What are you reading?

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  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Never heard of it. Thanks for the tip, @timmer.
  • Posts: 2,341
    I have been a big John Grisham fan but I am just not feeling his new book, Grey Mountain. It started out decent but about 60% of the way thru I have lost interest. Sorry Grisham.

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    This thread.
  • OHMSS69 wrote: »
    I have been a big John Grisham fan but I am just not feeling his new book, Grey Mountain. It started out decent but about 60% of the way thru I have lost interest. Sorry Grisham.

    I've got 'the innocent man' on my bookshelf. have you read that? is it any good?
  • Campbell2Campbell2 Epsilon Rho Rho house, Bending State University
    Posts: 299
    A Perfect Spy by John le Carré, awesome.
  • edited February 2015 Posts: 4,622

    Campbell2 wrote: »
    A Perfect Spy by John le Carré, awesome.

    I found that book to be a bit of a slog, but well worth it in the end.
    It does ultimately come together well, I think.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    I'm currently reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. I have read the first 4 chapters (Jonathon Harker's diary entries). I shall be sinking my teeth into some more of this book later.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Don't know if we can count Bond novels but I'm working my
    Way through the J Gardner Bond books, haven't read them in ages.
    Read licence renewed last week and I've just started For Special Services.
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard, set in 1919 Paris (mainly), this is a well written easy to read book. Book one of the Wide World trilogy, I will be reading books two and three when they come out.
  • Posts: 159
    9781402714429_p0_v2_s260x420.JPG A very interesting and comprehensive analysis of the hippie movement by Barry Miles. It covers the 1965 - 1971 era and it is written by a man who was present and has experienced many facts, concerts and has met many famous people at the time. It's translated in many languages and of course i have the Greek one.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    2001-A SPACE ODYSSEY
    This novelization is great, I had forgotten just how great . Clarke was a genius.

    If you loved the film, this book gives you a completely different angle to it all.
    If you did not understand scenes in the film, this book explains them without making you look dumb.
    If you did not care for the film at all, chances are you will still love the book if you are into sci-fi, anthropology, philosophy or mysteries.

  • edited February 2015 Posts: 1,068
    8836B951-C96B-486B-A03C-F45189A9C35E.jpg

    What a dreary read: it's truly hard work and I'm amazed I've stuck with it so far to get past the half way point, speaking of which is there any point in continuing if you have read it?

    I find the characters very flat and bland with little interest in the actions/fortunes of those whom I assume to be the lead story driven protagonists. The writing style whom I believe to be done completely by a ghost writer is like pulling teeth. With it being a spy/action story with the all action Harrison Fordesque Jack Ryan always saving the World it's not a patch on previous books.

    I threw the towel in with Net Force and look likely to bin this one too. Don't do it if the thought crossed your mind. It's not so much a book I couldn't put down as one I can't bring myself to pick up.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Re-reading Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child. Yes, again.
    This is my favorite (and I like all Reacher books) because I think his writing is really superb throughout this one. I must say I truly enjoyed his latest one, Personal, too. Very worthwhile. I liked it even better than the previous two in the series.

    Also reading a bit of Harry Potter - Azkaban - when I need something light (like for on train reading).

    Plan on going on to Ian Rankin's Rebus next. Starting with my very favorite in that series, Resurrection Men (from 2002). :)
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Re-reading Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child. Yes, again.
    This is my favorite (and I like all Reacher books) because I think his writing is really superb throughout this one.
    I've got this one in my 'to read' pile - along with about a dozen or more books! Hope I enjoy it as much as you do @4EverBonded. :-)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    The Ares Virus by A P Bateman.
    Interesting thriller, very much in the Clive Cussler mold. :)
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    2001-A SPACE ODYSSEY
    This novelization is great, I had forgotten just how great . Clarke was a genius.

    If you loved the film, this book gives you a completely different angle to it all.
    If you did not understand scenes in the film, this book explains them without making you look dumb.
    If you did not care for the film at all, chances are you will still love the book if you are into sci-fi, anthropology, philosophy or mysteries.
    Speaking of which, I'm reading the novelization of Doctor Strangelove. Recommended to all those who liked the movie.
  • Mi6LisbonBranchMi6LisbonBranch Lisbon, Portugal
    Posts: 243
    Winston Churchill's WWII memories! very nice reading and a very rich and thorough material!
  • Lee child - Nothing to lose . I've only four Reacher books left now.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Samuel Bjork a new Scandinavian author
    Paula Hawkins - the girl on the train.
  • Posts: 15,044
    I am finishing Our Man in Havana.
  • Posts: 9,840
    The Facts of Death a good Bond novel that I am enjoying rereading
  • Posts: 1,895
    About three-quarters of the way through The Girl on the Train. Having a heck of a time staying with it. Rather than the Hitchcockian page turner the reviews led me to believe, whatever anticipation I feel for the climax is blunted by a narrative that seems repetitious and slow.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Yes, I read that some folks found the author's writing not ... well. as gripping or excellent as the buzz makes it out to be.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    INTO THE BLUE by Robert Goddard.
  • Posts: 1,817
    Roman Warfare, by Adrian Goldsworthy.
  • A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,115
    2001-A SPACE ODYSSEY
    This novelization is great, I had forgotten just how great . Clarke was a genius.

    If you loved the film, this book gives you a completely different angle to it all.
    If you did not understand scenes in the film, this book explains them without making you look dumb.
    If you did not care for the film at all, chances are you will still love the book if you are into sci-fi, anthropology, philosophy or mysteries.

    @Thunderfinger, I agree it's a fantastic book. But is it really a novelization? Technically, the book was written simultaneously with the script, with the indulgence of being its own thing. Also, I'm not sure the book's angle is completely different from the film's. There certainly are a few details (e.g. Jupiter - Saturn) which differ, but the overall story and its message is quite the same, no? While Clarke's ideas haven't all been visualized in the film, especially in the last section of the book, most of them have found a place in the film, either explicitly or implicitly. Kubrick left out a lot of details because he felt the movie would be better if more was left to our imagination. A general misconception then is that the film version doesn't have to suggest aliens if you prefer a more biblical or spiritual interpretation for example. I personally feel that once you've read the book, it's practically impossible to go with any other interpretation. The story quite simply makes most sense when the alien angle is used. The sequel, 2010, which IMO is a far better movie than many claim it is, also leaves nothing to the imagination anymore. This sequel is also where the movie and the book versions of 2001 converge. As soon as you are prepared to accept the sequel as authentic - and why wouldn't you, despite Clarke's suggestion that every next book in the series takes the liberty of retcons and such - everything in 2001, the movie, is linked to the alien plot of 2001, the novel.

    That said, I'm a fan of both. 2001 is my favourite film of all time, the book series one that I tend to go back to almost as often as Fleming. ;)
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,560
    I'm about halfway through You Only Live Twice
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    @DarthDimi, what I enjoyed the most in the book was perhaps the first chapters, set in the ancient past.

    As I understand it, Clarke and Kubrick cooperated on both the book and film to various degrees. Talk about a dreamteam!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,115
    Oh yes! Clarke and Kubrick kept sending each other material but Kubrick was of course tough to work with; very stubborn. I can imagine Clarke getting slightly frustrated because of all the changes Kubrick would send him. Setting most of the Discovery mission close to Jupiter versus Saturn in the book (because Saturn would have been too expensive at the time to recreate for a movie), Kubrick practically forced Clarke to use Jupiter in the next couple of books too. So in that respect, 2010, 2061 and 3001 are more direct sequels to the movie 2001 than to the book 2001. ;-)
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