Looks like Rees-Moggs wanking material.
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It probably is, a grim description of Salford in 1930
Found in my local library:
Not found in my local library:
Almost anything at all worth reading. Zip. Nada. Couldn’t even find any Andy McNabb
Just seen Toddy’s new book of poetry reviewed in the Grauniad weekend magazine. Would like to check this out.
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I’m really enjoying two female crime writers: Tana French with her Dublin Murder Squad series, and Gillian Flynn, with Gone Girl, Sharp Objects and Dark Places. They both write beautifully and the stories are dark and gripping.
I’ve totally lost the reading vibe. Can’t concentrate. it’s pretty crap… I’ve got John Cooper Clarke’s autobiography which should be interesting and really easy (like all biogs) but can’t get into it.
Still got 2/3 of Jerusalem by Alan Moore to get through as well
I struggle with it quite often. I’ll be reading and a whole page goes by before I realise that while some bit of my brain has been reading the words I’ve been thinking about something else completely and have no idea what I just read.
I get times when it’s slow. A lot of it comes down to whether I get hooked by a book. As I say, Gillian Flynn is my current reading and I can’t get enough. I’m a big fan of well written page-turners - Stephen King, Lee Child and so on. People look down on thriller writers as being somehow less skilful or lower quality than literary writers, but I don’t see it that way. I think there’s an enormous amount of skill in writing stories that millions want to read, and not many writers have it. I only wish I had that skill.
I’m currently a big fan of reading for about 5-10 minutes in bed before getting woken up by a kindle falling on my head.
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I quite like a page turning easy thriller too. Gone Girl was great.
Once picked an erotic thriller up at the airport by mistake, was in with the regular thrillers. I remember lying on a beach in Israel thinking this sex club bits been going on for about 20 pages now, was definitely seduced by it and feeling randy, Hahahaha, googled it and saw It was erotic literature. Still finished it. 10/10
If you liked Gone Girl you’ll enjoy Sharp Objects. I’ve just started Dark Places. A woman whose life went to pieces after she survived a family massacre as a child is desperate for money and takes up the offer of $700 to speak at a conference for murder geeks and roleplayers….
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If we’re talking slightly pulpy stuff The Long Firm by Jake Arnott is one of my all time faves
If you’re looking for an easy, fun and fast to get through crime/mystery type of deal, I can’t recommend the Fletch novels by Gregory McDonald highly enough. I recently dug out my complete set, (including the Flynn spin-offs) and zipped through them in no time. It was a welcome respite from some of the Japanese novels and non fiction I’ve been deep in to for the past couple of months. They’re so well written and addictive that I had to limit myself to a certain number of chapters per sitting to stop myself from rinsing them too quickly.
Just finished Count of Monte Cristo, promised myself no massive books a while back but this was bigged up on here by jamjar and I’ve seen other booksters saying it’s def worth reading so I gave it a shot.
WOAH, what a ride. So fucking amazing. Yeah you get a bit confused by all the french names and who is who but in a way that adds to the ride, you’re as clueless as everyone else. Loved it.
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So glad you liked it!
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I had a quick peek in this thread last night and it’s popped up (as a new one?) on Twitter this morning…
Just finished reading Animal Farm and thought I’d see if anything mentioned in here caught my attention for my next one. My O/H has suggested I try Lord Of The Flies but I might want something lighter for now.
Last few read:
Humans by Matt Haig - thought this was really good.
Ready Player Two - OK, but there is a Prince themed bit that got a bit much for me.
Under The Dome by Mr King - second time, good but really long!
Bob Mortimore’s one - pleasant enough bedtime read.
Dave Grohl’s one - same.
I have binges on writers. I had a big phase of reading Stephen King, then Bernard Cornwell, then Lee Child. It’s crime writers now. I loved Tana French’s Dublin Crime Squad series. When I came to the end of those I started on Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects). Just finished her book Dark Places, which was great (survivor of a family massacre in her childhood runs out of money and takes up the offer of payment from a group of crime geeks to go and speak to the people involved to overturn a conviction). I’m just starting on her book The Grown Ups.
Written by a mate of a mate, just ordered it, looks interesting
"Car parks: commonplace urban landscapes, little-explored and rarely featured in art and music, yet they shape the aesthetics of our towns and cities. Hotspots for crime, rage and sexual deviancy; a blind spot in which activities go unnoticed. Skateboarding, car stunts, drug dealing, dogging, murder.
Gareth E. Rees believes that the retail car park has as much mystery, magic and terror as any mountain, meadow or wood. He’s out to prove it by walking the car parks of Britain, journeying across the country from Plymouth to Edinburgh, much to the horror of his family, friends – and, most of all – himself. He finds Sir Francis Drake outside B&Q, standing stones in a retail park, and a dead body beside Sainsbury’s.
In this darkly satirical work of non-fiction, Gareth E. Rees presents a troubling vision of Brexit Britain through a common space we know far less about than we think."
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