The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

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Just finished Texas Flood. Enjoyable for me as a Stevie Ray Vaughan fan, wouldn't recommend it to anyone that isn't, doesn't really flow that well. Real sadness about his demise, from going close to death from alcohol and drug abuse to getting himself clean and his life sorted, then the sudden end from a helicopter crash. Top tip for any of you making it big as a musician - stay away from helicopters.
Will get started on Bradman's War in the next few days, also started on 'Stuff You Should Know' can jump around in that one, short chapters of different topics that don't have to be read in any particular order.
 
Got a number of autobiographies for Christmas I'm quickly getting through. Read the Bachar Houli one, which was OK - spoke more about his faith and family moreso than his footballing, but still interesting enough to hear about his rise from being a fringe player at Essendon to one of the better half back flankers in the league, and more generally the ascension of the RFC.

The Matthew McConaughey autobiography Greenlights was good, but almost too many ups, and kind of gave the impression he cruised into a Hollywood career. A lot of it is pieced through stuff he has written through his life, and reads like a PD book in parts.

Currently getting through Flea's Autobiography Acid for the Kids, which is pretty interesting. It's more focused on his formative years, and half way through the novel he's still 15-16 and only just met Anthony Kiedis.

Finished Awaken to Giant Within by Anthony Robbins and like all his books loved it and got some useful insights.

Also started Crime and Punishment for Dostoevsky and also loving it so far. Only 50 pages in, but the writing is fantastic and I can see the novel has been set up exceptional. The internal dialogue reminds me a lot of the conversations Holden Caulfield used to have with himself in Catcher in the Rye, which is one of my favourite books.
 

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Shell said:
Someone- not even a tennis fan- highly recommended Andre Aggasis autobiography Open the other day. I have put it on my list is at about no.8 i think..
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Yeah it was an in-bestseller in the '09 Xmas period. I'm a big tennis fan, so enjoyed it in that tournament-to-tournament respect, but accessible to anyone really.
 
La Dispute said:
Currently getting through Flea's Autobiography Acid for the Kids, which is pretty interesting. It's more focused on his formative years, and half way through the novel he's still 15-16 and only just met Anthony Kiedis.
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If you haven't read Kiedis's then you must do it. It is phenomenal and the s**t that he has gone through is insane.
 
Finished Bradman's War, recommended for any cricket fan. I'm all for a Bradman pile on, but does seem a bit harsh on him at times, although there is an attempt toward the end of the book to point out the success in the way he approached the team and the tour, in particular the way he handles Miller and how he would best benefit the team with ball rather than bat. Watched The Last Dance on Netflix the last few days and interesting that a criticism of Bradman was that he held grudges too long and the book gave examples where these grudges drove his actions for him and the team to succeed at the expense of developing relationships with teammates and opposition. Same with Jordan, slights, perceived and otherwise drove him to succeed and to push his teammates to ride along and succeed with him, even though it deemed him a prick of a person. Same criticism labelled at the 2 greatest of their particular sports.
Was tempted to re-read Bradman's Farewell to Cricket to get his side of the story, however think I'll get on to Shoe Dog.
 
gaskin said:
If you haven't read Kiedis's then you must do it. It is phenomenal and the sh*t that he has gone through is insane.
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I read it about a decade ago and enjoyed it.

Probably good enough for a re-read and probably old enough now I'd be able to grab a copy from an op shop or have it crop up somewhere like the Book Grocer for $6.
 
At the moment I am reading The Wise Man's Fear which is the 2nd book in Patrick Rothfuss' KingKiller Chronicles. I am loving it quite a bit which is surprising me since I was a bit on the fence about The Name of the Wind (book 1) and was almost going to quit after the first quarter of it. Pushing through has been a great decision. The only problem is going to be waiting for book 3.
 
La Dispute said:
Open is fantastic - one of the best autobiographies I have read.
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Agassi’s and Mike Tyson’s are my favourite sports bio’s.

Also a +1 for Scar Tissue.

Currently just started reading Stiff by Mary Roach about the science behind dead bodies.
 
Just finished, Box 88, by Charles Cumming, excellent read, Box 88 is a secret spying agency, The book is set in two time lines, one in 1989 and one in 2020,

In 1989 the main character is Lachlan Kite, he is recruited by Box 88, as a 18 year old to spy on an Iranian associate of his best friends father, where they are to meet up with him in France on vacation

In 2020, he finds out he‘s best friend is found dead, suspected suicide, while attending his funeral he is kidnap by Iranians and they want to know what went down in France, or they going to torture him, this is when they flashback to France

Also in 2020 a small team from MI5 are investigating Lachlan Kite and Box 88
 

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Just finished The Raw Shark Texts, which was reasonably good. Was recommended to me (by the internet) as a similar book stylistically to House of Leaves, and it was running along those lines until maybe half-way through the novel until it lapsed into being Murakami-tinged science fiction. The author references some Murakami text at some point, so no real great surprise. Decent read, which could have been a lot better. It turned into a bit of a conceptual mess at times, but not too bad.

Speak of House of Leaves, I bought Familiars #1 for Christmas (Booktopia), and I'm looking forward to reading it quite a bit. I didn't realise it'd follow similar formatting to HoL, but the book itself is visually stunning.

Still rotating through Crime & Punishment and Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk, and loving both.
 
La Dispute said:
Just finished The Raw Shark Texts, which was reasonably good. Was recommended to me (by the internet) as a similar book stylistically to House of Leaves, and it was running along those lines until maybe half-way through the novel until it lapsed into being Murakami-tinged science fiction. The author references some Murakami text at some point, so no real great surprise. Decent read, which could have been a lot better. It turned into a bit of a conceptual mess at times, but not too bad.
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Read this a while back. Very strange read, but enjoyable. I think it would make a pretty awesome film adaptation.
I've just bought 19Q4, and have been trying to track down House of Leaves for ages. Interesting that they are all similar, wasn't aware.
 
BEaston said:
Read this a while back. Very strange read, but enjoyable. I think it would make a pretty awesome film adaptation.
I've just bought 19Q4, and have been trying to track down House of Leaves for ages. Interesting that they are all similar, wasn't aware.
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I think it'd translate well, if not purely to re-edit the dialogue and work out the pacing issues with the book. I thought the main character's interactions and life in general while consulting with the psychologist could have been extended another hundred pages or so to really push the point. A lot of the major touchpoints:

Mistrust in psych, relationship with original Eric

Were never resolved.

House of Leaves is one of the best books I've read, and worth investing the $35 or whatever a new copy goes for. Keeps you occupied for months, and it's essentially a couple of loosely linked stories with an essay attached.
 
gaskin said:
At the moment I am reading The Wise Man's Fear which is the 2nd book in Patrick Rothfuss' KingKiller Chronicles. I am loving it quite a bit which is surprising me since I was a bit on the fence about The Name of the Wind (book 1) and was almost going to quit after the first quarter of it. Pushing through has been a great decision. The only problem is going to be waiting for book 3.
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I have a feeling it will be like Game of Thrones and we may never get it.

I have also found the pacing of the book weird. 1 book to go in the trilogy and it feels as though we're just getting started, still so much to get through.

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk
 
Drumroe said:
I have a feeling it will be like Game of Thrones and we may never get it.

I have also found the pacing of the book weird. 1 book to go in the trilogy and it feels as though we're just getting started, still so much to get through.

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk
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I get that feeling as well. Unlike Martin, Rothfuss is a self-confessed perfectionist and has stated that he has been told multiple times that the book is fine and ready to go but he is not happy with it and keeps making changes. He has also stated, whether taking the piss or seriously, that it is more of a prequel series which would explain the pacing a bit. I do get the feeling that even if that is true, Doors of Stone is going to have to be quite a large book to give us a satisfactory ending with all the questions he still has to answer.
 
Last week or so have read When America Stopped Being Great and The Unforgiven, Mercenaries or Missionaries?
Enjoyed When America Stopped Being Great more than I expected, goes back to all Presidents from Reagan to the present and how America has been shaped by each administration. Doesn't get bogged down in too much political speak.
The Unforgiven, Mercenaries or Missionaries tells the story of the West Indian Rebel cricket teams that toured South Africa in the early 80's. Don't have to be a cricket follower to enjoy the book, it is more about the personal stories of each player rather than focusing on their cricketing exploits. Drug abuse, mental illness, ostracised from their communities, some made good of themselves, some left their countries and moved to the US.
The Bajan players, with Barbados being a more forgiving nation, on the whole came out of the tours better off while the Jamaicans and Guyanese certainly had a harder time of it.
3 quarters of the way through In Cold Blood, great book. Capote certainly writes in a way that guides you to envoke some form of sympathy for Perry Smith. Any thoughts of same for Hickock were lost when he deliberately ran over a dog.
 
Shane Sheridan said:
Last week or so have read When America Stopped Being Great and The Unforgiven, Mercenaries or Missionaries?
Enjoyed When America Stopped Being Great more than I expected, goes back to all Presidents from Reagan to the present and how America has been shaped by each administration. Doesn't get bogged down in too much political speak.
The Unforgiven, Mercenaries or Missionaries tells the story of the West Indian Rebel cricket teams that toured South Africa in the early 80's. Don't have to be a cricket follower to enjoy the book, it is more about the personal stories of each player rather than focusing on their cricketing exploits. Drug abuse, mental illness, ostracised from their communities, some made good of themselves, some left their countries and moved to the US.
The Bajan players, with Barbados being a more forgiving nation, on the whole came out of the tours better off while the Jamaicans and Guyanese certainly had a harder time of it.
3 quarters of the way through In Cold Blood, great book. Capote certainly writes in a way that guides you to envoke some form of sympathy for Perry Smith. Any thoughts of same for Hickock were lost when he deliberately ran over a dog.
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In Cold Blood is a terrific book.

By coincidence, I just re-read To Kill a Mockingbird (it holds up pretty well, 60 years on from my first reading), where Lee modelled Dill on Capote, her close friend (sometimes described as a cousin); I've also seen it said that Lee helped Capote research Cold Blood in Kansas (though not Breakfast at Tiffanys - that would have made Lee much more interesting :D )
 
FredLeDeux said:
In Cold Blood is a terrific book.

By coincidence, I just re-read To Kill a Mockingbird (it holds up pretty well, 60 years on from my first reading), where Lee modelled Dill on Capote, her close friend (sometimes described as a cousin); I've also seen it said that Lee helped Capote research Cold Blood in Kansas (though not Breakfast at Tiffanys - that would have made Lee much more interesting :D )
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I bought To Kill A Mockingbird a few months ago for $1 and just have it sitting on my bookshelf. It has to be one of the few revered classics I haven't got through in the past couple of years.

Last night I finished Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk, and it was exactly what I expected. Gory, pretty messed up, but such a cool little book and had the usual series of twists. I really want to go through and read a lot of his other stuff, as it's exactly the style of writing I like. Straight to the point, but also full of stream-of-conscious monologues that can really cut if you're in the right frame of mind.

There was a section in this one where he's alluding to doing stuff that's completely absurd and unnatural to you as a form of coping mechanism which hit me pretty hard. Those are exactly the kinds of ideas that elevate a book from being good to great.
 
Samuel Beckett re-reads always work well.

I actually prefer his short stories over the novels.
 
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Finished In Cold Blood during the week, my sympathy for Smith dissolved as the book went on.
Knocked over 'Slow Getting Up', fringe NFL players story over his 6 years in the NFL, good insight, very easy to read.
Third of the way through Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race, very good read.
 
gaskin said:
Thoughts? I loved it but there has been a bit of a mixed response from the fan base.
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Damn work and life taking too much of my time. Finally finished it. I can see where it gets mixed responses.

I liked Adolin and Shallan’s story and although at times heavy going also Kaladin’s. Although the dead eyes saving the day with the Honorspren was predictable.

Turning the Parashendi into more than cardboard cut out villains was mostly good. What I wasn’t a fan of was making everything that’s happened so far petty brawls and making it a Cosmere sized fight.

On the whole still an enjoyable read, but my most to least liked so far would be Book 2 > 1 > 3 > 4.
 
It's been a while since I posted here.

Rhythm of War
Still excellent but the pace is glacial in parts and the detail in some areas is over the top. I get world building but this was the first time I felt I was slogging through large parts. The ending was great and the next 10 days are going to be massive.

Mistborn Trilogy
Loved it!

Piranesi
Excellent book, really takes off about halfway through and didn't let up.

Currently reading A Scanner Darkly.
 
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