The "I am currently reading" thread

[DUFFEMS 55]

On ‎31‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 07:55, taxman said:

Hiya,

 

I prefer the Norfolk ones, this magician series seems a bith lightweight and predictable in comparison.

Hi taxman,

 

Well, I much prefer her Norfolk settings novels. This Vanishing Box is predictable and lacking substance, the plot's thin and padded out with unnecessary description which is tedious reading.

Overall doesn't seem to be one of  her works.

Regards,

duffems

[jaffa1 10]

I'm  half way through Michael Caines Blowing the Bloody Doors Off,  and it's boring.

I gather he must have wrote his books before because he doesn't  seem to have anything left to tell us only what to do and what not to do if you want to be an actor.

A waste of money.

[metalman 21]

Last read Murder from Three Angles by Vernon Loder, another 1930s detective story, which was OK. Now I've raced through Travels in the North by Karel Capek, an account of a trip up to the far North of Norway - it's quite interesting to follow where he went on Google Streetview to see how it's changed. Although Capek (1890-1938) is now best remembered for inventing the word Robot in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), he wrote a wide variety of books and I've really enjoyed all the ones I've read, whether fiction or non-fiction - I rate him as one of those authors who was incapable of writing a dull bit of prose.

[Brooker11 10]

Nearly finished The Holocaust by Laurence Rees an excellent account of an extremely grim period in recent history, it traces the rise of the Nazis and how the concentration/death camps came to be, a very good piece of writing although harrowing in places.

[taxman 12]

Just finished Our Game by John Le Carre.

 

Engaging but then lost its way about two thirds through, as though his mind had drifted off and he just wanted to get it finished.

[bendix 10]

Collected Letters of Philip Larkin

 

Also re-reading Brave New World by Huxley

[metalman 21]

Just finished: Pixel Juice by Jeff Noon - the usual Jeff Noon themes really and if you've read Vurt or Pollen you'll know what they are, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Then I whizzed through Sh*t my Dad Says by Justin Halpern, an amusing enough couple of hours diversion. Now I'm back to the 1930s detective stories again with Anthony Gilbert's The Body on the Beam.

Edited April 17, 2019 by metalman

[taxman 12]

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly.

 

More supernatural goings on in Maine with arcane books, old gods and strange killers on the prowl.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, taxman said:

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly.

 

More supernatural goings on in Maine with arcane books, old gods and strange killers on the prowl.

Just finished that one.  Great series, but I think it peaked with The Lovers.  Splendid writer though.

 

Spoiler

The dead daughter/odd daughter thing is tiresome, and Parker seems a bit of a flat, glib superhero type after his trip to the beyond.

 

New one out tomorrow.

[Pettytom 1]

Im reading “I can’t stand up for falling down” by Allan Jones.

 

It is a brilliant cavort through the rock and roll excesses of the 70s and 80s, written by a fantastic music journo. 

[taxman 12]

On 17/04/2019 at 23:05, Hecate said:

Just finished that one.  Great series, but I think it peaked with The Lovers.  Splendid writer though.

 

  Reveal spoiler

The dead daughter/odd daughter thing is tiresome, and Parker seems a bit of a flat, glib superhero type after his trip to the beyond.

 

New one out tomorrow.

I think The Lovers is one of the very few of his I haven't read. Was a bit dissappointed with The Woman in the Woods, seemed to meander towards a very unsatisfactory ending.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, taxman said:

I think The Lovers is one of the very few of his I haven't read. Was a bit dissappointed with The Woman in the Woods, seemed to meander towards a very unsatisfactory ending.

The Lovers fills in the background for Parker's dad, and is central to the mythology established in The  Black Angel.  That seems to have taken a bit of a back seat after The Wrath of Angels, even though with that book we still don't know what Parker really is (though thanks to the  Collector we know what he isn't).

 

I've just bought the new one, though my main motivation is finding out how Angel's doing.