The last novel you read

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Dan Brown, The Davinci Code.
not finished it yet, but great!

quote:

Originally posted by nor:
Dan Brown, The Davinci Code.
not finished it yet, but great!

yes it was.

Just finishing "On" by Adam Roberts, before that "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan.

I feel that the current fiction phase is coming to an end and I'll probably start back on a non-fiction jag for a while. The phases tend to last a year or so - nothing but non-fiction for a year which peters out then back to fiction for a year. Been like that for the last 15 years. Sound familiar anybody?

Deane

Deane

I've almost always read fiction. However, I asked for and received Enigma: The Battle for the Code - a non-fiction account of the Allies (notably the British) effort to crack the Nazi's famed communications - for Christmas. I look forward to reading it.

But there's something about being swept away in the imagination of a good, fictitious book.

Since I have been out of College I've noticed more of a desire to read non-fiction works. I believe textbooks were all I wanted of the "real" world while in school.

Now things are changing.

Aric

Packed along on oldie on my recent trip to Costa Rica. James Blish Cities in Flight.

Regards,

Michael

Iain M Banks 'The Algebraist'. All over the place, enjoyed it.

I've just finished Iain Bank's Dead Air, and also Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. I'm now nearing the end of The Last Juror by John Grisham, which is the first time I've read anything by him. Not great literature, but great entertainment. I will read some more of his, although I imagine they are probably all the same. My wife looks for books by Lee Child for me in charity shops and has just bought me a new one that I haven't read yet. I love 'em. Pure pulp. To be read beneath a newspaper so no-one sees.

Just started 'Kafka on the shore' by Haruki Murakami. Not heard/read any opinions, but I'll be happy if its as good as his previous works.
Last finished work was 'The Woodlanders' by Hardy.

Just started "A curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon

quote:

Originally posted by Aric:
Just started "A curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon

I'm reading that one now too. Wonder if Lord Parry has anything to say about them referring to Swindon as the arsehole of the world?

Ha!

I know Swindon very well. My best mate lives there and it is like my second home. I have been to most notable places in this country, and IMO, it truly is the arsehole of the UK. Not sure about "the world" though.
If you look at a map of the UK and imagine the island to be a creature, Swindon is indeed at the arsehole.

"Dark Matter" by Greg Iles, an American thriller writer who turns out consisitently good work.

Hey jayd, great minds think alike.

I also just finished Oryx and Crake. A highly recommended novel if not a little dark.

nor, the Da Vinci code is OK but gets less interesting as you go through it and the ending is positively weak. Unfortunately I've read other Dan Brown novels and they're all the same really and his writing style really is quite poor and his research dubious to say the least.

Joseph O'Connor -- "The Star of the Sea"
J.M. Coetzee -- "Waiting for the Barbarians"

Coincidentally, for a mainly British forum, these are both, more or less, meditations on Empire. But their lessons may be more resonant to an American readership of today. The first is absolutely birlliant and should be read by anyone who worries over things like the death of the novel. It might raise a few devout-er British hackles though. The second is also brilliant, and rightly famous, so probably well covered here.

Any Patrick O'Brien fans here?

daniel

Chaps

I am currently midway through the Da Vinci code which frankly is rather old hat. The line of his book is centuries old.

I have to admit that Swindon is not a beautul town.

Regards

Mick

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf. Anyone else enjoy reading this author ?

Has anyone read The Life of Pi?

It's a really great read - and very uplifting in a strange kind of way (I thought it was a bit like The Alchemist)

'A Year in the Merde' by Stephen Clarke. Hilarious account of an Ad agency man on contract for a year.

Steve

In france?

Oui! Paris to be exact

Last two books--The Kite Runner and The Name Of The Rose. Enjoyed both.

Best,

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Lawson:
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf. Anyone else enjoy reading this author ?

Yes Jim, I've read Johnno {about growing up in Brisbane in the 40s and 50s] and Fly Away Peter, a novel about a youth adopted by Aborigines.
I enjoyed his style and will read more of his books. I have just finished a novel by Jose Saramago called Blindness. A gripping and unrelenting tale of the entire population of a country turning blind, one after the other.
The government tries to control the situation by locking up the early victims in a mental asylum,until the guards in turn go blind.
After something that I like to read something lighter so am into an Inspector Banks novel. A poor man's Rebus.

quote:

Originally posted by dsteady:
Any Patrick O'Brien fans here?

I've just finished the 9th Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novel 'Treason's Harbour' and looking forward to the next one (only 11 to go). I love this series, but am none the wiser about what "splice the mainbrace" means.

Peter