The SMB Book thread

Maus is great

Graphic novel wise I am currently reading Something Is Killing The Children which is brilliant.

Also reading the football book Tears At La Bombonera
 


Maus is great

Graphic novel wise I am currently reading Something Is Killing The Children which is brilliant.

Also reading the football book Tears At La Bombonera

I've just bought:

'a fun home - alison bechdel' and
'jimmy corrigan the smartes kid on earth - chris ware'

just off doing a small amount of research into this type of novel. i think the art work just adds a fantastic dimension to it all

i'll have a look at that one you've mentioned
 
Had the dvds for it for about ten year and still have not got round to watching them. Meant to be great.

I have decided to go for dopplegaanger for my next serious read. Will report back.
Just listening to the audiobook and it's excellent. Can't vouch for the written one sorry.

Recently read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and it's superb.
A brilliant graphic novel. One of my favourite ever books.
Sensational book.
Just finished - Bag of bones, Stephen King, I thought it was poor, worse King book I've read.
I've never properly read anything by him but I want to give it a real go. Suggestions where to start?
 
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In Ascension by Martin McInnes got on the booker longlist - a lot better than you would expect - cerebral sci fi, very very good

You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enriques is going to be on lots of awards lists this year, it is exceptional - 24 hours in the court of Moctezuma as Cortes prepares to sack the City. Short, brilliant, unusual.
 
In Ascension by Martin McInnes got on the booker longlist - a lot better than you would expect - cerebral sci fi, very very good

You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enriques is going to be on lots of awards lists this year, it is exceptional - 24 hours in the court of Moctezuma as Cortes prepares to sack the City. Short, brilliant, unusual.

I though In Ascension was brilliant apart from the ending - not the way it ended but i just felt the end wasnt as well written as the rest of the book seemed like he was in a little bit of a hurry to finish it.....that said may be bias as the earlier parts of the book were so good finishing felt like a downer.
 
I've just bought:

'a fun home - alison bechdel' and
'jimmy corrigan the smartes kid on earth - chris ware'

just off doing a small amount of research into this type of novel. i think the art work just adds a fantastic dimension to it all

i'll have a look at that one you've mentioned
Check out "Blankets" by Craig Thompson - that's brilliant as well
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurty
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurty
Best book I read last year.
 
MAUS - art spiegelman

Absolutely fantastic. The only other graphic novel I've read was V for Vendetta which I loved, but this is completely different. It's very similar in detail and storyline to Night by Eli Wiesel which I read last year after visiting Auschwitz, and it's equally as horrifying.

However, they way it's put together it's fantastic, very inventive and makes it a bit more relatable. It's written about him trying to write the very book that you are reading, picking his dad's concentration camp story out of him even though he's a cranky old man in the 1980s nearing his life's end. The detail about inside the camps is horrifying

There's loads of interesting back story to the book, it was un-classifiable at the time due to the graphic novel genre not existing, it was in super hero comic book form only.. also a lot controversy around him portraying different ethnicities as different animals. I picked up on that but I thought it worked very well in the animated form. It's a work of art, it really is. Not for children.

Happy to lend it to someone if anyones interested as it wasn't cheap brand new. Takes about 4-5 hours to read. Highly recommend

I've bought some more graphic novels on the back of it, not super hero marvel shite, actual novels. Just got two delivered today
Maus is a superb read, I chose it for our book club a couple of years ago to a lot of sceptical faces but they all loved it in the end. We did get a lot of funny looks in the pub when we were discussing it though, sitting around a table covered with books with big swastikas on them! :lol:

Watchmen is a bit of a cliche in the graphic novel space but it is because its so good, if you havent read it give it a shot.
Reading The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle at the moment. I really enjoy time loop type story and this has extra twists to that loop and is doing a very good job of confusing me. The time loop is one character playing out the same day through 8 different characters but he has other people doing the same thing as well as other characters who are completely unexplained a third of the way through the book.

Will report back, if I understand any of it!
Did you finish this? Have just got to the end, found it a bit of a frustrating read tbh, not because it was hard to grasp or anything it just went on and on a bit. Really didnt need to be as long as it was.
 
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Did you finish this? Have just got to the end, found it a bit of a frustrating read tbh, not because it was hard to grasp or anything it just went on and on a bit. Really didnt need to be as long as it was.
Sure did, enjoyed it. The ending did wrap itself up in knots somewhat and as I recall a rule or two was tweaked which indicates that they couldn't get the logic right. Having said that I did like the book and it might be worth a re-read at some point.
 
Best book I read last year.
seems to have popped up a few times in recent months on 'booktube' people I follow and in real life too. took it as a sign and picked it up last week. only 100 pages in but liking the vibe. Did an actual laugh out loud, which rarely happens when I read, (it was when Gus made the sign and kept adding things and finally wrote 'we don't rent out pigs' on it)
 
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seems to have popped up a few times in recent months on 'booktube' people I follow and in real life too. took it as a sign and picked it up last week. only 100 pages in but liking the vibe. Did an actual laugh out loud, which rarely happens when I read, (it was when Gus made the sign and kept adding things and finally wrote 'we don't rent out pigs' on it)
It was sold to me on a Reddit thread about "Books that are like Red Dead Redemption 2", with the poster saying It was to the western what The Lord of The Rings was to fantasy, and I think that was correct.
 
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall - My Unbelievably True Life Story

Finished this one around November, interesting read, but boy Arnie really comes across as a bit of dick in some chapters. And to be honest, I find it hard to believe that everything he achieved came easy. But credit where it’s due he did reach his set goals. The chapters on his time in the Austrian army are hilarious, the bit where he decided to take his tank for a race but forgot he had soldiers riding on top had me laughing out loud.

Surprised to learn he had a thing with Bridget Nielsen during the filming of Red Sonya. Something he thought was over when he returned to America, but she had other ideas and stalked him when she arrived in California, but he managed to deflect her interest to Sly Stallone 🤣

Sam Neill: Did I Ever Tell You This?

I really enjoyed this one. There is a lot of humour in this book, and comes across as a top bloke who loves acting and admits he sometimes doesn’t take roles simply for the money, but because he finds the script fun, even if it turns out to be a stinker on release. His passion for horses and making wine is also prominent throughout, as well as his relationships, including what seems like quite a fun friendship with “Brian Bloody Brown”. Definitely recommend.
 
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I though In Ascension was brilliant apart from the ending - not the way it ended but i just felt the end wasnt as well written as the rest of the book seemed like he was in a little bit of a hurry to finish it.....that said may be bias as the earlier parts of the book were so good finishing felt like a downer.

I get that, but I loved the way that they resolved the main part of the plot without being too obvious about it
 
There Are No Children Here

by Alex Kotlowitz

A story of two boys growing up in the other America.
Genre: Sociology, black culture.

Set in the Chicago housing projects.

I enjoyed this book, and though I wouldn't say it was unputdownable, it was a book I wanted to read until the end.
7.5/10


"But you know, there are no children here. They've seen too much to be children." - LaJoe Rivers, 1988
 
Currently reading

The Wager ; A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Non fiction that reads like a thriller. Great so far.

Just finished
The Blazing World : A new history of revolutionary England by Jonathan Healey
I'm not sure how many people are interested in 17th Century England but if you are then definitely read this. Even if you're not then you might be surprised at how easy to read this is and yet still a serious history.
 
Just listening to the audiobook and it's excellent. Can't vouch for the written one sorry.

Recently read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and it's superb.

Sensational book.

I've never properly read anything by him but I want to give it a real go. Suggestions where to start?
One of my favourites is, Dreamcatcher, Misery, is a good read, Green mile, there's so many, most of his books are well written, the Shining, under the dome, 11/22/63, the Dark tower series, you'll more than likely have seen the film/TV versions of many anyway, stuff like Shawshank redemption, and Carrie.
 
Currently reading

The Wager ; A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Non fiction that reads like a thriller. Great so far.

Just finished
The Blazing World : A new history of revolutionary England by Jonathan Healey
I'm not sure how many people are interested in 17th Century England but if you are then definitely read this. Even if you're not then you might be surprised at how easy to read this is and yet still a serious history.
With that user name you should be reading adult books!
 
I reread City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg and regretted it. I enjoyed it first time round and found it insufferably up its own arse the second.

I'm rereading Fortress Besieged by Qian ZhongShu and it's even funnier than I remembered.
 

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