What are you reading tonight?

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Rjs37
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Rjs37 » Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:48 am

Just finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was a tough read in all honesty. It kept doing flashbacks and weird side-steps that didn't contribute anything at all. It could have easily been much shorter without losing anything essential to the story.

Being a fan of fantasy and having always been intrigued by the mythology of gods, I thought this was going to be perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the story and the characters, I just weren't a huge fan of Neil's writing style. Felt overly contrived to say the least.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Bruce Rioja » Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:07 pm

Rjs37 wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:48 am
Just finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was a tough read in all honesty. It kept doing flashbacks and weird side-steps that didn't contribute anything at all. It could have easily been much shorter without losing anything essential to the story.

Being a fan of fantasy and having always been intrigued by the mythology of gods, I thought this was going to be perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the story and the characters, I just weren't a huge fan of Neil's writing style. Felt overly contrived to say the least.
I know exactly what you mean, Fella, sounds like an effort.

The other thing that pisses me off is the over-introduction of meaningless characters whose names you still have to remember. Robert Goddard's a bugger for doing this.
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by TANGODANCER » Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:49 pm

Just started Night School. The latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book.
Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Rjs37 » Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:33 pm

Bruce Rioja wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:07 pm
Rjs37 wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:48 am
Just finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was a tough read in all honesty. It kept doing flashbacks and weird side-steps that didn't contribute anything at all. It could have easily been much shorter without losing anything essential to the story.

Being a fan of fantasy and having always been intrigued by the mythology of gods, I thought this was going to be perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the story and the characters, I just weren't a huge fan of Neil's writing style. Felt overly contrived to say the least.
I know exactly what you mean, Fella, sounds like an effort.

The other thing that pisses me off is the over-introduction of meaningless characters whose names you still have to remember. Robert Goddard's a bugger for doing this.
Yep, there was that too! I was struggling to keep track by the end of it when minor characters would randomly resurface towards the end lol. Also most of the gods in the book weren't even referred to by their real names, so unless you're really clued up on mainly obscure gods then good luck guessing who they are from their descriptions!

Saying that, his new book Norse Mythology might be right up my street, and could give me some of that knowledge that I appear to be lacking.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by HMX » Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:35 am

Just finished reading The Summer That Melted Everything. On first impression, I thought it might've been a Young Adult book. Nope, definitely not. It tells the story of a young lad whose father invites the devil to Ohio; the devil turns out to be a young black boy, and that summer turns out to be sweltering. It tackles a few difficult issues and it's a must-read.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Prufrock » Sat May 06, 2017 9:58 am

Just finished Party Animals: My Family and Other Communists by the journalist David Aaronovitch.

It's an autobiography of his childhood growing up in a family where both parents were card-carrying members of the UKCP. The first two-thirds are a fairly standard autobiography is a fascinating family and would be worth reading if that's where it stopped. The final third details things he later find out about his parents secret lives, CP related and not, and is absolutely fascinating.

Highly recommend.
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by LeverEnd » Thu May 11, 2017 12:12 pm

TANGODANCER wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:49 pm
Just started Night School. The latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book.
Cheers for the heads up. Picked up in supermarket last night.

Shall we intrigue the forum further with an extended discussion about Cruise's suitability to play him on screen? :grin:
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Thu May 11, 2017 12:26 pm

LeverEnd wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:12 pm
TANGODANCER wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:49 pm
Just started Night School. The latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book.
Cheers for the heads up. Picked up in supermarket last night.

Shall we intrigue the forum further with an extended discussion about Cruise's suitability to play him on screen? :grin:
Just about to start Personal after finishing the Parsifal Mosaic by Ludlum. Cruise is a midget, but currently watching him and the lovely Rebecca Ferguson in Mission Impossible :)

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Worthy4England » Thu May 11, 2017 12:29 pm

Abdoulaye's Twin wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:26 pm
LeverEnd wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:12 pm
TANGODANCER wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:49 pm
Just started Night School. The latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book.
Cheers for the heads up. Picked up in supermarket last night.

Shall we intrigue the forum further with an extended discussion about Cruise's suitability to play him on screen? :grin:
Just about to start Personal after finishing the Parsifal Mosaic by Ludlum. Cruise is a midget, but currently watching him and the lovely Rebecca Ferguson in Mission Impossible :)
As with most of Ludlum's stuff (the ones written by Ludlum), a great potboiler... :-)

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Thu May 11, 2017 12:31 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:29 pm
Abdoulaye's Twin wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:26 pm
LeverEnd wrote:
Thu May 11, 2017 12:12 pm
TANGODANCER wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:49 pm
Just started Night School. The latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book.
Cheers for the heads up. Picked up in supermarket last night.

Shall we intrigue the forum further with an extended discussion about Cruise's suitability to play him on screen? :grin:
Just about to start Personal after finishing the Parsifal Mosaic by Ludlum. Cruise is a midget, but currently watching him and the lovely Rebecca Ferguson in Mission Impossible :)
As with most of Ludlum's stuff (the ones written by Ludlum), a great potboiler... :-)
Preferable to Mills n Boon :)

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by TANGODANCER » Thu May 11, 2017 7:52 pm

Not long finished James Lee Burke's "The Jealous Kind" His books never disappoint. Currently reading Rory Clement's "Corpus" a pre-war spy novel, but finding it a bit hard going (plodding) ..
Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Rjs37 » Thu May 11, 2017 11:30 pm

I most recently finished The Sudden Appearance of Hope from Claire North. Pretty good story about a girl who everyone forgets. Interesting concept. Definitely a fan of the author.

Right now I'm taking a brief break from fantasy/scifi and reading a non-fiction / self-help book with the name: (take a deep breath)
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Not read enough yet to come to any conclusions, but it seems alright so far. It's a pretty short book for £10 though. Maybe that's what its trying to teach me not to give a f*ck about!

PS: Been using Goodreads a lot recently. Anyone else on it? Gotta say it is really convenient for tracking your book reading habits. Love the fact they've got a reading challenge on there too.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Dujon » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:36 am

Alan Turing - The Enigma a biography put together by Andrew Hodges.
This is a deeply researched piece of work. Hodges has had access to the family records - letters, photographs and suchlike - and to
Cambridge archives, war records and friends. It's very well written, unlike many biographies I have read; it's also quite a tome, running to over 700 pages of not-very-large typeface. At this point I am only just over half way through so there's a couple of more days reading to come.

I've ordered a book mentioned by TANGO elsewhere on the site (Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore). It sounds extremely interesting and with over 5000 'votes' on one bookshop site has a rating of 4/5, which bodes well. It'll take a few days to arrive so that'll give me the chance to finish the one above.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:12 am

I read that ALF signed a 2 year contract. Everywhere you go on t'interweb it is.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by TANGODANCER » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:35 pm

Agent of the State....A novel by Roger Pearce, former Special Branch member and eventually commander in real life. Good Reviews from Financial Times, Guardian and Irish Independent. "The hypocracy of the establishment" is one description on the back cover. Good story so far.
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Dujon » Thu Jun 08, 2017 12:45 am

Nothing better to do, AT? :)

I can't afford to buy everything you recommend, TANGO, slow down a bit will you? :help:

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:52 am

Dujon wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2017 12:45 am
Nothing better to do, AT? :)

I can't afford to buy everything you recommend, TANGO, slow down a bit will you? :help:
It's in every other thread so I figured why not :wink:

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by Prufrock » Mon Jun 12, 2017 12:10 am

Just finished "A girl is a half-formed thing" by Eimear McBride. Can't remember the last time I read a book that affected me like that. Real visceral punch you in the stomach stuff. It takes investment (it's internal monologue/stream of consciousness) so rarely any full sentences. I tend to be v cynical about gimmicky style but this really works and is powerful. 10/10 recco.
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Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.

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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by TANGODANCER » Mon Jun 12, 2017 9:16 am

Dujon wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2017 12:45 am
Nothing better to do, AT? :)

I can't afford to buy everything you recommend, TANGO, slow down a bit will you? :help:
Neither can I Dujon. I'm a member of the local library... :wink:
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Re: What are you reading tonight?

Post by LeverEnd » Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:29 pm

Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks. Not read one of his for ages, but it looks interesting and the but I've read do far is as well written as ever. He's got a great sense of history, Birdsong is one of my favourite novels. Engleby was a great read too.
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