Books - what are you reading just now?

Just downloaded it to my kindle so haven't read it yet, but so looking forwards to the new Rebus.

I just think Ian Rankin is a genius and in the fields of crime writing he is unique in that the quality never drops, despite the fact the Rebus books have been going for ages.

Also hear good things about Richard Osman's crime novel so will give that a go.
 
I’ve started reading “Broken by war”by Anthony Lock

Only about 60 pages into it so far as it’s my caravan book.

It’s his story about fighting in Iraq and the aftermath of getting blown up
 
Dumped Lolita after not very long at all Very rare that I don't get anywhere into a book - however Lolita isn't any book.

And so for light relief from that I have just rattled through Bill Bryson's Down Under - my first Bryson and I loved it - will do more as there are three on the bookshelf waiting.

Meanwhile - something completely different. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

I’m a big l fan of Bill Bryson. Easy reading and funny in parts
 
Finished The Mirror and the Light last week. Final book in the Wolf Hall trilogy. Absolutely fantastic books, I'd rate them as good as anything I've read. Mantel's prose and dialogue is superlative. Have felt quite bereft knowing that there is no more for me to enjoy.
 
So no more Jack Reacher from Lee Child's, but he is open to someone else taking up the reigns to carry on with the series.
Apparently it is to be made into a TV series, hopefully Jack will be played by someone of the size and not mini cruise size.
That being said Mr Cruise did a bang up job in the two films.?
 
So no more Jack Reacher from Lee Child's, but he is open to someone else taking up the reigns to carry on with the series.
Apparently it is to be made into a TV series, hopefully Jack will be played by someone of the size and not mini cruise size.
That being said Mr Cruise did a bang up job in the two films.?
I think the last few books got weaker than the beginning ones. He did about 22 or 23 of them, plenty of entertainment right there.

I liked the movies, but that’s an unpopular opinion because the only fact that movie fans got out of the books is that reacher is tall. I hope the series isn’t going somewhere where you have to subscribe to, like Netflix. Saying that, I got lucky that Bosh is on Amazon Prime.
 
Just finished a couple.

Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things Beautifully written and very moving - a story based in Kerala south India with the caste system, norms, boundaries and religious beliefs at it's core - quite a complex read as the narrative jumps back and forward in the life of the main character(s). Recommended to anyone with an interest in India.

As that took a while I needed a bit of quick light relief...so the 158 pages of... John Wyndham Chocky

Though televised as a children's series of the early 80s - the book isn't really just a children's book. Written in 1968 it is interesting in how it relates to climate change; renewable energy, and sustainability.

Next up is Nevil Shute Beyond the Black Stump
 
A book called Frozen in Time by Steven Scragg which is about the European Cup Winners Cup. Tis a cracking read if you like Football when it was a sport rather than a business. Some great and obscure teams included.

Have also got the follow up, Where the Cool Kids Hung Out, which is about the heydays of the UEFA Cup.
 
Enjoying Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute - based around sheep stations in northern Western Australia. Written contemporaneously with when it was published in 1956, the depictions in it of how the Aboriginal community was considered and treated back then is very thought provoking - and although I knew a bit about how it was, I still find it shocking (present day sensibilities...)

So notwithstanding 65yrs separating then and now, though things have improved a great deal for that community - where it has come from was such a very low point my admittedly rather superficial observations of the Aboriginal lot gained over 9wks last year spent travelling in Australia suggests there may still be a way to go. But where it was in 1955...

Being Australian did Shute write with a 'this is how it is' eye - or with a 'this is how it is - however...' I don't know.
 
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I've been 'catching up' on Wilbur Smith's output during the several years he's been on 'my bench'! Not sure how I'm going to get through the 800+ page monster (Blue Horizon) that's been acting a a paper(back!)weight since it arrived!
 
Enjoying Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute - based around sheep stations in northern Western Australia. Written contemporaneously with when it was published in 1956, the depictions in it of how the Aboriginal community was considered and treated back then is very thought provoking - and although I knew a bit about how it was, I still find it shocking (present day sensibilities...)

So notwithstanding 65yrs separating then and now, though things have improved a great deal for that community - where it has come from was such a very low point my admittedly rather superficial observations of the Aboriginal lot gained over 9wks last year spent travelling in Australia suggests there may still be a way to go. But where it was in 1955...

Being Australian did Shute write with a 'this is how it is' eye - or with a 'this is how it is - however...' I don't know.

Shute was English.

One of my favourites is Trustee from the Toolroom. Requiem for a Wren is another good read. A bit old in style, harking back to a very different time but I like them because of that.
 
About to start Call for the Dead, by John Le Carre.

JLC is easily my favourite author - Perfect Spy, the Karla trilogy, The Russia House etc, are all brilliant novels
 
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