Book suggestions

[Brightwell’s left peg]

Reading Sapiens at the moment. I bought it 18 months ago and started reading it last week.

Will be interested in your thoughts. It's very well done, and hard to argue with his conclusions at the end.

 

[BLUEYESTU]

Hard To Handle by Steve Gorman. The story of The Black Crowes and how they somehow managed to totally fuck up their career. Excellent read!

 

[AliBobbyJ]

Historical fiction:
Robert Harris "Fatherland." Brilliant, suspenseful, well written. The novel is set in Germany on the occasion of Hitler's 80th (yes) birthday celebrations. In the U.S. President Kennedy is in office, that's Pres. JOSEPH Kennedy, former ambassador to Britain and father of four sons. Terrific read with dreadful revelations.

Also by Robert Harris "Pompeii" set during the time of the eruption of Vesuvius.

 

[moggymoz]

James Patterson's "Alex Cross" novel series are brilliant but you must read them in order.

 

[meltonblue]

In need of some inspiration for new reading material. Any recommendations?

Whats your favourite book? What non fiction topics do you like reading about?

Its one of the biggest open questions there is otherwise (which is good in itself too, some cracking books have been mentioned in this thread)

 

[PinkFinal]

Recently read and enjoyed:

I Slept With Joey Ramone
Alan Mullery autobiography
Season of the Witch (How the occult saved rock n roll)
Trailing Clouds of Glory (about the Welsh international team of the mid 70s)

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

During these lockdown times ......

If you have an e-reader and want to get hold of some very cheap or free books then go here

https://www.bookbub.com/welcome

Register your email address, your reading preferences and favourite authors

You will get an email each day offering a selection of books based on your preferences. Many of these will be below 0.99p and lots will be free. To download click on the store button you are registered with such as Amazon , Kobo or Apple which will then take you to your store where you have to confirm your purchase.

The book will obviously then download.

Do not register with site through an Apple IPAD or iPhone if your reader is a Kindle or Kobo as it will only deliver books available through the Apple store. Its ok if you register through a MacBook

 

[DazWA9]

'The Girl Next Door' by Jack Ketchum.

Going to start Only Child/Stranglehold by the same author.

 

[ZenHalfTimeCrock]

Nico - Songs They Never Play

All 3 Peter Hook books, One on Joy Division, one on New Order and one on The Hacienda. Now the fella is a **** but the 3 books are really entertaining.

Songs They Never Play on the Radio is the best book I have ever read on music (though Julian Cope's Head On comes close to claiming the prize spot).

Peter Hook is also an excellent raconteur when it comes to music business anecdotes and observations. Have only read the Joy Division book but must watch out for the others.

Alan Watts - The Book

This Is It and The Way of Zen are also good. I was surprised to discover that Watts seems to have become an alcoholic in later life, in spite of his espousal of the Perennial Philosophy.

The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer

The Unfortunates by BS Johnson

That's the Johnson novel that I haven't read. But I enjoyed Christy Malry's Own Double Entry (a wonderful novel about Accountancy of all things) and House Mother Normal.

Would be interested to know more about the Mailer. Why is it so long, for example?

Haruki Murukami, especially Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

A terrific novel. Is IQ84 worth the bother?

Recently read and enjoyed:

I Slept With Joey Ramone

Season of the Witch (How the occult saved rock n roll)

I have both of these but haven't got around to them yet.

The most recent book that I read was this.

It comes with an endorsement from Yuval Noah Harari.

This isn't a publication that would ordinarily attract my curiosity as I have no interest in ingesting this type of substance (or didn't until I got to the end of this). However, I have been intrigued by reports on the most recent clinical trials suggesting that psychedelics can help with intractable, treatment-resistant depression, addiction, and the angst that accompanies terminal illnesses.

"Many of the people I'd interviewed had started out stone cold materialists and atheists, no more spiritually developed than I, and yet several had had 'mystical experiences' that left them with the unshakeable conviction that there was something more to this world than we know - a 'beyond' of some kind that transcended the material universe I presume to constitute the whole shebang. I thought often about one of the cancer patients I interviewed, an avowed atheist who had nevertheless found herself 'bathed in God's love'. "

The author (and most of the main researchers) nevertheless maintain an agnostic and pragmatic view of the experiences reported by the recipients of the entheogens they are working with in the clinical trials. For more on this, see here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/trip-treatment

 

[ZenHalfTimeCrock]

Just noticed that this has been reissued.

From one of the reviews:

'There was a similarly titled autobiography published by Cherry Red in 2006, now out-of-print, but this is a new, updated, longer version of the story. More photos, 10 by 7 inch hardback and funnier and more outrageous than ever. Rotten, Strummer, Scabies, Shelley, Weller, Idol, Sid… everyone makes an appearance… and Blade pulls no punches.

Despite what every other punk rock writer and critic will tell you, this is the best book about punk rock in England 1976-78. No question.'

More here:

https://louderthanwar.com/outside-v...a-teenage-punk-rocker-andy-blade-book-review/

I have the older edition and can vouch for the reviewer's claim. It's a superb evocation of the times and very funny. It may be expensive to acquire but is definitely worth £20.