Hot Topic Book Reviews and Recommendations

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When I started going out with my husband back in the mists of time, he had a lot of Pratchett on his bookshelf, so I started reading them. (His mother took it as a personal affront when Pratchett went and died because it meant her Christmas present safe bet for her sons of his latest novel is no longer available :doh:)

I have to say that Terry Pratchett was a first class story teller. He was also possessor of a crazy imagination! I'd avoid starting with the chronological beginning books of Discworld, those ones don't come close to the quality of later books and are more silly. I still occasionally re-read one of his if I want an easy-read entertaining story. It's not exactly literary fiction, and not my usual bag, but it's engaging and you always end up wanting to find out what happens to the characters.

I haven't got any books I'm currently reading for myself, but I am reading aloud Pride and Prejudice to my 11-year-old daughter, who is loving it, and also The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, which is a much more terrifying children's book than I realised from the blurb when I bought it for her! However she says it's not scary (although I had to take it into my room to read ahead and find out what happened because it was so alarming :eek:) Maybe it's because I'm a mother thinking about these children stranded alone in the jungle, whereas she is reading it more as a jolly fantasy adventure?
 
Merab's Slave said:
No - I like Georgette Heyer’s Regency romance for a bit of light reading
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After my Dad died when I was 16 I started reading some of the extensive collection of books he left behind. The Heyer novels were a surprising insight into his tastes 😄 They are certainly a soothing bit of escapism when required!
 
Sparklepetal said:
When I started going out with my husband back in the mists of time, he had a lot of Pratchett on his bookshelf, so I started reading them. (His mother took it as a personal affront when Pratchett went and died because it meant her Christmas present safe bet for her sons of his latest novel is no longer available :doh:)

I have to say that Terry Pratchett was a first class story teller. He was also possessor of a crazy imagination! I'd avoid starting with the chronological beginning books of Discworld, those ones don't come close to the quality of later books and are more silly. I still occasionally re-read one of his if I want an easy-read entertaining story. It's not exactly literary fiction, and not my usual bag, but it's engaging and you always end up wanting to find out what happens to the characters.

I haven't got any books I'm currently reading for myself, but I am reading aloud Pride and Prejudice to my 11-year-old daughter, who is loving it, and also The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, which is a much more terrifying children's book than I realised from the blurb when I bought it for her! However she says it's not scary (although I had to take it into my room to read ahead and find out what happened because it was so alarming :eek:) Maybe it's because I'm a mother thinking about these children stranded alone in the jungle, whereas she is reading it more as a jolly fantasy adventure?
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If you like Terry Pratchett you might also like Jasper Fforde- he’s a bit off the wall too but a good read, especially the Thursday Next books
 
Sparklepetal said:
When I started going out with my husband back in the mists of time, he had a lot of Pratchett on his bookshelf, so I started reading them. (His mother took it as a personal affront when Pratchett went and died because it meant her Christmas present safe bet for her sons of his latest novel is no longer available :doh:)

I have to say that Terry Pratchett was a first class story teller. He was also possessor of a crazy imagination! I'd avoid starting with the chronological beginning books of Discworld, those ones don't come close to the quality of later books and are more silly. I still occasionally re-read one of his if I want an easy-read entertaining story. It's not exactly literary fiction, and not my usual bag, but it's engaging and you always end up wanting to find out what happens to the characters.

I haven't got any books I'm currently reading for myself, but I am reading aloud Pride and Prejudice to my 11-year-old daughter, who is loving it, and also The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, which is a much more terrifying children's book than I realised from the blurb when I bought it for her! However she says it's not scary (although I had to take it into my room to read ahead and find out what happened because it was so alarming :eek:) Maybe it's because I'm a mother thinking about these children stranded alone in the jungle, whereas she is reading it more as a jolly fantasy adventure?
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My daughter was given the explorer but we've not got round to it yet, maybe we'll wait a bit?
 
I'm also listening to the inspector Morse books, downloaded the borrow box app and can use my library card to listen to audio books for free.
 
Pratchett was a genius. My hubby is a huge fan. I've read two books on his recommendation and don't usually read fantasy but really enjoyed them. He recommended I start with Guards guards.

In terms of films that do a book justice (I don't think they can ever be better than the book) the one that springs to mind is Gone Girl though I watched it before I read the book
 
I’m an avid fantasy reader and have been reading David Gemmell’s Drenai books, Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch. I also keep up with Ben Aaronovitch, Jo Abercrombie and Robin Hobbe.
 
anyar.dris said:
Looks like I'm the only one who reads Romance books here..:jel:
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Um, I can assure you, you aren’t the only one. I’ve always got an easy read romance on the go at the same time as something more challenging. Sometimes it’s a historical romance, but other times it’s as easy read as some Holly Martin, some Lucy Diamond or similar.
 
Spaghetti & Noodles said:
My daughter was given the explorer but we've not got round to it yet, maybe we'll wait a bit?
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Probably depends on her personality! As I said, I was more scared than my 11-year-old, although she is usually a nervous girl, and I think it was not so worrying for her because so far removed from her location, situation and also it's historical. It is a little sweary too which I wasn't expecting and when I read aloud that gets edited as I go along! It's a brilliant, compelling book though!
 
VickiA said:
Um, I can assure you, you aren’t the only one. I’ve always got an easy read romance on the go at the same time as something more challenging. Sometimes it’s a historical romance, but other times it’s as easy read as some Holly Martin, some Lucy Diamond or similar.
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I love books by Chloe Walsh (a lot are angst romance), C.M. Owens (a lot are rom com) and her other pen names S.T. Abby (for her dark/thriller romance) and Kristy Cunning (for her reverse harem fantasy). There are still loads of romance authors I love but these 2 are my fave authors.
 
Falken said:
They are, I think the Diskworld Saga, my friend had them all back in ~2010, but when I checked back he was so prodigious an author, it'd easily take 18 months to read them all.
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It wouldn't they are very light reads
Piggylove82 said:
You and I have quite different likes! As a kid, I was not fortunate enough to have had a book with a button that made a dog bark 😕. (I am more than making up for that now when I'm at work). But I did have a lot of Roald Dahl books. I read The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox time after time. I loved the way he told stories and Quentin Blake's illustrations. Not sure if they've shaped my character 🤔. I really should try Terry Pratchett. He was British after all. Maybe I'll add it to my bucket list.
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I love pratchett and am currently reading them all as I cannot focus on any new books. I've read them all many times already
KathT said:
I’m an avid fantasy reader and have been reading David Gemmell’s Drenai books, Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch. I also keep up with Ben Aaronovitch, Jo Abercrombie and Robin Hobbe.
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Recently read all the rivers books again by aaronovitch. Love them but kind of wish I hadn't so recently as they would be perfect for now!
 
Mrs Sport_Billy said:
It wouldn't they are very light reads

I love pratchett and am currently reading them all as I cannot focus on any new books. I've read them all many times already

Recently read all the rivers books again by aaronovitch. Love them but kind of wish I hadn't so recently as they would be perfect for now!
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:) I shall endeavor to try then, think it'll be my cup of tea (I always slaughter metaphors).

Ahh, yes Mr SB introduced me to those, I read about three in a fortnight, brilliant series, really really good for anyone that's not read them.

P.s - Keep up the good work.
 
Right, not the best thread custodian out there XD.

Archive.org are publishing rather a lot of still in copyright works - and I snagged the entire Discworld Saga, wonderful organisation, donate if you can.

I've recently finished another recommendation called "Humble Pi" by Matt Parker, I'm sure I've heard him before on Radio 4 and I'm also familiar with him from Numberphile and Computerphile on Youtube from the University of Nottingham - they really did take to the digital revolution rather quickly, but that's me procrastinating again. The book is very accessible, relatively short and details mathematical clangers, some of which were humorous and others not so much, there's a preponderance on programming towards the middle of the book, but that's to be expected, as that's where mathematics is most likely to have serious consequences today, I've made quite a few of the digital mistakes in the book myself, so I can certainly sympathise, and it really is quite difficult to work out where an off by one error really comes from in thousands of lines of code, if it's even noticeable to begin with.
 
I finish a novel about every 3 days. The day before lockdown I went to a charity shop and bought a carrier bag full of 50p books as I knew the library books I had wouldn't last long! I am ploughing my way through the bag but I haven't read anything I would recommend. I'm only sticking with these as they are better than nothing. How do people get this rubbish in print, normally I'd have discarded a book I didn't like after a couple of chapters. I'm getting an education in bad novels. :))
 
I have just read The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

A fabulous story set in a slightly alternative / steam punky 1800s. This book is set in Japan and is a wonderful read. I would probably recommend you read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street first as this book follows the same characters.
 
piggieminder said:
I finish a novel about every 3 days. The day before lockdown I went to a charity shop and bought a carrier bag full of 50p books as I knew the library books I had wouldn't last long! I am ploughing my way through the bag but I haven't read anything I would recommend. I'm only sticking with these as they are better than nothing. How do people get this rubbish in print, normally I'd have discarded a book I didn't like after a couple of chapters. I'm getting an education in bad novels. :))
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An easy read is better than no read.

But can you imagine the explosion of new “bad” novels that are going to appear after this lockdown? So many suggestions to folk to channel their inner creativity and use their time constructively, and so many people I hear muttering that they “have a novel in them”. I really don’t envy the publishing houses over the next few months. So much more drivel will pass over their desks than normal!
 
VickiA said:
But can you imagine the explosion of new “bad” novels that are going to appear after this lockdown? So many suggestions to folk to channel their inner creativity and use their time constructively, and so many people I hear muttering that they “have a novel in them”. I really don’t envy the publishing houses over the next few months. So much more drivel will pass over their desks than normal!
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Shhh, the Guinea Pig Forum Staff Room Saga is going to make me squillions.
 
Another which I've only recently owned in print is - 'Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution' - brilliant book, charts the development of the technology and the individuals involved, lots of funny anecdotes and provides a high level understanding of how the technology works (and quite how old it is).
 
VickiA said:
An easy read is better than no read.

But can you imagine the explosion of new “bad” novels that are going to appear after this lockdown? So many suggestions to folk to channel their inner creativity and use their time constructively, and so many people I hear muttering that they “have a novel in them”. I really don’t envy the publishing houses over the next few months. So much more drivel will pass over their desks than normal!
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Oh and another thought that reply has sparked :) There's a podcast called 'my dad wrote a porno', where the son and friends read out the reuslt of his fathers mid-life-crisis, it's shockingly bad.
 
YvonneBlue said:
I have just read The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

A fabulous story set in a slightly alternative / steam punky 1800s. This book is set in Japan and is a wonderful read. I would probably recommend you read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street first as this book follows the same characters.
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That sounds fun! I can't wait to try it out!
 
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