Favourite books/authors

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As an interesting but trivial sidenote, I read just the other day that just recently a company in China that made couches for export had one coded '****** brown'.

lolz, I bet someone went to labour camp for that one.
 
Rawhead said:
Now this is interesting, I didn't realise that the book had originally been released under that title.

Naughty Agatha.
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The original book & title was based on an old english nursery rhyme. And interestingly was published under that name in the UK up until the 80's..
 
_hyphy said:
Yeah I agree with you on the film not doing the story any justice. The visuals you either love or hate, i'm willing to give it another viewing solely on Robert Downey's performance.
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Yes, it was Robert Downey Jr. who played that role, wasn't it - not George Clooney!

Just made a bit of a Phillip K. out of myself with that previous post, getting the actors wrong! ;)
 

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Just finished The Road by Cormac Mccarthy. Its about a father and son basically just trying to stay alive in a post apocalyptic world.

Its incredibly bleak and gripping. I read it one sitting. Contains some absolutely beautiful prose, which works well against this awful world he paints.


I'm also about halfway through the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, finishing off a Matthew Reilly book and an excellent travel book about an Aussie guy going around the world without using a plane. Lately, I have had a bad habit of reading heaps of books at the same time.
 
The Flying Belgian said:
I'm really a horrid reader and it's one of my great hyprocisies. I urge people to check out music beyond that which is played on the radio (and I know a few poster here share those thoughts), but I can't get into "lit-ra-cha" which is odd as a love of good turn of phrase.

My tastes are popular fiction (Crichton, Baldacci, Reilly (a bit) & King (although I prefer his less horrific stories) and anything by Douglas Adams. John Birmingham's books are quite good too. But I fully appreciate it's the book equivalent of listening to MMM.

I tend to read non-fiction books a bit too.
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TFB, you should give Nik Hornby a go - Fever Pitch and High Fidelity. The films don't do them justice and the topics will be of interest. Also not MMM fodder.
 
kimp said:
TFB, you should give Nik Hornby a go - Fever Pitch and High Fidelity. The films don't do them justice and the topics will be of interest. Also not MMM fodder.
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Thanks kimp. I actually enjoyed both movies, so if the books are that much better (and they usually are) then fantastic. I have meant to get around to reading his stuff, but never quite got there.
 
Currently Reading a book titled Calypso Cricket, it is written from a non cricketing Journalist perspective of Carribean life during the 1991 Australian tour of the West Indies. The journalist had established relationship with Matthews and Whitney prior to the tour so they are his ins into the inner sanctum of the tour. He really gives a no holds bar account of some of the cricketers, journos and fans. It is a really good read and only cost 20c at the Lifeline book show.
 
acuguy said:
Currently Reading a book titled Calypso Cricket, it is written from a non cricketing Journalist perspective of Carribean life during the 1991 Australian tour of the West Indies. The journalist had established relationship with Matthews and Whitney prior to the tour so they are his ins into the inner sanctum of the tour. He really gives a no holds bar account of some of the cricketers, journos and fans. It is a really good read and only cost 20c at the Lifeline book show.
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The Lifeline Bookfest is great.

We went a week ago, I loaded up on political biographies and also got a great book that covered the Gabba's first 100 years, some great photos inside.
 
Read quite a few lately:

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (should have read this years ago, really)
Minimum of Two - Tim Winton
The Outsider - Albert Camus
No-One Writes to the Colonel - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

I got given the book 'Perfume' (written by Patrick Suskind) to read by my boss. Not sure if I really want to read it (even though it's probably quite good). Maybe I should just get an audio version?! ;)
 
Wow you guys read some very heavy material. I only ever read books from Terry Pratchett and have just finished reading 'Wee Free Men' and 'A Hat Full of Sky' which are aimed towards younger readers but what the hell, I enjoyed it.

I also like the 'Walking Dead' comics and 'Transmetropolitan' which were also great.

Admittedly, I am a simple man with very very simple tastes.
 
my friend did a textual analysis on one of pratchett's books in our english extension class, apparently they're quite good. currently reading shadow of the wind - carlos ruiz zafon, has had rave reviews.
 

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When i was younger was massively into the big fantasy & sci fi novels, ie lord of the rings, dune, Saga of the exiles, thomas covenant etc. Nowadays i mainly read for light entertainmant, but love Neil Gaiman, Stephen Erikson,Lois Mcmaster Bujold & Terry Pratchett. read lots & lots of graphic novels (wife calls them comics, huh what does she know). Recently read The Prestige which was quite different to the movie, best book i have read recently woulfd have to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Anansi Boys is also good.:cool:
 
Swindled: "The dark history of food fraud from poisoned candy to counterfeit coffee" by Bee Wilson. Publisher: Princeton University Press. A synopsis is available at ABC Radio National Late Night Live of 19th November, 2008. You will never look at a processed food the same way!
 
Pratchett is fantastic - have read at least 10-15 of his books id say.

Atm I am one the third book of the Ender Series by Orson Scott Card. Now that I am on uni holidays I have a lot of reading to catch up on :)
 
I ended up downloading an audiobook of 'Perfume'. Not bad! I actually think I'll probably enjoy it more, listening to it, than reading it (it's fairly well read).

I'm planning on reading 'In the Winter Dark' by Tim Winton at some stage this weekend.
 
NQlionnut said:
best book i have read recently woulfd have to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman
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I read this not long ago - the long version too. It can get a bit long at times but it's definitely worth a read if you haven't done so already.

I've been reading a couple of Wilbur Smith books of late. I read The Seventh Scroll about a month or so ago and am currently reading The Quest. Prefer The Seventh Scroll of the two.

I also bought Tim Winston's Breath, which won book of the year by some publication, and I've heard good things about it so I will give a go once I'm done with The Quest. I also bought Martin Langfield's The Secret Fire so I'll go through that at the same time.

Just as an added question to this thread, where do people generally find time to read? Normally I read on the way to and from work on the train. Daily I'd spend a good two or so hours on or waiting for a train so I get plenty done. I notice a lot of people read prefer to read at different times - one person I spoke to said they can't read on trains because it makes them sick:p
 
Lehmo87 said:
I also bought Tim Winston's Breath, which won book of the year by some publication, and I've heard good things about it so I will give a go once I'm done with The Quest.
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'Breath' is a pretty good read. It won the 'Miles Franklin' award.
 
Bump...

Now that I am no longer a student I can read books for fun again without that nagging "you should be reading about economic reform in South America or essays on Neo-Keynesianism" voice in my head.

Currently knocking off a few "modern classics"... Recently finished The Catcher in the Rye and have just started The Great Gatsby.

Oh, also recently finished Hells Angels by Hunter S Thompson too. One of his earlier works and there are only the faintest hints of the Gonzo style in it, so it isn't as much fun as Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas but is still a fascinating read. Hunter is (was) the king of evoking the feel of a particular time period or event, even if the reader never experienced it.
 
Finished From Here to Eternity by James Jones about a week back and am still thinking about it. Easily one of the best novels I have ever read. The depth of character was fantastic and the style of writing engaging. Jones wrote as they talked. A story of harsh and raw barracks life leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbour. A long book. A U S of A classic IMO. Better than The Naked and the Dead by Mailor.

Now reading Gods Fury Englands Fire A New History Of the English Civil War by Braddick. Fascinating. The passion peoples have had over the centuries to kill others in the name of their god never ceases to amaze.
 
TheBrownDog said:
Now that I am no longer a student I can read books for fun again without that nagging "you should be reading about economic reform in South America or essays on Neo-Keynesianism" voice in my head.
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I'm in the opposite position to you - I've started doing Uni study this year and am only doing reading that's related to my studies. I started reading The Age of Extremes: the Short 20th Century by Eric Hobsbawm a couple of months ago - I'm at the end of it but with the restart of Uni, I've found it hard to find time to finish it off. Great book, though.
 
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