145 replies to this topic

[Full Range]

For me reading is just as important as listening to music

I have recently read (in the last 6 weeks) almost the whole series by Lee Child
He has one main character Jack Reacher

Titles I have read so far in Paperback
The Killing Floor, Die Trying, Tripwire, The Visitor, Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, The Enemy, Bad Luck & Trouble, Nothing to Loose, Gone Tomorrow, 61 Hours, Worth Dying For

The only ones I still need to read are
One Shot & The Hard Way

I have read another 6 or so books as well in the same 6 week time period

FR

[Eggmeister]

I have just finished reading

The Case for working with Your hands or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good...

I recommend http://booko.com.au/ when looking for cheap book prices...

[Phill451]

I am reading the latest novel by William Gibson called Zero history. I am no longer sure of the genre of Gibson's writing it used to be called cyberpunk but I don't necessarily know that this is the case. anyway I am enjoying it.

I have not read anything by Lee Child but am willing to give anything a go.

Thanks

[My Rantz]

Currently reading Harlan Coben's "Caught" - one of his more 'serious' thrillers.

Read all Lee Child books with one to go.

Favourite fiction author is Nelson Demille followed closely by Richard North Patterson.

[Todd]

Good idea for a thread!

Am back reading after getting a Kindle.

A recent highlight was "The Death Instinct" by Jed Rubenfeld. Reads like a fast paced movie with plenty of interesting history.

Currently reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. Just started but I think it is going to be an engaging tale about sympathetic female characters in Afghanistan.

Will keep an eye on this thread for future reads. Thanks!

[soundfan]

Khaled Hosseini also wrote The Kite Runner. Both tremendous books.

I'm currently reading Dead Air by Iain Banks. (novel)

Just finished: 18 Hours (The true story of an SAS war hero) by Sandra Lee. Its an account of an aussie troopers time in Afghanistan fighting al Qaeda, while attached to an American unit.

[Vladimir Freddie]

Great question! I've worked in a public library for the past 18 years!!

lol - I asked a similar Q on facebook and not one of my "friends" was reading anything or even bothered replying!!

Generally read non-fiction. Just finished Tim Flannery's "Here on Earth: an argument for hope" & have just started "How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming" but the astronomer who discovered the short lived 10th planet Xena.

[soundfan]

I'm very similar to Full Range. If I'm not listening to music at home, I can generally be found with my head inside a book. I read mostly fiction (particulary crime), but am not adverse to reading non fiction if its a topic that grabs my interest. I use my local library to a large extent, and have only recently started buying e-books for my Kindle e-reader which I've had (and loved) for a couple of months now.

My favourite authors include James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Nelson DeMille, and Ian Rankin.

Chris

[brumby]

About three months ago, I finished reading the last of the 20 book series of Aubrey/Maturin novels written by Patrick O'Brian. For those who are not familiar with these - think the movie "Master and Commander" which was based on the characters and borrowed from several of the books.

Anyway, I so enjoyed the series that I went back and re read it - in its entirety. Yep, I read voraciously.

[JeffK]

Currently struggling through Exile by Richard North Patterson.

My favourite books have been The Riders by Tim Winton and The Great Gatsby.

My daughter has asked for an ereader for her 22nd birthday on April 1. I might start a seperate thread asking for advice.

Jeff

[Phill451]

Currently struggling through Exile by Richard North Patterson.

My favourite books have been The Riders by Tim Winton and The Great Gatsby.

My daughter has asked for an ereader for her 22nd birthday on April 1. I might start a seperate thread asking for advice.

Jeff

I would rank both those books very highly in my list of favourites.

I would highly recommend a kindle for reading fiction. I own both a Kindle, an iPad, and literally thousands of hard and soft cover books. For feel and touch a book wins every time, for convenience including a library at your finger tips and no storage dilemmas I would vote for a Kindle. The iPad is good for 4 colour type publishing but I do find it fatiguing for extended reading.

The only real downside of a Kindle is the store does not have much Australian publishing and neither does Apple. The aus publishing industry is IMO very scared of the consequences of epublishing which will ultimately result in loss of market share and an even tougher time for local authors.

Phil

[holdencaulfield2007]

The Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1 which had a 100 year prohibition on publication.
A very unconventional autobiography as it is not written chronologically. Nevertheless it is a fascinating read.

[soundfan]

I would rank both those books very highly in my list of favourites.

I would highly recommend a kindle for reading fiction.

The only real downside of a Kindle is the store does not have much Australian publishing and neither does Apple. The aus publishing industry is IMO very scared of the consequences of epublishing which will ultimately result in loss of market share and an even tougher time for local authors.

Phil

I found a way around the limited (compared to US) availability of e-books. I entered a US address (googled a real address) on my Amazon account, purchased some e-books I otherwise wouldn't have been able to buy, and then reverted back to my Aust home address on my account.
I haven't been questioned thus far; sssshh don't tell anyone.

[Full Range]

I have just read 3 books by an Australian author Robert G Barrett
Most of his books are based in and around Sydney & Newcastle
He has a recurring character called Les Norton

Titles I just finished

Gun's "N" Roses
Mud Crab Boogie
And De Fun Don't Done

FR

[davidsss]

Just finished The Marrowbone Marble Company by Glenn Taylor. Very good book I would recommend.

I used to get through a book every week or 2 when I went to work on public transport. Now I ride a bike to work I'm probably only reading about one a month. Hard to find the time. I also read The Age every day and the Guardian Weekly so I end up with limited reading time. Books are a pleasure and I am not really interested in ebooks. We have a few thousand books here and don't have storage problems, all you need is a big bookshelf!

DS

[Gabba]

Lecture slides

Recently:

The Catcher in the Rye (again)
Night (Elie Wiesel)
One of the Jeremy Clarkson column books
Death's Acre: Inside The Bodyfarm
If This is a Man/The Truce
Heart of Darkness
The Godfather

[My Rantz]

Just started Demille's "The Lion" - one chapter in and I already know I'm going to enjoy it.

Read all his books and I recommend them all except Spencerville.

[valvelover]

Currently reading the dummies guide to learning Japanese. About to pick up HP Lovecraft's Lurker at the threshold (arkham press hardcover). Note that I collect rare and antiquarian books sometimes ;-)

[cableconnoisseur]

Like a coupla others here, I enjoy a good read.

Just went to the local council library and got my hands on this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29944[/ATTACH]

21st March:

And it's a crap read.

Don't waste your money buying this.

Or your time borrowing it from your local library.

Attached Files

•  572475_enlarged.jpg   25.1K   15 downloads

Edited by cableconnoisseur, 21 March 2011 - 07:21 PM.

[soundfan]

I have just read 3 books by an Australian author Robert G Barrett
Most of his books are based in and around Sydney & Newcastle
He has a recurring character called Les Norton

Titles I just finished

Gun's "N" Roses
Mud Crab Boogie
And De Fun Don't Done

FR

I've read most of the books featuring Les Norton, going back about 15 years now I think. I recommend " You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids" & "The Real Thing" as standouts for me.

[soundfan]

I'm reading Iain Banks: Dead Air (novel set in London around the period of 9/11) and its a very good read thus far.


I'm flying off tomorrow for holidays and have around 9 books loaded on my Kindle e-reader ready to go.

[Full Range]

I've read most of the books featuring Les Norton, going back about 15 years now I think. I recommend " You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids" & "The Real Thing" as standouts for me.

Woo thanks for the thumbs up on those titles
FR

[Todd]

I just finished a book called 'Room' by Emma Donoghue. Enjoyed it. In fact I finished it in three days I was so absorbed (am normally a leisurely reader). A woman is kidnapped and held hostage for sex for seven years, locked in a room. She has a child two years into the ordeal and the book is from the child's perspective. A horrible premise I know but the author chose to concentrate on the mother son relationship and the developmental issues such child rearing circumstances would engender. Given this, it wasn't a depressing read but rather fascinating as the child is a wonderful character.

[cableconnoisseur]

Just started reading this one and I can't put it down...............[ATTACH=CONFIG]30170[/ATTACH]

Link: http://blog.booktopi...michael-mcgurk/

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•  1.jpg   29.07K   11 downloads

[chu]

I have read some of Kathy Reichs' novels recently (Deja Death, Death du Jour, Breaking no Bones to name a few). They were quite enjoyable. Just finished John Steinbeck's East of Eden last week and it was very good. Currently reading Kate Atkinson's Case Histories.

[Rural Rat]

Just finished Big Shots by Adam Shand. Melbournes gangland war from the inside apparently. I found it very, very disturbing. If even a third of this is factual..........?
I am obviously seriously naive as to ways of the world.

[ayou2]

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

Great book. Science de-mystified in short & tons of fascinating facts along the way. eg: Henry Cavendish estimated the weight of the planet, in 1797, at 13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds (6 billion trillion metric tons in todays terms). By 1996 (at the time of publishing of this book) that figure had been adjusted back by only 1%. Isaac Newton made very close estimations 110 years before Cavendish.

If you like that kinda stuff, this books for you.

[davidsss]

I'm currently reading: Nothing to Envy, Love, life and death in North Korea. It is very interesting. The author, Barbara Demick, interviewed defectors from North Korea to see what it is really like and how the regime controls people's daily lives.

DS

[Vladimir Freddie]

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

Great book. Science de-mystified in short & tons of fascinating facts along the way. eg: Henry Cavendish estimated the weight of the planet, in 1797, at 13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds (6 billion trillion metric tons in todays terms). By 1996 (at the time of publishing of this book) that figure had been adjusted back by only 1%. Isaac Newton made very close estimations 110 years before Cavendish.

If you like that kinda stuff, this books for you.

+1 a favourite of mine too!

[biologist]

Currently reading the second of Stan Nicholls ORC trilogies Bad Blood: Weapons of Magical Destruction (finished a few days ago) and am now onto Bad Blood: Army of Shadows. The Orc's are tough, crude, rude and love a fight, its just one big boy's own adventure from start to finish. I can't put these books down.

[Gabba]

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

Great book. Science de-mystified in short & tons of fascinating facts along the way. eg: Henry Cavendish estimated the weight of the planet, in 1797, at 13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds (6 billion trillion metric tons in todays terms). By 1996 (at the time of publishing of this book) that figure had been adjusted back by only 1%. Isaac Newton made very close estimations 110 years before Cavendish.

If you like that kinda stuff, this books for you.

I had a Borders voucher that I desperately needed to use! Thanks for the suggestion, I am loving it. It is nice to learn some more general science on fields that I haven't really studied (astronomy and physics namely..).

[LogicprObe]

I'm reading Alan Ramsey's latest.

Great read.

[ayou2]

I had a Borders voucher that I desperately needed to use! Thanks for the suggestion, I am loving it. It is nice to learn some more general science on fields that I haven't really studied (astronomy and physics namely..).

Your welcome & glad you like it

[Full Range]

Just finished 2 Books by Lee Child
1) One Shot
2) The Hard Way
Cant Get enough of recurring character Jack Reacher

Daughter got them from Los Angeles as a gift

Now I will start on 2 biography like books on Frank Zappa & Jimi Hendrix

FR

[Whatmore]

Currently in the middle of 'A Naked Singularity' by Sergio De La Pava.

It's one of the most original and inventive books I've ever read.

Excerpt from a review here:

Editor’s note: This book review tends closer to an endorsement than we would usually publish. The reason for this is that the book under review is atypical. It is unusual, at the least, to review a self-published book that is nearly three years old. This book, we believe, merits continued attention. There is a growing body of evidence that it is a remarkable work of fiction that has been unjustly ignored.

Full review here : http://quarterlyconv...rgio-de-la-pava

[Phill451]

halfway though Freedom by Franzen. It is excellent I am enjoying it considerably more than The Corrections.

[Nayer]

im reading a classic , FountainHead and lance armstrong's biography - It's not about the bike

[MultiplexMan]

I tend to sample a work from an author, and if I like it, I try to read more of their work.

Recently I have read Haruki Murakami.
- Kafka on the Shore
- The Elephant Vanishes
- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
- A Wild Sheep Chase

All courtesy of my local library

[peacewise]

Holiday reading for me was...

Read The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert was a bit of fun, super soliders and uber observationalists, reminded me of the Bene Gesserit.

Thoroughly enjoyed Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks, he still writes the best space ships, "The Abominator-class picket ship Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints" was a real hoot and the star character for me.

Have been fascinated by Educational Psychology for learning and teaching.

[MultiplexMan]

I chanced upon Stuart MacBride whilst waiting in a country town with nought to do in the driving rain but visit the local library.

Halfhead - This was the gritty "near future" novel that got me interested in his writing. Some novel concepts are employed, made believable by the "imperfection" of their execution. Great characters - some of which bear frightening likenesses to persons in my professional life...

Other novels that follow a Scottish crime/detective theme:
Broken Skin
Blind Eye
Bloodshot
Dying Light

The writing has hints of Taggart and Silent Witness at times.

Great for consuming the hours at airports...

[Full Range]

Been a bit slack in the book reading area due to other commitments
These commitments have also kept me from SNA as well

Anyway I have read a detective story
Author James Paterson
Title Worst Case
Got to say it wasn't to my taste

Next book is music related
Author Sean Egan
Title The making of Are You Experienced (Jimi Hendrix)
Great book and well written but I started to re read it again just in case brain skipped some info and am about half way through it second time around

FR

[Luc]

Reading four biographies; two on James Boswell, one on Voltaire and the other one is the Whitbread Prize winning Bio of Johnson+ Savage by Holmes. These are of course all connected and my nose is in three other books dealing with social history in 18th century England and it's place in Europe and the Enlightenment.
Also reading some lighter stuff, a few Fantasy novels and a cyberpunk story allied with a graphic novel.

(I dont really watch TV much or read popular novels)

[davidsss]

Just finished Sideshow by Lindsay Tanner. Well worth reading, a good look at the dumbing down of politics in Australia and elsewhere.

DS

[Orpheus]

Reading the Michael Kirby biography, which is a very well written book, and quite inspiring.

A great man.

[mondie]

I am part way through The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. Quite an interesting read, its all over the place, wacky, insightful and sometimes just plain bizarre but never boring.