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CCE Book group

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  1. gembo
    Member

    I am reading Orwell's Down and Out In Paris and London. It is not too long, very well written and from this distance you read it as a novel rather than journalism.

    There is a Spanish novel about the civil war that was reviewed in the guardian last week Uncertain Glory by Joan Sales. Old but recently translated. I might ask for it for Xmas. And read alongside Hoamge to Catalonia. Think it might be a trilogy.

    Dylan Thomas coming up for his centenary, I like a lot of his poems and he was a true artist including piss artist part of being a true artist. But is he over rated? The other Welsh poet who was an interesting fellow was RS Thomas.he coined the nickname Famous Seamus and was a vicar. Mostly kicked about the lleyn peNinsula. The biography of him Man from the west is funny ha ha and peculiar.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. crowriver
    Member

    Currently enjoying 'The Dream Life of Sukhanov' by Olga Grushin.

    Evokes a very specific place and time: Soviet Union at the beginning of the Gorbachev era: Glasnost and Perestroika. Told through the rapidly disintegrating life of a Soviet art critic.

    Wonderful reveries, amazing descriptions, and a bittersweet humour. Nearly finished, will update with more impressions in a few days, but so far highly recommended. A knowledge of art history, and Soviet history, will help but not required.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. Ed1
    Member

    Currently reading the second machine age by Erick brynjolfsson and City cycling urban and industrial environments.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Stickman
    Member

    Just finished "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared". I'm late to this one, but highly recommended.

    Just started "To Rise Again At A Decent Hour" by Joshua Ferris. Too early to say.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I recently finished 'The Secret Life of Bletchley Park', by Sinclair McKay, which I quite enjoyed but having previously digested Simon Singh's 'The Code Book' it felt a bit like McKay had been limited in his research and gathered most of his material from speaking to about five people. Of course, there may not have been many more than that whom to interview.

    Currently I'm reading the thoroughly excellent 'In Search of Schrödinger's Cat' by John Gribbin. There's nothing like a little heavy bedtime reading about quantum physics.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. Instography
    Member

    Most of the books I read these days have a 10 year old lying nearby listening so at the moment it's Five Children and It by E Nesbit. Nice little story that I'd never read before. Haven't read most children's books. I have no recollection of reading a book before I was 12 (Peter Pan, from a cousin's bookcase when I went for a holiday in Wales with my gran).

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. SRD
    Moderator

    My daughter read 5 children and it over halfterm. Has now demanded all the sequels. (Luckily she's quite happy with secondhand). I'd never read it either.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. Rosie
    Member

    E Nesbit is good. The Story of the Treasure Seekers is really funny and clever as well.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    Oh I wasn't counting kids' books.

    No.1 son is a voracious reader: he is awaiting delivery of Tolkien's back catalogue, having read all the Harry Potter series, and still working his way through Narnia books. I will try Famous Five and Swallows and Amazons on him too. A bit 'olden days' as he says, but still Ripping Yarns.

    He's also getting into comics in a big way, so have been procuring various manga for him. Also punting classics like Tintin, Asterix, Magnus the Robot Fighter his way, and 'vintage' comics from my own childhood in the 1970s such as Beano, Dandy, and now moving on to more 'grown up' fare including Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog.

    I was flicking through some of the vintage stuff the other day and remembered every single storyline, even some of the drawings, from when I was about 10 years old. Must have read them all numerous times, waiting for each weekly comic to come out...

    No.2 daughter still to develop full reading skillz, so has stories read to her. She is enjoying Roald Dahl's BFG, and a series of Stories About Knights & Dragons at the moment.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Stickman
    Member

    I loved Swallows and Amazons as a child. I didn't enjoy the other Ransome books as much.

    Comics/graphic novels I've never been able to get into, despite repeated attempts and much prompting from friends.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    My reading habits may be weird. I read several books at once and pick which one to read by mood. I read things other than books for leisure. In the pile by the bed currently, top to bottom;

    Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson. Social history through cutlery and crockery. Astounding account of just how much 'normal' life has changed.
    Making it Happen by Iain Martin. History of the near collapse of a major Scottish Bank. Astounding account of vanity, stupidity and groupthink.
    OS Landranger sheets 51,50,42 and 43. Astounding contour maps of the heart of our country and the cyclable tracks thereon.
    Mali, ô Mali by Erik Orsenna. One for @SRD, I suspect though not started it yet.
    Pelican Blood by Chris Freddi. Twitching based thriller. Weirdly good. Wish fulfilment for me and available as a gift to anyone wants it.
    Courir les rues, Fendre les flots, Battre la campagne by Raymond Queneau. Always there, dip in for the mundane made crazy.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. cb
    Member

    From memory I think, 50=Loch Tay; 51=Pitlochry; 42=Rannoch; 43=Blair Atholl. Prefer to 'read' an Explorer these days myself.
    I am incapable of reading books with some kind of travel element without simultaneously refering to a map. It does slow reading progress down a bit. Currently reading Walk the Lines (guy walks all the London tube lines above ground).

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. Stickman
    Member

    @iwrats: That RBS book is a bit of an eye-opener, although I thought it gave a bit much credit to some of the old guard, George Younger in particular was let off the hook by the author. There is a corresponding book about the HBOS collapse (Hubris by Ray Permin) which is equally jaw-dropping.

    Of course, being a very responsible and sensible finance chap I would never go along with such stupid decision making and would always speak up to authority.......I hope.....

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @stickman

    Quite so...ahem...I'm sure I would...er...too. The only thing I ever could have flagged up pre-2008 was the presence of sub-prime mortgage debt in the assets of a fund sold as 'cash', which was quite insane and turned into a minor scandal. My excuse? I reckoned they'd never listen to anyone 'operational'.

    Amusingly the book was lent to me by a former aide-de-camp of George Mathewson.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. crowriver
    Member

    "Raymond Queneau"

    By coinkidinky I have recently reserved his "Exercises in Style" from my workplace library to have a browse through (Not sure one can "read" it in a normal, novelistic sense). Will pick up later this week.

    Oh, the book that inspired this thread, "Einstein and the Art of Mindful Cycling", has arrived from Wordery. Beautiful wee volume, nicely presented. Will start it once I've finished the Grushin (three chapters to go; getting harder work near the end due to the narrative collapsing into multiple dream sequences/flashbacks/reveries, in parallel with the protagonist's thoughts).

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. ARobComp
    Member

    The Martian - Andy Weir.

    Cracking downtime read. Nothing to do with anything in my day to day. Technical enough to be not dumbed down and exciting read. Recommended so long as you don't want to come away with a new view on life. Just a really excellent read.

    Also reading "Why do smart people make such stupid mistakes" Chris Merrington (excellent if you work in digital marketing or in a position which requires negotiation skills)

    Also reading "The Space Trilogy" By CS Lewis. Given to me by my sister in law. The first one was a good story. The second one was self indulgent theological nonsense. The third one is proving to be quite a good story once you get into it. However it's quite dense and has some entertaining old fashioned views on men and women. Quite funny. Seems CS was exploring the more equal post war vibe with regards to marriage.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. Baldcyclist
    Member

    I used to be an avid reader when I used to get the train, nothing as 'middle class' as many of the authors above ;) Enjoyed John Grisham, James Patterson type of stuff, nothing intelligent.

    Unfortunately one of the things I did enjoy that cycling has robbed me of, haven't read a book outside of holiday periods in years, can never find the time. Being out the house for 13 hours a day has it's disadvantages, even if 4 of those hours are on a bike...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Stickman
    Member

    @iwrats:

    Yes, I've been in the "only ops" position previously.

    I remember my dad asked me when Northern Rock collapsed "how did no-one know it was so badly run?". I said that many people almost certainly did know but were probably too junior to be listened to but just senior/experienced enough to know to keep their head down, keep taking the salary and hope that it wouldn't all go wrong.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @crowriver

    I can lend you the original if you wish. It is astounding, but not, I would imagine, translateable.

    You have a 'workplace library'? Hospital or prison?

    This post is a Lipogram in j, q, x and z. If you ignore that last sentence.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. SRD
    Moderator

    @iwrats I have a severe allergy to french novels, especially french novels about west africa. comes of 'required' school reading.

    St Exupery evokes very bad reaction. also Mongo Beti

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. Stickman
    Member

    "Iipogram" - thanks, I'd not heard of that before.

    The report I'm due to write this afternoon will require a fair bit of crafting and may take a bit longer than planned.... ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. Min
    Member

    I am reading Heart of Midlothian by Walter Scott and also A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg. I am kind of stuck on that though since the descriptions of the birds (passenger pigeons) in the opening chapters are so amazing and I already know the ending. :-(

    Posted 10 years ago #

  23. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @SRD

    MONGO?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28khv-BydeY

    Posted 10 years ago #

  24. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @stickman

    Exercise de style should be required reading for all of us who write technical reports...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercises_in_Style

    Posted 10 years ago #

  25. Min
    Member

    IWRATS Twitching based thriller

    Did you just say "twitching based thriller"? Surely two words seldom seen in close proximity.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  26. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @Min

    Yes, yes and it's yours. Got a pocket in your flapper/masher outfit?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  27. SRD
    Moderator

    @iwrats @min I take it you have both read

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Clear-Sky-Sally-Hinchcliffe/dp/0330453211

    Posted 10 years ago #

  28. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @SRD

    No! Our own Sally Hinchcliffe?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  29. SRD
    Moderator

    none other!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  30. PS
    Member

    Making it Happen by Iain Martin is a really good read. Perfect for fans of schadenfreude and hubris.

    I'm currently on How Music Works by David Byrne - two chapters in and it's proving to be entertaining stuff, a lot less stodgy than I feared.

    Despite having Electric Eden (Rob Young), The Monuments (Peter Cossins) and An Encyclopedia of Myself (Jonathan Meades) piled up by the bed, I've just taken delivery of Alistair Horne's The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71, a couple of chunky books on D-Day (Max Hastings and Antony Beevor) and Max Hastings' Das Reich. Oh, and vol 2 of Danny Baker's autobiography.

    That little lot should keep me going for a while...

    Posted 10 years ago #

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