinary life. Understated but powerful, this is an extremely tender and poignant read. It's definitely one of the best things I've read recently.
  • Alan Partridge, Nomad. This was a Christmas present and not a book I'd have chosen for myself. At first I had the feeling that it was just recycling spare material left over from the tv shows, but the more I got into it the more I liked it. It's definitely written in Partridge's voice, it's got some hilarious bits in it and by the end I couldn't put it down. Needless to say, I had the last laugh.
  • The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

    It's a history of humanity over the last couple of millenia, but centred along the trading routes between the Mediterranean and Asia. Personally, the earlier part was a little slow, and I thought the Mongols deserved a bit more time devoted to them, but it is a fascinating read. It offered me for the first time an intelligible explanation of the start of the first world war and why it was not simply German war mongering, which was interesting. Very readable.

    I liked the first two thirds but it then became a rather tedious rant about the British and American intervention in the middle-east.



  • Redemption Song,The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer By Chris Salewicz
  • Badger said:

    Redemption Song,The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer By Chris Salewicz

    Good read.
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