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Thread: What are you currently reading?

  1. #1051
    Quote Originally Posted by interbellum View Post
    Yesterday I finished this 700+ pages book. What an adventure!
    Yes that's quite a read isn't it? It took me a while in fits and starts, some sections you could rip through, but others seemed to outstay their welcome. Overall it was a very interesting read though.

  2. #1052
    Quote Originally Posted by interbellum View Post

    Started reading in the new Jonathan Coe, Number 11.

    " It is a contemporary, satirical novel set in Britain during the years 2003-2015. Some characters reappear from What a Carve Up! as the novel examines the continued influence of the Winshaw family and their heirs on the political and cultural life of the nation."
    I read that one at a gallop, I always enjoy Jonathan Coe, and this was a funny and searing indictment on the modern values.

  3. #1053
    I have finally picked up David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks, there has never been a book of his that I have not loved, but for some reason the hardback has sat on my shelves untouched for ages, probably because it's too heavy to lug around on the train to work! Anyway I succumbed and added it to my Kindle too, much easier, and predictably I am loving it! I keep the hardback at hand to flick backwards and re-read sections though, so my cash wasn't wasted

  4. #1054
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Recently finished book III of Stephen King's Hodges Trilogy, "End of Watch." Thoroughly enjoyed all three!

    Now I'm rereading a book that I read about 25 years ago: Tom Robbins' "Skinny Legs and All." Among other things, the guy's a master wordsmith. Very creative and funny as hell!

  5. #1055
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    I'm about a third of the way through The Consultant by Bentley Little, one of my favorite horror authors. A software firm is hitting a rough patch, so the board hires a consulting firm to monitor the place and make recommendations. Slowly the consultant, who sends people 300 emails with attachments at a time, conducts surveys asking what your favorite position (and not on coporate ladder) is, and calls meetings at 2:00 in the morning, starts to wieddle his way into peoples' lives. Suicides ensue and infighting begins; all the while the flat-topped, bow-tied consultant feigns innocence. Good stuff; can't stop reading.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  6. #1056
    Quote Originally Posted by interbellum View Post

    Started reading in the new Jonathan Coe, Number 11.
    A writer I've been meaning to check out. Let us know how it goes.

    Quote Originally Posted by MudShark22 View Post
    So...

    I just finished Jonathan Hickman's Avengers/Infinity/Secret Wars mega epic for marvel and was well satisfied.

    Caveat, I had previously read his FF as well as some Image trades.
    East of West and Manhattan Projects both have their moments, but I stopped following both monthly years ago and have pretty much left the wait-for-trade behind me as well. Good concepts, but tough to read even six issues at a time. A collected omnibus might be easier if either series is ever finished.

    Looks like I'm going to start Bulgakov's Master and Margarita today. Here's the blurb:

    "Nothing in the whole of literature compares with The Master and Margarita. One spring afternoon, the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow. Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantastical, funny, and devastating satire of Soviet life combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with historical, imaginary, frightful, and wonderful characters. Written during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, and finally published in 1966 and 1967, The Master and Margarita became a literary phenomenon."

    I've heard very good things.
    I want to dynamite your mind with love tonight.

  7. #1057
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lopez View Post
    I'm about a third of the way through The Consultant by Bentley Little, one of my favorite horror authors. A software firm is hitting a rough patch, so the board hires a consulting firm to monitor the place and make recommendations. Slowly the consultant, who sends people 300 emails with attachments at a time, conducts surveys asking what your favorite position (and not on coporate ladder) is, and calls meetings at 2:00 in the morning, starts to wieddle his way into peoples' lives. Suicides ensue and infighting begins; all the while the flat-topped, bow-tied consultant feigns innocence. Good stuff; can't stop reading.
    Sounds good. An interesting approach for a horror story.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  8. #1058
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    Quote Originally Posted by polmico View Post

    Looks like I'm going to start Bulgakov's Master and Margarita today. Here's the blurb:

    "Nothing in the whole of literature compares with The Master and Margarita. One spring afternoon, the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow. Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantastical, funny, and devastating satire of Soviet life combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with historical, imaginary, frightful, and wonderful characters. Written during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, and finally published in 1966 and 1967, The Master and Margarita became a literary phenomenon."

    I've heard very good things.
    Read it a couple years back, and loved it. Magical realism and Russian "existential" themes.....let me know what you think! It's one of my favorites of the last few years.
    "And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."

  9. #1059
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    Over the last couple of years i've read(generally) good reviews of Bill Bruford:The Autobiography.It just arrived and i'm looking forward to diving in.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  10. #1060
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    Quote Originally Posted by walt View Post
    Over the last couple of years i've read(generally) good reviews of Bill Bruford:The Autobiography.It just arrived and i'm looking forward to diving in.
    Bill's narrative of the Belew-era Crimson is particularly humorous...
    -=Will you stand by me against the cold night, or are you afraid of the ice?=-

  11. #1061
    Member rapidfirerob's Avatar
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    Just finished Miles autobiography. Next up is Herbie's Possibilities.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  12. #1062
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    Quote Originally Posted by walt View Post
    Over the last couple of years i've read(generally) good reviews of Bill Bruford:The Autobiography.It just arrived and i'm looking forward to diving in.
    I thought it was great! You really get to know what an intelligent, witty and self-effacing guy Bruf is. He's brutally honest... and his chapter on progressive rock probably pissed a few diehards off, but even they (hopefully) could appreciate the humor.

    Quote Originally Posted by rapidfirerob View Post
    Just finished Miles autobiography. Next up is Herbie's Possibilities.
    Both essential reading! Miles could be hard to take at times; he told some stories about some of my heroes that I really would've preferred to never know. But he was able to call himself out on some his own unsavory doings too; gotta respect that!

    Herbie is simply a beautiful human being and wise man as well as a genius musician. He wasn't afraid to call himself out on certain things either. I particularly loved his stories about Miles' second great quintet!

    Another jazz musician book that I'd recommend is Peter Erskine's "No Beethoven" (in spite of the ill-chosen title).

  13. #1063
    Member Lou's Avatar
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    1100 pages into Stephen Kings "The Stand". Only 300 more to go !!!!
    A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence

  14. #1064
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    I'm 350 pages into the fourth Game Of Thrones book.
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  15. #1065
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    Quote Originally Posted by polmico View Post
    A writer I've been meaning to check out. Let us know how it goes.



    East of West and Manhattan Projects both have their moments, but I stopped following both monthly years ago and have pretty much left the wait-for-trade behind me as well. Good concepts, but tough to read even six issues at a time. A collected omnibus might be easier if either series is ever finished. .
    I have been a wait for trade guy since i left college over 25 years ago.

    Just picked up all the East of West trades plus the Manhattan Project trades i did not have as well as Red Wing and Nightly News.

    In general, I will agree that Hickman has the right ideas but can have trouble sticking the landing.

    The series I need to finish is DMZ by Brian Wood (a more likely occurrence every day in this political environment). Have all the trades just haven't got past Vol. 5 (of 10) yet.
    Death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit

  16. #1066
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Anybody here regularly reads Jonathan Coe's books?

    For those not aware, Coe is a brilliant novelist describing the last 70 years' weird British society and its strange societal traits who create a bunch of odd effects on its population.

    A good deal of us probably have read The Rotter's Club (01) , which mentions Hatfield & The North and Crimson (a little bit), but has anyone read The Closed Circle ('04)? This is the sequel (most of the characters in TRC are mentionned in TCC) happening in the early 00's, but doesn't make any reference to prog music.


    Another diptyque would be What A Carve Up (from 94) and his very latest called Number 11 , which has some links with some of the surviving protagonist of the former book finding their end on the present one. For for the first time, Coe has brought in some fantasy or surreal creature, which is disturbing me: more because it's out iof character (he had remained realistic until now)

    I've also read Accidental Woman (87, I think), currently reading House Of Sleep and up next will be his second-lasr novel Expo 58 (happening in Brussels)

    I tried Pricacy of Maxwell Sim , but couldn't, partly because of the fact that I'd seen the French movie vased on the novel before reading... after a few pages and reading ahead, I could see that the movie followed the book from close, so I returned to book to the library
    Last edited by Trane; 08-08-2016 at 06:05 AM.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  17. #1067
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lou View Post
    1100 pages into Stephen Kings "The Stand". Only 300 more to go !!!!
    I haven't read a Stephen King book since the late 80's, but I must say that The Stand was a particularly memorable one, among with Chistine and Shining.


    I read everything until (and including) Pet Semetary (didn't enjoy) and Different seasons (probably my fave), and his first couple Bachman books), but I've either totally outgrown his kind of litterature (more likely) or he's really gone downhill (still wsomewhat likely)
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  18. #1068
    Outrage by Vincent Bugliosi. the 20th anniversary of the Simpson case and all the TV specials on it reignited my interest. i originally bought Outrage in hardcover way back when it first came out 20 yrs ago but now it's buried in a box as i'm packing up to move to a new condo. so i bought the kindle version and have been reading it on my tablet when i get a chance. boy does ever skewer everybody involved in that case - from the DA's decision to move the case downtown to Ito's idiotic decision to let the race card in, etc. very interesting read. next up: Without a Doubt by Marcia Clarke.
    when i'm not reading true crime stuff, it's mostly Dean Koontz and occasionally other authors like Dan Brown and Michael Cordy.
    "She said you are the air I breathe
    The life I love, the dream I weave."


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  19. #1069
    Quote Originally Posted by MudShark22 View Post

    In general, I will agree that Hickman has the right ideas but can have trouble sticking the landing.
    I certainly don't want to bog down this thread with comic book stuff, but Hickman's new book, The Black Monday Murders, sure does sound interesting:

    " 'MAMMON' ALL HAIL GOD MONEY! From JONATHAN HICKMAN (EAST OF WEST, Secret Wars, Avengers) and TOMM COKER (UNDYING LOVE) comes a new crypto-noir series about the power of dirty, filthy money... and exactly what kind of people you can buy with it. THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS is classic occultism where the various schools of magic are actually clandestine banking cartels who control all of society: a secret world where vampire Russian oligarchs, Black popes, enchanted American aristocrats, and hitmen from the International Monetary Fund work together to keep ALL OF US in our proper place."

    https://www.comixology.com/The-Black...QvbGlzdDEyNjQw
    I want to dynamite your mind with love tonight.

  20. #1070
    Member Lou's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    I haven't read a Stephen King book since the late 80's, but I must say that The Stand was a particularly memorable one, among with Chistine and Shining.


    I read everything until (and including) Pet Semetary (didn't enjoy) and Different seasons (probably my fave), and his first couple Bachman books), but I've either totally outgrown his kind of litterature (more likely) or he's really gone downhill (still wsomewhat likely)
    You might want to give his sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, a try. I thought it was quite good. Or, his newer trilogy, starting with Mr Mercedes.
    A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence

  21. #1071
    Member rapidfirerob's Avatar
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    Just started Herbie's Possibilities. He has the opposite view of race than Miles, always maintaining an open view of other races, not harshly judging or stereotyping all white people by the actions of a small number. Miles had so many negative things to say about white people, though he said Gil Evans was his best friend more than once in his autobiography. So glad Herbie's chose music over engineering! Looking forward to Herbie's unveiling his amazing career and insights into his life. Love his attitude.


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  22. #1072
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lou View Post
    You might want to give his sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, a try. I thought it was quite good. Or, his newer trilogy, starting with Mr Mercedes.
    Naahhhh!!!.. The whole horror/thriller genre is simply not my cupa for the last two or three decades

    But thanks
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  23. #1073
    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Anybody here regularly reads Jonathan Coe's books?

    For those not aware, Coe is a brilliant novelist describing the last 70 years' weird British society and its strange societal traits who create a bunch of odd effects on its population.

    A good deal of us probably have read The Rotter's Club (01) , which mentions Hatfield & The North and Crimson (a little bit), but has anyone read The Closed Circle ('04)? This is the sequel (most of the characters in TRC are mentionned in TCC) happening in the early 00's, but doesn't make any reference to prog music.


    Another diptyque would be What A Carve Up (from 94) and his very latest called Number 11 , which has some links with some of the surviving protagonist of the former book finding their end on the present one. For for the first time, Coe has brought in some fantasy or surreal creature, which is disturbing me: more because it's out iof character (he had remained realistic until now)

    I've also read Accidental Woman (87, I think), currently reading House Of Sleep and up next will be his second-lasr novel Expo 58 (happening in Brussels)

    I tried Pricacy of Maxwell Sim , but couldn't, partly because of the fact that I'd seen the French movie vased on the novel before reading... after a few pages and reading ahead, I could see that the movie followed the book from close, so I returned to book to the library
    I have read most of his and always look out for the new ones. I started with The Rotters Club purely because of the hatfield's title, and went from there. I love the book and enjoyed the BBC adaptation. The Close Circle was a good book and worth reading as I cared about the original characters and what had become of them.

    I recently finished Number 11, and it is only loosely related to What A Carve Up. I enjoyed it a lot, and the fantasy creature aspect was a strange twist but I read it as an allegory for the current state of society and the rampant greed of the mega-rich /ruling class.

  24. #1074
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    Just started a three-novel compilation by Richard Matheson, most famous for his Twilight Zone stories. It's called Noir, and it's three short crime/suspense novels he wrote in the 50s. I've had the book for years, and these are the only novels of his I haven't read yet. As I've been getting into a lot of noir movies lately I figure now's the time. My favorite of his novels are The Shrinking Man and Bid Time Return (made into the movie Somewhere in Time). If you see that movie, look for Matheson himself as the "astonished man" in the top hat.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  25. #1075
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sunlight Caller View Post
    I have read most of his and always look out for the new ones. I started with The Rotters Club purely because of the hatfield's title, and went from there. I love the book and enjoyed the BBC adaptation. The Close Circle was a good book and worth reading as I cared about the original characters and what had become of them.

    I recently finished Number 11, and it is only loosely related to What A Carve Up. I enjoyed it a lot, and the fantasy creature aspect was a strange twist but I read it as an allegory for the current state of society and the rampant greed of the mega-rich /ruling class.
    Yesss, that's more or less the way I took it, but it's still out of character from Coe's other writings.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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