Stickied What are you reading right now?

I, Partridge by Alan Partridge

I've read it before but after finishing my last book and not planning by having another on my tablet to read, I flicked through old books and chose this.

Probably not as funny as I remember but still a great read for all Partridge fans. It's hard not to read it in his voice too.

Definitely a good book to put a smile on my face.

Been a while since i last read a book so decided to get into it again. Currently going through Arthur C Clarke's books (Sci-Fi writer), so far i've read:

Rendez Vous with Rama
2001: A Space Odyssey (Was written in parallel with the movie)

Both are brilliant. At the moment i'm reading 2001's sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two. Not as good as the first but still a great read.

Cheese & Biscuits said:

I've just started rereading The ODESSA File by Frederick Forsyth.

It's been a few years since I first read it and I had forgotten how harrowing the passages about the concentration camps was. I can't remember the whole story so looking forward to enjoying it again. It was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed first time 'round.

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Have you ever read 'The Afghan' by Forsyth? I gave it a go a few years ago but found it pretty tough going, mostly because I felt like I needed an in-depth knowledge of the geography of Afghanistan just to keep up. I've always wondered if I'd find it more enjoyable now that I'm a bit older, and infinitely less stupid.

Pyeman said:

Have you ever read 'The Afghan' by Forsyth? I gave it a go a few years ago but found it pretty tough going, mostly because I felt like I needed an in-depth knowledge of the geography of Afghanistan just to keep up. I've always wondered if I'd find it more enjoyable now that I'm a bit older, and infinitely less stupid.

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It's not one I remember reading but the plot sounded vaguely familiar when looking at it on Wiki. A lot of 1FF's books are tough going and are very political and take a while to get in to. Not read a bad one yet though.

I might give it another go over the summer. Received a lot of positive reviews upon release if I recall correctly.

Finished Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. 3/5. I didn't find all that amazing but still a good story.

Starting John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.

mistermagic said:

Starting John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.

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Great book, one of my favourites. Quite short and a few twists and turns. Can't go wrong really.

Poppet by Mo Hayder.

Can't beat Hayder if you're after a creepy scare. They should really try to turn her work into a TV show or summin

Finished reading Jurassic Park last night. Really enjoyed it, fantastic book and very different from the movie toward the end.

Speaking of which, now it's time to rewatch all three movies to complete my build up to Jurassic World (please don't suck).

Cheese & Biscuits said:

Great book, one of my favourites. Quite short and a few twists and turns. Can't go wrong really.

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I decided to give Le Carré another shot. I sort of enjoyed the Little Drummer Girl but had no clue what was happening in The Honorable Schoolboy. I'm halfway through the book and I find this type of prose much more up my street. I can really sympathise with Leamar. Great character.

mistermagic said:

I decided to give Le Carré another shot. I sort of enjoyed the Little Drummer Girl but had no clue what was happening in The Honorable Schoolboy. I'm halfway through the book and I find this type of prose much more up my street. I can really sympathise with Leamar. Great character.

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Leamas isn't it?

I agree about The Honourable Schoolboy. I found it very difficult to get in to and almost gave up. Not a patch on TTSS or Smiley's People in my opinion.

I just read The Emigrants by Vilhelm Mohlberg, the tome voted by Swedes as the 'book of the century' (20th of course!) It's the first part in a trilogy about a bunch of peasants who decide to emigrate to America in about 1850. It's really great. A cast of dozens, each of them lovingly constructed and given a completely authentic voice. I went through the full gamut of human emotions reading it. Marvellous stuff. RIP Christopher Lee.

Just got 5 of the Witcher books, quite short compared to ASOIAF so I should fly through them. Haven't read a book since I finished ADWD which was like 18 months ago

Jonny Owen said:

Just got 5 of the Witcher books, quite short compared to ASOIAF so I should fly through them. Haven't read a book since I finished ADWD which was like 18 months ago

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If you like GRRM books then you should try out Joe Abercrombie.

Also Robin Hobb, Trudi Canavan & Steven Erikson all worth a read in that genre

I second the above recommendations, and I'd add Scott Lynch to the list.

I haven't posted in this thread for ages, so here's some updates about what I've been reading.

Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey. I'm fairly sure that Pagnell recommended this in the old thread on TFF, it's decent modern space opera if you like that sort of thing. I do, and I expect I'll read the sequels at some point.

Half A King by Joe Abercrombie. The first book of a new(ish) series, he's moved on from the world of the First Law trilogy. This is apparently aimed at more of a young adult audience, which essentially means that there's only one point of view character and it's a bit less brutal. Still very good though. I know there are a few other fans of him on here, so if you like his other work then you'll like this.

Birth Of A Theorem by Cedric Villani. The subtitle of this book is A Mathematical Journey, which is probably as good a description of it as any. The author is a mathematician, at the very top of his game, and this is the story of his struggle to come up with prove a new theorem. It's not really about the specific maths that Villani is working on (even though he gives some details of his work, it's way beyond the understanding of most people), more about the way mathematicians work (and this probably has strong parallels in any academic pursuit). The most interesting parts are the mini-biographies of the people whose work Villani is building on and collaborating with, and the more personal aspects of his story.


I'm currently reading a couple of short stories/novellas (where's the line between those?) by Brandon Sanderson (Legion and The Emperor's Soul) and another book about maths, Things To Make And Do In The Fourth Dimension by Matt Parker.

Brothers In Blood by Simon Scarrow. The latest book in the series about the Roman invasion of Britain,book number 14 will be released in the autumn i can't wait!

I've just finished reading Shift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not always keen on the idea of prequels as I like my stories to be moving forward, flash back scenes in books annoy me sometimes for that reason too. I did enjoy this one though and it sets it all up nicely for the last book which I will order soon.

I am reading Narcomania at the moment, it's written by Max Daly and Steve Sampson who are two journalists that have reported on drugs over the years. Pretty interesting so far but I expect I will agree with all of the book because they are advocating for a change to drug policy. It's already pointing out the biased and sensational way that papers report on drug use compared to Alcohol which is something that's always annoyed me.

Going to order the Joe Abercrombie books that follow up the First Law series and also ordered a book called The Martian by Andy Weir. Has anyone here read it?

Good job on deciding to pick up The First Law series, they're fantastic. As for The Martian, I remember Pagnell was raving about that on here a while back and after checking it out myself it also worked its way onto my must read list. Does sound like a great book. It's also currently being made into a film right now... in fact, I think the first trailer was released a week or so ago. I chose to avoid it personally so that I can go into the book not knowing more than the basic premise.

Oaf said:

Good job on deciding to pick up The First Law series, they're fantastic. As for The Martian, I remember Pagnell was raving about that on here a while back and after checking it out myself it also worked its way onto my must read list. Does sound like a great book. It's also currently being made into a film right now... in fact, I think the first trailer was released a week or so ago. I chose to avoid it personally so that I can go into the book not knowing more than the basic premise.

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I've read the first law now it's the follow up books that I'm buying next. Really enjoyed the trilogy.

Have you read the Wool trilogy by Hugh Howey? I reckon you'd enjoy it going off the other stuff you have enjoyed.

Nah I haven't. I've got a whole world of recommendations for fantasy books based on my liking of GoT and the Abercrombie books. I think I want to check out some of Robin Hobbs stuff next, but I have had this Hugh Howey stuff suggested to me before, so I should look into it.

I'm not a massive reader (so nothing too lengthy or challenging!) but looking for a book to take on holiday...

...used to like autobiographys but now they bore me
...quite like crime and also like comedy

Know thats not much to go off but any recommendations?

That's very open... might be worth having a look at the top 100 if you want a broad overview of what 1FFers like.

Veggie Legs said:

That's very open... might be worth having a look at the top 100 if you want a broad overview of what 1FFers like.

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I've not read a novel in about 5 years so don't really have much to go off!haha

Where do I find the top100 list?

Here.

blade1889 said:

I've not read a novel in about 5 years so don't really have much to go off!haha

Where do I find the top100 list?

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I linked to it in my post...

Veggie Legs said:

I linked to it in my post...

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Thanks...I never spot links in text, the blue and black are too similar haha

I, Partridge is a good holiday book. If you like Alan Partridge, you should love this. Nice short chapters and hilarious in places.

Cant stand Alan Partridge tbh

The Dark Tourist by Dom Jolly is another good holiday book.

If you say you don't like Dom Jolly either I'm done with you.