What book are you currently reading?

[The Seeker]

A piano player wanders the Old West, meeting up with famous characters such as Frank and Jesse James, Oscar Wilde, and William "Billy the Kid" Bonney, among others, and finds that they were neither as bad or as good as their reputations suggested.

 

[The Seeker]

Italian man accused of stealing unpublished books pleads guilty in New York

An Italian man pleaded guilty on Friday in New York to impersonating editors and agents in order to steal more than 1,000 unpublished book manuscripts belonging to authors like Margaret Atwood and the actor Ethan Hawke.

www.reuters.com

 

[The Seeker]

On the lawless frontier of the American West, there is one rule every outlaw should remember: Never cross a mountain man like Matt Jensen.
Not if you want to keep breathing.

 

[The Seeker]

For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi, Mississippi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia.

Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith's father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to "clean up the Coast." Hugh's father became the "Boss" of Biloxi's criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father's footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father's clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.

Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.

 

[The Seeker]

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Call to remove Of Mice and Men from GCSE course

This Belfast student says racial slurs within the book leave her feeling uncomfortable in the classroom.

www.bbc.co.uk

Shame a really enjoyed the book. I do think it should be used as a launchpad on teaching why the racist language was used back then and why it is still relevant today.

 

[The Seeker]

 

[RedruthRFC]

I've just finished the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook. The narration was excellent, but the story itself didn't meet my expectations, which to be fair, may have been unreasonably high given the status that it enjoys on the Reddit audiobook sub. I found the sense of humour fun enough, but not laugh-out-loud funny like other listeners did. Maybe I've been a borderline nerd for long enough to be immune. I think my biggest complaint would be that there wasn't a huge amount of story to it - if you took out the largely mundane mob fights, there wouldn't be a lot of book left.

Has anyone read / listened to this book? I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thought of it. Maybe LitRPG is just not for me. That said, I'll probably finish the series in the fullness of time, but I won't be rushing out to spend my next 4 credits on the rest of the series like others described and like I was hoping to be prompted to do.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I tried to listen to Stephen Fry's reading of Sherlock Holmes stories, but to honest found it difficult to follow without a transcript or the actual book.

I did also listen to Angela Hui's book on her childhood experiences growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales. I really enjoyed that. One reviewer on Audible was quite scathing of her, but he's entitled to his opinion. Perhaps he just couldn't relate to her experiences.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

RIP Cormac McCarthy.

 

[Which Tyler]

How's this for a rabbit hole - and what would your suggestions be?


Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - by Terry Pratchett?
Watership Down by Neil Gaiman?
A Song of Ice and Fire by... someone who actually finishes what they start? (Joe Abercrombie would probably get my vote here)
Harry Potter by... a competent author (actually, Gaiman again would be brilliant there)

 

[OldSchoolRugga]

Excellent read, and if you are a Star Wars fan, you will thoroughly enjoy it.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Call to remove Of Mice and Men from GCSE course

This Belfast student says racial slurs within the book leave her feeling uncomfortable in the classroom.

www.bbc.co.uk

Shame a really enjoyed the book. I do think it should be used as a launchpad on teaching why the racist language was used back then and why it is still relevant today.

Re-reading this. Can see why it is being objected to because numerous references to the N word including the Black character Crooks referrring to himself as one and the bullying to keep him in his place.

A teacher would have to really focus on this aspect to correct and put it into 1930s context but also how it is still relevant and seen today in today's America's. Also to deal with Lennie's clear mental incapacity.

 

[BrokenWing]

My first physical book for a long while. Signed by Neil, Neil Orange Peel himself.

 

[The Seeker]

I just finished this Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a post apocalyptic grueling journey of several months by a man and his son across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that destroyed civilization and almost all life. This book really makes you think especially in this era of heightened international tension.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I just finished this Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a post apocalyptic grueling journey of several months by a man and his son across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that destroyed civilization and almost all life. This book really makes you think especially in this era of heightened international tension.

View attachment 17063

Film's pretty good as well. Haven't read it yet. Also wrote No Country for old men. Author died recently.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Cipriani has an autobiography coming out in a few months - bound to be some juicy bits considering the career he's had/the bust ups with players and coaches

Gonna be trashy but I'm looking forward to reading it

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which I haven't read since my GCSEs.

 

[Yulia]

Weird, right now I also re-reading (or rather re-listening,as it's an audiobook this time) an old novel I liked when I was at school: Chekhov's "Ward no 6" . Pretty helpful during hard times. Next,plan to re-read Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" as I'm going to watch new series and want to "refresh" it in my head

 

[Brigantine]

There has been talk from World Rugby that they're going to adjust the timings of the pool decisions in the future so that it is not as early, to prevent this sort of lob sided groupings in the future again.

I went down a rabbit hole, just out of curiosity.

Turns out "lob sided" is not very wrong.
It still means 'hanging down on one side', just without the image of an unbalanced ship leaning over

lopsided (adj.)

also lop-sided, "leaning to one side as a result of being disproportionately balanced," 1711 (lapsided), first used of ships; from lop (v.2) + side (n.). Related: Lopsidedly; lopsidedness.

lop (v.2)

"droop, hang loosely," as do the ears of certain dogs and rabbits, 1570s, probably a variant of lob or of lap (v.); compare lopsided (1711), which in early use also was lapsided. Lop-eared attested from 1680s. Related: Lopped; lopping.

lob (n.)

a word of widespread application to lumpish things or suggesting heaviness, pendence, or floppiness, probably ultimately from an unrecorded Old English word. Compare East Frisian lobbe "hanging lump of flesh," Dutch lob "hanging lip, ruffle, hanging sleeve,"

Pool C, Pool D Pool A, Pool B