The "I am currently reading" thread

[feargal]

I've just finished Name to a Face by Goddard. It was poor... It felt like a teenager's essay writing, with everything over explained, and the dialogue was really stilted. I've put him on my "no more by the author" list! I've got a couple of Joanne Harris books next, which I'm looking forward to.

 

I should have listened to myself. Ended up picking up another from the charity table by Goddard, "listen to the end", which is again absolute rhubarb. I'm discarding it halfway through, which for some reason I seldom do.

[taxman]

I should have listened to myself. Ended up picking up another from the charity table by Goddard, "listen to the end", which is again absolute rhubarb. I'm discarding it halfway through, which for some reason I seldom do.

 

I've put him on my "kill me if I ever read any of his stuff ever again" list.

[lectrolove]

Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald. Devastating semi-autobiographical account of a life destroyed by alcoholism. 8/10

[WestTinsley]

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance By Noam Chomsky

 

 

 

The Battle for Saudi Arabia by As'ad abu Khalil

[elgoog44]

DIE FOR ME: The Story of Charles Ng/Leonard Lake and the Torture Murders,

 

Only really read true Crime, or stories about true life events, A book that truly moved me and I read in a couple of days as I could not put it down was, Columbine by Dave Cullen, very good read about the events at Columbine high school on the 20th of April 1999.

[taxman]

Death of a Liar by M C Beaton. A Hamish Macbeth novel. I picked it up because I enjoyed the TV series but this really is amateurish stuff. It reads like it's been written by a 6 year old. She must be doing something right however as this is the 30th book in the series.

[metalman]

Just finished Acceptance, the third part of Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy. The whole thing has been strange, gripping, creepy and top class. Recommended, though if you're the sort of person who wants all the loose ends tied up and explained at the end, you may want to give it a miss i.e. they aren't. But it doesn't really matter; this is one of those books where the journey is as important as where you end up.

 

Just started the rather more traditional Mystery on Southampton Water by Freeman Wills Crofts.

 

As for M.C. Beaton, I've read a couple of her Agatha Raisin books and they're an OK way to pass an afternoon or so if you don't want anything too demanding. You ought to try L. C. Tyler, Taxman.

[focemal]

Just finished 'the man who became Sherlock Holmes: The tortured mind of Jeremy Brett'. The book covers his early years, the Holmes years and his manic depression, treatment and the problems it brought on. A sad end to a brilliant actor and my favourite Holmes by far. Am now currently reading 'Brideshead Revisited' again. One of my comfort reads. Am on my second dog eared copy and may be time for a new one.

[lectrolove]

The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook. As per the title, the sorry tale of the financial disaster that was The Hacienda. This is ok but not great, 5/10. There are reasons why Peter Hook is better known for his music than his writing.

[metalman]

I rather enjoyed Mystery on Southampton Water by Freeman Wills Crofts. Crofts gets a lot of stick these days and is often lumped in with the so-called 'humdrum' Golden Age detective story writers such as John Rhode. I've always considered him much better than that, and I've read pretty much all of his books and enjoyed them all. Maybe you just need the right sort of meticulous mind.

 

Now I've started The Man Whose Dreams Came True by Julian Symons (coincidentally the man who coined that humdrum term in his critical study Bloody Murder, which is also well worth reading).