Do you read?

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

Read all 3 hunger games book. Really enjoyed all 3.

Top books.

What did you think of the ending?

I posted a few pages back about it. I was quite disappointed. Pretty anticlimactical.

The trilogy is a good read though.

*Spoilers*

Really thought they were good, I read them real quick as well which is always a good sign.

They hang together quite well but I always felt the ending was going to be difficult. In an ideal world she would have got hold of Snow after the bit with her sister (Which was a bit upsetting) in combination with Hatmitch(?) and had some fun but that's the point I suppose of the books. They were moving away from that sort of environment and into a new phase so that would have left the book with a nasty taste, especially for younger readers.

On the whole the ending was as good as it could be if it wanted to finish the journey properly.

[Eames]

I read this to Princess E last night and was in fits of laughter.

Very very funny and educational.

[mjmooney]

I can recommend

Roger Moorhouse' 'Life in Berlin 1939-1945', having flicked through it recently. I know there's one or two, Mike!, who enjoy that period. Slices up in easy to read segments too.

Yep. This finally made it to the top of the pile. It's excellent.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

Just finished "Plague Year" by Jeff Carlson.

Part of a trilogy.

Reading the next one now "Plague war"

Really quite enjoying them as some things that happen are just amazing.

(Its about nano technology and there really is quite a good premise. If humans worldwide can only survive over 10,000 ft then there is always going to be a cafuffle)

[AVFC_Hitz]

As it's holiday time, I'm quickly getting through a few Wallanders.

Also reading a book (non-Flashman) by George MacDonald Fraser - The Reavers

[mjmooney]

Also reading a book (non-Flashman) by George MacDonald Fraser - The Reavers

Reivers (although the book is actually called The Steel Bonnets). I read it while I was up in the borders last month. Best place to get the atmosphere.

[Nigel]

Fancied an easy read so re-read Mark Haddons 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'

Forgot how good of a book that was!

..very enlightening!

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Currently reading 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.' It's fascinating, but ****' hell is it grim. I reckon it inspired Blood Meridian. A lot of disembowled women and dead kids. Important reading, though.

After that I've got Zadie Smith's 'NW', McCarthy's 'Suttree' and 'Money' by Martin Amis.

Fun fun.

[AVFC_Hitz]

Just ordered a few Alan Furst books from Amazon. Are they comparable to Kerr?

[mjmooney]

Just ordered a few Alan Furst books from Amazon. Are they comparable to Kerr?

In my opinion, much, much better.

For me, Kerr tries too hard to be 'hard boiled' with his sexual sadism, etc. And I don't feel he gets the 40s atmosphere quite right somehow.

Furst is far more understated - closer to Eric Ambler or Graham Greene. I do think he has become a bit formulaic, though - he churns out a book a year and they are starting to get a bit predictable.

The early ones are the best (although Spies of the Balkans was something of a return to form). Currently waiting for the new one to come into paperback.

[coda]

'Money' by Martin Amis.

Love that book. John Self is such a vile, depraved character. Nick Frost was miscast as him in the TV series.

[rendelc]

I am reading The Second World War by Antony Beevor. Excellent as usual .

[CI]

Just finished 11:22:63

Ok ish I guess

[leviramsey]

Clockwork Angels by Kevin J Anderson, from a story and lyrics by Neil Peart

Very enjoyable read (but of course I would say that!), finished it in a few hours.

SFFworld"]

There’s some really neat genre ideas at play here. A medieval or steam-punk society, in varying states of development, is the background to what we would normally see as a typical rites of passage novel. There’s the struggle between chaos and order, free will and responsibility, imagination and reality.

I'd say more alternate (as in what if a medieval alchemist actually found the Philosopher's Stone a few hundred years before the events of the story) Victorian.

As a piece of genre fiction, it is as you would expect from that synopsis above – a fairly straightforward tale, well written, that looks at some great big ideas but shouldn’t scare off the casual reader. We’re not talking intense Mieville-ean debate here, more Terry Brooks entertainment. There’s a touch of Ray Bradbury in its use of the carnival as a place of security as well as fear, a smidgen of techno-magic in its coldfire energy, steampunk airships and clockwork guardians, a hint at quantum universes along the way. It would work well for a Young Adult audience, though it’s entertaining enough for adults.

Having these quite well known ideas is not too important; it’s what the authors do with them that counts. Though some of the ideas are used and then dropped without being developed too far, generally it is a great page-turner.

RUSH fans are going to appreciate the sneaky references to the band’s work: Coldfire engines, malignant narcissism, lyrics from other RUSH albums (‘Free Will’, ‘Time Stand Still’, ‘Roll the Bones’) and so on. You don’t have to get them, but it is a lot of fun and I like the idea that band-fans are going to be trying to find them all.

RUSH have always been a band with great, intelligent lyrics and ideas throughout their songs, and there are some concepts here should you choose to find them. The importance of identity, of reaching your personal goals, of obtaining your childhood desires if you work for them, are all there, as too bigger issues such as the importance of society and the difficulties of being in a repressive one. The importance of imagination, the need for the soul to explore – to progress and to evolve as a person, to think for yourself and question – these are all important ideas here, and topics that have been used by RUSH before.

Neil, as the main lyricist of the band, has clearly had more input here than some other authors I can think of who put their names on book covers written by other people. It is clearly a collaboration, and both creative talents have clearly enjoyed this experience.

There’s a lot here to enjoy, and even those who don’t know the music (now is your chance, go and look!) will enjoy the story.

In addition, there’s copies of the song lyrics from the CD at the back, showing how the songs follow the story and an entertaining Afterword by Neil about how the book was written. Referencing influences such as Voltaire’s Candide (1759) it’s as thoughtful and as intelligent as you could hope.

I should also mention that throughout there’s also Hugh Syme’s artwork to illustrate. Though my review copy had black and white copies, I gather the ‘proper’ book will have colour plates. Fans of RUSH’s albums will recognise the artist’s style – he’s created most of their artwork for their albums since 1975. It’s lush, detailed and imaginative, and complements the prose admirably.

I had my doubts that this wouldn’t work – I’m pleased to type that they are mostly wrong. If my worst fears were realised, this could have been some sort of horrible, cynical, heartless cash-in.

I’m so pleased that it is not.

[mjmooney]

Last few weeks:

Roger Moorhouse - Berlin at War

Aldous Huxley - The Genius and the Goddess

Keith Douglas - Alamein to Zem Zem

Stanley Booth - The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Greil Marcus - Listening to Van Morrison

Jim Thompson - The Getaway

Currently:

Michael Herr - Dispatches

Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine

[leviramsey]

Adam Goldstein - Tailgate to Heaven

The book's official site"]

Despite a global recession, Adam Goldstein felt 2008 was the perfect time to invest in his lifelong passion.

He sold his flat and left his job and his girlfriend in London for American football. His goal was to achieve what no other American football fan has accomplished: attend one live National Football League (NFL) game, including those in London and Canada, at every NFL stadium during the regular season.

Adam travelled over 65,000 miles to watch 40 American football games in 18 weeks to experience and understand the phenomenal appeal of that classic American pastime, the tailgate party.

He drove from stadium to stadium, tailgate to tailgate, sometimes 800 miles a day, digesting everything that American football could serve up. He met players and extreme fans alike and was party to surreal pregame rituals while absorbing the rich cultural differences of each part of the country.

During his football odyssey, a grueling yet rewarding quest, he compared sports traditions and fandom in the United Kingdom and the United States, and in the process of football self-discovery, he found himself often embraced by NFL fans across the continent, as if he had the key that unlocked the very meaning of life.

“Tailgate to Heaven” is a humorous, moving, and inspiring story about how nothing closes the cultural gap as love of the game and camaraderie.

This book provides an outsider’s take on American football. It delves deep into fandom, tailgating, and the action on the field to show why people love football as much as they do.

It combines the road trip and sports genres into an irreverent and provocative cultural study. It demonstrates how a British fan comes to terms with his very American obsession.

Adam Goldstein is the Alexis de Tocqueville of tailgating: the foreigner who comes to chronicle our curious cultural practices with both a critical eye and the fascination of a school boy. Tailgating is as much a part of the American DNA as fireworks on the 4th of July. We don’t think twice about packing the truck with a grill, food and beer and driving 20, 50 or 200 miles to set up our camp long before the big game. Goldstein brilliantly exposes just how crazy — and cool — our devotion to the party before the game truly is to the outside eye.

[maqroll]

A rollicking good read

[Rodders]

Just finished The Complete Maus the graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, on his father's experience of Auschwitz. It is fantastic, very moving, intensely personal and riven with a remarkable touch of humour at times. Thoroughly recommended

Need something slightly lighter now, so got a flashman novel lined up, and Carl Sagan's First Contact. The latter though reads very much ( so far ) exactly how he narrated his Cosmos show, his voice unavoidably becomes the narrators voice in my mind, which is a little odd.

Also taking my time getting through Kafka's The Trial. It does labour the point a little really, though does capture the atmosphere well.

[Xela]

Just finished Skagboys by Irvine Welsh.

Set a few years before Trainspotting and gives the back story of the main characters. Not a bad read, lacks the fizz of Trainspotting but entertaining anyway.

[AVFC_Hitz]

Deighton's Funeral in Berlin