Maq Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Excuse my laziness in not digging out the old thread - but I'm looking for recommendations for good books for my summer hols next week! Nothing fitba or politics please, as I've read plenty of that recently. I had a quick swatch in Waterstones earlier and these caught my eye, anyone read them?: We are not ourselves - M Thomas Look who's back - T Vermes Fourth of July Creek - S Henderson The Buried Giant - K Ishiguro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandydunn Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I bought cold granite by Stuart macbride a couple of years ago. About a copper in Aberdeen and everywhere is places you can relate to. I've just bought the 9th book in the series which should be here in Saturday and also a spin off short story about said cop and a couple of his other books which are set in a fictional town. Maybe not what you're looking for,but I think they're quite good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnbruman Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 A very funny book about internet dating - "Im a Celibate - get me out of here" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Crime/Mystery: Raymond Chandler (The Phillip Marlowe novels) :Humour/Farce: P.G.Wodehouse (pretty much anything by him really, and he wrote a lot of books ! "Jeeves & Wooster" are my personal favourites)Supernatural/Horror: M.R James (Collected Ghost Stories)Childhood Memoirs/Scottish Interest: "Crowdie & Cream: Memoirs of a Hebridean Childhood" by Finlay J. MacDonaldEarly 20th Century social Interest: "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell & "Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky" by Patrick HamiltonIf your looking for some good non-fiction, Jan Morris wrote a fantastic trio of books about the rise and fall of the British Empire, the titles are "Heaven's Command", "Pax Britannica" and "Trumpets Fade". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeTortolanoFanClub Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I recently read A Colder War, a contemporary spy novel by Charles Cumming, a Scottish writer. Rather good it was too. I'll be looking into his back catalogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stocky Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 How Sturgeon won the Scottish Election and how Scotland was kicked out the union. Will be printed around end of July. .. or is that just a dream...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenfrewBlue Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 For humour read anything by Terry Pratchett. His books are hilarious and very insightful. Personal favourites are Soul Music and Guards! Guards!. Stephen King if you want to avoid sleeping. His latest stuff is less horror and more suspense. I also really like Dean R Koontz Odd novels. They're funny and scary in turn. If you like bizarre humour try Jasper Fforde. Very very odd but enjoyable nonetheless. Just started reading Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels and they seem ok but only read one so far so can't recommend yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huddersfield Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Early 20th Century social Interest: "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell & "Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky" by Patrick Hamilton Two excellent recommendations! RTP is tragic & humorous at the same time; Hamilton has an excellent eye for the depth of ostensibly ordinary people and what they feel & want from life (& generally don't get!). I just read The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) which is a good read and The Known World which addresses black ownership of slaves. I've also just got into Terry Pratchett as well & Mort is a great read & very funny; I'm also about to start on Guards! Guards! mentioned above so glad that's recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Thanks for the recommendations guys! Great I have been meaning to read Stuart McBride for a while - but I live down South so not sure if they'll be stocked here? Mibbes. Also - Terry Pratchett, good shout, a guy at work the other day was telling me to start reading him. Dunno where to start though? Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a great book, but I've read it before (though years ago) Thanks for all the recommendations, I'm sure there's a few there that'll do me, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyTJS Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Crime/Mystery: Raymond Chandler (The Phillip Marlowe novels) : Humour/Farce: P.G.Wodehouse (pretty much anything by him really, and he wrote a lot of books ! "Jeeves & Wooster" are my personal favourites) Supernatural/Horror: M.R James (Collected Ghost Stories) Childhood Memoirs/Scottish Interest: "Crowdie & Cream: Memoirs of a Hebridean Childhood" by Finlay J. MacDonald Early 20th Century social Interest: "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell & "Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky" by Patrick Hamilton If your looking for some good non-fiction, Jan Morris wrote a fantastic trio of books about the rise and fall of the British Empire, the titles are "Heaven's Command", "Pax Britannica" and "Trumpets Fade". All of those are good recommendations (well, I've read a fair few of 'em so I'll take your word on the rest). WG Sebald is getting a strong posthumous reputation. The Rings of Saturn is a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huddersfield Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Also - Terry Pratchett, good shout, a guy at work the other day was telling me to start reading him. Dunno where to start though? Some good tips here http://tartanarmyboard.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=3686&hl=pratchett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandydunn Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I get the macbride ones from Amazon,think the most I've paid is £8 for a hardback,which is the one I'm waiting on incidentally. Water stones had it for about £13sh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Return of Yermaw Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Two I'm reading just now - And Five Came Back (or similar title) - John Ford, Frank Capra, and three other top Hollywood directors who signed up to fight/record footage during WW2; and Stuart Cosgrove's Detroit 67. Making way through both of them and both are fascinating topics though I feel could have been better written. Cosgrove's iin particular is a little repetitive but as said, the topic and the setting makes up for the authors' failings in the two books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillinger Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 (edited) Our resident author would be missing a trick if he didn't plug his own book - http://tinyurl.com/pfg3t7n "Kerby: Funny tales from a 1990's Scottish childhood" Edited April 30, 2015 by Dillinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Two excellent recommendations! RTP is tragic & humorous at the same time; Hamilton has an excellent eye for the depth of ostensibly ordinary people and what they feel & want from life (& generally don't get!). Aye Huddersfield, I first read the RTP on my Grandad's recommendation little knowing he'd put me onto such a powerful and beautifully written work. It really makes you appreciate what our ancestors went through back then and also the various, painfully simple and effective means the establishment have of turning the working classes against one another that are still used even today. Its such a bloody shame that Tressell never lived to see it published . On a personal level, what I found fascinating was that at the time Tressell wrote it in 1909/1910, both my Gr-Gr-Gr-Grandfather and Gr-Gr Grandfather were humble journeyman housepainters (probably painting the homes of those posh Tory cünts in Kelvinside for a pittance in return) just like those poor chaps in the book and with the same pre-welfare state fear of unemployment, disability, illness, providing for their families or being thought too old for work. Tressell also gives such a wonderful wee insight into working class culture in those days with the references to the music halls, the annual works piss up outing, the lost world of pub games and so forth. "Twenty Thousand Streets..." perhaps lacks the moments of humour which the RTP has but is still is another top read. You just wish you could enter the world of the "Midnight Bell" and stop Bob from throwing his money away on Jenny or to encourage Ella to confess her feelings to Bob. On a brighter note, I once had a history teacher who on reflection was Mr Eccles, Ella's dirty minded elderly suitor - actually come to life ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan cake Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I get the macbride ones from Amazon,think the most I've paid is £8 for a hardback,which is the one I'm waiting on incidentally. Water stones had it for about £13sh. i just download them from the library onto my kindle for feck all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Gills Mcginty Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I'm reading The Buried Giant- K Ishiguro just now, about 2/3 through, I'm enjoying it. Its kinda fantasy ish. I'm a big fan of Joe Abercrombies First Law trilogy- great fun- great characters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mee Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Tom Clancy - rainbow six. My favourite book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark frae Crieff Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Tom Clancy - rainbow six. My favourite book Most of Clanycs books are good... Also Clive Cussler oh and Jack Higgins.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Return of Yermaw Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 where's my Clancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittymeister Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 If you want to mix politics and sport read Tibor Fischer's Under a Frog. It's based in Budapest from the end of the Second World War up to the revolution seen through the eyes of a couple of players of a basketball team. Agree with the Stuart McBride recommendations. Power of the Dog by Don Winslow is excellent. All about Mexican Drug Wars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassrubber Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Just read my second Andrey Kurkov book on holiday and really enjoyed the wackiness of his Ukranian stories Death and the penguin The Milkman in the night Louis de Bernier type stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tam4ritchie Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 The blue zone by andrew Gross, harvest by Tess Gerritsen, the bomb maker by Stephen Leather. Just about anything by David Baldacci or Erica Spindler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flora MaDonald Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I bought a daft wee cheapo book on Amazon the other day. Peterhead Porridge by James Crosbie (no surprises for what it's about). Surprisingly very good and funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Our resident author would be missing a trick if he didn't plug his own book - http://tinyurl.com/pfg3t7n "Kerby: Funny tales from a 1990's Scottish childhood" Aye, ok! I'll get it for the kindle now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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