Work & Education Hangar Book Club

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Howard Moon said:
has anyone read Huxleys 'island' ?

brave new world is my favorite book, im lead to believe island is its sister novel, written whilst on his death bed where it almost counters BNW's dystopian future with a utopian one.

Trouble is I made the biggest mistake I ever could.. I went and read a few reviews... and as such, I read a few people say they had to slog thru it, and mentioned a few flaws.. which as is my way, ill now be looking for when I read it. Damn! ruined it!

anyhow, can anyone recommend?
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Years ago. Not quite Brave New World but I enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, I'm 80-odd pages into the first Wheel of Time book and it's just... not very good.
 

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Donakebab said:
I haven't really absorbed and retained any knowledge of the books the school appointed books as they usually sucked, but off the top of my head Animal Farm and 1984 are fantastic reads. Hell even Tomorrow When the War Began was decent for a book targeted at teenagers, which are usually the most poorly written and painful books you will ever experience.

Acctually speaking of painful, have any of you read The Da Vinci Code? Being completely serious, after reading the first line a refused to go any further.

"Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery."

Since we have no idea who this Jacques Sauniere is yet, why on earth does it matter if he is renowned or not? Or that the museum has a 'Grand Gallery'. To me it reeks of trying far too hard to grab the readers attention by placing emphasise on title and grandure of location rather then substance of story. **** you Dan Brown!

/end rant
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The first half of 1984 is awesome. The wall of Goldstein ideology not so much.
 
juppy said:
The Crucible shat me to tears but may have been due to the fact that it was a book I had to read for year 12. Might have to give it another go.

Another book that I just loved and just had to post was Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. Its more a history book that revolves around the events of the fish species. I think it is pretty popular and you will be able to find it in most places.

Amazon product ASIN 0140275010


Amazon product ASIN 0140275010
Such a good read.
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The Crucible is a masterpiece. Funny guy, Arthur Miller. Writes The Crucible in response to impositions on freedoms of Hollywood creative types. Stage directions written into the play are dictatorial. Brilliant play though.
 
ghostdog said:
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton. Finished it tonight. Cracking yarn!

American Psycho was disturbing. Awesome though. Enough years have passed. I'm ready to read it again.
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American Psycho is maybe the best/worst book I have read. It's very well-written, but it is so full-on at times. I am not sure I would want to read it again. Also, I have no idea how he came up with some of the graphic descriptions.

I'm mid-way through the Wheel of Time series at the moment and it is starting to feel like a slog. I think I'll finish the book I'm on and then read something in-between.
 
Highly Evolved said:
American Psycho is maybe the best/worst book I have read. It's very well-written, but it is so full-on at times. I am not sure I would want to read it again. Also, I have no idea how he came up with some of the graphic descriptions.

I'm mid-way through the Wheel of Time series at the moment and it is starting to feel like a slog. I think I'll finish the book I'm on and then read something in-between.
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I get what you mean about AP. I think the depravity would have been tricky for Easton-Ellis. On one hand it has to shock the reader so we can understand EE's view of what the elite can get away with, and on the other hand the consumerist competition and sexual depravity has to seem increasingly banal to Bateman himself so he can feel satisfied by consuming his victims. In the context of 80s New York, it's so clever.

I don't know Wheel of Time; my confession is that I've never read a series, not even Harry Potter. I'm not sure Footrot Flats counts. That said, A Game of Thrones has been sitting on the bookshelf for 6 months. It calls me like a monolith.
 
Bump. Weird that we've all been stuck in lockdown and this thread is on page 2.

Has anyone read the Courage to be Disliked?

Runk said:
Anyone read any of The Witcher books?
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I haven't but I probably will at some point. Chewing through the Saxon Stories atm.
 

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Lore said:
Bump. Weird that we've all been stuck in lockdown and this thread is on page 2.

Has anyone read the Courage to be Disliked?


I haven't but I probably will at some point. Chewing through the Saxon Stories atm.
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Honestly I have so many books to read, and I've read none in lockdown. Reading has always been comfort and relaxing thing for me, I just haven't been able to really relax at all during the lockdown, so I haven't read. Annoying, because I have plenty of time.
 
Kakkle said:
Honestly I have so many books to read, and I've read none in lockdown. Reading has always been comfort and relaxing thing for me, I just haven't been able to really relax at all during the lockdown, so I haven't read. Annoying, because I have plenty of time.
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I have to say I've felt the same way. Will force myself to read.
 
Kakkle said:
Honestly I have so many books to read, and I've read none in lockdown. Reading has always been comfort and relaxing thing for me, I just haven't been able to really relax at all during the lockdown, so I haven't read. Annoying, because I have plenty of time.
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Yeah I said I'm chewing through Saxon Stories, but that's basically a lie. I'm up to like chapter 6 of the first book, it's been really slow going. I think part of it is just everyone being around a lot as well, too many interruptions and things being added to the to do list, so never get to the point of opening a book (or an app..?)
 
eth-dog said:
I read the first Enola Holmes book, it was pretty light, finished in a couple of hours.
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I watched the film the other day, it was okay. Main actress is pretty good, apparently she's 16 which surprised me a bit (Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things). From what I understand though the film mucked some things up, aged up some characters and cut others, but that's par for the course with book adaptations these days.
 
Lore said:
I watched the film the other day, it was okay. Main actress is pretty good, apparently she's 16 which surprised me a bit (Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things). From what I understand though the film mucked some things up, aged up some characters and cut others, but that's par for the course with book adaptations these days.
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I think they had to age up Enola and Tewky because of the potential love interests of the pair. I enjoyed the film as well, it was a really good cast.
 
I’ve found I spend a lot more time reading the news nowadays, when I would normally be reading an e-book. At the moment I’m reading through an Elizabeth Bear trilogy, I’m not sure how I missed her when I was hoovering up every sci-fi and fantasy book I could find back in the day. However it needs to be read in longer blocks than I am willing to, I am making a bit of a meal of it.

I really want to get into Craig Silvey’s Honeybee but I must finish what I started first! I loved his novel Jasper Jones. Has anybody read it yet?

it is about a young trans teen who meets on old man on a bridge when they are both planning to kill themselves, they end up becoming friends.

www.booktopia.com.au

Honeybee

Booktopia has Honeybee by Craig Silvey. Buy a discounted Paperback of Honeybee online from Australia's leading online bookstore.
www.booktopia.com.au www.booktopia.com.au
 
Max Headroom said:
I’ve found I spend a lot more time reading the news nowadays, when I would normally be reading an e-book. At the moment I’m reading through an Elizabeth Bear trilogy, I’m not sure how I missed her when I was hoovering up every sci-fi and fantasy book I could find back in the day. However it needs to be read in longer blocks than I am willing to, I am making a bit of a meal of it.
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Never heard of her... What trilogy is it and what's it about?
 
Lore said:
Never heard of her... What trilogy is it and what's it about?
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The Eternal Sky Trilogy
It’s got everything - big story, different cultutres and religions, complex characters, fascinating world views, the lot.

Elizabeth Banks has won a couple of Hugo awards and writes everything from fantasy, sci-fi, cyberpunk, steampunk to space opera.

One of the main reasons I love sci fi and fantasy is that it challenges you to consider different norms - because it is fiction your instinctual reactions are muted as you are subsumed in the story. Sometimes this changes your worldview, sometimes not, but it makes you really think about it rather than just accepting something because it was how you were raised.

There is a good summary of Elizabeth Bear’s books here : https://www.tor.com/2015/11/06/where-to-start-with-the-work-of-elizabeth-bear/
 
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