The GF book thread

[Kidder Bukowski]

Is the Fireman by Joe Hill worth a read? Pondering whether to start the L.A. Quartet series of books or continue with Elvis Cole(Voodoo River).

Go for the LA Quartet.Blows the others you mentioned out of the water.

[Sut]

I've still not gotten round to reading The Fireman. Am currently rattling through A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, which is an awesome novel of Satanic possession.

[Kidder Bukowski]

I read 'King Rat' by James Clavell for the first time since I was a kid this week (it was written in 1962). I'm often disappointed when I revisit books I loved as a kid but that was far from the case for this classic. A novel set in a Japanese concentration camp that hardly mentions the Japanese?

 

Like Lord of the Flies it concentrates more on the behaviour of humans taken out of their normal environment and is still up there as one of the best novels I've ever read.

 

Just finished East West Street by Phillippe Sands which is a brilliant (non fiction) story about a British lawyer delving into the history of not just the Nuremberg trials but his own family. Reads like a detective story at times and keeps you gripped til the end. Fans of Anthony Beevor will love this.

[Paul]

Read Mark Lawrence's Red Queen trilogy which sits alongside his Broken Empire books. It was good.

 

Now on Michael Connelly's latest which introduces a new cop to his LA setting: Renee Ballard. It's just as enjoyable as his Bosch and Haller novels.

[Elite]

Now on Michael Connelly's latest which introduces a new cop to his LA setting: Renee Ballard. It's just as enjoyable as his Bosch and Haller novels.

Might get on that once I finish the latest Bosch.

[Edward.]

Go for the LA Quartet.Blows the others you mentioned out of the water.

Well really enjoyed the first three, felt that they got better as I went, but Jesus they take come concentration remembering who everyone is.

[El Rojo]

I read 'King Rat' by James Clavell for the first time since I was a kid this week (it was written in 1962). I'm often disappointed when I revisit books I loved as a kid but that was far from the case for this classic. A novel set in a Japanese concentration camp that hardly mentions the Japanese?

 

Like Lord of the Flies it concentrates more on the behaviour of humans taken out of their normal environment and is still up there as one of the best novels I've ever read.

 

Just finished East West Street by Phillippe Sands which is a brilliant (non fiction) story about a British lawyer delving into the history of not just the Nuremberg trials but his own family. Reads like a detective story at times and keeps you gripped til the end. Fans of Anthony Beevor will love this.

 

My grandad had a copy of 'King Rat' and I read it in my early teens. Had completely forgotten about it. Must give it a go again sometime.

[VladimirIlyich]

While its a f***ball book,I have to say that after years of promising to read it and not bothering to 'Inverting The Pyramid' by Jonathan Wilson is a superb read on the evolution of tactics and formations in the game. It took me a few weeks of reading a bit,forgetting about it,then reading it and so on before I finished it all but it is superb. I think there are human stories within it that are not just about the sport and its quite fascinating.

Maybe because I enjoy the tactics and formation side but others wont but I still enjoyed it.

[Captain Turdseye]

Never been into Sci-Fi books but picked up the first in the Wild Cards series from the library last week purely because it had George RR Martin's name emblazoned on the side of it. It was surprisingly enjoyable and I'm gonna go and see if they've got the second one over the weekend.

 

Has anyone else read them? Do they get better? Or worse?

[Kidder Bukowski]

Never been into Sci-Fi books but picked up the first in the Wild Cards series from the library last week purely because it had George RR Martin's name emblazoned on the side of it. It was surprisingly enjoyable and I'm gonna go and see if they've got the second one over the weekend.

 

Has anyone else read them? Do they get better? Or worse?

Don't know.

 

Just finished 'The Martian' though and would give it a co2 out of 10. A bit meh to be honest despite some humorous moments.

[Paul]

The Force by Don Winslow. A corrupt NYPD cop novel that is full of cliches. It's readable and entertaining enough, but far inferior to his West Coast surf books and even the DEA ones. His afterword contains thanks to Ridley Scott and various other movie people for buying the treatment for this before it was published. In other words, he's taken his eye off what made his books great and is now working with one eye on the movie millions. What a shame as it's clearly diminished his writing.

 

Now on the latest Dennis Lehane which already seems better a mere 5% in.

[Rico1304]

The Force by Don Winslow. A corrupt NYPD cop novel that is full of cliches. It's readable and entertaining enough, but far inferior to his West Coast surf books and even the DEA ones. His afterword contains thanks to Ridley Scott and various other movie people for buying the treatment for this before it was published. In other words, he's taken his eye off what made his books great and is now working with one eye on the movie millions. What a shame as it's clearly diminished his writing.

 

Now on the latest Dennis Lehane which already seems better a mere 5% in.

The DL one tails off badly.

[Paul]

The DL one tails off badly.

Yep. Gave up on it.

 

Re-read Shogun by James Clavell which I haven't read in 30-odd years. It was boss.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Loved shogun. Read it when I was a teenager. Definitely one I will re read.

[skend04]

The Alchemist. Been taking advantage of Google Play offers recently and this was about a quid and appeared to be okay seeing as it had been a bestseller for 25 years. It's shite, a badly written or translated self-help book disguised as a story about a kid who is a shepherd. Tosh.

[Pidge]

Finished a few books recently (Myth of Meritocracy by James Bloodworth and Blair Worden on the Civil War).  I always start reading non-fiction and then put them down when distracted by something else, I'm pretty good at remembering what I've read so doesn't hit the reading experience much but it's annoying when I realise I have six books around the house part-done.

 

Anyway, both very good.  The English Civil War, Republic and Restoration is a period I was shamefully ignorant of (the curriculum when I was at school totally ignored it, stopped at the beginning of the Stuarts before going to the Modern World - which is pathetic when you consider how important that period was to the nation's constitution) - anyway, it's great.  The perfect overview and put a lot of knowledge about the Levellers and international history of the time into context.

 

Enjoyed the Meritocracy book a lot, very much preaching to the choir on a lot of it's points (my Mum went to the grammar from quite a poor background and hated it), the section on identity politics towards the end is well worth reading in particular.  The side-lining of class in the conversation is something I'd been thinking about a lot since reading into intersectionality so was quite validating to see that expressed.

 

Now back onto some fiction for something lighter (Breakfast of Champions because I realised from one of these threads that I'd never read any Vonnegut) and also picked Sapiens back up (had put it down when I got to the modern era, as I'd predicted) because I've bought a Carl Sagan book which focused on human development so thought I really should finish one before moving onto the other...

 

Also dropping into Hot Water Music by Bukowski here and there. The man could write about shit on a wall and it would feel profound.

[Elite]

I am struggling to find anything as good as The Bosch and Charlie Parker Books ( I have read Michael Connellys other stuff.)

[Chairman Meow]

Recently been back through all of the Flashman papers and they are still absolutely brilliant. Full of historic detail and although Flashman is fictional the activities and actions of the period are all very well documented and his place in them always fits. I can't reccomend them highly enough.

 

Now I'm back onto The Mortdecai Trilogy, forget that abortion that Johnny Depp was in. The books are absolutely excellent, like a cross between Bond, Marlowe and Wooster. I've read them multiple times now and they never fail to entertain. 

 

The DL one tails off badly.

 

 

Yep. Gave up on it.

Re-read Shogun by James Clavell which I haven't read in 30-odd years. It was boss.

 

Since The Given Day he seems to have been steadily declining. 

[Crouchie]

I am struggling to find anything as good as The Bosch and Charlie Parker Books ( I have read Michael Connellys other stuff.)

 

Try these series if you haven't already

 

Lawrence Block - Matthew Scudder novels

 

James Lee Burke - Dave Robicheaux novels

 

Robert Crais - Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels

 

James Ellroy - The L.A. Quartet novels

 

Joe R. Lansdale - Hap and Leonard novels

 

Dennis Lehane - Kenzie-Gennaro novels

[Paul]

I am struggling to find anything as good as The Bosch and Charlie Parker Books ( I have read Michael Connellys other stuff.)

Have you tried the Cole and Pike books? What about Kenzie/Gennaro?

[PestiRed]

Looking for a new series to get into. Has anyone read Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne books, and would you recommend them?

[Elite]

Try these series if you haven't already

 

Lawrence Block - Matthew Scudder novels

 

James Lee Burke - Dave Robicheaux novels

 

Robert Crais - Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels

 

James Ellroy - The L.A. Quartet novels

 

Joe R. Lansdale - Hap and Leonard novels

 

Dennis Lehane - Kenzie-Gennaro novels

Thanks, will try those.

[Elite]

Have you tried the Cole and Pike books? What about Kenzie/Gennaro?

I have read the first two Cole and Pike books but found them average.

 

Not tried Kenzie/Gennaro but may try them next as book you and Crouchie have recommended them.

[Numero Veinticinco]

I’m looking for a series of books that are something incredibly juicy and rich, like A Song of Ice and Fire. Maybe I’m asking a bit much. Doesn’t matter if it’s fantasy or sci-fi. Any recommendations?

[Lee909]

The Drenai series from David Gemmell.

 

Nowhere near as in depth as GOT or LOTR but great books