The B&B Book Review - The Bear and Badger

Tempy

Discuss them.

Kow

Fuck off back to your own forum you... em, non-traitor you!

Tempy

I am pissing in this corner. I SHALL RETURN.

EvilRedEye

You're pissing in the book corner?! But you'll get piss on the books! Who wants to read a pissy book? Fucking no-one, that's who!

google

So I've been reading a lot recently.

I read the first three books of Game of Thrones. I enjoyed the second and third immensley more than the first. I've held off reading the fourth because of all the negative press I've read about it, plus I'm a little bit burned out after reading the other three all within three months.

I read The Thief, by Fuminori Nakamura last month. It's a really interesting introspective look at a pick-pocket in modern day Tokyo. It simply uses the thieving as a way to explain why and how we are who we are. I really enjoyed it.

I read Switch, by the Heath Brothers - but this was for work. Still a worthwhile read in understanding why we as a modern day society have big issues making change and providing ways around these issues.

Now I'm reading 1984 by George Orwell. I've never read it.

Tempy

Read Brave New World next.

Shinji

New Dark Tower, The Wind Through The Keyhole is thoroughly enjoyable.

Would have liked more of the ka-tet but would've been tricky given it's placement.

Does lend itself to the idea that a Dark Tower short story collection could be a real winner.

google

Why? @tempy

Kow

Have I mentioned Bukowski before?

Nina

Good Omens was a good call Tempy. Chilling in the hammock + 30 degrees on Bonaire means I didn't really get very far, but some giggles were had already. Looks like it will turn out quite brilliantly.

EvilRedEye

Shinji said:
New Dark Tower, The Wind Through The Keyhole is thoroughly enjoyable.

Would have liked more of the ka-tet but would've been tricky given it's placement.
Does lend itself to the idea that a Dark Tower short story collection could be a real winner.

Oh yeah, I need to get reading that.

Tempy

google said:
Why? @tempy

Because it is another Dystopian novel, written a little earlier than 1984, and it presents a different idea for control, through comfort and excess as opposed to 1984's more draconian methods. I always liked the way they work together to. As a bit of SciFi some of it is brilliantly prescient as well.

Kow said:
Have I mentioned Bukowski before?

You have, I just finished Post Office and it is great. Where next?

Nina said:
Good Omens was a good call Tempy. Chilling in the hammock + 30 degrees on Bonaire means I didn't really get very far, but some giggles were had already. Looks like it will turn out quite brilliantly.

Glad to hear it. Hope you enjoy the rest :)

Yossarian

Yay, Nina. Welcome back.

Nina

:) Hi Yoss.

I'm sitting on a small island somewhere around the equator for a week, and when I slowly awake from my jetlag and after-holiday blues all this has happened. Forum's going faster than my mind currently.

But it's better than watching tv. Proper drama this.

Kow

What island is that now?

Nina

It was Bonaire last week, dunno what it's now.

Kow

I don't now where that is. I could google it but I prefer to be told things. Although I have seen your photos on g+.

Nina

Lovely sun there ehh? and the water, so beautifully blue. It's in the Carribean, Curacao is the closest island (abc islands, Aruba Bonaire Curacao), Venezuela is the closest not-island. You can't imagine the checks we had at Schiphol when we got back.

Kow

Oh, I certainly can, having flown into Schiphol many times from many places.

Nina

They didn't even let me go to the toilet after the first dog and passport checks :(

RasDam

I just read the latest in the series of ' A Song of Tepid Water & Dying Embers' which the show Game of Thrones is based on and I really can't be arsed to read whatever comes next. Far too many characters that are neither likable or dislikable, and the ones that are end up getting killed. I'm not going to continue reading just because of my love of dragons.

I'm either going to move on to Juliet E. McKenna's Southern Fire next to satisfy my dragon lust or Charlie Higson's The Enemy for my first foray in to Zombie-based literature.

Aaroncupboard

I have to agree with RasDam, the last two books have really dipped in quality, I think he just seems to be weighed down in all the characters etc. I'm hoping the last two books will improve....

RasDam

I may well change my mind in a year as I hate to leave anything unfinished, but for now I'm just tired of it. The problem with killing off major characters so readily is that you find it hard to build a rapport with others in the knowledge that they'll most likely be dead soon too.

Aaroncupboard

In a year......mate your optimistic! Try about 5/6 years.

I'm just hoping he stays alive long enough to finish it!

RasDam

Why has it taken him so long to write the damn thing? I thought it was because it wasn't popular 20 odd years ago when he wrote the first one, but I was mistaken. He really needs to get his act together.

Aaroncupboard

He wrote the first few at a reasonable pace. He took a long time on 'A Feast for Crows'. Then he took six years to release 'A Dance with Dragons'. Apparently he was going to do a five years later type thing, but found that he kept on referring to stuff during those five years so he went had to write it as the novels. Just too much information going on.

RasDam

That sort of suggests that he's done a decent amount of work on the next in the series then, doesn't it?

metagonzo

(Edited post from the other book thread; jeez, hard work)

All the hoo-ha regarding The Hunger Games inspired me to reread Battle Royale, Koushun Takami. A seriously cracking read; popcorn page turner.

I'm currently on No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy mainly because I loved The Road but it's not doing it for me so far. I still have Metro 2033, Dmitry Glukhovsky on the back burner. It's taking a fucking age and I've decided that this is because it's shite. However, it's got to the stage where it's become an issue so I have to see it off.

I'm also loving yet another read of High Rise, J G Ballard. I can't remember the last time that that wasn't on my bedside table.

RasDam

What exactly were you trying to do with that highlighter?

Aaroncupboard

Yeah, he has at least done a good chunk of it so far. Hopefully it won't be too long and hopefully it will be very good.

I'm currently reading The Woman in Black. In bed, with a tiny book light. Very good and genuinely creepy.

Also got The Last Werewolf on the Kindle daily deal. Anyone read it?

EvilRedEye

I saw that it was about a werewolf called Jacob and sighed inwardly TBH.

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