I'm Busy Reading....

[gill216]

I know my profile says I'm reading nothing but its still accurate I have read in between but my reading material has been and gone before I've had the chance to change my profile.

On holiday- otherwise known as babysitting, cooking, cleaning etc. - I read "Library of the Dead" by Glen(n?) Cooper.

Has anyone got the follow up "Body of Souls" that they want to swap/sell?

I wouldn't recommend full price but worth a read if it's available 3 for £5.

[MBH]

Thanks for the reminder Gill - I haven't updated this for a FEW books now

Just finished The Venus Fix - a serial killer story with strong Adult and Internet themes which I was reading alongside Artimis Fowl and the Time Paradox - nicely varied options there

Now I've got:

Danger Zone: Ice Claw by David Gilman in the car
and
Daemons Are Forever by Simon R. Green

... both of them 'teenage' fiction, and both second books in their respective series. The Gilman one is quite serious action (with the typical unbelivable teenage star), and I'm still enjoying the Green humour Had me laughing out loud a few time.

When I have bits of time online I'm also reading Hermione Granger and the Deathly Hallows by Ann Margaret on Fictionalley. She's written the last 3 books from Ms Grainger's point of view, and filled in (from her own imagination) the behind-the-scenes things that are alluded to or ignored by JKR.

[eirian]

I'm actually reading about 4 books at the moment... Still trying to finish Strange & Norrell, but it's a big book and I got distracted onto books I could read with one hand while feeding. So I started to read Diary of a Provincial Lady, but then I reached the part of the book which was falling apart (well, I did inherit my copy from my grandma), so I started reading Harry Potter, but have now reached the volumes we bought in hardback and therefore not one handed, so I'm reading Julian May's Metapsychic Exiles 4-some (currently on No.3 :Non-born King).
So, I suppose I'm not actually reading more than 2 books, but haven't finished reading 2 others. really must finish them!

[clvrlad]

strange people reading more than one book at a time

ive just finished reading wicked last night

[Cenwulf]

My last book was Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture, looking at the different uses to which architecture has been put. From the ancient (Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, Egypt) to the ultra-modern (Astana, Kazakhstan), from the secular (Rockerfeller Centre, New York) to the sacred (Hanging Temple, China), from places of life (Mumbai) to those of death (Varanasi). And if the title seems familiar, it's the book of the television series from last year.

My current book is Finding Moonshine by Marcus du Sautoy. It's an unusual book, part memoir, part textbook and part mathematical history. He presented A History of Maths which was on BBC4 earlier this year (I hadn't got digital at that point, so I watched it on the BBC iPlayer.)

[Bunnylump]

The Dan Cruickshank one sounds fascinating, Cenwulf. I love interesting buildings (in a former life I was a trainee building surveyor).

[clvrlad]

the new Dan Brown
the lost symbol
i wasn't engrossed all the time my mind did wander but it showed interesting things whether they are real or not is besides the point
over all i enjoyed the book its suggested things i want to look at see if they are true or not mostly because im wondering how much of this is real and how much isn't

i liked one point where Robert Langdon told his students who had told him mason's are a weird cult
you wont want to join my cult then
on the day honouring Ra the Egyptian sun god we gather b4 an ancient torture device and consume of symbolic
yep hes catholic

[Bunnylump]

I was wondering whether to bother reading it. You couldn't say they were anything much to write home about from a literary point of view, but I must admit, daft though they are, they are good page turners!

[Scurra]

mostly because im wondering how much of this is real and how much isn't

Well here's a clue - it's on the fiction shelves...

[SparkOut]

I don't know what to make of Dan Brown. I've read two of his, The Da Vinci Code, which is the second worst book I have ever read (not for the the theme, but for the writing style and construction) and Deception Point, which was quite acceptably good, although I wouldn't award it any prizes.
Neither are "real" at all, but I'm quite happy that my suspension of disbelief mode works perfectly well, if the story is written well enough. TDVC certainly wasn't.

[Scurra]

The point is that it's the writing style and construction that are why he is so successful though. He's adopted the approach of "popular journalism" and applied it to fiction. Thus he tells you everything three times, like a newspaper article tends to: in a couple of sentences, then at length and then in a quick summary in case you'd forgotten. This means that when you are reading, you don't necessarily notice that you've skipped, say, an entire paragraph, because you won't miss anything of importance. And each chapter is only a few pages long, so there's never more than one or two of these ideas introduced at once, which makes it fairly stress-free too.

I watched a wonderfully nonsensical programme about Agatha Christie's writing style last weekend, which made some similar sorts of points about her careful use of language so that the points she wanted reinforced were repeated, whereas the bits she wanted you to overlook (because they were critical to the "surprise" of the solution) were carefully underplayed. Dan Brown follows much the same formula (as the old joke goes - it takes a lot of work to make it look that bad.)

[SparkOut]

In the case of The Da Vinci Code I never felt like that at all. I felt it was offensively written with a cynical view on having it turned into a blockbuster movie. Information that should have been available to the viewer (um... reader) was deliberately withheld, and not from an "improve the narrative" reason (IMHO) but from a "director's note: cut! scene change to ..." perspective. That information would then be held out of sight for 85 pages before being imparted, by which time it had lost its impact and was relevant only to kick start the take up again on return to the original "scene", which it did in a chop/change manner far too much.
It was a completely different style to Deception Point. As I said, I found that much less offensive, and was quite pleasantly surprised, since I read it after TDVC. And to be fair, TDVC is only the second worst book I have ever read.

(The worst is Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor, although technically I'm not sure it counts because I couldn't manage to bring myself to finish it, and stopped about 50 pages from the end. That's the only book I can remember that I have ever started and not finished.)

[clvrlad]

well dont read the lost symbol
not only are the twists sign posted with neon letters but he jumps back around like a kangaroo in a spring factory


and scurra i know its on the fiction shelf but its working out which bits are fiction
for example he mentions that washinton dc is the capitol of america ...im assuming thats not fiction
but is the stated fact that they initially called it rome true....

[Scurra]

In the case of The Da Vinci Code I never felt like that at all. I felt it was offensively written with a cynical view on having it turned into a blockbuster movie.

That's not particularly different to Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton though. (Or the later JK Rowlings, come to that ) He certainly didn't have a "movie deal" when he wrote it - as can be seen from the fact that none of his earlier ones were seriously optioned, and A&D was only subsequently filmed (and I assume that TLS is probably in preproduction already...)

I must confess that I never really felt what you did whilst reading DVC - I found the through-line of the plot was quite coherent with very little in the way of "cheating". Maybe I'm just easily pleased?

[SparkOut]

Or Wilbur Smith (not that I've read any of his that have been made into films) or..., or...
Yes, there are a lot of authors who seemingly write with the vision that the book will become a film. It's not that I hated TDVC just because of that, but because of the particular style in that case. And not because of the reasons that those people who like to bash TDVC for the historical inaccuracies and general "theme" do. Deception Point was not written in the same way, and I was happy with that one. I'm perfectly happy to read (or watch) "preposterous" stuff, if the style does not grate.
Maybe you're easily pleased? hmm, maybe I'm hyper critical? I don't think either, really. Just different. And of course, this is all just my subjective opinion.

[maisie ladybird]

Just been reading all your interesting posts on the Dan Brown books - as, coincidently, have been out this morning and bought DVC & A&D. My curiosity has finally got the better of me - thought I'd see what all the fuss was about.
Can't start them yet though, as am reading an awful 'chick lit' book (for some reason when I start a book, I feel as though I should finish it - even though I think this one belongs in the bin) but I'm ever the optomist and am now nearly a third of the way through, hoping it will get better - if I don't finish it I feel as though the time already spent reading it has been wasted.

[eirian]

I tend to find I enjoy pretty much all of the books I read, but do tend to classify them into various categories - mainly those I'll reread regularly and those I won't. But another way to split them would be those that are nice and easy to read and you can read at speed (eg, Dan Brown or Harry Potter) and those that take longer (eg Silmarillion or The Eight). I enjoy them all, but count the former group as an indulgence - read for relaxation and it doesn't matter how well written they are, where the quality of writing matters more in the second group, otherwise I just grind to a halt and it takes me for ever to finish.
Anyway, I'm off to read Deathly Hallows as an indulgence!

(I do agree though that Deception Point is better than DVC)

[giraffe]

We're listening to Deathly Hallows in the car at the moment. (yet again) The battle of Hogwarts is underway!

[SparkOut]

(for some reason when I start a book, I feel as though I should finish it - even though I think this one belongs in the bin) but I'm ever the optomist and am now nearly a third of the way through, hoping it will get better - if I don't finish it I feel as though the time already spent reading it has been wasted.

Yes me too, which is why I (subjectively) feel Star of the Sea is worthy of some sort of "worst ever" award.

[MBH]

I think I fall under the "easily pleased" banner, as I tend to like a lot of the books that some people in the media enjoy ripping to bits. ALL my reading is easy-reading and indulgence - it's my escape from the real world.

I've enjoyed all the Dan Brown book, I like the 'pace' and the fact that all the action seems to take place in a (ridiculously) short space of time. If you've read 2 sparkout, then it's probably worth giving Digital Fortress a try - you'll appreciate the subject matter at least

On the same lines , Tom Clancey's Net Force books are fun... the future of the Internet.

I've still got Stephen Fry's Ode Less Travelled on the go (in the car), but I'm having a lot of trouble with it as it is NOT a "read for 5 minutes and put down" book. It will need some dedicated time and consideration [a lot like the PuzzleBrains mags], and that is time I can't give

Don't know about anyone else, but when I read a book I 'see' the action played out in my mind. That's probably why I don't go out of my way to see things like the H.P. films and I'm a little dissapointed when I do get to see the DVDs - when I'm reading the story is complete and my special effects are far better than the screen ones