[GCW]

I've just read The Knife of Never Letting go and its 2 follow ons.  I know it's a teen book, but I really enjoyed it. Great ideas and well written.

[Falling Down]

If you liked 'City of djinns' you'll love 'Age of Kali' and 'white mughals' by the same author.

Both excellent. Ben, if you're looking for any more India/subcontinental books...

Maximum City, by Suketa Mehta, all about the high and low life of India's commercial capital.
A Million Mutinies Now, VS Naipaul. Grumpy English novelist interviews a huge variety of Indians. Everything Naipaul writes is good, mind, and his novel A House for Mr Biswas, tho set in Trinidad, is deeply Indian.
A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry, a novel set in 1970s Bombay. Excellent.
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, by Danial Mueenuddin. Short stories set in Pakistan.
Midnight's Children and Shame by Rushdie. Bursting with life and linguistic fireworks - just like the subcontinent.

Thanks gents 

[Rocksteady]

Re: India books, I've always been informed and entertained equally by George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman' series, a number of which are set in India. In my opinion Fraser has a beautiful style of writing and puts together entertaining stories, cleverly woven into historical fact.

The book I've just finished reading was awe-inspiring: 'Cryptonomicon' by Neal Stephenson. 2 stories intertwining WWII events around code-breaking and the myth of Yamashita's gold, and modern computer data encryption and the building of a data haven in the Far East. Fantastically detailed and wide-ranging, I really enjoyed it. I'd read his 'Baroque Cycle' of historical novels and it is in a similar style but I was able to relate to the history a bit better. Highly recommended.

Can't remember if I mentioned that I read 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson at the beginning of the year. Thought this was outstandingly good, very prophetic. 'The Matrix' owes it a massive debt in style and story. I enjoyed it immensely.

[SA Chris]

I just finished reading the Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. A great story about an eco-terrorist gang  fighting back in the SW USA. A fun read, in a similar vein of humour to Tom Robbins stories.

Has anyone read Desert Solitaire by the same author? Is it as good?

[Duma]

Yes. And no.
Still enjoyed it though.

[Durbs]

2 other amazing India booksl Shantaram & A Suitable Boy.
Very different - Shantaram fairly dark about the semi-underworld of Mumbair, ASB more a very interesting story of love and marriage.

Completely different vein - Gone Girl - interesting read, quite a good thinker.

[andy popp]

Heartily second the recommendation of Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance,' as well as his 'Family Matters,' which is nearly as good.

Last night I finished Nevil Shute's 'On the Beach.' I couldn't say what my idea of him was but I think I've always had the wrong idea about Shute. I thought 'On the Beach' a very good book. Heartbreaking. Has anyone read any of Shute's other books?

I've immediately embarked on Robert Musil's 1200 page modernist masterpiece (apparently) 'The Man Without Qualities.' Will report.

I've already spent at least £300 on books this year. I think I might have a problem.

[SA Chris]

We did A Town Like Alice in English Lit at school, and remember being moved by it enjoying it a lot. I think we read the abridged version, I've always meant to get hold of a copy of the full version and reading it again, so thanks for the reminder.

[DaveC]

Last night I finished Nevil Shute's 'On the Beach.' I couldn't say what my idea of him was but I think I've always had the wrong idea about Shute. I thought 'On the Beach' a very good book. Heartbreaking.

I've already spent at least £300 on books this year. I think I might have a problem.

Agree with you about On the Beach. Growing up in Victoria it was on the school curriculum not surprisingly and I still have my original copy around somewhere. Living just down the road yfrom Melbourne again now and you've got me thinking it's time to read it again soon...if I can ever get through the backlog waiting to be read (well into three figures... .)
Reckon I can probably beat your 300 quid this year as well....but I actually am something of a collector.
While I'm at it, a couple of interesting tomes I've finished recently - both good but definitely not light reading:
Demanding the Impossible, A History of Anarchism by Peter Marshall & The Balkans, A History, 1804-1999 by Misha Glenny.

[SA Chris]

2 other amazing India booksl Shantaram & A Suitable Boy.
Very different - Shantaram fairly dark about the semi-underworld of Mumbair, ASB more a very interesting story of love and marriage.

I really enjoyed Shantaram for the first 3/4 but thought it deteriorated when it strayed away from Mumbai at the end. Also ther's apparently a lot less autobiographical content and a lot more fiction than he has made out.

[Muenchener]

I just finished reading the Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. A great story about an eco-terrorist gang  fighting back in the SW USA. A fun read, in a similar vein of humour to Tom Robbins stories.

Has anyone read Desert Solitaire by the same author? Is it as good?

Haven't read MWG so can't compare, but Desert Solitaire is one of the most wonderful books I've ever read.

It probably helped that I read it in the evenings in my tent whilst backpacking in the Utah/Arizona desert.

[chillax]

Looks like Iain (M) Banks has been given months to live.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22021298

An amazing mind.

Bugger.

[JackAus]

Anyone read Arnie's autobiography Total Recall?
Halfway through it and quite liking it.

[SA Chris]

Can't remember.

[tomtom]

I got as far as the bits up to August 29, 1997, then a sturdy looking robot with red eyes came into my room and took the book..

[Falling Down]

I've already spent at least £300 on books this year. I think I might have a problem.

I'm just as guilty.  Money well spent though I reckon.  I had a friend though tell me about his mate who had a complete mental and financial breakdown as a result of his book addiction.  In therapy now with a house full of unread books.  I can see how it might happen.... 

[tomtom]

A houseful of unread self help books?

(Sorry couldn't resist)

[jmews]

About a fifth of the way through a fantastic (so far) history of native America called "the earth shall weep" by James Wilson. As you'd expect of this subject matter it's not an easy read, but his structuring is fantastic, and he manages to retain a real sensitivity to regional variation while covering huge swathes of time and space.

[andy popp]

Just started reading My Struggle. No, not that one, but Vol 1, A Death in the Family, of Karl Ove Knausgaard's Min Kamp. Another multi-volume autobiography disguised as novel. Massively compelling already (in a nothing happens sort of way).

[Fultonius]

While eating my first "proper" bacon sandwich in 5 months when I arrived in Newcastle off the ferry from Ijmuiden, I was reading the local rag and it mentioned that a local student, Tom Ward, had written an award winning post apocalyptic tale set in the North East. Since it was only £1.99 on kindle I couldn't resist. I'm around 1/3rd of the way through and it's great stuff so far. Very flowing, impressive stuff for a first novel.

[psychomansam]

I've already spent at least £300 on books this year. I think I might have a problem.

I'm just as guilty.  Money well spent though I reckon.  I had a friend though tell me about his mate who had a complete mental and financial breakdown as a result of his book addiction.  In therapy now with a house full of unread books.  I can see how it might happen.... 

I probably have thousands of books on my laptop, most of which I'll never read. I use a screen dimmer to read on here (my laptop), but I do also read on 'my' iPad (it's officially my employers).
One torrented folder 'sci-fi epub' gives files listed a-z, each of which opens to authors surnames beginning with that letter, each of which opens to a selection of their works. Nuff said.

If you want to avoid all that hassle, there's always bookos.org. It's fecking ridiculous, it really is.

And no nervous breakdown!

[Falling Down]

 

Just started reading My Struggle. No, not that one, but Vol 1, A Death in the Family, of Karl Ove Knausgaard's Min Kamp. Another multi-volume autobiography disguised as novel. Massively compelling already (in a nothing happens sort of way).

I've read about those for some time.  Hope it's good.

[andy popp]

Just started reading My Struggle. No, not that one, but Vol 1, A Death in the Family, of Karl Ove Knausgaard's Min Kamp. Another multi-volume autobiography disguised as novel. Massively compelling already (in a nothing happens sort of way).

I've read about those for some time.  Hope it's good.

It was superb. Much of it reads like a (deliberately) ultra-flat, naturalistic description of some very ordinary Norwegian lives but the overall effect is compelling and beautiful. Only the first two of six volumes have been translated so far and Vol.2 is only in hardback at the moment. To buy or not to buy  ?

[Rocksteady]

Books what I has read recently:

The Forge of Darkness - Steven Erikson. An opener to a new series of fantasy epics from Erikson. Similar in theme and style to his Malazan books, an intriguing subject matter, vividly visual descriptions, but patchy characterisation - a lot of characters think the same way. A bit trudging at times but hard to put down.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee. Can't believe I hadn't read this one before. A beautifully written book, with a wonderful narrative voice. For what it is - a description of a time and a place and a state of mind and an implicit critique of societal mores - it's perfect.

The Black Count - Tom Reiss. A biography of Alexandre Dumas (pere)'s father, also called Alex Dumas. Who was black. And a massively successful general and prominent society figure in the French Revolution. A really interesting book exploring how the French Revolution was a flowering of black emancipation, which was then quashed by Napoleon. I liked it.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card. This was a neat sci fi story that I read rapidly but then felt a bit disappointed with. A good idea and some awesome descriptions of battle in a weightless environment. The crux of the story seemed rushed. The ending was trite. In view of the ending I felt that the whole book was a metaphor and apology for an absentee God. I didn't like it.

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote. Harrowing true crime classic with beautifully clear, crisp prose. An examination of a crime from all the angles. Very interesting, very sad.
   

[SA Chris]

I was underwhelmed by it. I've loved just about everything he's done before, but found it lacking.