Which Book Are You Reading thread

[Decentric]

My father read to us kids in very expressive and entertaining style (much as I read to you as a little tacker ). Classics like Gulliver's Travels, Robin Hood and One Thousand and One Nights over many, many nights.

I think my love of books might stem from that in a big way. Always been happy to slip between firm covers and be absorbed for hours at a time.

The move from paper to electronic media for attention grabbing activities is a greater loss than any young person who does not read books could ever realise. Building your own imagination instead of being given a choice of ideas to select from is no small thing.

Give your father a huge tick from me, as an early childhood teacher! One of the most important things a parent can do for their children is read to them.

One of the best parts of being an infant teacher, is reading funny stories to children and to be able to put on all sorts of expressive and sometimes silly voices. Mem Fox, Roald Dahl, Tony Ross, Margaret Mahy, Pamela Allen, Babette Cole, Aaron Badely and Michael Salmon - are good for reading to young children. Many of my female teaching colleagues were too embarrassed to be silly. I used to stand on tables and jump off them to add dramatic effect. Plus run out of the room!

 

[grazorblade]

Not a fan of the liberties taken with the truth.

would love to hear more

It's a shame, is there any other book that covers that period of our history better?

 

[Kitwally]

Big sci fi fan but not sci fi fantasy. Prefer stuff in the realms of 'possibility'.

Aasimov and Arthur C Clarke were 2 of my favourites back in the day.

Big fan of the Expanse books and the subsequent TV series.

Military novels where they insert a character into battles in history are a good too. The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell are great. Sharpe is a British rifleman.

Each book is about a seperate campaign. Waterloo, siege of Lisbon, Nelson's armada, french invasion of Portugal, peninsular battle etc.

Most of the stuff in there is well researched and fairly historically accurate. Besides the main protagonist and one or 2 other recurring characters the rest of the characters are actual historic figures.

The Expanse books are fantastic and the series was quite good too!

 

[Muz]

The Expanse books are fantastic and the series was quite good too!

They wrapped the last series too quickly. Tried to jam too much in.

Should have been another.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

would love to hear more

It's a shame, is there any other book that covers that period of our history better?

Joe is/was entitled to his opinions of course and I wont join the pile on as I hear he had some mental issues after the release of his book and has withdrawn from football somewhat - if he was ever involved to begin with...

There are 3 "truths" about the NSL period mate
1) the version of those who lived the times good and bad
2) the version of those who didnt but feel qualified to comment
3) the truth somewhere in the middle.

 

[erogenouszone]

By the always excellent Michael Lewis about the FTX crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried. This has come up recently funny enough as his parents have asked Trump to pardon him. This guy ain't no Assange or Snowden. He's just a dodgy fraudster.

 

[LFC]

Joe is/was entitled to his opinions of course and I wont join the pile on as I hear he had some mental issues after the release of his book and has withdrawn from football somewhat - if he was ever involved to begin with...

There are 3 "truths" about the NSL period mate
1) the version of those who lived the times good and bad
2) the version of those who didnt but feel qualified to comment
3) the truth somewhere in the middle.

yer, always depends who it is putting it to paper and the subject.
Your 3 points are spot on.

By the way thats the type of books I read more than any nowadays, well for a long time.
I like real people, facts, Bio's.
Obviously read plenty sportman/women I have interest, heck even read Beckhams or Scholes enemy ones but have to admire what they achieved.
Those classic rags to rich's ones like Tevez, well Pele was the classic by that.
Hard knox growing up stuff, amazing fascinating real life ambition from behind the 8ball.
Ibra was a beauty and so many more.
Brilliant typical self made successful people as well.
Good reading and all this stuff is inspirational and gives you a perspective how good you have it compared to so many.
I've learnt alot from Bio's and maybe used some of the good insight into my parenting skill over the years.

 

[erogenouszone]

2) the version of those who didnt but feel qualified to comment

I hate those people. Unless you lived through it you don't know shit.

 

[grazorblade]

Joe is/was entitled to his opinions of course and I wont join the pile on as I hear he had some mental issues after the release of his book and has withdrawn from football somewhat - if he was ever involved to begin with...

There are 3 "truths" about the NSL period mate
1) the version of those who lived the times good and bad
2) the version of those who didnt but feel qualified to comment
3) the truth somewhere in the middle.

there needs to be an accurate account, such interesting history

the book got well reviewed by paul from south melbourne so thought it would be ok

hope Joe has a full recovery

 

[booney52]

Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are great reads.Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls and Farewell to Arms also masterpieces.And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov is a top Russian novel set in the time leading up to the Russian Revolution.

The 19th century Russian novelists( Tolstoy and Dostoevsky) produced two of the great novels of all time-War and Peace and Crime And Punishment though very long and weighty books.

If you like spy stories John Le Carre's novels are well written and plotted.

The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom by T E Lawrence ( the famous Lawrence of Arabia) has some brilliant descriptive passages about the Arabian desert.

Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe is a top Australian novel as well as spawning a great miniseries on Netflix.He has also written Lola In The Mirror which is nearly as good a read .

 

[RIMB]

For Whom the Bell Tolls...done.

I have to say that half the book was riveting and flowing and the other half was pulling teeth and willing the story to move along. I certainly enjoyed reading it but the style does not suit my lazy, fast flowing story preference.

The language required thought to interpret at times - particularly when it was covering introspective thought within the story - partially being archaic and partially being what I am guessing to be a particularly Spanish flavour to sentence and thought construction. It could not be simply read and understood by me without sorting through it in those sections.

I found the discussions between characters, when it was not directly related to the story line progression, and many of the introspective thoughts to be quite repetitive. Much like alcoholics in a bar talking about the same point over and over to make up for their loneliness. "That old dog was an ugly mongrel"
"You got that right - one ugly mongrel"
"Yep, soon as I saw it I said to myself - that is one ugly mongrel"
Pause for drinking and gathering of thoughts
"Ugly mongrel that dog..."

The story itself flowed really well when that was the focus and I liked Hemingway's style of narrative for both interactions and actions in those parts. I could live those parts with the characters and be in the setting with them. I found the insight into the bureaucratic nature of that period and society fascinating - especially towards the end when a side character makes a time sensitive journey.

To use very rough generalities I found the whole to be one third history and explanation for why people revolted and characters behaved as they did in the story, one third detailed human nature interactions between complex and well explained characters, and one third story line. The second half of the book read much more like a story while the first half often seemed stuck in establishing the environment for it.

Extremely well developed and complex characters allowing for such an interesting and variable dynamic between them. A big difference in my usual book choice is that goodies and baddies tend to hold to the same character throughout and only the characters required to redirect the flow of the story change or are changed with it. Hemingways' characters are much more realistic and human in their varying reactions.

Thanks for the motivation Mono. My mind has been broadened further by the experience.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

For Whom the Bell Tolls...done.

I have to say that half the book was riveting and flowing and the other half was pulling teeth and willing the story to move along. I certainly enjoyed reading it but the style does not suit my lazy, fast flowing story preference.

The language required thought to interpret at times - particularly when it was covering introspective thought within the story - partially being archaic and partially being what I am guessing to be a particularly Spanish flavour to sentence and thought construction. It could not be simply read and understood by me without sorting through it in those sections.

I found the discussions between characters, when it was not directly related to the story line progression, and many of the introspective thoughts to be quite repetitive. Much like alcoholics in a bar talking about the same point over and over to make up for their loneliness. "That old dog was an ugly mongrel"
"You got that right - one ugly mongrel"
"Yep, soon as I saw it I said to myself - that is one ugly mongrel"
Pause for drinking and gathering of thoughts
"Ugly mongrel that dog..."

The story itself flowed really well when that was the focus and I liked Hemingway's style of narrative for both interactions and actions in those parts. I could live those parts with the characters and be in the setting with them. I found the insight into the bureaucratic nature of that period and society fascinating - especially towards the end when a side character makes a time sensitive journey.

To use very rough generalities I found the whole to be one third history and explanation for why people revolted and characters behaved as they did in the story, one third detailed human nature interactions between complex and well explained characters, and one third story line. The second half of the book read much more like a story while the first half often seemed stuck in establishing the environment for it.

Extremely well developed and complex characters allowing for such an interesting and variable dynamic between them. A big difference in my usual book choice is that goodies and baddies tend to hold to the same character throughout and only the characters required to redirect the flow of the story change or are changed with it. Hemingways' characters are much more realistic and human in their varying reactions.

Thanks for the motivation Mono. My mind has been broadened further by the experience.

Mate I am very pleased you enjoyed the book and also impressed that you churned through it so quickly ... it is NOT an easy read.

Ol' Ernest wins my admiration for this very trait of his to create flawed characters who sometimes (but only sometimes) achieve redemption and interact realistically with the world around them. The language (especially the prosaic formal Spanish) seems stunted because of the way, I feel, Hemingway was trying to reflect a Spanish agrarian society trying to come to terms with an emerging 20th century and the naivety of coming to grips with new ideas in a fairly "stuck" peasantry being forced to chose between collectivism and greed... It resonated with me as it draws parallels with my grandparents experiences a decade later. The "alcoholics in a bar" prose is a lot more believable than the flowery language some other novelists chose to bless their protagonists with........ its a MASSIVE stretch but the language is one of the parallels I draw with Lord of the Flies and the reason why both novels are amongst my most beloved... Kids speaking like what kids speak, farmers speaking like what they would,... love and sex being messy and opportunistic in the face of war.... The bad guys arent always evil and the good guys can be pretty shitty people in real life too.

Recounting WW2 and its lead up is one of the most fruitful periods for great literature I feel, and beyond the confines of the story is a period I am fascinated with and enjoy reading different perspectives on.

Glad you liked it

 

[RIMB]

Mate I am very pleased you enjoyed the book and also impressed that you churned through it so quickly ... it is NOT an easy read.

Ol' Ernest wins my admiration for this very trait of his to create flawed characters who sometimes (but only sometimes) achieve redemption and interact realistically with the world around them. The language (especially the prosaic formal Spanish) seems stunted because of the way, I feel, Hemingway was trying to reflect a Spanish agrarian society trying to come to terms with an emerging 20th century and the naivety of coming to grips with new ideas in a fairly "stuck" peasantry being forced to chose between collectivism and greed... It resonated with me as it draws parallels with my grandparents experiences a decade later. The "alcoholics in a bar" prose is a lot more believable than the flowery language some other novelists chose to bless their protagonists with........ its a MASSIVE stretch but the language is one of the parallels I draw with Lord of the Flies and the reason why both novels are amongst my most beloved... Kids speaking like what kids speak, farmers speaking like what they would,... love and sex being messy and opportunistic in the face of war.... The bad guys arent always evil and the good guys can be pretty shitty people in real life too.

Recounting WW2 and its lead up is one of the most fruitful periods for great literature I feel, and beyond the confines of the story is a period I am fascinated with and enjoy reading different perspectives on.

Glad you liked it

I have always liked Lord of the Flies too. It has a similar genuinely threatening feel to it towards the end as parts of The Shining that had me nervous as all hell when I read it.

Realistic and believable to have the reader (or me anyway) living the same discomfort as the character.

"Thy mother"

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

I have always liked Lord of the Flies too. It has a similar genuinely threatening feel to it towards the end as parts of The Shining that had me nervous as all hell when I read it.

Realistic and believable to have the reader (or me anyway) living the same discomfort as the character.

"Thy mother"

I know what you mean... making characters and situations relatable is one of a good authors greatest talents in my opinion....

 

[Muz]

This just turned up today.

Hitler

Finally, the one-volume edition of Ian Kershaw's defini…

www.goodreads.com

Can read about the real life Hitler whilst watching the orange version in real time.

What a time to be alive.

 

[Decentric]

I can't get permission to post a public post from the other forum, so it will be a slow process recruiting book readers to post here. Please be kind to new posters who are pretty respectful and civil.

I'm pretty pleased about the number of keen book readers here already. Pasquali is onside too.

 

[Decentric]

I have always liked Lord of the Flies too. It has a similar genuinely threatening feel to it towards the end as parts of The Shining that had me nervous as all hell when I read it.

Have not read it yet.

All friends seem to have read it though!

 

[Decentric]

For Whom the Bell Tolls...done.

I have to say that half the book was riveting and flowing and the other half was pulling teeth and willing the story to move along. I certainly enjoyed reading it but the style does not suit my lazy, fast flowing story preference.

The language required thought to interpret at times - particularly when it was covering introspective thought within the story - partially being archaic and partially being what I am guessing to be a particularly Spanish flavour to sentence and thought construction. It could not be simply read and understood by me without sorting through it in those sections.

I found the discussions between characters, when it was not directly related to the story line progression, and many of the introspective thoughts to be quite repetitive. Much like alcoholics in a bar talking about the same point over and over to make up for their loneliness. "That old dog was an ugly mongrel"
"You got that right - one ugly mongrel"
"Yep, soon as I saw it I said to myself - that is one ugly mongrel"
Pause for drinking and gathering of thoughts
"Ugly mongrel that dog..."

The story itself flowed really well when that was the focus and I liked Hemingway's style of narrative for both interactions and actions in those parts. I could live those parts with the characters and be in the setting with them. I found the insight into the bureaucratic nature of that period and society fascinating - especially towards the end when a side character makes a time sensitive journey.

To use very rough generalities I found the whole to be one third history and explanation for why people revolted and characters behaved as they did in the story, one third detailed human nature interactions between complex and well explained characters, and one third story line. The second half of the book read much more like a story while the first half often seemed stuck in establishing the environment for it.

Extremely well developed and complex characters allowing for such an interesting and variable dynamic between them. A big difference in my usual book choice is that goodies and baddies tend to hold to the same character throughout and only the characters required to redirect the flow of the story change or are changed with it. Hemingways' characters are much more realistic and human in their varying reactions.

Thanks for the motivation Mono. My mind has been broadened further by the experience.

Excellent review, RMIB!

 

[Decentric]

If you like spy stories John Le Carre's novels are well written and plotted.



Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe is a top Australian novel as well as spawning a great miniseries on Netflix.He has also written Lola In The Mirror which is nearly as good a read .

Thought The Spy Who Came In from the Cold was superb!

The next Le Carre I read , I couldn't finish it.

A lot of friends are reading/have read Boy Swallows Universe. Saw the screen series and it was well done, but depressing. I'm not sure I can invest that much time in a book, despite it probably being well-written, and a bit too sad, if it is anything like the screen series.

 

[Decentric]

Mate I am very pleased you enjoyed the book and also impressed that you churned through it so quickly ... it is NOT an easy read.

Ol' Ernest wins my admiration for this very trait of his to create flawed characters who sometimes (but only sometimes) achieve redemption and interact realistically with the world around them. The language (especially the prosaic formal Spanish) seems stunted because of the way, I feel, Hemingway was trying to reflect a Spanish agrarian society trying to come to terms with an emerging 20th century and the naivety of coming to grips with new ideas in a fairly "stuck" peasantry being forced to chose between collectivism and greed... It resonated with me as it draws parallels with my grandparents experiences a decade later. The "alcoholics in a bar" prose is a lot more believable than the flowery language some other novelists chose to bless their protagonists with........ its a MASSIVE stretch but the language is one of the parallels I draw with Lord of the Flies and the reason why both novels are amongst my most beloved... Kids speaking like what kids speak, farmers speaking like what they would,... love and sex being messy and opportunistic in the face of war.... The bad guys arent always evil and the good guys can be pretty shitty people in real life too.

Recounting WW2 and its lead up is one of the most fruitful periods for great literature I feel, and beyond the confines of the story is a period I am fascinated with and enjoy reading different perspectives on.

Glad you liked it

Another good review, Mono!

Our new imminent, erudite members will be impressed.

I'd better lift my game!