SillyOldBag

I really enjoyed Pillars of the Earth and Worlds End but this one isn't gripping me, but I do think you are right that it will probably pick up the pace, I suppose it's quite difficult to gain pace initially where there are so many threads to the story and so many characters to introduce etc... I'm certainly not going to give up on it!

Zen10

They're cheaper than toilet paper, I know that much.

scottishcelts

SillyOldBag

I've just finished reading "Heartstone" by CJ Sansom, the 5th in the Shardlake series. It really was an excellent story. Apparently he has plans for a couple of more Shardlakes's but no idea when, I suppose I'll have to be patient.

Speaking of patience, I'm now moving on to Stephen Donaldson's "Against All Things Ending" which must be about 9th in the Thomas Covenant books. You have to be patient to be a reader of his as there are years between books! So far so good and it's another big read, I do like value for money!

knockoff nige

Just finished the Hunger Games trilogy yesterday. Book 3 got a bit messy and the ending was a bit predictable. However, I enjoyed them all, book 2 especially.

scottishcelts

Reading a Uri Geller book - Mystic or Magician, can't remember the author, but it's shit and really boring, but I'm hesitant to put the thing down, I hate that.

DadAgain

Odd isnt it how we resist the idea of putting a book down for a while. I'm much the same - once I've started I usually refuse to start reading anything else until I've finished. (Having said that - I did put down the unbelievably tedious '50 shades' for a break whilst I read the latest Follet)

Compare this to the way we have been 'trained' to watch TV where we typically watch several different shows in parallel, chopping and changing between them at a whim according the the broadcasters schedule.

What I've found is that TV is a MUCH more absorbing medium, if you apply the same rules as we do with books. If you start watching a season of 'Dexter' - make sure you have it all there ready to go and don't watch ANYTHING else until you've finished the whole season... Its a much richer experience and far more enjoyable (much more like reading a book).


..anyway - stay with the Follet, I found it really quite interesting a filled in more than a few blanks in my history knowledge. The sequel (Winter of the World) is all WWII and wasnt quite as interesting but still kept me absorbed.

If you're concerned about them being "a meter thick", then read them on a kindle (or other eReader) - its not such a physical endurance event!

SillyOldBag

In the end, I did enjoy Fall of Giants, it was just a bit of a slow start for me. I'm waiting til the next one is out in paperback before I get it. I like books that are a "meter thick" as I feel I get value for money that way

I see what you are getting at with the tv series, perhaps that contributed to why I absolutely loved Life on Mars because I watched that pretty much back to back episodes and as you say was totally absorbed akin to the way I get when I'm reading a good book.

knockoff nige

Currently reading 'I am the secret footballer'. I would seriously like to know who this guy is.

knockoff nige

If I didnt have to work, I'd have this book finished by now. Great read, very similar to Roy Keanes autobiography in terms of honesty.

Zen10

That is in fact why they are so thick these days. Also the thicker spine takes up more shelf space and is clearer for people to see, and fonts are getting larger as well.

All this is changing with the rise of ebook, and once again writers are producing shorter novels because none of the old considerations matter. Most writers now see the bulk of their sales from ebooks and that is only going to get bigger as well.

SillyOldBag

I don't like those larger sized books - I like the normal standard size with normal size fonts, I just like epic novels.

BadgeIsBack

Me too...I can't take a book seriously unless it weighs a bit. Unless it is a classic.

alipally

Not been on this thread for a good while, but I have been reading quite a lot!

Just finishing The Book Thief... what a fabulous book! A look at the other side of the fence during WWII from a child's perspective. I loved it!

Also just finishing The Accidental by Ali Smith... winner of the Whitbread Novel award in 2005, quite literary, but nevertheless, sexy, funny and poignant.

I want to read the life of Pi before it hits the cinemas at Christmas!

eddie007

Just finished reading two autobiographical books by a nurse who trained in the thirties in the uk.... Same time my grandmother was nursing... Though she did hers in the late 20s... I swear, either this woman worked with my grandmother or there are universal nursing urban legends..... I suspect the latter...

Not great literature, but interesting bubblegum for train commuting