Ooh, let me see. I get a bit short of things to read in English, so I grab anything I can find...read "Labyrinth" described upthread, and even allowing for the constraints of the genre, I thought it was tripe. Somebody once talked me into reading one of the Outlander series, which was about enough hairy kilted bums to last me the next few decades, but even that ran circles round Labyrinth in terms of plotting skills.

Not that I'm against airport fiction, "The Time Traveler's Wife" was more interesting than I expected - considered a few of the side issues instead of just blundering on with the main premise "pops in and out of time, gee, that's fascinating".

A year or so back, I read Victoria Finlay's "Colour: A Natural History" and enjoyed that more than her other similar themed travelogue, "Jewels: A Secret History". If you are interested in pigments, you may already know quite a bit of her material, but tying each pigment to it's point of origin/production makes for interesting reading even so. (It's not the book you need if you are really looking for lots of info on pigments and dyestuffs, it's skimmed milk coffee given the steam-fluff treatment).

A budding biologist I know who had an eye nearly gouged out by bullies asked me for some reading material, so I pointed him to "The Future of Life" by E.O. Wilson. Apparently Wilson chose to specialize in "small fry" because poor vision in one eye made it hard for him to see depth, but was no problem with a microscope!

I've also been slowly meandering through Jared Diamond's "Collapse", which I am enjoying very much. The question of just what brings certain societies crashing down has probably tickled most people's minds, and this is a readable rumination that covers a wide enough hunk of time and space to keep the armchair investigator awake!

A friend passed on a Lindsey Davis mystery "A Dying Light in Corduba", which I quite enjoyed, but I'm never sure if her style is annoying me or amusing me!

Let me see, Andrea Camilleri's "The Snack Thief" was quite fun, but the "ready made hardboiled atmosphere" was a bit thick, and I could hear the plot machinery creaking a bit in the wings.

Fred Vargas was a better find - I think she ought to take her plotting more seriously, ahem, but at the same time she has a nice way of twisting her characters round her little finger.

Just as well I seem to be so picky, or I'd bankrupt myself buying books!

What is everybody else reading?

It was excellent



Brilliant book.

About to start a Mark Hadden one... A Spot of Bother. Anyone read it?

Watership Down

No but its on my ' to get ' list.
His previous book 'The Curious Tale of the Dog in the Night Time' was an easy entertaining read, but also helped one understam Aspergers Syndrome a little

Now Im reading Cambridge Companion to Schubert - real interesting stuff

Read 'a note of madness' by tabitha suzama a while a go, such a good book, considering reading it again. to be honest i'm reading the highway code at the moment but about to start the satanic verses by salman rushdie

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Paradise Lost - Milton.

On holiday though, I was reading a lot of Marian Keyes, which, while fun and interesting, isn't quite as highbrow. I love her books though.

I'm halfway through it, and it's quite good: I wish it'd just knuckle down into one storyline though (which I'm sure it will).

Short History is quite enjoyable - my favourite Bryson books are travel and language though.

Gaarder - - fab just re-read Sophie's world a month or so ago, boy it makes your brain spin but so clever, I love the Mysteries too, but my favourite is "Through a Glass Darkly" which invariably makes me cry but it's a beautiful book.


Haven't read that in ages! Good though as I recall.


Mum has the Curious Tale, must read it

[quote name='fsharpminor' post='567649' date='Aug 10 2007, 10:42 AM']
[quote name='country girl' post='567588' date='Aug 10 2007, 09:56 AM']

About to start a Mark Hadden one... A Spot of Bother. Anyone read it?
[/quote]


No but its on my ' to get ' list.
His previous book 'The Curious Tale of the Dog in the Night Time' was an easy entertaining read, but also helped one understam Aspergers Syndrome a little
[/quote]
Mum has the Curious Tale, must read it
[/quote]

Oh I love the Curious Tale... most of my English class are obsessed by it!!! I ordered A Spot of Bother at the library ages ago, but it never came !!! I've just started taking notes on An Equal Music!

I like An Equal Music

Someone has recently also inspired me to re-read my Gabriel Garcia Marquez books. Quite odd, some of them, but very good. One Hundred Year Of Solitude is the best known I think - my favourite is Love In A Time Of Cholera, and the most absorbing if quite sad/disturbing (as it's about real life events) is News Of A Kidnapping.

Just finished "The Time Traveller's Wife", it's very good!

The Harsh Cry of the Heron, by Lian Herne. Its a sequl to the Tales of the Otori trilogy. Its set in medievil Japan. I would recogmend it eventhough its not something I would usually read.

Ive just finished reading the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan. Another really good trilogy!

Not long finished The Musashi Flex by Steve Perry. Currently The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Just having a big Jasper Fforde splurge here. Rereading The Ayre Affair and the others in the Thursday Next series and about to start The Fourth Bear (from his Nursery Crime series).
Seriously surreal stuff, and some of the most original ideas I've read for a long time. And funny too. His description of a performance of Richard II with audience participation (like people do here with the Rocky Horror show) is so inspired it is only a matter of time before somebody does it for real.

I've just finished BLOOD BEAST By Darren Shan
Anyone know him?

Dstring

Yeah, I've read the big series he did, quite enjoyed it when I was a bit younger. Was Blood Beast any good?

I'm currently on a bunch of re-reads for the sake of something to do these holidays!
Paradise Lost - John Milton
La Sombra del Viento - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

Love all 3 of them.

Well it had lots of Blood and Demons in!!!!
Did you read the Vampire Series or the Demon one?(Lord Loss, Demon Thief,Slawter, Bec)?

Dstring

I need to read a good new book, and I have no idea where to start

What kind of books are you into?

I've got good ideas for horror books!!!!!

A clockwork orange! That'll keep you thinking for a bit

Did I ever lend you that?

Oh, I've read that! It's quite good!

Nope, you didn't. Could I borrow it? Also I need to read 1984.

You certainly can. I watched the start of the film the other night, and -->

You gave up watching it then? Thanks! Do you own 1984 too?

I went to bed: they only air it at about 11pm, and for good reason, too...

I think Suzy has it, I'll try and get that for you too.

Jasper Fforde is great

Ah, right I see, teehee!

OK, thanks a lot By the way, all the best for you both on Thursday!

If you like horror, can I recommend either of Dean Vincent Carter's two books? Hunting Season and The Hand of the Devil.


If you're into 1984 and A Clockwork Orange, you should really read A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Neuromancer by William Gibson. Also 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clark


1984, BNW and Neuromancer generally being accepted as the 20th century's three greatest sci-fi works. And no-one knows why 2001 isn't among that list!

Aha! He's been on my "maybe" list for a while...time to move him a bit nearer to the "search and buy" list!

I love 1984! I read Animal Farm when I was younger and loved that too, but I've gone off it since I watched the film in history and they gave it a happy ending! How does a book about the animal Stalin have a happy ending?!

Latest selection from me -

Foreign Parts by Janice Galloway
Holy Fools by Joanne Harris
Emma, and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen


Has anyone read any of these?

Just finished Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. Once you start you cannot put it down. Better than the film, and that was brilliant.

I've been reading Isaiah Berlin's 'Two concepts of liberty' .

'Persuasion' by Jane Austen...except I bought the complete novels of Jane Austen in one book 'cause it was cheaper lol so it's a bit hefty to lug around!

The Pact - Jodi Picoult
Plainsong - Kent Haruf
The Time travellers wife - ?

Loved the pact, Time travellers wife was very different but good...only just started Plainsong

Finally bought "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. Apparently it's really big in the States, and my friend over there (who is about as mad about HP as I am) has described reading it as "almost like how I felt when reading Harry Potter"

So I thought I'd see what the fuss was about.

My french exchange friend is trying to tempt me into reading it...over here it's 'tentation' which means fascination I think...how spooky, I hadn't heard of it before, and now everyone's talking about it!

Perhaps you should read some of Jung's texts on synchronicity .

Eh?

Well I was tempted enough to go buy it when I couldn;t find it in any library ...



Shall let you know what it's like.

Essentially, you linked "not having heard of it before" with "now everyone's talking about it". People do this all the time, with various coincidences, and Jung coined the term Synchronicity, described in the following Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

now, i'm reading the purpose driven life this month

it's really good, really opened my mind

For those interested, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is an AMAZING book.

And now I just somehow need to find £12.99 so I can get New Moon. Or I can go complain to my library because they don't stock it.

Ah...okay. Why is everybody so CLEVER here?!!!!

Not everyone....I've just re-read "50 ways to kill a slug!!"

Ah - the wonderful 'I know knowledge' Bunny Warren...

I wish I could find the time to sit and read . What am I saying? I read 'Biggles and The Black Peril' last week!

Biggles! Don't put poor Biggles down - he rocks!!!

Just finished "the Kite runner"

Have any of the rest of you heard of Libraries, thats where the bulk of my current reading comes from!