What are you reading at the moment?

[ajthefox]

Nearly half way through this, which I bought in Australia having fallen a little in love with the these trees.

 

Really interesting reading about the Colonial botany and how it figured in the story told to those in England who would later migrate.

 

[FoxesDeb]

27 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

I exclusively use a Kindle and have done for years, started with a standard one and graduated to a Paperwhite a few years later.

 

Its great, but I do wonder if I make my eyes lazy by increasing the font size when I shouldn’t.  

 

What made you upgrade?

 

11 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

They always seem really expensive for what they are 

 

Yeah they are I suppose, I'm trying to justify it here really 

 

10 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Yeah I use a kindle and really love it. I just have a normal cheap one. Just had a look online what’s the difference? The paperwhite ones are well expensive.

 

The Paperwhite is waterproof, it has a slightly bigger screen, and a different light setting for use at night. The basic Paperlight only has 8gb of storage though, and the 2022 model has 16gb. Over here there's only 15 euros difference between them, so it comes down to storage versus the extra features I suppose...

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, FoxesDeb said:

 

What made you upgrade?

 

 

Yeah they are I suppose, I'm trying to justify it here really 

 

 

The Paperwhite is waterproof, it has a slightly bigger screen, and a different light setting for use at night. The basic Paperlight only has 8gb of storage though, and the 2022 model has 16gb. Over here there's only 15 euros difference between them, so it comes down to storage versus the extra features I suppose...

My original kindle had no backlight, so I romantically gifted it to my wife so I could buy a fancy new one

[Unabomber]

2 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

 

What made you upgrade?

 

 

Yeah they are I suppose, I'm trying to justify it here really 

 

 

The Paperwhite is waterproof, it has a slightly bigger screen, and a different light setting for use at night. The basic Paperlight only has 8gb of storage though, and the 2022 model has 16gb. Over here there's only 15 euros difference between them, so it comes down to storage versus the extra features I suppose...

Just get a cheap one then. Mines absolutely fine

[SpacedX]

On 01/01/2023 at 16:16, bovril said:

A few I particularly enjoyed in 2022

 

 

 

 

 

I'm ashamed to say that I only read Camus as a teen due to a fascination with 'Killing and Arab' by the Cure. I found it to be very disappointing, largely because my expectations were clearly to cock, but upon reappraisal years later, I find it frustratingly simplistic in its language and structure. I'm clearly missing something. Although drawn to the notion of the philosophically absurd, perhaps if I could actually read it in French, the lucidity that it is acclaimed for would have more of an impression. Haunted by regimented and enforced compulsory reading at school,Thackeray is forever a crashing bore to me whilst Conrad is enthralling. Question - from memory, you teach, yes?...history by any chance?

 

Really like your pile (so to speak). My own new reads and re-reads this year...

 

 

 

[l444ry]

[bovril]

16 minutes ago, Line-X said:

I'm ashamed to say that I only read Camus as a teen due to a fascination with 'Killing and Arab' by the Cure. I found it to be very disappointing, largely because my expectations were clearly to cock, but upon reappraisal years later, I find it frustratingly simplistic in its language and structure. I'm clearly missing something. Although drawn to the notion of the philosophically absurd, perhaps if I could actually read it in French, the lucidity that it is acclaimed for would have more of an impression. Haunted by regimented and enforced compulsory reading at school,Thackeray is forever a crashing bore to me whilst Conrad is enthralling. Question - from memory, you teach, yes?...history by any chance?

 

Really like your pile (so to speak). My own new reads and re-reads this year...

 

 

 

I couldn't get into the Outsider - it was probably the 'classic' novel that left the least impression on me. But I really liked the First Man, an unfinished semi-autobiographical novel about growing up in Algeria. Much more descriptive and engaging than his other stuff which like you said is quite spare in its style and and rather aloof (I'm not a lit critic as you can tell). I love the film of Barry Lyndon which was the main reason I read and enjoyed the book, I'm also interested in that period in history. 

 

Have a Solzhenitsyn on my shelves which I keep meaning to read, a long with loads of other Russian lit. 

 

First book I read in 2022 was Conversations in Sicily which I imagined would be a nostalgic look at an idyllic childhood in Sicily, but really isn't. Quite a powerful and upsetting book. 

Edited 2 January 2023 by bovril

[Bordersfox]

1 hour ago, FoxesDeb said:

Do many of you use a Kindle? I'm thinking of getting one and not sure which model to go for. It will be between the two cheaper ones I think, either the newer 2022 model, or the paperwhite, can anyone recommend one over the other?

To be honest I do have a paperwhite but I find myself using either the Borrow Box app or the Kindle app on my phone due to extreme laziness.  Also as I always have my phone switched on and with me if I have a spare moment I can very quickly have a bit of a read.  I don't find reading on my phone a problem.  So my kindle tends to languish uncharged. 

[SpacedX]

4 minutes ago, bovril said:

I couldn't get into the Outsider - it was probably the 'classic' novel that left the least impression on me. But I really liked the First Man, an unfinished semi-autobiographical novel about growing up in Algeria. Much more descriptive and engaging than his other stuff which like you said is quite simplistic and aloof (I'm not a lit critic as you can tell). I love the film of Barry Lyndon which was the main reason I read and enjoyed the book, I'm also interested in that period in history. 

 

Have a Solzhenitsyn on my shelves which I keep meaning to read, a long with loads of other Russian lit. 

 

First book I read in 2023 was Conversations in Sicily which I imagined would be a nostalgic look at an idyllic childhood in Sicily, but really isn't. Quite a powerful and upsetting book. 

Thanks for your reply - much appreciated. 

[Tommy Fresh]

Just started this, do more reading related to my degree now then when I was actually at uni

[kenny]

5 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Do many of you use a Kindle? I'm thinking of getting one and not sure which model to go for. It will be between the two cheaper ones I think, either the newer 2022 model, or the paperwhite, can anyone recommend one over the other?

We use kobo rather than kindle as it accepts 'free' e-pub books readily.

 

I replaced my wife's with a kindle paperwhite by mistake and you can now use epub but it's a faff.

 

The paperwhite function on kobo and kindle is excellent. Getting one that's waterproof is a good idea if you read in the bath!

 

 

[Bordersfox]

 

Another masterclass by Harris.  Always manages to perfectly evoke a sense of period without being the least bit stodgy.  This is a fiction but based on extensive research about the hunt for those involved with and signing of Charles I death warrant following the restoration. 

[ozleicester]

Very interesting book about an amazing time.... this book is excellent, but is a little more focussed on the Journlists work than jujst on the crimes.



If you are more interested in the crimes... then i highly recommend The Ronan Farrow book...



Good reviews here.... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/catch-kill-she-said-book-review-1248970/

Edited 12 January 2023 by ozleicester

[Parafox]

Bob Mortimer's "And Away". Funny, honest and surprising. The guy is a one off.

[ozleicester]

Not as in depth of the mans mind as id hoped.

 

Edited 31 January 2023 by ozleicester

[Beliall]

i want to do the "100 books to read before you die" list, but theres more than 1, i wonder if anyone here has done this, or is doing it and can recommend the list they used? i saw this one which looks closer to what i imagine it was when i first heard of it, because it doesnt include harry potter and hitchhikers guide, though i would like to read the latter 

100 Books to Read Before You Die: The Ultimate List (106 books) (goodreads.com)

thanks

[Foxdiamond]

On 02/01/2023 at 18:22, l444ry said:

The Shepherds Bush Murders also by Nick Russell-Pavier is very interesting 

[FoxesDeb]

39 minutes ago, Beliall said:

i want to do the "100 books to read before you die" list, but theres more than 1, i wonder if anyone here has done this, or is doing it and can recommend the list they used? i saw this one which looks closer to what i imagine it was when i first heard of it, because it doesnt include harry potter and hitchhikers guide, though i would like to read the latter 

100 Books to Read Before You Die: The Ultimate List (106 books) (goodreads.com)

thanks

I haven't done it but I had a quick scan and the Hitchhikers guide is at number 13  I'll be interested to hear if anyone has done it, would you reread ones you read on the list but years ago? I'm mainly thinking ones from school, which for me is a long time ago 

 

[ozleicester]

43 minutes ago, Beliall said:

i want to do the "100 books to read before you die" list, but theres more than 1, i wonder if anyone here has done this, or is doing it and can recommend the list they used? i saw this one which looks closer to what i imagine it was when i first heard of it, because it doesnt include harry potter and hitchhikers guide, though i would like to read the latter 

100 Books to Read Before You Die: The Ultimate List (106 books) (goodreads.com)

thanks

Definitley read the Hitchhikers Guide... and the rest of the "trilogy" then just choose 99 other books you want to read, there are plenty in this thread alone

[ozleicester]

this was interesting, open my eyes about "Influencers"

[Lako42]

[The Bear]

23 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

this was interesting, open my eyes about "Influencers"

They're all self-involved, money grabbing narcissists? 

[Beliall]

2 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

I haven't done it but I had a quick scan and the Hitchhikers guide is at number 13  I'll be interested to hear if anyone has done it, would you reread ones you read on the list but years ago? I'm mainly thinking ones from school, which for me is a long time ago 

 

i dont recognise any i read at school, except the diary of anne frank, which i cant remember, but yeah i would read it again. and ill scan the thread but its a lot of thread to go through, i was planning on copying the 100 list to an amazon list and buying a book a month or so

[FoxesDeb]

 

Yes I am currently reading this, and I'm enjoying it so far.

[Parafox]

 

I accept that it's written by New York Times journos but it's genuinely fascinating. There's some bias but generally it's very revealing.