Last Book You Read....

[coprolite]

30 minutes ago, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

Will give this a read sounds terrific, cheers mate.

-----------------------------

I am just finishing Dune, having listened to the audiobook and seen the film earlier this year. I love Dune, I am now a Dune-head. I have the Mars Trilogy ready to go and will go as far as the weird sex stuff in the Dune sequels allows, but don't really know my science fiction very well at all. What are some other series/books people would recommend? 

I'm a casual sci fi fan and would say that the Culture series is an absolute must. 

[Richey Edwards]

Currently reading A Christmas Carol & Other Christmas Writings.

I had never read this before, though obviously know about the story as there has been countless films of it.

For a few years I have been meaning to read this at around Christmas time but never got round to it until now.

[Richey Edwards]

On 12/12/2021 at 14:43, DiegoDiego said:

I just finished reading the last book in Miklós Bánffy's The Writing on the Wall trilogy. I honestly don't think I'll read a better book in all my life.

Set at the start of the twentieth century it follows a Hungarian aristocrat who tries to find happiness and meaning in his life while his countrymen sleepwalk into war and chance conspires to thwart his desires.

The blurb likened it to Tolstoy but I assumed that was lazy marketing/journalism. I genuinely think it's better than Tolstoy and I am a massive Tolstoy fan.

One thing I will say is that the last hundred or so pages are incredibly sad. Probably not helped by the fact I read the final pages in Cluj-Napoca where much of it is set. It's also ironic that the book finishes as the men are off to (the first world) war and Bánffy finished the manuscript in May 1940.

Bánffy himself was an a bit of a polymath and negotiated Hungary's entry to the League of Nations.

An incredible work of art.

I have never even heard of this. It sounds interesting and I might need to check it out.

[scottsdad]

Thunder at Dawn by Alan Evans. 

Naval adventure set in World War 1. I've been looking for something like this since I finished Julian Stockwin's Kydd series and have been very pleasantly surprised. Just my kind of thing. 

And, as a bonus, I was cleaning out my bookcase and found  a Geoffrey Jenkins and a Desmond Bagley book I ordered from abebooks months ago and forgot all about. That's next week sorted out. 

[DiegoDiego]

I have never even heard of this. It sounds interesting and I might need to check it out.

It was published just as the war started and then the communists banned it as it's all about the aristocracy, it didn't get an English translation until the nineties. I guess that's why it's down somewhat under the radar, being Hungarian rather than French or Russian probably didn't help either. It's an absolute masterpiece though.

[NotThePars]

On 02/12/2021 at 14:21, Detournement said:

It's been nearly two years since I finished the sixth Knausgaard book and I don't know if I will ever be able to handle a reread but I do miss reading him. The football book sounds good.

Aye same. I've hesitantly started Spring which promises some more of that good oversharing Karl Ove.

On 10/12/2021 at 21:07, Richey Edwards said:

I have never seen the film.

The book is fucking terrible though. Genuinely one of the worst books I've read.

One of the adaptations which is far better than the source material.

On 14/12/2021 at 08:51, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

Will give this a read sounds terrific, cheers mate.

-----------------------------

I am just finishing Dune, having listened to the audiobook and seen the film earlier this year. I love Dune, I am now a Dune-head. I have the Mars Trilogy ready to go and will go as far as the weird sex stuff in the Dune sequels allows, but don't really know my science fiction very well at all. What are some other series/books people would recommend? 

Read The Dispossessed. The Expanse is also a series that starts off alright and gets better and better as it goes. Books 5/6-9 are tremendous.

Also second GBH's response @DiegoDiegothat Banffy book sounds class. Gonna start that after the final Expanse book.

[DiegoDiego]

There are actually three books in the Banffy series. Each can be read individually with satisfying endings but if you make it to the end of the first book you'll want to read all three.

Another thing I found interesting about it was the similarities between the Austro-Hungarian union and the United Kingdom, with regards to Austria not really giving a f**k about Hungary and not taking their parliament seriously. The author also paints a pretty scathing picture of the Hungarian parliament, where the majority only care about petty party politics.

The best facet of the books are the heartbreaking love stories, characters you love being put through the absolute wringer.

[Richey Edwards]

22 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

One of the adaptations which is far better than the source material.

I might watch it tonight. By all accounts it's a good movie.

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

On 16/12/2021 at 18:44, DiegoDiego said:

There are actually three books in the Banffy series. Each can be read individually with satisfying endings but if you make it to the end of the first book you'll want to read all three.

Another thing I found interesting about it was the similarities between the Austro-Hungarian union and the United Kingdom, with regards to Austria not really giving a f**k about Hungary and not taking their parliament seriously. The author also paints a pretty scathing picture of the Hungarian parliament, where the majority only care about petty party politics.

The best facet of the books are the heartbreaking love stories, characters you love being put through the absolute wringer.

First two bought today, will give them a read over the Xmas break and let you know what I think. Cheers again 

[JMDP]

Aye, another one here that has just bought the Banffy books and the Knausgaard football one. Cheers for the heads up, lads.

[Richey Edwards]

On 16/12/2021 at 18:44, DiegoDiego said:

There are actually three books in the Banffy series. Each can be read individually with satisfying endings but if you make it to the end of the first book you'll want to read all three.

Another thing I found interesting about it was the similarities between the Austro-Hungarian union and the United Kingdom, with regards to Austria not really giving a f**k about Hungary and not taking their parliament seriously. The author also paints a pretty scathing picture of the Hungarian parliament, where the majority only care about petty party politics.

The best facet of the books are the heartbreaking love stories, characters you love being put through the absolute wringer.

I have started the first book on my Kindle. I will let you know how I like it.

[Craig fae the Vale]

Tempest Runner by Cavan Scott.

An audio drama giving backstory to one of the main villains of the High Republic series. Good fun.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

I was thinking of getting this on Kindle, and you were doing a good job of convincing me to do so up until the last couple of sentences.
Fúck it, I've just got it (it's on at 99p!). I'll be back in a week or so to have a whine about Rankin pissing all over Killie's literary giant's legacy. Or not, we'll see.

Bit late, but I've finished this now. I have to say that, while a decent wee read, it doesn't burnish either writer's reputation. Not angry, just a wee bit disappointed.

[JamesP_81]

On 14/12/2021 at 08:51, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

Will give this a read sounds terrific, cheers mate.

-----------------------------

I am just finishing Dune, having listened to the audiobook and seen the film earlier this year. I love Dune, I am now a Dune-head. I have the Mars Trilogy ready to go and will go as far as the weird sex stuff in the Dune sequels allows, but don't really know my science fiction very well at all. What are some other series/books people would recommend? 

I've just started reading Dune , never had any experience of it before but fancied a bit of sci-fi after a few months of non-fiction. Couple of pages in and loving it already.  

I would highly recommend the proxima/Ultima series by Stephen Baxter for a very science based sci fi read , The Long Earth series by Baxter and Pratchett is excellent for a lighter more humerous sci fi.  

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

On 10/12/2021 at 21:07, Richey Edwards said:

I have never seen the film.

The book is fucking terrible though. Genuinely one of the worst books I've read.

It's a great book and a cracking film.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

The Great Gatsby v American Psycho.

[Richey Edwards]

The books I got for Christmas:

 

The Coward by Jarred McGinnis

Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen

The Seal Club by Alan Warner, Irvine Welsh and John King

Tall Tales and Wee Stories by Billy Connolly

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

From Manchester With Love by Paul Morley

 

I have finished The Coward and am now reading The Seal Club. 

[Duszek]

Just finished Graham Greene’s The Human Factor. Read The Honorary Consul a few months back which I much preferred.

otherwise, recently read Milan Kundera’s Identity and Paul Auster’s Invisible (a cracking yarn).

one of my 2022 resolutions is to read Finnegans Wake. I abandoned it about 30 pages in last time. A work of utter lunacy, but i fancy the challenge.

happy reading all!

[Deanburn Dave]

Tall Tales and Wee Stories by Billy Connolly

Impossible to read this book without hearing in your head the voice of The Big Yin. Yes several of the tales are well known but there's a comforting familiarity to it.

[Deanburn Dave]

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.

Yes it’s unrelentingly grim but there were real moments of beauty there as well. I absolutely loved it and it’s a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Just finished this book and agree with you 100%.