Entertainment For Lively Minds
Holiday reading?
Posted by Twangothan on 20 July 2009 - 8:40pm.
What are we reading on hols then? Any suggestions? I need something:
1. Funny
2. Biographical
3. Political
4. Historical
not necessarily all in the same book!
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I love books, me.
For variety (sorry, don't know if you are boy or girl)
Kitchen Confidential
Time Traveller's Wife
Maximum City
Edie- An American Autobiography
Blue Highways
The God Delusion (joking)
Any Human Heart
by William Boyd, probably the best book I have ever read
just the tale of a man's life, but what a life... the end won't disappoint either
Hang on a minute
Is this just an attempt to get us back onto the never-ending Fray Bentos thread?
I notice that the plot summary says that the subject of this book is the son of a corned-beef magnate in Uruguay...
rumbled
.
Well well
I agree, great book.
Any human heart
Thanks very much. Just finished it in Skiathos . What a wonderful read. I have just passed it to a friend of mine I've known since school. It will stay with me for a long time I think. Thanks for the r
ef'.
you're more than welcome
:D
Agree
Bought it on rec of this thread - just finihsed it - outstanding.
Mother London
By Moorcock. Absolutely brilliant.
Agree whole heartedly
With mother London.Also his Colonel Pyatt books are stunning.
Anything by
Carl Hiaasen or Christopher Brookmyre are ideal holiday reads. (Comedy crime thrillers, broadly.) Also Mark Gatiss' Lucifer Box novels are very entertaining.
I second 'Any Human Heart'
In fact, any William Boyd! - Brilliant author.
I struggled with
Brazzaville Beach and actually gave up a third of the way in
I struggled with
An Ice Cream War. I made it to the end, but have never touched Boyd again (as it were).
New Confessions
Superb! Made me turn to Rousseau.
Not read any other Boyd, mind..
It''s brilliant
and, dare I say, better than Any Human Heart.
(rolls into foetal ball and awaits electronic thumps)
Boyd good, Faulks better
I like Boyd - Brazzaville Beach, New Confessions, Blue Afternoon and Armadillo (especially Armadillo) in particular. Restless less so. Any Human Heart coming on holiday with me (tomorrow - hooray!).
However, as a writer of a similar vintge and background and working with similar themes - Sebastian Failks is unparalleled. He is acclaimed for his novels set in wartime but it's the non-war stuf - Engleby, On Green Dolphin, Human Traces - that I have particularly enjoyed. His take on Bond - Devil May Care - is another holiday companion
How About?
Funny - anything by Guy Bellamy, especially The Nudists or In The Midday Sun - you'll have to buy second hand though.
Biographical - The Railway Man by Eric Lomax. Almost too painful to read of his experience in a Japanese POW camp and then be moved at his power of forgiveness as he meets his captor.
Political - Gordon Brown by Tom Bower. Explains it all.
Historical - A novel - The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber. Simply the best novel I have ever read. 835 pages transporting the reader back to Victorian times.
Bower
Bought it & read it - excellent.Poor us. Just starting "Boom and bust" by Simon Lee - also excellent.
Under The Wire by William Ash
true story of william ash, an american who joined the canadian air force and flew a spitfire for the RAF. shot down in 1942, he was sent to stalag luft III, the infamous 'great escape' POW camp.
one of a handful of prisoners to attempt more than a dozen break-outs - he is one of the second world war's greatest escapers.
Bios
Thanks to this site I bought the omnibus of Clive James' first three autobiographies for a big far east holiday two years ago, great reading within...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Unreliable-Memoirs-Clive-James/dp/0330418...
From a political/historical point of view I'm reading Richard Reeves' Reagan bio, having put away his Kennedy and Nixon bios already. All three books are recommended: they are biographies of just their presidency, beginning on inauguration day and evolving in real time to reflect what the president was thinking and facing at any given point in time...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/President-Kennedy-Richard-Reeves/dp/0671892894/r...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/President-Nixon-Alone-White-House/dp/0743227190/...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/President-Reagan-Imagination-Richard-Reeves/dp/B...
bargepole recommends
the fourth volume of clive james' autobiography , 'the north face of soho', which continues the good work.
How's about...
Funny: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Seconded
If the house was burning down and I could only save one book ...
Nothing...
has ever made me laugh more than that book.
Thirded
I must've read A Confederacy of Dunces a dozen times over the last 20-odd years, and it always makes me laugh until my eyes water.
On shelf
as result of these posts - not got to it yet! To be honest the size of it is putting me off a bit....wimp, man up.
I second Unreliable Memoirs
Very honkworthy moments in it.
Biogs/autobiogs-
Sadly I was An Only Child- Peter Cook
Deep In A Dream- Chet baker
Bukowski- Locked In The Arms of a Crazy Life
Pedant alert
The Cook book is Tragically I Was An Only Twin.
Harry Thompson's biog of the great Cook is worth a shufti as well.
A selection
Funny: Puckoon by Spike Milligan.
Biog: Dolgun by Alexander Dolgun. A young American diplomat is arrested and charged with spying in Moscow in 1948. Spends the next 11 years in the Gulag. Astonishing story.
Political: The Storm by Vince Cable
Historical: Armageddon by Max Hastings and/or Berlin by Antony Beevor. Carnage, waste, fear, misery as the allies tried to get it all over with - and hold back the Soviets.
I'm afraid any mention of Beevor
inescapably reminds me of this (at http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/peepshow.html)
War Stories ?
Iron Coffins - Herbert A. Werner
Got to be the definitive story of German U boats in WW2.
Absolutely brilliant book by Uboat commander & a very lucky man all told.
Well worth digging out and perfect for a holiday
Perhaps in a similar vein but at higher altitude
The Big Show - Pierre Clostermann (WW2 Free French Fighter Pilot). Like Iron Coffins it doesn't seem to quite agree with the findings of war historians and archivists, but it's another swashbuckling memoir. A fighter pilot's life-expectancy was at all times very short, and survival sometimes a question of outrageous luck (even in the final throes of WW2 in Europe).
Geoffrey Wellum's "First Light" - probably read already by a lot of people already - is a brilliant RAF fighter-pilot's memoir written many years after the events described. He can't be accused of talking-up his abilities or achievements, which is a criticism that could be levelled at the books above.
Nice to see
A shout for Closters - recently reissued by Cassell. One of my late father's favourite books, and a tremendous recounting of life as a RAF pilot. Highly recommended!
Some books I like
Funny & Bio - If I don't write it no-one else will : Eric Sykes. Also hilarious is anything by Eddie Braben.
Bio & Historical - Pegasus Bridge : Stephen Ambrose. D-Day crystallized. A great book.
I highly recommend
Funny and biographical: Bill Bryson - Notes From A Small Island.
Political and historical: Peter Burke - The Fabrication Of Louis XIV.
Have a great holiday!
The Bryson one about Australia
(name escapes me) is very funny. And Walk In The Woods.
I thought those two rather weak
compared to his other stuff, but nonetheless quite enjoyable. Bryson is ideal holiday reading...
My own favourite was The Lost Continent.
(The Australia one is called 'Down Under')
Haven´t even heard of Down Under.
Will hunt down without taking any prisoners.
Bill Bryson's autobiography
"Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" is laugh out loud funny and at once elegiac and life-affirming. Perfect holiday reading.
Bryson's best is Made In America
bargepole found
'thunderbolt kid' one of the most unremarkable books ever written, a totally average childhood trawled for anecdotes vaguely suitable to concoct a book from - file alongside 'semi detatched' by gryf rees jones and those tedious books by andrew collins.
I'm just back from two weeks
I'm just back from two weeks off and this thread's made me realise it's my first vacation ever when I haven't finished a book. The brain must be turning to mush!
As for William Boyd, perfect holiday reading material. The New Confessions is my favourite of his, and would probably cover 1, 2, and 4 on your list in a oner. It's a fictional 'biography' of a 20th century film-maker. The Blue Afternoon is also brilliant and really touching, while Restless, the most recent of his I've read, shows he's never really gone off form. Or how about George Pelecanos' The Turnaround, and Richard Price's Lush Life, each spotted in HMV for a fiver?
Looking at the categories you list...
... can I recommend Ruling Passions by Tom Driberg?
It's a funny political autobiography which describes a lot of funny stuff about life as a gay man during the war, Driberg is truly fascinating. Francis Wheen wrote a biography as well.
I recently read Any Human Heart by William Boyd on holiday, along with The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follet. Both recommended.
Ken Follett
I've bought countless copies of Pillars of The Earth to give to friends. Amazing that a book of 1000+ pages seems too short. Would also recommend his sequel World Without End.
Some books which I have
Some books which I have enjoyed on holiday in recent years:
Carter Beats the Devil - Glenn David Gold (meets none of your criteria directly but a good read)
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - John O'Farrell (a few too many "boom tish" moments but I learned a lot all the same)
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Seventies - Howard Sounes (author of soon to be published biog of Macca)
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan (as per no.1 on the list - but how can you not include one Ian McEwan?)
Fatty Batter - Michael Simkins (hilarious - as someone with a passing interest in the game this had me in tears)
Those books on the 1960's by Dominic Sandbrook are good but a bit weighty. I've started and stopped several times but keep going back to them.
Glen David Gold
has a new one out, Sunnyside. Haven't read it but intend to. Anyone able to recommend or not?
bargepole has this in his library
and heartily recommends it. it is not perhaps as easily accessible as 'carter' but repays the effort of getting into it.
Seventies
really excellent. Ta Eddie. Got the Impartial History for Christmas - dipped in so far. Agree with boom-tish assessment.
To answer the brief
1. Funny: "Big Money" Wodehouse
2. Biographical: (er, sort of) "Lives of the Great Songs" ed. Tim de Lisle
3. Political: "1968 The Year that Rocked the World": Mark Kurlansky
4. Historical: "Elizabeth's Spy Master. Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that saved England" Robert Hutchinson
I picked up the Kurlansky
I picked up the Kurlansky book in Fopp for a couple of quid the other day so good to see it get a recommendation as I was planning on taking that with me on my jollies.
Walsingham
Just got it from Amazon for a few quid - a few pages in, already gripped and of course see Geoffrey Rush as the man. 1968 on wish list!
I was going to give
Thomas Pynchon's new one 'Inherent Vice' a go next. It should be out soon.
Stoner Detective psychedelic-noir set during the end of the sixties in Los Angeles. characters includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers apparently.
Jim Dodge ~ 'Stone Junction' is a good read too.
Thumping good read
is Dennis Lehane´s "The Given Day " set in 1919 Boston and the background of the policeman´s strike. Racism, politics, corruption and baseball and at 700-odd pages it will keep you busy
Hard to catagorise but...
I recommend The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway. The blurb says it's "Equal parts raucous adventure, comic odyssey and Romantic Epic, "The Gone-Away World" is a story of - among other things - love and loss; of ninjas, pirates, politics; of curious heroism in strange and dangerous places; and, of a friendship stretched beyond its limits."
It's the best book I've read this year: you read it at different levels, realising there's more to the previous chapter as you read the next. I won't mention the almighty twist to the book, but I for one didn't see it coming.
I can do historical
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimor. I'm midway through it at the moment and it's fascinating.
Joseph O'Neill - Netherland
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netherland-Joseph-ONeill/dp/0007275706/ref=sr_1_...
Things The Grandchildren Should Know - Mark Oliver Everett [aka 'E' from the Eels]
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-Grandchildren-Should-Oliver-Everett/dp/03...
The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brass-Verdict-Michael-Connelly/dp/1409102033/ref...
Biography
I've been saving Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin's mammoth "American Prometheus; The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" for my holiday reading.
It got fantastic reviews and I hope it lives up to them.
historical
This is a brilliant history of the seventies.
Andy Beckett's "When the Lights went out"
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/when-the-l...
Hanif Kureshei liked it!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/03/andy-beckett-kureishi-when-t...
Homicide by David Simon
Funny, Biographical, Political and Historical all at the same time. A superb book and a very easy read.
He did The Wire too, you know.
Tulipomania - Mike Dash
This history of the most prized of flowers touches in some ways all four of your bases.
The first few chapters are on the dull side but when the tulip craze arrives in Holland the story really takes off and is scarcely believeable.
Looking at my Bookshelves
DBC Pierre ~ Vernon God Little
The Essential Spike Milligan
Hunter S Thompson ~ Kingdom of Fear
another Mark Everett ~ Things the Grandchildren should know
John Simpson ~ A Mad World My Masters
Richard Neville ~ Hippy Hippy Shake
Martin Amis ~ Dead Babies
Krishnamurti ~ The Book Of Life
Robert Graves ~ King Jesus
Aragon ~ Paris Peasant
Barry Miles ~ The Beat Hotel
John Clellon Holmes ~ Go
Not sure any are Holiday reading
Gregory David Roberts ~ Shantaram ...probably fits the bill.
Neville
bought it when it came out - excellent - read it several times. must try the others - Miles' "in the 60s" is excellent.
Take some Tim Moore books.
I like Tim Moore.
And if anyone here hasn't read Parallel Lines and The Longest Crawl by Ian Marchant, make ye haste to Amazon. Right up the alley of almost any WORD reader or I'll eat my trousers.
Brilliant
Keep 'em coming. I've read a few but lots of good ideas. I've recently "got" Hemingway ("Fiesta: the sun also rises" did it for me) having not got him as a teenager, so one of his will be on the list.
Twango
that's far too polite. Could you dismiss our suggestions with curt one-liners, irrational prejudice or sheer rudeness please.
Thank you
Sheev
You're
confusing him with LOUDspeaker
Farewell To Arms
Brilliantly moving - simple poetry, a great stylist.
It is crap
I hated it.....
(actually, I'm sure I'll like it - sorry, was responding to Sheev's request that I troll someone). Good tip, I have a copy on the shelf somewhere.
;-)
Give War A Chance
by PJ O'Rourke. I have read my copy to shreds and it still makes me chortle.
Penguins Stopped Play
by Harry Thompson.
Completely brilliant and funny, even if you don't like cricket.
He's also written a great historical novel
This Thing Of Darkness, charting the life of Robert Fitzroy, the captain of 'The Beagle' and his passenger Charles Darwin.
Anything by David Sedaris
Funny and autobiographical.
defective Detectives
Michael Connolly raises the bar so far it's outasite.
The Harry Bosch novels are just too good.
Start with "The Poet" (which Bosch has only a minor role) and read them all in order.
Also a tip of the hat to Jo Nesbo (his Harry Hole books read like a screenplay), John Sanfords Lucas Davenport stories, and finally the Inspector Banks novels by Peter Robinson.
All good stuff, mefrenz!
Connolly & Bosch
Sorry, but I think that has to be qualified. Some of the Bosch novels are really good, The first four, The Black Ice; The Black Echo; The Concrete Blonde and The Last Coyote are very good. Then something happened and the there was a whole series that at best can be described as treading water at worst piss poor (Angel's Flight was shockingly bad) but somehow Connolly got his muse back and from Lost Light on he's been back on form in the Bosch books.
The Poet, which was his first diversion from Bosch, was absolutely average.
I may be wrong
but was not The Poet his first ever?
I thought it was one of his best, and made me come back for more.
Yes, there was a dip, but only (IMO) from superb to merely very good.
The Poet
was where he started going off the rails.
The Black Echo was published in 1992 through to the The Last Coyote in 1995. Next year came The Poet and the start of the uninspired era.
I'll get the pedantry out of the way first,
It's Connelly, not Connolly.
It has admittedly been a long time since I read them, but my memory of the books you are less keen on is that whilst there was some dip in quality now and then it was by no means as bad as you make it sound. The Poet was hyped at the time and was a slight let down, but I recall Trunk Music being a fine return to form. Angels Flight is, I agree, probably his weakest. But they are all worth reading, even the weaker ones.
All just my opinion of course.
I've read almost all
dips in quality notwithstanding.
I think the quality dropped when he tried to round out Bosch's character with relationships and a kid.
Thinking about it, the form (Bosch-wise) probably returned one book earlier with City Of Bones. I didn't like Trunk Music but the worst book by far was Void Moon.
I've not bothered with The Overlook as the reviews suggest, with my demanding standards, I'd not like it. I haven't started The Brass Verdict yet.
The Overlook
is definitely worth a read. I thought it was better than the reviews on Amazon, for example suggest. I'm about 70 pages into The Brass Verdict. So far, so good. [Bosch has just made an appearance, which was nice]
Agree about Void Moon.
Finished 'The Brass Verdict.'
It had it's moments [over 600 pages it should have] but left me with a feeling of meh.
Tips
Time Travellers Wife (Niffeneggar)
The Secret History (Tartt)
Ham on Rye (Bukowski)
Go Between (Hartley)
What not to read - took "Testament of Youth" to read on my honeymoon. Great book - just not holiday reading...!
Not dared to tackle Bukowski
My temperament is too easily swayed towards the anti-social and self destructive perspective. Although I do like Henry Miller.
Ham on Rye
is great. "Post office" is highly recommended too.
Agree on both
Agree on both
"Lost in Music"
by Giles Smith.
very very funny.
I concur
and Showbuisness by Radcliffe.
Ham On Rye's great. Post
Ham On Rye's great. Post Office, Factotum and Women all tread the same water to an extent but well worth following up. If you're going down that path, Ask The Dust by Bukowski's hero John Fante is brilliant.
You haven't mentioned thrillers specifically -
maybe you don't like them, but I have devoured everything by Stuart MacBride. All police procedurals (sort of) set in Aberdeen. Killings are mostly gory, but characters are true-to-life and amusing. Start with 'Cold Granite' and work your way through.
Historical - if you have the patience for 912 pages, Trevor Royle's 'Civil War- the War of The Three Kingdoms 1638-1660' is a superb and thorough history of that period. It totally disabuses anyone who thought that this was a war of set-piece battles and covers all the shifts in allegiance and dominance. Following some of the Scottish tribal conflicts can be a bit hard, but it is a riveting read.
Biography - you could do worse than to read 'Shakey' - Neil Young Biog.
Yes thrillers too
I like thrillers and detective stuff such as Rebus (the latest is sitting waiting to be read on the bedside cabinet). The Royle book sounds great. Those massive war histories a la Antony Beevor are excellent.
Re Rebus
Some say that MacBride and his main character, Logan McRae are natural successors to Rankin/Rebus.
Logan McRae is not a typical hero. A solid police officer, he bears scars (in more than one sense) of an earlier stabbing and is beset by many idiosyncratic senior officers with whom he falls in and out of favour.
Sounds great
it's on the list
Historical Novels
Also took Alison Weir's 'The Lady Elizabeth' to India with me recently and demolished it very quickly (don't sleep well in hotels). It's about the childhood, survival and rise of Elizabeth I.
Fictionalised, but based on historical knowledge, some have criticised Weir's prose style and adoption of myth, but it is very readable.
I would also recommend CF Sansom's 'Shardlake' novels, if you haven't already read them. Set in the reign of Henry VIII, they concern an rather unusual lawyer tasked with solving various murders and mysteries. The novels beautifully capture the fear, religious uncertainty and political threat of the time. 'Dissolution' is the first.
Funny and historical
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale.
'Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley wants only to smuggle a little tobacco, brandy, and French pornography from the Isle of Mann to a secluded beach in England. Yet somehow in the process, he and his crew end up weighing anchor for Australia. Worse, they're forced to carry three temperamental Englishmen bound for Tasmania on a mission to discover the exact location of the Garden of Eden.'
The Syme Papers by Benjamin Markovits
'Douglas Pitt is a man obsessed. His quest is to prove that the 18th-century inventor Samuel Highgate Syme discovered the theory of continental drift. Laughed at and dismissed at every turn, Pitt's luck changes when he discovers a contemporary manuscript written by a scientist, Friedrich Muller, which recounts a year in the company of the irrepressible Syme. Perhaps this will finally reveal his genius...'
Banvard's Folly: Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity and Rotten Luck by Paul Collins
'History will always remember the Edisons, Einsteins and Darwins: they succeeded in changing the world, and the world has repaid them by enshrining their names. But what of those others with similarly revolutionary and groundbreaking ideas who plummeted into oblivion? They are gone and forgotten, until now. This title tells of the lives of 13 "losers", who achieved great heights in their lifetimes, only then to meet crushing defeats.'
Thrillers
Donald E Westlake - some are funny, too, but they are essentially caper books. Any of the Dortmunder series, especially "Don't Ask" and "What's So Funny ?". Splendid observations – “he looked like the part of the missile that gets left over the Indian Ocean, plus a homburg hat”. Excellent cast of characters too, neatly and tersely drawn.
Peter Temple - mainly set in Melbourne, the Jack Irish series are great. I recommend "Bad Debts".
Michael Dibdin - mainly set in Italy, "Cabal" and "Back To Bologna" are very good. Lots of great Italian detail, great twisty plots.
Here goes...
Funny:
I'm reading P.G Wodehouse, yet again. Can't resist the succinctness and the pithiness of the humour. A masterclass in economical writing which ideally serves the pitch of his humour and the oft-repeated hubris of his characters and plots
Biographical:
"Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care"
Mitchum is a unique film actor but this biography unfurls the intellect, spontaneity and humanity that made him so much more than the screen icon.
Political:
Michael Dobbs' "House of Cards".
Still resonates
Historical:
...and biographical. Claire Tomalin's "Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self"
Possibly the best historical biography I've ever read.
Funny & Biog
Mark Radcliffe's new biography, Thank You for the Days: A Boys' Own Adventures in Radio and Beyond, is a perfect lightweight holiday read.
Girlfriend in a Coma...
by Douglas Coupland - or Miss Wyoming or Microserfs
But steer clear of Jpod!
Love them all but Girlfriend in a Coma is a must-read if you haven't read any of his yet
Historical/ political - Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor (despite it being a Richard & Judy choice!) - the things you find out about the Irish potato famine are mind-blowing but it's a really gripping story too
Biographical - the book about Edwyn Collins' stroke and his recovery, Falling & Laughing, written by his wife Grace Maxwell, is heartbreaking in many ways but leaves you with a fantastic warm glow and massive respect for him - might not be typical "holiday reading" though
O Canada
Some more Canadians:
Wayne Johnston:
The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams
is a fictional biography of longtime Newfoundland premier Joey Smallwood. Can also recommend The Divine Ryans and Baltimore's Mansion.
Mordechai Richler:
Solomon Gursky Was Here
An alcholic biographer decides to write a history of the wealthy Gurskys. The mysterious Solomon is the black sheep of the family. Ranging from the underworld of nineteenth-century London, through the Franklin expedition to the Arctic, to the Prohibition years on the prairies and the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Can also recommend Barney's Version.
Michael Turner:
The Pornographer's Poem
This is the kind of book that readers should just read while knowing as little as possible about it. He has also written Hard Core Logo.
Will Ferguson:
Hokkaido Highway Blues
A hilarious travelogue from Japan. Has been re-released with a new title, Hitching Rides With Buddha.
Wot ?
No Margaret Attwood - The Blind Assassin, The Handmaidens Tale, The Penelopiad etc.?
No Michael Ondaatje - Anil's Ghost, The English Patient?
Will Ferguson's
'Happiness' is excellent.
For those who don't already know, it's about a man who publishes a self-help book that actually works and the devastating [and amusing] consequences that ensue.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Happiness-TM-Will-Ferguson/dp/1841953512/ref=sr_...
Songman by Will Hodgkinson
much better than i thought it would be. great andy partridge encounter!
CIRCULAR READING
Just finished The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher which took up five evenings of well spent reading on my summer holiday. Little bit of biography (if you can remember the 70s or 80s), fiction, politics (Miner's strike) and a laugh out loud scene about looking for a new Australian lodger. And a lot of good writing. I selected it based on a Word recommendation in the Xmas best of 2008 edition (apologies for fawning).
i play the drums in a band called okay by Toby Litt
is okay.
You can't go wrong with T. C. Boyle
Just back from a holiday...
...a quiet week in Exmoor, far, far away from any form of mobile phone signal and other distractions.
One of the books I read was 'Perfecting Sound Forever' by Greg Milner, based on the article that appeared in the July edition of The Word, which traces the history of recorded music from Edison up to the present day - fascinating and entertaining.
It's only on holiday that I get to read a book in one go and if you like novels that mess with your head a bit, but are still fun to read, then I'd recommend 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger, or 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell, or even 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Atwood. All of these need to be read in a short period, so you can keep track of what's happening!
I quite like to read books with some relation to where I'm going if possible. A couple of years ago on Crete I read Alan Clarke's 'The Battle For Crete', about the German invasion of Crete (when you read what happened, it makes you wonder why the Cretans welcome the Germans with open arms these days...) and George Pyschoundakis' wonderful memoir of life in the Cretan resistance called 'The Cretan Runner'. I wouldn't recommend Victoria Hislop's 'The Island', which, although interesting in terms of its subject matter about the leper colony on Spinalonga, is a bit wooden in its delivery.
Having read 'Stalingrad' and 'Berlin' by Antony Beavor, I might give his latest book about the D-Day landings a go.
Thank you
I was trying to remember the "Perfecting sound for ever" book. Off to Amazon.
This is true...
I just came back from hols so can confirm I took (and read) 'With Nails' by Richard E Grant - v good but gets quite luvvie towards the end, but then what else would you expect? Also 'Rites of Passage' by William Golding - enjoyed it in the main but not sure why this won a Booker and suspect the extreme heat of Cyprus frazzled my brain so I missed the point.
Big hit of the hol was Puzzler Collection No 274 with FREE PEN but I haven't done them all yet, just the crosswords, spot the difference and colour in the spotted bits to reveal the hilarious picture...
Well done!
I'm proud of you and I actually forgot I'd read 'With Nails'
Kitchen Confidential
miss this one at your peril