What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome

[JohnBertel]

I finished re-hearing Stephen King's Christine. I got inspired to reread it after attending a screening of the movie with a good introduction by a King scholar.

I like both the novel and the film but I do think the structure of the movie is much clearer. But a haunted car ... is it really scary? There are limits to where it can go, obviously. But at the same time, it is not big enough to smash buildings like Godzilla. The climax is very one-sided, to the wrong side, as it is a big bulldozer against a vintage car. The attraction is very much the development of the characters, but even so...

 

[James Charles]

Why historical fiction, of course. The latest from Robert Harris, An Act of Oblivion. You cut off the head of King Charles I? Then we will hunt you down and do worse!

 

[Hannah F]

Why historical fiction, of course. The latest from Robert Harris, An Act of Oblivion. You cut off the head of King Charles I? Then we will hunt you down and do worse!

View attachment 13786

Yes, poor King Charles - with two shirts on so none of his subjects would see him shiver as he stepped out of the palace to greet them one last time.

 

[E G Logan]

I love Alan Rickman. It's on my tbr too.

Part of my problem was the Notes. On a Kindle, they come at the end of each chapter rather than at the foot of the individual pages. This makes referring to them – 'who the f*** is this person? – more time-consuming than I can easily deal with.

But leaving them to the end means I have forgotten what the reference was to, when I reach the explanatory 'English theatre director', or 'A.R.'s hairdresser'...
Of course, if I'd had an idea of who they all were in the first place...

 

[Jonny]

Currently enjoying Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. Great fast-paced hardboiled hokum. Breakneck pacing and plot. But my oh my! Times have certainly changed in terms of the portrayal of women.

I’ve never seen the film as I’m not a Humph fan, but for something published in 1939, as a yarn, it stands up really well - with the exception of the aforementioned stereotyping of its female characters.

 

[izi 出久]

Finished my favorite novel of the year so far a few days ago. The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips. A ruthless coming-of-age story about a black girl in 1950s Georgia born to a mentally ill mother of 8 other children. Phillips' debut and only novel (she died a decade after publication). Someone read this so I can talk about it.

 

[RK Wallis]

Finished my favorite novel of the year so far a few days ago. The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips. A ruthless coming-of-age story about a black girl in 1950s Georgia born to a mentally ill mother of 8 other children. Phillips' debut and only novel (she died a decade after publication). Someone read this so I can talk about it.

It's not on Kindle, so sorry, can't be me

 

[Mel L]

Currently reading Platform Seven, by Louise Doughty.
Haven't read anything in the thriller genre in ages but I must stay this author knows her stuff from the get-go.

Platform Seven by Louise Doughty review – a chilling tale of coercive control

Supernatural elements combine with everyday life, as a seemingly perfect boyfriend is revealed to be a cold-blooded manipulator

www.theguardian.com

 

[Jonny]

Just finished My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Published in 1956, it's a gentle and "very much of its time" piece I'd often heard about but never investigated. It's "frightfully nice" and at times very funny. In some places almost as if Wodehouse were writing about his childhood.

The immersive descriptions of Corfu made me long to get on a plane and go there immediately. Idyllic doesn't even come close.

Written in a time when adverbs in speech tags seemed to be all the rage. It's as if Durrell bought up a job lot on eBay and was determined to use every last one at every opportunity. They did clang in places but honestly didn't spoil my enjoyment at all.

The narration by Nigel Davenport was faultless. All in all it's a very pleasant way to spend ten hours removed from today's stresses and madness.

 

[Hannah F]

Just finished My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Published in 1956, it's a gentle and "very much of its time" piece I'd often heard about but never investigated. It's "frightfully nice" and at times very funny. In some places almost as if Wodehouse were writing about his childhood.

The immersive descriptions of Corfu made me long to get on a plane and go there immediately. Idyllic doesn't even come close.

Written in a time when adverbs in speech tags seemed to be all the rage. It's as if Durrell bought up a job lot on eBay and was determined to use every last one at every opportunity. They did clang in places but honestly didn't spoil my enjoyment at all.

The narration by Nigel Davenport was faultless. All in all it's a very pleasant way to spend ten hours removed from today's stresses and madness.

I've read all of Gerald Durrell's novels. They're all a very pleasant way to spend a few hours and certainly all bring on a few smiles and chuckles.

 

[James Charles]

I just finished the Dubliners! Getting ready for our trip next spring to Ireland and London...

 

[Mel L]

Just picked up Intimacies by Katie Kitamura. It's a sort of literary psychological thriller set around an interpreter at the International Court in The Hague. A slow burn but it's got me in its grips.

 

[LJ Beck]

For Audio books: (I listen while at work)
I just finished "Shards of Earth" by Adrian Tchalkovsky which I loved. Space opera with amazing characters, fascinating world building, and an intriguing foe. I'll keep going with the series, but have a break with a few books in between. And the narrator is absolutely brilliant.

I'm also slowly making my way through "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton, set in 1866 in New Zealand during the gold rush. Not my usual fare but it was recommended to me, and it is beautifully written. Long book (the audio book is 29 hours!) that kind of meanders along through several mysteries and character's lives of schemes and love affairs. I stop now and then to read another book, and then come back to this. I only have 2.5 hours left.

For real-life books:
I'm reading the final book in a 5-book series called "The Reforging" by Barbara Howe. I started reading this series because it's written by a woman I work with. I didn't expect to love them as much as I do. Beautifully written, she's created a fantastic world full of well defined, interesting magic and an unfair but relatable class system, and heroes fighting for what's right and just.

Reading the book of the month for Litopia's book club, "The Woman In the Library" by Sulari Gentill. Jury's out, but I haven't gotten very far.

Non-fiction: (read a bit here and there) "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art" by James Nester. Was highly recommended to me.

 

[Emily]

Breath was one of my favourite books of last year, it's superb!

 

[Hannah F]

For Audio books: (I listen while at work)
I just finished "Shards of Earth" by Adrian Tchalkovsky which I loved. Space opera with amazing characters, fascinating world building, and an intriguing foe. I'll keep going with the series, but have a break with a few books in between. And the narrator is absolutely brilliant.

I'm also slowly making my way through "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton, set in 1866 in New Zealand during the gold rush. Not my usual fare but it was recommended to me, and it is beautifully written. Long book (the audio book is 29 hours!) that kind of meanders along through several mysteries and character's lives of schemes and love affairs. I stop now and then to read another book, and then come back to this. I only have 2.5 hours left.

For real-life books:
I'm reading the final book in a 5-book series called "The Reforging" by Barbara Howe. I started reading this series because it's written by a woman I work with. I didn't expect to love them as much as I do. Beautifully written, she's created a fantastic world full of well defined, interesting magic and an unfair but relatable class system, and heroes fighting for what's right and just.

Reading the book of the month for Litopia's book club, "The Woman In the Library" by Sulari Gentill. Jury's out, but I haven't gotten very far.

Non-fiction: (read a bit here and there) "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art" by James Nester. Was highly recommended to me.

I saw "The Luminaries" drama series. Enjoyed it. Must look out the book.

 

[LJ Beck]

I saw "The Luminaries" drama series. Enjoyed it. Must look out the book.

I had no idea it was a series! But I can see how it would make a good one.

 

[Jonny]

From Gerald Durrell to Stephen King. That's just how I roll.

I'm audiobooking (or actually audio-devouring) The Running Man. It's a real edge of your seat tension from start to finish. Great stuff!
King wrote this and two others under his then nom de plume, Richard Bachman. Seems he had so many stories he wanted to tell but his then publisher only wanted one a year.

I also read that he wrote it over one single weekend. Amazing. If gripping thrillers are your thing then this is the real bizzo.

Most reviews I've read mention the film based upon it, and starring old Arnie, suggesting the film adaptation is crap by comparison and indeed bears hardly any resemblance to the book whatsoever.

Quick note too. If you get the Audible version don't listen to the opening chapter. Apparently some genius has placed an interview with King there, where he discusses writing the book and gives away the ending.

 

[RK Wallis]

The Running Man.

I've been looking for an audible read Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Jonny]

I've been looking for an audible read Thanks for the recommendation!

Thoroughly recommend. But start at chapter2. I don’t know if they’ve fixed the spoiler in chapter 1. In any case it’s only 5 mins and starting at chapter 2 makes no odds.

I’ll be finished the book after my walk today and will check chapter 1 and let you know.

 

[Barbara]

Started reading Bella Mackie's How To Kill Your Family (and before you're wondering, it's not a manual, so no use as research, ). The protag has a strong voice but I'm getting a bit annoyed by said voice. Not sure how long I can put up with it, and yet the voice is keeping me reading on. A weird mix.

 

[Emily]

Dammit, you had me adding it to my TBR list until the bit in parenthesis

 

[Jonny]

(and before you're wondering, it's not a manual, so no use as research, ).

You say that, but...

 

[Jonny]

@RK Capps

OK, entirely safe to read the new layout of chapter one Running Man audiobook.

The reviews on Audible are all now out of date as it seems Audible have had the wit to correct the error. Some genius had complied the file to have King's essay about his Richard Bachman nom de plume, in which he tells the book's ending, actually open the book Jeez!!!

Anyway the current file is all hunky-dory. Safe to proceed.

 

[RK Wallis]

@RK Capps

OK, entirely safe to read the new layout of chapter one Running Man audiobook.

The reviews on Audible are all now out of date as it seems Audible have had the wit to correct the error. Some genius had complied the file to have King's essay about his Richard Bachman nom de plume, in which he tells the book's ending, actually open the book Jeez!!!

Anyway the current file is all hunky-dory. Safe to proceed.

Thanks! Got it

 

[LA Thomas]

I just read ‘The Only way out is death’ by Varun Gwalani. I loved it. Fastpaced, hooked from the start. If you liked Knives Out, you will enjoy this. There are quite a few characters to get your head around from the start but they soon get bumped off making it easier to keep on top of them. It needed a light copy edit but the issues were minor and I was so hooked, I was able to get over it.

 

[E G Logan]

I'm struggling on with the Rickman diaries, but it's heavy going. For me anyway.

I thought I'd just share this little gem I encountered.

In the airport in Los Angeles (from memory) Rickman becomes aware of a woman trying to attract his attention. He realises it's Sarah, Duchess of York. She shouts, "Eric!" As in Idle, of Monty Python fame.

In the diary, Rickman observes, 'I must call him.'

 

[E G Logan]

The Rickman diaries...

There is also a lovely insight into celebrity present-giving. In particular Ruby Wax to Rickman and wife. If it hadn't irked him – and it would me – I don't think he would have mentioned it.

 

[Hannah F]

Just finished They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. It's categorised as YA (protagonists are 17- and 18-year-old boys), but I think adults will enjoy it just as much.
Each boy is informed this is his "end day". Strangers, they meet up on a "last friend" app and hook up to "live" their last day. It's a great, poignant read.

 

[Bloo]

I'm listening to Quantum Physics for Beginners, and it's seriously bad. Neil deGrasse Tyson, this isn't. Here's an example...

"Indeed, the components of electric and magnetic field intensities propagating monochromatic electromagnetic radiation vary sinusoidally with time. Once again, the propagating mode of the field can be looked upon as a quantum-mechanical harmonic oscillator of frequencies, say, the minimum value of the energy may increase or decrease as, once again, this increase or decrease, can once again be described as the appearance or disappearance of an energy quantum or photon of frequency."

Bull cookies.

Here's my Audible review...

Quantum Physics for Beginners (two stars)

Chapter One is essentially a self-help treatise. It loosely compares quantum physics to the human condition. Do we attain happiness by achieving goals, or is it the other 'round? Cause and effect aren't always so clear. Often merely observing events may also influence them.

Just as I was checking to confirm I purchased the correct title, Chapter 2 dove into the physics. I mean "dove" in a sense where the swimming pool below is filled with cinder blocks.

By Chapter 3, I realized that I'd been played. I haven't yet figured out if this is a joke or a scam. Maybe there's a punchline at the end. Yet I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it that far.

The voice acting is over-the-top confident and insincere (think Troy McClure from The Simpsons). It's like listening to an infomercial - except the seller has already suckered you. The reader has the emotional range of a fireplug. I seriously wonder if the voice actor is a text-to-speech algorithm set to "annoy".

Even more jarring than the delivery is substance of this work. "Wonky" doesn't begin to cover it. "What in holy hell am I listening to?" comes pretty close. Imagine a Chinese quantum physics textbook, Google Translated from Mandarin to English, then edited by Shpongle. The result is a bizarre, word salad that provides little in the way of context.

Adding to the textbook feel, the reader references drawings that none of us can see - sometimes in painful detail. It isn't nearly enough to understand what's going on.

If you picked up "Quantum Physics for Beginners" to learn anything about quantum physics, good luck. You will lose neurons listening to this. Any that escape immediate annihilation will short out soon afterward.

I can't explain the positive reviews. Maybe the other listeners are in on the joke (or the scam). Either way, I give 2 stars for irony (intentional or not).

 

[E G Logan]

Madly Deeply, The Alan Rickman Diaries
I'm struggling with Alan Rickman’s Madly Deeply. Struggling, that is, with the impression it conveys of him, whom I've loved in everything I've seen him in. I suppose that's the measure of how good an actor he was.

BTW, I only found out from the Notes, and hadn't known, but Rickman was struggling with very serious health problems pretty much ALL THROUGH this. Not just in his very last years.
Being aware of that makes a huge difference (sympathy, tolerance) to my view of the personality he is revealing.