NiceguyEddie Posted January 14, 2008 Author Share Posted January 14, 2008 ... 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted January 14, 2008 Author Share Posted January 14, 2008 Oh dear. Did I breach forum etiquette & start a thread.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Naughty naughty Nice to see you back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Oh dear. Did I breach forum etiquette & start a thread.. No, isn't a problem with you starting a thread, but there's no point having 2 logs, is there? We're just trying to keep things a little tidier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted January 15, 2008 Author Share Posted January 15, 2008 S'pose not, but it wasn't really a blog as I've lost track. It was more a "hello again" as I'd not really been able to post for quite some time. Apology accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 I've missed a few out, which was why I was determined (but failed) to keep my book blog going. Ah.. but by moving the thread, you have managed to keep your blog going, so I'll accept your apology too! Oh.. hello again to you too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Oh - just started reading last night, William Trevor's Elizabeth Alone. Quite an old one of his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Hello NG - nice to see you back - where have you been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Hello NG - nice to see you back - where have you been? I've been here of course. However, next weekend I'm going here Great fun. Little House on the Prairie in Somerset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Well that looks pretty darn cool - don't forget your woolly socks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Well that looks pretty darn cool - don't forget your woolly socks 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share Posted May 11, 2008 Decided to read The Collectors by David Baldacci. Although I don't think he ever equaled Total Control (now that was a page turner - 500 odd pages and read in a weekend), or The Winner, which I listened to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 Finished The Collectors. It was ok. Interesting in that it had two plots running, one of which wasn't resolved. A cliff hanger. I've now started Two Caravans by Marina Lewyka. I thought that the Ukrainian Tractors novel was hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Ooo I look forward to hearing what you think of Ben Elton's new book. I haven't read it yet, but I do enjoy his work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Well Blind Faith was OK. It was a bit of a rant in places & certainly not his best, but a quick read. I'm now reading C J Sansom's Dissolution. I've read the series in the wrong order but what the hell. These are great books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Which would you say is Elton's best book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Which would you say is Elton's best book? Stark or Gridlock I'd say. That's based upon enjoyment at the time I read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Stein Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 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." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.