The Book thread

[PaulMaiden]

Last books I've read:

Joseph Wambaugh - Hollywood division
John Grisham - The Broker

Hollywood division is amazing, a real return to form for a guy who hasn't written a novel in like 20 years or something! It reeks a bit of trying to be new with far too many references to modern culture (in a way he didnt use in his earlier books), and there are some fairly standard Wambaugh plot devices, but it's an excellent read (as you would expect from him), and I would reccomend it to anyone.

The Broker, I actually bought because i ran out of things to read on the way home from BOA. Read it before, it's not as inviting as some of his courtroom based ones, but it's still a cracker.

Also read most of the Harry Potter series recently, all brilliant And re-read a bit of Narnia, as I tend to do every few months.

[jackcake]

I've started re-reading the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's been a while.

I need to get my hands on the Trilogy In Five Parts.

[Samildanach]

I'm hoping that I'll get the whole Fenchurch thing this time. I seem to have a mental block about her. I've read the Guide countless times in the last fifteen years or so, and at no point have I quite grasped what the bollocking bollocks is meant to be going on with Fenchurch.

[lars_ulrichs_blister]

Redemption of Althalus - David Eddings (yeah, im a slow reader sometimes!!)

if anyone doesnt know eddings' stuff, his books seem to follow a certain pattern, usually Bad God, Good God, Bad Disciples, Good Disciples, Magic, Religious war involving numerous states which are typically at war for other reasons anyway....

Althalus is a petty thief preying on easy marks in the countryside, he relies on his luck a great deal and thinks himself the greatest thief around. After a disastrous visit to 'civilisation', where he has many near misses and fails to benefit from the great wealth in the towns, he is made an offer he cannot refuse.

Its very simple - just steal a book from an unoccupied, unlocked house. Easy, thinks Althalus, and proceeds to the house. However, the book is actually being guarded by a cat, with mystical powers. Over a great many years (real world/outside the house) time Althalus is instructed in how the book may be used to perform miracles/magic. He is then informed that the enemies of all that is good have a similar book and have nefarious plans to bring civilisation down.

cue the bod god, good god etc

Enjoyed it, but the was far too much repetition of stuff in it.

[Big D]

Just started - Conquistador by S.M. Stirling. (WW2 vets find a portal to a world where Europeans never got to America. 60 years later somebody else finds their secret.)
I have high hopes for this one. The Peshawar Lancers by the same author was great fun. (Swordfights on top of zeppelins = Win)

[lars_ulrichs_blister]

The Peshawar Lancers by the same author was great fun. (Swordfights on top of zeppelins = Win)

I'll take you up on that one

*checks ebay*

[jackcake]

Sam Bourne - The Last Testament, arrived today.

[angel_of_death]

Sam Bourne - The Last Testament, arrived today.

ooo, let me know what that's like. I found Righteous Men quite enjoyable, but extremely predictable.

[theseventhone]

[*red*]

Serously guys you should visit an Oxfam bookshop (where I volunteer ).
I'm in charge of the sci-fi and we always have loads of Herbert, Arther C Clarke and Moorcroft at stupid prices

Selling really well at the moment (maybe cos I'm buyng them all )

I'm currently reading harry Potter 7, Terry parcheet 2Wyrd Sisters" and the narnis collection (again).

I usually have many books going at once cos I read them in different places.
Nothing better than escaping into a good book!!

[Big D]

Picked up some Douglas Reeman WW2 books at a car-boot sale. There does tend to be a definite pattern. War-weary officer, obnoxious senior officers and a climactic sea-battle with lots of "Break out the Battle Ensign", "The helmsman's had his face blown off sir" and so on.
There's usually a romantic sub-plot as well. (Which tends to be a bit clunky. Oh well.)
Not great literature but a good way to pass an afternoon.

[theseventhone]

Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and White Line Fever by Lemmy.

[lars_ulrichs_blister]

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore.

[nid]

I've just finished reading 'Panic' by Jeff Abbott. Brilliant book, very fast action all the way through with a few unsuspected twists! Finished it in two days... and that's quick even for me!

Need to finish off the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwall next or maybe read a couple more Lee Child books, can't get enough of them!!

[Big D]

Max Hastings - Armageddon: The Battle For Germany 1944-45.

The general tone of the book is that the Western Allies should have been able to end the war in 1944 but made a hash of it.