Books - what are you reading just now?

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Hobbit

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I've got the last ever Philip Kerr Bernie Gunther [Metropolis] to read - been holding off
As that is set n the late 1920s and takes place before all the rest I may then go and read all the others - in the right chronological order [not order of publication]
Some are just cracking
Can't believe I read the 1st 30 years ago - when life was all in front of me [bad then good then ...??]

Didn’t realise they were on the reading list for 10 year olds.;) Occasionally I reread Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. It was on my O-Level reading list in the early 70’s.
 
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Didn’t realise they were on the reading list for 10 year olds.;) Occasionally I reread Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. It was on my O-Level reading list in the early 70’s.

I was a fully licensed adult by then :p
When I was 10 I was already reading all my Dads books - MacLean, Deighton, Gabin Lyall etc - all in preparation for my planned career
I also read the Exorcist which my mother had stopped reading - which possibly diverted planned activities due to diabolic interventions

Lesson - sometimes you can grow up too fast
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Didn’t realise they were on the reading list for 10 year olds.;) Occasionally I reread Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. It was on my O-Level reading list in the early 70’s.
John Wyndham wrote lots of other really good ’present day’ sci-fi yarns - tales that work as well today as they did when written in the 50s and 60s. They are all a quick and fun read.

Just like the Hammond Innes books - one of which - The Wreck of the Mary Deare - I am reading at the moment. Next up another Nevil Shute (last one read - Requiem for a Wren - was excellent)
 

Hobbit

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John Wyndham wrote lots of other really good ’present day’ sci-fi yarns - tales that work as well today as they did when written in the 50s and 60s. They are all a quick and fun read.

Just like the Hammond Innes books - one of which - The Wreck of the Mary Deare - I am reading at the moment. Next up another Nevil Shute (last one read - Requiem for a Wren - was excellent)

I’ve read and reread everything Shute has written. My favourite is Trustee from the Toolroom, probably Requiem for a Wren as second.
 

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I've got the last ever Philip Kerr Bernie Gunther [Metropolis] to read - been holding off
As that is set n the late 1920s and takes place before all the rest I may then go and read all the others - in the right chronological order [not order of publication]
Some are just cracking
Can't believe I read the 1st 30 years ago - when life was all in front of me [bad then good then ...??]
I love his Bernie Gunther character.
I've got Metropolis but have held back on reading it as I'm going to re-read the whole lot in order again soon.

Oddly, I haven't really enjoyed Kerr's other non Gunther books much.

Have you seen the German made TV series Babylon Berlin?
Brilliant series also set in the seedy world of pre-war Berlin.
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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I’ve read and reread everything Shute has written. My favourite is Trustee from the Toolroom, probably Requiem for a Wren as second.
Must check to see if I have Trustee…I got given about a dozen NS novels by a friend and gradually working my way through them. After recently watching A Town Like Alice (1956) - it’s still on iPlayer - I have picked up the book from Oxfam - guessing that the book will go deeper into some aspects and characterisations than was possible in the film. I find that it his portrayal of humanity and the human condition that I take so much from.
 

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Very impressed with the Shardlake books by CJ Sansom.
Stumbled on one by accident and, so impressed, I searched out the rest of the series on ebay and read them all. Several great characters.
Nice thick books too averaging around 650 - 850 pages. No padding, every page engrossing.
I can't wait until a bit of time is past for me to re-read them again.

They are sort of crime/mystery fiction in Tudor times but set around historically accurate events.
I never thought I'd go for this sort of stuff but Sansom is just brilliant. At the end of each book he explains what were genuine and factually accurate characters and events.
 

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Very impressed with the Shardlake books by CJ Sansom.
Stumbled on one by accident and, so impressed, I searched out the rest of the series on ebay and read them all. Several great characters.
Nice thick books too averaging around 650 - 850 pages. No padding, every page engrossing.
I can't wait until a bit of time is past for me to re-read them again.

They are sort of crime/mystery fiction in Tudor times but set around historically accurate events.
I never thought I'd go for this sort of stuff but Sansom is just brilliant. At the end of each book he explains what were genuine and factually accurate characters and events.
Interesting and neat idea to separate out the fact from the fiction once the story is done…I can imagine thinking ‘blimey - that really happened…?’
 

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Just re-read after many years 'As I walked out one midsummer morning' by Laurie Lee. What a beautiful book.
Lee - a bit of a dodgy character.
Have you seen Two Women, one of his last books.
Also: "Controlling, tormented and with a love of alcohol and young women, his behaviour led to his teenage daughter Jessy having a drug-fuelled breakdown."
 
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I love his Bernie Gunther character.
I've got Metropolis but have held back on reading it as I'm going to re-read the whole lot in order again soon.

Oddly, I haven't really enjoyed Kerr's other non Gunther books much.

Have you seen the German made TV series Babylon Berlin?
Brilliant series also set in the seedy world of pre-war Berlin.

I've read most / all of these as well - to be fair - to him - they were written really as a stand-alone - movie devpt type = and he got some deals / made some cash out of that [writing in the mid-90's was not esp rewarding]
I agree they are not as good but that does not make them bad - IMO far better than 95% of the stuff out there getting lied about on Amazon
I read the first Babylon Berlin book - wasn't bad - but haven't found the others yet - not seen the series but given enough time I may do
 

williamalex1

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I was a fully licensed adult by then :p
When I was 10 I was already reading all my Dads books - MacLean, Deighton, Gabin Lyall etc - all in preparation for my planned career
I also read the Exorcist which my mother had stopped reading - which possibly diverted planned activities due to diabolic interventions

Lesson - sometimes you can grow up too fast
Fresh of the press just for you Ian , the 2021 book of Italian football legends :whistle::eek:
 
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SwingsitlikeHogan

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Fresh of the press just for you Ian , the 2021 book of Italian football legends :whistle::eek:
The Euros final had me looking up Luigi Riva and Gianni Rivera, as the names of these greats have stuck with me from back in the day when Italian football and these players were mysterious and exotic to a wee Glaswegian lad.
 

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The Euros final had me looking up Luigi Riva and Gianni Rivera, as the names of these greats have stuck with me from back in the day when Italian football and these players were mysterious and exotic to a wee Glaswegian lad.
SILH---Do you remember Riva's goal celebrations-wide eyed, arms a bit out from the sides, palms forward and charging up the field screaming--As a schoolie I loved his passion!!
Came from Caliagri ( sp ) or somewhere else really unfashionable didn't he??-Sicily, maybe???
I've got the Brazil vs Italy final on the comp---now that was elegance at its best(y)
 

toyboy54

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SILH---Do you remember Riva's goal celebrations-wide eyed, arms a bit out from the sides, palms forward and charging up the field screaming--As a schoolie I loved his passion!!
Came from Caliagri ( sp ) or somewhere else really unfashionable didn't he??-Sicily, maybe???
I've got the Brazil vs Italy final on the comp---now that was elegance at its best(y)


OOPS- SORRY-- wrong thread,...should have said -have started on 'The Curious Incident Of The In The Night-Time' by Mark Haddon.
V.interesting premis, having an Aspergers syndrome lad as the hero -good so far and so logical
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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OOPS- SORRY-- wrong thread,...should have said -have started on 'The Curious Incident Of The In The Night-Time' by Mark Haddon.
V.interesting premis, having an Aspergers syndrome lad as the hero -good so far and so logical
…of the dog in…

Yes an excellent read - as is his follow up about cancer ‘A Spot of Bother‘
 

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Currently on the "The Man Who ..." PI series by Stephen Donaldson (written under pen name of Reed Stephens but now published as by Donaldson). Rather more lightweight than, say, his "Covenant" or "Gap" books, but still well written & entertaining .
 
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