Do you read?

[The_Rev]

@mjmooney absolutely.  I'm still of the opinion that genres only exist so you know which shelves to look at in the shop.   

 

@Big Salad I'm torn between the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.   Hitch Hikers is a much easier recommendation, Douglas Adams is just a master of the English language and the books are hilarious.  I'd go as far as to day it's the best five book trilogy ever written.   Aubrey-Maturin is a bit more niche, it's a "historically accurate" tale of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.  The plot is mostly the same in every book, Aubrey falls into a bucket of shit and emerges smelling of roses but O'Brian is another author whose prose are utterly delightful. The gentle humour, the ensemble cast of well rounded characters, even the HMS Surprise becomes a character on some level. 20 books which were written over 35 years and the rarest of rare things, a movie adaptation which was actually good. 

 

 

As for me?  I'd been on a long kick of reading about WW2 and The Cold War and it's bought me back to John Le Carre.  I'd read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy who came in from the Cold years ago and I read his final book Agent Running in the Field pretty much on release just to see Le Carre's take on post Brexit Britain (he wasn't a fan) and now I'm about half way through A Perfect Spy which a lot of people consider to be his best work.   I'm still at the point where the strands haven't been pulled together but clearly it's the work of a masterful author at the top of his game.  If you love 80's Cold War stuff then I can highly recommend it even at this point.   

[Big Salad]

2 minutes ago, The_Rev said:

@mjmooney absolutely.  I'm still of the opinion that genres only exist so you know which shelves to look at in the shop.   

 

@Big Salad I'm torn between the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.   Hitch Hikers is a much easier recommendation, Douglas Adams is just a master of the English language and the books are hilarious.  I'd go as far as to day it's the best five book trilogy ever written.   Aubrey-Maturin is a bit more niche, it's a "historically accurate" tale of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.  The plot is mostly the same in every book, Aubrey falls into a bucket of shit and emerges smelling of roses but O'Brian is another author whose prose are utterly delightful. The gentle humour, the ensemble cast of well rounded characters, even the HMS Surprise becomes a character on some level. 20 books which were written over 35 years and the rarest of rare things, a movie adaptation which was actually good. 

 

 

As for me?  I'd been on a long kick of reading about WW2 and The Cold War and it's bought me back to John Le Carre.  I'd read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy who came in from the Cold years ago and I read his final book Agent Running in the Field pretty much on release just to see Le Carre's take on post Brexit Britain (he wasn't a fan) and now I'm about half way through A Perfect Spy which a lot of people consider to be his best work.   I'm still at the point where the strands haven't been pulled together but clearly it's the work of a masterful author at the top of his game.  If you love 80's Cold War stuff then I can highly recommend it even at this point.   

Have never read anything by O'Brian but of course have heard of him. However, I have read every book in the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin if you're looking for something in a similar vein.  As far as Le Carre he is quite hard to beat when it comes to the spy genre if you will, but I would also recommend Bernard Samson series by Len Deighton if you have never read them, all are great

[mjmooney]

9 minutes ago, The_Rev said:

@mjmooney absolutely.  I'm still of the opinion that genres only exist so you know which shelves to look at in the shop.   

 

@Big Salad I'm torn between the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.   Hitch Hikers is a much easier recommendation, Douglas Adams is just a master of the English language and the books are hilarious.  I'd go as far as to day it's the best five book trilogy ever written.   Aubrey-Maturin is a bit more niche, it's a "historically accurate" tale of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.  The plot is mostly the same in every book, Aubrey falls into a bucket of shit and emerges smelling of roses but O'Brian is another author whose prose are utterly delightful. The gentle humour, the ensemble cast of well rounded characters, even the HMS Surprise becomes a character on some level. 20 books which were written over 35 years and the rarest of rare things, a movie adaptation which was actually good. 

 

 

As for me?  I'd been on a long kick of reading about WW2 and The Cold War and it's bought me back to John Le Carre.  I'd read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy who came in from the Cold years ago and I read his final book Agent Running in the Field pretty much on release just to see Le Carre's take on post Brexit Britain (he wasn't a fan) and now I'm about half way through A Perfect Spy which a lot of people consider to be his best work.   I'm still at the point where the strands haven't been pulled together but clearly it's the work of a masterful author at the top of his game.  If you love 80's Cold War stuff then I can highly recommend it even at this point.   

I could have written that word for word. Agreed on all points. 

[StewieGriffin]

Currently reading The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski - on the final book...

In the last 6 months I've read LOTR trilogy, The Wind in The Willows (purely for the nostalgia as I loved it as a kid), and 6 Witcher books

Edited September 24, 2021 by StewieGriffin

[Seat68]

1 hour ago, Big Salad said:

What's is yall's favorite series of any genre? 

Mine are the Rebus series by Ian Rankin and the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly, both brilliant.

Will throw in the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box as well

I like the Alex Cross series from James Patterson. That said the latest remains unread, I will come round to it though. 

[Big Salad]

16 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I like the Alex Cross series from James Patterson. That said the latest remains unread, I will come round to it though. 

Those are good and I think the only series he now writes where he is the only author. I think almost all of his other series he has a co-author. I swear they have to do most of the writing because I see no way he can release as many book a year as he does if they don't.

[Seat68]

Just now, Big Salad said:

Those are good and I think the only series he now writes where he is the only author. I think almost all of his other series he has a co-author. I swear they have to do most of the writing because I see no way he can release as many book a year as he does if they don't.

I think I read for a number of his books he provides the story and others write it. May be incorrect, but that's what I read 

[Rodders]

57 minutes ago, The_Rev said:

@mjmooney absolutely.  I'm still of the opinion that genres only exist so you know which shelves to look at in the shop.   

 

@Big Salad I'm torn between the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.   Hitch Hikers is a much easier recommendation, Douglas Adams is just a master of the English language and the books are hilarious.  I'd go as far as to day it's the best five book trilogy ever written.   Aubrey-Maturin is a bit more niche, it's a "historically accurate" tale of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.  The plot is mostly the same in every book, Aubrey falls into a bucket of shit and emerges smelling of roses but O'Brian is another author whose prose are utterly delightful. The gentle humour, the ensemble cast of well rounded characters, even the HMS Surprise becomes a character on some level. 20 books which were written over 35 years and the rarest of rare things, a movie adaptation which was actually good. 

 

 

As for me?  I'd been on a long kick of reading about WW2 and The Cold War and it's bought me back to John Le Carre.  I'd read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy who came in from the Cold years ago and I read his final book Agent Running in the Field pretty much on release just to see Le Carre's take on post Brexit Britain (he wasn't a fan) and now I'm about half way through A Perfect Spy which a lot of people consider to be his best work.   I'm still at the point where the strands haven't been pulled together but clearly it's the work of a masterful author at the top of his game.  If you love 80's Cold War stuff then I can highly recommend it even at this point.   

I love A Perfect Spy. For me it is my favourite of his that I've read. ( only 5 or 6 so far, ( inc the Smiley trilogy )

Definitely going to check out the O'Brian books though. They sound good. I know Mike has mentioned them.before and give your other books mentioned I reckon I'll enjoy them.

Though In will say the 3rd hitch hikers book is a big drop on the first too for me. 

@Big Salad agree onnRankin, I love the Rebus series. 

For a sardonic, black.comedy take on espionage I heartily recommend the Mick Herron Slow Horses books. Very entertaining.

 

Edit: on the cold war theme,  there are some terrific non fiction books, Ben McIntyre writes so well on that era if you want stories of real life spies. He has one on Kim Phillby, another on Oleg Gordietsky. He's also covered spy stories in WW2 which are just as compelling. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Rodders

[Follyfoot]

2 hours ago, Big Salad said:

What's is yall's favorite series of any genre? 

Mine are the Rebus series by Ian Rankin and the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly, both brilliant.

Will throw in the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box as well

Orphan X closely followed by Mitch Rapp

[Xela]

On 24/09/2021 at 19:33, Big Salad said:

What's is yall's favorite series of any genre? 

Mine are the Rebus series by Ian Rankin and the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly, both brilliant.

Will throw in the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box as well

Been 10 years or so since I used to read crime fiction - used to do 30 or 40 books a year. Struggle with concentration now since I moved into a high pressure role at work. 

But from memory

James Patterson - Alex Cross series

Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch series

Mark Billingham - Tom Thorne series

Val McDermid - Dr Tony Hill series

Also, I did read a few of the John Connolly books - are they the ones with a slight supernatural edge? I did enjoy those. 

 

Really wish I could get back into them! 

[tonyh29]

19 minutes ago, Xela said:

Really wish I could get back into them! 

I must have about 40 books to read , I still keep buying them when I find one that takes my interest  , but just never seem to have the time to read them … poxy internet and reading every news story on it means I just don’t get the time for books .

 

 Alex Berenson’s “the faithful spy “was one of the best debut books I read , 12 books in and the John Wells series is still keeping me interested , more centric on the “War on terror” than Cold War but  written as though the author had some decent research and sources 

[Only2McInallys]

On 24/09/2021 at 20:26, The_Rev said:

@mjmooney absolutely.  I'm still of the opinion that genres only exist so you know which shelves to look at in the shop.   

 

@Big Salad I'm torn between the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.   Hitch Hikers is a much easier recommendation, Douglas Adams is just a master of the English language and the books are hilarious.  I'd go as far as to day it's the best five book trilogy ever written.   Aubrey-Maturin is a bit more niche, it's a "historically accurate" tale of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.  The plot is mostly the same in every book, Aubrey falls into a bucket of shit and emerges smelling of roses but O'Brian is another author whose prose are utterly delightful. The gentle humour, the ensemble cast of well rounded characters, even the HMS Surprise becomes a character on some level. 20 books which were written over 35 years and the rarest of rare things, a movie adaptation which was actually good. 

 

 

As for me?  I'd been on a long kick of reading about WW2 and The Cold War and it's bought me back to John Le Carre.  I'd read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy who came in from the Cold years ago and I read his final book Agent Running in the Field pretty much on release just to see Le Carre's take on post Brexit Britain (he wasn't a fan) and now I'm about half way through A Perfect Spy which a lot of people consider to be his best work.   I'm still at the point where the strands haven't been pulled together but clearly it's the work of a masterful author at the top of his game.  If you love 80's Cold War stuff then I can highly recommend it even at this point.   
 

Tinker  Tailor is such a brilliant book.I think I must have read it 3 or 4 times.He is such a beautiful writer and Smiley is a very enigmatic character.

I enjoyed Smileys people but I didn’t really connect with A perfect spy.

I have really enjoyed Ben Macintyre’s factual books about the Cold War especially The Spy and The Traitor where he describes how we smuggled a top Russian KGB defector out of Moscow in 1990s

 

 

 

[Big Salad]

2 hours ago, Xela said:

Been 10 years or so since I used to read crime fiction - used to do 30 or 40 books a year. Struggle with concentration now since I moved into a high pressure role at work. 

But from memory

James Patterson - Alex Cross series

Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch series

Mark Billingham - Tom Thorne series

Val McDermid - Dr Tony Hill series

Also, I did read a few of the John Connolly books - are they the ones with a slight supernatural edge? I did enjoy those. 

 

Really wish I could get back into them! 

Another Thorne fan! Awesome. He is one of my favorite authors and besides the Thorne series, his standalones are good also. If you have never seen it David Morrissey plays Thorne on the tv series they did based on the books which I thought was nicely done.

And yeah the Connolly have that supernatural tilt to them; all fantastic, his prose is some of the best I have ever read would deffo recommend getting back into them. The 19th in the series comes out next month.

[Rugeley Villa]

I bought two last night . Couple of Dennis Wheatley novels. Easy reading really. I’m trying to get back into it, as it really helps mentally and spiritually. Time is an issue with me but I can make time I think .  I’ve still got some books that were bought for me that I haven’t e en started. One of them is IT by Stephen King. I’m just not sure it would interest me much and it’s pretty lengthy, but I should give it a go as I’ve heard it’s a good book. 

[PussEKatt]

As I said before my favourites are Stephen Leather and Anthony Beevor but here are some others that IMHO are very good reading.

Martina Cole > Her books go from when the criminal is growing up to when he dies or gets put away.

John Grisham > He writes about lawyers and legal stuff but the way he writes the story is really interesting.

David Baldacci > Like James Patterson but different.

Lynda La Plante > What can I say,she is a world class auther.

[useless]

I read a sci-fi novella, The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, an interesting story, a fugitive escapes to a deserted island, to his surprise he finds that there are other people on the island but it turns out things aren't as they seem when he realises that they can't see him and then other strange things happen. The ideas seem fairly ahead of their time for a book released in 1940, I read it after reading Jacques Rivette cite it as an inspiration for Celine and Julie Go Boating, it also get mention with Last Year at Marienbad, and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

[mjmooney]

23 minutes ago, useless said:

The ideas seem fairly ahead of their time for a book released in 1940, I read it after reading Jacques Rivette cite it as an inspiration for Celine and Julie Go Boating, it also get mention with Last Year at Marienbad, and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Interesting. Three of my favourite films. 

[useless]

I'm not sure that liking those films would be a guarantee of liking The Invention of Morel, but you can defintiely see the influence. I think it's quite a famous story in Latin America, it's been praised by some of the famous authors from there like Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and others, Borges wrote the foreward.

[PussEKatt]

On 25/09/2021 at 03:58, Seat68 said:

I like the Alex Cross series from James Patterson. That said the latest remains unread, I will come round to it though. 

I have read one James Patterson NYPD Red book and I enjoyed the style of writing,will be looking out for the other 4/5 in the series.ATM I am reading 1st Case also by James Patterson and am enjoying that as well.Its about an FBI agent on her very first job,she has never seen a dead body before,etc etc etc.

The Womens murder club series is excellent.I have read about 5/6 of them. 

[Rodders]

Very much enjoying Catch 22  at the moment, but in successive pages I have seen the phrase "clearing in the woods" written out and it is quite disconcerting