Favourite books recently?

I felt it was about time for one of those book threads! :)

Haven't read anything fantastic in ages to be honest and am looking for some tips on what to go for next. The last few I've read are

'The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas', 'The Last King of Scotland', re-read 'Dispatches' and 'the Beach' and have just started in on a Hugo Chavez bio. Dispatches and the Beach I'd recommend to anyone, think I read both, on average, twice a year, and I though Last King and Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas were good, but not great. As for the Chavez bio, think I've started it because of a lack of options to be honest, I'm not hugely interested in the man. Anyway has anyone read anything recently they could recommend?

Just finished The Pope's Children, good read. McWilliams is a bit pessimistic in his predictions, but it's an interesting snapshot of the country, if a little concentrated to the commuter belt around Dublin.
Before that I read Should Have Got Off At Sydney Parade, the latest Ross O'Carroll-Kelly book. This is the first one in the series that I've read, although I read the column in the Times from time to time. Even though he does come across as a bit of a ******* in the book, I did find myself rooting for him at the end and I'm going to get back through the series now.
Before that I'm going to start Neil Lennon's autobiography, my brother gave it to me for my birthday and I still haven't read it!

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Before that I'm going to start Neil Lennon's autobiography, my brother gave it to me for my birthday and I still haven't read it!

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Speaking of people who come across as a bit of a ******* :eek: :D

Well I am re-reading my all time favourite. Memoirs of a Geisha. The movie is ok but the book is just magnificent.

Last book I read was a Colin Bateman - Murphy's Revenge. You cant bate bateman for the ould slaggin of the North. He is doing a reading & talk session in Armagh on 25th May and am torn between it and our away trip to Kilkenny!

The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajar, memories of the eastern front and subsequent retreat by a frenchman from AlsacelLorraine who joined the German army. Some dispute over the authenicity but the general concesus was that he certianly experienced some action on the Eastern front.

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Originally Posted by jebus

'The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas', 'The Last King of Scotland',

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Are you my wife? :confused:

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Originally Posted by BohsPartisan

Are you my wife? :confused:

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Jesus thats a horrible thing to say at this hour of the morning :D

Ghost Wars - Steve Coll

just read intrepretation of murder. Decent start but tailed off towards the end.

I've just started 'The Lay of the Land'. It's the third in a series started with 'The Sportswriter' and 'Independence Day' by American author Richard Ford- (So If you're interested start with the Sportswriter).

All 3 novels are narrated by Frank Bascombe and relate different snapshots of his life, as husband, father, sportswriter turned etate agent, but most of all observer of what it's like to be a late 20th century American male.

I read the first two volumes in the last year and couldn't wait to begin this last one.

No doubt they won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for me they're the best novels I have read in a long time.

Stay away from them if you're after Grisham / Mission Impossible / Thrill-a-minute stuff. These are a slice of life - and I think they'll stand the test of time very well.

Am about two thirds of the way through the Traveller by John Twelve Hawkes. It's kind of a cross between the Matrix and demons and Angels by Dan Brown. good stuff anyway

I can't for the life of me,read any of that fantasy sh*te.

Mafia Dynasty by John H. Davis is what i'm reading at the moment.

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Originally Posted by jebus

I felt it was about time for one of those book threads! :)

Haven't read anything fantastic in ages to be honest and am looking for some tips on what to go for next. The last few I've read are

'The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas', 'The Last King of Scotland', re-read 'Dispatches' and 'the Beach' and have just started in on a Hugo Chavez bio. Dispatches and the Beach I'd recommend to anyone, think I read both, on average, twice a year, and I though Last King and Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas were good, but not great. As for the Chavez bio, think I've started it because of a lack of options to be honest, I'm not hugely interested in the man. Anyway has anyone read anything recently they could recommend?

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Many people have probably got to this one already - Paul McGrath's Biography. A good read.

"Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford. An American journalists lived experience and analysis of the culture and psychology of football violence. Excellent.

Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" may have been already enjoyed by many also.

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Originally Posted by Wolfie

Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" may have been already enjoyed by many also.

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You should check out Thompsons Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail if you haven't already

Just finished "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving. Superb. Just superb.

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Originally Posted by Magicme

Well I am re-reading my all time favourite. Memoirs of a Geisha. The movie is ok but the book is just magnificent.

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Did you really think so? Fascinating as a topic, but I actually disliked the main character quite a lot.

Yeah I was gutted when I found out it wasnt a real story.

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Originally Posted by jebus

You should check out Thompsons Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail if you haven't already

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Read The Rum Diarys.. brilliant brilliant book. the man's a legend. Apparently the film will be out sometime next year

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion. For anyone out there questioning their religion or religion in general this is a must read.

Paul McGrath - Back from the Brink. One of the best sports biographies I've ever read.

Brendan Fanning - From Here to There. Intersting book about the transition of Irish rugby during the professional era.

Michael Smith - Tom Crean, Antartic Survivor. A good few months since I read this but it was fantastic.

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood. Very interesting account of a brutal family murder in America.

I don't read fiction so no use there.

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Originally Posted by finlma;648258[B

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood. [/B]Very interesting account of a brutal family murder in America.

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Yeah. This was a truly brilliantly written book. Actually reads like fiction, I thought. You can see why it took so much out of Capote.


And here's another few I remembered........

Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. The story of a Nazi doctor's life, but told in reverse.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Yes, the one they made into a movie......and butchered in the process.

If you are looking for one of the alltime classics :

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A unique masterpiece. One politician (who later became president of his country, I cant remember who) learnt Spanish just to read it in its orginal language.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

If you are looking for one of the alltime classics :

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A unique masterpiece. One politician (who later became president of his country, I cant remember who) learnt Spanish just to read it in its orginal language.

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Ah, amazing, probably my favourite book ever. A true masterpiece.

Haven't been doing much reading of late. Too tired most of the time. Last book read in its entirety was The God Delusion.
I've a lot of books lying around I haven't gotten around too. Maybe Emile Zola's Germinal will be next on the list, or The Decline and Fal of the Roman Empire. An in the middle of one on Cannabis but its been some weeks since I've read anything.