Books you are reading

[Tenbury]

Yes, the setting , characters and feel of this are really my sort of thing, but I don 't understand the fear of isolation so a good bit of it passes me by.

[the celestial insect]

Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field by John Lewis-Stempel

[The Old Man of Storr]

Two thirds of the way through ' All The Pretty Horses ' - I must going through a funny phase just now as I picked up ' Stomemouth ' by Iain Banks last night [ which I've already read ] - If I keep this up I ain't never going to read all my books .

[Korea Hammer]

Han Kang ~ The Vegetarian

I loved loved loved this. It's full of unexpected plot turns, colourful imagery, different narrative voices and, above all, disturbing and thought-provoking ideas. To say more would be to spoil the book, but after also raving about her follow-up, Human Acts, I am now a fully paid-up member of the Han Kang fan club.

[WHU_Del]

Currently on 'Moneyball'. Seen the film, but there's a lot more detail and background in the book. Even though I next to nothing about baseball, and have to keep stopping to look up terms, I'm finding it fascinating.

[ironsonthebrain]

24 Stories - in aid of the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.
All short stories, some good some less so.
Just finished Danny Baker's latest - he doesn't sugar coat the cancer treatment stuff.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Was on holiday and the place i was staying had a copy of 'Room' by Emma Donaghue (that has since been made into an Oscar winning film)

I have to say it is one of those books that really gets under your skin. Heart warming, disturbing and gut-wrenching in equal measure

I felt like i had been out through an emotional wringer by the end of it

[the celestial insect]

My current non-fiction: Ghosts of my Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology, and Lost Futures by Mark Fisher. Very much like the wanky ultra-pretentious writing of certain music journalists in the 80s and 90s. Which is a pity, because beneath there's some interesting stuff.

My current fiction: Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee.

[SoulCircus]

I'm reading Stephen King's IT for the very first time. Must be one of the few who have never read it or seen the movies. So far, so great.

[the celestial insect]

I'm reading Stephen King's IT for the very first time. Must be one of the few who have never read it or seen the movies. So far, so great.

Great novel. Modern classic.

[vietnammer]

Anthony Burgess - Devil of a State. Been out of publication for donkey's yonks (apparently for political reasons long gone). Set in East Africa but (it's said) really about Brunei, I was expecting something like Waugh's Black Mischief with more cultural notes but so far it isn't nearly as good. I guess Burgess' 'style' was still emerging and it's neither as funny or informative as later stuff. Has an eye for human absurdity though.

[Korea Hammer]

Yaa Gyasi - Homegoing

An excellent debut novel from a young Ghanaian/American writer. It flip-flops between the States and the Gold Coast through a succession of characters whose trials and tribulations are emblematic of black history.

[kayahammer]

Do so as quickly as possible, TOMOS.

You mean just glance at it ?


Picked up John Williams' ' Stoner ' tonight - but will look out for something by Steinbeck over the weekend . Thanks for the recommendations , lads .

Stoner is brilliantly written. I'm a big fan.

Of Mice and Men is a great intro to Steinbeck.

Just read The Room - Hubert selby Jr. Not for the faint of heart. It's a powerful novel, and in places makes American Psycho look like Enid Blyton

[Tenbury]

I keep banging on about it,but there seems to be a few fellow Steinbeck readers on here. Can I suggest looking at the often ignored (as it's not fictional) 'Travels with Charley' . To call it a travelogue suggests it's lightweight, think Don Quixote set in a world you'd understand.

[DasNutNock]

Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan. I can see why he was so highly rated as a writer, a wonderful ear for accents and a gift for prose.

[the celestial insect]

C.G. Jung on Nature, Technology & Modern Life (ed.) Meredith Sabini

[vietnammer]

Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan. I can see why he was so highly rated as a writer, a wonderful ear for accents and a gift for prose.

Posh Brits swearing Faquing :lol:

[Korea Hammer]

Coming to the last 100 pages or so of L'Assommoir, my third Zola. After being besotted by Germinal and then being less enthusiastic about Nana, I've flown through this one. Desperate but brilliant.

[Rocketron]

I keep banging on about it,but there seems to be a few fellow Steinbeck readers on here. Can I suggest looking at the often ignored (as it's not fictional) 'Travels with Charley' . To call it a travelogue suggests it's lightweight, think Don Quixote set in a world you'd understand.

[WHU Independent]

Hunting Eichmann - Neal Bascomb.

A really good read. Fast paced, wart's and all expose of how a team of Israeli agents flew to Argentina, tracked down, watched, captured and flew one of the most vicious Nazi's alive, back to Israel. Gripping, well written, full of new information - i.e once they had captured Eichmann in Argentina, the agents had to look after him for a while. This meant shaving feeding and washing after a man that had wiped out many of their family members. Some were loathe to touch him or be in the same room as him and in fact all the agents suffered really bad depression being around him.

Finally they got him back to Israel where he was put on trial and found guilty. Israel doesn't have the death penalty but they made an exception for this butcher.