THE DONSTALK BOOK CLUB

[tlg1903]

Anyone got any good sci-fi recommendations?

[Madbadteacher]

Anything by Larry Niven, oldies but goodies

[tlg1903]

I read ringworld a few years back, it was quite decent

[scotfree]

Anyone got any good sci-fi recommendations?

Phillip K. Dick is well worth a read.

[manc_don]

Just wait until you get properly into it, you'll not be able to put it down 

 

Well you and BigAl were right. Just under two weeks that took me to read it, couldn't stop reading! Can't wait for the film now

[Edinburghdon]

Well you and BigAl were right. Just under two weeks that took me to read it, couldn't stop reading! Can't wait for the film now

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I preordered the follow up as soon as I'd finished I Am Pilgrim but annoyingly the publish date seem to have been pushed back.

[BigAl]

Glad you enjoyed it! I preordered the follow up as soon as I'd finished I Am Pilgrim but annoyingly the publish date seem to have been pushed back.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Locust-Free-eBook-Sampler-ebook/dp/B00YHHZ958/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465463928&sr=1-4&keywords=terry+hayes

 

Publication put back until 2017 apparently, but free sample available via attached link

[manc_don]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Locust-Free-eBook-Sampler-ebook/dp/B00YHHZ958/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465463928&sr=1-4&keywords=terry+hayes

 

Publication put back until 2017 apparently, but free sample available via attached link

 

FFS, that long?!?!

[Edinburghdon]

FFS, that long?!?!

 

Aye, by about a year... Which I hope isn't as bad a sign as it seems!

[BigAl]

Read a few on holiday earlier this month.

 

Standout was "Farewell Kabul" by Christina Lamb. Not an easy read, concentration required, but amazing insight into the conflict in Afghanistan and the way that Pakistan exploit the economic aid made available to them by the Americans and the UK.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Farewell-Kabul-Ignored-Pakistan-Afghanistan/dp/0007256949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467052948&sr=8-1&keywords=farewell+kabul

 

Also been reading more "Nordic Noir" and discovered Jussi Adler- Olsen and the Department Q series. Enjoyed book number one in the series, absolutley loved book number 2.

 

Right now however reading this

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nomad-Explosive-Thriller-Youll-Rubicon/dp/1785760416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467053198&sr=8-1&keywords=nomad+james+swallow

 

Supposed to be ideal for fans of "I Am Pilgrim" by Terry Hayes (Manc & ED take note). About 40% in and starting to get going. Will give you a more detailed recommendation once I'm finished.

[BigAl]

Time to bump this one up as no posts on it for some considerable time

Is no one reading these days 

 

Nomad was ok, but not a patch on I Am Pilgrim

 

Currently reading "The Great Game On Secret Service In High Asia" by Peter Hopkirk

Anyone interested in history will enjoy this.

Despite studying history at school this covers a period in time which was never really touched upon during the syllabus.

 

Anyone else got any recommendations ?

[manc_don]

Read Natural Born Heroes recently, thoroughly enjoyable read.  About WW2 (mainly Crete) and the history of Parkour

[BigAl]

Right folks, loads of new !e!best in past few days.

Somr pf you must enjoy a good book, so let's be having your recommendations.

[rocket_scientist]

Sorry but the recommendation I've got is one to avoid.

 

Started Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. After 82 pages and almost half way through, I've failed to pick it up again one week later. He's a brilliant and clever writer but his "black satire" doesn't do it for me any more. I think I'm Vonnegutted out. Hadn't read him for a long while and may have read the last of him despite really enjoying some of his books 20-30 years ago.

 

[RicoS321]

Sorry but the recommendation I've got is one to avoid.

 

Started Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. After 82 pages and almost half way through, I've failed to pick it up again one week later. He's a brilliant and clever writer but his "black satire" doesn't do it for me any more. I think I'm Vonnegutted out. Hadn't read him for a long while and may have read the last of him despite really enjoying some of his books 20-30 years ago.

 

Galapagos was pretty decent, if a little hard going. Good writer clearly.

[donsdaft]

The recently departed Coleen McCulloch fills most of my reading time.

 

Her Masters of Rome series is superb but you probably have to be pretty keen on Roman history to tackle what is a mammoth work. Not that it's particularly highbrow or anything, just that there's a lot of it.

 

So, my reccomendation is her account of the Trojan war. The Song of Troy

 

 

With regard to audio books, join Audible, get your free book then close your account, I thoroughly reccomend the BBC's

The Diary of Samual Pepys

It's fuckin brilliant

[Stupie82]

Just started reading Fatherland... seems like a very good book so far. A crime thriller set in an alternative history, where the Nazi's won the war. Love all that kinda stuff ! Any other recommendations on this kind of thing?

[Gervaise_Brookhampster]

The new Alan Partridge book Nomad is due out in a few weeks. I hope it's as good as  I partridge we need to talk about Alan. Think I will get the audio book as I did with the earlier book, listened to it 3 or 4 times now and still crack up.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8_vJj3N98

[Claude Balls]

Just started reading Fatherland... seems like a very good book so far. A crime thriller set in an alternative history, where the Nazi's won the war. Love all that kinda stuff ! Any other recommendations on this kind of thing?

The obvious one is SS-GB by Len Deighton.

Sometime in the last century I read All Our Tomorrows by Ted Allbeury which was in the same vein.

[manc_don]

Just started reading Fatherland... seems like a very good book so far. A crime thriller set in an alternative history, where the Nazi's won the war. Love all that kinda stuff ! Any other recommendations on this kind of thing?

 

I've seen that on the shelves and was intrigued, let me know if it turns out to be a good read.  What was the TV show which was based on a similar idea?  Germans and Japanese effectively shared the US?

[Stupie82]

I've seen that on the shelves and was intrigued, let me know if it turns out to be a good read.  What was the TV show which was based on a similar idea?  Germans and Japanese effectively shared the US?

 

The man in the high castle. Its a TV show on Amazon and was based on the book of the same name. Havent read that either yet, but that's next on the list.

 

 

[simarooskimoose]

I've been reading quite a lot the last couple of years. I sit and stare at a screen all day at work, so I feel a bit bad going home and staring at the telly all evening. Still do it more often than not mind.

Basically what I do is go in to the charity shops here in Edinburgh and just buy a stack of stuff more or less randomly from the Classics sections. Which generally has mixed results!

 

Last one I finished was Closing Time by Joseph Heller, which is the sequel Catch-22. It's set in the 90s, and basically follows the characters from the original as they're dying...which is obviously quite melancholy, but it's also very funny in parts, and I absolutely love Catch-22 (might actually be my favourite book ever) so it was nice to spend a bit more time with those characters.

 

Best thing I've read this year was The Affirmation by Christopher Priest. It's pretty weird, a sort of sci-fi examination of self-perception, but it's ace. There's a twist at one point that literally had me swearing out loud, rather startling the girlfriend.

[RicoS321]

I've been reading quite a lot the last couple of years. I sit and stare at a screen all day at work, so I feel a bit bad going home and staring at the telly all evening. Still do it more often than not mind.

Basically what I do is go in to the charity shops here in Edinburgh and just buy a stack of stuff more or less randomly from the Classics sections. Which generally has mixed results!

 

Last one I finished was Closing Time by Joseph Heller, which is the sequel Catch-22. It's set in the 90s, and basically follows the characters from the original as they're dying...which is obviously quite melancholy, but it's also very funny in parts, and I absolutely love Catch-22 (might actually be my favourite book ever) so it was nice to spend a bit more time with those characters.

 

I've always wanted to read Catch-22. I'm worried that if I read it, I might not enjoy it, but because I haven't read it I feel like I'm missing out.

[rocket_scientist]

Catch 22 is a great book.

 

Ewan McGregor on Norton just now. He directed American Pastoral, the book by Philip Roth. Norton showed his ignorance by sarcastically saying "everyone will have read it". Well I have and Roth is one of the best American authors, very funny at times. Recommend this writer to anyone who doesn't know him.

[manc_don]

Catch 22 is a great book.

 

Absolutely! Hard to get into to start with but was worth the patience.