Stickied What are you reading right now?

[mowgli]

Wolf's Head by Steven McKay.
The first in a trilogy of novels based loosely around the legends of Robin Hood. Set in 1321 during the reign of Edward II,brutal and intense it's a brilliant read.

 

[Veggie Legs]

I have recently been reading...

Adverbs by Daniel Handler. I think this is the first book I've ever started reading and not finished because it's too awful. Supposedly a novel, it's more like a collection of short stories in which nothing very much happens. The characters are so unremarkable that's it's not even possible to tell whether two people with the same name are actually the same person from one story to the next, and the writing is gimmicky and off-putting. Definitely give it a miss.

Luckily, I've also been listening to the audiobook of Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is brilliant. It's fantasy, nothing really groundbreaking, just beautifully conceived and written (and read, in the audiobook case). There are a few bits near the end which are a bit too 'happily ever after' compared to some more modern fantasy, but mostly things aren't so black and white.

 

[JustinQPR]

Picked up the new Football Ramble book on Audible last night, so will be 'reading' it over the weekend.

 

[PaulHaddock]

Been getting through a lot of thrillers, mainly Mo Hayder. Only problem is that once you've read so many, it gets so easy to predict every twist so you sort of anticipate whodunnit fairly quickly.

 

[SALTIRE]

The Reverse Of The Medal.

 

[mowgli]

Malice by John Gwynne.
First in a trilogy of a fantasy story with giants,sorcery and battles between men. I had never heard of Gwynne before and bought it on the off chance and i'm enjoying it so much i ordered the other 2 straight away.This book won the David Gemmell (My favourite fantasy author who died a few years ago) Morningstar award for best debut fantasy and it's easy to see why.

 

[Oaf]

I've started on The Dark Tower... the final book of the series

I got the books not last Christmas, but the year before, so it's been a nearly 2 year journey to get to this point. I'd been purposefully spacing them out at first, but realised I was going way too slow so I've gone and done the last few pretty recently. Man, it's been so damned good and it's actually gutting to think it's all nearly over. I mean, I know there's that one more book set between 4 and 5, but still, this is the end of the journey. Can't wait to see where it's all going.

Looking forward to seeing where they're going with the movie as well...

 

[Stringy]

I finished reading Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England recently. It was fun, easy to read and brilliantly captures the spirit of the period.

It's the kind of book that makes you love the past.

 

[Leo]

Just finished the new Rebus novel by Ian Rankin & have started the new Jack Reacher thriller by Lee Childs.

 

[Stevencc]

Trainspotting.

 

[mistermagic]

Just finished Terry Hayes' I Am Pilgrim. A book very well planned by the author between Pilgrim, an American intelligence officier depicted to be the best in the business, and Saracen, an angry Saudi who wants to propagate smallpox all over US soil. The climax is disappointing and a lot of Pilgrim's expertise goes out the window during his investigation.

Now reading Jonathan Wilson's Angels With Dirty Faces; the history of Argentinian football. Good read so far.

 

[mnb089mnb]

I've just finished reading "Don't Cry for me Aberystwyth" by Malcolm Pryce.
A spy thriller set in the west Wales town with the backdrop of the Patagonian war. Good fun.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

#Aberystwyth-Noir

It is a part-time project of mine to read a crime fiction novel set in each of the 50 American states (I am up to about 16 or summat, so I've got a ways to go). After I have completed that I will deffo do an armchair-Pevsner style tour of all the provincial British towns/regions to which some canny author or publisher has appended -noir.

 

[Stevencc]

I finished Trainspotting. It was excellent, both one of the funniest and one of the grimmest books I've read. I've also now got a new favourite insult; doss c***.

Glamorama next.

 

[TubularBells]

Still not got past chapter one of Sir David Jason's autobiography. My fiancee bought it for me in January 2015.Serious question. How do you get 'in the zone' to read? I find it hard to switch off. Got a hundred thoughts going through my head and never enough time to just sit, chill and read a book. My fiancee is constantly reading. I don't know how she does it. She has loads of books.
I'd be interested to know how people shut out the outside world to be able to read. As I did enjoy reading when I was younger.

 

[Veggie Legs]

I find it increasingly hard to make time to read, my most consistent time is just before I go to sleep. I find it helps me switch off to sleep too, although not so much if I read nonfiction. Obviously reading in bed might cause problems if you share your bed with someone else, but it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem in your case.

 

[mnb089mnb]

I find it increasingly hard to make time to read, my most consistent time is just before I go to sleep. I find it helps me switch off to sleep too, although not so much if I read nonfiction. Obviously reading in bed might cause problems if you share your bed with someone else, but it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem in your case.

I read this message before I read the one above it, and the last sentence sounded very harsh.

 

[mnb089mnb]

#Aberystwyth-Noir

It is a part-time project of mine to read a crime fiction novel set in each of the 50 American states (I am up to about 16 or summat, so I've got a ways to go). After I have completed that I will deffo do an armchair-Pevsner style tour of all the provincial British towns/regions to which some canny author or publisher has appended -noir.

If one were to do the same exercise for Wales I would suggest using the traditional county boundaries rather than unitary authorities. For one, there are fewer counties than unitary authorities. And there's only so many fiction books based in Wales any of us want to own, never mind read.

Anyway, here's my current list:

I would encourage users to post their own lists. Mods, should I start a new thread for this?

 

[TubularBells]

I read this message before I read the one above it, and the last sentence sounded very harsh.

I read it to mean as my other half reads in bed anyway. Although I can see why you'd think that.

 

[Stevencc]

Glamorama has been pretty disappointing, so far. It reads like substandard impression of a Bret Easton Ellis novel with a lot of his trademarks being used poorly.

 

[mowgli]

Malice by John Gwynne.
First in a trilogy of a fantasy story with giants,sorcery and battles between men. I had never heard of Gwynne before and bought it on the off chance and i'm enjoying it so much i ordered the other 2 straight away.This book won the David Gemmell (My favourite fantasy author who died a few years ago) Morningstar award for best debut fantasy and it's easy to see why.

It turned out there was a 4th book all of which were over 600 pages,a fantastic read and i loved it so much i felt depressed when i finished the last page this morning. I need to find some more decent fantasy novels fast!

 

[Oaf]

I have about 150 pages of The Dark Tower left. Like, all of it.

Man, it's gonna be sad to see this series finally finish for me but I'm excited as fuck to see how it's all going to end. Some of the stuff that's happened so far though... jeez

So yeah, TFF as it were introduced me to these books, and thank fuck you did.

I also can't wait to see what the fuck they're going to do with the movie. That was originally supposed to be out next month until it got delayed... it's now out in the summer, but details still seem to be rare as rocking horse shit as it stands. I WANT A FUCKING TRAILER, ALREADY.

 

[Techno Natch]

I thought it was a series? I've just started reading them again recently in anticipation. I really love that last conversation between the man in black and Roland where there go into ideas on eternity.

Ill be interested to see what you think of the ending.

I'm current reading a book on Burma written by a journalist that was there shortly after the typhoon in 2007ish up until recently. Quite interesting so far and she's told a couple of good stories from People that actually grew up under the regime there. Not sure how legit she is but will check that out after.

 

[mowgli]

Nightblade by Ryan Kirk'
First in a trilogy about Samurai with a bit of sorcery thrown in,it's a bit dull but i'll stick with it.

 

[Oaf]

I thought it was a series? I've just started reading them again recently in anticipation. I really love that last conversation between the man in black and Roland where there go into ideas on eternity.

Ill be interested to see what you think of the ending.

I'm current reading a book on Burma written by a journalist that was there shortly after the typhoon in 2007ish up until recently. Quite interesting so far and she's told a couple of good stories from People that actually grew up under the regime there. Not sure how legit she is but will check that out after.

I think from various sources where I've accidentally seen things written I've kind of got an idea of where it's all going...

But yeah, no doubt the film will be intended to be a series, and it really does deserve to be, but it obviously depends on the success of the first film.

I was reading up on the movie yesterday and how different it is... and they basically used Marvel as an example of where they're going. Not in the "we're gonna build a fucking great cinematic universe out of this" type way (though for sure, The Dark Tower and other King based movies could certainly do this), but more in terms of the adaption... in the way that Marvel movies tend to loosely be based on certain comic stories, but they're usually radically different to adapt them to the screen or because of only being able to use certain characters or what not. I mean, look how different Age of Ultron (in particular...) and Civil War were on screen compared to the comics. For those who don't know the comic book story of Age of Ultron, for example, it's based in an alternate future where Ultron has already won and is ruling the world, with a small rebel band of superheroes trying to fight him... Wolverine and The Invisible Woman go back in time to change the past by killing Hank Pym, and so on. Obviously, for anybody who saw age of ultron, that's about as different as it gets

I don't think The Dark Tower is going to be that extreme, but I certainly expect it to be very different. .. which means people expecting a the exact events of the movie to play out just as they did int he books will be disappointed, but I'm open to it all.

For example, the first movie seems to be based on a kind of 3 way chase going on. It seems to mainly be about Jake, who keeps finding things relating to Mid-World and is looking for Roland as a result... meanwhile, the Man in Black is trying to get to Jake first... and Roland, being Roland... well, you know, that stuff about the man in black fleeing across the desert and the man in black following... Triple threat chase! So a bit different for sure, but probably retains most of what it needs to.

 

[Techno Natch]

Sorry by series I meant HBO style game of thrones series. Bit disappointed but hopefully it will still be good and I really rate Idris (Just about to start the last series of the wire) so have high hopes.

 

[Oaf]

Sorry by series I meant HBO style game of thrones series. Bit disappointed but hopefully it will still be good and I really rate Idris (Just about to start the last series of the wire) so have high hopes.

Ah, right

Well, from what I gather, there are still intentions to do a TV series to run alongside the movies. The assumption is that the TV series will cover Wizard and Glass, seeing as that whole book is basically a flashback. And maybe it'll go onto more seasons to cover more of Rolands past (Jericho hill, his training and stuff, ect)... but yeah, as far as I know they intend to still do both running along side each other, the movies covering the main story with the TV show filling in the gaps. Which I reckon is a hell of a good way to do it.

I reckon Idris will do a hell of a job as Roland, and if it's done right it'll be the defining character/performance of his career... I can see it being the character that first comes to mind when you think of Idris Elba. The whole race thing is only an issue to me if they really intended on having racist style Detta Walker come into it at some point, but like I said, they seem very flexible to change things so perhaps they can just completely ignore all of that.

 

[Techno Natch]

I felt the race thing was a big part of the book but I have faith that they will have a solution in mind. If he upstages his spell as stringer then he will have done mightily well in my eyes.

 

[Oaf]

I finished reading it the other day...

Spoiler

And yeah, ok, now I understand what people mean when they say that the movie will be a sequel, despite following the plot of The Gunslinger

That's where I had a feeling it was going. It was interesting to kind of have one ending, followed by a paragraph of basically King saying "read on and you'll be pissed off, stop here"... but who the hell is going to stop reading at that point?! Nobody, that's who. I actually really liked it as an ending though, which I seem to understand may put me in a minority. And with that ending in mind, I actually think that what they're doing with the movie is a fucking great idea. That poster that says "last time around" suddenly makes a shit load of sense.

Not really all that happy with Susannah meeting up with this different Eddie and Jake, though. So what, she's just going to live on with these two, pretending that it's the two she knew? And ok, it seems she's losing her memory of the events and such... but nah. I don't like it... it's kind of shitting on the versions of Jake, Eddie and Oy that we came to know and love... she's moving on with version of them who aren't them, and Roland has forgotten them entirely.

Also, fuck you for killing Oy Stephen King. I fucking knew it would happen, but fuck you all the same.

But yes, anyway, can't wait for the movie now

 

[Stevencc]

I finished Glamorama today and, while it is superficially similar to American Psycho in terms of style and themes, it really doesn't hold up to that novel in terms of quality.

The main character of the novel, Victor, is a vacuous male model in his late twenties who spends his time going from party, to club opening, to trendy restaurant. He constantly refers to directors, lighting, scripts, lines and "hitting his mark" as if his every action is being filmed. The book is nearly five hundred pages long but the actual plot doesn't really kick in until over halfway through when Victor is tracked down and promised large sums of money to travel to London and find a missing girl from his past. He ends up in Paris and soon finds himself living with, and working for, a gang of models-cum-terrorists all as shallow as he is.

Things get less and less clear until we really don't know what is real anymore.

Porno next.