What book are you reading? & Book Recommendations

Thanks Iain that’s a very useful overview. I do like character driven stories, maybe I will try again. I was quite a bit younger when I picked it up last time! Maybe I can cope with the pace better….

I got Bob Mortimer's autobiography, And Away...

He is one of most naturally funny guys I've ever seen! Superb with Vic Reeves/Jim Moir, but he's proper funny all by himself

I recently picked up the Long Earth / Long War erc series of books he wrote in conjunction with Stephen Baxter but some reviews I since read said they were his attempt at serious sci-fi and are not really very good.

Have you tried these?

I've been a Pratchett fan since the time of Small Gods so have been impatiently waiting for the new releases for decades. He is an exceptional writer with a great eye for the human condition and ways to make our biggest failings funny.

I've recently read All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. Stunning book. Couldn't put it down. 

White_Dragon said:

Sounds like you would recommend it Iain?

I would recommend it if you are patient as while the pacing is slow, it does build a deep and intruiging world with characters who are very flawed.

The lead characters tend to suffer a lot in the course of the story telling, not least Fitz the assassin who has 3 trilogies written about him.

The endings are not always happy but are the results of actions he took, decisions made and the society they exist within.

It may be the constant suffering that I can identify with along with his approach to overcome his inner demons plus the obstacles in his way.

It isn't traditional high fantasy and indeed magic is typically litte and infrequent so if this is a key thing for you then I would avoid the series. For a world with the off exotic creature, some ancient artifacts (magic or advanced science, who knows) and abilities that could be magic or just advanced mental abilities, then this is still very much a character driven author.

Settings are medieval, violence is commonplace, the worst in human nature is often on show and our personal failings are a common tripping point in stories, resulting in the outcomes being hard to predict.

I like the way she writes after reading 4 out of 5 of the book series she has written and have the latest on my to-read list.

I'm currently rereading this one: 

My favourite books so far are by Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day and Klara and the Sun) community.autism.org.uk/.../kazuo-ishiguro

I'm reading Lost Voices from the Titanic. It's got accounts from people who survived the sinking on April 14/15th 1912, explaining how it happened and also a really interesting part is showing how the investigations happened in the UK and US after the sinking so they could try and work out what had caused the unsinkable ship to sink.

Very interesting book.

i vaguely recall trying to read the first book in the original series but found it a bit slow, so gave up. Sounds like you would recommend it Iain? Does it get better or is is it quite a slowish pace? I’m a big fantasy fsn usually epic type stuff but also on the darker side of fantasy too. I read all the game of thrones stuff before it got popular 

I just finished two book series from Robin Hobb (fantasy based) - the "Fitz and the Fool" and the "Rain Wild Chronicles".

These are chunky books (well over 1,000 pages per series) but are all stories set in the same world, at around the same time and have some character overlap / plot device interactions that bring it together.

For me the writing style is quite engrossing so I can find myself reading away for hours at a time and not noticing the passing of time - it pulls you in and makes you feel something for the characters and the hardships they are enduring.

I'm now reading the Dragon Stone Trilogy (actually 6 books) by Kristian Alva which is high fantasy and is well written although I feel the writer fails to develop a lot of the plot mechanisms well enough. The battle scenes in particular feel hurredly written as though the author is not a fan of them and some important characters meet a very hurried death which is unusual.

Next up will be some vintage sci-fi - I have the Helliconia trilogy from Brian Aldiss and the Amtrak Wars hexalogy by Brian Tilley to work through.

Lovely to meet you too. yes it is very interesting. What are you reading at the moment?

I don't read books often anymore, but I'm reading Terry Pratchett's biography at the moment, A Life with Footnotes. I loved reading the Discworld books growing up and sad he died.

Oddly that was the first one I read too and probably the one least like the others.

It's one of the best feelings for me. life is quite dark at times right now and reading brings in this light for me, and offers that perfect escape.

I love Rabbit Hole, such a fabulous book to read! I haven't heard of the others but have noted them all down.

It’s an amazing feeling when you find a book so captivating like the one you just described. I’m in a bit of a reading slump at the moment but some good books I have read recently are: I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harper, Sunset by Jessie Cave, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody and Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenz 

Hello, nice to meet you. That sounds fascinating. I bet that's a really good read.

I'm very interested in history so currently reading Martin Gilbert's biography of Winston Churchill, really interesting read. Gives a real insight into WW2 and the lead up to it

Louise Penny is a new discovery for me. I recently finished Still Life (the first of the Gamache novels).

At the moment, I’m in the middle of Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (the third of Heather Fawcett’s series of fantasy novels about an antisocial professor of faerie studies who ends up against her better judgement married to a faerie prince). And I am also working my way through Pierre Novellie’s Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things? (a very amusing account of coming to terms with a diagnosis of ASD1).

We just finished So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne, and tonight we're starting Pagans by James Allistair Henry. 

So far this year we've read...

Yours From The Tower by Sally Nichols 
The Book Of Witching by C J Cooke
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
The Sirens by Emilia Hart

We're waiting for a 3rd book from Travis Baldree to follow Bookshops & Bonedust, and also a sequel to Songlight by Moira Buffini

Best 2 out of all those were Songlight and The Book Of Witching. Travis Baldree writes cosy fantasy and both his books so far have been very cosy feelgood reads. 

Also completely relate to staying up far too late to read. Those page turners are the best!

Nice! I like Louise Penny's books, I haven't read The Grey Wolf yet but the first one I read was the Beautiful Mystery. I really enjoyed this book and was hooked on her stuff ever since.

I've just finished The Children of Ash and Elm, by Neil Price, it's a book on the history of the Vikings and probably the most comprehensive I've ever read.

I recently finished Grey Wolf by Louise Penny, the latest in her Inspector Gamache series.