Re: The Book Thread

by Starfighter Pilot Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:34 am

I'm reading Until I Find You by John Irving, who is one of my favourite authors. I don't think it's quite his strongest, but it's still as engaging as ever and I'm really enjoying it. Smile

by **Dave Webb** Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:02 pm

Recently finished 1984.

Oh. My.

That's a lovely, awful, marvellous book.

Also read The Fandom of the Operator by Robert Rankin. He continues to do the business, if you know what I mean, and I'm sure that you do.

I am currently reading Eastern Standard Tribe , by Cory Doctorow; further recommendation is deserved for the very interesting Little Brother by the same guy, and also Content, which is a book about rights and copyright, and which all of us, aspiring writers or no, should read.

by sulamite Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:11 am

Anyone here familiar with Peter F Hamilton? I've read and own every book he's published!
But - while waiting for the next Hamilton book I came across Stephen Baxter! What a fantastic imagination that man has!!! I've not quite yet read all his published books (including those written in collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke) but I'm not far off now! Some of them I had to get from America, could not find them here in the UK.

by Lucy McGough Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:32 am

Recently finished Shades of Grey. Currently ploughing my way through The Rainbow.

by **Dave Webb** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:27 pm

Recent reads:

The entire Sharpe series from chronological start to end. Sort of a Sharpeathon.

Overclocked by Cory Doctorow.
Craphound - same guy
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndam
Nation by Terry Pratchett.
Worldwar - In The Balance by Harry Turtledove.
Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock.
The Last Colony by John Scalzi.
Deathworld by Harry Harrison.
The 'Armageddon - The Musical' trilogy by Robert Rankin.

by Graymalkin Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:52 pm

Recent reads include Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike, Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson, Bodies Piled Up by Dashiell Hammett, Ben Goldacre's Bad Science and Dave Gorman's America Unchained, Ian Rankin's The Complaints and (yet) another failed attempt at getting past chapter two of Consider Phlebas.

Highlight being a first re-read in years of Hogg's fabulous The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by Himself. With a detail of curious traditionary facts and other evidence by the editor.

Currently enjoying Bad Vibes - Britpop and My Part in its Downfall by the mighty Luke Haines - every bit as knowingly bitter and ironically self-aggrandising as one would hope. It art-rocks.

by Lucy McGough Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:35 am

Bad Science is wicked.

Finally finished The Rainbow. Ending was a bit arbitrary.

by **Dave Webb** Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:46 am

Time to resurrect this thread.

My recent reads are: Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry, and The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross.

For those unaware, Moab is the first part of Stephen Fry's autobiography. This volume details his first 20 years. It details them in quite surprising detail, given the generally foul and oikish nature of his childhood self. It's fascinating to see someone examine themselves with such clarity and without attempting to justify or mitigate the crimes of his youth.

It's also a fantastic read. Stephen Fry has a gift for words and has worked very hard to polish that gift. The result is a book that is hard to put down and sad to finish.

The Fuller Memorandum is a continuation of Charles Stross's Laundry series - book three, but is as good a jumping on point for the series as any. There's noticeably less humour than the first two books, because the life of the protagonist has got a great deal more serious since The Jennifer Morgue.

It looks, at least at first reading, that the purpose of the book is to remind us that Forbidden Knowledge tends to be Forbidden for a reason. There's a subytext about the dehumanising effects of working with that kind of information, about what happens to people who set themselves apart from the world in order to defend it.

As usual with a Charles Stross book, once I'd started reading I found it very hard to leave the book alone. I absorbed it, shoggothlike, in 48 hours and will more than likely have to read it a couple more times over the next weeks. His works come highly recommended.

by Sid Seadevil Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:29 am

Jolly excellent idea bumping this thread.

I've always loved Stephen Fry's writing style, so I must really get around to reading this. And you make Stross' work sound right up my street, too. So that's another author added to my "Must Read" list. Thanks Dave.

by **Nick Barlow** Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:41 am

Stross is definitely worth reading - and he's got such a wide range of styles, that there's almost certainly something he's written that you'll like.

I've just finished Romanitas and Rome Burning by Sophia McDougall and rather than repeat myself, I had some thoughts on them which I posted on my blog.

by The Browncoat Cat Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:21 pm

November saw the publication of my favourite author's latest novel. Cryoburn sees the return of Lois McMaster Bujold's spacefaring hero Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Since he left the covert branch of his homeworld's armed forces, the aristocratic Miles has become a Barayaran Imperial Auditor, which on Barrayar is one of the nearest things to God made flesh there is. Sadly, Miles is not on Barrayar or either of the planets it rules, he is on the Japanese colony world of Kiabu Diani, where his title carries no weight what so ever, except in the suburban house that happens to be the Barrayaran Consulate on that planet. This novel is interesting in that apart from Miles and his bodyguard Roic, none of the usual cast of supporting characters appears. This means that if you have not read any of the other Vorkosigan Novels published over the past quarter of a century, then you can jump strait into this story, as all you need to know is expertly explained in the first two chapters, and you don't have to worry about who is who from earlier novels. The problem is, I like all the supporting characters, and was itching for them to turn up.
And the best thing about this novel is it comes complete with a DVD ROM containing PDF and eBook versions of all the previous Vorkosigan novels, so if you enjoyed this one, you can go back and all the previous novels in this excellent series.

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