The GF book thread

[Nomad]

I have Just finished reading ‘In The Place of Justice’ by Wilbert Rideau and it is probably one of the most addictively frustrating books I have read.

 

It’s mainly about a guy who committed a crime during the 1960s when segregation and hatred towards race was rife, Corruption, Civil Rights and much more but I don’t want to spoil it for other readers.

 

I will honestly say if this does not have offers to be made into a major film then I will be shocked.

 

There’s a lot of very interesting factual information and its 100% worth the read.

 

Link is for his website.

 

 

 

http://www.wilbertrideau.com/

[Sut]

Rage in Harlem was pretty good, although I thought the two black detectives were pretty one dimensional. Pity really, as the other characters were well developed.

 

Just started Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

[The Flâneur]

Virtually Finished The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, very disappointing; considering all the hype. I found the characters weak and unbelievable and there was no likeable protagonist. The thriller aspect of the narrative was pretty good, but the yawnsome flargit ingen blooten sharvten killselfinwoodshed Scandie shit turned me off.

[L19red]

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (ex-talking heads). Really interesting book, part narrative blog about the cities of the world that he has visited and part thoughful reflection on the future of transport and cities.

[Paul]

The Fry Chronicles was good even though his continual self-deprecation and poor self-image becomes a little wearing.

[Hand Shandy]

I have two Iain Banks books to read - 'Transition' and the third one of the Culture series.

 

They've been by the side of the bed for nearly 3 months - a length of time that strangely coincides with the age of my daughter...

[Sut]

Have you told her she could read them first?

[Hand Shandy]

I have, but it takes her fucking ages to turn the pages over.

[Sut]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists: excellent book. Pretty hard going in some places.

 

Eaters of the Dead: Michael Crichton's version of Beowulf. I loved the way he tried to develop a story that the poem could have been based upon.

 

Fletch Won: Gregory MacDonald goes back to the start of Fletch's career and has him investigate the murder of a hated lawyer as well as a high class prostitution racket.

[Sut]

Fletch, Too – Gregory MacDonald

 

At Fletch’s wedding he receives a letter from his supposedly dead father that sends him off to Nairobi. On arrival, he witnesses a murder in the airport bathroom and spends his honeymoon trying to catch up with his absent father. Bit of a strange book that seems to be more of a travelogue than a conventional mystery story.

 

Fletch and the Widow Bradley – Gregory MacDonald

 

Much better than Fletch, Too. Fletch finds a wallet containing $25,000 but on arriving at the newspaper finds he’s been fired for quoting a dead man in a recent article. Fletch sets out to clear his reputation and get his job back, crisscrossing the states in search of answers as to how a man two years dead can be still signing memos at the company he owned.

 

Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton

 

Having not read this for about fifteen years, I was quite surprised at how much I had forgotten. An enjoyable book with some great set pieces that would have been great to add in the film, such as a raft chase and a waterfall sequence that Spielberg used for the sequel. The book also features plenty of memorable (if pretty 1 dimensional) characters, notably John Hammond, who is far from the genial Walt Disney type that Attenborough portrayed in the film.

 

Chavs: the Demonization of the Working Class – Owen Jones

 

Read this on the back of a recommendation in the London… thread. Some really good ideas concerning the systematic attack carried out on the Working Classes from the 70s through to the present day. A lot of what’s discussed in the book threw the recent riots into sharp relief and shows how successive governments have turned their back on the majority in this country.

 

On Location on Martha’s Vineyard (the making of the movie Jaws) – Edith Blake

 

Having already read Carl Gottlieb’s excellent Jaws Log about the making of the film, I couldn’t wait to read this. It gives an account of the making of the film from the point of view of a resident from Martha’s Vineyard. While it was interesting, I have to say that I wasn’t too impressed: Blake seems more intent on recording the name of each islander that took part in the film, what they earned and pointing out how stupid the filmmakers were than anything else. Disappointing.

[Anubis]

Just finished A Madness Of Angels by Kate Griffin. An excellent take on urban sorcery in contemporary London. I'm onto the second book, The Night Mayor, and it's shaping up nicely.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Just started The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

 

Pretty good so far, it's written from the dog's point of view who believes he'll be reincarnated as a human in the next life. His owner is a race car driver and the dog, 'Enzo' worships him. Aryton Senna's European GP win at Donnington gets a mention right at the start too which is a nice bonus, wasn't expecting that from an American book.

[RedinSweden]

I am about a third of the way through the first of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. It is fantastic. I am really finding it difficult to do other things other than read it at the moment. I read slightly slower in Swedish, but it does mean that I enjoy the book more I think. i may have to slow it down when I read in English.

 

The characters are well described and interesting, the locations have enough detail to form a picture, but are not described to death, but most of all the story has gripped me.

 

I haven't seen the film (either of them), but as for the Swedish one, I have looked who has been cast in the roles and aside from Lisbeth Salander, where Noomi rapace was nothing like i imagined lisbeth to be, they seem to be good choices. I will watch the film after I have read the books.

[Karl_b]

Last night I finished Bill Bryson's Made In America which charters the evolution of the American language, whilst it could be a dry and purely academic subject Bryson's prose and history of American popular culture makes it a great read. The only black mark against it is that I recently read his latest book At Home and there was a fair bit of repetition between the two.

[Chocoholic]

But, Karl, the black mark should be against the new book, not 'Made in America' which was published in 1998. Bryson does make his books easy to read, in an engaging way, of course, not a simplified way.

[Karl_b]

Yes, you're right. That's what I meant really!

[Anubis]

Polished off all three Kate Griffin books - The Madness Of Angels, The Night Mayor, and The Neon Court.

 

I also re-read Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Brilliant book.

[The Flâneur]

Reading Goodbye To All That, by the poet Robert Graves. It's socially astonishing, and the homo-social intensity of the private school system therein is just so, so weird.

 

Beautifully written.

[Sut]

Polished off all three Kate Griffin books - The Madness Of Angels, The Night Mayor, and The Neon Court.

 

I also re-read Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Brilliant book.

 

AD is great. Have you read the original novella? I think it was called Red Reign.

[silverlining]

I have two Iain Banks books to read - 'Transition' and the third one of the Culture series.

 

They've been by the side of the bed for nearly 3 months - a length of time that strangely coincides with the age of my daughter...

 

I read "Transition" on holiday (one of the 7 books I plowed through).

 

Didn't really work for me. Quite fun, but almost a bit rushed in places and some of the plotlines and charcaters don't get as much attention as they should.

 

Should have taken the new Culture novel instead.

[RedinSweden]

I read "Transition" on holiday (one of the 7 books I plowed through).

 

Didn't really work for me. Quite fun, but almost a bit rushed in places and some of the plotlines and charcaters don't get as much attention as they should.

 

Should have taken the new Culture novel instead.

 

I really enjoyed transition. I found some parts confusing though, due to me being a thickie.

[silverlining]

I really enjoyed transition. I found some parts confusing though, due to me being a thickie.

 

I'm not sure it was confusing due to you being thick.

I think it was because it was actually confusing. It jumps about all over the place between times and worlds, and it isn't easy to work out what is "present" day and what are simply memories of previous encounters.

 

I really like Banks and while I'm not a completist or fanatic, I really enjoy his sci-fi too (in fact, it's the only sci-fi I read). Precisely because the first 100 pages or so always do make you feel "thick" because he doesn't hand-hold and simply lobs everything into your face.

 

I loved the struggle through the start of "The Alegebraist" and also "Matter" simply because I had no fucking clue what was going on, and it wasn't due to poor writing - I just couldn't get my head around it all. But slowly it all clears and you get the best sci-fi fix.

 

And they're not only well written, imaginative and have charcters you care about, they're fucking funny, too, which is why I ignore most other po-faced sci-fi bollocks.

[Uncle_Meat]

Anyone who thinks that physicists are boring nerds needs to read "Surely you're joking, Mr.Feynman", by nobel prize winner, Richard Feynman. Well, it proves he's still a nerd, but a hugely entertaining one.

 

That book kept me going through a damp week of camping. Well worth a read if you like that kind of thing.

[silverlining]

I also read Book 3 and Book 4 of George RR Martin's fantasy opus, and just started "A Dance Of Dragons".

 

I hate to say it, but I'm getting a Robert Jordan feeling about it; too many characters and plotlines emerging, and it feels like no resolution in sight. Plus at this rate he'll do the full Jordan and die before he finishes it.

 

Also read "The Whisperer" and a Stephen King short story collection. And something else which I can't recall.

[RedinSweden]

I'm not sure it was confusing due to you being thick.

I think it was because it was actually confusing. It jumps about all over the place between times and worlds, and it isn't easy to work out what is "present" day and what are simply memories of previous encounters.

 

I really like Banks and while I'm not a completist or fanatic, I really enjoy his sci-fi too (in fact, it's the only sci-fi I read). Precisely because the first 100 pages or so always do make you feel "thick" because he doesn't hand-hold and simply lobs everything into your face.

 

I loved the struggle through the start of "The Alegebraist" and also "Matter" simply because I had no fucking clue what was going on, and it wasn't due to poor writing - I just couldn't get my head around it all. But slowly it all clears and you get the best sci-fi fix.

 

And they're not only well written, imaginative and have charcters you care about, they're fucking funny, too, which is why I ignore most other po-faced sci-fi bollocks.

 

The main part, about transitioning was very good though, and some of the side stories made for interesting reading. I never really understood the mad bint with the tree in China.