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What book is everyone reading at the moment?

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Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I first started reading that book in 1981, but got bored after about 50 pages. I was 12 years old.

Figured it's about time I give it another try.
 
Molinaro said:
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I first started reading that book in 1981, but got bored after about 50 pages. I was 12 years old.

Figured it's about time I give it another try.
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I've read it twice, the second time I noted when the first significant event occurred. It was on page 248 of my copy.
 
jimbob said:
I've read it twice, the second time I noted when the first significant event occurred. It was on page 248 of my copy.
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:D I'm not sure what page it would be in print, but so far pretty much nothing at all has happened in the book [I'm reading! It's 'Harvest' by Jim Crace. I'm reading it in braille, which is quite a bit slower of course, and I'm persevering because it's good braille practice and I've started so I'll finish, but oh dear, it is boring!!
 
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The Age of Gold, H. W. Brands. About the California gold rush. Pretty familiar story, but he re-tells it well. John and Jessie Fremont keep turning up, usually in appalling ways. My, what a pair to draw to!

People nowadays have to make do with Clinton-hating. We live in measly times.
 
SusanB-M1 said:
:D I'm not sure what page it would be in print, but so far pretty much nothing at all has happened in the book [I'm reading! It's 'Harvest' by Jim Crace. I'm reading it in braille, which is quite a bit slower of course, and I'm persevering because it's good braille practice and I've started so I'll finish, but oh dear, it is boring!!
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I first read that as John Crace, of the guardian's "Digested read" column

That is well worth reading - especially if you don't like the book in question.

I suspect this is an accurate portrayal of an Andy McNab book

London – Blood pooled on the pavement where the body lay. Home secretary Sarah Garvey sighed heavily. "I want to know who shot the Good Muslim," she barked. "The whole community will think it was the police."

Camp Bastion – Tom Buckingham spied a group of Bad Muslims breaking through the perimeter. Seconds later an explosion lit up the dark night sky to reveal Qazi, a trusted Afghan soldier, slotting Tom's best friend, Dave. "You're being discharged from the regiment, Buckingham," said his commanding officer. "The army is moving on and you're no longer wanted."
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Texas, USA – Within 30 pages, Buckingham had ingratiated himself so successfully with Rolt that he had been sent out to meet his associate Stutz in Houston.

"We are working on a new software tracking system," said Stutz. "It doesn't just allow us to track Bad Muslims and other Bad People We Don't Like in real time, it also enables us to predict their future movements."

"That's odd," Tom replied. "Because Andy McNab uses a very similar software package to write his novels."
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Digested read, digested: Bravo Oscar Lima Lima Oscar X-Ray.
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Or this for a Dan Brown book - I did get the Da Vinci Code out of the library, so have read one of his books


Robert Langdon's mind was a vale of darkness. His eidetic memory had failed him. "You've been shot," a woman said. He looked up to see a lissome figure with gentle brown eyes that held a profundity of experience rarely encountered in someone of her age. "I'm Sienna Brooks. A doctor. We have to get you out of here. Someone is trying to kill you."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" he asked.

"Because they read The Da Vinci Code."
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jimbob

Thank you for those links - I've had a quick look and will go back to them later today.
 
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Adequately Explained by Stupidity? By Dr Morag Kerr.

I'm about 1/3 though on a win8 tablet. I haven't drawn any conclusions yet, but it's a good read so far.
 
I recently finished "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie.

Honestly, IMO Conan Doyle has Christie beat all hollow, but it was engaging. I've picked up a few other books by her and will be reading them hopefully before too much longer.

Right now though I'm working my way through the Rick Riordan book series on the demigod kids (Percy Jackson and so on); I finished the first series and am on book 2 of the second series. The last book in the series was just released recently and I'm looking forward to finding out what the ultimate conclusion is.
 
Sabrina said:
I recently finished "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie.

Honestly, IMO Conan Doyle has Christie beat all hollow, but it was engaging. I've picked up a few other books by her and will be reading them hopefully before too much longer.
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You might prefer the others of the Big Five; Allingham, Marsh, Mitchell and Sayers.
 
Just sped-read _Mother of God_ -- about a kid from Jersey who goes to the Amazon and jumps on the backs of huge anacondas. (He'd always been a fan of Steve Irwin.)

Mostly I'm envious, but not when I see the photo of his face when he's sick and nearly dying from weird tropical infections.

Highly recommended.
 
A slight correction: The author's name is John Dickson Carr. To my knowledge, he did not write an ongoing series with the same protagonist, as did Tey or Marsh or others.

There was another British mystery author, S. T. Haymon, who wrote a series of books. I ran across one of them within the past six months but have not been successful at finding others. Maybe they didn't make their way across the pond.

Haymon died in the 1990s, as I recall. Does anyone know of her work?

ETA, as long as I am discussing series of books by deceased authors, has anyone read the Tommy Hambledon books by the pseudonymous Manning Coles (Adelaide Manning and __ Coles)?
 
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i am rereading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness which I haven't read since I left school in 1975
 
xterra said:
A slight correction: The author's name is John Dickson Carr. To my knowledge, he did not write an ongoing series with the same protagonist, as did Tey or Marsh or others.
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Carr (who also wrote as Carter Dickson) wrote 23 novels with Dr. Gideon Fell as the protagonist and 22 with Sir Henry Merrivale (a rather similar character), plus five novels of Henri Bencolin. He also wrote a number of short stories and other novels.

xterra said:
There was another British mystery author, S. T. Haymon, who wrote a series of books. I ran across one of them within the past six months but have not been successful at finding others. Maybe they didn't make their way across the pond.

Haymon died in the 1990s, as I recall. Does anyone know of her work?
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I do, she's not that well known outside Norwich any more, despite the popularity of her novels in the '80s. She died in '95.
ETA: Pan/McM are reprinting her books.

xterra said:
ETA, as long as I am discussing series of books by deceased authors, has anyone read the Tommy Hambledon books by the pseudonymous Manning Coles (Adelaide Manning and __ Coles)?
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Me. I liked them but they're damned difficult to find (especially since Murder Ink in Dublin closed) as they've seen only limited reprints. Rue Morgue is reprinting them gradually, along with other forgotten authors like Catherine Aird, Pamela Branch (whose The Wooden Overcoat is one of the best mysteries ever written), Glyn Carr, Michael Gilbert, Colin Watson and more. Plus better known authors like Gladys Mitchell and Dickson/Carr.
 
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catsmate1 said:
Carr (who also wrote as Carter Dickson) wrote 23 novels with Dr. Gideon Fell as the protagonist and 22 with Sir Henry Merrivale (a rather similar character), plus five novels of Henri Bencolin. He also wrote a number of short stories and other novels.
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And thus my aging memory fails me....


I do, she's not that well known outside Norwich any more, despite the popularity of her novels in the '80s. She died in '95.
ETA: Pan/McM are reprinting her books.
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May I please have more information on this publisher? Perhaps the books are available on this side of the pond.


Me. I liked them but they're damned difficult to find (especially since Murder Ink in Dublin closed) as they've seen only limited reprints. Rue Morgue is reprinting them gradually, along with other forgotten authors like Catherine Aird, Pamela Branch (whose The Wooden Overcoat is one of the best mysteries ever written), Glyn Carr, Michael Gilbert, Colin Watson and more. Plus better known authors like Gladys Mitchell and Dickson/Carr.
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I encountered my first Manning Coles book on my parents' bookshelves, sometime about 1955. I got hooked immediately.

Another series author who just came to mind: Maurice Proctor, whose character was DCI Harry Martineau.
 
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