The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

[spinynorman]

Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half - it received a lot of glowing reviews, and I enjoyed it for the most part, but felt the tone of it went a little weird and inconsistent in the last section, and the whole thing became a little unwieldy.

Ranging from 1968 to 1988, it tells of two lighter African American identical twin sisters who flee their black town in Louisiana in the 1950s, one of whom passes herself as white as they go their separate ways.

Similar concept to this year’s movie Passing (based on a book from the 1920s, but I’d never read it) but I found the characters far more interesting and fully fleshed out. I did enjoy it until, as said, it seemed to become a little scattered towards the end.

 

[blueiris]

Bon Scott Bio Bad Boy Boogie

Fantastic read loved it from the first word to last couldn’t put it down

 

[Neese]

In the Shadow of Queens by Alison Weir. It's short stories about the Tudor queens.
Am really enjoying it.

 

[spinynorman]

Deacon King Kong by James McBride.

Set in a housing project in Brooklyn in 1969, a drunken church deacon shoots the local drug dealer in front of everyone in the courtyard. The book follows the repercussions of this, from the church and people living in the neighbourhood, to the police investigating the bizarre event, to the organised crime figures who deliberate on what to do next following it.

McBride is an excellent author, and this is similar to his prior The Good Lord Bird (also made into an excellent miniseries with Ethan Hawke) in that it includes a lot of good humour in its dramatic, violent tale of historic racial inequality in the US. The cast of characters is sprawling, but there are many sympathetic and strong ones amongst them. This was one of the easier, more purely enjoyable books I've read in some time.

 

[Quokka]

The Long Walk (1979) by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman). Never really bought the set up but still an enjoyable read and moved straight on to The Running Man now.

 

[swingdog]

Just finished Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller about growing up during the Rhodesian civil war. Amazing life: heading off to school each day with your Uzi.

Started Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

 

[Gough]

Just finished Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller about growing up during the Rhodesian civil war. Amazing life: heading off to school each day with your Uzi.

Started Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

If you like Fuller, try Mukiwa by Peter Godwin. My Traitor's Heat by Rian Malan is another great book about the white experience in Southern Africa.

 

[blueiris]

In A Dark Dark Wood interesting story I never read psychological books I’m more into horror or Biographical books but got to say this really got me and can’t wait to read more by Ruth Ware

 

[spinynorman]

Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You.

A solid follow up to Normal People and if it's not quite as brilliant as that, it's still an excellent read with ambitious prose and structure, and as ever poses interesting questions about love and life for young(ish) people in contemporary times. I was a bit irritated by her female leads (a recurring issue with her work), but at least came around on Alice, the main of the two, by the end. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, I continue to look forward to see what Rooney will do next.

 

[Quokka]

Finished King's Running Man and it's a good read, completely different to the Schwartzenegger movie but it's a rare case of that not being a bad thing. The movie was only losely inspired by the book but it did it's own thing with some interesting ideas and performances (for an 80s action pic).


Apparently there's a more faithful adaption in the works which I'm not sure is needed with the killer game show pretty well covered lately.

 

[The Dice Man]

Just starting The Covenant by James Michener. Finished Caribbean a few weeks back and enjoyed that so giving this a shot.

Finished The Chain last week, good idea in a saturated genre, but executed pretty predictably.

 

[La Dispute]

Just finished:

Agua Viva - Clarice Lispector. Thought it was pretty cool. Short and sweet. The writing style was pretty similar to something like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or almost the stream-of-consiousness rumblings of Notes From The Underground. Little moments are described in relation to bigger ideas about life, work and Lispector tries to drill down on identifying patterns in a life cycle and presenting them as if she is having a conversation with the reader. It’s a really breezy read, less than 100 pages and paragraphs are chunked quite heavily. I’m interested in reading more of her stuff.

Battle Royale - Koushan Takami. Took me a whole year to finish in between other books. Pretty much the original Hunger Games or even Squid Game. The book moved at a ridiculously rapid pace until the end. Really engrossing and the twist was perfectly executed. Like a lot of Japanese translations (Eg Murakami), the dialogue is a little clumsily pieced together and conversations are overly sentimental but the dynamics between characters was on point.

 

[Andre]

Got the remaining 3 Witcher books I didn't already have for Christmas. Currently about 20% into The Lady of the Lake, to finish off the main series (other 2 are short story collections).

 

[hotchilli]

Anybody with any good True Crime recommendations?

Have just finished Mindhunter and am in the mood for something similar

 

[Roobs321]

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

An Agatha Christie esque manor murder mystery, but with some time travel body-hopping so you relive the same fateful day through eight different guest hosts.

I must admit the writing started really pedestrian (mainly because you are dropped blind with the character into a panicky situation), was shaping to be the worst book I'd read in years, but a few hosts in it genuinely does become a more engrossing and crafty pageturner, and ultimately succeeds in delivering the tricky concept.

Apparently there is a Netflix miniseries in the pipeline adapted by Sophie Petzal. The book has a tricky structure to maintain but is otherwise freely adaptable. Set several years after one of the World Wars, all classic Christie archetypes, all Anglos, the body-hopping is all-male but several complex prominent female parts. There is a bit of back'n'forth between the (living) hosts whenever they are asleep/unconscious, so probably won't be a host per episode necessarily. In terms of narrative it will be interesting to see how the quasi-Groundhog day scenario stands up, but there is only really one recurring setpiece so it shouldn't be a problem really.

 

[ChubbMuff]

Finished Gardens of the Moon. Jesus. Really enjoyed it but there is a lot going on. Thinking about going onto Deadhouse Gates, but it sounds like it introduces even more characters and plots so I dunno.

Have started The Crow Road by Iain Banks as little interlude.

 

[mcnulty]

Finished Gardens of the Moon. Jesus. Really enjoyed it but there is a lot going on. Thinking about going onto Deadhouse Gates, but it sounds like it introduces even more characters and plots so I dunno.

Have started The Crow Road by Iain Banks as little interlude.

Never been into that high fantasy style but someone introduced me to Malazan and must admit I was hooked. The quality of the writing and the character development is really good. I’ve tried a few since and haven’t got more than half a book in.

I agree about the number of characters though. The series I think falters under its own ambition, there are so many balls in the air. But what an ambition.

The Deadhouse Gates introduces you to two of the series’ best characters, Mappo Runt and Icarium, but it’s good you’re taking an interlude. The novel is just brutal.

 

[gaskin]

Finished Gardens of the Moon. Jesus. Really enjoyed it but there is a lot going on. Thinking about going onto Deadhouse Gates, but it sounds like it introduces even more characters and plots so I dunno.

Have started The Crow Road by Iain Banks as little interlude.

Don't worry about the introduction of more characters. As time goes on you will come to recognise them and love them. Malazan is a marvelous (and sometime frustrating) journey that you should take.

 

[ChubbMuff]

Never been into that high fantasy style but someone introduced me to Malazan and must admit I was hooked. The quality of the writing and the character development is really good. I’ve tried a few since and haven’t got more than half a book in.

I agree about the number of characters though. The series I think falters under its own ambition, there are so many balls in the air. But what an ambition.

The Deadhouse Gates introduces you to two of the series’ best characters, Mappo Runt and Icarium, but it’s good you’re taking an interlude. The novel is just brutal.

Alright you've sold me. I've actually loved the humour, I'm not used to that in fantasy. I am enjoying the pace compared to some fantasy writers I could name, the story never seemed to stall. As long as it is wrapped up relatively well I'll be happy.

 

[ChubbMuff]

Don't worry about the introduction of more characters. As time goes on you will come to recognise them and love them. Malazan is a marvelous (and sometime frustrating) journey that you should take.

Yeah I'm going to go there I think. I can handle frustration.

 

[MinerBoy]

Just finished re-reading the Riftwar Saga

 

[Neese]

The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier
So good and very original. Really recommend

 

[No eye deer]

Nightmare Alley.
Really enjoyed it. Classic Noir style writing.
Would have been pretty full on for when it was written. (1947).
Read the book first, then watched the movie.
the book was better (as usual).

 

[Richard Pryor]

Having another go at Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams. Heard it influenced A Song of Ice and Fire but actually has a conclusion, but * me Dragonbone Chair is tough going.

 

[mcnulty]

Nightmare Alley.
Really enjoyed it. Classic Noir style writing.
Would have been pretty full on for when it was written. (1947).
Read the book first, then watched the movie.
the book was better (as usual).

Speaking of Noir I’m about to revisit a bit of James Ellroy. Came across an old copy of American Tabloid, which I remember thinking was about his best. There are so many characters in his books and they are so densely plotted no danger I’ll remember much, so should be like going in relatively fresh.

His books are so dark and the characters so irredeemably awful- can’t wait.