The books and reading thread
Re: Books
Yes, I was really shocked when I got a message from his publishers that he'd passed away. Very sad. Because of political reading, I pretty much put on hold all fiction stuff, but that's passed for now, so I have just started on Prussian Blue. Can't think of a better 'hero' than Bernie to welcome me back to the fold. I have been puzzled why these books were never picked up for film or TV without knowing that Tom Hanks, a fan, had done exactly that. I still hope something comes of it. I bought Metropolis in large paperback format, in honour of the fact that I bought the first three books in what was originally planned to be a trilogy, under the unifying heading of 'Berlin Noir'. I had no idea that years later - it was 15 I have read - that he had resurrected the character, until I stumbled across them in my local Waterstones in Kingston. To bring that fill circle, I bought metropolis in the huge Japanese bookshop in Emquartier, that actually reminds me of Waterstones. I know there are other branches in Bangkok, but that's the one I like to visit. Certainly puts Asia Books in the shade.
Talk is cheap
Re: Books
Just to say that I finished the latest le Carre the other day (Agent Running In The Field) and thought it was excellent. Bang up-to-date with the plot revolving around Brexit/Trump/Putin/Russian oligarchs etc etc. All I'm going to say is that if you're a Brexiter, then you might not like all politics. But that doesn't detract from a damn good read.
And, I did get around to reading Andrew Taylor's "The King's Evil". As mentioned before, if you like historical fiction (and the three books are set during The Restoration) then you'll probably get on fine with this. Do try to read the books in order. It's not vital but many of the characters are present throughout the trilogy.
Finally, for now, I came across Kia Abdullah and her book "Take It Back". Modern times, the East End of London and four young Muslim men are accused of gang raping a deformed white girl. And just to add to the melting pot, the girl is represented by a high-flying Muslim lady who gave up her career as a brilliant barrister to do pretty much pro bono work with an organisation helping women who have been subjected to violence. Well worth a read.
And, I did get around to reading Andrew Taylor's "The King's Evil". As mentioned before, if you like historical fiction (and the three books are set during The Restoration) then you'll probably get on fine with this. Do try to read the books in order. It's not vital but many of the characters are present throughout the trilogy.
Finally, for now, I came across Kia Abdullah and her book "Take It Back". Modern times, the East End of London and four young Muslim men are accused of gang raping a deformed white girl. And just to add to the melting pot, the girl is represented by a high-flying Muslim lady who gave up her career as a brilliant barrister to do pretty much pro bono work with an organisation helping women who have been subjected to violence. Well worth a read.
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oakdale160
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Re: Books
I agree Le Carre's latest book is a great read--really fast paced and his "Service" stuff is really believable. Interestingly he introduces some rants about UK today, Brexit, US/Europe relations, Trump/Putin obviously JLC's own opinions.
He is now 88, I wonder if he has some assistance with his writing?
He is now 88, I wonder if he has some assistance with his writing?
Re: Books
As we’ve all probably got lots of extra time on our hands these days, I thought I’d update reviews on some of the books I’ve read since November 2019. I’ve focused on those that impressed me rather than dwelt on some of the dross I’ve come across.
Ian Rankin – In a House of Lies. I lap up anything to do with Rebus and this 2018 release didn’t disappoint. He’s investigating an old case and most officers involved in it have a lot to hide. A solid 4 stars.
Peter Robinson – In a Dry Season. Robinson’s Inspector Banks series grows on me and I look forward to reading one on a regular basis. In this installment, a decades old body is discovered after a reservoir is drained. It’s difficult to get to grips with the investigation as the body is 50 years old. 4 stars.
Also read since last November are Friend of the Devil, Innocent Graves and Past Reason Hated.
Mick Herron – Joe Country. I’ve mentioned this series before and the latest installment doesn’t disappoint. It focuses on the washed out spies who are the dregs of MI5 and their dilapidated HQ, “Slough House” at The Barbican, to which they are “exiled” to hopefully end their working days in drudgery and spying anonymity. Hopefully, they’ll resign quietly through frustration but they never do and rise yet again to save the day.
This is the 6th in the series and whilst any of the books can be read as a standalone, it’s probably best to read them in order to fully understand the characters – both those who are still alive in this book and those who haven’t pulled through in the previous ones.
I’d rate this as one of the best spy series I’ve come across in a long time. The books are off beat with plenty of dark, side-splitting humour. A definite 5 stars.
James Lee Burke – Pegasus Descending. I try to ration myself on Burke’s books to have something to look forward to in the future. In this one, Robicheaux gets mixed up with the mob, gambling and murder. As usual, his sidekick, Clete Purcel is always on the point of unleashing severe violence and is “quite a character”.
As always, the plot is tight but more than anything, Burke’s descriptive writing of Louisiana is excellent. If there were ever a series of books that might get me to visit America, this would be it. Louisiana, here I come. 4 stars.
Also read – Jolie Blon’s Bounce. Another 4 stars.
William Kent Kreuger – Ordinary Grace. Normally, a coming of age book wouldn’t interest me for very long but this was an exception. Set in Minnesota in 1961, the events are retold 40 years later. They involve murder, lies, betrayal and adultery.
This is a well written book about a young boy trying to understand the world as it seems to be falling apart around him. 4 stars.
Stuart McBride – Dark Blood. The 6th in the Logan McRae series set in Aberdeen and another solid read. This one revolves around a serial rapist from Northumbria who is relocated to Aberdeen after finishing his sentence.
McBride’s books are gritty and well written. Not for the faint hearted. 4 stars.
Gary Disher – Blood Moon. The 5th in this police procedural series set around Melbourne. Maybe not the best I’ve read but still worth the effort if it introduces people to the author.
A school chaplain is brutally beaten up and a Land Violation official is murdered. Give some of Disher’s books a go. You might be in for a surprise. 3.5 stars.
Peter Carey – My Life as a Fake. More Australiana. An exceptional book that is based on the true story of a literary hoax. What happens when the fake poet start to haunt its maker? The ending in seedy, tropical Malaysia is chaotic. 4 stars.
Robert Crais – The Monkey’s Raincoat. It had been a long time since I’d read any of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series and this happens to be the first. Revolving around sex, drugs and the general depravity of Hollywood, this is probably not Crais’s best effort but the series as a whole is worth delving into. 3 stars.
Also read – Lullaby Town. Better, 4 stars.
William Boyd – A Good Man in Africa. I just had to re-read this after a gap of many years. Morgan Leafy is a jobsworth in the small African republic of Kinjanja. His love of women, booze and hatred of the country isn’t doing much for his job prospects. Until an assignment comes his way that could lead to greater things and hopefully a transfer out of the country.
The poor chap is blackmailed, gets VD, attempts bribery and is confounded by a dead body. Things aren’t going his way.
The book reminds me, in some ways, of Orwell’s “Burmese Days”. Unrequited love of an English woman, shacked up with a local and pretty much a doormat. However, it is an extremely funny book in places and a wake up call to all of us living over here who moan about Thailand. A must read. 5++ stars.
John Connolly – The Whisperers. The 9th in the Charlie Parker series. It had been a long time since I’d read any of these and yet again wasn’t disappointed. This one involves stolen Iraqi antiquities and a large cast of shady characters. As always, there’s an element of the supernatural in the book and gay “bodyguards”, Angel and Louis, are as menacing as ever. A good vs evil romp through Maine and Canada following a gang of US Iraq war vets. 4 stars.
Anne Cleves – Telling Tales. I’d tried to read some of these Vera Stanhope books before but hadn’t got on with them. I’m not sure why (maybe just not in the right mood) because I thought this one was excellent.
Ten years has passed since a murderer was put away and fresh evidence come to light exonerating her. Vera re-opens the investigation. It’s a good plot and every time Vera appears, she reminds me of the TV adaptations and the Northumbrian accent. I’m looking forward to revisiting more of this series. 5 stars.
Benjamin Black – A Death in Summer. I’ve had a few of this author’s books lined up for some time but this was my first foray into them. It turns out that Black is actually John Banville writing under a pseudonym. (More of Banville in a moment).
This is the 5th in the series featuring Hackett and Quirke, a police detective and pathologist set in 1950s Dublin. A powerful local businessman is found dead from a shotgun blast. Suicide or murder?
The plot is well crafted and the prose exceptional. I’ve got 4 or so more to read. I’ll have to ration myself again. 5 stars.
JG Ballard – The Drowned World. It had been a while since I’d dipped into any of this author’s works. Generally regarded as the foremost English writer of dystopia and new wave science fiction of his generation, I’d been through High Rise and Concrete Island before so knew roughly what to expect.
I didn’t think this was quite as good as the other two but it’s still more than worthwhile. London is submerged after solar radiation and global warming have melted the ice caps. The Triassic period has returned to a tropical capital.
Some of the book has been likened to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and I can see the similarities with a mad, renegade white hunter and his mob of native soldiers running riot on boats through the chaos.
I can take Ballard in dribs and drabs but am well appreciative of his writing style and genius. 3.5-4 stars.
John Banville – The Untouchable. A parody of the Cambridge five seen from the point of view of Victor Maskell, ex British Intelligence and art advisor to The Queen – read Anthony Blunt.
As an old man, Maskell has been unmasked as a traitor and the book is his memoirs of his early Soviet recruitment and life.
Naturally, the other Cambridge four are heavily featured. What a bunch of reprobates. Philby was a rampant homosexual, Mcclean an out and out hard drinker etc etc.
The book’s prose is outstanding and I can see why Banville has featured so much in book awards and is regarded as one of the best writers in English at the moment. I’m looking forward to reading more of his stuff. Definitely 5 stars for me.
David Downing – Masaryk Station. Another of these authors who I’ve tried to read before but just haven’t taken to. Until now. Maybe it’s because I’ve got more time to read in these virus days and give some slow starting books a good chance.
Anyway, I’m glad I persevered with this because it turned out very well. This is the sixth John Russell “Station” book. Set in 1948 Berlin, he’s a double agent working for both the recently created CIA and the NKVD. I think this was the last in the series and involves getting stuff out of Hungary and keeping both the Americans and Soviets off his and his family’s backs.
Very reminiscent of Alan Furst and Philip Kerr, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. 5 stars.
Colson Whitehead – The Nickel Boys. After the success of The Underground Railroad (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017), this book is based on the true story of a reform school in Florida that ran a reign of terror for 111 years.
Set in the 1960s and during the Jim Crow Laws, it’s a harrowing tale of racial hatred and abuse. Probably worthy of more than the 3.5 stars I gave it.
Cormac McCarthy – All the Pretty Horses. A 16 year old, last in the line of Texas ranchers sets off for Mexico on horseback with two companions in 1947. It seems idyllic at the start. Sleeping under the stars, some adventure, some comedy. But as with most of McCarthys’s books, it doesn’t keep on like that. There’s violence, outlaws, corruption, love and more.
This book wasn’t as full on violent as Blood Meridian.
McCarthy has to be up there as one on America’s best contemporary authors. His descriptions of the country and prose style are excellent and in the same vein as James Lee Burke. 5 stars.
And that’ll do me for now.
Ah one more that is my current reading material. DeonMeyer – Fever (seems to be entitled Koors in some reviews. Maybe that’s S. African for fever?). What a co-incidence. Written in 2016 it’s about…. Yes, you’ve guessed it. A coronavirus that starts in Africa and is spread from monkeys to humans. Does that sound familiar? The virus seems to have wiped out most of humans on the planet and life is struggling to get organized again. It’s a long read and when I realized what it was exactly about early on, I wondered whether I’d continue. But I have and will finish it now. A fuller review to follow some time.
Happy reading.
Ian Rankin – In a House of Lies. I lap up anything to do with Rebus and this 2018 release didn’t disappoint. He’s investigating an old case and most officers involved in it have a lot to hide. A solid 4 stars.
Peter Robinson – In a Dry Season. Robinson’s Inspector Banks series grows on me and I look forward to reading one on a regular basis. In this installment, a decades old body is discovered after a reservoir is drained. It’s difficult to get to grips with the investigation as the body is 50 years old. 4 stars.
Also read since last November are Friend of the Devil, Innocent Graves and Past Reason Hated.
Mick Herron – Joe Country. I’ve mentioned this series before and the latest installment doesn’t disappoint. It focuses on the washed out spies who are the dregs of MI5 and their dilapidated HQ, “Slough House” at The Barbican, to which they are “exiled” to hopefully end their working days in drudgery and spying anonymity. Hopefully, they’ll resign quietly through frustration but they never do and rise yet again to save the day.
This is the 6th in the series and whilst any of the books can be read as a standalone, it’s probably best to read them in order to fully understand the characters – both those who are still alive in this book and those who haven’t pulled through in the previous ones.
I’d rate this as one of the best spy series I’ve come across in a long time. The books are off beat with plenty of dark, side-splitting humour. A definite 5 stars.
James Lee Burke – Pegasus Descending. I try to ration myself on Burke’s books to have something to look forward to in the future. In this one, Robicheaux gets mixed up with the mob, gambling and murder. As usual, his sidekick, Clete Purcel is always on the point of unleashing severe violence and is “quite a character”.
As always, the plot is tight but more than anything, Burke’s descriptive writing of Louisiana is excellent. If there were ever a series of books that might get me to visit America, this would be it. Louisiana, here I come. 4 stars.
Also read – Jolie Blon’s Bounce. Another 4 stars.
William Kent Kreuger – Ordinary Grace. Normally, a coming of age book wouldn’t interest me for very long but this was an exception. Set in Minnesota in 1961, the events are retold 40 years later. They involve murder, lies, betrayal and adultery.
This is a well written book about a young boy trying to understand the world as it seems to be falling apart around him. 4 stars.
Stuart McBride – Dark Blood. The 6th in the Logan McRae series set in Aberdeen and another solid read. This one revolves around a serial rapist from Northumbria who is relocated to Aberdeen after finishing his sentence.
McBride’s books are gritty and well written. Not for the faint hearted. 4 stars.
Gary Disher – Blood Moon. The 5th in this police procedural series set around Melbourne. Maybe not the best I’ve read but still worth the effort if it introduces people to the author.
A school chaplain is brutally beaten up and a Land Violation official is murdered. Give some of Disher’s books a go. You might be in for a surprise. 3.5 stars.
Peter Carey – My Life as a Fake. More Australiana. An exceptional book that is based on the true story of a literary hoax. What happens when the fake poet start to haunt its maker? The ending in seedy, tropical Malaysia is chaotic. 4 stars.
Robert Crais – The Monkey’s Raincoat. It had been a long time since I’d read any of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series and this happens to be the first. Revolving around sex, drugs and the general depravity of Hollywood, this is probably not Crais’s best effort but the series as a whole is worth delving into. 3 stars.
Also read – Lullaby Town. Better, 4 stars.
William Boyd – A Good Man in Africa. I just had to re-read this after a gap of many years. Morgan Leafy is a jobsworth in the small African republic of Kinjanja. His love of women, booze and hatred of the country isn’t doing much for his job prospects. Until an assignment comes his way that could lead to greater things and hopefully a transfer out of the country.
The poor chap is blackmailed, gets VD, attempts bribery and is confounded by a dead body. Things aren’t going his way.
The book reminds me, in some ways, of Orwell’s “Burmese Days”. Unrequited love of an English woman, shacked up with a local and pretty much a doormat. However, it is an extremely funny book in places and a wake up call to all of us living over here who moan about Thailand. A must read. 5++ stars.
John Connolly – The Whisperers. The 9th in the Charlie Parker series. It had been a long time since I’d read any of these and yet again wasn’t disappointed. This one involves stolen Iraqi antiquities and a large cast of shady characters. As always, there’s an element of the supernatural in the book and gay “bodyguards”, Angel and Louis, are as menacing as ever. A good vs evil romp through Maine and Canada following a gang of US Iraq war vets. 4 stars.
Anne Cleves – Telling Tales. I’d tried to read some of these Vera Stanhope books before but hadn’t got on with them. I’m not sure why (maybe just not in the right mood) because I thought this one was excellent.
Ten years has passed since a murderer was put away and fresh evidence come to light exonerating her. Vera re-opens the investigation. It’s a good plot and every time Vera appears, she reminds me of the TV adaptations and the Northumbrian accent. I’m looking forward to revisiting more of this series. 5 stars.
Benjamin Black – A Death in Summer. I’ve had a few of this author’s books lined up for some time but this was my first foray into them. It turns out that Black is actually John Banville writing under a pseudonym. (More of Banville in a moment).
This is the 5th in the series featuring Hackett and Quirke, a police detective and pathologist set in 1950s Dublin. A powerful local businessman is found dead from a shotgun blast. Suicide or murder?
The plot is well crafted and the prose exceptional. I’ve got 4 or so more to read. I’ll have to ration myself again. 5 stars.
JG Ballard – The Drowned World. It had been a while since I’d dipped into any of this author’s works. Generally regarded as the foremost English writer of dystopia and new wave science fiction of his generation, I’d been through High Rise and Concrete Island before so knew roughly what to expect.
I didn’t think this was quite as good as the other two but it’s still more than worthwhile. London is submerged after solar radiation and global warming have melted the ice caps. The Triassic period has returned to a tropical capital.
Some of the book has been likened to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and I can see the similarities with a mad, renegade white hunter and his mob of native soldiers running riot on boats through the chaos.
I can take Ballard in dribs and drabs but am well appreciative of his writing style and genius. 3.5-4 stars.
John Banville – The Untouchable. A parody of the Cambridge five seen from the point of view of Victor Maskell, ex British Intelligence and art advisor to The Queen – read Anthony Blunt.
As an old man, Maskell has been unmasked as a traitor and the book is his memoirs of his early Soviet recruitment and life.
Naturally, the other Cambridge four are heavily featured. What a bunch of reprobates. Philby was a rampant homosexual, Mcclean an out and out hard drinker etc etc.
The book’s prose is outstanding and I can see why Banville has featured so much in book awards and is regarded as one of the best writers in English at the moment. I’m looking forward to reading more of his stuff. Definitely 5 stars for me.
David Downing – Masaryk Station. Another of these authors who I’ve tried to read before but just haven’t taken to. Until now. Maybe it’s because I’ve got more time to read in these virus days and give some slow starting books a good chance.
Anyway, I’m glad I persevered with this because it turned out very well. This is the sixth John Russell “Station” book. Set in 1948 Berlin, he’s a double agent working for both the recently created CIA and the NKVD. I think this was the last in the series and involves getting stuff out of Hungary and keeping both the Americans and Soviets off his and his family’s backs.
Very reminiscent of Alan Furst and Philip Kerr, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. 5 stars.
Colson Whitehead – The Nickel Boys. After the success of The Underground Railroad (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017), this book is based on the true story of a reform school in Florida that ran a reign of terror for 111 years.
Set in the 1960s and during the Jim Crow Laws, it’s a harrowing tale of racial hatred and abuse. Probably worthy of more than the 3.5 stars I gave it.
Cormac McCarthy – All the Pretty Horses. A 16 year old, last in the line of Texas ranchers sets off for Mexico on horseback with two companions in 1947. It seems idyllic at the start. Sleeping under the stars, some adventure, some comedy. But as with most of McCarthys’s books, it doesn’t keep on like that. There’s violence, outlaws, corruption, love and more.
This book wasn’t as full on violent as Blood Meridian.
McCarthy has to be up there as one on America’s best contemporary authors. His descriptions of the country and prose style are excellent and in the same vein as James Lee Burke. 5 stars.
And that’ll do me for now.
Ah one more that is my current reading material. DeonMeyer – Fever (seems to be entitled Koors in some reviews. Maybe that’s S. African for fever?). What a co-incidence. Written in 2016 it’s about…. Yes, you’ve guessed it. A coronavirus that starts in Africa and is spread from monkeys to humans. Does that sound familiar? The virus seems to have wiped out most of humans on the planet and life is struggling to get organized again. It’s a long read and when I realized what it was exactly about early on, I wondered whether I’d continue. But I have and will finish it now. A fuller review to follow some time.
Happy reading.
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migrant
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Re: Books
Thanks for that, gives me new material 
I'm reading the new installments from John Sandford in his Lucas Davenport series, and the Virgil Flowers series. Both are cops (of different types). The writing is good, plots good and the bantering is excellent.
I'm reading the new installments from John Sandford in his Lucas Davenport series, and the Virgil Flowers series. Both are cops (of different types). The writing is good, plots good and the bantering is excellent.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Re: Books
Read that one last year, fantastic stuff. Amazing to think it was written in 1962 about a scenario that could happen today!lomuamart wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:26 am JG Ballard – The Drowned World. It had been a while since I’d dipped into any of this author’s works. Generally regarded as the foremost English writer of dystopia and new wave science fiction of his generation, I’d been through High Rise and Concrete Island before so knew roughly what to expect.
I didn’t think this was quite as good as the other two but it’s still more than worthwhile. London is submerged after solar radiation and global warming have melted the ice caps. The Triassic period has returned to a tropical capital.
Some of the book has been likened to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and I can see the similarities with a mad, renegade white hunter and his mob of native soldiers running riot on boats through the chaos.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Books
Excellent review lumo! I buy a lot of books from "bookdepository.com". Not really interested in ebooks, rather have a real book to hold.lomuamart wrote:As we’ve all probably got lots of extra time on our hands these days, I thought I’d update reviews on some of the books I’ve read since November 2019. I’ve focused on those that impressed me rather than dwelt on some of the dross I’ve come across.
Many of the old classics are being reprinted and are available post free. Neville Shute(Norway) is one of them. One of his classics was "On the Beach", a story about the World following a nuclear war and the demise of the World population.
At present reading "The Pied Piper" set at the start of World War 2, and written around the same time. The story follows an eccentric old retired Englishman and how he rescues an assortment of kids caught up in the war in Europe.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
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dtaai-maai
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Re: Books
So many books and so little time. No, hang on, there's something wrong with that statement... 
I read a lot (though I'm more focused on binge-watching at the moment), and I'm always interested in what others are reading. In those dim and distant days when I'd go to someone's home, the first thing I'd look at was their bookshelves. It's more difficult in this age of e-books, but this thread allows a virtual peek.
Much of my reading is done in bed, lying down (sitting up in bed gives me a bad back), and I currently have a black eye after nodding off and dropping my kindle...
At the moment I'm in sci-fi/fantasy mode, often re-reading books I first read 30-40 years ago (skimming through my kindle library: Raymond E Feist, David Eddings, Asimov, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Robin Hobb, Trudi Canavan, Heinlein), and I've also got some historical fiction lined up (Simon Scarrow, Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell).
But I'll definitely be downloading some of the books mentioned above. Keep up the good work, lomu et al. 
I read a lot (though I'm more focused on binge-watching at the moment), and I'm always interested in what others are reading. In those dim and distant days when I'd go to someone's home, the first thing I'd look at was their bookshelves. It's more difficult in this age of e-books, but this thread allows a virtual peek.
Much of my reading is done in bed, lying down (sitting up in bed gives me a bad back), and I currently have a black eye after nodding off and dropping my kindle...
At the moment I'm in sci-fi/fantasy mode, often re-reading books I first read 30-40 years ago (skimming through my kindle library: Raymond E Feist, David Eddings, Asimov, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Robin Hobb, Trudi Canavan, Heinlein), and I've also got some historical fiction lined up (Simon Scarrow, Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell).
But I'll definitely be downloading some of the books mentioned above. Keep up the good work, lomu et al.
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migrant
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Re: Books
There is a new James Lee Burke / Dave Robichoux novel out, it is very good
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Re: Books
Yes, "A Private Cathedral". Read it earlier in the month and agree that it's good. However, I felt that maybe he got a bit too supernatural in it. Still a great read but if that's going to be a developing trend, I'd prefer that he didn't go much further down that road.
Keep it gritty and realistic.
Keep it gritty and realistic.
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migrant
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Re: Books
Agreed all around!!lomuamart wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:59 am Yes, "A Private Cathedral". Read it earlier in the month and agree that it's good. However, I felt that maybe he got a bit too supernatural in it. Still a great read but if that's going to be a developing trend, I'd prefer that he didn't go much further down that road.
Keep it gritty and realistic.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Re: The books and reading thread
Being mad on sci-fi I've started working through Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. They're often described as 'space opera' and are well and truly out there - that man has a vivid imagination.
Read Excession and Consider Phlebas years ago, recently finished Against A Dark Background, and have now started Surface Detail.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but it floats my boat!
Read Excession and Consider Phlebas years ago, recently finished Against A Dark Background, and have now started Surface Detail.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but it floats my boat!
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
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dtaai-maai
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Re: The books and reading thread
I'm also a sci-fi fan, but my attention starts to wander when it gets too scientific. I'm much more oriented towards fantasy. Give me a bit of magic and a dragon or two and I'm a happy chap. I'm working my way through Raymond E Feist's Riftwar Cycle at the moment.
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migrant
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Re: The books and reading thread
Have you tried the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher? My kids turned me on to it and they are fun reads. He is a wizard that advertises as such in Chicago. 17 or 18 books in the series and each one fundtaai-maai wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:16 am I'm also a sci-fi fan, but my attention starts to wander when it gets too scientific. I'm much more oriented towards fantasy. Give me a bit of magic and a dragon or two and I'm a happy chap. I'm working my way through Raymond E Feist's Riftwar Cycle at the moment.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.