The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

[BEaston]

I know this is a hard questions to answer, but for the last 10 years (only mid twenties) mostly all i have read is scifi and fantasy and looking at getting stuck into some great books. Where should i start? There seems to be so many recommendations i have no idea!

see my sig!

As voted by big footy

Some of the more discerning readers may not say it's the highest quality list but I think most books there have some merit! And most are pretty accessible.

 

[Quokka]

There might just about be half there that's not science fiction or fantasy so I'm guessing you're not alone on bigfooty with starting your reading there

It's hard to go past ipcookie's post for a recommendation. It took me a couple of tries to get into it but Catch-22 is still one of the funniest books I've ever read.

 

[ChubbMuff]

It took me a couple of tries to get into it but Catch-22 is still one of the funniest books I've ever read.

+1 - Catch 22 is a favourite of mine as well. Read it for school and I remember the whole class cracking up at times it was just so funny. From memory it was Heller's first book, took 8 years to write and he was never able to equal it with anything he wrote later. I read Good as Gold after it but it was nowhere near as good. He actually invented the phrase Catch 22 and it's meaning. Genius. The quote below is one of my all time favourites, it says so much whilst being so piss funny.

"Racial prejudice is a terrible thing, Yossarian. It really is. It's a terrible thing to treat a decent, loyal Indian like a ******, kike, wop, or ****."

*Obviously "fellow" is the n-word - I will not mess around with the filter and respect the board's natural censoring. It is interesting to note that kike, wop and **** are allowed through...

 

[BEaston]

^ classic

 

[Hawk88]

Thanks Guys, i have started with 1984 and looking at Catch-22 next.

I also have never read hitchhikers also, always thought it would be to kiddy?

 

[ChubbMuff]

I also have never read hitchhikers also, always thought it would be to kiddy?

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is very funny, I wouldn't call it kiddy at all. It has the answer to life, the universe and everything in it.

 

[Northworth]

Thanks Guys, i have started with 1984 and looking at Catch-22 next.

I also have never read hitchhikers also, always thought it would be to kiddy?

hitchhikers is awesome - very witty.... 1984 was phenomenal too...


I have bi the bullet - am 30 pages into A Tale of Two Cities.... got to get through more classics

 

[Dagless]

Today I Wrote Nothing by Daniil Kharms

Relatively unknown Stalinist Era Russian writer, absolutely phenomenal stuff.
Absurd 'micro fiction' vignettes, Today I Wrote Nothing is a collation of his works, a weird blend of poetry with a Pythonesque quality all revolving around the hidden truths of the Communist regime at the time.

“There lived a redheaded man who had no eyes or ears. He didn’t have hair either, so he was called a redhead arbitrarily. He couldn’t talk because he had no mouth. He had no nose either. He didn’t even have arms or legs. He had no stomach, he had no back, he had no spine, and he had no innards at all. He didn’t have anything. So we don’t even know who we’re talking about. It’s better that we don’t talk about him any more.”

 

[Unique Name]

Just finished reading The Martian by Andrew Weir. Loved it, page turner.

 

[BEaston]

Recently finished Catch-22 and The Road. Both absolute quality for me.

 

[Palmer Stoat]

Recently finished Catch-22 and The Road. Both absolute quality for me.

Agree on both counts.

I've just finished See How Small by Scott Blackwood. It's an astounding novel.

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Currently reading Dan Simmons "The Abominable", a fictitious take on Mallory's lost 1924 expedition to mount Everest.

if you've read his "The Terror" which was a fictitious take on Franklin's lost 19th century expedition to the Northwest passage, you'll like this one too.

 

[Unique Name]

Currently reading Dan Simmons "The Abominable", a fictitious take on Mallory's lost 1924 expedition to mount Everest.

if you've read his "The Terror" which was a fictitious take on Franklin's lost 19th century expedition to the Northwest passage, you'll like this one too.

Have you read Jeffrey Archers Paths of Glory?

 

[ChubbMuff]

Just finished Surface Detail by Banks. Another belter of a book, loved it. My favourite character was the ship Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints - hysterical at times but always a deadly psychopath. I think I will give The Culture a rest for a while or maybe re-read some of the ones I've finished once.

 

[Allan Shorty]

Today I Wrote Nothing by Daniil Kharms

Relatively unknown Stalinist Era Russian writer, absolutely phenomenal stuff.
Absurd 'micro fiction' vignettes, Today I Wrote Nothing is a collation of his works, a weird blend of poetry with a Pythonesque quality all revolving around the hidden truths of the Communist regime at the time.

“There lived a redheaded man who had no eyes or ears. He didn’t have hair either, so he was called a redhead arbitrarily. He couldn’t talk because he had no mouth. He had no nose either. He didn’t even have arms or legs. He had no stomach, he had no back, he had no spine, and he had no innards at all. He didn’t have anything. So we don’t even know who we’re talking about. It’s better that we don’t talk about him any more.”

Sounds like Gogol and the nose story.

 

[Allan Shorty]

Recently finished Catch-22 and The Road. Both absolute quality for me.

What did you feel after reading the road. ? I went to stock my pantry. And then hug my kids. Great book.

 

[Allan Shorty]

Just finished 'the wet and the dry' by Lawrence Osborne. Non fiction. Drunk prose stylist travels through the Middle East looking for a drink.

And also just finished a history of Cairo. I'm doing histories or travelogues of cities this year - done New York, j burg, Lagos, Karachi, Mexico City, and Cairo. Looking for more.

 

[BEaston]

What did you feel after reading the road. ? I went to stock my pantry. And then hug my kids. Great book.

Yep it's quite a bleak one isn't it.

 

[WALDENPOND]

Finishing Stoner by John Williams.

 

[BEaston]

Reading Mort, Terry Pratchett

 

[Ocha905]

Just finished two Tostoy short stories 'How Much Land Does A Man Need' and 'What Men Live By'. Best stories I've ever read. Will have to get an epic of his now does anyone have a recommendation?

Currently reading Oliver Twist. I've only read one other Dickens novel- Great Expectations which was fantastic until the last page.

 

[RolandF1]

Reading Abarat Book 2 by Clive Baker.

Really weird but equally fascinating fantasy world. Hard to explain outside of its a chase novel in a fantasy world. The only thing I can compare it to is Hayao Miyazaki's weird and wonderful worlds, not knowing what's around the next corner.

 

[Allan Shorty]

Currently reading Dan Simmons "The Abominable", a fictitious take on Mallory's lost 1924 expedition to mount Everest.

if you've read his "The Terror" which was a fictitious take on Franklin's lost 19th century expedition to the Northwest passage, you'll like this one too.

There's a book called 'discovery of slowness' which Is also a fictitious account of the franklin expedition. By sten nadolny. The same Franklin is a huge figure in tassie history too.

 

[ChubbMuff]

Just started Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

 

[Allan Shorty]

I firmly agree. Arguably my favourite book.

Old post. But I have this book and the crossing on tapes read by a young brad Pitt. He does it magnificently. Put in on and drive to broken hill at night for best effect.