sydney eagle
Norm Smith Medallist
The last one written by Arthur Conan Doyle perhaps, but there are plenty of "Sherlock Holmes" stories by other writers out there !
The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread
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sydney eagle
Norm Smith Medallist
Currently reading "Himmler's Crusade" by Christopher Hale, about the 1938 Nazi expedition to Tibet. Slow going; i'm a hundred and fifty pages in and they haven't entered Tibet yet !
- Feb 21, 2006
- 20,735
- 19,581
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- Turtles, NYJets, Celtics, Tottenham
Yeah not really interested in those ones
- Jan 15, 2012
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At the moment, I'm reading the handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood
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'Wait Until Spring, Bandini' by John Fante
- Oct 5, 2004
- 14,145
- 7,084
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- Collingwood
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- Rochester FC, Waroona FC, Pacers
"Hawksmoor" by Peter Ackroyd
- similar to "Red Queen" but a lot better. Good read that jumps between different times. 3.5/5
"Americanah" by Chimanada Adichie
- This is about a group of students Nigerians who idolise the Western world and then once they get into it, find it's not all that great and they pine for Nigeria. It's a decent story, but I found the main character a touch annoying. She's a bit flighty and arrogant. 3/5
"Between The Assignations" by Aravind Adiga
- Loved "White Tiger" so I was keen for this and it was good. It tells the story of a fictional Indian city through the eyes of its inhabitants. That was a bit frustrating as you wanted to hear more about some characters and less from others, but overall it was pretty good. 4/5.
"Jake's Thing" by Kingsley Amis
- I've read "The Old Devils" and "Lucky Jim" and Amis didn't disappoint on this one. He creates some fantastically tragic characters.
2017
1. "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton
2. "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy
3. "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty
4. "Vernon God Little" by D.B.C. Pierre
5. "Main Street" by Lewis Sinclair
6. "Thursbitch" by Alan Garner
7. "number9dream" by David Mitchell
8. "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres
9. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
10. "The Red Queen" by Margaret Drabble
11. "Invisible" by Paul Auster
12. "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman
13. "The Busconductor Hines" by James Kelman
14. "Hawksmoor" by Peter Ackroyd
15. "Americanah" by Chimanada Adichie
16. "Between The Assignations" by Aravind Adiga
17. "Jake's Thing" by Kingsley Amis
- similar to "Red Queen" but a lot better. Good read that jumps between different times. 3.5/5
"Americanah" by Chimanada Adichie
- This is about a group of students Nigerians who idolise the Western world and then once they get into it, find it's not all that great and they pine for Nigeria. It's a decent story, but I found the main character a touch annoying. She's a bit flighty and arrogant. 3/5
"Between The Assignations" by Aravind Adiga
- Loved "White Tiger" so I was keen for this and it was good. It tells the story of a fictional Indian city through the eyes of its inhabitants. That was a bit frustrating as you wanted to hear more about some characters and less from others, but overall it was pretty good. 4/5.
"Jake's Thing" by Kingsley Amis
- I've read "The Old Devils" and "Lucky Jim" and Amis didn't disappoint on this one. He creates some fantastically tragic characters.
2017
1. "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton
2. "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy
3. "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty
4. "Vernon God Little" by D.B.C. Pierre
5. "Main Street" by Lewis Sinclair
6. "Thursbitch" by Alan Garner
7. "number9dream" by David Mitchell
8. "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres
9. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
10. "The Red Queen" by Margaret Drabble
11. "Invisible" by Paul Auster
12. "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman
13. "The Busconductor Hines" by James Kelman
14. "Hawksmoor" by Peter Ackroyd
15. "Americanah" by Chimanada Adichie
16. "Between The Assignations" by Aravind Adiga
17. "Jake's Thing" by Kingsley Amis
- Oct 9, 2013
- 10,904
- 14,801
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- Western Bulldogs
Lolita
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson.
That's right I'm late to the party.
That's right I'm late to the party.
- Aug 2, 2012
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- Geelong
Nearly 60 years on, and I still remember my sheer terror when Israel Hand started climbing up that mast!
I'm on page 1 mate, no spoilers pleaseNearly 60 years on, and I still remember my sheer terror when Israel Hand started climbing up that mast!
- Apr 28, 2008
- 11,384
- 8,322
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2017 reads;
Norwegian Wood - Murakami
The Red and the Black - Stendhal
Man in the Dark - Auster
South of the Border, West of the Sun - Murakami
Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Chabon
Cosmo Cosmolino - Garner (current)
A really solid bunch but no sustained brilliance for mine. My first Murakamis and Stendhal, first Chabon in several years, and sophomores with Auster and Garner who impressed me in 2016.
Also started Conrad's Nostromo, which was at all-time pace for me, but as often happens in March I got caught up in life and had to abort the false start. Same for Middlemarch in 2016. Must return to them eventually.
Norwegian Wood - Murakami
The Red and the Black - Stendhal
Man in the Dark - Auster
South of the Border, West of the Sun - Murakami
Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Chabon
Cosmo Cosmolino - Garner (current)
A really solid bunch but no sustained brilliance for mine. My first Murakamis and Stendhal, first Chabon in several years, and sophomores with Auster and Garner who impressed me in 2016.
Also started Conrad's Nostromo, which was at all-time pace for me, but as often happens in March I got caught up in life and had to abort the false start. Same for Middlemarch in 2016. Must return to them eventually.
- Apr 10, 2010
- 6,659
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- Fremantle
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- AFC Wimbledon
Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb
Read very little fantasy now days but have to make an exception for what sounds like one last Fitz and the Fool story.
Read very little fantasy now days but have to make an exception for what sounds like one last Fitz and the Fool story.
- Feb 21, 2006
- 20,735
- 19,581
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
- Other Teams
- Turtles, NYJets, Celtics, Tottenham
Finished Casebook of Sherlock Holmes to wrap up the last of the Conan Doyle Sherlock books. Enjoyable, but nowhere near as good as Valley of Fear or His Last Bow.
Have just finished the Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost after rewatching the original series. Now just need to rewatch Fire Walk With Me before getting stuck into the new eps. The book started off interesting with Lewis & Clarks mission into the north west, got a bit bogged down in the middle delving into the lives of the tv characters then picked up again towards the end (similar to the original series). Won't spoil anything but not sure how much of this story will fit into Lynch's mythology of Twin Peaks and the lodges etc and how much was Frost just going off his own bat. Will be interesting to watch the new series with this in mind, seems he was trying to explore some of the narratives they would've gotten into had they had a season 3 the first go round. Ive bought the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer to get stuck into as well for some light reading
Have also started Kill the Messenger by Nicholas Schou a semi-biography on Gary Webb who wrote the book Dark Alliance on the CIA/Contras/cocaine conspiracy during the Reagan administration and ended up committing suicide. Pretty good so far, not a tough read but some of the characters are starting to get confusing, a lot of them are just names on the page with little backstory which makes it hard to keep track of the competing political interests.
Have just finished the Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost after rewatching the original series. Now just need to rewatch Fire Walk With Me before getting stuck into the new eps. The book started off interesting with Lewis & Clarks mission into the north west, got a bit bogged down in the middle delving into the lives of the tv characters then picked up again towards the end (similar to the original series). Won't spoil anything but not sure how much of this story will fit into Lynch's mythology of Twin Peaks and the lodges etc and how much was Frost just going off his own bat. Will be interesting to watch the new series with this in mind, seems he was trying to explore some of the narratives they would've gotten into had they had a season 3 the first go round. Ive bought the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer to get stuck into as well for some light reading
Have also started Kill the Messenger by Nicholas Schou a semi-biography on Gary Webb who wrote the book Dark Alliance on the CIA/Contras/cocaine conspiracy during the Reagan administration and ended up committing suicide. Pretty good so far, not a tough read but some of the characters are starting to get confusing, a lot of them are just names on the page with little backstory which makes it hard to keep track of the competing political interests.
Gigantic
Brownlow Medallist
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell
sydney eagle
Norm Smith Medallist
Plenty of sequels (and prequels) by other writers available for that one too, if you are interested.
sydney eagle
Norm Smith Medallist
Currently about halfway through "Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm A Super Villain" by Richard Roberts. A bit of fun, and I like the characters.
SM
Bigfooty Legend
Read his entire collection last year - loved them!
The essential tales of Chekhov.
It's a collection of short stories by Chekhov, I've read about 6 of them so far, it's well written, but I'm yet to be "entertained" by any of them so far. Not sure I am a fan of the short story. It will be very interested to compare them to Franz Kafka's short story collection that I am going to read next.
It's a collection of short stories by Chekhov, I've read about 6 of them so far, it's well written, but I'm yet to be "entertained" by any of them so far. Not sure I am a fan of the short story. It will be very interested to compare them to Franz Kafka's short story collection that I am going to read next.
Anyone read the' rule of knowledge' by Scott baker?
He signed a copy I bought the other day,apparently the sequel has been made into a movie
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He signed a copy I bought the other day,apparently the sequel has been made into a movie
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
- Aug 2, 2012
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I can't see any indication anywhere that there is, in fact, a sequel.
But it can sometimes be difficult to track down self-published, self-promoted books.
Do you have a title for it?
I looked it up,I'm sure he said it was the sequel,maybe he just wrote a screen play as a sequel.or maybe its not a sequel at all just a stand alone.its called blue world order.filmed in Canberra. Looks like he's used the name Che baker
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Gigantic
Brownlow Medallist
Practical Ethics by Peter Singer
pinetree
All Australian
- Jun 27, 2017
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What did you think?
If you liked them I recommend "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" as it's in my opinion a more simple and enjoyable read than his other more well known classics.
On Auster, I can't recommend "The New York Trilogy" enough. It's very engaging and so well written.
- Apr 28, 2008
- 11,384
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I've been borrowing the Murakamis from my mother and brother's girlfriend (a big Murakami fan), and Colourless Tsukuri was coincidentally the third one they lent to me over Easter. I'll get around to it eventually. My mother also has Sputnik and the running one ready in the wings for me as well.
I have my gripes with Murakami's style, but I do find him very relatable and accessible. I had previously seen Norwegian Wood the film (as a fan of the director's work) prior to reading the novel. Norwegian Wood is obviously the grander of the two and justifiably beloved, but South of the Border was also a great read of a smaller scale. I enjoy his general style, and do have a fondness for the era covered in these books, but he doesn't strike me as a writer I'll be motivated to "complete", for me he is more an in-between author, a decent palette cleanser. His tendency to end chapters or scenes on an abrupt revealing comment is effective.
My precious baby brother died in December 2015, so naturally these Murakami novels have also resonated with me deeply given the airless, colourless struggle of grief, which is indelibly described in Norwegian Wood at various points as a "knot of air" and the like. My youngest brother was my achilles heel in many ways, so the nature of that formative loss in Norwegian Wood struck me authentically.
I read The New York Trilogy in 2016, it was my second favourite read of 2016 and was right up my alley. Loved it. That was the first Auster I was referring to.
I have my gripes with Murakami's style, but I do find him very relatable and accessible. I had previously seen Norwegian Wood the film (as a fan of the director's work) prior to reading the novel. Norwegian Wood is obviously the grander of the two and justifiably beloved, but South of the Border was also a great read of a smaller scale. I enjoy his general style, and do have a fondness for the era covered in these books, but he doesn't strike me as a writer I'll be motivated to "complete", for me he is more an in-between author, a decent palette cleanser. His tendency to end chapters or scenes on an abrupt revealing comment is effective.
My precious baby brother died in December 2015, so naturally these Murakami novels have also resonated with me deeply given the airless, colourless struggle of grief, which is indelibly described in Norwegian Wood at various points as a "knot of air" and the like. My youngest brother was my achilles heel in many ways, so the nature of that formative loss in Norwegian Wood struck me authentically.
I read The New York Trilogy in 2016, it was my second favourite read of 2016 and was right up my alley. Loved it. That was the first Auster I was referring to.
