What are you reading

[Reynard]

Back on familiar territory with Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonsdawn"

 

[dicko]

Just finished Around the World in 80 Days and about to start The Mysterious Island.
It’s my Jules Verne season.

 

[C R]

Just finished Around the World in 80 Days and about to start The Mysterious Island.
It’s my Jules Verne season.

Mysterious Island is my favourite Verne book. Excellent suggestion for my next book.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I think I might buy this, a new Stuart Adamson biography
https://www.waterstones.com/book/st...-of-stuart-adamson/scott-rowley/9781917923538

How I found out about it

 

[mistyoptic]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

It’s amazing how prophetic it is in places. Burn the books so you don’t cause offence to minorities. Don’t think for yourselves.

Population only wanting anodyne tv programmes with no real content so that they feel good about themselves and their lives.

Written in 1954. Just goes to show, there’s nothing new under the sun. Human nature is so predictable.

 

[Reynard]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

It’s amazing how prophetic it is in places. Burn the books so you don’t cause offence to minorities. Don’t think for yourselves.

Population only wanting anodyne tv programmes with no real content so that they feel good about themselves and their lives.

Written in 1954. Just goes to show, there’s nothing new under the sun. Human nature is so predictable.

One of the true SF classics, that.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Last three reads:

Built on a Lie - Owen Walker.

Expose of Neil Woodford's investment funds. Easy, but eye-opening insight into the chicanery of such funds. Worth reading before investing, especially in illiquid fund selections.

McMafia - Misha Glenny.

The massively watered down template for the BBC series of the same name. A very complex raft of names, locations and technical terms taking the reader on a journey through the global criminal financial underworld. Fascinating and genuinely scarey.

The Trial - Rob Rinder. Easy fictional read. Not at all as dry as you might expect and very insightful.

All on Kindle.

 

[bluenotebob]

I have a question for any regular posters in this thread.

I’m out of the loop regarding UK contemporary/mainstream fiction as it’s now over 20 years since I was last in a UK bookstore (or read any newspaper book reviews).

I have a decent collection of titles by the likes of Ian McEwan, William Boyd, Seb Faulks, Kate Atkinson, Susan Hill, Iain Banks, Zadie Smith and Nicola Barker – but I’m sure there must be some ‘new’ novelists that have been published in the last 20 years.

Can anyone please point me in the direction of some writers that have recently emerged that are worth checking out?

Thanks in advance from a very rainy Brittany

 

[All uphill]

I have a question for any regular posters in this thread.

I’m out of the loop regarding UK contemporary/mainstream fiction as it’s now over 20 years since I was last in a UK bookstore (or read any newspaper book reviews).

I have a decent collection of titles by the likes of Ian McEwan, William Boyd, Seb Faulks, Kate Atkinson, Susan Hill, Iain Banks, Zadie Smith and Nicola Barker – but I’m sure there must be some ‘new’ novelists that have been published in the last 20 years.

Can anyone please point me in the direction of some writers that have recently emerged that are worth checking out?

Thanks in advance from a very rainy Brittany

Given the authors you mention you might enjoy some outstanding recent Irish authors. Louise Kennedy, Anna Burns, Audrey Magee and Claire Keegan, for example.

 

[bluenotebob]

Given the authors you mention you might enjoy some outstanding recent Irish authors. Louise Kennedy, Anna Burns, Audrey Magee and Claire Keegan, for example.

Thanks @All uphill ... I'll see what I can find by these authors.

You said "for example" - if there are other Irish writers that you can recommend, then please do so.

 

[All uphill]

Thanks @All uphill ... I'll see what I can find by these authors.

You said "for example" - if there are other Irish writers that you can recommend, then please do so.

Personally I don't get on with John Banville's writing, but many others do. Colm Toibin is another good writer.

Can you easily get English language books?

Does Abebooks deliver to France? They are my first place - I read a lot and am happy to buy cheap second hand books.

 

[bluenotebob]

Can you easily get English language books?

Not for a few years - post-Brexit it became really tricky/very expensive - but things have eased recently.

I won't bore you with the detail - but buying anything via the internet in France is complicated. It's taken me a long time to work through all the hoops but I'm now so knowledgeable that I'm planning on hosting training courses for anyone interested ...

I'm now buying second-hand books through amazon.fr - marketplace sellers (including a couple based in the UK) - and books are arriving without too much of a delay and without a huge P&P tag.

I've bought from Abe Books in the past and yes, they're a good supplier.

Colm Toibin rings a bell - I haven't read any of his books but I've come across the name before. He's also added to my list.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Babel by RF Kuang. Looks very interesting, will see how it goes as I am going to start it later this evening.

Just finished The Trial & The Suspect by Rob Rinder. Both nicely written and interesting to boot. 8/10 apiece.

All fiction, all on Kindle.

 

[Oldhippy]

One man and his bike again by Mike Carter. I really enjoy it and it is inspiring.

 

[Hover Fly]

Prompted by Moon Bunny’s recent post in the first line thread, I took out mother’s old copy of Cold Comfort Farm and got stuck in , first fiction I have read since the “Great Defenestration of Lord of the Flies” during our last year of school.