Question What are you reading?

[ibwiajwa]

I've just read Call of the Dead by John Le Carre, the first Smiley novel. He's a fantastic writer - although there are 'Huh?' moments, it all becomes clear in the end.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Just received my copy of Ann Coulter's latest, 'Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America' - only a few pages in but it's abundantly clear that Miss Coulter has delivered another masterpiece.

 

[Napster]

Just finished The Whisperer, a massive pile of *****. Worried for my folks who are obsessed with all the Larsson and Nesbo books, the ones I've read have been absolute guff.

id avoid the van veteren series then. nesbo is OK, but having reread one recently, not as great as i remembered. larsson's trilogy was a bit over-rated, but a very clever piece of work. (of course tha fact it was posthumous helped the marketing...)

 

[Napster]

ive read some awful books, from dean koontz and shaun hutson - obviously written to fulfil a publishers deal.

 

[ibwiajwa]

ive read some awful books, from dean koontz and shaun hutson - obviously written to fulfil a publishers deal.

Couldn't agree more - my father in law pressed me to read Dark Rivers of the Heart by Koontz. That's a week of my life I won't get back.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Alan Sugar's autobiography."What you see is what you get".I would have thought most SZ readers(including myself)would find the sections on his Chairmanship at Spurs and the behind the scenes insights to The Apprentice of most interest here.The Amstrad era stuff(and I'm only 4 years younger than Sugar)seems almost like a bygone age now.
Have to say I also enjoyed the early stuff about AS growing up in Clapton/Hackney.Some people don't forget their roots.:thumbsup:

 

[MK Shrimper]

Gave up on Catch 22 (hasn't aged at well IMHO) and now reading Michael Caine's autobiography.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Gave up on Catch 22 (hasn't aged at well IMHO) and now reading Michael Caine's autobiography.

Shame.:thumbdown:It's SO much better than the movie.There was a group of us that used to read extracts from this aloud on away trips back in the early 70's.In fact "the girl with the lime green panties" might just have been my first true love.:cool:
A mate bought me a copy of it for my 50th a few years back and I re-read it with (almost)as much pleasure as first time round.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Shame.:thumbdown:It's SO much better than the movie.There was a group of us that used to read extracts from this aloud on away trips back in the early 70's.In fact "the girl with the lime green panties" might just have been my first true love.:cool:
A mate bought me a copy of it for my 50th a few years back and I re-read it with (almost)as much pleasure as first time round.

Haven't seen the film either so I can't comment. I'd imagine it's the same as "The Dice Man" which (second time round), I found unreadable as well despite it's cult status.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Chavs

The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones.A welcome addition to the literature of attacks on working class communities, which started under Thatcher and were continued by New Labour.
He quotes chartered accountant Richard Murphy's "detailed investigations", which show that while welfare fraud is estimated to cost the Treasury around 1billion pounds a year,70 billion pounds is lost through tax evasion every year-that is,seventy times more.

 

[Napster]

The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones.A welcome addition to the literature of attacks on working class communities, which started under Thatcher and were continued by New Labour.
He quotes chartered accountant Richard Murphy's "detailed investigations", which show that while welfare fraud is estimated to cost the Treasury around 1billion pounds a year,70 billion pounds is lost through tax evasion every year-that is,seventy times more.

Sounds a real page-turner. ps I would hardly describe welfare-scroungers as working-class. They don't seem to work, or indeed have any class.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Sounds a real page-turner. ps I would hardly describe welfare-scroungers as working-class. They don't seem to work, or indeed have any class.

Have to confess it's not the most riveting book I've ever read but that's more down to the author's style rather the subject matter.
Not all people who claim benefits are "welfare scroungers" you know(many,if not most,have perfectly valid reasons for doing so).:thumbdown:
The whole concept of an "underclass" or what Marx called the "lumpen proletariet" is in fact a construct,which merely serves to demonize vast numbers of(usually working class) people who are unable to find work in many areas of the country(particularly in the post industrial North and Wales) where actual job vacancies are far lower than the numbers on benefits.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

The Vintage Caper,Peter Mayle.Perfect summer / beach reading.Anyone who doesn't like Mayle is just a snob, IMO.Granted he doesn't write great literature but so what?
This follows the formula of many of his previous novels.Descriptions of Paris and Marseille landmarks which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's ever been there and a lot of lingering lunches en route.The plot?The hunt for some vintage wine stolen from a rich LA Lawyer which ends up in France.Hugely enjoyable.Won't tax too many brain cells either.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Just finished the latest in the Roy Grace series - Dead Mans Grip by Peter James. As ever well written and researched, crime fiction at its best.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Finished 'Schulz: A Biography' at long last, god what a beast, 563 big pages. A highly enjoyable account of the Peanuts author's life, fascinating to find out how became a comic strip artist/writer, the way his life was reflected in the strip but at times it just felt like it was going on forever. No element of his life was considered too small too include, the research was incredible and it paid off because by the end I felt I knew Schulz so well that when his death was recounted at the end i got quite emotional.

 

[Napster]

Broken window by Deaver - usual good read.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Life by Keith Richards.
Kids, Uncle Keef's advice if you're gonna do drugs is, take only the very best quality heroin and cocaine.Liked the story about Charlie Watts thumping Mick for waking him up in the early hours and calling him "my drummer"-"Don't you ever call me my drummer again."Bop.Otherwise there's not too much here.Shame as the Stones were the best British Blues group around back in the 6o's.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Finished Caine's rather anodyne autobiography and started At Home by Bill Bryson last night.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Finished Caine's rather anodyne autobiography and started At Home by Bill Bryson last night.

What's the BB like? :unsure:I just started reading the intro last night(where he carefully didn't mention the name of the Norfolk village he lives in these days,though it's obviously near Norwich).

 

[MK Shrimper]

What's the BB like? :unsure:I just started reading the intro last night(where he carefully didn't mention the name of the Norfolk village he lives in these days,though it's obviously near Norwich).

Just read the introduction as well during a bout of insomnia, but every Bryson I've read I've loved. I'll report back once it's ticked off sir.