Books - what are you reading just now?

Take it from your pal Tug.

It’s 500 times better listening to bob tell the tale.

It’s both long and important 🤣
Thank you. Listening to it this morning on a long car journey.
It is very, very good.
I don't usually bother with autobios or bios, as they always seem either self-indulgent or fawning. This is delightful.
 
Thank you. Listening to it this morning on a long car journey.
It is very, very good.
I don't usually bother with autobios or bios, as they always seem either self-indulgent or fawning. This is delightful.
Good stuff. Try not to drive when you get to the samurai sword story.

I laughed that much I’d have crashed the car 😅
 
Going on holiday for near two weeks pretty soon. Hopefully I‘ll be able to finish Anna Karenin that I have been very slowly reading for a few months…I did say slowly - don’t think Tolstoy wrote it for rapid reading. On p500 and something - only 350 to go 🙄

Meanwhile I’ll also do a little bit of quick WW2 adventure/thriller reading D A Rayner…The Enemy Below. A bit of Destroyer-U boat cat and mouse.
 
Slowly making my way through the the full collection of H G Wells. Free download from Amazon. Read one book and then read something more modern before going back. The Time Machine bears not much resemblance to the original film of the same name but was an enjoyable read. Some of them are hard going though such as Love and Mr Lewisham. I have absolutely no idea what it is supposed to be about.
 
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie. I've never read one of her books before so I thought I'd give it a go. I was worried it might be dated in the language and feel stilted but those worries were soon put to one side. Very easy to read, the story is bobbing along quite nicely.

The good news of course, she has written a few so I've got plenty to work through 😄
 
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie. I've never read one of her books before so I thought I'd give it a go. I was worried it might be dated in the language and feel stilted but those worries were soon put to one side. Very easy to read, the story is bobbing along quite nicely.

The good news of course, she has written a few so I've got plenty to work through 😄

I’ve gone old school too. The adventures of Tom Sawyer

And I’m probably due my 7th/8th read of When the lion feeds by Wilbur Smith
 
On a theme with several recent posts - currently working my way through Charles Dickens. Everyone regards his work as classic, but never read any before. Very descriptive narratives but the language takes a bit of getting used to.
 
Wondering whether listening to a book reading is the same as reading the book myself.

I avoid screen adaptations of books I have lined up to read as I want to conjure up my own version of the world and characters the author sets out to create, and have had same thoughts about radio adaptations…but a radio (or similar) reading of a book feels different.

So have started listening to a reading (albeit abridged) of Catch 22 On BBC Sounds. Just feels equivalent to reading it myself in that I still create in my minds eye that which reading does.

And wondering of other avid readers thoughts on this.
 
On a theme with several recent posts - currently working my way through Charles Dickens. Everyone regards his work as classic, but never read any before. Very descriptive narratives but the language takes a bit of getting used to.
I love Dickens and have read most of his main novels. The language is one thing in that I had to teach myself to accept slow reading and not get frustrated. But as he wrote in episodes and often has multiple plot lines running consecutively, lines that run in parallel, converge and sometimes cross, keeping track of the characters and where they were introduced and are in the plot line they are in can be tricky and I often find myself flicking back to check…and when I find it i often read a few pages to reestablish their part in proceedings. Just makes reading an extended exercise.

My favourite…dunno…but Bleak House is superb. Next Dickens up? Dombey and Son.
 
I said this after the previous one and held firm. I'm pleased to hear I was right to. Such a shame.
I only paid 80p to read it as I just reserve books at the library now instead of buying them. Not the worst book ever, but probably won't bother with the next one.

Might be time to read the whole series again though - due to fading memory with older age? :)
 
I only paid 80p to read it as I just reserve books at the library now instead of buying them. Not the worst book ever, but probably won't bother with the next one.

Might be time to read the whole series again though - due to fading memory with older age? :)
I do the same library wise, brilliant service. Every so often I buy one that is missing in a series but we can hardly begrudge that when we read so many for free.
 
On a theme with several recent posts - currently working my way through Charles Dickens. Everyone regards his work as classic, but never read any before. Very descriptive narratives but the language takes a bit of getting used to.
I love Dickens and have read most of his main novels. The language is one thing in that I had to teach myself to accept slow reading, but as he wrote in episodes and often has multiple plot lines running consecutively, lines that run in parallel, converge and sometimes cross, keeping track of the characters and where they were introduced and are in the plot line they are in can be tricky and I often find myself flicking back to check…and when I find it i often read a few pages to reestablish their part in proceedings.

My favourite…dunno…but Bleak House is superb. Got Dombey and Son next.
 
And so after a couple of pretty short adventures - Beau Geste and A High Wind in Jamaica - now for something completely different.

A book I’ve mused about reading for many a moon…Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Apparently his masterwork ahead of WaP…which I may or may not subsequently embark upon depending upon how I get on with AK. But if I can read and enjoy the longest of Dickens then I am not daunted by AK.
Well…it took a while but yesterday I finished Anna Karenin. When did I start on it? Well only July 26th. Yup…11months for all of its 1000 or so pages (I’ve read other stuff along the way).

I savoured it and loved it…brilliant and deep characterisations…Tolstoy’s genius…and a very philosophical examination of life, the human condition, and what it’s all about - if we care to stop, open our eyes, and see the truth of what is clearly before us - and appreciate the difference between what we want and think we need, and what is right and good.

And on the flight home yesterday started and already half way through The Enemy Below, by D A Rayner. A short gripping WW2 tale of a British destroyer and German U-boat. Written in 1956 Rayner had been there, seen it, and done it. So lots of real operational detail as the destroyer tracks and hunts down the sub.

Next up main read? Maybe something a bit lighter than Tolstoy - both in tone and pages 😳

But as for AK…go on. If you read older classic stuff…treat yourself…it’s easy to read (though lots of characters and relationships to keep track of) and as the chapters are short it can be read in bite-sized chunks. It’s worth it.
 
Last edited:
Just started book 9 in the Detective Inspector Ridpath series, written by M.J. Lee. The back story, book 1, starts with him returning to work after battling cancer, and he is seconded to the Coroner’s Office. The various stories are centred around south west Manchester(modern day), and having lived around there for 10yrs there is an added interest.

Some great plot twists, and the occasional unhappy twists. Easy reading but quite gripping at times.
 
Got a big book of Jeeves and Wooster. Utterly brilliant. Thing is every bit of speech is done in my head with Fry and Laurie, THE best Jeeves and Wooster portrayals on TV.
 
I always know when I have read a good book. It takes two days.
The latest was a day and a half.

“The Last fighting Tommy”.

The life of Harry Patch. The only surviving veteran of the trenches. Sadly no longer with us. It basically goes through his own life story and not just about his time during 2 world wars.
A fantastic read, sad, educational.
 
Top