dudalb
Penultimate Amazing
The number of Pern books are up into the double digits easily.
And those are just the ones that Mccaffery actually wrote.....
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What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.
- Thread starter alex04
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And those are just the ones that Mccaffery actually wrote.....
dudalb
Penultimate Amazing
Reading "Time Patrol" by Poul Anderson. Finally, all of his Time Patrol stories in one volume. At Eight bucks for over 700 pages of Anderson at his best, it's a steal.
catsmate
No longer the 1
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- Apr 9, 2007
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An interesting series.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
I tried reading one. I don't remember a thing about it but was definitely not going to carry on with the series. I'm a big sci-fi fan but can't get into fantasy.
Gawdzilla Sama
TImeToSweepTheLeg
Reading Project Hail Mary for the first time. Book has the science that that movie had to ditch. Much better than the movie for a nerd-like entity.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Star Wreck: The Generation Gap
A very small paperback parody of Star Trek TOS and TNG. Only 117 pages, I read it off & on over two days. Along the lines of a MAD Magazine parody, with some funny accompanying drawings as well. They got the character quirks down pretty well. Silly story, but a fun, quick read.
A very small paperback parody of Star Trek TOS and TNG. Only 117 pages, I read it off & on over two days. Along the lines of a MAD Magazine parody, with some funny accompanying drawings as well. They got the character quirks down pretty well. Silly story, but a fun, quick read.
He Used Thought As A Wife (Tim Key)
An Anthology of Poems & Conversations (From Inside)
A collection of musings from the COVID lockdown period, I find this hilarious, touching, frustrating and just laugh-out-loud funny. Tim Key is not for everyone, but his sense of humour fits nicely with mine, so I enjoy his work immensely.
This will be shortly followed by Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush An Anthology of Poems and Conversations (From Outside)
Only complaint, the print is tiny so even with my glasses on I struggle at times.
An Anthology of Poems & Conversations (From Inside)
A collection of musings from the COVID lockdown period, I find this hilarious, touching, frustrating and just laugh-out-loud funny. Tim Key is not for everyone, but his sense of humour fits nicely with mine, so I enjoy his work immensely.
This will be shortly followed by Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush An Anthology of Poems and Conversations (From Outside)
Only complaint, the print is tiny so even with my glasses on I struggle at times.
SteveAitch
Master Poster
The print in my copy of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush was of a reasonable size.
But that was the Hunter Davies novel of that title. The film was quite good too.
SteveAitch
Master Poster
L.S. Lowry by Susan Grange, in the Flame Tree Publishing Masterpieces of Art series.
Basically a longish biographical essay covering his life, influences and legacy, with lots of illustrations. Interesting and even reveals the surprising fact that Lowry did have a bit of a dark side.
Basically a longish biographical essay covering his life, influences and legacy, with lots of illustrations. Interesting and even reveals the surprising fact that Lowry did have a bit of a dark side.
catsmate
No longer the 1
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I mean to read it eventually. Does it mention the clocks?
SteveAitch
Master Poster
Nope, no mention of clocks. What did you have in mind?
catsmate
No longer the 1
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Lowry had some...... oddities. One of which was keeping a large collection of clocks in his living room, all set at different times. I have some notes on him and his oddities in my General Notes file pertaining to a RPG scenario l.
SteveAitch
Master Poster
Interesting. I hadn't come across that one before. Thanks.
Foster Zygote
Dental Floss Tycoon
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His Master's Voice by Stanslaw Lem.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Don't Panic: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion (Neil Gaiman)
A small but oversized paperback detailing the origin and various incarnations of H2G2. An easy read, with some deleted scenes and a lot of background stories I hadn't heard. Written before the movie came out so thankfully there is no text wasted on that.
A small but oversized paperback detailing the origin and various incarnations of H2G2. An easy read, with some deleted scenes and a lot of background stories I hadn't heard. Written before the movie came out so thankfully there is no text wasted on that.
SteveAitch
Master Poster
First, a brief explanation. Having read the Lowry book (see above), I was reminded of a time in Manchester City Gallery many years ago and comparing Adolphe Valette's Manchester cityscapes with those of Lowry - Valette taught Lowry for a couple of years and Lowry had great respect for him. Apart from the fact Lowry's people were all thinner (he was painting underfed workers), the first thing I noticed was the similar way they both painted boots.
Anyway, I thought I'd find out a bit more about Valette, so I ordered a copy of Adolphe Valette A French Impressionist in Manchester, by Sandra Martin.
A strange production. About the size of a normal paperback, though only a centimetre thick. It's printed on thicker than normal paper. BUT just about every page folds out into two pages, some pairs of of pages folding out together into a four-times the size sheet. It explains why it's not easy to get a copy in good condition - most have probably fallen apart by now!
Anyway, it's my (careful) read for the next couple of days.
Anyway, I thought I'd find out a bit more about Valette, so I ordered a copy of Adolphe Valette A French Impressionist in Manchester, by Sandra Martin.
A strange production. About the size of a normal paperback, though only a centimetre thick. It's printed on thicker than normal paper. BUT just about every page folds out into two pages, some pairs of of pages folding out together into a four-times the size sheet. It explains why it's not easy to get a copy in good condition - most have probably fallen apart by now!
Anyway, it's my (careful) read for the next couple of days.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Buckaroo Banzai (Against Hanoi Xan and the World Crime League), as told by The Reno Kid (with E.M. Rauch)
A really big and thick paperback. 25 pages of Introduction which I didn't find particularly interesting, but only into the first chapter it seems to capture the characters and irreverence that the movie had. About 600 pages, this should keep me busy for a while.
A really big and thick paperback. 25 pages of Introduction which I didn't find particularly interesting, but only into the first chapter it seems to capture the characters and irreverence that the movie had. About 600 pages, this should keep me busy for a while.
Vixen
Penultimate Amazing
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
A debut novel. This is a scathing satire loosely carrying on from the feminist traditions of Gloria Steinem, Marge Piercy or Margaret Attwood. It is a satire - vicious in places- of the protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills, who identifies as a 'trad wife' and runs an influencer page on Instagram of her perfect life as a trad wife mum with her perfect children and super rich but dim husband. Naturally, this influencing attracts the ire and mockery of what Natalie calls 'Angry Women'. Her comparator takes the form of her former university compatriot, Reena, who has to rely on internships and finding a decent employer, yet can expect to earn less than her male colleagues. Each pities the other. The catalyst for Natalie's eventual epiphany is Shannon, who arrives on the scene as a film graduate from Brooklyn to take over video production as Natalie's followers leap from a thousand (family and friends) to over three million, thanks to her husband being the son of a prominent senator (we don't have to guess which party). Burke carries the 'meme' to its logical conclusion, as Natalie becomes desperate to prove her farm-to-table life style in Idaho - à la early pioneers - is authentic when Angry Women begin to spot the many supposed 'frauds'. For example, spotting a barrel of pesticide in one shot when Natalie claims to sell only organic stuff. It has at least two laugh-out-loud moments, is mercilessly cruel to all characters - as a good satire is - and is an excellent read, especially for a debut.
A debut novel. This is a scathing satire loosely carrying on from the feminist traditions of Gloria Steinem, Marge Piercy or Margaret Attwood. It is a satire - vicious in places- of the protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills, who identifies as a 'trad wife' and runs an influencer page on Instagram of her perfect life as a trad wife mum with her perfect children and super rich but dim husband. Naturally, this influencing attracts the ire and mockery of what Natalie calls 'Angry Women'. Her comparator takes the form of her former university compatriot, Reena, who has to rely on internships and finding a decent employer, yet can expect to earn less than her male colleagues. Each pities the other. The catalyst for Natalie's eventual epiphany is Shannon, who arrives on the scene as a film graduate from Brooklyn to take over video production as Natalie's followers leap from a thousand (family and friends) to over three million, thanks to her husband being the son of a prominent senator (we don't have to guess which party). Burke carries the 'meme' to its logical conclusion, as Natalie becomes desperate to prove her farm-to-table life style in Idaho - à la early pioneers - is authentic when Angry Women begin to spot the many supposed 'frauds'. For example, spotting a barrel of pesticide in one shot when Natalie claims to sell only organic stuff. It has at least two laugh-out-loud moments, is mercilessly cruel to all characters - as a good satire is - and is an excellent read, especially for a debut.
Vixen
Penultimate Amazing
The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
Riley is described in the blurb as one of the UK finest contemporary novelists. The text is sparse with wide line spacing. The novel revolves around characters rather than a plot, although that there is, with the arrival of a new editor, 'Shove' Halfpenny to the publication, Sequence. Shove is one of those thick-skinned yobbo characters - every London office has one - who rides roughshod over the finer sensibilities of the longer-serving incumbents. He wants to transform this high-minded but self-nodding (think the Spectator) publication into a New Yorker. That's the starting point of the events that follow. The main narrator is Laura and the main character, Edmund Putnam, referred to here as just 'Putnam', around whom the other characters revolve.
Riley has an excellent ear for speech, capturing the way Londoners speak, and office life, perfectly. The polite understatement and role-playing that goes on. We have the social relationships: Laura is 'Northern' and met Putnam at uni. It is unclear what their relationship is. The prose is wonderful and engaging. It is hard to put this book down. Like many good novels it keeps one pondering at the end over the unanswered questions that the book leaves unstated.
Can recommend. Super read.
Riley is described in the blurb as one of the UK finest contemporary novelists. The text is sparse with wide line spacing. The novel revolves around characters rather than a plot, although that there is, with the arrival of a new editor, 'Shove' Halfpenny to the publication, Sequence. Shove is one of those thick-skinned yobbo characters - every London office has one - who rides roughshod over the finer sensibilities of the longer-serving incumbents. He wants to transform this high-minded but self-nodding (think the Spectator) publication into a New Yorker. That's the starting point of the events that follow. The main narrator is Laura and the main character, Edmund Putnam, referred to here as just 'Putnam', around whom the other characters revolve.
Riley has an excellent ear for speech, capturing the way Londoners speak, and office life, perfectly. The polite understatement and role-playing that goes on. We have the social relationships: Laura is 'Northern' and met Putnam at uni. It is unclear what their relationship is. The prose is wonderful and engaging. It is hard to put this book down. Like many good novels it keeps one pondering at the end over the unanswered questions that the book leaves unstated.
Can recommend. Super read.
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alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Yeah, taking your hint and getting about 25 pages further in the book, which seemed to be a mostly incomprehensible phone call, I pulled the plug. Something I have rarely done with the many books I have read. But I didn't feel it was going to get any better after giving it about 80 pages. Too bad, I had high hopes for it.