What's the last three books you have read and what rating do you give them?
I am also curious - what format did you read them in? Ebook or Paperback? I long made the transition to a trusty ereaer, mine being the Kobo touch - would be lost without it.
Here's my last three:
11.22.63 Stephen King - 10 out of 10! It's a huge book but what a tale! I haven't read a King book in years, but this book was so good.
Legend David Gemmell - 5 out of 5. I am a big Gemmell fan of late, but this was his first book he had written and while there are flashes of greatness, it's pretty simplistic and a thing of the age - mid eighties.
The desert Spear Peter Brett - 8 out of 10. It's the second part of the demon war series where demons come out at night in a future world that has been repressed to a fantasy setting (kind of like the Tripods). It has film rights written all over it!
Stan | June 5, 2012 - 16:06
'God Is Not Great' by Christopher Hitchens - 10 out of 10 for intellectual rigour alone. A lot of it went over my head, but could that guy argue his corner (a corner I place myself in, too).
'Solitude' by Anthony Storr - 10 out of 10. As one reviewer put it 'If it saves naturally non-sociable people from anxiety about 'not-belonging' and enables them to come to terms with their solitude, it will have done a notable human service.' It did that for me.
I haven't read any new fiction for ages (apart from on ABC!). I'm tending more towards re-reading past loves. Not finished it yet, but I'm getting through
'Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas' by Hunter S Thompson. 11 out of 10. Even better the second time around, which is often the way with books.
jolono | June 5, 2012 - 19:43
"Driving Over Lemons" by Chris Stewart - 8 out of 10. Someone recommended this as I spend a fair bit of time in Spain, its the true story of an English guy who go's to Spain and buys a run down farm. It's very funny.
"Gone Tomorrow" by Lee Child - 9 out of 10. I'm a bit of a sucker for the Jack Reacher stories, how the fuck Tom Cruise can play him in the film god knows! Jack Reacher is supposed to be 6ft 5inches!
"Mr Happy" by Bob James - 9 out of 10. Bobs a mate of mine and gave me his book when he finished it a few years ago. I read it again just a few weeks back, its autobiographical about his life ( Like the book Mr Nice) and wow what a life he had...and still does!
sid | June 6, 2012 - 11:48
'Death and the Penguin' by Andrey Kurkov- this was such a brilliant book I was tempted to start a forum topic about it so fellow 'penguin' lovers might come out the woodwork and join me in enthusing about how great it is, and to spread the word about this darkly comical masterpiece- 10/10
'1984' George Orwell- still feeling slightly disturbed nearly a week after finishing it. Great book though! 10/10
'Short Stories' by DH Lawrence- disappointingly, most of them were unfinished, which I only discovered once thoroughly immersed in the story, coming suddenly to a screeching halt and the word (unfinished). Most annoying! 7/10
Oh, forgot to say I read them all on paper. I did get a kindle for christmas, but I haven't really used it yet. Just not comfortable with posh gadgets, you can't stand your mug on it or take it in the bath, and it doesn't respond well to cigarette burns!
tcook | June 6, 2012 - 17:30
All on paper - and I'm so glad, Sid, that you are a Kurkov fan. Read the next one - Penguin Found. It's just as good!
Which brings me on to my last three books:
Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres: A far better book than Captain Corelli, cleverly told - and with lost of bits of Greek and Turkish History that are crucial to the understanding of today. 8/10
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - Just stunning. The ending left me a little disappointed but it's a brilliant concept, brilliantly told. Not a spare word in the whole book. 9/10
The Good Angel of Death by Andrey Kurkov - another gem from this wonderful Ukrainian writer. Weird, imaginative and magnificent. 9/10.
Now I'm heavily into War and Peace! I may be some time...
grover | June 6, 2012 - 18:02
Beaste, just keeping up with the tv series of Game of Thrones was complicated enough!
Stan | June 6, 2012 - 18:20
Beaste... sorry to seem like a snobby old grump (well, I suppose I am!)... but I'd read your post if it wasn't written in text-speak. It's okay for texting and Twittering, but doesn't really 'go' anywhere else - and I know, from reading your poems, that you know how to write well :)
grover | June 6, 2012 - 19:48
Ha ha. I actually read and update a lot from my iPhone like now as I wait for my curry.
The Other Terre... | June 6, 2012 - 20:31
I'm a big Kurkov fan as well, as is Terrence Oblong. Terrence won't. mind me pointing you to a story he wrote the day we met Andrey Kurkov, which, typically of Terrence, is very, very derivative - a story set in Ukraine involving obituaries, I ask you.
http://www.abctales.com/story/terrence-oblong/caf-boris
The Other Terre... | June 6, 2012 - 20:39
Three books
Terry Pratchett - Nation. I always enjoyed Terry's children's books, so that an 8.
Graham Swift - Wish you were here. Hated it. Really, really tried to persevere as I'm a big fan of Swift's work, but this went nowhere, eventually gave up half way through, during which time absolutely nothing had happened. Can't give it more than 1.
Henry Mayhew - London Labour and the London Poor - Simply amazing historical record of real people's lives combined with statistics and analysis. Put's Engels to shame, a surefire 10. Recommended to anyone with an interest in British history. Sobering too, in light of the economic direction we're taking at the moment
sid | June 7, 2012 - 08:34
Kind of you to plug Terrence Oblong like that; I'm glad you did, I loved his story. It's very authentic sounding- has he ever been there? I'm new to Kurkov, definitely be looking up those other titles you mentioned, Tony. I'm so excited to learn there's a sequel! And you can't go wrong with War and Peace, that'd be my choice for Desert Island Discs no contest :D
alibob | June 7, 2012 - 13:42
My last 3 books:
Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens. This was my May Reading Group book, and I read it on my Kindle. I mainly use my Kindle for free classics and very cheap books. I like it, but I like 'tree books' better!
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill. Susan Hill was one of the first 'adult' authors I ever read, as a teenager. Don't know why I haven't read this before. The perfect ghost story.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - I won an uncorrected proof copy of this in a Waterstones Cardholders' prize draw. I'm always envious of people who can create complex plots, because I can't. This book has a very complex plot indeed, and some very unsettling characters. Very good.
The Other Terre... | June 7, 2012 - 20:16
Terrence can't find his log on details so he's asked me to pass on his thanks for your nice comments Sid. He's never been to Ukraine, but he has been to a few other former soviet countries
Geoffrey | June 9, 2012 - 13:59
Terry Pratchett !!! But don't forget some others like Lindsey Davies and her Falco series of novels about an informer (Detective) back in the days of Roman Empire About 70AD. I read and reread these books!
msvynyl | June 11, 2012 - 19:52
The last three books I read happen to be the last three books I re-read. Being a lover of good word play, I find it difficult to read typical prose. And for me, without good wordplay, a story feels just like its technical term:a narrative. Good wordplay is the fuel that allows the readers imagination to take off and into the world that the writer has created. So if any of you know of any good novels with good word play(think The Prince Of Tides)please drop me a line.
As far as my last three reads go-1.White Teeth, Zadie Smith, 2.The Prince Of Tides, Pat Conroy, 3.James Baldwin, Just Above My Head.
beaste | June 11, 2012 - 20:28
well, at the moment im reading a book by terry pratchett called snuff. Its a discworld novel and personally i think its really clever, about 8 out of 10. Two points hav been lost caz ther r a number of large really boring bits and im not that clever when it cums to working out terry's little morals throughout all his books.
before that i was reading nothing those books by George RR Martin which id give a 7 out of 10 caz there amazing but so bloody complicated. Honestly about a quarter of each book is made up of the appendix (and fank god ther is one!) which just lists the characters in it. And u kno wat else! The appendix keeps changing order, so just as u get used to finding the different characters at the end of the book ther in a completly different place wen u read the next one!!
beaste | June 11, 2012 - 20:31
Im just trying to sound casual stan and to be honest i do it to annoy HA!! X-D...joking joking. Also i didnt know anyone read my poems! and to grover...lolz because i know you'd appreciate it
Stan | June 11, 2012 - 21:23
Beaste - I've read your poems. Keep 'em coming.
Msvynyl - off the top of my head, try 'Manhattan Transfer' by John Dos Passos, 'Riddley Walker' by Russell Hoban, 'Sutree' or 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac MacCarthy... and 'Ulysses' should be in there, too!
msvynyl | June 12, 2012 - 00:48
Thanks. I'll look into John Dos Passos and Russell Hoban. I've tried Cormac MacCarthy:All The Pretty Horses, and No Country For Old Men, but it just didn't click with me. Ulysses however is on permanent rotation on my Ebook reader.
Stan | June 12, 2012 - 13:23
Ah... I didn't like either of those, either. Sutree, though, is very rich and powerful, though - the wordplay is dazzling. Another challenging one is 'Tristram Shandy', which probably ranks as the world's first anti-novel... a real experimental, very unconventional narrative, centuries ahead of its time!
Stan | June 12, 2012 - 13:26
Ah... I didn't like either of those. I didn't think much of 'The Road', either. 'Sutree' is very rich and powerful, though - the wordplay is dazzling. Another challenging one is 'Tristram Shandy', which probably ranks as the world's first anti-novel... a real experimental, very unconventional narrative, centuries ahead of its time!
Have you tried William Faulkner? 'As I Lay Dying' and 'Light in August' are interesting novels in structure and language.
msvynyl | June 12, 2012 - 20:15
I read As I lay Dying, enjoyed it, not for the word play but for the characters. As far as Southern writers go, I really enjoy Flannery Oconnor, Especially Wise Blood, and A Good Man Is Hard To Find. Also, A Confederacy Of Dunces is outstanding. Check out Jackson Tippet McCrae's Bark Of The Dogwood, and Katzenjammer.
Stan | June 12, 2012 - 22:10
Hey, yeah... read all those. O'Connor is great. I wasn't so keen on 'A Confederacy of Dunces', but I think JKT would have gone on to write great stuff if he'd have lived. Have you read any William Gay? Another great writer of Southern Gothic. Carson McCullers' 'The Ballad of the Sad Cafe' is another fine short novel.
msvynyl | June 13, 2012 - 00:10
You're right about that;JKT was on the verge of greatness when he killed himself. As far as Southern Gothic writing goes, good writing is good writing and Carson McCullers is one writer I've been meaning to get to, But with all of life's required nonsense, I barely have time to get my own writing down, much less read someone elses work. But hopefully, during the summer I'll get around to McCullers.