What are you reading? 📚

[B4’s Sister]

41 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

I read it as my first Banks, probably 20+ years ago, and I also felt it overhyped. I've gone on to adore his Iain M. Banks scifi books about a humanoid galaxy-spanning civilization called the Culture, and many of his non scifi books. The Crow Road is one of my all-time favourite novels and one I'd recommend. I didn't want to leave those characters and that world - that horrible feeling when the pages towards the end of a book are running out and you know it's almost over and you'll soon have to return to reality.

I love it when a book makes you feel like that. Will add it to my TBR list 

[Gaspode]

I've read  all the Iain Banks (and Iain M. Banks) books. I loved them all - with the exception of the Wasp Factory.

The Crow Road surely has one of the most memorable opening lines of any book: “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” - if you're not hooked after that, you should stick to reading the Sun....

As a slight aside, one of my school friends (originally from Littleover) was Bank's press officer for over 10 years and he dedicated his book Inversions to her - she wrote a lovely obiturary to him after he died in 2013:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/16/iain-banks-obituary-michelle-hodgson

[Leeds Ram]

On 15/08/2024 at 16:14, B4’s Sister said:

I have just finished reading The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. I didn’t find it lived up to the hype and it wasn’t a comfortable book to read. Very similar feel to The Catcher in the Rye. Has anyone else read it? What did you think? 

I read it as a teenager and loved it. Probably the best of Banks works for me. Very atmospheric, morally conflicted and the prose is spot on for the work i think. Not overly flamboyant but sufficiently descriptive. 

The question over Banks is whether he got lucky... a lot of his work is c- fare with very few of his novels reaching the same benchmark. He was going to quit as a novelist if he wasn't published by 30 and the wasp factory just made it by this date. 

Edited August 29 by Leeds Ram

[Leeds Ram]

finished Stoneyard Devotional by charlotte wood, one of the favourites for the Booker, and it was beautiful. Highly recommend a read! Just started Mark Haddon's new series of short stories, his first release for some years following his heart attack and long covid. Hope they live up to his last great work! 

Also read metapolitics by Alan Badiou which I'd recommend avoiding and why read mill today by John Skorupski which was a delightful short work for experts and layman alike. 

[Crewton]

6 hours ago, Leeds Ram said:

finished Stoneyard Devotional by charlotte wood, one of the favourites for the Booker, and it was beautiful. Highly recommend a read! Just started Mark Haddon's new series of short stories, his first release for some years following his heart attack and long covid. Hope they live up to his last great work! 

Also read metapolitics by Alan Badiou which I'd recommend avoiding and why read mill today by John Skorupski which was a delightful short work for experts and layman alike. 

Mark Haddon's short story collections are on my list.

[Crewton]

Finished two books in recent weeks - Lessons by Ian McEwan and Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry. I 'enjoyed' both books, although each have the tricky subject of historic child abuse at their core, which may be distressing for some readers. McEwan's book is wider-ranging and overall a less troubling read, whilst the cases that form the backdrop to Barry's book, even when only hinted at, are both upsetting and moving at the same time - avoid if you're prone to depression or if the subject matter might distress you. Despite all that, I thought both books have passages of truly beautiful writing (Barry's especially) and I can see why they both were highly regarded by critics.

[Bob The Badger]

Loving this.

Mitchell is a comedy genius and I'm learning a lot about a time in history that I knew very little. 

I may even prefer him to Stephen Fry, although it's a very close call. 

[AndyinLiverpool]

9 hours ago, Bob The Badger said:

Loving this.

Mitchell is a comedy genius and I'm learning a lot about a time in history that I knew very little. 

I may even prefer him to Stephen Fry, although it's a very close call. 

I agree. I have the audio book read by Mitchell himself and have listened to it 2 or 3 times

[Bob The Badger]

5 hours ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

I agree. I have the audio book read by Mitchell himself and have listened to it 2 or 3 times

It's the audio version I have, too.

There are more jokes per sentence than most stand-up sets.

[ariotofmyown]

On 29/08/2024 at 18:00, Crewton said:

Finished two books in recent weeks - Lessons by Ian McEwan and Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry. I 'enjoyed' both books, although each have the tricky subject of historic child abuse at their core, which may be distressing for some readers. McEwan's book is wider-ranging and overall a less troubling read, whilst the cases that form the backdrop to Barry's book, even when only hinted at, are both upsetting and moving at the same time - avoid if you're prone to depression or if the subject matter might distress you. Despite all that, I thought both books have passages of truly beautiful writing (Barry's especially) and I can see why they both were highly regarded by critics.

I loved Lessons. That, and the previous Machines Like Us, were two of my favourites ever by him.

I've just read The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes. It was a present and not the sort of book I would normally choose, but loved it. Haven't read a book over the Summer, so a great one to get back into.

My next book is going to be Klara and the Sun after a few people recommened it on here. Thanks all in advance!

 

[Nuwtfly]

23 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

I loved Lessons. That, and the previous Machines Like Us, were two of my favourites ever by him.

I've just read The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes. It was a present and not the sort of book I would normally choose, but loved it. Haven't read a book over the Summer, so a great one to get back into.

My next book is going to be Klara and the Sun after a few people recommened it on here. Thanks all in advance!

 

I loved that book - let me know if you get on with it!

[Crewton]

11 hours ago, Nuwtfly said:

I loved that book - let me know if you get on with it!

Same here. 

[B4’s Sister]

Not been feeling great with anxiety lately. I’ve been reading From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan tonight and I came across the below quote. Gave me a bit of a boost. 

Struggling to get into this book. I preferred The Queen of Dirt Isalnd. 

[B4’s Sister]

I finished reading The Alice Network by Kate Quinn last night. I really enjoyed the unlikely relationships of the main characters and how it switched back to the story of a female spy network in World War I. It’s not an amazing literary work but I found it enjoyable to read. 

[KaiserBillsBatman]

Just finished reading ‘Lanced’, which is a collection of newspaper articles by Irish newshound and IMO hero David Walsh (and a few others) about doping in cycling, and specifically his doubts about Lance Armstrong.  I’ve read more books about Lance Armstrong than any other sportsman (maybe any other person) and, as someone who HATES cheats in sport I seem to get some weird satisfaction from reading of his downfall from a hundred different angles.  

[Nuwtfly]

I've just finished Haruki Murakami's memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Perhaps I'm just biased but I thought it was fantastic. I really enjoyed how honest it was and how genuine it felt. There's a frankness to his writing that really appeals to me. It's even inspired me to try and get out and start hitting the road again.

Well worth a read if you like reading about the minds of writers and what makes them tick (and run).

[Nuwtfly]

2 hours ago, B4’s Sister said:

Not been feeling great with anxiety lately. I’ve been reading From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan tonight and I came across the below quote. Gave me a bit of a boost. 

Struggling to get into this book. I preferred The Queen of Dirt Isalnd. 

Hope you feel better soon! 

[B4’s Sister]

22 minutes ago, Nuwtfly said:

Hope you feel better soon! 

Thank you 

[B4’s Sister]

Just finished Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was interesting. It was the right level of sci-fi for me and I empathised with the AI companion, especially towards the end. It threw up some good moral questions about how far AI could go. I can’t help feeling the book lacked something which I can’t figure out what that is. I read the book in a few days and it held my attention but given the popularity of other books by the author, I’m not sure whether this was the best example of their work?  I did enjoy it though. 

[angieram]

6 hours ago, B4’s Sister said:

Just finished Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was interesting. It was the right level of sci-fi for me and I empathised with the AI companion, especially towards the end. It threw up some good moral questions about how far AI could go. I can’t help feeling the book lacked something which I can’t figure out what that is. I read the book in a few days and it held my attention but given the popularity of other books by the author, I’m not sure whether this was the best example of their work?  I did enjoy it though. 

We did that recently at Book Group and I agree with you. I loved the book, but felt some of the character development was lacking for me.

I think Ishiguro is so popular that he is under pressure to churn out a new book maybe before he's had full time to nurture them.

He's also getting on a bit!