At regular intervals I want to blog about books. The idea is to include books I recommend. These recommendations will reflect my personal taste, or be based on recommendations of people whose taste I share, and possibly on book reviews in knowledgeable newspapers.
Let me give you an idea about my preferences. My profile mentions Roddy Doyle's trilogy The Last Roundup ( A Star Called Henry / Oh, Play that Thing / The Dead Republic); Reif Larsen, The Selected Works of T.S.Spivet; and Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
To which I now add: T.C. Boyle, Stephen Fry, Stieg Larsson, George MacDonald Fraser. The Flashman Papers of the latter are truly hilarious but set in a historically correct time and place. I once discussed the Crimean Charge of the Light Brigade with an expert on military history and did not sound a complete nitwit as I had just finished Flashman at the Charge. Great fun.
But don't be surprised if I also recommend Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine, or Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia's Search for Stability, or Simon Winchester, The River at the Centre of the World, and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan.
So, I'll let you know what I'm reading, and I'll trawl reviews and announcements from publishers for information.
One more thing, I hope to get the new Kindle next month. It will have to be brought by my next confirmed visitor as I understand from Amazon that it cannot be delivered yet to Indonesia. I will let you know how electronic paper feels. I am an old-fashioned book-lover and have never even looked at all the possible pads and tablets on offer. But then, to be able to carry 1400 books in your little reader, and also buy books at an average price of a few dollars only, is quite tempting…
I will keep you informed.
I just finished 'hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet' by jamie ford. As the title may give away, a bit of a love story, but set in a historically interesting time, ww2 in the united states, and what happened to the japanese community that lived there. It also tells of the conflicts between chinese and japanese and even touches on jazz music. All in all a very enjoyable book. Will now start on 'don't tell mom i work on the rigs, she thinks i'm a piano player in a whorehouse' by paul carter. Recommended by a friend who said it was a funny book and light read which he needed after i made him read 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. Not a light read...
ReplyDeleteGreat, I have put the titles on my "to buy" list. A book with a title like don't tell my mom... deserves to a prominent place on a bookshelf. Zen... I read a long time ago, in Trengganu, Malaysia, such a nice time there...
ReplyDeleteHave read the first 60 pages of rig book. Funny, more in a shocking kind of way rather than being actually funny. Writing style is rather simplistic, like a guy at a bar telling stories. Recommend it? Not sure yet...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. Will wait with its acquisition till I hear your recommendation. But I still think that books with a title like that need to be given a fairly high ranking.
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