What mainstream book are you reading now?

[THBGato]

I've been on a real Japanese tip recently: "Sputnik sweetheart" by Murakami; Sukegawa's "sweet bean paste"; Ogawa's "the housekeeper and the professor"; "the travelling cat chronicles" by Arikawa.

So I'm mixing things up and reading a Malayalam distopia called "Alpha" by Ramakrishnan. It's shaping up to be Lord of the Flies with Indian academics. Which just goes to show that there's only so many plots in the world...

 

[THBGato]

Read the first in the Expanse series, having watched all the TV series. Good, but a little grim and hasn't got into the politics yet, so people say I'll enjoy the next ones more.

Among our Weapons is another Rivers of London book. A lot of fun if you like them, not grim.

Love both those series. Good choices.

 

[NoTalentHack]

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

 

[THBGato]

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

Are you enjoying it? I thought it was great. Like "Foundation" but seen from the falconer at the centre, rather than the edge.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Are you enjoying it? I thought it was great. Like "Foundation" but seen from the falconer at the centre, rather than the edge.

So far, yeah. I’m not too far in yet.

 

[TheRedLantern]

I dusted off an old friend, a collection of Conan stories by Robert E Howard. Conan's world of Hyboria was to me what Middle Earth is to a lot of people. It's the fantasy setting I fell in love with first. Howard was a pulp fiction writer, so his writing had to be snappy, quick, evocative, and fun, and it's great to reread his work and see if I'm getting any closer.

 

[StillStunned]

I dusted off an old friend, a collection of Conan stories by Robert E Howard. Conan's world of Hyboria was to me what Middle Earth is to a lot of people. It's the fantasy setting I fell in love with first. Howard was a pulp fiction writer, so his writing had to be snappy, quick, evocative, and fun, and it's great to reread his work and see if I'm getting any closer.

REH has some wonderful prose. I've been venturing beyond his more recognised stories - I have his collected works on my Kobo - because there are some real gems. Not a big fan of his boxing stories, but his historical fiction often has the same richness as his sword & sorcery.

I started a thread about it a bit ago, but it didn't get much traction.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Currently (slowly) picking my way through The Big Show, Pierre Clostermann's diary of flying a Spitfire for Free France, 1942-1945.

 

[StillStunned]

Currently (slowly) picking my way through The Big Show, Pierre Clostermann's diary of flying a Spitfire for Free France, 1942-1945.

I loved that one! Very vivid writing.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I loved that one! Very vivid writing.

It's a wonderful change of pace from Tom Holland's Battle of Britain, which I found a bit disappointing considering the glowing reviews. It's a surprise that there are so few good histories and memoirs of the air war.

 

[redgarters]

Love both those series. Good choices.

@Kumquatqueen Same here. The Expanse is the best space opera I've read in a long time, maybe ever.
Just finished Among Our Weapons, fun series as well.

 

[SimonDoom]

I finally got around to reading Madame Bovary. About halfway through.

 

[FeldGasden]

It's a wonderful change of pace from Tom Holland's Battle of Britain, which I found a bit disappointing considering the glowing reviews. It's a surprise that there are so few good histories and memoirs of the air war.

I think you're referring to James Holland.

There's a recent series on the air war by one of the historians in charge of the Battle of Britain records, Dilip Sarkar.

There are quite a good number of histories. I heard this one was especially good: The Most Dangerous Enemy - A History of the Battle of Britain. Andrew Roberts gave it a glowing review. That should be enough validation.

 

[THBGato]

Currently reading and enjoying "The Power" by Noami Alderman. Kind of The Handmaid's Tale in reverse...

Recommended.

 

[yowser]

Just finished an engaging item, The Dog of the South by Charles Portis. Had a totally memorable first sentence:

My wife Norma had just run off with Guy Dupree and I was waiting around for the credit card billing to come in so I could see where they had gone.

 

[StillStunned]

I've started rereading "Best Served Cold" by Joe Abercrombie. I haven't read it since it was published in 2009, and I've forgotten most of it.

I read a tagline somewhere along the lines of "A mercenary captain, a bloodthirsty barbarian, a psychopath, a torturer, a poisoner, and a professional traitor - and those are the good guys." Joe Abercrombie is absolutely great at making his characters relatable, no matter awful they are by modern society's standards.

 

[THBGato]

Joe Abercrombie is absolutely great at making his characters relatable, no matter awful they are by modern society's standards.

Binge read everything he'd published a few summers back. Enjoyed it, but it did leave me feeling very cynical and suspicious!

 

[StillStunned]

Binge read everything he'd published a few summers back. Enjoyed it, but it did leave me feeling very cynical and suspicious!

I haven't really got into his new(?) trilogy. I made it through A Little Hatred but somehow it never gripped me the way The First Law did, or Red Country, or all the stories in Sharp Ends. Or even his Shattered Sea series.

But I devoured The Devils a few months ago. It read like my D&D group, if my players were even remotely competent.

 

[Writer61]

I mostly listen to audiobooks these days.

Currently working my way through Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about a Berlin detective starting in the 1930s. He is very clever at incorporating real-life events and characters into the stories, so it's a bit like Philip Marlowe meets Forrest Gump. Apple have commissioned a prequel series for next year.

Before that, it was Mick Herron's latest Slow Horses novel, Real Tigers, and Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series. The name grates a little, but it makes sense for the time period.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I think you're referring to James Holland.

Yes, James Holland.

Before that, it was Mick Herron's latest Slow Horses novel, Real Tigers, and Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series. The name grates a little, but it makes sense for the time period.

I think you're a bit behind the times -- Real Tigers is book three of nine. Unless you meant Clown Town, which was released in September.

 

[Writer61]

Yes, James Holland.

I think you're a bit behind the times -- Real Tigers is book three of nine. Unless you meant Clown Town, which was released in September.

You are right, I did. My quick glance at Audible let me down.

 

[YmaOHyd]

You are right, I did. My quick glance at Audible let me down.

What did you think of it?

 

[Writer61]

What did you think of it?

I love all of his books, but I cannot remember where I would rank this one, partly because I watched the latest series on Apple afterwards which has muddled my thoughts. I will have to listen again.

What did you think?

Also, have you read Down Cemetery Road and the other Zoe Boehm books?

 

[YmaOHyd]

I love all of his books, but I cannot remember where I would rank this one, partly because I watched the latest series on Apple afterwards which has confused me. I will have to listen again.

What did you think?

Also, have you read Down Cemetery Road and the other Zoe Boehm books?

I haven't read the Zoe Boehm stuff. The only thing outside the Slow Horses series I've read is The Secret Hours, which is basically a Jackson Lamb prequel, and it's really good. Different perspective, which I like a lot.

Clown Town had me a little worried, I guess. You can kinda feel writers writing their way into a plot point, then going wait crap that's not the kind of writer I am!, and changing it. The Slow Horses don't get happy endings or happiness, they just accustom themselves to a certain degree of misery, and the tension in some of the relationships feels a bit forced to me, just for the sake of creating tension.

That said, it's good. I just don't think it's quite at the level of Slow Horses, Slough House or Dead Lions. Haven't watched the most recent season of the show.

 

[Bazzle]

The Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

A great modern Agatha Christie type story.