Books Are Gems

M

mark

At the Start
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Mar 24, 2005
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I am sure I have discussed this topic once some time ago with Krizon :D we both have a passion for books, searching second hand book shops, charity shops etc.

I read anything, I recently located a book relating to the construction of our railway system in the 1840's, next I found a book the subject matter being aviation, I was recently in a charity shop and found a book with regards to sailing, I have never sailed, I do not have any intention to do so, nevertheless, I will read the book. :D

I often get this comment when I take the book to the counter to pay for,
You are not going to read that are you?

It is very tempting but thus far I have held back from saying " No, one of our bird cages is a bit wobbly and this book is just the right thickness to place underneath the leg to make it stable" :nuts:

What else does one do with a book? you read them, Duh. :D
 
I grabbed a whole bunch the other day, Mark. Another in the 'No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series - 'Morality for Beautiful Girls', with the idea of reading it aloud to Mum, its companion 'Blue Shoes and Happiness', and 'Espresso Tales', which are short stories by the same author (Alexander McCall Smith), but set in his home city of Edinburgh.

I also hoovered up Alan Bennett's 'Writing Home', which will keep me going until 2010 with nearly 600 pages, and a rather sweet reference book called 'The Cloud-Spotter's Guide' by the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. It has many b&w and colour photos of different types of cloud, plenty of full descriptions, many quite humorous. Like a lot of people, I love clouds, and it'll be fun trying to remember their Latin names, many of which make them sound like members of the dinosaur species. Cirrostratus undulatus, supernumerary bows, and the teat-like mammatus clouds are certainly worth a moment of one's time.
 
I picked up about 12-15 books last weekend from the charity shops round here for about a tenner, including a couple by Jeffrey Deaver, whom I had never read before but really enjoyed. I also re-bought 4 Harlan Coben books as I regretted giving them away in the first place.
 
Harlen Coben writes two types of novels. He has a series of books "starring" Myron Bolitar, a sports agent who gets into all kinds of scrapes, most of which are not about sport. He also writes good thrillers, with a myriad of twists throughout.

Jeffrey Deaver is the man who wrote "The Bone Collector" which was made into a film with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie and the two I read aso star the same characters introduced there.
 
Oh, I love Harlan Coben, especially his Myron Bolitar series. Jeffrey Deaver's pretty good too, I love the forensics and procedurals in his books. Of the non-Lincoln Rhyme books, A Maiden's Grave is probably my favourite.

I love a good detective thriller :)

Greg Iles is very, very good, too, in that genre. Iles has also written a pretty amazing book called Black Cross, about a group of people planning a break-out from a Second World War concentration camp (that description does not do it justice).

For British equivalents of the detective thriller, see Mark Billingham - not quite in the same league but pretty good nonetheless.

Favourite books I have read recently, fiction-wise, would have to be The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud (Ian Sherwood? can't quite recall), Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz), Lucky (Alice Sebold), Anthropology (Dan Rhodes) - a pretty good anti-Valentines and amusing read, that last one. It's basically 101 stories, each with 101 words, very bizarre but well worth a read.

I'm reading a Stephen King book at the moment.
 
Mark Billingham is very good - another fan here, Purr!

I like Harlen Coben too although his books do tend to get a bit OTT, typical American thing I guess! An author who writes in a very similar vein (although better IMO) is John Connolly who is very good.

For those who like historical novels I can recommend Margaret George's Helen of Troy highly, it is very, very good. She's also written similar fictional biographies of Mary of Magdalene, Cleopatra, Mary, Queen of Scots & Henry VIII, all of which are good.
 
Thanks for that, bookworms! Purr, I cracked through about three Tess Gerritson crime novels this winter - if you haven't tried her, I can recommend the books as a fast-moving and generally interesting read from the point of view of forensics. The heroine got on my tits a bit, since she was forever 'feeling tearful' (per-lease! Get yer 'ormones checked, gal!), but apart from that, and an annoying habit of leaving out the 'person' a lot of the time (example: Went into the dining room. Dropped keys on the desk and poured a large Scotch... which is probably meant to be terse, but just sounds like a shopping list) they're very exciting and extremely well-researched, since Gerritson was first and foremost medically trained.
 
Thanks for the tips, I will know which letter to head towards next time I'm in my local library!

I love a good detective thriller, and will try those suggestions. Glad to hear of some that have been both well researched and well written, as there's nothing worse than a crime novel full of holes (and I am a terrible nitpicker!). I've not tried Tess Gerritsen or John Connolly as yet, but will attempt to remedy that soon!
 
I recently read Blood Angel by Craig Russell, quite entertaining but also gruesome

For non-fiction I have six days of war by Michael B Oren, recommended on here by someone about 4 months ago. It is about the 6 day war and is astonishingly detailed
 
Tess Gerritsen is pretty decent too - there are several others but as most of my book collection is overseas & my brain is particularly pokey at the moment I can't pick anything off the top of my head! The Rosary Girls was good though, Richard Moneterari or something - and the ones written by a mother-daughter team (first one was called Want To Play?) are worth a look too. There have been a couple by a Scottish bloke that were particularly good as well - one was called Cold Granite I'm sure.
 
I'm reading Phil Rickman at the moment. Slightly supernatural crime thriller is probably how I'd describe his style. I read the second book in his Merrily Watkins series last year, now I'm reading the fifth. I really should have started at the beginning.
 
I also picked up a couple of books by Deniis Lehane who is brilliant. He wrote Mystic River for anyone who has seen the brilliant film with Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@Feb 12 2007, 09:03 PM
I also picked up a couple of books by Deniis Lehane who is brilliant. He wrote Mystic River for anyone who has seen the brilliant film with Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.
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I read that book also Paul, and the film directed by Clint Eastwood, sheer brilliance. :D
 
I'll be honest, I thought the film was an overdrawn, overblown snore. And I was SO ready to love it to bits when it started!
 
Originally posted by krizon@Feb 12 2007, 11:14 PM
I'll be honest, I thought the film was an overdrawn, overblown snore. And I was SO ready to love it to bits when it started!
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And Sean Penn killed the wrong guy shrug::
 
Amazing what you can find in a second hand book shop honestly. I came out one day with a book on racing, for $10. It was over 40 years of age, and had some brilliant photos of previous good horses here in Australia.

And then there were the stallion catalogues that I picked up for $15 each, from 1970 to 1975. In perfectly great condition, colour pictures and everything.

My favourite books are true crime. Have managed to find a second hand book shop in the backstreet of Sydney, charging me $4 for a book that would usually cost $22 new.

Definitely pays to shop around.
 
Originally posted by purr@Feb 12 2007, 08:06 PM
I'm reading a Stephen King book at the moment.
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Which one?

I am currently reading The Shining and Jack Torrance's fall into insanity (Nicholson's character in the film) makes sense all of a sudden.
 
I've actually never read The Shining (though I think it's on my bloke's bookshelf so I might have to steal). The one I am on - and just about to finish - is called The Regulators. Not bad, not one of his best but also not one of his stinkers! (I'd avoid Dreamcatchers if you haven't already read it, for example!)
 
Originally posted by purr@Feb 13 2007, 10:40 AM
(I'd avoid Dreamcatchers if you haven't already read it, for example!)
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Haven't read it, but I did quite enjoy the film. I've been reading his novels in chronological order lately and i think, of all the authors I have read, his journey is most apparent in his work. There is a point about half way through Salem's Lot where it feels as if a light suddenly went on in his head telling him that he was a writer. That change continues into The Shining, which is the book equivalent of a magnificent sculpture - it is truly artful.
 
Originally posted by purr@Feb 13 2007, 10:40 AM
I've actually never read The Shining (though I think it's on my bloke's bookshelf so I might have to steal). The one I am on - and just about to finish - is called The Regulators. Not bad, not one of his best but also not one of his stinkers! (I'd avoid Dreamcatchers if you haven't already read it, for example!)
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The Regulators is kind of connected to King`s Dark Tower series.

Dreamcatcher was ok, but his best recent book was Hearts In Atlantis. Up there with Salem`s Lot, The Stand, Pet Semetary and It as his best stand alone works.

The Shining i`ve only read once over twenty years ago, it scared my shitless.
 
I totally agree, I thought Hearts in Atlantis was a brilliant book, I found it unputdownable and the characters were wonderful.

I've never seen the film. Maybe I will one day, but Anthony Hopkins... *shudder*
 
I've just finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - set in 1970s Afghanistan, you need to be prepared to get the tissues out - it's haunted me ever since but it is WELL worth reading. I also thought that The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was excellent last year.
 
Even though I guess this was started with another topic in mind, I have to join in on the crime novel discussion, am an expert here :)

just read mary willis walker, she only wrote 4 novels as far as I am aware, all brilliant and well worth getting. "The red scream" is grand as is "Under the Beetle´s cellar"

have read ALL Dennis Lehane (albeit in german) - great stuff

Sue Grafton is great, love here, and am able to understand her novels in english as well ... dunno whether thats good or bad.

well have to digg out all the other authors, apart from the obvious ones, old ruth rendell, barbara vine (but she IS getting worse) ; Minette Walters (The Icehouse) etc.

and yes, I am same, but we do not have such good charity shops over here, (one OXfam round corner, must be the only one in whole hamburg) - so hunt the shops when in england, and come out with all sorts of books about all topics, from true crime via horses via birds (featherd and not, bought one about posh spice recently :dork: (but haven´t read it ) , donkey´s, ghosts, mountains, animals in general, Banksy etc ....

sometimes you just have to HAVE them, even though I might never ever read them, must be addiction to books ....
 
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