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[Closed] Recent Reading - Part I

Off Topic » Recent Reading - Part I (Posts 151 to 180 of 252)

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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJan 26th 2009
    Recent read Bridge of Sighs by one of my favourite authors, Richard Russo. Another great novel. Nobody else paints such a vivid portrait of small-town America for me than Russo.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
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      CommentAuthorBregje
    • CommentTimeJan 28th 2009
    Bregje wrote
    To go back to my own younger years I got the diaries of Adrian Mole again from the library. I read those (the first two) when I was 14. A lot of fun!

    Not just fun books for any age, but it's nice to notice how different my experience is now. smile
    I'm still laughing my ass off with Adrian Mole but because of different things than back then! I finished the first two this week and I'm thinking of reading the other four as well, but I'm a bit afraid they won't be as good? Does anyone know?

    Nobody here who knows if the other four books are any good?

    OK, I'll go to the library for part III this afternoon, The True Confessions of Adrian Mole and I'll see for myself.
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeJan 28th 2009
    Timmer wrote
    WORLD WITHOUT END - Ken Follett


    A "sequel" to his mammoth PILLARS OF THE EARTH this time set in the 1300's, full of medieval doings and great characters it covers a timescale of 40 years that also takes in the great plague. This is an excellent pot-boiler and at 1,200+ pages it's just as big as it's predesessor.

    I've found that Zimmer's Da Vinci Code & Hannibal and Barry's The Lion In Winter & The Last Valley make great subliminal background music for the book. cool


    Again I'm clueless
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 19th 2009
    Just started reading Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by my favourite writer, Paul Theroux. Two chapters in, and I'm completely hooked.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeFeb 20th 2009
    I've just gotten the 2009 Penguin classical book on what is available on CD
    listen to more classical music!
  6. sdtom wrote
    I've just gotten the 2009 Penguin classical book on what is available on CD

    This one Tom?

    http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Guide-Rec … amp;sr=1-1

    Quite comprehensive at 1600+ pages...but already out of date? wink
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeFeb 21st 2009
    The 2009 is the most current available. What I do is wait until the book shop Borders offers a 40% discount and then purchase for a $20.00 bill.
    listen to more classical music!
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2009 edited
    Just finished reading Ken Follett's World Without End, a medieval pot boiler and "sequel" to The Pillars of The Earth.

    I'm now reading Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone. Anyone else read this?
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    Still working on The Camel Club by Balducci
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    sdtom wrote
    Still working on The Camel Club by Balducci


    I read that one. Really enjoyed it. There are several "sequels" with the same characters.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    Reading award-winning chef Anthony Bourdain's (I refered to him earlier in the "Annoyed" thread) A Cook's Tour now.

    It's sort of a follow-up of his Kitchen Confidential where he regales us with most entertaining (and somewhat disillusioning) stories about the world of master chef cooking and the hell holes that are master chef kitchens.
    (He explains the latter in such vivid and horrifying detail that one is left with a profound respect for Gordon Ramsay's softspoken, subtle and diplomatic demeanor).

    A Cook's Tour sees Athony on the road around the world in search for the perfect meal.
    The concept admiteedly is rather blah, but the mitigating factor that he has a huge sense of humour about it, and is most appreciatedly self-aware of the pitfalls of any such undertaking, once again make for very entertaining reading.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    I seem to like to go through the same author for a period of time and now seems to be the time for Balducci. Do you know the next one I should read in the series?
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    sdtom wrote
    I seem to like to go through the same author for a period of time and now seems to be the time for Balducci. Do you know the next one I should read in the series?


    Yeah, the four novels in the series (in order) are:

    The Camel Club
    The Collectors
    Stone Cold
    Divine Justice

    I haven't yet read the most recent one.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2009
    The Collectors will be next. Thanks James
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorzirael
    • CommentTimeMay 16th 2009 edited
    Just finished Nightlife by Rob Thurman, and I was really hooked. It's an urban fantasy similar in tone to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, complete with snarky dialogue, supernatural creatures, and mysteries to solve.

    Cal, a half human/half elf, and his older brother, Niko, have spent most of their lives running from the dark Fae things that seem to follow Cal everywhere. Eventually the bad creatures catch up to them in New York City, and Cal has to confront his origins and learn about the monster within.

    I'm happy I have another series to read until First Lord's Fury comes out in November!
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeMay 16th 2009
    I'm reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This is the compilation that begins with "A Scandal in Bohemia."
    Thomas smile
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeMay 18th 2009
    Watching the films and reading the book makes me quote the professor who says "Always Holmes"
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2009
    I picked up a cool book yesterday called 100 years of Cinema. Its a nice coffee table book that covers 1893-1993.
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2009
    I'm currently reading Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" after having recently read a couple of other physics books; "The Goldilocks Enigma" and "The Mind of God", both by Paul Davies (the latter of which is a very deep, philosophical book to which I particularly recommend to any theists among us!).
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2009 edited
    Deep and heavy stuff Steven, looks interesting ( and I'm sure Mel has The Mind of God....yeah yeah, I know wink ), so I'll check it out at some point.

    I've just finished John Simpson's A Mad World, My Masters, a brilliant book that I fully recommend.

    Next on the agenda though is some escapism with Peter Straub's Magic Terror.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
  21. Now I am on the verge of finishing Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Liberated, a classic 16th century epic about the First Crusade. Very interesting.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
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      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2009
    Timmer wrote
    Deep and heavy stuff Steven, looks interesting ( and I'm sure Mel has The Mind of God....yeah yeah, I know wink ), so I'll check it out at some point.


    '..at some point.'

    Yeah, I've heard that one before! biggrin

    But seriously, I do recommend it. But if you don't read it, it's certainly not the end of the world! wink
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2009
    'at some point'

    I've got so many unread books around and as you know, you have to be in the right frame of mind for specific reading materials.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorzirael
    • CommentTimeJul 5th 2009 edited
    Martijn, if you liked Anthony Bourdain's books, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I also recommend Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Story of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen. She talks about what it's like to move up in the kitchens as a female chef and works at pretty nice restaurants like Nobu, Layla, Veritas, and Martha Stewart's test kitchens while juggling after-hours relationships with waiters and chefs.

    Right now, I'm reading The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8 Lee, which traces the history of Chinese food in the U.S. It's fun but disjointed since every chapter focuses on a different aspect of Americanized Chinese food. Topics include the origins of chop suey, General Tso's chicken, fortune cookies, soy sauce packets, where Chinese restaurant workers come from, etc.
    •  
      CommentAuthorLSH
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2009 edited
    I have just began reading John Simpson's A Mad World, My Masters which Timmer recommended what seems like ages ago. I'm only half way through the second chapter and already I'm stunned by some of things this guy has experienced. I also like his humourous anecdotal writing style.

    cool
  26. Hmm, I wonder if there is any way to get it here in Poland.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2009 edited
    zirael wrote
    Martijn, if you liked Anthony Bourdain's books, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I also recommend Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Story of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen. She talks about what it's like to move up in the kitchens as a female chef and works at pretty nice restaurants like Nobu, Layla, Veritas, and Martha Stewart's test kitchens while juggling after-hours relationships with waiters and chefs.


    Cheers Zirael! I'll be sure to check those out! wave

    Up to my neck now into -alternatingly- Tad Williams' The War Of The Flowers and Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great.

    I've been a Tad Williams fan ever since his phenomenal Otherland quadrology, in which he takes alternate and virtual realities into unexpected and exciting directions. The War Of The Flowers is written in the same easy-going, unpretending style, though the story -very urbane protagonist ends up in the unfamiliar circumstances of a fairy tale- is far less original.
    It's entertaining and amusing enough, though.

    God Is Not Great (undertitle: How Religion Poisons Everything) is a well-written, if very personal and at times overly acerbic pamphlet against religion as an institute. Hitchens argues coherently and -noy unimportantly- very entertainingly and with clear literary skill- that religion's role in the development of human civilization is over, and that its remnants do nothing but poison society at large.
    While more readable than, say, Dawkins, the downside of this book for the likes of me is that he's preaching to the converted: here's not much he brings to bear I hadn't already considered or deduced for myself.
    However Hitchens' clear writing skills add an extra layer to this book, so it never becomes dull or preachy.
    Recommended!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorLSH
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2009
    LSH wrote
    I have just began reading John Simpson's A Mad World, My Masters which Timmer recommended what seems like ages ago. I'm only half way through the second chapter and already I'm stunned by some of things this guy has experienced. I also like his humourous anecdotal writing style.

    cool


    ... and if there's anything to get the travel bug itching away again, it's definitely this.

    dizzy
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2009
    Yeah! Drug warlords in Columbia, Meeting a flatulant Gadafi in Libya, war torn Iran / Iraq....etc etc


    Nah! I know exactly what you mean Lee, it gives me a massive travel itch.

    A damn good read that book, I've got his other book somewhere around and intend to read that 'soon as'.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    •  
      CommentAuthorLSH
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2009
    Timmer wrote
    other book


    Yay, there's more!

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