TSF Book Club
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Not to mention LOTR was supposedly only the vehicle for Tolkein to create his Elvish language.<br />
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I am in the last couple of chapters of A Dance With Dragons. -
[quote name='booboo' timestamp='1347446063' post='310480']<br />
"The Meaning of Sport" by Simon Barnes<br />
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Enjoyable for the most part - even if he lost me in his flowery prose every second or third chapter when he set out to prove he's a writer who follows sport and reads a bit and is a well rounded intellectual rather than a sports fan who writes about it (which he is).<br />
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Still, some really interesting anecdotes and analysis - unfortunately I can't share with you as I've had to take it back to the library...<br />
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One interesting snippet that stayed with me was his comments on sports needing to look after their heartland, ie., not to take them for granted when pursuing the fickle fans otherwise they will drift away. And yes he was talking circket - at least at one stage. He did IIRC discuss the same with regard to other sports as well - but the T20 discussion stuck with me.<br />
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Oh yeah - the other particular point that he made that stood out was the cliche about a team winning "because they wanted it more". He suggested games are often won andlost because the team that "wanted it more" clammed up due to anxiety and suggests that therefore games are won by those that want it less.<br />
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Makes sense to me. -
http://theartofscrummaging.com<br />
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Topo Rodriguez got a bit frustrated with the current state of the scrum and decided to do something about it.<br />
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Includes contributions from Sir Wilson Whineray, Cobus Visagie, Philip Orr, Al Baxter, Pieter de Villiers, Ray Williams, Philip Keith-Roach and Sir Brian Lochore. <br />
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Looks good. -
[img]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mexmpppJxa1rzvgly.jpg[/img]<br />
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I haven't read yet, but I'll be eagerly requesting my local library add a copy to their stacks. This review tells me the book will be everything I'd hoped for:<br />
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[color=#444444][font=Calibri, sans-serif][size=4][quote][/size][/font][/color][font=georgia,serif][size=4][color=#444444]But if the question is really “Did you enjoy this book?,†then the answer is “Absolutely.†...[/color]<br />
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[color=#444444]While much of [/color]Makeup to Breakup [color=#444444]is devoted to spectacularly gory character assassination directed at past musical and business associates, the book ultimately is an indictment of Criss himself. Criss is either brutally honest to his own detriment or completely lacking in self-awareness. Either way, [/color][color=#FF0000]it can’t be overstated how big of a dick he makes himself out to be[/color][color=#444444] in [/color]Makeup to Breakup.[color=#444444] Self-pitying, toxically bitter, violently angry, weirdly entitled, and given to rock-star petulance, Criss gives himself a royal hatchet job.[/color][/size][/font][color=#444444][font=Calibri, sans-serif][size=4][/quote][/size][/font][/color]<br />
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[color=#444444][font=Calibri, sans-serif][size=4]The whole review is hilarious and worth reading:[/size][/font][/color]<br />
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[color=#444444][font=Calibri, sans-serif][size=4][url="http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/63466/rock-memoir-book-club-original-kiss-drummer-peter-crisss-amazing-self-pitying-makeup-to-breakup"]http://www.grantland...keup-to-breakup[/url][/size][/font][/color] -
I have a bit of an addiction to reading books on my iPhone. So much so, that I have been [u]killing[/u] books recently.<br />
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I have a soft spot for pap, so I've been through the whole Jack Reacher series from beginning to end. Yes, they're kinda shit, but it's entertainingly readable shit. After that I gave Joe Nesbo a go and enjoyed the whole Scandi Crime thing with his Harry Hole novels (yes, all of them). I've also read the Stieg Larsson trilogy. After watching the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy film I got back in to John Le Carre and read the Smiley trilogy. Timeless thrillers that evoke old school espionage of the Cold War. Then I started on a series of Scottish crime novels from Stuart MacBride featuring a Detective Sergeant in Aberdeen called Logan McRae. The genre is Tartan Noir and the books are blackly comedic, gory, amoral and compelling. I recommend them to anyone.<br />
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I've also devoured Joe Abercrombie's latest, Red Country: a homage to old school westerns, which brings back to life one of his best-loved characters. I liked it, but to me it was a little bit obvious and not a patch on his previous novel, The Heroes.<br />
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I've enjoyed the first two books in the Patrick Rothfuss trilogy too: Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. I wish the third would come out soon but Rothfuss seems to be pulling a GRR Martin there, which would be OK if the story arc wasn't a bit too Hogwarts in places and the protagonist a little less of a dick.<br />
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And finally, just read the second of the Locke Lamora novels from Scott Lynch: Red Seas Under Red Skies. Another fantasy series that is set to run and run. The first - The Lies of Locke Lamora was a little bit naive in parts so I wasn't going to carry on with the second until a mate said it was a lot better. He was right, it was an improvement in terms of plot and characterisation, but ultimately it's just a fantasy Patrick O'Brien-style novel of pirates and seafaring set in a mythical world of weird names, strange customs and imaginary creatures. Not bad though.<br />
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I was never a fan of fantasy until BSG turned me onto Game of Thrones. Sadly, all the other "Books with maps at the beginning" have failed to match up ever since - but I keep reading in the hope that one day one of them might. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1355354417' post='332388']<br />
Then I started on a series of Scottish crime novels from Stuart MacBride featuring a Detective Sergeant in Aberdeen called Logan McRae. The genre is Tartan Noir and the books are blackly comedic, gory, amoral and compelling. I recommend them to anyone.<br />
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[/quote]<br />
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I think I've mentioned those before in this thread. I hate it that MacBride has taken a break from McRae although Birthdays for the Dead is a good read in a similar vein. I love the characters in the McRae series and they would make great TV. DI Steel especially (a old hard, heavy smoking/drinking/swearing dyke).<br />
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If you like a bit of pulp, have you tried Stephen Leather? Among his books are two strong 'series'. One featuring an ex SAS undercover cop and one in a completely different vein being a 'supernaturnal detective series' about an ex-cop trurned PI that gets heavily caught up in the occult after finding out that his sould have been promised to a demon. Reads much better than it sounds.<br />
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Now that you've read the Reacher books can you honestly believe they cast Tom Cruise in the movie adaptations? every shot must be being done from below, with Cruise wearing platforms. -
MacBride has just released a couple of teaser short stories featuring Steel and MCrae to keep the pot boiling. I don't think it'll be long before he's back. And yes, the DI Steel character is pure gold.<br />
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I'll have a look at Stephen Leather - ta for the tip.<br />
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As for Jack Reacher, well Cruise bought the film rights so he was always going to play that part himself, no matter how ridiculous it is. I don't think Lee Childs cares much either way. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1355354417' post='332388']I have a bit of an addiction to reading books on my iPhone. So much so, that I have been [u]killing[/u] books recently.<br />
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I have a soft spot for pap, so I've been through the whole Jack Reacher series from beginning to end. Yes, they're kinda shit, but it's entertainingly readable shit. [/quote]<br />
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I read the first four back-to-back and found this to be the general thread of the author's thinking:<br />
<br />- figure out a way to ditch the last burd - chicks hate to love vagabonds, but love to shag them.<br />
- drop a crime in his lap and make him the centre of attention even though that shit would never fly in the real world<br />
- create "mystery" by having jack hold back perfectly obvious facts<br />
- shag a new burd<br />
- kill 3 or more people badass style while solving the crime
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[quote]Topo Rodriguez got a bit frustrated with the current state of the scrum and decided to do something about it.<br />
<br />
Includes contributions from Sir Wilson Whineray, Cobus Visagie, Philip Orr, [i][b]Al Baxter[/b][/i], Pieter de Villiers, Ray Williams, Philip Keith-Roach and Sir Brian Lochore.<br />
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Looks good.[/quote]<br />
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Hmmm, the 'how to bluff your way to 100 Super games" chapter... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/eusa_think.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':think:' /> -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1355354417' post='332388']<br />
I was never a fan of fantasy until BSG turned me onto Game of Thrones. Sadly, all the other "Books with maps at the beginning" have failed to match up ever since - but I keep reading in the hope that one day one of them might.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Give the Malazan book of the Fallen (Steven Erickson) a go Luigi. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen[/url]<br />
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Detailed plots and characters and pretty brutal like the GOT's series - good dose of gallows humour too... -
[quote name='BartMan' timestamp='1355359373' post='332404']<br />
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Hmmm, the 'how to bluff your way to 100 Super games" chapter... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/eusa_think.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':think:' />[/quote]<br />
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No I think it was the self-help chapter: "So you finally smashed Woodcock and the ref STILL penalised you; strategies for coping with shit decisions"<br />
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Just finished Claudius by Douglas Jackson . Not quite up to Conn Igguldens level of writing but still a very good read and well worth a look .
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I have just started Emperor - Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden.
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[quote name='taniwharugby' timestamp='1355969325' post='333291']<br />
I have just started Emperor - Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden.<br />
[/quote]Great series that . I have just started re reading the Conqueror series -
I really enjoyed the Conqueror series although I stillhave the last one to go...
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I doubt you will be disappointed when you do read it , I enjoyed it as much as I did the first three .
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Just about to finish Beevor's "The Second World War". I really like the way the guy writes, his books are always good factually, with enough personal stuff in there to get a good feel, and he's obviously a pretty good researcher.<br />
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It's not really providing much in the way of new info (but then i have read a LOT of WWII history books, (my father-in-law is Polish, and a history nut, his library on WWII is extensive), but its a very nice commentary of the whole period, and how things in different theatres linked together. He's not overly kind to the main protagonists on either side, especially the Generals (Montgomery, MacArthur and Mark Clarke take a battering).<br />
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For the casually interested, or the "beginner" i reckon it's a pretty good starting point. -
Luigi if you like the Reacher novels (which I've just started given your comment, I like a bit of silly pap from time to time), try the Richard Stark novels, I think they're excellent, tight, well written books about an anti hero called Parker - a career criminal. They're all quite old so a bit dated but prices and amounts aside, they've aged well.
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For those that are or about to become Cornwell fans may I suggest that you read each series in chronological order and don't bother with the later editions as they all follow a similar line;<br />
<br />- Tall, misunderstood, battiling adversity, hero.<br />
- Irish sidekick who is initially at odds with 1) (above)<br />
- Eventual triumph in bloody encounter<br />
- Rinse & repeat.<br />
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This said by something of a Cornwell fan. In general I read and like his novels, it's just that the earlier editions of any of the various series offer a lot more than the later ones.<br />
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If you like noir(ish) thrillers then there are two series to consider in distinctly different settings. Denis Lehane writing his series of Kenzie/Gennaro books. One of which - Gone Baby Gone has been filmed. All set in 1990s/2000s Boston.<br />
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Secondly Phillip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about sometime cop, sometime PI in pre and post war Berlin and then onward to Argentina and so on. Start off with the Omnibus edition named Berlin Noir.
