Best books you have read in the last 12 months?

[irratebass]

ALVH was a great book! The author wrote so that it was almost believable. I have not seen the movie, and still not sure if I will watch it or not, but there are some passages in this book that would make for some great cinema.

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[irratebass]

Finished A Clockwork Orange, really enjoyed it, felt they did a great job with the film as well.

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[Ken Gargett]

i'll be honest, i don't really read many aussie authors and i also read far less non-fiction than i should (wine does not count as that is also technically work). springsteen's auto-biog the last, and it was brilliant. amazingly raw.

anyway, just finished an aussie murder mystery that is stunning. first time author Jane Harper's 'The Dry'. so well done, and such an easy read. recommended it to a mate (a former english teacher) and he got straight back having just read it into the night until he finished it.

also reading david mccullough's 'John Adams'. been taking more time with this than i should have but what an amazing book about a truly extraordinary man. we all hear about lincoln, washington, jefferson et al and so rarely about the 2nd prez, but i would venture there have been few men in the last 3 centuries who have influenced the world to the extent he did. and still does. and a brilliantly told tale.

[PatrickEwing]

6 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

 

also reading david mccullough's 'John Adams'. been taking more time with this than i should have but what an amazing book about a truly extraordinary man. we all hear about lincoln, washington, jefferson et al and so rarely about the 2nd prez, but i would venture there have been few men in the last 3 centuries who have influenced the world to the extent he did. and still does. and a brilliantly told tale.

Have you seen the HBO series? Very well done. I've watched it numerous times. 

And yes agreed, also used to say this about Hamilton, but he seems to have gotten his due all of a sudden. 

John Quincy Adams may be even more decorated (no doubt due in part to his father) though far less influential. Fascinating period of time. Makes one optimistic that our politics might one day turn. Or pessimistic at what they've become. 

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, PatrickEwing said:

Have you seen the HBO series? Very well done. I've watched it numerous times. 

And yes agreed, also used to say this about Hamilton, but he seems to have gotten his due all of a sudden. 

John Quincy Adams may be even more decorated (no doubt due in part to his father) though far less influential. Fascinating period of time. Makes one optimistic that our politics might one day turn. Or pessimistic at what they've become. 

yes, also several times - it was what put me on to the book.

sadly, i fall into the pessimistic category. but if the internet, facebook, reality tv, twits, 24 hour news etc was around back then, who knows - you chopped down a tree? you nasty little vandal and how many other lies have you told. you keep slaves. you have illegitimate children. et al.

[PatrickEwing]

2 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

yes, also several times - it was what put me on to the book.

sadly, i fall into the pessimistic category. but if the internet, facebook, reality tv, twits, 24 hour news etc was around back then, who knows - you chopped down a tree? you nasty little vandal and how many other lies have you told. you keep slaves. you have illegitimate children. et al.

It was still vicious outside the ring certainly. See Hamilton and all his scandal. His affair got quite ugly. But within the ring they seem to have retained a sense of duty, civility and shared cause. But yes, media wasn't nearly as intrusive. Pros and cons there as well. 

[SirVantes]

Some recents. All rated 3 stars (unreservedly recommended) under my rudimentary system.

[Ken Gargett]

5 minutes ago, SirVantes said:

Some recents. All rated 3 stars (unreservedly recommended) under my rudimentary system.

big fan of both mieville (perido street station my fave) and murakami (1Q84 is truly amazing stuff).

[SirVantes]

15 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

big fan of both mieville (perido street station my fave) and murakami (1Q84 is truly amazing stuff).

Mieville's Bas-Lag novels have all mesmerised me, none more than Perdido Street Station.  I know many have panned Kraken, but I enjoyed that immensely too.  The Last Days of New Paris is basically one conceit stretched to its limit, but beautifully executed.

Men Without Women has Murakami in his less surreal mode (there's still plenty there) - more accessible to those who are not ready for a full-blown mind-cramp.  I like to ease my friends into Murakami with South of the Border, West of the Sun or Norwegian Wood, before they encounter sheep-men and those cats.

Colm Toibin never disappoints.  Like Sebastian Barry or Joseph O'Connor, nothing beats a modern Irish in full lyric mode.

Finally, Sarah Bakewell's account of the key players in existentialism is compelling.  Freedom, choices, living your principles?  Quite apposite for our times.  Not the flighty mind-w**k it might seem