planetf1.com

Two books, really.

The Art of Happiness by the Dalia Lama, which is more of a contemplative process and takes more time to 'digest' than to actually read.

Since Ian Bank's passing over, I've started on The Player of Games again, one of my favourite sci-if novels and I haven't read it in decades

Wasp Factory might well be next. Love his early stuff.

I've never read any of his sci-fi stuff but have one on my shelf to read. Have lost my copy of the Crow Road which is really annoying because it was the one I wanted to read after hearing he'd died.

Also just seen Jo Nesbo will be doing a signing in Manchester in September so will have to head down to that!

I have just finished the first book of A song of Ice and Fire, ie A Game Of Thrones, thought it was an excellent book and I'm about to start A Clash Of Kings in the next couple of days.
One thing that amazed me is how close the TV show has stuck to the books, especially for the fist series/book. I really hope it continues to follow the books very closely in its tv adaptation as some programmes really do suffer if they make the jump from book to film/TV.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

Veronika Decides to Die
Coelho Paulo

Both uplifting and special to me.

Great book. You must read the trilogy as they are all fantastic. My sister gave them to me the Xmas after they came out & I couldn't put them down. By the time we went on holiday to Bali in the first week of January I had read all three. As I usually read a book a week I only keep those books I found really special & I have kept these three books. It's a shame that the author died as I would have loved to have seen where he went next with his books

Two books, really.

The Art of Happiness by the Dalia Lama, which is more of a contemplative process and takes more time to 'digest' than to actually read.

Since Ian Bank's passing over, I've started on The Player of Games again, one of my favourite sci-if novels and I haven't read it in decades

Wasp Factory might well be next. Love his early stuff.
But then again, I might pick up something by Bukowski.

A Feast for Crows. Really really struggling with it though, been reading it for about 4 months, and just hit halfway. I think because A Storm of Swords ends in such a brilliant way, and a Feast for Crows is a little different in the way it tells the story, it's a struggle.

This is my addiction for the moment

Just finished reading some of Banks' old ones Player of Games, Consider Phlebas, Espadiar Street etc. Great stuff.

Ok, I know this isn't technically what I've been reading (although I did start the Wasp Factory earlier) but my dad said to me yesterday 'you know, Iain Banks is the only reason you read half as much as you do'. As so many of you have mentioned him in light of his recent passing I would like to mention how important he was in influencing me (and in doing that, try to persuade those who haven't read to give him a try) because there is no way I would read anything half as interesting as I do without him. He was the first person I read who was slightly off the beat, slightly out there and he gave me a reason to think my slightly twisted sense of humour wasn't that bad after all. He brought me into this new area of fiction that was literally 'read what you want, when you want, and don't be ashamed to enjoy it'.
Of anyone hasn't read any of his stuff I would advise it. You might not enjoy it (his first book took many tries to get published. Half of the reviews are actually negative ones but they don't reflect on the standard of writing - focusing on the story itself) but you'll never doubt how amazing an author he is. The Crow Factory is literally one of my favourite things that has ever been written. Anybody that can start a book with 'It was the day my grandmother exploded' (and yes, that is one of the only quotes I remember by heart from a book) just shows their skills as an author. This book has everything that you could look for. Humour (however dark), romance (however hidden to start with), detective (even if it's not the 'main plot') and throughout it all I've never loved the relationship between numerous different people as much as I have with this book. Honestly, no book will ever beat this for me and that's because he has this way of making you both love and hate a character all in one go, especially with them being Scottish (I might not be a Scot but I bloody wish I was!) it talks to me as an individual. I'd just like to say that Ian Banks is the reason that when I go into Waterstones I will spend extra on the 'buy one get one half price' as he is the reason that I try new things.
Sorry for the alcohol influenced tribute but I honestly don't know what to say about this man to give him full credit. He's given me a reason to dedicate a book based blog to him and I never do that kind of stuff. He's influenced me to read half as much as I do. And most importantly, he's influenced me to read whatever I feel like! He was really the kind of person everybody needed in their walk of life and I just wish he could've known what he meant to the individual. I know I wont be alone.

Macbeth.

I often wonder at why some writers are popular and others not so. It seems similar to films, average plots and average writing produce best sellers such as the Jack Reacher novels (ironically a poorly selling film), while the better writers with skill and imagination don't sell as well.
I remember reading The Wasp Factory and not feeling the slightest compulsion to read any of his other works, not that I didn't enjoy it, but maybe because I was trying to second guess the plot all the way through, and perhaps that ruined the experience for me. I guessed the girl's/boy's secret early on (though not the how and why), and for some reason I thought that the dwarf might be imaginary, so I was expecting an American Psycho type thing all along, so nothing towards the end really shocked me.

My favourite opening line from a book is "It's not easy cutting open a human head with a hacksaw".

Macbeth.

I often wonder at why some writers are popular and others not so. It seems similar to films, average plots and average writing produce best sellers such as the Jack Reacher novels (ironically a poorly selling film), while the better writers with skill and imagination don't sell as well.
I remember reading The Wasp Factory and not feeling the slightest compulsion to read any of his other works, not that I didn't enjoy it, but maybe because I was trying to second guess the plot all the way through, and perhaps that ruined the experience for me. I guessed the girl's/boy's secret early on (though not the how and why), and for some reason I thought that the dwarf might be imaginary, so I was expecting an American Psycho type thing all along, so nothing towards the end really shocked me.

My favourite opening line from a book is "It's not easy cutting open a human head with a hacksaw".

I am re reading Huckleberry Finn. It is hilarious, but a good reminder what the mind set was not that long ago. We have progressed as a race despite what they say.

No offense, but it's no indication of the mindset at any time, it's a work of fiction, a fantasy world.
...

Just finished Lord of the Rings.

Honestly, thought it was hideously boring. Tolkien needed some editting... One of the few cases where, for me, movie(s) better than book.

Also recently read To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it because, along with Catcher in the Rye, it is often on those lists of Top 25 books etc. Catcher in the Rye was absolute bollocks. Nothing happened. Nothing bad or dodgy occured. It was just Holden bumming about for a bit. Okay, a teacher tried to touch him up but seriously, why was this ever banned?
Anywho, To Kill a Mockingbird. Brilliant. A truly brilliant book. I was surpised how much I enjoyed this. After a slow start, it really picks up and in the end I was sad to finish it.


Sidenote: I generally don't read fiction. I don't really like fiction books. I like auto/biographies and science/pseudoscience type books. I liked Harry Potter, I liked To Kill a Mockingbird... Dark Materials was decent. I liked Lord of the Flies. I thought all Shakespeare was overrated and mostly pretty pish. Especially Hamlet. How do we wrap up the plot? Kill everyone! Dickens was kinda boring, but entertaining enough.

I've already plowed through the first two, dont want this to be the last one! Apparently early drafts of the fourth one were found however obviously it'll never be

Yes, I too have heard about the fourth book. It's almost torture thinking about what may have been. ...

Good choice!

If you've already read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Unfinished Tales gives loads of backstory for all 3 books before you move on to the History of Middle Earth collection.

That was a good use/waste of my teen years reading all those!

Tried several times, but cant seem to read this. I get in a few pages and it seems to drag, a few more and I dont know what I have just read and a few more and I decide to 'put it off for another time'.

I have read Hobbit and LOTR many times, but just cant do it. I think I did the same with leaf and tree though