Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
30 September 2010
08:5373068I hope I am not the only one who reads books on this forum.
So what are people reading now? Any good? Any recommendations?
In my case I am reading 61 Hours by Lee Child.
Lee Child is a British author who writes about an American character in contemporary USA.
His hero, Jack Reacher, is an ex Military Policeman who was the CO of an elite investigative unit. He, having left the Army as a result of spending cuts, wanders the USA with only the clothes he wears and a toothbrush getting into all sorts of scrapes, with a lot of 'scrapes' finding him...a man also for the ladies...
I usually spend an hour or so reading when I get to bed turning off the light when my eyes droop. That is not what happens when I get a Lee Child in my hands. Then I suddenly look up and find it is the early hours and I need to get some sleep and reluctantly put the book down.... They really are page turners...
Last night was no exception to that rule. I realised it was gone 1am and, horror or horrors, I was already 45% of the way through the book -soon to finish...... Ah, but then I realised today is the 30th Sept, the day Childs next novel is published and I have it pre-ordered from Amazon, so before 'lights out' I switched on the Kindle's wireless and seconds later his next book was safely downloaded ready to read as soon as 61 Hours is finished.... Happy days, and more late nights to follow.....
Well if your taste runs to thrillers with a tough, no-nonsense hero you can believe in, then Less Child's Jack Reacher books are for you
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
30 September 2010
09:0173072gerald seymour is the best thriller writer by a mile in my view.
his books all all well researched.
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
30 September 2010
11:4573094I like to have a book or two on the go. I do read the odd novel, but my current tome is Subterranean City - Beneath the streets of London by Anthony Clayton. I had it signed by the author when we went to the Brunel Thames Tunnel last weekend. It's very interesting for anyone that likes unseen/life beneath the capital.
30 September 2010
13:4373123Agree with you there Barry, i have 61 Hours hear ready to read next and have read all the Lee Childs books. My next favourite would be James Patterson a similar thriller writer who has written an excellant series of books based on a Detective character Alex Cross but has also written several stand alone novels.
30 September 2010
14:5373124Life's too short to read things that people have made up.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
30 September 2010
15:0273125So you don't read fiction then Bob. Is life too short for movies and tv fiction as well then?
I find that a bit sad really. We all need to relax and escape from our day to day lives at times and a good bit of fiction, book, movie or tv programme is a good way to do it.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
30 September 2010
15:2373126Sorry Barry, no fiction for me mate, or tv whether fiction or non fiction, I`ve turned my back on the lot. Nearly four years now I think, and I can live without it all. Nothing against tv or fiction books, though the latter is preferred to see people doing, keeps the old grammar and spelling up to date I would think? My current book is `The Eerie Silence`, by Paul Davies. Keith would find it boring, and Alexander wouldn`t even consider it. Can`t speak for anyone else on here. Computer`s will never replace books for me. Happy reading all.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
30 September 2010
15:3073127All part of life's rich pattern Colin and Bob.......all to their own I suppose.
I just cant help thinking about the great novels, movies and tv I have seen and watched and the enjoyment it brings - a life without that just feels strange to me....
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
30 September 2010
15:4273128I had all that interest as well Barry, and completely understand you, but in my interest`s in recent year`s most earthly matter`s seem so trivial and unimportant from a distance, (astronomical distance), though of course they are, as lack of order and dicipline would never do. I have to read some of my books over a few times as much of it I confess to being unable to get my head round, which makes it that more interesting. I blame no one for being bored with such books. As you say Barry, all part of life`s rich pattern.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
30 September 2010
15:5773132bob
are you saying that you do not read political party manifestos prior to an election?
you are definitely missing out, bellylaughs galore.
re; the books mentioned where the same character keeps appearing in different books by the same writer i find they become a bit predictable, you can anticipate what the character will do in each situation.
30 September 2010
17:2173141Howard,
In middle of A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
A very real book about things that people have made up?
Unregistered User
30 September 2010
17:5673149Barry listened to Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, another Jack Reacher novel. I find listening to Audio books on ipod whilst walkng the dog first thing is very absorbing.
Agree with you on Gerald Seymour Howard, whilst John Le Carre is also amongst the top flight.
Watty
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
30 September 2010
18:3273158Howard: ref serial books featuring the same character...
is it not the point that they do indeed become almost like friends who you know and how they react. Is that not the point. it does not stop the situations they find themselves in being any less gripping.
Last night reading 61 Hours, Reacher was sat in the police chief's office having a coffee when a case file is handed to the chief. You are then just waiting for the police chief to discover that the tough scruffy bloke in front of him is a top-flight investigator and about to give the 'out of his depth' hick cop a masterclass in deductive reasoning.... You know its coming and it is always a treat to read....
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
30 September 2010
19:0173163has anyone read the books that emanate from a couple of ex special forces chaps?
i have read 3 of each, no comparison betwen them, andy macnab tells an excellent yarn laced with gallows humour which i imagine that sas/sbs people would have. chris ryan simply has no literary skills, all his characters are one dimensional they either wear a white or black hat,
i rarely read any historical stuff, i prefer channel 4, bbc2 or the history channel for that, i find the re-enactments make the stories more interesting and accessible.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
30 September 2010
19:0773170has any one read the beano,dandy or the eagle latley.or dont they count.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,879
30 September 2010
19:1273173I like a good bit of escapism reading thrillers. Kathy Reichs, John Grisham, Dick Francis are my favourite writers with the occasional biography or historical novel for a change, Helen Forester is very good.
Trouble I find now I am 'getting on', reading tends to send me to sleep far too easily.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
30 September 2010
21:1173195Howard - I have read several of both MacNab and Ryan and like them both, though not my favourites.
For special forces/anti-terrorist books you cannot beat Vince Flynn - brilliant page turners, thoroughly recommended. I have not seen any of his books in UK book shops though, I have always got them via Amazon.
Then of course there is Tom Clancy's Ryan novels - if you have not read Hunt for Red October you have not lived... forget the film, the book is the biz,....
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
30 September 2010
21:5873199Actually reading Tutankhamen by Nick Drake at the moment. It is the sequel to Nefertiti and centres around a detective of the Theben Medjay (police) investigating murders while finding himself caught up in palace politics. Excellent flavour of Ancient Egypt at the same time as being good thrillers, if he gets it wrong his bosses will have his whole family executed.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
30 September 2010
22:0573200that should appeal to blue barry, he is very keen on executions.
Matt Bristow- Location: Whitfield, Dover
1 October 2010
11:2673254I always have a few books on the go everything from Scr-Fi to bios.
At the moment I am reading Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase (not his real name incidently) a post WWII epic hard going but I cant seem to put it down. Its also by a local author that and I shot his portrait for the book jacket!