Team-BHP - The Books Thread (Fiction)

Nice to see a book thread here. I've been gifted a kindle recently by my better half :)

I had been a heavy reader of fiction in my college days (arthur hailey, john grisham, agatha christie , fredrick forsyth, micahel crichton etc). Now with work & family, my attention is diverted to other interests like movies, video games, traveling etc. Nevertheless, with a kindle, I've actually 'rekindled' my reading hobby.

I've subscribed for kindle unlimited, and mainly reading the stuff there.

Recently done with Immortals of Meluha. It's a good one time read, and being deeply rooted in Indian mythology, its more interesting to read for an Indian.

Now onto some perry mason adventures. Finished two of them, and onto the third one. They are nice bed-time / light reading.

I have bought 'Annihilation' by Jeff VanderMeer on kindle store, yet to start though.

On my 'to read' list are:
'Annihilation' by Jeff VanderMeer
Detective by Arthur Hailey
The Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss (yet to buy this one)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj (Post 4294364)

Exactly. I don't think the films were able to do any kind of justice to the book. One reason I felt was that both Da Vinci Code and 'Angels and Demons' were pretty deep into the ideas being discussed. Many parts required you to stop and think and maybe read again to connect things well. The film could not really translate that well......

I've always held the opinion complex books are best adapted to mini-series, not a single feature film. Plenty of time to pay attention to detail and nuance without compromising plot pace. But then it isn't as profitable I guess, and the majority probably doesn't care anyway:D

Completed recently:
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
And then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Currently reading:
The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh

On the desk:
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

Quote:

Originally Posted by murillo (Post 4322468)

Completed recently:
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
And then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Compelling books, all of them. Except for Heart of Darkness. Somehow could not connect to it.

Among my recently completed books:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (Took lots and lots of time, holds it place in the list of world's longest books, but the effort of worth it)
Buddha and the Sahibs by Charles Allen
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

And at present am on The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown.

After taking the subscription of Magzter Gold, I've stopped reading books.
There are so many Magazines (most I'd have never subscribed like N-Photo, Lonely Planet, many IT/Computer/business and what not) that I've no time to read novels/books.
Do anybody feel the same?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piyadassi (Post 4322494)

Except for Heart of Darkness. Somehow could not connect to it.

Heart of Darkness comes with the story-in-metaphors style dominating the writing. This is a marquee style of Conrad; however, he takes it too far in his Heart of Darkness. Some people don't like Heart of Darkness because of its overblown metaphorical style. I do like this particular style of writing - there are some brilliant sentences written in that book. Authors like Salman Rushdie borrow from this literary style; however, in my humble opinion, Rushdie's metaphors lack the polish of Conrad's.

Crime Fiction Lovers, some sad news today.

Sue Grafton has passed on.
She was the author of the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series.
She said she would stop the series once she reached Z.
Her last book in the series was "Y" Is for Yesterday (2017)

As mentioned in her Wiki page, The timeline of the series is slower than real time. "Q" Is for Quarry, for example, is set in 1987 though it was published in 2002. This gave her the freedom to write crime novels without her characters using Cell Phones or the Internet.

Article of her passing away.

Here are a few links

Wikipedia
Amazon page

Yesterday I finished reading the hottest book on the Planet. Never before I have read a non-fiction that is more unbelievable than a fiction. It is a laugh riot, and while laughing hard I remember it is about the most powerful person in the world, and get terrified at the same time. And it is happening right now, the ultimate reality show/book. I won't post a review because there are 1000s of them on the internet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 4337637)

Social media is full of opinions on this. I wanted to ask - is this really non-fiction? What is the position of the author of this book - I mean was he a part of Trump's team? Sorry but I read some of the stuff from the book and it seemed unbelievable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saanil (Post 4337700)

He was allowed to hangaround in the Whitehouse for most of the year. It feels very real to anybody who has closely followed the American politics. There is a very good correlation between what happened publicly and the inside stories written about it.

Steve Bannon was the most affected by the book release, yet he has not denied anything about the book. That says a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 4337749)

Haven't yet read this book, have been in two minds to read it. Didn't want to invest a few hours of my time, if is just a collection of plain gossip of the Drumpf world.
I saw an interview a few days back, where the author himself agrees that he is "not reporting, but telling a story". Also, that he sees a event/situation and talks to multiple people, and writes the "story" based on his "view of the truth".

One more to the reading list, thanks.

Just finished "The Force" by Don Winslow on kindle.
The Force by Don Winslow

This book was recommended by Vivek Kaul @vivek , a journalist I follow on Twitter.
He had a few threads in the last weeks of December 2017 with details of the best fiction, non fiction and other books he had read during the year.
This is what he tweeted about The Force

Quote:

Am currently reading Don Winslow's The Force,which Lee Child has called the best cop novel ever written.Great dialogue. Great set pieces. The opening of the book does remind me of an opening a film-script a film maker friend had told me about a few years back.

Blurbs by
Lee Child

Quote:

‘Intensely human in its tragic details, positively Shakespearian in its epic sweep – probably the best cop novel ever written’

Stephen King

Quote:

‘Mesmerizing, a triumph. Think The Godfather, only with cops. It’s that good’

The book was as advertised. A rollercoaster ride into the seedy underbelly of the NYPD.
Buy it and keep the weekend free for an action filled joyride.

Made a few more kindle purchases that I hope to go through the first quarter of 2018.

Next up
Trumpocracy by David Frum
The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols.
The Cartel by Don Winslow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy (Post 4340892)

Thanks for the recommendation. Is this a standalone book or part of a series ?

This is a standalone.

Book is brilliant and will keep you rooting for the lead character "Denny Malone", the leader of an elite unit who despite all his flaws aims to navigate a corrupt system that is out to make an example of him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy (Post 4340892)

Thanks for the recommendation. Is this a standalone book or part of a series ?

The Force looks like a standalone book rather than a part of a series. The author does have other books which are a part of a series.