Books.

Do books play a big part in your life?
Do you make time for reading,or do you just fit it in when time allows?
Having taken some time off nuts I was able to catch up on a growing pile of books I'd been intending to read,but had put off for one reason or another.
Did me a power of good. 
Do you lot read as much as you used to,or more perhaps? The Kindle has been a huge success and I wouldn't be without mine,despite preferring the real thing,but has it led to a genuine upsurge in readers?
If given a choice of TV or book,which would it be?
Books for me,every time.

George Eliot's Middlemarch: a work of astounding quality, brilliantly plotted. 

More modern choice: Gone Girl......way better than the film. Kept me intrigued throughout.

Don't own a kindle but always find time to read novels which convey something significant about our lives: Of Mice and Men would be another good example. 

Rarely does a film or tv serialisation do justice to a novel, though Bleak House did. The film of Captain Corelli's Mandolin was appalling, compared to the novel.

Shawshank Redemption was a better film than the novella from which it came,but those cases are few and far between.
The book wins nearly every time.

I read a lot... mainly autobiographies. I don't own a kindle nor am I likely to. I prefer the feel of a book. In my younger years I used to enjoy anything by Wilbur Smith and nowadays for escapism I like Harlan Coben ( only the stand alone books ) and Michael Connelly.
I'm reading Roy Keane's latest autobiography at the moment.

Most of the kids in our family see reading as a chore.
Something that has to be done in order to pass exams and check the TV listings.
The notion of reading for pleasure seems to have passed them by,and I find that very sad.

It's a sign of the times alas... it's all Xbox and Sony Playstation these days.

Okocha,

Sorry - can't agree about Gone Girl. I thought it was tripe and the "twist" was obvious about half way through the book. And I couldn't warm to the central character(s).

RT,

If you like Harlan Coben, have you tried Linwood Barclay? Quite similar in style.


I re-read a load of Sherlock Holmes recently and they're as brilliant now as they were when I first read them as a teen.

Guilty pleasure - Jack Reacher books, love 'em.

And Bonce,

You're a bastard because you knew there was no way I would let this thread pass without commenting.

Shove your books up your Ass, Kindle is the way.

Breadman wrote:Okocha,

Sorry - can't agree about Gone Girl. I thought it was tripe and the "twist" was obvious about half way through the book. And I couldn't warm to the central character(s).

RT,

If you like Harlan Coben, have you tried Linwood Barclay? Quite similar in style.


I re-read a load of Sherlock Holmes recently and they're as brilliant now as they were when I first read them as a teen.

Guilty pleasure - Jack Reacher books, love 'em.

And Bonce,

You're a bastard because you knew there was no way I would let this thread pass without commenting.

I read Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay, just before Xmas. Yes, he does have a similar style to Coben. I got A Wanted Man and Personal at Xmas as well.

Mr Magoo wrote:Shove your books up your Ass, Kindle is the way.

They wont fit.... most of them are hardbacks.

Reebok Trotter wrote:
I'm reading Roy Keane's latest autobiography at the moment.

Just finished it, i liked the bit when he had a fight with P Schmeichel in the hotel and woke Bobby Charlton up.

Breadman wrote:

And Bonce,

You're a bastard because you knew there was no way I would let this thread pass without commenting.

Sorry Bread
Glad to know you're a Holmes fan too(cue Magoo homo joke) I got hooked as a teen after reading The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The kid in the council house was instantly transported to a cosy lodging at 221b Baker street,complete with blazing fire and its two pipe smoking heroes. Brilliant.
A book takes you out of yourself like no other medium.
I hate getting rid of a book,they're like old friends.

The last few Jack Reacher books have been absolute crap. I e-mailed Lee Child to tell him that quality is better than quantity and he should have more pride in his work.

He actually wrote back and thanked me for my feedback, admitting he wasn't so happy with his last couple of books.

The best books ever written are the Adrian Mole books.

If you like a classic mystery,'The Moving Toyshop',by  Edmund Crispin is a belter.

Natasha Whittam wrote:The last few Jack Reacher books have been absolute crap. I e-mailed Lee Child to tell him that quality is better than quantity and he should have more pride in his work.

Wink, wink.

Bread,you scamp.
You're incorrigible.

okocha wrote:Breadman wrote:Okocha,

Sorry - can't agree about Gone Girl. I thought it was tripe and the "twist" was obvious about half way through the book. And I couldn't warm to the central character(s).


Yes, Breadman, I know several people who would agree with you, and the characters were weirdly unpleasant, but for some reason I found the whole concept and the plot really compelling. I surprised myself!

Have you seen the film Memento?


Same basic concept but a bit darker and (in my opinion) far superior.

No spoilers, you barstewards... I'm reading Gone Girl on my phone now. I'm pretty sure I see the twist already and I'm 1/4 way through. I read anything that doesn't go faster than I do - always have. A girl walking past me wearing a t-shirt with words on it can be excused for thinking I'm looking at her lady bits but I'm actually reading. I recently discovered the convenienice of books on my phone so have a number of titles on it to work my way through. Looking forward to it too. American Sniper, the Maze Runner Trilogy, The Hunger Games and all available books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series are just some of what I plan to devour after Gone Girl.