A Good Read: Book Suggestions & Recommendations

[Naughty_Felid]

Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile by Verlyn Klinkenborg

A short novel told from the point of view of the point of view of the tortoise whose real life was observed by the 18th century English curate and naturalist Gilbert White.

A quiet reflective book to read on a sunny autumn afternoon. This book is no more about a tortoise than Moby Dick is about a whale.

Hang on Moby Dick had a bloody massive whale in it you fool.

 

[Frasier Buddolph]

Hang on Moby Dick had a bloody massive whale in it you fool.

There's a whale IN it, but it's not ABOUT a whale. You might want to read it sometime.

 

[Mythopoeika]

There's a whale IN it, but it's not ABOUT a whale. You might want to read it sometime.

It's about a dick?

 

[JamesWhitehead]

It's about a dick?

Have you never read Harold Beaver's notes?*

I do not wish to suggest for a moment that the esteemed Beaver had a smutty mind.
The experience of reading the text his way is a real eye-opener! :glee:

*Penguin Classics edition. The notes are nearly as long as the book but their girth encompasseth a man's craziest dreams!

 

[Naughty_Felid]

There's a whale IN it, but it's not ABOUT a whale. You might want to read it sometime.

I think you need to go back and watch the film again. Gregory Peck was clearly fighting with a WHALE. I'm not interested in the movie-book tie written by Alan Dean Foster.

What next The Black Hole was about a giant banana?

 

[George_millett]

Every so often I get offered a free ebook out of a small selection of varying quality. A few months ago I chose a book called Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb but took a while to get round to reading it as like most people I have a pile. And I have really enjoyed it. It is the first book of a trilogy and luckily my library has the others so I can find out what happens next.

It is a fantasy novel set in a world where some people own a special type of ship made out of a special type of wood which comes to life when a certain number of family members die. Some women it turns out, have a charm made out of this wood which means they don't get diseased or pregnant. Much sailing, pirates and fornication ensue. Also contains amputations, oozing and ichor so not for the squeamish! The characters are great and very realistic. I found I could identify to some extent with most of them. There are no annoying "perfect" people who always do everything right. Or indeed wrong. It also contains sea serpents.

Go read the Farseet Trilogy. Its set in the same world and just before the liveship trilogy.

 

[Min Bannister]

Go read the Farseet Trilogy. Its set in the same world and just before the liveship trilogy.

Great, I will. I definitely want to read more of her stuff. I am part way through The Mad Ship at the moment but I will get there eventually.

 

[George_millett]

She has at least a trilogy of trilogys in that world

Farseer Trilogy
Live ship Trilogy (which you are reading)
The Tawny Man Trilogy where she returns to some of the same characters in the farseer trilogy.

Though I think the Fool is in all of them.

 

[Monstrosa]

She has at least a trilogy of trilogys in that world

Farseer Trilogy
Live ship Trilogy (which you are reading)
The Tawny Man Trilogy where she returns to some of the same characters in the farseer trilogy.

Though I think the Fool is in all of them.

There is also the Rain Wild Chronicles (more than 3 books) and she has a new trilogy in the making.
Fitz and the Fool Trilogy the last book is due out in may next year.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Anyone read any William Tenn?

 

[Dr. Porhoët]

I've been out of work for a while, so I've going mad with the books recently. I read "the sailor who fell from grace with the sea" by Yukio Mishima last week. Very interesting, but Jesus it was an unnerving read. I'm definitely going to read more by Mishima.

I also recently finished 'Varney the Vampyre' by James Malcolm Rymer (or maybe Thomas Preskett Prest). This was the most popular vampire book before Stoker wrote Dracula. Originally published in the form of penny dreadfuls from 1845-1847, it's a terrible book, but an enjoyable read. I wrote a very lengthy review if anyone is interested. I'd love to know if any other posters here have managed the slog through this trashy epic.

I'm currently reading 'Portnoy's Complaint' by Roth, and even though I'm only 100 pages in, it's is already one of my favourite books. I do most of my reading at night, and every time I pick this book up, I end up laughing so loudly that I wake my wife.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I'd love to know if any other posters here have managed the slog through this trashy epic.

I'd think it's a safe bet that you are the first!

I have read many summaries of it over the years but I doubt if many had done more than flick through it and copy the rest from others. Yours is much more entertaining. The illogical and ramshackle construction of these things is pretty much par for the course, I gather. Sometimes the authors would work on several of these pot-boilers simultaneously. They might be brought to sudden endings, if they were losing popularity and extended more or less indefinitely so long as they kept on selling.

One I always mean to at least attempt is George Reynolds's Mysteries of London. Essentially a reply-novel to Eugene Sue's Mysteries of Paris. It is said to contain much that is gratuitiously sadistic and perverted. Furthermore, Reynolds - not Dickens - was the best-selling author of the era!

 

[Frideswide]

I wrote a very lengthy review if anyone is interested. I'd love to know if any other posters here have managed the slog through this trashy epic.

I failed - congratulatons!

 

[David Plankton]

One I always mean to at least attempt is George Reynolds's Mysteries of London.

I used to own a copy of Reynold's 'Wagner the Werewolf' but never got past the first few pages. As far as I could tell there was no real werewolfery until many, many chapters in. Decent enough reviews on that popular shopping website though.
For a decent low-key werewolf tale, I recommend 'Gabriel-Ernest' by Saki.
Have a listen,

 

[Dr. Porhoët]

I'd think it's a safe bet that you are the first!

I have read many summaries of it over the years but I doubt if many had done more than flick through it and copy the rest from others. Yours is much more entertaining. The illogical and ramshackle construction of these things is pretty much par for the course, I gather. Sometimes the authors would work on several of these pot-boilers simultaneously. They might be brought to sudden endings, if they were losing popularity and extended more or less indefinitely so long as they kept on selling.

One I always mean to at least attempt is George Reynolds's Mysteries of London. Essentially a reply-novel to Eugene Sue's Mysteries of Paris. It is said to contain much that is gratuitiously sadistic and perverted. Furthermore, Reynolds - not Dickens - was the best-selling author of the era!

As far as this genre of 'dreadful' literature is concerned, I think having an audiobook version really helps. Listening to a boring/frustrating chapter while I'm cleaning the dishes doesn't seem as much of a waste of time as sitting down and actually reading it. The librivox version of the audiobook was recorded as a group project though, and while some of the readers are fine, some of them are atrocious. There were a few chapters that I had to physically read through in order to avoid the reader's whiny voice, thick accent or abject illiteracy.

I've not yet read anything by Reynolds, but I've long had The Necromancer, Wagner, and his version of Faust on my to-read list. Hard to believe that a writer that popular is so little known today. I wonder who the Reynolds of today will be; Dan Brown?

 

[escargot]

Have just received Andrew MacKenzie's 'Hauntings and Apparitions' which I believe was recommended on this thread.

Flicking thorough it, I think I may've had it from the library some years ago but I'm not disappointed. Looks a cracking read.

I also ordered The Sopranos - The Complete Book which was recommended on a Reddit Sopranos thread. I love The Sopranos sooo much. They're all such bastards.

 

[Coastaljames]

I've just finished "You Can't Tell the People" by Georgina Bruni, her research into the Rendlesham Forest Incident. I recently visited the area. The book really is a masterclass in researching an incident. The range of people she goes to great lengths to speak with is extraordinary, from very senior military brass to secretaries. Suprised she didn't track down the Bentwaters cleaning lady. The fact she got so many people to talk so candidly is incredible.

Her style is reasoned and sensible. She proffers opinion but allows space for you to accept or refuse. It really is an amazing book.


On the same theme avoid "Left at East Gate" by Larry Warren, supposedly (by his accounts) an eyewitness and participant in said events. I'm afraid, for me, Warren is at best a hoaxer and at worst- mentally ill.

 

[ralfy]

Mishima's Sea of Fertility tetralogy is impressive.

 

[Frideswide]

agreeing with the audiobook comments.....

 

[Spookdaddy]

...I also ordered The Sopranos - The Complete Book which was recommended on a Reddit Sopranos thread. I love The Sopranos sooo much. They're all such bastards.

Hah - you think the Sopranos are bastards, try the hypnotically nasty characters in the Italian TV series Gomorrah: the Savastanos and their contemporaries rewrite the rules of bastardness.

And I'm just reading Roberto Saviano's (author of the original Gomorrah, creator of the series - in hiding since 2006, and probably for the rest of his life) devastating Zero Zero Zero. The intertwining of the stories of the cocaine industry with the institution of capitalism is not quite as devastatingly original as some of the reviewers appear to believe - but I'm not sure anyone has ever done it as well, or as thoroughly as this.

 

[Coastaljames]

Mishima's Sea of Fertility tetralogy is impressive.

Most definitely agree.

And both a fascinating and horribly flawed character he was too.

 

[escargot]

Hah - you think the Sopranos are bastards, try the hypnotically nasty characters in the Italian TV series Gomorrah: the Savastanos and their contemporaries rewrite the rules of bastardness.

After the book arrived I was struck down with a case of Bitchflu, so had the luxury of lozzocking around in bed for a couple of days reading it.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

 

[David Plankton]

Hah - you think the Sopranos are bastards, try the hypnotically nasty characters in the Italian TV series Gomorrah: the Savastanos and their contemporaries rewrite the rules of bastardness.

This is turning into Suggestions For a Good Watch, but I have to sit through a trailer for that every time I want to watch an episode of Narcos which I have on DVD (also available on Netflix) and I must say it does look compelling.

Narcos has been enjoyable so far in telling the story of Pablo Escobar in a 'voice-over narrator with freeze frames in a Goodfellas type of thing' style.

 

[David Plankton]

The First Book of Pan Horror Stories. Edited by Herbert Van Thal


Like the title says, the first in a long line of Horror compilations brought out annually by Pan from 1959 - 1989. I’ve always been fascinated by this very successful series of books but somehow managed to bypass them until now. They have quite a following online and I think this blogger has done a marvellous job in reviewing the entire set.

http://pandaemonian.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/preamble.html

As you might expect, it’s a bit of a mixed bag with some stories being more like psychological thrillers, some pulpy trash and some truly horrible imagery in at least two of them, The House of Horror and Raspberry Jam.
All in all I enjoyed it and I can’t really complain as it only cost me 1p. I have since bought the Second Book but have yet to start it. Something to dip into when you are in-between books perhaps.


One story stood out as being much more literary than the rest, Portobello Road by Muriel Spark. On the strength of this, I bought two books by her, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Driver’s Seat. The Driver’s Seat was nominated for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 and was the story of a woman having a ruinous mental breakdown. I quite enjoyed this, but Miss Jean Brodie was much better in my opinion. Next time I’m in Edinburgh, I’ll be following the walk she takes the girls on, about halfway through the book.



The Rings of Saturn. W.G. Sebald.


I don’t know what to say about this book other than if you are interested in little-known or forgotten history then you will find plenty to enjoy. I can only provide a link, I cannot do it justice. Also contains a potted biography of Joseph Conrad and Roger Casement. Illustrated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rings_of_Saturn


The Book of Barely Imagined Beings. A 21st Century Bestiary by Caspar Henderson.



An alphabetical list of 27 animals (there are 2 listed under ‘X’), some familiar some not so much. Anyone with an interest in natural history will enjoy this, it provides some truly fascinating insights and is prodigiously illustrated.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Thanks for that! I've bookmarked the Horror Stories blog for a good, long browse later tonight.

Volume Three - the start of his journey - was also one of the first I owned. I well remember the thing he calls the Teddy Bear emerging from the tomb, though I think it had nothing in particular to do with any of the stories. It was enough, however, for me to have the book confiscated at school. I see that volume contains the very kinky reworking of The Execution of Damiens as a perverse love-story. Inside my present copy, I have made a few geeky notes about the dates of the authors and their stories. This kind of bibliographical data was skimpy or entirely missing. I see that volume also contained The Cone by H. G. Wells - I used to love reading the ghastly ending of that to anyone who would listen! I was surprised, years later, to find it was on the syllabus of one of the exam boards.

I don't remember how many of the Pan series I once owned. I reacquired four of them ten or fifteen years ago - volumes three, five, six and twelve.

Muriel Spark was another enthusiasm. I took to her compact and ironic style in the year between university and my teaching course, borrowing quite a few from the library. I especially loved The Girls of Slender Means, which had been adapted as a television series way back.

 

[ramonmercado]

I loved the Pan Horror collections when I was in my early teens. Still love horror.

 

[Spookdaddy]

...An alphabetical list of 27 animals (there are 2 listed under ‘X’), some familiar some not so much. Anyone with an interest in natural history will enjoy this, it provides some truly fascinating insights and is prodigiously illustrated.

I read this last summer: fascinating, and rather beautiful - I love the way it's laid out.

I think our tastes coincide somewhat: I've always had a soft spot for Muriel Spark and have an unread copy of The Ghost Stories of Muriel Spark sitting on a shelf waiting for winter; The Rings of Saturn is one of my favourite books - I think I've mentioned it on a couple of occasions (one more recently - not on this thread maybe, but can't think where) - although I have to be in exactly the right mood for some of Sebald's other work.

 

[Spookdaddy]

Ah, yes - on the Kooky Kent thread - comparing Sebald's book to David Seabrook's, All The Devils Are Here.

...(I've also been rereading WG Sebald's, The Rings of Saturn, at the same time. The latter is East Anglia based, but it's struck me how similar the two books are in many ways: Seabrook's book reads like the more worldly, gossipy, tabloid reading, not averse to the odd bust up in the pub - possibly once did a bit of time for shoplifting - little brother of a gentler, more self-consciously academic and sensitive - just let me sit down while I have a bit of a sigh - oh, the smell of bonfires on an autumn morning makes me think of Stendhal, sibling. I love both.)

 

[Coastaljames]

The Rings of Saturn. W.G. Sebald.

Oh fine choice Sir. One of my, if not my absolute, favourite books of all time.

And I live slap bang in the middle of the area he walks. All areas I know very, very well.

I was at UEA when Mr. Sebald was a lecturer there. Saw him around and about often. One of the most amazing and profound writers and thinkers of the modern era. His death so so, sad. Cryptic, enigmatic, so incredibly bloody moving.

He's buried not far from me. I sometimes go and sit in the churchyard there. It's a very quiet, peaceful, contemplative place. This photo is, wow, from about eight years ago -

 

[Spookdaddy]

Sebald was an admirer of Thomas Browne - another resident of East Anglia; I think he mentions him in both The Rings of Saturn and Vertigo. Hugh Aldersey-Williams - whose Anatomies I hugely enjoyed (mmm...sounds a bit Julian and Sandy, that), has a book out about him - The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century, which I have not yet read but which I am very much looking forward to. Browne was an older contemporary of John Aubrey and much admired by him. I'm currently reading Ruth Scurr's wonderful biography of Aubrey - John Aubrey: My Own Life.

Guardian review of the Thomas Browne book here.

Relevant entry from the Vertigo blog here.