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This week I have been reading
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North Lower Neil said:So what were people's best books read this year?
Think my top 3 were:
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
A Life Too Short, The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald RengNone of mine were new in 2023, just new to me;An instance of the fingerpost - Ian Pears
The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton
Nutshell - Ian McEwan
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Brain dump of good books I’ve read recently:
Boys Will Be Boys - Clementine Ford - if you have young sons, read it.
Barca - the rise and fall of the club that built modern football - Simon Kuper- can’t put this down, just brilliant. Entire sections on Cruyff, Messi, Pep. Superb.Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen - my favourite writer. Another good one.3 -
Robert Harris has been mentioned a few times on here, loads of his books currently on sale at 99p on the Amazon Kindle store0
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Undoctored by Adam Kay. Another must read for politicians, particularly Health Secretaries. A couple of whom engaged with Kay following the publication of "This is going to hurt", and the stories are among the tales contained herein. Some bits make you cry, some make you angry and some have you really laughing out loud. If you have ever been ill, or have plans to be ill in the future it's a must read for you too...
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A Russian Journal .. John Steinbeck and Robert Capa .. Highly recommended
The great men were allowed into the Soviet Union in the late 1940s, they were 'allowed' to go where they wanted, how much was staged managed will never be known. They were especially stuck on Georgia, no mention that I recall that both Stalin and Beria were Georgians .. also a few of Capa's Georgian photos .. Bing Videos1 -
Finished reading my first book of the year, “The Pillars of the Earth”, the first of the Kingsbridge series by Ken Follett. Someone else recommended the series as do I. 1070 pages of good historical fiction in 12th century England with a priest trying to build a new cathedral against the backdrop of the civil war. Spans 40 years.2
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Finished Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld which was excellent.
Then The Lost Album of the Beatles by Daniel Rachel which was very good and probably essential for all Beatles fans!
Now onto The London Train by Tessa Hadley.1 -
I'm trying out for the first time an audible book and listening to The man that died twice by Richard Osman. It’s his second book of the Thursday club. An enjoyable read/listen.1
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Just finished "Who Rules the World" by Noam Chomsky. Excellent read.
Started with "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky which has come well recommended. Good so far! A bit unlike anything else I've read.3 -
You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense - Charles Bukowski.Don’t know a great deal about the man other than his potential reputation. So giving him a go.
Did read, Ham on Rye, a few years ago but can’t remember anything about it.1 - Sponsored links:
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Ham on Rye is superb, Post Office and Pulp also highly recommended. Howard Sounes biography is also worth a read. And of course all the poetry.sillav nitram said:You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense - Charles Bukowski.Don’t know a great deal about the man other than his potential reputation. So giving him a go.
Did read, Ham on Rye, a few years ago but can’t remember anything about it.1 -
I enjoyed the writing style in Ham on Rye but remember finding it pretty gross.0
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Just finished Michael Palin's book "Great Uncle Harry - A Tale of War and Empire".
Quite interesting, not a must read. Tells the story of his great uncle who was born in the mid 1880's, youngest child of a church minister. Didn't have a profession so went off to India to work as a junior manager for a railway company and then moved on to do similar work on a couple of tea plantations in India managed by a Glasgow based tea import business. Returned to England for a short period then went to work out in New Zealand as a farm hand for a couple of years. Joined the New Zealand Expeditionary force in 1914 and fought at Gallipoli as part of the ANZAC army. Subsequently the New Zealand army brigades were moved up to France where he died during the Battle of the Somme.1 -
A book for people of a cetain age.We Danced All Night by Martin Pugh. Many Shops mentioned,ie Home and Colonial, Liptons etc.
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I’ve now been converted to the audible book. It’s less tiring than reading and you can do other things while listening. Next up is Heroes by Stephen Fry.Solidgone said:I'm trying out for the first time an audible book and listening to The man that died twice by Richard Osman. It’s his second book of the Thursday club. An enjoyable read/listen.0 -
If I did that I would lose concentration. It's me age...Solidgone said:
I’ve now been converted to the audible book. It’s less tiring than reading and you can do other things while listening. Next up is Heroes by Stephen Fry.Solidgone said:I'm trying out for the first time an audible book and listening to The man that died twice by Richard Osman. It’s his second book of the Thursday club. An enjoyable read/listen.1 -
I'm new to this page. Someone mentioned there have been many Robert Harris recommendations, one of which I guess is Act of Oblivion but I can't wade through a hundred pages to find out. It's a terrific read for anyone hasn't come across it yet.3
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I have read and enjoyed both Munich and Archangel, Bob. Recommend both.1
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Children of Time = Blown away. Fantastic. Forever in awe of how people can come up with works of art like thisjacob_CAFC said:Just finished "Who Rules the World" by Noam Chomsky. Excellent read.
Started with "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky which has come well recommended. Good so far! A bit unlike anything else I've read.0 -
Is that a rework of Deep purple’s song? 🤓jacob_CAFC said:
Children of Time = Blown away. Fantastic. Forever in awe of how people can come up with works of art like thisjacob_CAFC said:Just finished "Who Rules the World" by Noam Chomsky. Excellent read.
Started with "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky which has come well recommended. Good so far! A bit unlike anything else I've read.1 - Sponsored links:
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Yes, I read it recently and agree it was very good.BerkshireBob said:I'm new to this page. Someone mentioned there have been many Robert Harris recommendations, one of which I guess is Act of Oblivion but I can't wade through a hundred pages to find out. It's a terrific read for anyone hasn't come across it yet.0 -
Like a few on here I really enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Have now read Rules of Civility, which was his debut novel. Not quite as good but still a very good read.2
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Agree, it's a superb book. The sequel doesn't quite match it I'm afraid. What's particualrly amazing about Tchaikosky is just how many books he write - he's seems to publish about 5 or 6 a year. I've read a lot of them and they range from decent to superb. Not quite sure how he does it.jacob_CAFC said:
Children of Time = Blown away. Fantastic. Forever in awe of how people can come up with works of art like thisjacob_CAFC said:Just finished "Who Rules the World" by Noam Chomsky. Excellent read.
Started with "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky which has come well recommended. Good so far! A bit unlike anything else I've read.1 -
I've heard that but I've read the second book now and while it defo doesn't match up with the first one, I still thought it was brilliant! The first one was such a high bar but really enjoyed the second. I'm gonna start on the third one but I'll take a look at his other books!Jints said:
Agree, it's a superb book. The sequel doesn't quite match it I'm afraid. What's particualrly amazing about Tchaikosky is just how many books he write - he's seems to publish about 5 or 6 a year. I've read a lot of them and they range from decent to superb. Not quite sure how he does it.jacob_CAFC said:
Children of Time = Blown away. Fantastic. Forever in awe of how people can come up with works of art like thisjacob_CAFC said:Just finished "Who Rules the World" by Noam Chomsky. Excellent read.
Started with "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky which has come well recommended. Good so far! A bit unlike anything else I've read.
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Room to Dream - David Lynch and Kristina McKenna. Good insight into the weird and wonderful world of David Lynch’s imagination.1
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Finished The Ink Black Heart - Robert Galbraith. I really enjoyed it, though I do get what some say about the transcripts of messages and texts being a bit hard to follow at times. It looks rather daunting at over 1200 pages, but I found it as unputdownable as ever. It could have done with a cast list as characters drift in and out, and it keeps you guessing to the end. The relationship between Robin and Strike becomes more intriguing in this book too.2
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Just finished Lovers in Auschwitz by Keren Blankfeld, incredible book in so many ways. Horrific yet inspiring.
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Next one is better, in my opinion, so hopefully you get to read that one soon too!Algarveaddick said:Finished The Ink Black Heart - Robert Galbraith. I really enjoyed it, though I do get what some say about the transcripts of messages and texts being a bit hard to follow at times. It looks rather daunting at over 1200 pages, but I found it as unputdownable as ever. It could have done with a cast list as characters drift in and out, and it keeps you guessing to the end. The relationship between Robin and Strike becomes more intriguing in this book too.1 -
The Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese.
Phew!
A long book - 736 pages - it spans 3 generations of a family, in sometimes minute detail. The story goes off at tangents and one is left wondering where it is heading. It does however come back eventually, and all the little plots and sub plots start to merge and make sense. I was very pleased that I stuck by it and in any case 50,000 people can't be wrong.
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Taking that on holiday in a few weeksNorth Lower Neil said:
Next one is better, in my opinion, so hopefully you get to read that one soon too!Algarveaddick said:Finished The Ink Black Heart - Robert Galbraith. I really enjoyed it, though I do get what some say about the transcripts of messages and texts being a bit hard to follow at times. It looks rather daunting at over 1200 pages, but I found it as unputdownable as ever. It could have done with a cast list as characters drift in and out, and it keeps you guessing to the end. The relationship between Robin and Strike becomes more intriguing in this book too.1
