What are you reading at the mo'?

[Lisa21]

Havn't read or seen that one....Probably best to avoid the films, Misery being the exception maybe

I think the books have the edge over the films as you use your imagination when reading, and most of his books are 80% just that.

 

[rh100]

Bryson's autobiog' is good, had me laughing out loud at some of it.

Tried reading out loud like that once - but a bit self conscious, although I will read out any good parts I find.

 

[solmisation]

Just read 'It's Not About the Bike' (Lance Armstrong) when I was on holiday...was fantastic.

So about to buy the next one...'Every Second Counts'

Not as good in my opinion, if you want a loan of it PM me.

Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux is a terrific read , or if you want some strange humor try some of Robert Rankin's books.

 

[Perfect Virgo]

Bryson's autobiog' is good, had me laughing out loud at some of it.

Tried reading out loud like that once - but a bit self conscious, although I will read out any good parts I find.

Yes Bryson's pretty dry isn't he!

I agree about feeling self-conscious reading aloud. I did at first but it grows on you and can be good fun. I do draw the line at assuming hilarious accents for the various characters. Just to make that clear!

 

[Dan B]

Revolutionary Road

Ken MacLeod? Good stuff

I've just finished "The Company" by K J Parker, and I have Peter Seibel's "Coders at Work" as bathroom reading
</unashamed geek>

 

[John the Monkey]

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Haunter in the Dark" an Omnibus of short fiction including the wonderful "The Dunwich Horror".

 

[threebikesmcginty]

As an aside, I wonder if many people read aloud these days.

I do - I'm reading Richard Scarry's Tinker and Tanker stories to miss
3BM at the moment!

Mrs 3BM and I usually read each other passages of books to each other that strike us as well written and/or funny - 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas' kept us busy with top notch quotes.

 

[handsome joe]

Penthouse at the moment...........don't know the author. Heartily recommend.

 

[John the Monkey]

Just about to start 'The Right Stuff' by Tom Wolfe, about early astronauts and all that went on in the space race. It was published in '79 but I spotted it in Waterstones a while ago, just getting round to reading it.

A great book - you could follow it up with "Moondust", which is about the Apollo programme.

Been looking for a good book to read for yonks.

Just arrived today is a three volume biography of Stalin by Simon Montefiore. Called, erm, "Stalin". Except for the first volume about his youth which is called, erm, "Young Stalin".

"Court of the Red Tsar" by the same author is very good too (just finished it) - excellent on the internal workings of Stalin's circle, and chilling in their indifference to human suffering and death to force the Soviet programme on the country.

"Gulag" (Anne Applebaum) and "Man is Wolf to Man" are also both good accounts of the darker parts of the Soviet Regime - Man is Wolf to Man is a personal account, whilst Gulag is a history of the eponymous prison system.

If that lot hasn't dispirited you, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday's "Mao" is a good account of another dictator.

 

[chap]

Book I'm reading

'The Egoist' by George Meredith. So far I would recommend it.

 

[rh100]

A great book - you could follow it up with "Moondust", which is about the Apollo programme.



"Court of the Red Tsar" by the same author is very good too (just finished it) - excellent on the internal workings of Stalin's circle, and chilling in their indifference to human suffering and death to force the Soviet programme on the country.

"Gulag" (Anne Applebaum) and "Man is Wolf to Man" are also both good accounts of the darker parts of the Soviet Regime - Man is Wolf to Man is a personal account, whilst Gulag is a history of the eponymous prison system.

If that lot hasn't dispirited you, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday's "Mao" is a good account of another dictator.

Have read Moondust, thought it was excellent and different, he made a TV documentary to follow it up aswell, mostly about trying to trackdown Armstrong for an interview, but didn't manage it, made it more fascinating if anything. Closest he got was a couple of emails.

I've had Mao sitting on the shelf for a while - I think that needs to be next.

 

[rh100]

Yes Bryson's pretty dry isn't he!

I agree about feeling self-conscious reading aloud. I did at first but it grows on you and can be good fun. I do draw the line at assuming hilarious accents for the various characters. Just to make that clear!

Could end up like a bad Radio 4 production (I like the radio 4 prog's, but some of the acting can be awful)

 

[Perfect Virgo]

Could end up like a bad Radio 4 production (I like the radio 4 prog's, but some of the acting can be awful)

Me too, and yes, they are a bit variable. I used to listen to Book at Bedtime every evening on Radio 4, I enjoyed that. Since moving to Canada I still check it out with the "listen again" function on the BBC site. It's not the same at the wrong time of day though!

 

[Perfect Virgo]

I do - I'm reading Richard Scarry's Tinker and Tanker stories to miss
3BM at the moment!

Mrs 3BM and I usually read each other passages of books to each other that strike us as well written and/or funny - 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas' kept us busy with top notch quotes.

Excellent 3BM, I'm delighted to hear it! Sometimes while reading the Bryson I have had to stop reading to dry my eyes and just squeak, pointing at the page. Mrs PV ends up laughing at my paroxysms of mirth as much as at the book itself.

I read whatever leads on from a previously enjoyed read and scan lists here there and everywhere for recommendations. Mrs PV is Canadian so I have to explain parts of quintessentially British novels. Brighton Rock was on the agenda earlier in the year - first time for me since the early 70s! - and the idiomatic speech made for some interesting explanations by me. The differences between English and North American English are still coming up every day, even after 3 years. Happy reading

 

[Sam the Eagle]

just started reading Laurent Fignon's autobiography. Not what my kind of read normally but a friend gave it to me.
Not bad so far. The open book opens with a chapter about how he is still remembered as the guy who lost the Tour de France for 8 seconds to Lemond, not for winning it twice (and the Giro, and Milan-San Remo...)