Anyone read any decent books recently?

[Arch]

I genuinley would be interested in reading that, Fitsroy lived in his later years very near my house(there is a blue plack) as I believe Darwin did as well, and as I am in to sailing and boats it sounds right up my street.
Historical subjects are interesting too.

Will PM you my details.etc.

Cool, send me an address and I'll send it on, and you can pass it to RT. I found it very readable - it's written in an 'adventure' enough style, but without turning into swashbuckling. And I'm not an expert, but it seemed to be well researched.

 

[Auntie Helen]

Started reading Michael Moorcock's "Byzantium Endures" on Saturday, and am about halfway through. Brilliant piece of writing, absolutely brilliant.

I couldn't get on with it at all!

 

[Paulus]

I have just read two books by Bill Bryson, the Short history of nearly everything, and Notes from a small country. Both are very good reads.

 

[Dave Davenport]

I've just reread "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Absolutely brilliant. I've moved on to the Dorothy L Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey books, but I can also recommend the Flashman books (or, indeed, anything - "Black Ajax" is especially good) by George MacDonald Fraser and any of Iain Banks's novels.

I really like some of Iain Banks' stuff, Complicity, The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road but some of his others seem pretty poor & lazy in comparison, Canal Dreams & Dead Air for instance.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Anything by Pat Barker, especially the regeneration trilogy.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Anything by Pat Barker, especially the regeneration trilogy.

Ooh yes, Pat Barker. And Margaret Forster is also very good.

 

[DJ]

I really like some of Iain Banks' stuff, Complicity, The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road but some of his others seem pretty poor & lazy in comparison, Canal Dreams & Dead Air for instance.

I agree

There is aposibility he is in to his Sci-fi more than anyhting!!!

 

[DJ]

The Wasp Factory is a bit teenage. Crow Road was OK. But his scifi stuff is greatly superior, it's true.

Must try the Sci-fi, loved the wasp factory, however it is unsurpasable as a novel, it was the beginning and the end of his career, Without the "M"

 

[derall]

I really like some of Iain Banks' stuff, Complicity, The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road but some of his others seem pretty poor & lazy in comparison, Canal Dreams & Dead Air for instance..

I never managed to get more than a couple of dozen pages into Walking on Glass, Canal Dreams or Dead Air. Loved Crow Road, probably because I knew the area really well. Steep Approach to Garbadale was more Steaming Pile of Garbage, though I did persevere to the end.

By comparison, read and enjoyed all of the Ian M Banks books (or enjoyed in the case of Player of Games and Consider Phlebas), though I thought that Matter wasn't quite as good.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Started reading Michael Moorcock's "Byzantium Endures" on Saturday, and am about halfway through. Brilliant piece of writing, absolutely brilliant.

I totally agree. You seem to have oddly similar tastes to me! I love that whole sequence... Mother London too, which is in my view better than anything Ackroyd or Sinclair has produced about the city.

 

[papercorn2000]

The Wasp Factory is a bit teenage. Crow Road was OK. But his scifi stuff is greatly superior, it's true.

Re-read a couple of his books recently and I can agree with those sentiments. However, when I first read them I was a teenager - so perfect really!

 

[skmc1955]

anything by R J Ellory, especially City Of Lies which I,ve just finished. Superb.

 

[festivalite]

I'm currently reading Are you Dave Gorman? By Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace. Its an absolute hoot to read. I actually managed to pick it up from the 'wild' and it had a bookcrossing stamp in the front cover! (More info on bookcrossing here - www.bookcrossing.com )

 

[Dave Davenport]

Elmore Leonard is consistantly good, don't be put off by the film adaptions.

 

[E-Bygum]

Michael Connelly is in my book the best there is and he has worked alongside the true crimes unit. http://www.michaelconnelly.com/
can I suggest you try as a taster "The Poet" the only book that does not feature his main guy Harry Bosch, has it all can be quite gruesome I suppose but he gets on with it and at quite a pace very true to life the book in question has a few poignant parts we can all relate to. Then take the books in order as there is a link and very very worthwhile I discovered connelly by accident whilst on holiday thought by choosing a book called the poet I would impress a certain female...oh well least I tried :-)