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krizon

krizon

At the Start
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We haven't had mention of books we're reading for a while, so I thought I'd put in a good word for Alain de Botton's 'The Architecture of Happiness' which ties in with a tv show on the same subject. Illustrated with b&w photos and written in his gracefully descriptive style, it's an interesting musing on why we are attracted to some building styles and shapes more than others, and what they may mean to us through our subconscious. Design features are analyzed in terms of our humanizing their characteristics: why one chair appears to be 'logical', while another's shape is 'lazy'. Magazines and catalogues 'for the home' will take on a new slant after reading this book.

At a time when Britain's new housing estates are being filled with rehashes and mish-mashes of past architectural visions, and no mass-market builder is flying the flag for the 21st Century, one wonders why, especially when radically different public buildings like the Sage Centre at Gateshead are accepted with mostly mass glee.

The book is easily-understood, occasionally amusing reading, which might give us pause for thought if we're seriously considering actually paying good money for yet another unimaginitive Tudorbethan knock-off.

£17.99 rrp, or £13.99 at Waterstone's for the hardback.
 
GIDEON'S SPIES ~ Gordon Thomas ...........a history of the adventures of Mossad

CHAIN OF COMMAND ~ Seymour Hersh...........analysis of the events leading up to the alliance's invasion of Iraq.

MORTAL FEAR ~ Greg Iles.................excellent(IMO) thriller.
 
Richard Laymon - Darkness Tell Us.

Not a very well known author, but IMO, one of the best. Dead now, but a fantastic writer and a good sized back catalogue to go through - for anyone starting off with him I would recommend Body Rides, Quake, Island or In The Dark.
 
Richard Laymon is vey entertaining, and possibly the scariest writer i've read.
I'm reading

Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly

if you are looking for FAST action thrillers I definitely recommend him, i've never read books that zip along as fast as his.

Also going through Angels and Demons by Dan Brown again, very good book
 
A writer with several books behind her with Marshal Guarnaccia of Tuscany doing the policing is Magdalen Nabb, who sounds an interesting person: born in 1947 in Lancs and trained as a potter, she sold up and moved to Florence with her son, knowing nobody and speaking no Italian. She's lived there since, pursuing a dual career as a crime writer and children's author.

I've just done my best with a kidnap book, PROPERTY OF BLOOD, pub. Arrow, £1.63 at Asda, but found it relentlessly depressing (the abductors are grindingly unpleasant), downbeat, and wilfully obstinate about producing a neat ending, let alone a happy one! Since the main character, a middle-aged female abductee, is blindfolded and kept shackled for all but a short space of the tale, we're also short on 'lyrical descriptions' of Tuscan countryside and have to suffer with her through her reduced senses, mostly the unlovely pong of her unwashed kidnappers.
 
Originally posted by krizon@May 9 2006, 09:10 AM
Since the main character, a middle-aged female abductee, is blindfolded and kept shackled for all but a short space of the tale, we're also short on 'lyrical descriptions' of Tuscan countryside and have to suffer with her through her reduced senses, mostly the unlovely pong of her unwashed kidnappers.
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So the author couldn't afford a trip to Tuscany to research it then!
 
The author's lived in Florence for 30 years, simmo, so I'm sure she's well-enough versed in her surroundings. The book is very claustrophobic because of the nature of the crime, which is written mostly from the perspective of post-kidnap accounts by the abductee.
 
I have been reading classics that I have never read . Yesterday I read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - what a brilliant little book . The story everyone knows but RL Stevenson keeps you absolutely gripped.

I am also reading Sons and Lovers by DH lawrence . I have always had rather a deep seated antipathy to Lawrence from trying to read The Rainbow when I was 17 but I am enjoying this.
 
Cheers for the site Simmo, I'll have a proper look at that later.

I'm reading the third of Manda Scott's beautifully written Boudica series at the moment (Boudica, Dreaming The Hound)and enjoying it very much. She writes so well and really brings the period alive so you can imagine what it was like for the ancient Britons.

I recently read the 2nd of Conn Iggulden's Emperor series as well, about Julius Caesar's life. Although an enjoyabe story it was so historically inaccurate it drove me mad. I don't mean just a few mistakes, it was riddled with fantasy and the historical parts were a million miles away from what they really were! Don't read these books if you know much about this period in Roman history, they will drive you crazy!

I've just bought Euripides The Bacchae and other plays too, that'll be on the reading list next I reckon.
 
I'm reading Jilly Coopers new one, Wicked. It arrived on Saturday, Mr GG put it out of the reach of the kids and dogs and forgot to tell me it wasd here until Sunday night :angy: The whole weekend wasted! I could''ve been almost finished by now! Mind you, perhaps he knew that would be the case and hid it deliberately :lol:
 
I`m just about to start reading Charles Bukowski`s first novel Post Office.

After this i`ll be going on to Destination Morgue by my all-time favourite author James Ellroy.
 
Originally posted by simmo@May 9 2006, 08:03 AM
Richard Laymon - Darkness Tell Us.

Not a very well known author, but IMO, one of the best. Dead now, but a fantastic writer and a good sized back catalogue to go through - for anyone starting off with him I would recommend Body Rides, Quake, Island or In The Dark.
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The gulf between his good books and the crap ones is so great that I once suspected that he might be two different authors...

Great:

All the 'Beast House' books
Darkness Tell Us
Funland

Crap:

The Glory Bus
The Island

The author's obsession with erect nipples; knee high socks; guns in pockets; girls with pony tails; women wearing blouses 'with the first few buttons undone...' gets a bit tedious once you have read a few of his books.

Dead scary though... :o

My favourite author at the moment is Peter Robinson. I have recently read In a Dry Season and Caedmon's Song
 
Peter Robinson is very good - I loved Caedmon's Song, even though it was unrealistic! I found it very moving.
 
Originally posted by Shadow Leader@May 9 2006, 05:20 PM
Peter Robinson is very good - I loved Caedmon's Song, even though it was unrealistic! I found it very moving.
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Whitby is one of my favourite places which is probably one of the reasons that I enjoyed this book so much...
 
Originally posted by Griffin@May 9 2006, 11:45 AM
I'm reading Jilly Coopers new one, Wicked. It arrived on Saturday, Mr GG put it out of the reach of the kids and dogs and forgot to tell me it wasd here until Sunday night :angy: The whole weekend wasted! I could''ve been almost finished by now! Mind you, perhaps he knew that would be the case and hid it deliberately :lol:
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Are your dogs easily offended? ;)
 
Simmo - :lol: No worries, it's the sort of thing I tend to do more nowadays - though I have getting old to blame (if I'm desperate for an excuse)!
 
Griffin, how's the new Jilly Cooper? I may pop out and buy it this weekend along with the new Marian Keyes.
 
Originally posted by Ardross+May 9 2006, 06:49 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ardross @ May 9 2006, 06:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Griffin@May 9 2006, 11:45 AM
I'm reading Jilly Coopers new one, Wicked. It arrived on Saturday, Mr GG put it out of the reach of the kids and dogs and forgot to tell me it wasd here until Sunday night :angy: The whole weekend wasted! I could''ve been almost finished by now! Mind you, perhaps he knew that would be the case and hid it deliberately :lol:
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Are your dogs easily offended? ;) [/b][/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol: They haven't learnt to read yet but they can destroy things if the fancy takes them.

I've only reached chapter 8 but so far, so good. It's better than Pandora anyway, it took me ages to get into that but I'm hooked on this one already. If only I could persuade Georgia that bedtime was before 10.30pm, I would've read a lot more.
 
Going off the topic slightly, but still talking books, we visited Hay on Wye on the bank holiday. We try to go at least once a year for lunch and a wander around the book shops. It really is the most fantastic little town. Any one who loves books just has to visit at least once. The drive back through the Black mountains is bonus, too....if you live in that direction, of course. :blink:
 
I'm currently reading David English's Autobiography 'Mad Dogs and The Englishman'. A man who has lived a life many would love to lead I suspect! Very funny in parts and entertaining throughout.
 
Originally posted by MarkEE@May 10 2006, 08:58 AM
Going off the topic slightly, but still talking books, we visited Hay on Wye on the bank holiday. We try to go at least once a year for lunch and a wander around the book shops. It really is the most fantastic little town. Any one who loves books just has to visit at least once. The drive back through the Black mountains is bonus, too....if you live in that direction, of course. :blink:
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Hi MarkEE

I agree Hay is a lovely day out - went there several years ago and also visited this garden - have you been? Fabulous!


Arrow Cottage
 
Hi Julie,

No, never even heard of it. I just checked the link and it looks very nice. Next time we go I'll have to take a detour for a few hours. That is, if I can persuade the wife whose idea of a garden is four fences and some kind of surface that is suitable for sun loungers.
 
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