The last book I read would be of little interest to most people here, so I will plug my favourite novel instead.

"That's proof, isn't it? They all say I'm crazy"
"They're crazy"
"So why don't you ground them?"
"Why don't they ask me to ground them?"
"Because they're crazy"
"Well, of course they're crazy, I just told you that. And you can't let crazy people decide whether you're crazy or not, can you?"



Available from all good bookstores for £5.

www.amazon.co.uk/Catch-22-Anniversary-Ed...id=1337724976&sr=8-1

It's only sold about ten-million copies, so the estate of Joseph Heller could do with your assistance.

o_rourke wrote:
I'm really enjoying Game of Thrones on TV (now I've finally managed to get hold of it!), and the novels are now on my "to read" list! I might try and get hold of them in MP3 audio format or something though, as I tend to find audio books more "soothing" when I'm tired!

I also like historical thrillers - have you read any books by C. J. Sansom (the Matthew Shardlake series set in the reign of Henry VIII)? They're excellent!

Mandy

quietgirl wrote:
yep, read them all Yet another fantastic series.

Ken Follet's books are great too. 'The Pillars of the Earth'; 'World Without End', and 'A Dangerous Fortune'

I'm also a bit of a Stephen King fan too. Recently read The Stand and it was brilliant. I also started reading Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon. It was too similar to The Stand for me to get into just now, but either of these books are great apoclyptic type books about end of the world. They really give a good insight of what it'd be like if we got hit with a virus or nuclear war.

wake_up_bomb wrote:
'Catch 22'....that's a blockbuster movie too, is it not? (Probably within a complete different theme entirely though)

Anyway, I just thought your own book should be plugged here, WUB. Just incase some peeps aren't aware of it:

Hostile Takeover by Chris Morris (terrific book and a must have reference to all things relating to the banking system, BBC and other related must know stuff).

I hope you don't mind me plugging it here WUB?

o_rourke wrote:
I've not read any Ken Follet myself, although I enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth on TV! I must add it to my reading pile! Same goes for Stephen King - I've not actually read any, but have seen several TV adaptations of his books which I've enjoyed!

Mandy

quietgirl wrote:
Oh I missed that when it was on TV, Mandy. I think I would've enjoyed seeing how it panned out in comparison to the book. I must say that Game of Thrones TV series is terrrific and doesn't leave too much detail out in comparison to the books. I love the dwarf's character, Peter Dinklage, both in the books and TV series. He's a fine actor and very witty, crafty and intelligent. What I love about the books is that RR Martin is not afraid to kill off his main characters or to have you love them one minute and hate them the next. Very clever writing. The man is a genius.

o_rourke wrote:
My Dad, who loved the book The Pillars of the Earth, said he found the TV series a bit disappointing, as he felt it left lots of important stuff out to concentrate on the "soapy" bits (as he called them). As I've not read the book myself yet, I can't really comment, but I did enjoy the TV series.

The dwarf in Game of Thrones is one of my favourite characters in the series too!

Mandy

o_rourke wrote:

Same here. He's nothing short of brilliant in my opinion. The Stand is superb.

'IT', I think is his best work but The Dark Half also takes some beating as the character 'George Stark' left such a lasting impression on me.

psketti wrote:
Yep. The Stand was brilliant, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I still have to carry on with The Dark Tower, I'm on part IV, Wizard And Glass. I have hardly read a thing for months.

Part II of The Dark Tower, The Drawing Of The Three was phenomenal IMO, amazingly entertaining from start to finish.

I've got to get reading again, soon

psketti wrote:
I agree psketti....'It' was my favourite. The movie was scary as hell too. I haven't read 'The Dark Half'. Will need to look that out. SK is such an amazing and talented writer. When you think of the amount of film adaptations for all his books, it goes to show how his peers rate him too.

OT: I just wanted to add that it's good to see you back as a mod. Well done!

irrepressible wrote:
Wow...haven't read any of them irre. Are they Stephen King books or by another author? I'm sure I've heard the titles though. Will need to look them out.

o_rourke wrote:
Yeah o_rourke, they're by Stephen King.



The Gunslinger is the first book. Being the start to the series it starts off a bit slow-ish. But book two really picks up the pace and is nothing short of pure genius IMHO;



The cover designs will probably have changed, but I've posted these ones as they're the ones I own

There's seven books in the series, I'm still on book four though. The first three were excellent, thoroughly enjoyable. Check them out and see if they're your cup of tea

Hi irre. I've just realised that I have a whole batch of books by Stephen King and those titles are included. I've got them on my to read next list. I just need to sort them out in chronological order. If you have them listed already, that'd be great. Cheers for that

I: The Gunslinger (1982)
II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
III: The Waste Lands (1991)
IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

irrepressible wrote:
Thanks for that. I've cut and pasted the list into Notepad for reference.

o_rourke wrote:
You're welcome

I've just got hold of a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, just to see what the fuss is all about! Mr Quietgirl thinks it's a hoot! I suspect it's going to be truly terrible - like a bizarrely kinky Mills & Boon.
Mandy

I actually have 3 books going
1) The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics: An Introduction to the Gnostic Coptic Manuscripts Discovered at Chenoboskion by Jean Doresse (Aug 1997)
2) The Turning (Blood Ties, Book 1) by Jennifer Armintrout (Jun 1, 2006)
3) Wild Wild West by Charlene Teglia (Aug 7, 2007)

quietgirl wrote:

I read the A Song of Ice & Fire series last year too & thoroughly enjoyed it - didn't see the TV version, but as Sean Bean was in it, I expect it was good.

Very complex interweaving of so many three-dimensional characters and plot twists that it keeps you desperate to know what's going to happen next right throughout the several thousand pages. I liked the preamble too - "Don't read it if you're looking for mincing elves" (or words to that effect).

Good thread,
Just finished Gardens Of the Moon, which is the first of the Malazan
Book Of the Fallen (hence my username ). I'd recommend if you liked A Song Of Fire And Ice / Game Of Thrones.
It's a superb start to the sequence. Much better than Game Of Thrones, better than Tolkien? Maybe...
Anyway book two is winging it way towards me now