The books and reading thread

[oakdale160]

I am fascinated by how you can get "INTO" a book more than a film or TV show. Just yesterday, I was reading one of Philippa Gregorey's books about Tudor England. After reading for an hour or so, my phone rang. I surfaced-- Where was I ?, Oh yes, Thailand. What year is it, what century is this ? oh yes, 2018. It all took only a mili-second, but was very real.

[Lost]

...After reading for an hour or so, my phone rang. I surfaced-- Where was I ?, Oh yes, Thailand. What year is it, what century is this ? oh yes, 2018. It all took only a mili-second, but was very real.

Has nothing to do with the book, that. It's a phenomenon known as 'getting old'.

[handdrummer]

"Easier to get into than tv." There are no commercial breaks in books, no fake emotions, no music to manipulate you, your imagination supplies the visuals, you can re-read passages, stop and contemplate what you've read, spend as much time as you like or have reading a book, you can return to the book anytime you like and can share it with other people, books encourage thinking, tv obliterates thinking, books don't try to manipulate you into buying a product, you can take a book with you and continue reading at your convenience, you can trade a book for another book.

[PeteC]

^ Good words. Quoting them to a 13 year old with the hope they will sink in! Pete

[oakdale160]

When I wasa child my mother read 2 books to me repeatedly-- tales of Greek Mythology. The Heros and THe Heros of Asgard. I kept those books for several decades, sadly lost them in a flood. I would take them down, read an odd page and replace them. I loved those books. Somehow cant feel the same way about DVDs.

[handdrummer]

When I was 5 yrs. old my mother began taking me the library where I would pick out the books I wanted. At night, before bedtime she would read to me and I learned to read at that age. I've never lost the habit of reading daily.
The Blue and Yellow Book Exchange is my favorite shop in Hua Hin.
Take away anything but leave my books.

[migrant]

I've just been going through the books I've read this year. I keep notes and my own ratings. Those just show how little I've been through which is partly explained by being absent from Thailand due to family reasons and just not having the time as golf takes over.
Anyway, with no reviews (except one) and at the expense of probably repeating myself, here are some of the latest reads that I thought were decent:

Anything by Kate Atkinson that features Jackson Brodie.
James Lee Burke - anything
Denis Lehane - likewise
Le Carre - The Silent Pilgrim. (Thought I'd read it before but I hadn't)
Joanna Cannon - Three Things About Elsie
Julian Barnes - The Only Story

Just got notice there is a new Dave Robicheaux novel out "The New Iberia Blues"

[lomuamart]

Thanks for that.
James Lee Burke is a hell of a writer - and that's coming from a Brit.
Cormac McCarthy is pretty good as well. As a matter of fact, I'm going to put "No Country for Old Men" on the video now.
And for anyone who hasn't heard of Cormac McCarthy before, just get hold of "Blood Meridian". It might just change your mind.

[dtaai-maai]

So many books, so many authors (new and old), so many genres even - and so little time!

I've been swept away by historical fiction over the last year or so. There's a lot of blood & guts Roman stuff which is quite entertaining, but most recently I've been working my way through the books of the prolific Conn Iggulden, who started off with the Romans (The Emperor series), moved on to the Mongols (The Conqueror series), then came west to cover the Wars of the Roses, which I'm reading at the moment. Next stop, the Dark Ages.

Entertainment and learning all in one, what more could you ask?

When I wasa child my mother read 2 books to me repeatedly-- tales of Greek Mythology. The Heros and THe Heros of Asgard. I kept those books for several decades, sadly lost them in a flood. I would take them down, read an odd page and replace them. I loved those books. Somehow cant feel the same way about DVDs.

With you all the way on books v. DVDs, though I did manage to adapt to a kindle while in Thailand. Greek mythology though? Isn't Asgard where all the Norse gods hang out? I'm surprised your garden hasn't been invaded by hordes of angry Scandinavian snowbirds out to rape and pillage.

[Lost]

Dtaai Maai, have you read 'A City of Thieves' yet? Set during the World War II Siege of Leningrad. Shortish book. Really good read and one I'm sure you'd enjoy. Historically accurate with some dark humour and very dark moments.

Lomu, I think you'd very much enjoy the book, too.

Here is the full book (below) but I only read a good ol' paperback. No Kindle, no online, just doesn't feel the same...

https://www.anderson5.net/cms/lib02/SC0 ... hieves.pdf

[lomuamart]

Following on from another thread. Just my views of decent reads. Take them as you will:
James Lee Burke - A Morning for Flamingoes *****
Ditto author - New Iberia Blues - (didn't like it. The situation is getting stale) **.
Deon Meyer - Trackers (South African writer). That was a good *****.
Tim Dorsey - No Sunscreen for the Dead. Pretty mad but different so definitely ****
Craig Russell - The Devil Aspect - a sort of **** mad ending.

[lomuamart]

It's been another long time since I mentioned any books so here's a precis of some that have impressed me lately:

Jane Harper An Aussie writer. I've read "The Dry" and "The Lost Man" both of which were excellent. Crime stuff but that description doesn't do the books justice, especially regarding the latter. Don't expect fast paced stuff. There's a third, "Force of Nature" that I've got on the Kindle but haven't read yet.

Andrew Taylor Historical fiction set during The Restoration, Charles the Second, The Fire of London etc. There are three books, "The Ashes of London", "The Fire Court" and "The King's Evil". I'd suggest reading them in order as the same characters run through all the books and they'll make more sense that way.

Interesting trivia to do with the books - The Fire Court was set up to arbitrate disputes between owners and tenants of property damaged by the fire. Surprising, for me, the court was actually fairly socially minded and would normally rule in the tenants' favour.

And The King's Evil. Well, I thought it was going to be about how Charles the Second was a bad man. Wrong. The King's Evil was scrofula. I had to Google that and it's TB. The King did laying on of hands and people thought he could cure it.

Oh and the Duke of Buckingham didn't sound like a decent sort.

Louise Doughty "Black Water". Set in Indonesia, the book revolves around a Dutch "security consultant/spy" who's looking back on his life there with particular emphasis on the massacres of communists in 1965.

Until I read the book and then did a bit of research, I never realised just how bad it had been there. Brutal, and the protagonist knew what he was doing by passing lists of people on. It's a very bleak book that reminded me a lot of Orwell's "Burmese Days". A must read for anyone mildly interested in how bad things can get in SE Asia.

Another Louise Doughty book - "Platform Seven". Not a bad book but mainly mentioned because it revolves around Peterborough station which is where I get back to on visits to the UK and then get picked up and taken to the family home. It's a strange book involving suicide victims/ghosts who've topped themselves by throwing themselves in front of freight trains from, guess what, platform seven.

"Oh yeah, I know that Tesco store up to the left of the station entrance". Blah blah blah. The book just brought back memories.

Philip Kerr His last book "Metropolis" which has Bernie Gunther at the beginning of his career with the Berlin murder squad. Maybe not the best book in the series but for anyone who likes Bernie Gunther, well it's got to be read.

Guy Gunaratne "In Our Mad and Furious City". A modern book about London and friends. I was amazed that after over 20 years away from London, I still recognised most of the vernacular - innit. It's set in a fictitious estate in NW London (probably inspired by Stonebridge Park). Well worth a read.

That's about it really. Le Carre has got a new book out "Agent Running in the Field". From the reviews, it's spy but set around Brexit. I haven't found it yet to download but am persevering.

[buksida]

Nice will look for some of those.

Currently reading 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi. Its set in 23rd century Bangkok when the oceans have risen and the oil has been depleted. Thailand has become a world leader in boitechnology. Fascinating stuff.

Would anybody be interested in an ebook swap/repository? We could open a public Google drive folder and upload ebooks to it for sharing and download between members.

[lomuamart]

Yeah, I'd definitely be up for a share/swap.

But you'll have to guide me through things. I used to keep all my downloaded stuff on the hard drive but regularly deleted them as they became redundant. I thought I was "tidying up" but....

However, I now keep any downloads so there's that option from me. Unfortunately, there are only 60 odd books on the hard drive now.

But the Calibre library has 1,990 books. That's pretty much everything I've downloaded over the years. If there's a way to share that then the world's your oyster but I won't guarantee the readability of all those titles. There's some total shite in there!!

[sateeb]

https://www.limetorrents.info/Agent-Run ... 37356.html

The new Le Carre available here