Recommend a book (1 Viewer)

ajsccfc

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I'm making a conscious effort to read more this year and so far so good (although maybe not in terms of variety, another crime book finished and I've started another since)

King of Ashes by SA Cosby, a successful finance wiz returns to his home town when his father has a car accident only to find that it was no accident and is linked to his brother getting involved with some wrong'uns, delves into their family history and his plan to get them all out of trouble. Absolutely unhinged villains, main character wrestling with their morals, little twists without being overly twisty. Listened to this one and the narrator is fantastic too, he's also narrated Cosby's previous books so there's more added to my list.
 

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ajsccfc

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Finished The Getaway by Jim Thompson, fucking hell. It's 90% an exciting crime caper with two people on the run after a bank robbery and then becomes a surreal horror, had to read the final chapter twice to take it in properly. They've made two film versions of it with neither even trying to tackle the 'proper' ending, probably for the best.

Next up is James, I loved both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and this is a telling of the matter from the viewpoint of Jim, can't wait.
 

Farmer Jim

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All The Birds Singing - Evie Wyld.

Her writing style reminds me very much of early Iain Banks and in particular his outstanding debut with The Wasp Factory.

A young woman, has ended up as a sheep farmer on an un named Scottish Island, having escaped a life as a teenage prostitute in the Australian Outback, having gone on the run from an abusive sheep farmer she had shacked up with and robbed of all of his money.

Something is killing all her sheep on the farm in Scotland.

The way the story is told is really odd and quite difficult to get your head around to start with :

Her life on the Scottish Island is told in the present tense and her life in Australia is told in the past tense, each chapter alternates between her past life in Australia and her present life in Scotland.

It`s a very well written book, if a little strange ( similar to The Wasp Factory ), but once I got my head around the backwards and forwards of Australia and Scotland time lines.

I`d say it`s one that fans of Iain Banks would enjoy.
 

AOM

Well-Known Member
Read a 'A Short Stay in Hell' recently.
Saw it had been recommended quite often in Horror literature threads on Reddit, and I really liked it.
Feels like a book you spend more time thinking about afterwards compared to how long it takes to read.
The ideas really stick with you and it's a pretty horrifying concept of the real nature of eternity.

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Sky_Blue_Daz

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My daughter bought me Chris Macasusland's book for my Birthday starting that tonight
 

Marty

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One second after. Currently about half way and I do have to say it's excellent, best thing I've read in ages.
 

ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
Enjoyed James, it was faithful to Huck Finn to a point but also took licence to tell its own story by nature of it being Jim's story. Benefitted from being the audiobook version I think as the narrator was fantastic. I had a few minor issues in later chapters but nothing that dulled the story, it's easy to forget how shocking casual racism can be when it's just accepted.
 

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Skybluefaz

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Having enjoyed the Reacher TV shows, family bought me 'Exit Strategy' for Xmas. Think it's the 30th in the series and the first I've read. Written by Lee Child's brother Andrew.

Boring plot, dull dialogue. Wouldn't recommend. I don't read a lot of fiction, but I enjoyed doing that for a change. Might give some of the earlier books a go at some point but feeling a bit put off by that stinker.
 

ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
Paradais is an awful story told very well. two boys trapped in life, one a spoilt incel and the other a handyman living in poverty, have a friendship of convenience that sees them build to an abhorrent plan to solve their respective issues that goes as terribly as it possibly can. Quite a short story but told in a stream of consciousness style without chapters which isn't my preference, but works here
 

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Farmer Jim

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Just finished Freddie Flintoff`s auto biog - Coming Home.

I`m not really into auto biographies, as they tend to be poorly written and just full of anecdotes, which become pretty boring quickly.

However, this was very good, well written and I thought it was too short, possibly would`ve benefited from being split into two books :

Young Freddie - pre England.

Older Freddie - England and post England.

I found the earlier chapters, about his rise through school boy / youth cricket, into open age, county and then international cricket, just as interesting as when he was playing for England and felt that the book could covered his rise through the ranks as a youngster in more depth - there certainly seemed to be enough material there.

A really good read.
 

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