Just finished Harper Lee's long awaited new book "Go set a watchman"

You've probably heard of the shocker value of this one so I won't go into it here.

If you loved "To Kill a Mockingbird" this may change some things for you, but going back to read the earlier book I'm now seeing that the signs were there all along but people just failed to pick them up. The serious stuff apart, the new book is equally comic if not more so than the previous one and also has its high moments. There are some monologues, some of them borderline philosophical which had me scrambling for Wikipedia to check out some of the references. The ending is somewhat ambiguous. But overall its a highly recommendable read.

It's a classic I haven't read it yet (seen the movie though) so it's still on my list. "One flew over the cuckoo's nest" was a bit of a disappointment tbh.

I never saw the movie so can't say how that stacks up.

The book is an absolute beauty though.

David Mitchell's "Ghost Written" is extraordinary. David Mitchell wrote "Cloud Atlas". His style is quite unique and each individual story (yet all linked up) quite haunting. A book that does not leave you indifferent, that's for sure.

Hemingway, Islands in the Stream

Good story and descriptive writing, but too much of the latter distracts from the former. Typical Hemingway, maybe made worse by being posthumous and not deeply edited enough.

A lot of Hemingway's writing is just his braindump.

But that's also what makes out his charm. Strict by-the-rules editing would probably kill off much of that.

In my opinion: "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a must have read book. I really enjoyed it and read through it in almost one go. Definitely need to read Lee Harpers new one

It was a set text at school and we even had GCSE essay questions on it so I read it in great detail and must at some point have know it virtually by heart.

But when I started re-reading it recently I realized how much I'd forgotten, and also how good it was.

A little off topic, but I came across this list of the best novels ever.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...ign=pockethits

I have read 18, maybe 20 of these. More than I thought.

Probably every Anglo-Saxon here has read it and it's on some compulsory reading list for students or such. Anyway.
"The winter of our discontent" by John Steinbeck.
I finished it this weekend and still wonder how on earth could I not like this author when I tried "East of Eden" some time ago? (to my excuse I was very young and bored enough to try reading all the books found in my parents' home library but that book was a little too much for that age I suppose)
So here, "The winter of our discontent" is worth reading for those who didn't already do it.

I'm currently reading a few philosophy books: the daybreak, process and reality, and being and time.

I'm also reading Polya's how to solve it.

Good god no. Even among the subset of Anglos that do habitually read books, I doubt if more than 10% would have read it. Possibly a higher proportion of literate Americans than Brits would have done so, but even s I suspect it's a very small proportion of the population.

I think I've only battled through one of his - Cannery Row - which I recall as being OK, if overly long-winded. Didn't inspire me to try any of his others.

Its a subjective like 100 best anythings are, there are many books not listed that I think should be. I am reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, and its pretty damn good.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - started reading it in 2013, then forgot all about it until recently....

You never did "Of Mice and Men" at school then?


The Revenge of Eli Monpress - Rachel Aaron. It's the last omnibus of her pleasingly undemanding fantasy series - full of villainous happenings and roguish derring-do! Just the thing for 3 am...

Just finished The Good Luck of Right Now. A recommended piece, especially for fans of Richard Gere and Dalai Lama

Dante's Inferno, through the cold and silent and to the other side.
Purgatory seems inviting.

Victoria Hislop's new book on the war and partition in Cyprus in the 70s- The Sunrise- about the fall and destruction of Famagusta. She is very good at spinning a good tale around well researched historical fact. Totally put me off ever going to Cyprus though.

As usual, at least 3 in tandem...

1) (rereading) Hugo Loetscher "Der Waschküchenschlüssel und andere Helvetica" - short pointedly humorous pieces on many things quirkily Swiss

2) Matt Haig's "Reasons to Stay Alive" - mental nourishment as my daughter continues to struggle with depression

3) Geir Lippe's "Det vi kan stå for" - reflections over life values, justice and democracy written by the defense attorney for Beiring-Breivik

Corey Taylor - You're making me hate you