Last Book You Read....

[Craig fae the Vale]

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin.

Utterly spectacular. Well worth the seven year wait. Cronin's character development and world building is absolutely unmatched.

[tongue_tied_danny]

Just started The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.

It's been on my radar for years but I'm finally getting to round to it. Pretty good so far...

Edited May 18, 2023 by tongue_tied_danny

[Monkey Tennis]

The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan.

It was lauded when it arrived as his debut book a decade ago and I can see why.

Set in an Irish village at the time of their property bubble bursting, it has 21 different narrators, and it works really well.

Some aspects of plot are a little unconvincing, but he creates really distinct perspectives and voices for his characters.  It's a short book that's well worth a visit.

 

[Craig fae the Vale]

Batman Eternal Volume 1.

A high paced, enjoyable Batman story featuring a vast array of allies and villains, with a fantastic cliffhanger ending leading into Volume 2.

[Oystercatcher]

On 12/05/2023 at 09:13, Ross. said:

Finally got round to reading the last Orwell book I hadn’t yet read, The Road to Wigan Pier. Almost 100 years on and nothing of importance in the UK has changed much, with some of the attitudes described becoming more embedded in UK culture, if anything.

If you like Iain Banks try espadair street. Read it a long time ago but enjoyed it 

[Ross.]

2 hours ago, Oystercatcher said:

If you like Iain Banks try espadair street. Read it a long time ago but enjoyed it 

One of the few Iain Banks books I have yet to read. Keep forgetting to get hold of a copy.

[MSU]

Espedair Street was my first Iain Banks, then Complicity, and then The Bridge. Never really got The Bridge or why everyone seemed to think it was his best work, so it's probably time to revisit it. Those black and white covers still look great.

[Craig fae the Vale]

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America 1619-2019. Edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain.

Interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing. Gets bogged down in minutea instead of focusing on what could have been incredibly fascinating subjects too often. 

[coineanach]

"Crooked House" by Agatha Christie.

 

I'd usually be mare of a Poirot man, but this is a good yin.

 

There's a preface in the edition I bought where she says she was never really sure if a book she was writing was a shiter or a cracker, but with Crooked House she just knew it was a winner - agreed.

[coprolite]

54 minutes ago, coineanach said:

"Crooked House" by Agatha Christie.

 

I'd usually be mare of a Poirot man, but this is a good yin.

 

There's a preface in the edition I bought where she says she was never really sure if a book she was writing was a shiter or a cracker, but with Crooked House she just knew it was a winner - agreed.

Was shocked to discover recently that Agatha Christie was a well known roller skating enthusiast. I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. 

[coineanach]

6 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Was shocked to discover recently that Agatha Christie was a well known roller skating enthusiast. I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. 

To be fair, the image of the bold Dame Agatha shredding on her rollerskates doon the skatepark in a long dress and a fascinator is quite the picture.

[JamesP_81]

4 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Was shocked to discover recently that Agatha Christie was a well known roller skating enthusiast. I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. 

Listened to a podcast about her a while ago , some woman from the sounds of it! Faked her own death which led to a nationwide (wo)manhunt including Arthur Conan Doyle calling in clairvoyants to contact her spirit .

[coineanach]

4 minutes ago, JamesP_81 said:

Listened to a podcast about her a while ago , some woman from the sounds of it! Faked her own death which led to a nationwide (wo)manhunt including Arthur Conan Doyle calling in clairvoyants to contact her spirit .

Can you mind the name of the podcast? I'm gonnae fire that on in work noo

[JamesP_81]

2 minutes ago, coineanach said:

Can you mind the name of the podcast? I'm gonnae fire that on in work noo

Check out Agatha Christie from Short History Of... on Amazon Music.
https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/2a464c7c-4d73-480f-9759-0064a1f5a4da/episodes/a385b355-d4a9-4347-9261-e83fe65955f4/short-history-of-agatha-christie?ref=dm_sh_Ly6nWNLcWtXqYTkBMz9M74bTk

[Craig fae the Vale]

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston.

Just wonderful. A modern sci-fi romance with a fantastic cast of characters. This wouldn't have been my thing even a few months ago, but so glad I opened up my horizons.

[Shandon Par]

The Shards

New one from Brett Easton Ellis

Suppose you’d call it auto fiction (though at first I did have to google LA serial killers in the 1980s). 
 

Centres around the common Ellis world of teens who live like adults. Ellis is “narrating” the story of how a serial killer staked his final years of high school. Standard stuff from him of murder, drugs, shagging and unreliable narration. 
 

Thought it was delicious. He creates his mood of “ennui” where nobody seems that interested in the fact peers are being mutilated, so wrapped up are they in their own little dramas.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Shandon Par

[velo army]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gayman.

It's about a young boy whose family are murdered when he's a toddler. He escapes and ends up in a graveyard where he is brought up by ghosts. 

It's a charming story with some lovely details. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a young adult book as I felt the story went along too quickly. It's full of heart and the characters of the dead are suitably vivid and loving in their own way.

The ending felt incongruous and unsatisfying, as well as having heartbreaking implications. 

It was a world I wanted to stay in a wee bit longer though which is a credit to Gayman.

[mathematics]

10 hours ago, velo army said:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gayman.

It's about a young boy whose family are murdered when he's a toddler. He escapes and ends up in a graveyard where he is brought up by ghosts. 

It's a charming story with some lovely details. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a young adult book as I felt the story went along too quickly. It's full of heart and the characters of the dead are suitably vivid and loving in their own way.

The ending felt incongruous and unsatisfying, as well as having heartbreaking implications. 

It was a world I wanted to stay in a wee bit longer though which is a credit to Gayman.

Reported for homophobia.

(great kids book)

[Melanius Mullarkey]

On 18/05/2023 at 19:12, tongue_tied_danny said:

Just started The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.

It's been on my radar for years but I'm finally getting to round to it. Pretty good so far...

Probably in my all time top One of books.

Picked up Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison in Dunoon recently and just finished it. Its the loose basis for the film Soylent Green.  Set in the late 1990s with overpopulation screwing the planet up its an interesting read, well written but to be quite honest, f**k all happens. IMO. 

So much potential but Harry fucked it. 

 

 

 

[Thane of Cawdor]

36 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkay said:

Probably in my all time top One of books.

Picked up Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison in Dunoon recently and just finished it. Its the loose basis for the film Soylent Green.  Set in the late 1990s with overpopulation screwing the planet up its an interesting read, well written but to be quite honest, f**k all happens. IMO. 

So much potential but Harry fucked it. 

 

 

 

The Wasp Factory was Simon Pegg's choice of reading material on a recent Desert Island Discs broadcast.  Seemed a strange choice to me given the unusual twist, but you may be pleased/appalled to find such a kindred spirit in celebrity form.