The "I am currently reading" thread

[metalman 21]

I'm still having a bit of an early Ruth Rendell period, having just finished Vanity Dies Hard, The Best Man to Die and A Guilty Thing Surprised in quick succession. All very enjoyable though it's interesting that some phrases of the 1960s have already become completely obsolete and forgotten, such as 'twin-track road'. Strange really when you consider that single track road is still in everyday use.

 

Now back to the 1930s again with Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting (which is absolutely nothing to do with the differently-spelt TV series).

[jaffa1 10]

I have just finished  reading  102 Minutes, it's  the story of the fight to survive inside the twin towers. What a heart rendering book this is.

It tells of how the modern day towers built in the Sixties did not have the same safety regs as the ones built in the 1920s and built with much cheaper materials.

Also the firemen and police were on  separate frequencies  which didn't  help their cause. 

As for the people inside,their conversations on their mobiles to the outside world have been put together for this book, some made it some didn't. 

Some never even knew it was an aeroplane  most thought it was a terrorist bomb , some in the safer areas of the North tower never even knew the South tower had also been hit and by now collapsed. 

Coincidence  that I should be reading it on the anniversary as I've  had the book for almost a year and just got round to reading it.

[nikki-red 308]

Ive just finished... I Have Life: Raped, Stabbed and Left for Dead by Marianne Thamm

The absolutely incredible story of Alison Botha, who survived against all the odds. 
The book is her account, along with contributions from her family, friends, the Doctors and the man who saved her from the side of the road.

Well worth a read, theres a film of the story too, simply called 'Alison'.

 

[lectrolove 10]

Faces in the Water by Janet Frame. Where to start ... This a semi-autobiographical novel about mental illness and life in psychiatric hospitals in New Zealand in the 1950s. Uncompromising fare, strangely beautiful but stark and bleak, especially so as the author's real experiences form part of the narrative. Amazing but not a comfortable read.

[Gormenghast 59]

A man called Ove.  Translated from Swedish.

 

About a curmudgeonly old bloke. Everybody knows one. 

 

Made me smile, sometimes laugh and occasionally weep. The sort of book I wish I could buy  a copy òf for everyone I know.

 

The most enjoyable book I've read in a long time.

[jaffa1 10]

I'm  now reading Ruth Ellis, my sister's  secret life.'

This is written by Ruth's elder sister, seems she wasn't  the the peroxide  prostitute that the press made her out to be but then when she tells the story she describes her as exactly  that.

She also claims Ruth had connections with famous people like Diana Dors and also Stephen Ward from the Profumo affair. You have to make your own mind up to the things she suggests that really happened.

Edited October 17, 2019 by jaffa1

[jane2008 15]

On 11/09/2019 at 21:33, jaffa1 said:

I have just finished  reading  102 Minutes, it's  the story of the fight to survive inside the twin towers. What a heart rendering book this is.

It tells of how the modern day towers built in the Sixties did not have the same safety regs as the ones built in the 1920s and built with much cheaper materials.

Also the firemen and police were on  separate frequencies  which didn't  help their cause. 

As for the people inside,their conversations on their mobiles to the outside world have been put together for this book, some made it some didn't. 

Some never even knew it was an aeroplane  most thought it was a terrorist bomb , some in the safer areas of the North tower never even knew the South tower had also been hit and by now collapsed. 

Coincidence  that I should be reading it on the anniversary as I've  had the book for almost a year and just got round to reading it.

I don't often read this thread but thank you.  That is one book I will definitely  read.

[missonna 0]

I'm only halfway through The Tattooist of Auschwitz & I'm already in love with Lale & Gita. Besides Heather Morris told that the film rights are being considered. They might shoot really strong and touching film.

[jaffa1 10]

10 hours ago, missonna said:

I'm only halfway through The Tattooist of Auschwitz & I'm already in love with Lale & Gita. Besides Heather Morris told that the film rights are being considered. They might shoot really strong and touching film.

I've  just read that book too, I just can't  get my head around the fact that there were so much gold and diamonds around in those days, I'm  sure  there wasn't  within the working class in Britain.

Then I started to wonder if parts of the story was just fiction.

[Brooker11 10]

3 hours ago, jaffa1 said:

I've  just read that book too, I just can't  get my head around the fact that there were so much gold and diamonds around in those days, I'm  sure  there wasn't  within the working class in Britain.

Then I started to wonder if parts of the story was just fiction.

The Auschwitz Memorial Foundation have slated this book for being total fiction.

[metalman 21]

Some I've read recently: 

 

John Scalzi - The end of all things. Four linked novellas rather than a novel, but a decent conclusion to the Old Man's War series (unless he writes some more in the future).

Francis Beeding - No fury. Unusually for a 1930s detective, involves a serial killer. Very enjoyable.

John Rhode - In face of the verdict. Another 1930s effort with Rhode's usual ingenuity of murder method.

Ivan T. Sanderson - Invisible residents. One of about 7 million UFO books published in the late 60s/early 70s. Hokum but quite interesting hokum for all that.

[lectrolove 10]

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. An account of a truly epic walk taken in the 1930s. I'm loving this, I've read Cider With Rosie a couple of times but never really considered this one until it popped up recently as a  Kindle deal and I think it might be the better of the two. Absolutely hilarious in places.