What are you reading?

[casio]

tell me about it I was gutted when I finished the last book, although if you change David Trevellyan's name to Jack Reacher it reads just like his big brother wrote it (I suspect he really did write it because the writing style is too ingrained and recognizable as lee child-esq id say if he didn't write it then his little brother has been copy and pasting lol) the only thing I'm not looking forward to is Tom Cruise playing Reacher in the film, god knows why someone as small as him got the role it took me a while to get into Flynn's American Assassin but by the end I was flying though the pages, if you liked that style of book have a look at the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter one of them (point of impact I think) was made in to the film Shooter with Marky Mark playing Swagger, but don't let that put you off the books as usual are far better than the films. As far as I can remember I think there's about 10 books if you include both the Bob Lee and Earl Swagger books -although I've not read the Earl Swagger books

EDIT - there is some question about the order the Stephen Hunter books should be read in be it the order of their release or where they would be placed in chronological order working their way through Bob Lee's life, personally I read them in the order the author planned but my next door neighbour read them as if working his way through Swaggers life, whichever if you have a look here http://www.stephenhunter.net/faq.html you can decide for yourself

2nd EDIT - I forgot to mention there are the Ben Hope series by Scott Mariani I think theres about 5 which I really enjoyed they're sort of the Jack Reacher series crossed with a bit of Dan Brown and a little Stieg Larsson. he has wrote some vampire ones but after reading the 4 book epic of sparkly vampires that is twilight I cant face them

[mug]

Jesus Casio you read loads, your keeping this thread afloat single-handedly. Is ok if I ask you a few questions about reading as I've read f-all since school and just getting into it now (I'm 31)

1. I'm a very slow reader so it takes me ages to get through books, as you've read more and more have you noticed if you got any faster over the years ?.
2. Has their been any benefits in your everyday life other than a larger vocabulary ?.
3. What are a few of your favourite books ?.

Cheers and sorry for the weird questions

[casio]

lol of course its ok to ask thats what df is all about

ok first question, yeah the more I read the faster I've got over the years its not like flicking a switch and going from reading 1 page a min to 2 pages a min, I tend to find the more I enjoy the book the quicker I read, but like anything the more you do it the quicker you get although everyone's different my nan goes through books twice as fast as I do which is why I got her a kindle

As for the vocabulary its a yes and no kind of thing, it definitely helps as does doing the crossword in the paper (when I buy one, which isnt all that frequently any more) I also play words with friends (scrabble) on the iphone which helps to exercise the mind, I also write which helps especially when I write a word too many times lol (im trying to get into print at the moment but its painfully slow and if I'm honest it can be quite off putting)

as for my favorites it changes week by week, I used to love james pattersons books but just lately they seem to be all the same and the only thing thats changing is the co-author he's working with. I think the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child are brilliant as is The end of my Y by Scarlett Thomas and the Tom Rob Smith Demidov trilogy. More recently I read Reamde by Neal Stephenson and thought it was a cracking read -although at 1000 pages it made my hands and forearms ache just from holding it lol, currently im reading Devil-Devil by G.W. Kent which is set on the Solomon islands just after the second world war and its not bad so far, a bit slow in the beginning but its getting going a bit now

If I were you rather than jumping in on something like Reamde and putting yourself off, I'd start off on something like Killing Floor by Lee Child because not only is it a good read its the first in a series that both I and fair few other members on here really enjoyed, its not a massive 1000 page epic but its not a 50 page novella either. if you feel like something light hearted but a good mystery have a look at the spellman books by Lisa Lutz, its apparently "Chick lit" but its a funny and smart mystery series that I think is a very underrated series

The only other thing I'd say is don't be embarrassed by the books you read, I got a few funny looks when I was reading the Twilight saga but it didnt bother me, that said I did largely enjoy them even if I don't think I'll be reading any of them again lol

[big-paul]

The only other thing I'd say is don't be embarrassed by the books you read, I got a few funny looks when I was reading the Twilight saga but it didnt bother me, that said I did largely enjoy them even if I don't think I'll be reading any of them again lol

Great advice mate, I hate people who are snobby about what they read, if its a good read I'll read pretty much anything. Spent many a happy flight reading books I consider "chewing gum" but they passed the time.

[big-paul]

Just finished "Where the bodies are buried" by Christopher Brookmyre, first one on the Kindle as well. enjoued reading it on the Kindle and t was a good read, not sure it was up to his early promise with "One fine day in the middle of the night" but an entertaining and amusing read. Just started "Camouflage" but Joe Haldeman and it's shaping up pretty well so far. Starting to get back into my scifi again!

[JonEp]

Having read the second David Trevellyan book I felt it lacked from the the first.

The comparison between Child and his brother's use of language are remarkably similar in the first book and I think in the second book they tried to hide it which doesn't really work.

I love the use of pound for pennies instead of dollars for do-nuts that Child has used in every book. The storyline was weak and drawn out.

[casio]

I know what you mean, I was disappointed in the beginning when I thought it would pick up from the end of the first but it didnt. I still think Lee Child is behind it but between them they've tried harder to hide it and it missed the target because of that, or his brother really did write the first and then polished it for a long... long time before it hit the shelves and the second needed to be out 12 months later

I finished Devil-Devil by G.W. Kent after Sherlock and that too was a bit of a let down it seemed to be building all the way through until the last page came and it ended, more of a slow valve leak than the blow out I was hoping for. Other than that In the last week I've read Blood Vines - Erica Spindler, Bestseller - Stephen leather (I thought this was brilliant, maybe a bit too kindle focused but highly enjoyable) and Death Notice by John Ritter, after my nephew visited earlier he left his book Fire storm by Andrew Lane (part of the young Sherlock Holmes series) I've read a few pages (about a third) and its not bad, its not up to the quality of the originals or The House of Silk by Anthony Horrowitz but not bad so far

[JonEp]

Just about to start on The Etmologicon by Mark Forsyth and grabbed Bestseller by stephen Leather just in case I don't get on with the first.

[casio]

let me know what you thought about Bestseller it felt very Columbo to me even without a charismatic copper at the helm

[casio]

just started One for the money by Janet Evanovich, I have got them on my Kindle but the hospital had some second hand books on sale and I couldnt resist

hand on heart I thought it was going to be ok-ish but its brilliant, im about a quarter of the way through and im really enjoying it, fingers crossed the 16+ others in the series are as good as this one

[casio]

well its only a couple of days since I started the first and with an incredibly slow week so far (one of our suppliers went under) I've finished One for the money, Two for the dough and I just finished Three to get deadly (all by Janet Evanovich) and i'm really enjoying them, theyre light, easy going and have a decent plot.

Apparently there is a film due out of the first one by the end of the month so im glad I read it before I saw the film, they're no Jack Reacher but they're not trying to be, think a hapless, inept Veronica Mars and you're not a million miles off

[casio]

Well, Four to score by Janet Evanovich lasted roughly a day, at this rate the rest wont last the month, i think I'm going to have to slow down and read something else for a couple of days lol

[casio]

well before I go any further I do want to say I have had barely anything to do through the day for the past couple of days other than waiting for the new suppliers to deliver the hardware at work and I'd have been bored off my arse without something to read

OK well I've read High five, Hot six, Seven up, Hard eight, and I just started To the nines all of which are by Janet Evanovich

[showbiz-legend]

Lately i've read The Psycopath Test by Jon Ronson and really enjoyed it. I've read the Men who stare at Goats and Them so i knew what i would be getting with this one.

After that was The Nosferatu Scroll y James Becket. Wasn't too bad to be honest but not the best writer really, the book had a tendency to explain itself a little too much at times but i still enjoyed it over all.

Next up is Burned by Thomas Enger. Its his debut book and the scandinavian thriller is new to me so hopefully i'll enjoy it.

[casio]

I finished To the nines, Ten big ones, Eleven on top and twelve sharp all of which are part of the stephanie plum series by Janet Evanovich,

I have got Lean Mean Thirteen ready to go but I've not started it yet

[wadgey]

Nothing heavy or serious like you guys here but just finished reading Robbie Fowlers autobiography!

Going to start http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mob-Rules-Ma.../dp/1591843987 next.

[casio]

@wadgey If you like the mob business one have a look at freakanomics and super freakanomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner I found them both to be really interesting and I know others on here have enjoyed them as well and while not the same as the mob business one they both take a sideways look at statistics and their interpretations

[wadgey]

I've had both Freako and Super Freako for years but never got round to reading them. Will do one day.

[Roach-Rampino]

I am reading "I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan" on my iPad. It is very funny if you are a Partridge fan, which I am.

[showbiz-legend]

Finished Burned by Thomas Enger. It was quite good and i enjoyed it overall. Next up is Sanctus by Simon Toyne.
@ Roach: you cant beat a bit of Partridge, i'll give that one a look.