Last Book You Read....

[scottmcleanscontacts]

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

My 11th book of lockdown and could hardly put it down. Looks at geographical traits of major countries/regions and the impact that's had on their success, or lack of it. Very accessible and a fascinating insight into things you don't really think about when considering the politics of the world. Highly recommended.

I have this book, but still to read it.

Now you've said this, it's next on the list for me.

[scottmcleanscontacts]

Read it years ago. There was a "pwopa nawty" chapter where he travels to a match on a train with a bunch of skinheads.

Fat Tony, basically.

Who it's then implied gets his arse handed to him.

[paul-r-cfc]

I have this book, but still to read it.

Now you've said this, it's next on the list for me.

It was recommended to me about two yeats ago but has sat on my shelf since Christmas 2018. Read a lot of dross before I got round to it. It doesn't go into a huge amount of detail on most of the issues but makes up for that with the scale of his analysis.

[scottmcleanscontacts]

It was recommended to me about two yeats ago but has sat on my shelf since Christmas 2018. Read a lot of dross before I got round to it. It doesn't go into a huge amount of detail on most of the issues but makes up for that with the scale of his analysis.

I think I've had it about as long. Sure it was picked up in the WH Smith in hospital when my daughter was born I have no idea why it's sat so long though.

[DrewDon]

'The Girl with Seven Names' by Hyeonseo Lee. The memoir of a North Korean defector. I'd been meaning to get round to it for a while now. A really moving read, filled with so many examples of incredible courage, bravery and sacrifice. Some of the stories are just remarkable, borderline unbelievable. 

[Monkey Tennis]

Summer by Edith Wharton.

Loved it.  Tremendously evocative with an underlying sadness.

[tongue_tied_danny]

Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher

I'm a huge fan of the TV series so I thought I'd check out the book.

Although there are a few crucial differences the basic storyline is more or less the same. A detective investigates a strange case in 1920s Berlin.

As with the series, the degenerate, decadent nightlife of the Weimar period plays a huge part. There are a number of graphically detailed scenes of drug abuse and sexual exhibitionism in the cabaret clubs. It kinda makes me wish I'd been around in that era...

A well written ripping yarn. 

 

[DiegoDiego]

American Psycho
Can see what Easton Ellis is trying to say, and his depictions of violence etc certainly hold your attention in a very visceral way, but overall not enjoying this massively. All the long descriptions of what everyone is wearing get quite tedious after a while, and the lack of a coherent plot isn't great. I also in general think that repeatedly referencing pop culture and brands etc is in most cases a fairly cheap trick in novels, and this isn't changing my mind. One of relatively few examples where the film is better than the book imo. Have 80-odd pages to go, hoping to finish it tonight. 

My thoughts exactly.

Talking of '80s USA, I might give Bonfire of the Vanities another read.

[Miguel Sanchez]

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Is it better than The High Window? I'd say so. Is it better than Farewell, My Lovely? I don't think so. Is it better than The Big Sleep? It's comparable.

[Moomintroll]

Watership Down, read it several times through my life but bloody hell that is one dark book.

[RH33]

I finished the Rebus series couple of weeks ago. Couldn’t get into the short stories at all. Waiting on Kitchen Confidential Arriving.

[Academically Deficient]

One Two Three Four by Craig Brown

150 v. short chapters over 650 pages.

Although the outline narrative is the life of the fab four up to 1970, it's not boringly linear. It goes off at tangents and picks up on the many weird coincidences that littered their career and focuses on a lot of the "little people" that other authors ignore. Like Big Mal Evans' story which I wasn't aware of.

The thread running through it is Brian Epstein. It's a very different take from other famous biographers of the Fab Four. I literally couldn't put it down.

It doesn't go into any muso details unlike others, just focuses on the amazing story.

The best book I've read about The Beatles, and I've read a few.

10/10

[paul-r-cfc]

One Football, No Nets

The latest book that has been rescued from an eternity of gathering dust in my shelf, and again, I can't work out why I have taken this long to read it. Think I bought it when I came across a tweet from the author trying to punt preorders about 18 months ago.

Basically about an English nomadic football coach, Justin Walley, who in his role African president of Conifa, finds himself with the opportunity of coaching the Matabeleland national team, representing the Western Zimbabwean region. The book is written like a diary, describing his mental life as he attempts to get this ramshackle team to a standard where they will be able to compete at the Conifa World Football Cup in London.

Amazing, uplifting story, told very well by the author. Makes you want to pack in your job and f**k off to the other side of the planet..... almost. Recommended for football fans and travellers alike. The sheer endearing madness of life in that part of the world is captured perfectly and really makes you root for the team. Was damn near cheering at certain points.

Think this is now available on Amazon. Well worth a read.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

The book of Exodus

In which Pharaoh sets the templates for Bond villains to come by passing up seven glaring opportunities to decapitate Moses.

[Academically Deficient]

Imagine all the great Jewish comedy and fiction we'd have missed out on if he'd succeeded. Like The Bible.

[Monkey Tennis]

I finished Broken Greek by Pete Paphides during the week.

By Christ, it was good.  A sort of Fever Pitch through music, but more successful.  Healthily, for a work by a music critic, this biography arrives, devoid of any snobbery, displaying huge regard for decidedly uncool bands like Abba and even Racey for God's sake, alongside others his older brother would consider acceptable.

It's a long book that spans only a few childhood years.  I'm of a similar age to the author, enabling loads of the references to hit home.  I don't think that's at all necessary though, because the writer guards against offering mere cheap nostalgia.

He was obviously a sensitive, weird sort of child, and the immigrant experience of his parents is a huge part of his story. I don't know how he pulls it off, but Paphides manages to write with the assured, knowledge and insight of an intelligent adult steeped in musical criticism, whilst seeing the world through the eyes of a stumbling baffled kid.

It's pretty magnificent.  Read it whether or not you're about fifty, or into music.  The only qualification needed to access this book is to be a person.

[John MacLean]

Anti Social: How Online Extremists Broke America by Andrew Marantz. 

Absolutely tremendous. Possibly my book of 2020 alongside Stuart Maconie's The Nanny State Made Me. 

There's a lot of footnotes in Marantz's book which makes for a longer read but it is well worth it. 

[DrewDon]

"Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which I think was also mentioned by another poster recently on this thread. I quite enjoyed it. I thought it got better as it went on, but perhaps one small criticism would be that it spread itself a bit too thin. Still, it was a poignant read and something a bit different. 

I'm now going to get into "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin.

[Duszek]

magnificent. An engaging, poignant, sometimes gruesome, often hilarious, collection of short stories. ‘Mouses’ in particular is genius. Shame he didn’t write more before he died but he seems to have have a grim time of it, health-wise.

 

 

[Highland Capital]

I see Stephen King is a Buckie Thistle fan now.