81.  The Prestige by Christopher Priest.  Good Lord!  What a book.  I have almost no words.  I’ve only read three of Priest’s novels so far (each one of them a banger), but I wonder if in this book he is writing at the height of his powers.  The prose is immaculate, the storytelling perfectly plotted and paced.  He’s fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

Where am I going next, @Reg ?

You read so much, but you’ve never read Ishiguro?! I’ve read a few of his and I’m a fan. Great writer.

I'm team Elf here.  I'm nervous you might not like Never Let Me Go though (even though I did...).  I'd have more recommended The Unconsoled, or An Artist of the Floating World.  Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans are his most famous two I'd have said, and both excellent too.  Don't think I've read his first, or the newer ones, though they're on my shelf...

acemuzzy wrote:

I'm team Elf here.  I'm nervous you might not like Never Let Me Go though (even though I did...).  I'd have more recommended The Unconsoled, or An Artist of the Floating World.  Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans are his most famous two I'd have said, and both excellent too.  Don't think I've read his first, or the newer ones, though they're on my shelf...

Why might I not like Never Let Me Go?

I really liked A Pale View of Hills, his first book.

Never Let Me Go was actually the first of his that I read. Jury service, Feb 2009 I think. Heavy snow meant judges and defendants etc couldn’t get to the court so I had almost 2 weeks of sitting there all day every day reading books.

Midnight’s Children is coming up, though.  

The Ruins has arrived, will start next week.

Wife bought The Last House on Needless Street while scoping for modern horror.  She liked it more than I did.

83. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Massive meh. I finished it days ago and it’s taken me this just to write this much. Did not enjoy.

Yeah I kinda liked it too

Missile Commander Indie published book covering the story of the development of the classic arcade game and the shenanigans of becoming a world record holder.

Splendid book for classic gaming peeps like myself. Lovely hardback presentation and very well written.



I read Brave New World a loooong time ago in my late teens/early 20s and don't remember much about it. That might mean I agree with @Raizel but it is generally well thought of. Perhaps it's just its age? I remember there being a TV mini series of the book but I don't remember much about it either other than the striking look of it.

Mythos by Stephen Fry is an enjoyable telling of the Greek Myths starting with the creation and leading up to the era of heroes , which is taken up in his 2nd book called Heroes funnily enough.

Fry is good with a pen and is very easy to read and he injects wit and humour into it, but also includes accompanying notes showing how the names of various characters and Gods have ended up in our language, and how some of the tales have their equivalences in religions.

Highly enjoyable despite the mesmerising number of names of characters and the complicated relations between them (which if not followed has no real impact on enjoyment). It's one of those books I wish I could remember in all its detail as it no doubt would make one appear very clever when referencing in conversations.

Yeah - some sentences I could hear him in my head.

I've already read Heroes. But I have Troy on my shelf - that's next.

I find audio books hard going. I zone out too easily or fall asleep.

Lol didn't realise you did this with books too.

Soooo, finished Harrow, the sequel to Gideon. Can't recall who recommended that? Need a new book. Want to continue scratching my techy magic morbid religious itch. Anyone got anything good?

Read those two . Both were good.