Favourite books

by **Ivan** Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:09 pm

Share your favourites with other members. I'll start you off with mine - "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.

by ROB Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:47 am

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe;
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz with Alex Haley;
Hawaii, James Michener;
Shogun, James Clavell;
Entire Big Red series, Jim Kjelgaard;
Entire The Black Stallion series, Walter Farley;
Huckleberry Finn, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain);
Vulpes the Red Fox, Jean Craighead George;
The Covenant, James Michener;
Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare, Francis Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward;
The Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith.

by oftenwrong Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:53 am

Atlas Shrugged
and
The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand

by gurthbruins Sun Nov 27, 2011 6:23 pm

1. The Ascent of Humanity (Charles Eisenstein)

2. The Return from Troy (Lindsay Clarke)

3. The Spheres of Destiny (Michel Gauquelin)

4. The Iliad (Homer)

5. Armance (Stendhal)

by **Phil Hornby** Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:22 pm

I read a book once.... geek

by gurthbruins Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:47 pm

Phil Hornby wrote:I read a book once....

A whole one? Any good?

by **Phil Hornby** Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:54 pm

To be honest I got bored halfway through when the pictures ran out and just couldn't face the other 12 pages...

by oftenwrong Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:10 pm

I won't get you a book for Christmas then, Phil - as you've already got one.

by **Phil Hornby** Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:16 pm

That's a shame. ow, since I do have a second table with one short leg...

by **Ivan** Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:24 pm

To be honest I got bored halfway through when the pictures ran out and just couldn't face the other 12 pages....

For some reason that makes me think of the story about George W. Bush finishing a 20-piece jigsaw in two days. He felt really pleased with himself, because on the box it said 3-5 years.

by oftenwrong Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:24 pm

and there was STILL a piece missing

by **astradt1** Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:22 pm

Don't cry for me, sergeant-major (1983)

By Jeremy Hands, Robert McGowan.

Proves what a fraud another report really was/is...........read and find out who?????

by gurthbruins Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:07 am

I love Bush stories, Ivan, this one is a beaut. What a genius, to inspire such a legend!

Seriously, I admire the hawks like Thatcher, Bush, Blair, being lost in the outer rightmost regions of political space...

Let's fight them on the beaches!

Someone (a university lecturer in physical training) once called me a "denizen of outer flakedom". Oh, how proudly I would wear such a badge! But I fear I'm still to deserve it.

by witchfinder Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:47 pm

At this time of year as the festive season approches, I like nothing better than a Dickens story, there is something realy atmospheric about Charles Dickens at Christmas, and it just wouldent be Christmas without a version of the classic "Christmas Carol" on the television.

I suppose been that I am from Whitby on the Yorkshire coast, I realy ought to state that "Dracula" is amongst my favorite novels, the original story of Dracula was written in Whitby in the late 1890s.

I think my all time favorite is Tom Sharpe, who was kicked out of South Africa for mocking the apartheid system, his books "The Wilt Alternative" and "Blott on the Landscape" are very funny.

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:55 pm

Phil Hornby wrote:To be honest I got bored halfway through when the pictures ran out and just couldn't face the other 12 pages...

Why am I not surprised?

Meanwhile... I love anything written by Kazuo Ishiguro but in particular An Artist of the Floating World and Remains of the Day. I'm also quite a fan of Muriel Barbery and in particular The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Then there is David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, which was just brilliant.

by **Ivan** Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:42 pm

I think my all time favourite is Tom Sharpe

witchfinder. You didn't mention "Porterhouse Blue", which in my opinion was the funniest of his books.

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:52 pm

Any sci fi fans?

by ROB Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:56 pm

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:18 pm

Nice one... and who are your fav authors?

For me, I'm a big fan of Stephen Baxter (Raft, Timelike Infinity, Flux and Ring from the Xeelee Omnibus) and Greg Bear (Eon and Eternity). Oooh and I can't go past a book on The Culture (The Player of Games, Excession) by Iain M Banks (Even his crime fiction is not too shabby).

by oftenwrong Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:25 pm

What was the name of that female author who wrote about inter alia Platting the twishers? A family story detailing how she had constantly to be on the alert to avoid her children giving away the fact that they were aliens, capable of all sorts of useful things like teleportation, mind-reading and antigravity.

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:42 pm

oftenwrong wrote:What was the name of that female author who wrote about inter alia Platting the twishers?

Since you can't be bothered, let me Google that for you. Very Happy

by **astradt1** Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:43 pm

Any sci fi fans?

EE 'Doc' Smith...Skylark and Lensman Series of books.........

by **Phil Hornby** Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:55 pm

True Blue wrote:Why am I not surprised?

I imagine that's because to be surprised , one first has to have a modicum of comprehension... Very Happy

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:03 pm

Good ol' imagination eh? sunny

by **Phil Hornby** Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:10 pm

I always try to give other folk the benefit of the considerable doubt... Cool

by True Blue Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:20 pm

Phil Hornby wrote: I always try to give other folk the benefit of the considerable doubt...

How deliciously delinquent. (And even more so for the article announcing an adjective.) flower

by **Phil Hornby** Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:30 pm

I put my attractive demeanour down to avoiding reading science fiction... Very Happy

by ROB Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:53 pm

True Blue,

I once read sci-fi avidly unto burnout. Even lemon meringue pie, if eaten thrice daily for several years, can wear out its welcome.

Nonetheless, the whole sci-fi genre, when done “right”, a la Isaac Asimov and the ilk, is pretty heady stuff. My modern (21st Century) fascination is with film/video offerings such as “Alphas”, a recurring series aired on the Sci-Fi network on this side of the vast blue.

I like the stuff that, as Asimov put it, requires minimum suspension of belief. Liked the original Star Trek, liked the movies more, liked The Next Generation even more, all for the same basic reason. A star fleet cruiser and crew ought to remind me of a USN/RN vessel and crew. Navy men, more than a few, have said they feel “resonance” (my term) with the protocol aboard The Next Generation’s cruiser, As a navy aficionado (primarily USN and RN), the Enterprise and crew seem genuine, even though I know full well than no human vessel is capable of manned inter-stellar flight. Asimov’s suspension principle at work.

by gurthbruins Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:42 am

True Blue wrote:
Phil Hornby wrote: I always try to give other folk the benefit of the considerable doubt...

How deliciously delinquent. (And even more so for the article announcing an adjective.)

... scattering the good seed?

by **moonbeam** Sat Jan 05, 2013 4:06 am

I recently downloaded the "50 Shades of Grey" trilogy by E.L. James to my kindle, simply because I wanted to see what the hype was all about. It was well worth the $30 I paid, but I like erotic stories...

On the other hand, I also like mysteries and thrillers, and Robin Cook is one of my favorites. He writes medical thrillers, and at least one of his books (Outbreak) has been made into a movie. I'll read pretty much anything he writes!

by boatlady Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:52 pm

Just discovered Wilkie Collins, an author I never expected to read.
I'm on the Woman in White, having started with No Name and the Moonstone.
In many ways, I think Collins a better writer than Dickens, giving much more weight to the development of character, and offering exciting and melodramatic plots - the thrillers of their day.
The other thing I have read lately is the Communist Manifesto, which I found, to my surprise, to be easily read and more than somewhat convincing in its argument. I was led there by way of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - to my mind one of the top English novels.

One day I plan to return to the 21st Century

by oftenwrong Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:33 pm

One day I plan to return to the 21st Century

Where you will find, if you enquire, that there are more than 35,000 books currently available in the English language alone.

Happy browsing!

by skwalker1964 Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:26 pm

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, or any of his Charlie Parker books.

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

In Place of Fear by Aneurin Bevan

Most John le Carré

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Lord of the Rings

The Voyage of the Dawntreader by CS Lewis

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld (primarily because it contains what I consider the best interpretation of Hamlet that I've ever read!)

No doubt I'll think of more as soon as I hit send!

by Sharon Fri Oct 31, 2014 6:41 pm

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Testament of Youth Vera Brittain
All 7 Harry Potter books J K Rowling

I also enjoy the poetry of Wilfred Owen, in particular Dulce et Decorum Est

by boatlady Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:12 pm

I thought the Harry Potter books were surprisingly good and gripping - read the first, not expecting too much, thinking to be honest it was a bit hyped up - then I put all the others on my Kindle and read back to back - really a very good narrative with lots of interesting developments of plot and character and a wonderful darkness' that I would not have expected in children's books.
I can quite see how they got in your 'favourites' list, Sharon, although with unexpected bedfellows

by oftenwrong Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:37 pm

Bo Jo has just published a biography on Winston Churchill, to stand alongside the several hundred previous such biographies.

What could possibly be his motive? Particularly as he has so little regard for the conventions of written English.

by boatlady Sat Nov 01, 2014 12:16 pm

Oh, do you think h may be trying to raise his profile? maybe give himself an air of some gravitas? Possibly position himself to take over the leadership of the Tories, while reminding the electorate of an iconic Tory leader?

He really does appear to think we're all thick

by boatlady Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:43 pm

Just about to embark on Margaret Attwood's sci-fi trilogy - will be starting 'Oryx and Crake' tonight

Loved all her earlier stuff - 'The Edible Woman' 'The Handmaiden's Tale' 'The Blind Assassin' - got a bit lost when she brought out 'Alias Grace'

by boatlady Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:46 pm

About halfway through 'Oryx and Crake' tells the story of a society where some members are housed in luxurious enclaves, with all they want provided and get to monkey with the economic and scientific environment, while the rest of the population live in the 'pleeblands' waiting for a chance to be exploited by the 1%

It doesn't end well, I'm thinking

She does write rather well - will definitely be reading the whole trilogy and would recommend to anyone who enjoys fiction as a way of exploring ideas

by boatlady Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:19 am

Once again, I'm inhaling the entire work of an author and getting a bit obsessed, so thought I'd share for those of you that enjoy a bit of fiction.

The author in this case is Phil Rickman, who writes crime novels with a bit of a twist - he invokes prehistoric earth magic (ley lines and the like) to insert a little supernatural edge.
Have just finished the 11th novel featuring his protagonist Merrily Watkins, a C of E exorcist.
The novels are mostly set in the Welsh borders and the West Midlands - he has a keen ear for the rhythms of speech and his characters are believable, despite some off-the-wall plotting.

I'm finding him a truly engaging novelist, and, stuck at home with a bad cold, have indulged in something of an orgy.

All his stuff is available on Amazon, so it's easy to check it out - definitely recommend it myself (unless this is just the lemsip talking)

by Sponsored content