The GF book thread

[She Knows It]

Originally Posted by AdamS Touchingly sympathetic Liz! I am reading Entangled Minds by Dean Radin. It's quite an eye opener and fascinating.

I don't have sympathy for them. It's the way they're written. They're as good as prostituting themselves in my eyes. If they put a positive spin on things, and didn't play the victim I'd admire them. They're written purely to evoke peoples' sorrow to fuel their own self pity, while lining their back pockets to boot. I love to see a triumph over adversity, but I can't stand to see people wasting their lives wallowing in past misery. It makes me angry.

Anyway, I'm giving The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield another go.

[madstock]

Originally Posted by She Knows It If they put a positive spin on things, and didn't play the victim I'd admire them.

Exunctly. These feckers with shite childhoods need to realise that if they had suffered a "normal" upbringing, no-one would be buying their book, and as such should be bloody grateful. (That was not sarcasm, I believe we may have had a similar conversation in another life). Positivity is the way forward.

Having read the latest Lee Child whilst confined to barracks in Lisbon, I have started on Dean Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year", which appears at nearly 200 pages in to be a real vanity piece designed to show off exactly how much he knows about Golden Retrievers. I'm not enjoying it too much.

Hardly Dostoievsky, but two authors that can generally keep my mind active when I turn my brain off for a week.

[Thants]

Originally Posted by aws As is Duma Key. Slow paced but in terms of depth and quality of writing one of King's best.

Originally Posted by Paul About ten pages in and it's such an easy read. Easy as in it just flows, rather than it being simple. He puts you inside the main character's head instantly. I've got a good feeling about this book now.

I'm inbetween books and my bookshelp isnt appealing. This stands out in the thread. Should I?

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Thants I'm inbetween books and my bookshelp isnt appealing. This stands out in the thread. Should I?

I'm only about 150 pages in, but it's very good so far.

[El Rojo]

Some background on Blood's A Rover, the third in Ellroy's American Underworld Trilogy.

Blood's a Rover is a 2008 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the sequel to American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand and the final volume in the American Underworld Trilogy. According to Ellroy's literary agent, the book is scheduled for a summer 2008 release[1]. The title is taken from a poem titled "Reveille" by A.E. Housman:[2]

Clay lies still, but blood's a rover;
Breath's a ware that will not keep.
Up, lad; when the journey's over
There'll be time enough for sleep.


Plot introduction
Blood's a Rover will span the years 1968 to 1972, encompassing Vietnam, the death of J. Edgar Hoover, and the presidency of Richard Nixon. In December 2007, Ellroy said two women, named Kathy and Joan, would play central roles in the novel[3]. In 2006, Ellroy had said the book would be structured around a trio of male protagonists (one of which would be the returning Wayne Tedrow Jr.). It is unknown whether Kathy and Joan will supplant Ellroy's original plan[4].


Ellroy on "Blood's a Rover"
The novel, like American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand, will be structured around a trio of central characters. Ellroy also said the book will be the longest of the trilogy.

Ellroy commented on the scope of Blood's a Rover several times during his tour to promote The Cold Six Thousand. When asked if he still saw his American Underworld opus as a trilogy, Ellroy responded, "American Tabloid is the first volume of my Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy. The Cold Six Thousand is my second. I will soon begin work on the epic third volume, a ghastly tale of political malfeasance and imperialistic bad juju from 1968 to 1972."

Ellroy said he would steer clear of the Watergate scandal: "The Cold Six Thousand is the second volume of a projected trilogy...and covers the matrix of American politics and crime from 1963 to 1968; the first, American Tabloid, covers 1958 to 1963; a third will proceed to 1972. You can see exactly where the story's going: the '68 election, the Mob's foreign casino plan, Nixon in office, all that. I'll stop short of Watergate, because Watergate bores me." Ellroy also told interviewer Robert Birnbaum, "It's [Watergate’s] been done to death. And most of the characters are still alive; thus you can't use them fictionally."[5]

The Times elicited a terse statement regarding the third novel. Ellroy stressed that the capstone would focus on Latin-American imperialism under Richard Nixon's direction.[citation needed]

[Plewggs]

The Shakespeare Secret, by some knob head whose name I’ve overlooked.

Fans of the Forbidden Planet will love this book.
The plot is based on the conspiracy theory that William of Stratford didn’t write the Shakespeare plays or Sonnets.

All the usual suspects are considered as alternative authors. Bacon, Johnson, Oxford, Southampton, Derby, Queen Liz etc.

A fantastic imagination concludes that William Shakespeare was a combination of 5 Jacobean worthies who assisted Cervantes with Don Quixote and forged links with the Californian gold rush before taking their secret to the grave.

Perfectly feasible!

If you like Dan Brown and Rupert the Bear, you’ll enjoy this novel.
It’s unintentionally hilarious. I can highly recommend it.

[aws]

Originally Posted by Thants I'm inbetween books and my bookshelp isnt appealing. This stands out in the thread. Should I?

If you want something well-written and thoughtful - yes. If you're looking for traditional horror - no.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by El Rojo When asked if he still saw his American Underworld opus as a trilogy, Ellroy responded, "American Tabloid is the first volume of my Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy. The Cold Six Thousand is my second. I will soon begin work on the epic third volume, a ghastly tale of political malfeasance and imperialistic bad juju from 1968 to 1972."

Ha, ha!!! Fucking genius. I can't wait for this.

[Bernard Diomede]

I'm just about to start reading that 5 people you meet in heaven, me mates just passed it on to us, got a feeling it may be a bit soppy but i'll give it a blast. Just finished Atonement, not the best like.

[mattyq]

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through and it's one of the best books i've ever read.
It's about an Aussie guy who escpaes from a high security jail and goes on the run to Bombay. Whilst he's there he joins the Mafia, lives in a slum and sets up a free clinic, fights in Afghanistan, takes herion blah blah.
Superb read

[Elmyn Noos]

Originally Posted by Bernard Diomede I'm just about to start reading that 5 people you meet in heaven, me mates just passed it on to us, got a feeling it may be a bit soppy but i'll give it a blast. Just finished Atonement, not the best like.

Don't bother mate. I read it, and it's shit. the idea of it is OK, but I found it a tepid maudling read. It could and should have been a much better read.

[ATXRED]

Currently Reading the 6th book of The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind.

Very entertaining.

[Ted]

The Watchmen and a Clarkson book called "Born To Be Riled."

[wiiksie]

Originally Posted by weeksie Ive just finished 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink. Its about a german who gets friendly with an ex-SS female guard, just before she goes to trial for war crimes. Good take on jerry's attitude to the holocaust post 1945.

As well as being a fantastic read, this could turn into a very good film too.

Winslet and Fiennes are filming it in Germany as we speak. Very interesting story, keep an eye out for it, post-war German geo-political fans.

The Reader (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[WaltonRed]

Going to purchase the trial of Henry Kissinger off Amazon in a bit.