I have just read....

[Clive Long]

I know this is stretching the rules to breaking but I want to suggest some books to read that I haven't even read yet.

This is for the boys.

Listening to David Baddiel (a prize North London pr*t if ever there is one) on Radio 4 "Open Book". He was surprisingly quite funny and gave a list of books for a man (all men?) struggling to understand anything about wimmin

The site link is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/ope...openbook.shtml

The books that got the thumbs up from the huskily-voiced Mariella F were:

15) Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
Publisher: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 1857022254

16) Happenstance - Carol Shields
Publisher: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 1841154687

17) Larry's Party - Carol Shields
Publisher: Fourth Estate
ISBN: 1857027051

22) Four Letters of Love - Niall Williams
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0330352695

23) Girlfriend 44 - Mark Barrowcliffe
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 0747268142

So .... I'm going to buy a few and report back if I have learned anything.

Clive

[Katie]

I have just read some of the myths in 'Metamorphoses'. It can be quite heavy going but the joy of the book is that you can pick the parts that interest you. The story of how 'Echo' got her name and 'Narcissus' was especially beautiful...yet so sad.

[Almost an Angel]

My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picolt it's a novel not a biography but rasies some serious questions.

It's about a girl who tries to get medical emancipation from her parents.
She was conceived deliberately by her parents to help her seriously ill sister, and from the first moments of her life is used as a donor for her sister (stem cells, blood, bonemarrow etc). The book highlights some of the issues regarding medical ethics of using siblings as donors from the donors view.

V good - I couldn't put it down. It's written from the view of the main characters and swaps throughout amongst them which only further draws you into the story.

[Stuart]

I have just finished "23 Days in July" by John Wilcockson.

This is the inside account of Lance Armstrong's record breaking sixth win in Tour de France last year, so if you aren't particularly interested in cycling and "Le Tour" it probably won't appeal to you. Also if you wanted to know more about Lance Armstrong's fight back from near fatal cancer, this book doesn't really go into much detail about this (I can recomend his book "It's not about the bike", in my view one of the best sporting autobiographies ever written, if you want to know more about his fight against illness).

However I found it a fascinating account about the sheer effort and planning involved in competing in "Le Tour".

[mick]

Just finished "The Fall" by Albert Camus, but I've no idea what it was about.

[Dreadful Scathe]

I read Da Vinci Code.
Can only say to read it yourself and make up your own mind about it.

A bit like The Bible Code. How accurate is it.

By the way, I would be interested to know if anyone out there has read The Celestine Prophecy.

Read the Celestine prophecy - its quite interesting, worth a read. Its actually similar in some ways to the Da Vinci Code which Im nearly finished reading - it has quite flat characters and a conspiracy theory. In fact the Da Vinci Code is very like Harry Potter without the wizards and not as intelligently written .

[Clive Long]

Girlfriend 44 by Mark Barrowcliffe

It's the first one from my "Baddiel" list.

I found this book entertaining and amusing in a male "chick-lit" kinda way.

Although I haven't led the life of Harry and Gerrard in the book (think "Men Behaving Badly" territory), I think among all the jokes and adolescent cleverness, Mr. B has conveyed the values, thoughts and behaviour of a lot of metropolitan young men. In fact I felt quite chilled when I read some of it. Chilled, because it made me scratch below a lot of the PC thoughts I try to have.

For example, pg. 178
"it's amazing to me that if you talk without pausing that people will believe you, and it's also amazing to me that I have the need to do this"
pg.24
" She'd said he (Gerrard) was a controlling, inflexible green Nazi whose belief in a perfect past made him resent anyone enjoying the present or having any hopes for the future. By way of an afterthought she told him he had the spiritual depth of a fruit machine and that she had received more sexual satisfaction from her last hernia operation. It wasn't what she said that surprised me, far from it, I would have gone a little further myself.... Like me, Farley was interested ... "

If you don't find the above mildly funny DON'T READ THIS BOOK.

Girls, if you find a copy at your local charity shop and want an insight to the minds of some males, pick it up. However, it probably won't tell you anything you wouldn't be able to work out within 30 minutes of meeting Mr. Not-Right.

Clive

[mick]

Read the Celestine prophecy - its quite interesting, worth a read. Its actually similar in some ways to the Da Vinci Code which Im nearly finished reading - it has quite flat characters and a conspiracy theory. In fact the Da Vinci Code is very like Harry Potter without the wizards and not as intelligently written .

I thought Celestine Prophecy was in a different league to Da Vinci Code.
Recently read 11 minutes by Paulo Coelho; I find all his books interesting and am reading "I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe.

[Rhythm King]

Read the Da Vinci code and followed it with Angels and Demons and Deception Point, all of which were entertaining. I have also just read The Rule of Four, which is best described as The Secret History by Donna Tart meets The Da Vinci Code, as it's a about a group of students decoding an old book, with fatal consequences.

[Chicklet]

This weekend I was mostly reading David Baddiel's The Secret Purposes (in between drooling at Jonathan Edwards on the screen commentating on the Athletics (I would start a thread about the Athletics but fear I would be posting comments to myself )

...anyway, fab book, beautifully written, loved it....semi-biographical novel set mostly on the Isle of Man at the start of WW2 when it was used as an internment camp for (mostly German,Jewish) "aliens" (that's aliens only, no Smurfs were mentioned AT ALL!)..yes I have a soft spot for books that will give me an insight into the workings of organised religions, and yes I have an even softer spot for Mr Baddiel but I am confident that I would have enjoyed this book without either er, spots.

If you enjoyed the "feel" of Enigma.....I believe you will enjoy this...be delighted to hear if anyone else did already (see what I did there LOL).

Next I will be reading this, based mostly on RK's "meets" here, loved both of these so looking forward to it..

I have also just read The Rule of Four, which is best described as The Secret History by Donna Tart meets The Da Vinci Code, as it's a about a group of students decoding an old book, with fatal consequences.

PS anyone else find the Secret History kinda crept up on them?? While I was reading it I just wanted to get on and see what happened but then for the next month or so, elements and images kept popping back into my head...

[jivecat]

PS anyone else find the Secret History kinda crept up on them?? While I was reading it I just wanted to get on and see what happened but then for the next month or so, elements and images kept popping back into my head...

I've read "The Secret History" 3 times, and enjoyed it more each time. It seemed as though I'd missed bits on previous readings, though that may be because I'm such a lazy, slapdash reader. The description of the intense cold winter really resonated with me, as did the mysterious, hinted-at relationships between the group of students. The latest time I read it it was the evocation of drugged-up half-baked hippy student life that amused me!

[Ballroom queen]

I've just read all the Number 1 Ladies ' detective agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith. Anyone who has been to Africa will LOVE them, and even if you haven't they are still fab.

[LMC]

In fact the Da Vinci Code is very like Harry Potter without the wizards and not as intelligently written .

Umberto Eco did the Knights Templar much better in Foucault's Pendulum. Shame that FP itself is practically unreadable, whereas DVC kept me amused on the train over a couple of days.

Currently wading my way through Cornwell's Sharpe series - easy reading for hot days.

[Gadget]

I've just finished the latest one in Laurell K Hamiltion's "Anita Blake" series - Incubus Dreams. To be truthfull, she's turned what was a good gothic/fantasy who-dunnit style series into pornography with charicters developed over the series. It should be in the "adult" section rather than the "sci-fi" section of the book shop IMHO.
It's still well written with a wicked sense of humor, but seems rushed and not thought out as well as the others. (well, the plot anyway... I'm sure that the sex scenes were well thought out )

[Purple Sparkler]

...Psalm 71 (doing Bible in a Year programme of reading).

And the Media Jobs section of the Guardian.

The above really being my excuse to tell you all that you must read lots of Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne Jones. I am equally excited about 'Anansi Boys' (Gaiman's follow-up to the quite quite brilliant 'American Gods') coming out this year as I am about the new Harry Potter. But anyone in London must- I repeat MUST- read 'Neverwhere'. It will make travelling by tube unbelievably exciting. Well, it did for me, anyway.

With DWJ, I recommend: 'Year of the Griffin', 'Deep Secret', 'Howl's Moving Castle' (for anyone who likes kids' books on the sly), and 'The Dark Lord of Derkholm' (for nifty taking the mickey out of fantasy novels).

[Divissima]

I've just finished the latest one in Laurell K Hamiltion's "Anita Blake" series - Incubus Dreams. To be truthfull, she's turned what was a good gothic/fantasy who-dunnit style series into pornography with charicters developed over the series. It should be in the "adult" section rather than the "sci-fi" section of the book shop IMHO.

I read a few of these after you recommended them so highly, Gadget. I started with the first two in the series, then skipped forward to one of the most recent - and was a bit surprised by the sudden appearance of a lot of fairly graphic sex scenes (kind of inter-species - human/vampire/werewolf - sci-fi porn ).... A bit like fanfic, but by the original author.

[Sparkles]

So THAT's why your avatar is screaming...

Have just read 'Having a Lovely Time' and am nearly finished 'Camberwell Beauty' both by Jenny Eclair.
She's a very funny author and writes as she speaks - and some of her observations are so harsh that you almost feel you can't laugh at them (notice I said almost!).
She wrote them in the reverse order to that in which I read them, and IMO it shows as HALT is much more sophisticated and more enjoyable to read; I'm struggling a bit with CB purely because I don't like any of the characters, but that doesn't mean it isn't a really good book!
Behind the comedy there are plenty of dark under-tones in her novels - and if she writes another one it'll definitely go on my 'to read' list.
S. x

[Divissima]

So THAT's why your avatar is screaming...

Actually, the avatar is screaming 'cos I've got slightly over two months to go and I still haven't sorted out the flowers, the invitations, the decorations, the accommodation....

[Purple Sparkler]

Actually, the avatar is screaming 'cos I've got slightly over two months to go and I still haven't sorted out the flowers, the invitations, the decorations, the accommodation....

Invitations you can design and print yourself if you have a computer. Easy.

*stops herself*

I am now going to resist the temptation to hijack this thread and turn it into a discussion of weddings (fun as that would be). See how good I am?

So, where were we? Oh yes. Books.

[David Bailey]

I read a few of these after you recommended them so highly, Gadget. I started with the first two in the series, then skipped forward to one of the most recent - and was a bit surprised by the sudden appearance of a lot of fairly graphic sex scenes (kind of inter-species - human/vampire/werewolf - sci-fi porn ).... A bit like fanfic, but by the original author.

I agree the series has gone downhill, the books just got too similar and bloated. They're still readable, but to be honest I skip over the "sex" pages ( never thought I'd say that!)

I do like her Merry Gentle series though, more development and character involvement in each book. And not so much "spending 100 pages talking about having sex, then another 50 pages describing it, then another 100 pages talking about it afterwards" of the Anita Blake series