A Good Read.

[Patrick]

The extracts are good anyway....

Animal passions: David Sedaris's modern fables

The award-winning writer David Sedaris has given Aesop's Fables a modern twist in his latest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. Here, we publish two exclusive extracts featuring Rabbit, a psychopathic security guard, and a judgmental hairdresser

[Patrick]

I've just had my nose stuck in the above for the past couple of days. Umputdownable if you like drawn out protracted romances! No. It's not all about that - it also delivers some very good lessons on the subject of Faith - and whether it's really worth it. It's also a book that tells you you can hang on to hope because what you hope may well still happen however long it takes.

‘Three mighty obstacles threaten the burgeoning love of childhood sweethearts Timothy Pickering and Naomi Walls. They are Steven Venables, a dead curlew and God.’

1978: Two lovers perch precariously on the cusp of adulthood. Timothy’s life ambition is to take on his father’s taxidermy business; while Naomi dreams of a career on stage.

Across the decades their lives continue to interweave, and occasionally cross – bound by the pull of intoxicating first love. But will their destinies ultimately unite them?

Nobbs moves his exceptional comic talent to a new-found depth. Memorable and moving, a tale of love won and love lost. You will never look at the art of taxidermy in the same way again.

Unputdownable and a good uplifting read. The characters stay with you afterwards.

[Patrick]

.....and whilst we're at it - A "Big Up" to Kathy Clugston's book....

Rather than explaining our origins, A Brief History of Tim addresses our history and culture at the level we most deeply desire - the trivial. By simply removing one letter, the world is tweaked with immensely enjoyable results: for those who think contemporary art is a load of rubbish, there's the Tat Modern. Find out about the Ancient Geeks, nerdy types who spent far too much time doing maths. A Brief History of Tim is laugh-out-loud funny and will have you looking at the world through fresh eyes.

Excellent stocking filler.

[Deleted]

cheers Patrick, they both look good..i shull check them out. im a big fan of Tom McLaughlin's illustrations and he done the pics in the brief history of tim book, so im looking forward to that.

[everso]

Ah, you really can't beat Gone With The Wind.

[Patrick]

Oct 22, 2010 17:18:47 GMT everso said:

Ah, you really can't beat Gone With The Wind.

Depends what you've been eating I suppose!

[Weyland]

I've just finished Iain M. Banks's latest, Surface Detail. His last few have been turgid, but with this one he's back in the form of Consider Phlebas and Look to Windward. Excellent. The best ships and/or AIs in SF history, and the plot is brilliant. Needs reading again in a year or two.

Summary: I liked it.

Next book: Singularity Sky by Charles Stross, and then Larssen's The Girl Who Played with Fire.

[everso]

I'm reading "Complicit" by Nicci French. I've been going through his/her* books like a dose of salts. The books are 'whodunits' that really gallop along. I shall be sorry when I've read them all.

*Apparently Nicci French is really a husband and wife team.

[Deleted]

im going through a biography kinda phase at the mo, the last 2 i read were 'my shite l;ife so far' by frankie boyle and 'booky wook 2' by russell brand. Boyles book was hilarious, Brands was not as good as his first book, but still qwuite entertaining.

[trubble]

Weyland, would you do me a great favour and tell me when you are about to start The Girl Who Played with Fire and then nag me daily or weekly to catch up with you. I seem to have forgotten how to read books recently. The Girl Who Played with Fire has been sitting in my book pile for a couple of months. My book pile is beginning to rival The National Library.

[trubble]

Nov 8, 2010 12:59:51 GMT @costal said:

im going through a biography kinda phase at the mo, the last 2 i read were 'my shite l;ife so far' by frankie boyle and 'booky wook 2' by russell brand. Boyles book was hilarious, Brands was not as good as his first book, but still qwuite entertaining.

I've been reading autobiography titles recently. I mean reading the titles, not reading the books.

Boyle's one is the best I've seen so far.

Carol Vordeman's is ''It All Counts'' which I suppose deserves a mention.

I refuse to read anything titled ''My Story'' - I would never read the words of someone with that little imagination. I read Katherine Hepburn's autobiography and that was called ''Me'' which you could argue is even less imaginative than ''My Story'' but it was a present so I had to.

Katherine Hepburn gives a great tip for when you're staying over at someone's house and you don't want to wake them in the night when you are walking around - to the loo, say; or to their kitchen to hunt for a midnight snack. Instead of tiptoeing stealthily and inevitably treading on the creaky floorboard, the trick is, she says, to leap unabashed from one piece of furniture to the next and be terribly quick about it. Less noise and less disturbance. I don't remember anything else about her book.

[Deleted]

Nov 8, 2010 13:24:06 GMT trubble said:

Nov 8, 2010 12:59:51 GMT @costal said:

im going through a biography kinda phase at the mo, the last 2 i read were 'my shite l;ife so far' by frankie boyle and 'booky wook 2' by russell brand. Boyles book was hilarious, Brands was not as good as his first book, but still qwuite entertaining.

I've been reading autobiography titles recently. I mean reading the titles, not reading the books.

Boyle's one is the best I've seen so far.

Carol Vordeman's is ''It All Counts'' which I suppose deserves a mention.

I refuse to read anything titled ''My Story'' - I would never read the words of someone with that little imagination. I read Katherine Hepburn's autobiography and that was called ''Me'' which you could argue is even less imaginative than ''My Story'' but it was a present so I had to.

Katherine Hepburn gives a great tip for when you're staying over at someone's house and you don't want to wake them in the night when you are walking around - to the loo, say; or to their kitchen to hunt for a midnight snack. Instead of tiptoeing stealthily and inevitably treading on the creaky floorboard, the trick is, she says, to leap unabashed from one piece of furniture to the next and be terribly quick about it. Less noise and less disturbance. I don't remember anything else about her book.

tiptoeing is what creates floorboard creak, one should always walk flat-footed, like a policeman, even weight distribution- no creaks. i promise it works. althou i like the idea of leaping stealthily all over the furniture like a ninja in need of a wee.

next book for me to read is stewart lees 'how i escaped my certain fate- the life and deaths of a stand up comedian'

[Weyland]

Nov 8, 2010 13:16:53 GMT trubble said:

Weyland, would you do me a great favour and tell me when you are about to start The Girl Who Played with Fire and then nag me daily or weekly to catch up with you. I seem to have forgotten how to read books recently. The Girl Who Played with Fire has been sitting in my book pile for a couple of months. My book pile is beginning to rival The National Library.

Certainly, Trubs. It would be my pleasure. We could introduce Synchronised Reading to the London Olympics. I know what you're thinking, but worry not . . . me granddad was Irish, so I can read for Ireland! You design the uniforms and report back.

Just one thing -- you HAVE read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, right?

[Deleted]

I qwuite rather fancy getting that keith richards autobiography 'Life' i think its called. i dunno where that sits on Trubbles scale of biography/autobiography titles. being unkeen on 'my life' i reckon 'life' might be even less inspired, titularly, its even lazier, if anythink. However, the book itself is meant to be a jolly good wheeze.

[Deleted]

if you say the word 'life' too many times, so that its actual meaning becomes smashed, and you are just noticing the actual sounds of the word what you are saying, it begins to me, to summon up images of lice, and flies. and green leafs. maybe some aphids, whatever they are. and a spindly thing with wings, sitting on a leaf.

[Weyland]

Nov 8, 2010 13:16:53 GMT trubble said:

Weyland, would you do me a great favour and tell me when you are about to start The Girl Who Played with Fire

Just started Fire yesterday, Trubs. Looks good.

Have you finished Tattoo yet? On the other hand, have you started Tattoo yet?

If it helps, I'll (probably) be moving on to Hornet's Nest next week.

[trubble]

Thursday, I said.

[trubble]

Nov 9, 2010 14:42:11 GMT @costal said:

I qwuite rather fancy getting that keith richards autobiography 'Life' i think its called. i dunno where that sits on Trubbles scale of biography/autobiography titles. being unkeen on 'my life' i reckon 'life' might be even less inspired, titularly, its even lazier, if anythink. However, the book itself is meant to be a jolly good wheeze.

It's a rubbish title. It sounds like a David Attenborough documentary on BBC2. Either that or it should be the autobiography of Peter Sutcliffe.

[Weyland]

Anyone here got or has used an Amazon Kindle electronic book-reader?

I've just read the description on Amazon AND some independent reviews, and it sounds great. Has built-in WiFi and (on posh model) FREE 3G downloading capability. Lots of cheap book downloads on Amazon, plus a helluva lot of free downloads. Seems to be better than the competition, and is cheaper. Even has sound and a USB interface, and can read PDF files.

So what's the catch?

Time to start saving, or -- better -- persuade my family to club together and buy me one for Xmas.

Never thought I'd want such a thing until I read about it.

[everso]

But how do you turn down the page corners? ;D No, no, don't worry, I'm only joking and I never do that!

I'm crossing my fingers for an iPhone for Christmas.