[English Bob]

Oooh a book thread! I love reading. It was the Discworld books which got me into reading in a big way, now I read a massive variety of stuff! *glances at groaning bookshelves*

My recent reads:

A Dance With Dragons, by George R R Martin. The latest book in the excellent Song of Ice & Fire series (Game of Thrones for all you TV folk )

Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. A steampunk novel set in an alternate 1860's Seattle, full of zeppelins and zombies

Currently reading Sharpe's Trafalgar, by Bernard Cornwell. I loved the Sharpe TV series as a kid, so I thought I'd give the books a go. I love books set in the 18th/19th centuries, the British Empire and all that!

[Bas]

Oooh a book thread! I love reading. It was the Discworld books which got me into reading in a big way, now I read a massive variety of stuff! *glances at groaning bookshelves*

My recent reads:

A Dance With Dragons, by George R R Martin. The latest book in the excellent Song of Ice & Fire series (Game of Thrones for all you TV folk )

Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. A steampunk novel set in an alternate 1860's Seattle, full of zeppelins and zombies

Currently reading Sharpe's Trafalgar, by Bernard Cornwell. I loved the Sharpe TV series as a kid, so I thought I'd give the books a go. I love books set in the 18th/19th centuries, the British Empire and all that!

Try the Flashman books then , Bob

[English Bob]

Try the Flashman books then , Bob

Read two of em, got two more waiting on my bookshelf to be read

[Yudster]

Mr Yudster loves Terry Pratchett but I don't like his books. I think he writes great jokes, and writes a lot of witty ideas, but they don't hang together cohesively for me, and his plot development systems annoy me. I know I'm in a minority, not loving Pratchett seems to be tantamount to strangling kittens these days, but ho hum. Having said I don't like the books though, I do think they adapt to the screen brilliantly and I have really enjoyed the films Sky have made of some of them.

[Bas]

Mr Yudster loves Terry Pratchett but I don't like his books. I think he writes great jokes, and writes a lot of witty ideas, but they don't hang together cohesively for me, and his plot development systems annoy me. I know I'm in a minority, not loving Pratchett seems to be tantamount to strangling kittens these days, but ho hum. Having said I don't like the books though, I do think they adapt to the screen brilliantly and I have really enjoyed the films Sky have made of some of them.

I love the Discworld books, but i know what you mean.
Its very often the case that the endings are either hurried or confused. He does (or maybe sadly now did) seem more interested in the wordplay & puns - which, i have to be honest, is why i love them in the first place.

The best exceptions to this, though, are the Tiffany Aching books, which i reckon are outstanding & his best work.

If you want to read books about a youngster discovering a world of magic , power & the confusion of growing up, well f**k off Potter, these are light years ahead.

[DevilsDuck]

I have only ever enjoyed one Pratchett book and that was Mort. I find them very difficult to read.

I currently am reading Roald Dahl books to my kids which is great, I also seem to read a lot of Mr Men and Thomas the tank engine books!

I cant remember what the last book I read for me was

[MK Chris]

I often can't get into fiction books, which I think is a shame, though like Tim I do like a good read of reference books, particularly true crime, which fascinates me. I DID read lots when I was at school and I still LOVE Roald Dahl - I will be reading my Roald Dahl boxset to Reuben too.

[Nicola_Red]

Just finished How To Be A Woman and bought three new books in the kindle sale - 99p each, bargain:

Stardust Memories by Ray Connolly
I Suck At Girls by Justin Halpern (the guy who does S*** My Dad Says on twitter)
Schadenfreude by Tim Lihoreau

Pretty much all bought on spec, so I'll see how I go with them.

[DevilsDuck]

Just finished How To Be A Woman

Was that a text book?

[Nicola_Red]

In a way, yeah.

[St@rk]

I am currently reading "The First Law" series by Joe Abercrombie (again)

After that it's probably time to go down the library and sign up

[Bruvva]

King Rat by China Miéville

[Badger Mark]

Although I lurked for a long time before joining up yesterday, I never really paid much attention to the "Ramble" forum. Nice to see a book thread here (even though it's been inactive for a month). Looked over the earlier posts to see what people were reading at the time. I've read all the Fire and Ice series by George RR Martin. Great series, although I can appreciate why some might find it daunting. Those are some LONG books! Been watching the TV adaptation as well. Not as good as the books of course, but still a pretty solid adaptation.

I read both fiction and non-fiction and my tastes are a bit eclectic. I also listen to audiobooks a lot. Most often on my way home from work. Currently reading 14 by Peter Clines. If you liked the TV show Lost, this book has a number of elements that are very Lost-like. The book centers around a group of people living in a really odd apartment building that has a number of mysteries associated with it. For example, no two apartments have the same floor plan, there's a couple of units that are never rented for unknown reasons and there are mysterious mutant c_ockroaches [word filter made me do that] inhabiting the building. Unlike Lost, however, so far most of answers behind the mysteries were revealed relatively quickly. I'm not done with it yet, but it's a really good read so far. If anyone like zombie genre books, you might want to check out Clines' earlier books Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots. Both are a mashup of zombies and superheroes (including zombie superheroes). Both are a couple of fun reads. In contrast, I recently finished Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich. I admit - a bit of a heavy read, but it's a topic I've always been interested in.

[Sazza]

I read a lot of books, I don't prefer any specific genre as such so I mostly go on recommendations from other people and online reviews. I have just read Send Me No Flowers and Sweetie, both written by Jenny Tomlin. Excellent books, very graphic and extremely well written. They are certainly not for the faint hearted.

[neilt0]

When I was a kiddie, I used to read a ton of books. I think the library let you take 2 or 3 books out at a time, and I used to read them very quickly, I was getting through 6 books a week. I learned to speed read, and I still speed read now.

Then I used to run the book stall with my parents at charity events, and I'd pick up lotsa books.

Nowadays, I hardly read fiction at all, there are just too many other distractions -- films, TV, podcasts etc.

I do still read a lot, but it's all online -- newspaper sites, tech sites etc. I can just about stay focused on a long magazine article, but that's about it.

The last 3 books I've bought are still unopened.

[Nicola_Red]

I read a book approximately every two weeks. I'm in the middle of some langauge-geek book I can't even recall the name of at the moment. Next up is My Family and Other Disasters by Lucy Mangan, which was on offer for Kindle at £2.99. Bargain.

[Nicola_Red]

The language book I couldn't recall the name of is The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth.

[Bas]

The language book I couldn't recall the name of is The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth.

Sounds a right laugh riot.











To be honest, it doesn't sound that bad, i'll look lout for it.

[Nicola_Red]

It is! It's fascinating. But I am fascinated by geeky language stuff like that.

[Travis Bickle]

Finished Scott Mills' book recently. It's only a light read and very brief, but I found it hilarious. Despite not being in the slightest bit a Mills fan I found it laugh out loud funny pretty much throughout. There is a fair amount of serious stuff in it too though.

Just started reading A Life Too Short by Ronald Reng. It is the story of German goalkeeper Robert Enke who commited suicide a couple of years ago. It won the William Hill sportsbook of the year so it comes recommended.

[JayE]

I've found the book thread!

[Yudster]

So you have. Shall we talk about films?!

[JayE]

So you have. Shall we talk about films?!

Or you can tell us the last book that you read?

[Yudster]

I usually have two or three on the go but until a couple of weeks ago I had eye problems so my reading has been limited. However now I am reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I got Dawn French's book A Little Bit Marvellous for Christmas and I finished it in one sitting, great fun. I have a copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Twilight which I must start too. And a few autobiographies.

[Travis Bickle]

I am reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I finished reading that a few weeks ago. Since then I've read The Girl Who Played With Fire and I'm currently on The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest.

All have been excellent, if a little long winded and heavy on unnecessary detail in places.