New GNR book club

[Emilia]

Just finished The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. After the Shadow of the Wind, yet another great book, basically a prequel, also in Barcelona, but more in the twenties and thirties.

Excellent books.

[jplpool]

Frank Skinner [autobiography]

Quirky, humorous and at times wistful.

Frank surprised me to be honest. I wasn't expecting much, but, I enjoyed it.

6.5/10

[Catcher88]

I just finished Goethe's Faust. It was a suprisingly good read with more "modern" aspects than expected (I think many works of that period became very unreadable nowadays), allthough on the whole it's still quite old-fashioned (with rhimes, typical Enlightment phrases, classical form,...). I will be reading the sequel later on this year.

I now started King's Dark Tower series. So far I like The Gunslinger very much.

[jplpool]

Peter Robinson - Gallows View (Inspector Banks mysteries)

I'd heard good things about Mr. Robinson and was looking forward to getting my teeth into the Banks novels, but after reading the first in the series, I've been left feeling underwhelmed.

Poor prose, poor imagery, poor plot (far too many coincidences.)

3/10

[jplpool]

A Peoples History Of The United States - Howard Zinn.

United States history told through the eyes of US citizens as opposed to politicians, traditional historians and journalists.

A fascinating read. 8/10

The Ultimate Evil - Maury Terry.

Mr Terry was an investigative journalist in the aftermath of the Son of Sam killings. From the moment David Berkowitz confessed to all of the killings, Terry doubted his sole involvment  in the crimes, and set out to prove the murders were part of a bigger conspiracy (satanic cult.)

Was he right? Well, he certainly makes a compelling case. His investigations even led to a new probe in the murders from the (at the time of the killings) Queens district attorney.

Interesting read, although slightly cumbersome (you read some passages and just think 'yeah, I didn't really need or want to know any of that.')

6.5/10

[jplpool]

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America.

Bizarre book. I don't know what to say about it, so I'll just insert the following quote (from wiki.)

The book is set in Chicago circa 1893, intertwining the true tales of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World's Fair, and Dr. H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who lured his victims to their deaths in his elaborately constructed "Murder Castle."

5/10

According to wiki, Leo Di Caprio has purchased the film rights. Maybe the movie will offer an explanation as to why the word "magic" is used in the title, because I'm fucked if I know. 

[Kusksu]

Just finished reading Kafka's The Trial. Brilliant book, too bad its incomplete. 8.5/10


Started Hunger Games a couple of days ago, 160 pages in and i'm hooked

[perfect_spy]

A Peoples History Of The United States - Howard Zinn.

United States history told through the eyes of US citizens as opposed to politicians, traditional historians and journalists.

A brilliant book, read parts of it years back for a course I was doing.

[perfect_spy]

Just finished Duff's book, very good. One of the best Rock N Roll books out there.

[pawnshop-guitars]

Mein Kampf. It was for an essay I am writing, so don't judge too harshly

As for a rating, I would have to give it 2 out of 10, and it only scores 2 because of how unintentionally hilarious it in the parts where Mr. Hitler claims he was academically gifted beyond all his peers, when in fact I know he was an unexceptional student. And for all the horrible content contained within, it is watered down somewhat by the scattergun nature of the writing. Each paragraph seems to cover two or three different themes, and there is no central direction that it tries to go in.

So to sum up, poorly written, horrifying beliefs contained within, and full of lies. DO NOT READ, unless you want to say you have, which is a pretty useful conversation point (as long as you can back it up with 'I am not a neo-nazi, I am doing it for my studies').

[Catcher88]

Just finished reading Kafka's The Trial. Brilliant book, too bad its incomplete. 8.5/10

One of my favorites  . The film with Anthony Perkins is interesting too!

[chezequerz]

Tony Iommi Iron Man - decent read

[abaraxas]

Tony Iommi Iron Man - decent read

Hmmm

[jplpool]

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson.

What a load of bollocks. Massively disappointed.

4/10

[Peaches]

The Lost Symbol. An amazing book.

I love research/fact books.