UKC

I’ve not seen a general reading thread for a little while, so I thought I would start one.

I’ve just finished Rotherweird by Andrew Caldicott which was an enjoyably silly bit of fantacy. Just started The Magus by John Fowles, I’m only a dozen chapters in, but I’m liking it.

Also dipping in to Stephen Fry’s Greek Myths book Mythos and Peter Hook’s tale of the Hacienda days, How Not To Run A Club.

Just finished Richard Morgan's Thin Air (good: hard boiled, detective noir sci-fi). Currently wading through Passchendaele: A new history, (alternates between interesting and dry as dust). Just started William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace (good so far).

I found The Magus well written but very dated; what do you reckon to the extreme gender stereotyping underlying all the try hard transgressive hipness? (for the time it was written anyway). Hooky's book was entertaining but jeez, nobody could teach him anything about grinding an axe!

Hex: The Joe Conelly's on my list too, post if you rate it.

I'm currently reading Edging the Estuary, which might sound like a euphemism for an obscure sexual practice but is actually about a walk around the banks of the Severn estuary. It's a bit self published in feel and could do with some more editing but quite entertaining for all that. I especially enjoy his description of the industrial hinterlands, half finished projects and decay of the urban fringe areas.

(by Peter Finch pub. Seren Books)

Just finished "Of Mice and Men" and about to start "The Darkest Days" by Douglas Newton. It's all about WW1.

Al

Just finished the Tattooist of Auschwitz. I read it in one sitting in about 7 hours which would suggest that it must have been unputdownably brilliant, it wasn't. An excellent story terribly told that deserved so much better. Very easy to read, chapters in soundbites and reads like a love story (fair enough, it is a love story in an awful place) The author absolutely fails to convey the horror of Auschwitz. Dr Mengale is described like a pantomime villain, after years in the camp, Lale waves off his Romani block companions as they are led off, seemingly unbothered that they are leaving the block and then loses his sh1t when he sees smoke coming out of the chimney?!...she (the author) must have fully misunderstood Lale when he described this....and at the end him randomly bumping into Gita (his lover) after they both escaped and he had no idea where she was or even if she was alive was written as if it was rushed and an after thought...no drama, no suspense, no emotion, They had spent years, stealing moments together whilst facing almost certain imminent death whilst despicable murder happened all around them every hour of every day...and what should have been a "sobbing uncontrollalbly" moment of the story it was written as if by a bored teenager for an English project.

Definitely avoid. 

Currently reading Eyewitness Auschwitz - Filip Muller. Very different to the above, far more authentic (not sure if that's the right word) and a gives a far better understanding of life in Aushwitz and Birkenau, Interestingly (for me) an American prisoner is mentioned (Jacob) who features heavily in Tattooist of Auschwitz ,also Filip lived in Block 11 which was where prisoners (including Lale from ToA) sent to be tortured (and murdered) usually by Jacob (amongst others) for information before going outside to be shot. Filip was part of the cremation team which were always kept separate from other prisoners to keep the gas chambers secret and lived in cells underground in Block 11.

Half way through and thoroughly engrossed, have also bought The Holocaust Laurence Rees to read after.

Finished The Magician's Glass, Character and fate: eight essays on climbing and the mountain life, a couple of days ago. A collection of essays by Ed Douglas, taken from articles he has written for various magazines. Engaging, entertaining read and I finished it a couple of days after delivery. Perfect pub book, (log fire, real ale pub, not city centre 'spoons).

Starting on The Push by Tommy Caldwell at the moment, with the aim of providing sufficient psyche that my training over Xmas won't collapse to walking to and from the pub! Book and plan starting well, though work Xmas party on Thursday could test the latter.

Uh-oh, I might get some stick for this.

I'm currently re-reading the Tales Of The City series by Armistead Maupin

Easy reading and quite fun

Currently reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Not far enough into it to offer an opinion.

Previously read Stoner by John Williams. I recently saw it described as "quietly devastating", which is fairly accurate I think. An easy read nevertheless. Recommended.

In parallel with the above I've been dipping into the recently published Waymaking anthology of women's adventure writing. Some really great writing in there. Recommended.

I read that a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.

Currently reading MaddAddam by Margret Atwood. It's the third in her Oryx and Crake trilogy. I found the middle of the second novel and the middle of the third to be a bit hard going. It's well written, but some of the flash backs get a bit tedious, especially the Gardner stuff in the second book - I just want to know what happens! 

I found it somewhat overrated and not really deserving of the attention it has received. Mind you, I think it was Ian McEwan's revisiting that brought it back into the public eye, and I don't have much time for him either. 

I'm currently reading GJ Meyers' 'The Borgias'. It's rather heavy going. One of the main thrusts is that the reputation of the Borgias is undeserved and indeed, unearned, but beyond simple dismissals of anything that runs contrary to the author's thesis, there doesn't seem a great deal of critical analysis. It's also a very dull wade through Italian history of the mid- to late 15th century, with little more than a cataloguing of who was allied to whom in any particular week. Not recommended, unlike Paul Strathern's 'The Medici', which is a much more compelling read, painting a much more interesting picture of the people. 

Next on the list will be something considerably more readable - Robert Harris's 'Fatherland'. Harris has a terrific ability to write engagingly without being simplistic, and knowledgably without wearing his erudition too heavily, and he makes his characters thoroughly credible. 

Reread these recently as my German partner got into them when we visited San Francisco.

Just finished Mick Fowler's No Easy Place and Nick Bullock's Tides. Both recommended.

Now reading Simon Hoggart's The Cat That Could Open the Fridge, a guide to Xmas round robin letters which I found in the Oxfam shop. 

Wow, The Magus is a memorable book. Hope you keep at it. One chapter in particular I have gone back to read again a number of times over the years.

The Milkman. Good so far.

That's what prompted me... visited SF last year and remembered lots of the places mentioned in the books. 

Recently finished The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence. Last of a fantasy trilogy  set in a post apocalyptic world. OK but main storyline rather lost in the plot and I'd forgotten many of the referenced incidents from preceding volumes.

Currently reading Swimming with Seals by Victoria Whitworth. Year round cold water swimming in Orkney with the bulk of the text an eclectic mix of autobiography, history, social commentary, literature etc.  

Currently reading Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics by Bruce A Schumm.

It starts off slowly and leads you in with things like is light a particle or a wave or both? Then it goes through the notable achievements of various scientists and mathematicians and how they all link together to form a bigger picture. I'm not a particle physicist or a mathematician, so much of the content is new to me and quite perplexing. It's very interesting, though I think I'm only able to understand a small fraction of what is being explained.

I've also just read Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglass.

I get the impression, that unless you do 100+ miles per week and are aiming for less than 2h15, you're probably a bit of a punter. It's interesting, but similar to others. Does anyone really follow the training regimes? Monday 8x400m at race pace, followed by 5k at lactate threshold. (Other than advanced marathon runners who run less than 2h15)

I have Essays in Skepticism by Bertrand Russell lined up next. Then Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World - Bruce Schneier. I've also got his Data and Goliath (signed by the author!), on the reading pile as well.

Having read Yuval Noval Harari's  'Sapiens' which I found tremendous and his 'Homo Deus' which I found disquieting, my hill buddy has just dropped in with his third offering'21 Lessons for the 21st Century' for my birthday so here goes. In between all this I read 'The Great Gatsby' by F Scott Fitzgerald - what an elegant piece of writing. Having read Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' previously I now know where Roth gets his inspiration. I've read lots of Historical pageturners - a good way to fill in historical knowledge, Conn Igguldens War of the Roses series being a case in point and very enjoyable. Also enjoying S J Parris's Elizabethan whodunnits.

I'm just reading North Somerset Outcrops Vol.1 by Mark Davies. Out today, excellent photos and text.

I've just finished rereading Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. I love the way it's written even though it's a translation. It's not a book you can skim through. Every word, phrase and sentence is there for a reason.

I'm halfway through The House of Borgia by Christopher Hibbert which has a lot of sex and killing going on. At least it fills in a few blanks about Italian history and the popes and Vatican of the time, all rather unsavoury. Debauchery is the word I might use!

The Birds of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgisztan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan.

My daughters are planning my holidays for me...

CB

'A month in the country' by JL Carr. Shell shocked first world war survivor spends a month in a Yorkshire village cleaning a painting in a church. Funny, tender, wistful and moving. And very short at just over 100 pages. 

'The Moth Catcher' by Anne Cleeve - detective fiction in the Vera series. Well written and readable. I really enjoy her books.

David

Just finished Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor. Another superb novel from one of my favourite authors. Some might consider his tales of modern life too bleak, but I find his descriptions of people, their situation and relationships truly compelling. They won't send you cheerfully on your way, but they will make you think. Which I like...

Following that will be a complete change of direction to Training Essentials for Ultrarunning by Jason Koop. It was recommended on here a couple of months back and as I've got a number of ultras next year I thought I'd give it a go.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, which I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've never read even though I've heard of it/about it for aeons. An extraordinary book, very funny in its dazzling parodic use of language, almost baffling at times in its multiple levels of ironic intelligence. Am about a third of a way through, so will withhold further comments until I've finished it.

The Magus feels of it's time, a book completed in the 60s about a young man in the early 50s, told in the first person. I'm not sure it feels dated. I'm only a quarter of the way through, less see what I feel at the end.

You're probably right. It must be 20 years since I read it. That fact that so much of it remains lodged in my brain speaks well of it's overall quality.

I'm so glad you posted this! I very nearly picked up the Tattooist the other day and changed my mind. Sounds like it would have really annoyed me.

Out of interest, what's your opinion on Primo Levi? I'm currently re-reading "If not now, when?". I keep going back to it, probably my favourite book of all time and one I have to keep re-buying as I give it away.

I have not read any of his books but own "If this is a man..." which is a few books away from being read. I believe it is in two parts, first half his life in Monowitz, and the second half his journey back to Italy. 

I believe Monowitz was for workers, and as they became too weak they were moved to Birkenau for liquidation. 

The book I am reading now Eyewitness Auschwitz is a first hand eyewitness account of a young man who survived Auschwitz Birkenhau by being part of a work party that pretty much daily , for three years gassed, removed hair and teeth then put into the ovens, hundreds of thousands of naked men, women and children. It is utterly brutal in it's matter of factness, and I have to take breaks from it to try and comprehend what I have just read. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you are looking for something that will make you evaluate everything you take for granted and humble you to the point of complete embarrassment for the things in daily life that wind you up.

On the train this morning reading it and had to stop to try and comprehend this fact.... at it's peak, the Birkenau technicians were melting down 5 to 10 kilograms (yes...kilograms!) of gold a day ( yes..a day!!) from teeth. They were formed into bars and sent to the Reichsbank. A standard internationally traded gold bar held in bank vaults by governments is 12.4kg as a point of reference.

 I'm sure plenty of posters here have read lots on the Holocaust and will have some good pointers as well (Also, Netflix has BBCs 4 part documentary on Auschwitz if you're interested)

A download of a couple of thousands ebooks led me to reading Terry Pratchett front to back, most of Nora Robb's death in... Series, then the old man's war series (really nice,) then the Ender's game series, currently stuck on xenocide as its not as good as the first. (So Aubrey maturin for a bit for pleasure, still amazing.)

Years ago we had a family task to see who could read the most BBC Big Read 100 books... i battled and battled through the Magus but in the end gave up (I think the only 1 i started and couldnr finish). I just thought it was terrible.

They want to send you to Afghanistan?

Getting back to the OP I recently finished "The Salt Path" by Raynor Winn which is a thoroughly uplifting book. I sometimes wonder given the current Brexit excrementstorm if we should just hit the road..........

That is the one country off the list, but climbing a nice high peak in Tajikistan or Kyrgisztan followed by couple weeks of birding in Kazakhstan sounds perfect!

CB

Khan Tengri is stunning (to look at)! Have fun wherever you go!

"A History of Modern Britain" by Andrew Marr which is reminding of the many things I had forgotten or ignored at the time - it's a very long list.

"The Library of Ice: Readings From a Cold Climate" by Nancy Campbell which is just a lovely essay on... well, the title says it all

I've been coughing and sneezing for a week or so and have needed a comfort read, so turned to Pratchett. "Wee Free Men", then "A hat full of sky", "Wintersmith" and now half way through "I shall wear midnight". 

Comfort was achieved, as was entertainment, but much more. The part of Discworld called The Chalk is a thinly disguised and lovingly-written version of The Ridgeway, which is near where I live, with its chalk horses and sheep-cropped grass. And I love Pratchett's witches - wise women, healers, eccentric, in touch with the earth, in tune with birth and death ... that's who I'd like to be, though the pointy hat might be socially awkward.

Just finished "Why mummy swears" which I eventually got far enough into to enjoy. It's a bit like "the diary of a provincial lady". But with more language.

Factfulness, the Hans Rosling book.

Too be honest I'm plodding through it. I think the trouble is that I was already aware of much of the stuff he wanted to tell people about so while I'm learning bits and pieces I find myself skimming through a lot if it. It is perfectly well written and Rosling's anectodes are entertaining.

I think I'll give a copy or two as Christmas presents. The book's message is important and would make a great gift to a teenager with an enquiring mind.

Our Man in Havana

Greene at his funniest and most scathing of the Establishment.

I haven’t read that but recently saw the film which dragged on a bit. I was disappointed reading The Honorary Consul, it seemed to be a one-gag short story stretched interminably into a novel wittering on about the mate plantations.

I do like some good Greene. The utterly downbeat The Heart Of the Matter, the veil of jollity on Travels With My Aunt, the sheer energy of Brighton Rock...

I imagine that the satire of Our Man in Havana works a lot better in print than on film

Just finished The Gallows Pole by Ben Myers.  A really excellent historical novel set in West Yorkshire in the 18th century, at the cusp of the industrial revolution.  It could only have been written by someone who's spent too much time on the moors, and hanging around Yorkshire grit in the rain.  

If this is a man / The truce is a classic. It doesn't have the graphic horror of the book you're reading, but it certainly made me evaluate my life and realise how trivial my problems are. The Truce, about Levi's journey home, is in some ways even more moving. We tend assume that those few who survived the camps were supported, but they pretty much have to fend for themselves and make the long trek home through a world that's in chaos.

I'll think about reading Eyewitness Auschwitz, but I'm not sure I need to know those details. Once read they can't be erased.

Bringing Out The Dead: What a read! An incredibly strange ending and the protagonist is not to be emulated in any way!!

The above disclaimer aside, I enjoyed the book thoroughly.

Just started it (£2 from Amazon). Undecided so far but I'm only 22 pages in.

Road to Wigan Pier.
In a lot of ways, sod all has changed!

I read Stoner as a result of seeing it recommended here on a similar thread a while ago. A wonderful book, although the tragic inevitability filled me with dread almost every time I picked it up as I got towards the end.

Grey skies, Green Waves by Tom Anderson.

Bought by Mrs BB as a Christmas gift. I am enjoying it lots.

Having been on a bookless streak for a couple of months I've retreated to the marvellous and previously-read The Master and Margarita. Satan and his pistol-wielding giant cat terrorise 1920s communist Moscow - what's not to love?

Auschwitz - A Doctors eyewitness account, Penguin classics

Miklos Nyiszli is a trained pathologist sent to auschwitz and applies to help Joseph Mengele in the prison dissecting room when on the ramp for selection. It saved his life but what he ends up having to do and what he sees is considered one of the first and accurate depictions of life in Auschwitz. Mengele had an interest in twins and dwarfs, so twins were selected and usually killed together so both bodies were fresh for dissection (almost impossible to achieve in "normal" life) by injection to the heart which Miklos discovered only through autopsy as it was kept secret from him....

Truely horrific as you can imagine but an essential read to understand the atrocity.

I agree about 'Homo Deus'. It's profound in places.

Currently reading a few:

War for Armageddon - 40K Sci-fi fast-food but good in the same way as fast food!  Warlord Titan Robots 60 metres tall fight for a hive-city against an Ork invasion.  KA-BOOM!

The Guns of Normandy - A Canadian gunner's account of the fighting in Normandy which I'm reading as a way of researching my grandfather who was a gunner, killed in July '44 in Normandy.

In Some Lost Place: The First Ascent of Nanga Parbat's Mazeno Ridge.  So far a fairly standard Greater Ranges book, well executed but I think things are about to go a bit screwy.

I'll give an honourable mention to Kazuo Ishigaro's Never Let Me Go which I actually read a few months back but as promised by the recommendation on one of these threads it's been rumbling round my head ever since, such a beautiful heart-breaking downright unfathomable book.  On the same tip I'll give another mention to the Narrow Road to the Deep North, about the Burma Railway, love and Tasmania, again picked up after a prompt from one of these threads and again brilliant.  So thanks book-lovers!