Timstar

Hi all, Being meaning to introduce myself for a while! My Name is Tim, I'm a 22 year old final year student at the University of Essex studying Biomedical Science. I really enjoyed reading as a child then kinda didn't for about 10 years for some reason. In the last couple of years I have really got back into it. Started when I randomly picked up a book and author from a charity shop, It was Cell by Stephen King. I really enjoyed it and King rapidly became my favourite author. I have a bad habit of many more books then I can read therefore I have almost every King book already but have only read about 15. I also enjoy history, therefore I read a few historical non-fictions as well as Bernard Cornwell who I think is amazing! Read about 6 Sharpe books so far, but again own all the rest and are on the TBR pile. Other authors I have read some of and want to read more include: Chuck Palahniuk Jack Ketchum George R. R. Martin Cormac McCarthy Ian Fleming Neil Gaiman Joe Hill Brett Easton Ellis I have enjoyed this forum a lot so far and already bought some books based on the recommendations!

Started reading my first ever biography! Leonardo: The First Scientist by Michael White. I have long being an admirer of Da Vinci who was possibly the most talented and innovative man who ever lived, and being a scientist myself I wanted to learn more about his scientific and engineering inventions then his paintings. It is good so far, he was a very complex, non-conformist man who struggled to finish any tasks he started. Learnt of a theory that he invented the violin... but no real evidence to back it up. Interesting stuff.

Just started reading my first ever Biography, Leonardo: The first scientist, good so far!

Just finished reading A Game of Thrones, very good book, can't wait to start the next and see the next season on TV. Now a bit hooked on fantasy so I bought the Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks and His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

Just got Off Season by Jack Ketchum and Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell. Can't wait to start reading them.

Just finished reading this, thought it was great! very suspenseful, read it all in one evening. Saw the film as well, very accurate adaptation. Just bought as well Off Season from eBay.

Just finished reading The Dark Tower, I was so disappointed in the last 3 books. You can tell he rushed to finish them and they were far too long. The ending was very anti-climatic but what annoyed me most was the afterword. He basically says he wasn't happy with the ending either but tough, and although he changes the location of his house in the book he tells people if you happen to be passing please don't stop by to say hello. basically saying he has no interest in meeting his fans who helped him buy the house in the first place. He also states that because he wrote the book and the characters it is only logical that he is in it as well?? and that it wasn't meant to be pretentious. After reading so much unnecessary and pointless plot in the final three books I was at least hoping for a good send off but he is basically a d**k in the afterword. It is upsetting because the Dark Tower series started so well and had so much potential and needed something quite special to mess it up and he provides that in full. Don't think I will be reading the 'Wind through the Keyhole' any time soon. The final instalment was better then the previous two with a few good scenes, but I could count them on one hand... not great in a 700 page book. Apologies if this annoys any King fans, I am still one and will keep reading his horrors and thrillers. But I will stick with Tolkien and George RR Martin for fantasy.

Just finished reading survivor, my third Palahniuk book (Fight Club and Choke). I thought it was really good, seems to be very typical Palahniuk style. It was a very interesting format but didn't make me laugh as much as choke. I've got Lullaby and Invisible monsters which I will be reading soon, also want to get Snuff.

Nice to hear about the Warlord Trilogy, just need to buy enemy of god then I will have the trilogy and will start reading them.

I love this series too, I picked up his first novel Sharpe's Eagle and loved it! Amazed by the historical accuracy and research he must of done. So then I went out and bought the whole series . Started reading them in chronological order, just finished Sharpe's Prey which I liked a lot and is second only to Sharpe's Eagle IMO. Also been watching the series, love Sean Bean as Sharpe and the series in general, shame they are a bit low budget though, can't really bring the scale of the battles to life. But they are still fun.

I recently finished the grail quest trilogy, (Harlequin, Vagabond and Heretic) by Bernard Cornwell, thought they were amazing! I am a big fan but new fan of Cornwell's and this was my first deviation from Sharpe. I love his ability to describe battles and historical events. Thomas of Hookton is such a great character and he really brings the archers to life. I thoroughly recommend it to any historical fiction fans!

I met Michael Palin and got his autograph in his Eastern Europe travel book. More due to my Monty Python love then his travel books. Up to 2/5 of the remaining Pythons now. I have never been to a book reading or anything, keep meaning too.

Just finished Dolores Claiborne, thought it was very good. The writing is so great and the characters are so vivid that even though the story isn't ground-breaking or in-depth it keeps you hooked completely. I loved the idea of her telling the whole story to the police, her colloquialisms and bluntness are fantastic. I also just finished the film, thought it was really good, a great adaptation..really true to the book, a few small changes but so much of it was lifted straight from the book. Kathy Bates was brilliant.

Thanks, had a look for a previous thread but couldn't find one.

I was hoping to find some Palahniuk fans out there, even if you've only read one or two. I have read Fight Club and Choke and loved them a lot, I bought a few more: Rant, lullaby, survivor and pygmy. I tried reading pygmy but could not stand the style. It was interesting and unique but wasn't for me at all. I know he has written quite a few more so I was wondering what others have read and enjoyed?

I did enjoy the film, but a lot is different from the novel,even though they are both written by Carl Sagan. But it was filmed after his death so maybe they changed things. William Fichtner is great in it, but with a different take on Ken, and Matthew McConaughey....less so.

No it I don't believe it is, I have read the Dark Tower but not The Stand but I think Desperation is an expansion of the Stand...

Finished off Contact by Carl Sagan, and just finished Sharpe's Prey by Bernard Cornwell. Already started Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King.

Based on your likes I would recommend Robert Crais, the Elvis Cole novels are very popular but I'm not keen on the first person style, but I loved his stand alone books, especially Hostage. Or if you want to try something different have a go at Cormac McCarthy

Just finished reading Contact by Carl Sagan, just wondering if anyone else had? It is about a message received from space and when decoded it is instructions to build a machine of unknown capabilities. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, it is quite heavy on the physics and astronomy which is certainly not an area of interest to me. The language he uses throughout is sophisticated yet easy to understand. The characters are fantastic and diverse, all the possibilities and implications of the message and machine are examined at every stage. I'm going to try and buy his other books as well.

Yeah... to be fair the characters haven't really travelled any where after The Waste Lands... Wizard and Glass was good but didn't progress the story on, which is fine for one novel, especially a good origins story. So after the overly long stall in Wolves of the Calla I was expecting a return to pace... very disappointed.

New to BCF, big fan of Stephen King but only discovered him a few years ago so I've not read too many but the ones I have, I have loved... with one exception, I just finished Song of Sussanah and thought it was a real let down in the series. It barely moves the plot on at all and feels a lot like filler. I know he is famous (and best at) for stories about Maine and writers but when he has a totally imagined world with endless possibilities (as seen in The Waste Lands) he still brings it back to a writer in Maine...I just get the sense that he went to far from his comfort zone and had to go back there. Wondering what other people thought of it.... I have enjoyed the series so far and will be reading the final book soon, but I was certainly disappointed with SoS...to the point that when I read the series again I will quite happily skip it and know I have not missed anything.

Just finished this book in less then 3 days. It was my first Joe Hill book and thought it was very good. Great characters and gripping plot. The only thing I would say about it is that it starts off as a very typical horror but then becomes more of a supernatural thriller. Which may not be a bad thing but isn't very consistent. Highly recommend.