šŸ“š I am currently reading

Not being one to slavishly follow fads Iā€™ve given a big swerve to anything to do with GoT on the telly box.

Teenage Mutant insisted I at least try the first book which I did. Am currently on book 3 A Storm Of Swords. Great literature it ainā€™t but the bite size chapters keep the interest and the wide scope of the narrative is impressive.

Am also reading The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan - as recommended by Goat here on Sotonians - a very good read.

1 Like

ā€œWeapons of Math Destructionā€ by Cathy Oā€™Neil. Itā€™s pretty scary. How your data is increasingly important as a commodity and itā€™s misuse. Written by a data scientist and number theorist from Harvard itā€™s really eye-opening how social media sites and others collects data and then monetise it. The complete lack of morality is placed at the people who write the algorithms.

McNamee chooses his words carefully. ā€œThe people who run Facebook and Google are good people, whose well-intentioned strategies have led to horrific unintended consequences,ā€ he says. ā€œThe problem is that there is nothing the companies can do to address the harm unless they abandon their current advertising models.ā€

Iā€™m posting too much again ā€¦ :slight_frown:

I bought a used copy in Oxfamā€¦too many pages stuck together to get much out of it.

1 Like

Currently reading Why Iā€™m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge.

Because Iā€™m virtue signalling.

1 Like

As a Euro/African I take that comment as a grave insultā€¦RETRACT!! :lou_angry:

1 Like

Just finished ā€˜The Great Game: On Secret Service In High Asiaā€™ by Peter Hopkirk.

A look at the machinations of Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia in central Asia, tales of the first Afghan war and the battle for control of the various Khanates bordering Britainā€™s Indian Empire. Interesting stuff. Lots of detailed accounts from British and Russian officers and adventurers.

Just moved on to Robert Fiskā€™s ā€˜The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of The Middle Eastā€™ for something a little more up to date.

Bought my first book since the Lee Child short story combo ready for holidays.

Artemis - sequel to The Martian. Hope itā€™s beach reading!

No spoilers D_P, have it being delivered tomorrow. Enjoyed Tā€™Martian so thought Iā€™d give it a go.

Yeah, funny how I chose it.

Lee Childā€™s new novel is not yet published. So Dan Brown would be the perfect beach book. Unfortunately here it is only in Hardback, not an ā€œAirport Editionā€ - The Hardback weight b asically screwed up our entire carry-on limits on the flights Sunday as we now have to take a laptop and were always taking our entire collection of Camera Kit and Lenses.

I was browsing in Krakow Duty Free no less and there it was. Just like you I thought ā€œI liked the Martianā€ā€¦

It already caused me grief because when I went to check in for my rebooked flight after the delay, my carry-on baggage was 1kkg too much and I ended up having to row with the Station Manager to keep the bloody thing!

And no spoilers - Wonā€™t open mine until Sunday at the earliest and then only if Gulf Airā€™s Entertanment system is shit! 24th December on the Beach is the plan :slight_smile:

1 Like

Iā€™ve heard itā€™s not a very good follow-up to The Martian (which was superb). Let us know what you thinkā€¦

EDIT: Ah, just seen that you like Dan Brown :lou_eyes_to_sky:

1 Like

I read Inferno(itā€™s shit). I much preferred Craces digested read. Anyone that hasnā€™t read Inferno and plans to, donā€™t read below.

Seven kilometres out into the azure waters of the Adriatic, the Provost ā€“ the head of a top-secret organisation called the Cornsortium, which specialised in contriving idiotic plotlines ā€“ stood at the prow of his 237m yacht, the Mendacium. I may have finally taken on a plotline too stupid even for me, he thought.

Dr Elizabeth Sinskey, CEO of the World Health Organisation, combed her Medusa-like grey hair and thought unnecessarily of the glucocorticoid treatment that had destroyed her reproductive system. Her mind then switched to that fateful meeting she had had with Bertand Zobrist. ā€œThe population of the world is growing too fast,ā€ the billionaire geneticist had said urgently. ā€œIf we are not careful, there will soon be eight billion Dan Brown readers. We must have a cull.ā€

ā€œSo letā€™s get this straight. Zobrist left a trail of pointless clues to where the virus wasnā€™t, so the whole book has been a total waste of time?ā€ Sinskeyā€™s mouth stretched into a knowing but sad smile. ā€œThatā€™s about it. But at the end of the day, you will still have four billion readers, so you canā€™t complain.ā€

Digested read, digested: A divine comedy

Not reading, but listening to an audio book. Tim Shipmanā€™s Fall Out, the necessary sequel to All Out War. Itā€™s epic, almost 30 hours in length. Itā€™s mostly an examination of the May triumvirate, and how they got it so wrong. Iā€™m up to the part where sheā€™s trying to woo Trump.

The honey moon period, eh?

Excellent so far. Driving up to Liverpool tonight so will have heard considerably more.

Things can only get better by John Oā€™Farrell.

Plots his adolesence spent waiting for Thatcher to fuck off and a Labour government to take power.

Enjoying it so far.

Didnā€™t know you could read tbf

:lou_wink_2:

1 Like

On a topless beach on a sun lounger with a Pins Class?

Or $0.50 A pint beers?

Yes guilty.

I prefer Lee Child but already read thus years release.

I am Jack Teacher (the real one not the Tom Cruise impost0rr midget)

As mentioned in another thread, just finished the first two Hannibal Lecter books ā€˜Red Dragonā€™ & ā€˜The Silence of the Lambsā€™ in quick succession.

Both excellent, easy to read, tension builders.

If youā€™ve seen the movies then you will definitley enjoy them, the plots are basically the same but with all the extra background information you would expect. in Red Dragon particularly there are 3-4 chapters purely on the title characterā€™s childhood and upbrining that molded him into the beast in the book.

What I like most about the books is that they are reffered to as the Hannibal Lecter books, despite the fact that in the first two books he is barely in them which builds you up to the 3rd book where he is the main protagonist. Itā€™s clever writing by Thomas Harris and works well.

Lecter is an anti-hero no doubt about it.