Books / Literature

Kinda in a lull of reading at the moment, during my trip to the states and just before, read Amber Spyglass P Pullamn , Eragron & Eldest C Paolini (anyone else get a Star Wars vibe of the books?), Startship troopers R Heinlein (interesting politics and future history), and the Rahxephon novels (though there seems to be a problem with the lastest volume at publisher level).
 
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Been reading a fantasy novel (trilogy) called "The Magicians Guild" by Trudi Canavan. If you into all the arcane magic style fantasy, it's a really good read (much better than all that harry potter rubbish :wink: )
 
In line with my recently developed fascination with all things Japanese I dug out a couple of books from my local library:

<b>The Japanese - Strange but not Strangers - Joe Joseph</b>
Enjoyable read giving a nice snap shot of Japanese society and culture from the view point of a westerner living there - the author was at the time The Times newspaper correspondent in Tokyo.
You definitely learn some interesting things but the author possibly dwells too much on the negative aspects such as the chronic over-crowding, over-worked salarymen, lack of holidays, the plight of Japanese females, and the pressures of the education system.

<b>The Undefeated - The Rise, Fall and Rise of Greater Japan - Robert Harvey</b>
Bit heavy this one - only 100 pages in so far with about 500 to go - possibly more of an academic book thick with historical detail.
It has a very interesting prelude that recounts events immediately proceeding and following the two atomic bombings of WWII, giving a vivid picture from both sides of the equation.
The rest of the book then goes on to describe how, from pivotal events of 1867, the future course of Japanese history was set, leading to the events of WWII, but also critical in shaping the state of modern society and politics today - well 1994 at least, when the book was published

Might not make it through that last one, heavy stuff indeed.
 
I'm very happy at the moment as the new Terry Pratchett book is finally out and I will be reading it this weekend, I really wanna start it now but I know that if I do that I'll be stuck at work with nothing to do
 
I've read Memoirs of a Geisha, mindful of the furore surrounding the author and the character on whom the book's heroine is based. What it lacks in historical accuracy it makes up for in drama though.

I'm now onto George Orwell's 1984...not a cheery read by any means but a powerful and thoughtfully written book nonetheless.
 
Vexer Yggdrasil Zero said:
Been reading a fantasy novel (trilogy) called "The Magicians Guild" by Trudi Canavan. If you into all the arcane magic style fantasy, it's a really good read (much better than all that harry potter rubbish :wink: )
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Just read the trilogy earlier in the year and found it very entertaining. I'm told that Trudi Canavan's newer series including the titles "Priestess of the Whtie" and "Last of the Wilds" is also very good, though I have not read either yet.

Recently I've been reading a few cop/murder stories, the best being "The Lonely Dead" by Michael Marshal which I think I found interesting because it was an excellent story but with an element of fantasy to some aspects of it.

Anyone who has seen "The Machinist" with Christian Bale would love "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane. It's the kind of book where you have to know what happens next and will end up reading it in a day or two.
 
Oo, Terry Pratchett. Bought Wintersmith last week and it should be the next book I read. Ditto, own all of Pratchett's books, v.funny and an easy read.

Still only 3/4 of the way through A Quantum Murder. Not a bad story, just not as involving as some of the others Peter Hamilton has written.

Still sat on the shelve:
Gridlinked - Neal Asher
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse
Dune, the battle of corrin - Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson
The Algebraist - Ian M Banks
Stamping Butterflies - Jon Cortney Grimwood
 
Peter Hamilton is my favourite science fiction writer, Judas Unchained sitting on my shelf. I'm finishing another book first though 'A history of Japan 1334-1615 (non fiction)
 
George R R Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire". Books don't get more amazing than that.

Also, Paolini's "Eldest" I'm also feeling LOTR vibes aswell as Star Wars, tut tut

And Robin Hobb's "Assassin's Apprentice". Its amazing and doesn't fall to the Robert Jordan syndrome.
 
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Asdrubael said:
I'm finishing another book first though 'A history of Japan 1334-1615 (non fiction)
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Sounds like a slightly random choice of historical time frame - were there significant developments in that period?
 
Nobunaga Oda and his rise and fall, hideyoshi taking power then the battles between mitsunari Ishida and ieyasu tokugawa, that was mostly in the 16th century though. but that books seems to be mostly based in the sengoku period anyway looking at the time frame.

erm at the moment i am reading the ring, again then going through the other two books in the series.
 
Arbalest said:
Nobunaga Oda and his rise and fall, hideyoshi taking power then the battles between mitsunari Ishida and ieyasu tokugawa, that was mostly in the 16th century though. but that books seems to be mostly based in the sengoku period anyway looking at the time frame.
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Ahh...thanks for that Arbalest - I have much to learn!

Still battling with my way from 1868 Japan onwards - begining to think its not the best written book - thick and lumpy - doesn't make for a flowing read.
 
the sengoku period is an interesting one, i think its a good read specially if your interested in how the first shogun came to be and how the introduction of muskets changed warfare in japan, you just need a book that will be easy to read
 
Anyone read any of the Robert Thomson books? Amazingly well put together, each one deals with a different thing. My current fave is Tragic Kingdom which is a scary look at the future of Britain. Basically Britain is vut into 4 quarters each on inhabited by a different psychological aspect of humanity. The Lazy (think hippies), The Violent (criminals, no law whatsoever), The Positive Thinkers (they run it all basically), the negative thinkers (basically sit around waiting to die). Children are assessed at a young age, sent to a special school and the rehoused in the correct section. Quite chilling in parts.
 
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