Jump to content

Nice Guy Eddie's reading list from now


NiceguyEddie

Recommended Posts

... and Happy New Year.

 

November & December were extremely busy for me with work, but I managed to get a little reading in!

 

I read the "last" Rebus, which was among his best. I managed two Pratchett's - Going Postal & Making Money. The latest Peter Robinson. A couple of Sandford's (one on audio). I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which has been on my shelf in shrinkwrap since it was launched.

 

I also listened to To Kill a Mockingbird read by Sissy Spacek, which was quite possibly the best audio book ever! Too good for the 16 year olds studying it for GCSE. I also managed to listen to A Thousand Splendid Suns. Again, quite brilliant. Both unabridged of course. I'm currently listening to The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander.

 

I've missed a few out, which was why I was determined (but failed) to keep my book blog going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 63
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Hi Eddie. Good to see you again.

I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, and I could see why it is so revered, but it didn't tick all the boxes for me. Have a peep at my review on the review forum, and then maybe add your own!

I'd be interested in the audio you are currently listening to. Let us know your thoughts when you finish it.

Susie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Hi Eddie. Good to see you again.

I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, and I could see why it is so revered, but it didn't tick all the boxes for me. Have a peep at my review on the review forum, and then maybe add your own!

I'd be interested in the audio you are currently listening to. Let us know your thoughts when you finish it.

Susie.

 

The Ministry of Special Cases was truly excellent. It wasn't dissimilar to A Thousand Splendid Suns in that it looked at the impact upon ordinary people of loathsome regimes.

 

If people don't know, it's about the quest of parents to find their son who's become one of the disappeared in Argentina's Dirty War.

 

Highly recommended.

 

I've got through a few more books besides, a Simon Brett, a Pratchett and a good few others.

 

I've just started listening to Traveler by Ron McLarty. I'd link to the title on my website but I reckon Michelle would slap my wrist. :lol: But I listened to Memory of Running by McLarty a couple of years ago & that one's stuck with me. A great read if you missed it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Well I finished Elizabeth Alone, then read the third Ripley novel. Now I'm reading C J Sansom's latest - Revelation. It's a cliche, but you feel like you're there. He is such a good writer. Set in 1543, Henry VIII is "courting" Katherine Parr & there's a serial killer on the loose. Great stuff.

 

I'm just finishing God's Spy on audio. 470 years later & there's yet another serial killer & more religion. This one involves a priest who is murdering cardinals in the aftermath of John Paul II's death. I've got a copy of the latest John Sandford to play next. Phantom Prey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that looks pretty darn cool - don't forget your woolly socks :D

 

I'm hoping it will be shorts & T shirts I need to remember. The weather the last few days has been great. I'm just hoping it lasts.

 

Just finished the Sansom. Have been a bit lazy today & read the last 150 pages. Such a good book. Such a good writer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've just started listening to Angels in the Gloom by Anne Perry. It's the third in her WW1 series. The first was No Graves as Yet, then Shoulder the Sky. There are I think two more. I've listened to the first two.

 

Did you know that Anne Perry is a convicted murderer? She was one of the girls in Heavenly Creatures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finished Two Caravans.

 

It's a novel about migrant workers and their quest to earn money & the exploitation of them. I really enjoyed the Ukrainian Tractor book & this follows some similar themes, but it's darker.

 

We follow a group of Ukrainians, Poles and Chinese through their exploits first picking strawberries, then working in a chicken farm (horrible), then working in a restaurant, then finally with new age protesters.

 

One of the main characters Irina is being pursued by an Eastern European gangster who wants to "make possibility" with her. As I said, it's quite dark, but it's also very funny in places. If you like the Ukrainian Tractor novel, you'll like this too. If you missed it, you missed a treat.

 

I've just started Night Watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I finished Night Watch. I'm not sure where this one generally sits in terms of Pratchett's best, but I thought it was the best one I'd read to date. I enjoy the Watch ones most anyway, but Night Watch seemed a bit "deeper" than usual.

 

Also nearly finished Blind Faith by Ben Elton which my daughter bought me for Father's Day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favourite was Stark, though I suspect that might partly be because I was in my teens when I read it and I sort of dread to think how it might stand up now. Of his more recent books, I most enjoyed Dead Famous, mainly because of Elton's raging hatred of the reality TV genre and Big Brother in particular which comes through on every page.

 

But they were all irritating. Or at least they were to Coleridge. Every single one of them, with their toned tummies and their bare buttocks, their biceps and their triceps, their tattoos and their nipple rings, their mutual interest in star signs, their endless hugging and touching, and above all their complete lack of genuine intellectual curiosity about one single thing on this planet that was not directly connected with themselves.

 

...

 

This replica house had no roof or plumbing and did not include the garden, but internally its colours and dimensions were precise. It gave Coleridge the feel.

 

He cursed himself. Standing in the imitation space, he felt that he had become like one of the actual housemates: he had no useful thoughts in his head whatsoever, only feelings.

 

"Feelings," thought Coleridge. "The modus operandi of an entire generation. You don't have to think anything, or even to believe anything. You only have to feel."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Philip, I loved Dead Famous too. I completely agree with Elton's view of reality TV. Chart Throb was another like that which I also thoroughly enjoyed as he ripped it out of the rubbish we call entertainment (in my opinion) and the 15 minutes of fame some people crave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...