The what are you reading at the moment fred

[dougal]

 

1 hour ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

Wait a minute... There's a tv show based on the books?

Whats it called?

 

1 hour ago, Lemongrab said:

I didn't know there was a series, I'll have to have a look a that. Cheers. 👍

 

It's called The Last Kingdom

[Konrad von Carstein]

1 hour ago, dougal said:

 

 

 

It's called The Last Kingdom

That's about King Arthur and the Vikings is it not?

[dougal]

16 minutes ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

That's about King Arthur and the Vikings is it not?

 

We might be talking a out two different things.  The series I'm talking about is about Alfred, Uhtred and the Vikings based on the Bernard Cornwell books. Apologies if you thought I meant a TV series based on the Simon Scarrow books, it's not, although having read the first couple of them it would be a great source material for a show.

[Konrad von Carstein]

52 minutes ago, dougal said:

 

We might be talking a out two different things.  The series I'm talking about is about Alfred, Uhtred and the Vikings based on the Bernard Cornwell books. Apologies if you thought I meant a TV series based on the Simon Scarrow books, it's not, although having read the first couple of them it would be a great source material for a show.

We were at x purposes, but it's all good

I think done well the Macro and Cato stories would make a brilliant series of films or a TV series.

 

Adam Driver is Cato and Dave Bautista is Macro in my minds eye when reading the books.

[dougal]

Just finished this. Extremely far fetched as always but still enjoyable.

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

Patricia Highsmith My favourite crime writer . She writes so well about flawed characters who tend to get involved in a crime unintentionally and things seem to spiral out of control . Or often writes about someone being obsessive about something or someone . Like this one I’m currently  reading which is about a family who become estranged to dangerous levels when some of them Become bible thumpers . She also wrote “ The talented Mr Ripley “ “ Stangers on a train “ and other classics . A great author . 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by JamesM48

[dougal]

Another fast paced and enjoyable thriller.

 

[FWJ]

Recently read ‘Travellers in the Third Reich’ by Julia Boyd.
It’s letters etc from people visiting Germany in the 30s

 

A very interesting read with a growing sense of unease as the years pass up to 1939.

[dougal]

Number 9 in the series and still very entertaining. 

 

[dougal]

Another top notch thriller in the series

 

[dougal]

Number 10 in the series but wasn't overly impressed with it. Hopefully the final 3 return to form.

 

[dougal]

Very decent thriller that fans of Dan Brown or Andy McDermott would enjoy.

 

[Kiwidoug]

John Mortimer, the Rumplple Omnibus, all three of them.  Brilliant.

[Kiwidoug]

Just now, Kiwidoug said:

John Mortimer, the Rumplple Omnibus, all three of them.  Brilliant.

Rumpole

[the general]

The Young Team .. graeme Armstrong

 

Brilliant novel set in airdrie

[Auld Reekin']

 

Picked it up for £1.50 at a local charity shop and I reckon I'm around £1.35 down on the deal. The signs of the decline in his writing were all too evident in the predecessor to this, 'Perfidia', but this one's even worse.

 

I'd really enjoyed his LA Quartet novels (including LA Confidential) and his Underworld USA Trilogy, and thought he provided a unique and distinctive voice in American crime fiction, but this is shite. And very, very, long... (Less than a hundred pages to go though, thank feck!)

 

His writing now lacks any discipline and for much of the time is just re-hashing what he's written before. It offers little that's new: it's almost like it's written by someone determined to parody Ellroy rather than by Ellroy himself. Apart from the very obvious defects in the novel, the thing that annoys me most about it is his constant use of "quite the...", rather than "quite a..." in the characters' dialogue. It's very much an Americanism, and I know he's American, but I very strongly doubt that anyone was actually phrasing a sentence that way in the USA of the 1940s where the novel is set.

 

An example of this would be: "In 'This Storm', Ellroy has written quite the bad novel...", instead of "In 'This Storm', Ellroy has written quite a bad novel...".  Its constant use throughout is very irritating.

 

 

[Helzibob]

Just finished the prosecutor by Afzal Nazir. Pretty interesting insight into the crown prosecution service and their staff. 

[dougal]

Read these 2 recently.  The Lovers is another good Charlie Parker thriller that I found a little creepy in places. The Chestnut Man is the first novel from the writer of The Killing (Forbrydelsen). I think it would make a good mini series. Plenty going on and a few red herrings around.

[benny]

The search for a lost Caravaggio masterpiece.

Cracking read.

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by benny

[dougal]

Pretty decent historical novels

 

[Shanks said no]

Really good read and I resisted googling the outcome before the finish. Love the Spartans of Greece

 

 

[dougal]

18 hours ago, The Frenchman Returns said:

Really good read and I resisted googling the outcome before the finish. Love the Spartans of Greece

 

 

 

His books on Caesar (Emperor series) and Genghis Khan (Conqueror series) are excellent too if you haven't read them.

[Shanks said no]

19 minutes ago, dougal said:

 

His books on Caesar (Emperor series) and Genghis Khan (Conqueror series) are excellent too if you haven't read them.

Started with the War of the Roses series, really good and have the Conqueror series on my Kindle but want to choose the right time to binge on it.

[Ulysses]

I started reading this a couple of months ago, stopped because I mislaid the book, and then picked it up again.  The writer lectures in the Department of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh.

 

Basically, it speculates on how cities will fossilise over millions of years into the future, and branches out from that into discussions of the beginning of the Anthropocene era and other environmental stuff.  It's a good read, though I must admit it's a bit depressing in parts.

 

[NANOJAMBO]

 Really good take on the potential break up of the UK and the influence of English nationalism / Brexit in potentially hastening the outcome. 

[dougal]

Typical James Patterson fare but a no thinking easy and entertaining read.

 

[CF11JamTart]

I've just finished Pat Nevin's book "The Accidental Footballer". 

 

Decent read, definitely worth a look.

 

 

[Auld Reekin']

56 minutes ago, jonesy said:

It's funny how folk can have such differing opinions. I love Ellroy's style, its tightness, its staccato rhythm. Yes, I agree that he has become a bit of a caricature of himself, but that - for me, at least - doesn't detract.

 

He'll never top the Underworld USA series when he was clearly at his peak, but this is still good stuff. His character portrayals are mesmerising. 

 

 

I also really liked Ellroy's writing up until the last two books. I don't mean that they are really terrible books compared to the thronging multitudes of really, REALLY, terrible books out there, I just think they are poor compared to much of his previous work. It'll probably take some very positive reviews and feedback before I pick up another new book by him though, sad to say...

 

I wonder how his novel featuring Bill Clinton is coming along. His stated intention was to wait until Clinton dies and then publish - so it's presumably not going to be a complimentary portrayal  - but given that he's only 1.5 years younger than Clinton it'll be interesting to see who snuffs it first* and what transpires!

 

 

 

(*Unless it's me.  If so, I don't suppose I'll be interested at all...)

 

 

 

[dougal]

Decent British crime thriller.

 

 

[Shanks said no]

I know she has sold 35 million more books than me but I didn't get it. May seem a strange thing to say but the violence / reaction just didn't ring true. Won't be rushing to read more of her works

 

[Shanks said no]

 

As it says on the cover, I just couldn't put it down, great story.

[Ulysses]

Just bought two books of Irish poetry last week (as in, poetry written in the Irish language), and I've been dipping in an out of them since.  Duanaire an Chéid (Anthology of the Century) is a selection of poems from the 20th century, and includes several that I studied at school.  IDEO Locator (the "you are here" dot on a map) is a collection of poems by a young Donegal fella called Dubhán Ó Longáin which was published last year. 

 

 

 

[been here before]

[heartgarfunkel]

Will Sergeant out of Echo & The Bunnymen’s autobiography. Tremendous read. 

[dougal]

3 decent but different crime novels. One set in Canada, one in Greece and one in South of England.  All worth a read.  Dead Tomorrow was the best of the 3 imo.

 

[William H. Bonney]

I recently read the first 2 novels in the Harry hole series by jo nesbo. 
The bat and cockroaches. 
I found the latter extremely slow and I can’t see myself reading anymore by him. 
 

[William H. Bonney]

Going to start this today 

[benny]

Empire of the Summer Moon.

The rise and fall of the Commanches.Brutal but brilliant read so far.

[tedarmy]

[JWL]

Just took delivery of this today. Should be some decent wee stories in there.

 

[dougal]

11 hours ago, Furious Styles said:

I recently read the first 2 novels in the Harry hole series by jo nesbo. 
The bat and cockroaches. 
I found the latter extremely slow and I can’t see myself reading anymore by him. 
 

 

No word of lie, but those two are easily the worst of the series. If memory serves it was the 3rd and 4th books which were first published in English and after a few more had been published in English to some success they then went back and published the first two books looking to jump on the bandwagon despite them being pretty poor books.

[dougal]

10 hours ago, benny said:

Empire of the Summer Moon.

The rise and fall of the Commanches.Brutal but brilliant read so far.

If you've not read it then I'd recommend Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. It's excellent.

[dougal]

First in his China series. Thoroughly entertaining and fast paced novel. Would definitely recommend it.

 

[dougal]

A very good legal thriller. 

 

[spud]

Haven't been on this thread for a while, so no idea if this has been mentioned before.

 

Gerlach was a Lieutenant with the 14th Panzer Division at Stalingrad. He was wounded and captured by the Soviets. While a prisoner he wrote of his time in Stalingrad but the Soviets found his manuscript and confiscated it. He was released back to Germany in 1950 and through hypnosis he tried to remember what he had written, eventually publishing his remembered recollections as "The Forgotten Army" in 1957. In 2012, a German researcher, Prof. Carsten Gansel found the original manuscript in 2012 in a Moscow archive. The above is the original novel written by Gerlach as a prisoner.

 

It's a fantastic, if sometimes, harrowing read, all the more important as it describes first hand what the Germans went through in the famous siege.

[spud]

On 11/08/2021 at 22:28, benny said:

Empire of the Summer Moon.

The rise and fall of the Commanches.Brutal but brilliant read so far.

Just a wee aside. Quanah Parker's mother was Cynthia Ann Parker who was captured by Commanches as a nine year old. Cynthia's "rescue" was the, admittetly loose, subject of John Ford and John Wayne's magnificent film "The Searchers".

 

 

[tedarmy]

[dougal]

An enjoyable novel similar to The Da Vinci Code and others of the same genre. Interesting thing is no one seems to know who the author is. It's apparently a well established best selling author but no one knows who.

 

[dougal]

Typical James Patterson. Moves along at far speed. Enjoyable enough but will never win any awards.

 

[benny]

On 11/08/2021 at 11:28, benny said:

Empire of the Summer Moon.

The rise and fall of the Commanches.Brutal but brilliant read so far.

Brilliant interview with S C Gwynne and Joe Rogan on Spotify.