Buttocks Brown Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 (edited) Last few I've read; To Kill A Mocking Bird - Harper Lee Had never read this before so picked it up recently. Set in America's deep South around the time of the depression. It's seen through the eyes of Scout Finch whose father is defending a black man who is being tried for a rape, which he didn't commit. A classic. It's a shame she only wrote the one book. 9/10 The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North East Football - Harry Pearson I read quite a lot of football books and I'd heard that this one was good. The style is similar to Fever Pitch in that each chapter is a different football match. A Boro fan who spends quite a lot of his time at amateur matches, which struck a chord when I thought of a lot of Junior matches that I'd been too. Not that interesting though. 6/10. Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters The author befriends a homeless guy called Stuart Shorter and decides to write a story about his life. Backwards obviously. It chronicles how as a child he suffered from muscular dystrophy and was sexually abused by his brother and babysitter. He then got put into care and he was sexually abused by carers. He ended up on the streets, drinking, on heroin, struggling through life. He died in his early 30's after being hit by a train. It's not known if he killed himself or not but Masters is sceptical as it looked like his life was improving and he was happy. Recommended, very funny in parts and I'll never look at a homeless person in the same way again. 8/10 Dirty Havana Trilogy - Pedro Juan Gutierrez Reading this at the moment. It's grimy, full of sex, sweat and vulgarity. It's almost like a rip off of Bukowski. Very similar style as it's like a collection of stories, rather than a novel. Really enjoyable but unlike Bukowski there's not a lot of humour in there. 8/10 Edited April 4, 2006 by Buttocks Brown 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Half A Person Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Really good book. I would recommend it to anybody. Very hard to categorise it, but it's funny, touching, clever and gets you thinking. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interthenet jnr Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Last book I read was "Big Man" by William McIlvanney! I only read it due to my English Personal study! saying that though, it was pretty shit hot! 7/10! I still hate reading though! I had to do a William McIlvanney book for my R.P.R as well. Did Laidlaw was well good . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fraser_arab Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Don't read much but the last book I read was Greed by Chris Ryan. 8/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayrgirl Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Really good book. I would recommend it to anybody. Very hard to categorise it, but it's funny, touching, clever and gets you thinking. Have got that one in my pile of about 20 to read!! must catch up on the old reading very soon. At moment almost finished Mother's day by Kirsty Scott - quite good but predictable and girly! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters Oooh, that looks a good one. And cheap too... think I'll grab it. Thanks for that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p&b is a disgrace Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Inside Out - Nick Mason. Rivetting stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Just reading 'Behind the Iron Curtain'about fitba in Eastern Europe, a good read. Before that I read 'The Shadow of the Wind' which I very much enjoyed and also a 'A Forrest for Calum', a new Cape Breton book which was also excellent. Must be a due a rotten read soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Saints Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Deathscent-Robin Jarvis Fantastic stuff! 10/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttocks Brown Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Oooh, that looks a good one. And cheap too... think I'll grab it. Thanks for that. I saw what you were saying earlier in the thread about Fopp and, although I picked up 'Stuart.....' from Amazon, I was in Fopp the other day and it's appeared in there too. I don't know how it works but the cheap paperbacks you find in Amazon generally turn up in Fopp sooner or later. Incidentally, for anyone going into Fopp pick up The Timewaster Letters for £3. The funniest book I have ever read. I had to stop reading it because I was sore from laughing. The guy writes bullshit letters to different organisations e.g. writes to the British Egg Association to inquire as whether Tom Selleck is their honorary president. Here's an example. A letter to the King of Belgium. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 John Boyle - Galloway Street 6/10 About an irish kid growing up in 50s Paisley 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Finished reading Meadowland by Thomas Holt. He has written a number of historical novels based around Ancient Greece, this one was a little more recent in history, telling a story of the Viking discovery of America, 400 years before Columbus got there. It was pretty dull to be honest, plot went round in circles without really ending up anywhere. Holt's style is detailed and fairly contrived, but this one lacked both the humour and emotion of his earlier efforts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 (edited) Can you recommend any of his better ones? I do like historical novels... I just finished Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. Cyberpunk, noir, crime, detective, speculative fiction... an excellent book once you get past the opening few chapters. After that, I read "A Land of Two Halves" by some guy who's name I can't remember; a travel book/memoir about New Zealand. Pretty light-hearted but informative as well. I greatly enjoyed it. So much so that I finished it in two commutes and then an hour after I got home. Sadly, this oversight has left me with nothing to read and I don't get paid until tomorrow, so I'm reading newspapers atm Edit: BTW, I never finished the Ewan McGregor/Charley Whatshisname motorcycling-across-the-world book as, despite being a huge fan of the travel genre, I found it unbelievably boring. I gave up shortly after they got to Russia, or perhaps before. After they'd stayed with the Ukranian family (who made the book interesting), I just lost the will to continue. I'm told that the TV show was excellent, so I'll watch that sometime. As for the book, a colossal yawnfest. I have nothing against a bit of introspection but I just found it to be astonishingly self-indulgent from both authors with very little by way of substance. Edited April 6, 2006 by Swampy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Can you recommend any of his better ones? I do like historical novels... Best to start with his first, The Walled Orchard. It's told from the perspective of comic poet Eupolis in Ancient Greece. His other better ones are Alexander At The World's End and Song For Nero, both also recommended. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Excellent - will order the first one of those over my lunch break. Cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I have read "The Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly. Twas a story about a lawyer who operates out of his Lincoln town car, and was ultimately a courtroom drama where he has to defend a man who starts off seeming innocent, until various events lead the lawyer to question him, and his own ethics. Some of the plot devices were fairly standard for the style, but it was still well written and gripping enough, and intriguing to piece together. It also gave a more interesting insight into the operations of a defense lawyer, a world apart from the boring "righteous quest for justice" mindset of yer Grishams and co. I'd give it 8/10. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I have read "The Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly. Twas a story about a lawyer who operates out of his Lincoln town car, and was ultimately a courtroom drama where he has to defend a man who starts off seeming innocent, until various events lead the lawyer to question him, and his own ethics. Some of the plot devices were fairly standard for the style, but it was still well written and gripping enough, and intriguing to piece together. It also gave a more interesting insight into the operations of a defense lawyer, a world apart from the boring "righteous quest for justice" mindset of yer Grishams and co. I'd give it 8/10. I like Michael Connolly's books for a good easy to read crime thriller. The Poet is an excellent one. I've just started Round Ireland with a Fridge. Bad idea to read on the train as I discovered this morning. Who's that crazy giggling lady in the corner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy3000 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 (edited) I like Michael Connolly's books for a good easy to read crime thriller. The Poet is an excellent one. I've just started Round Ireland with a Fridge. Bad idea to read on the train as I discovered this morning. Who's that crazy giggling lady in the corner I read "One Hit Wonderland" a couple of years ago, it really was laugh out loud funny. You really can just hear Tony Hawks saying some of the things. Who would have thought Norman Wisdom was "Big in Albania"! Anyway, I've just finished "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss. It's about punctuation. While that sounds incredibly dull it is rather humorous, with some nice examples of mispunctuation, while also being educational in the correct usage; if only some people on this forum would read it. I'd give it 7/10. Next up is "The Constant Gardener" by John le Carre Edited April 13, 2006 by andy3000 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I like Michael Connolly's books for a good easy to read crime thriller. The Poet is an excellent one. I've just started Round Ireland with a Fridge. Bad idea to read on the train as I discovered this morning. Who's that crazy giggling lady in the corner I'll probably check that out Round Ireland with a Fridge is fantastic! His style is hilarious. Definitely read the followups Playing The Moldovans at Tennis and One Hit Wonderland afterwards - both guaranteed to continue the trend of strange looks on public transport 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttocks Brown Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I'm reading Laidlaw by William McIlvanney at the moment. Not really one for crime thrillers but this is excellent. There's been a murder... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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