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Last five-

The Crystal gorge - David Eddings

A Stroke of midnight - Laurell K. Hamilton

The Da Vinci code - Dan Brown

The Grey man - Graham Masterton

All fun and games until somebody loses an eye - Christopher Brookmyre

Edited by FTOF
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Last five -

1) The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

2) Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

3) The Final Detail - Harlan Coben

4) When we were very young & Now we are six - A.A Milne

5) Wuthering Heights (again) - Emily Bronte

Edited by RED
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Buddha Da - Anne Donovan.

Bloody hell that book is like an episode from a soap-opra. Never took you as a soap man :blink:

Christopher Brookmyre.... Most of Christopher's books rather than naming one.

Ian Pattison......Swet And Tender Holigan....Paisley gangster story and one hell of a laugh.

Ian Banks......Espedair Street. About a band from Paisley that make it to the big time only for it to fall apart. Great book.

Nick Mason.....Inside Out A Personal History Of Pink Floyd..Say's it all really !

R Tolkien......Lord Of The Rings...Blew me away as a teen and opend the door to and Irish band called Horslips :)

Every home should have one....."Made In Scotland Names That Began In Scotland" Not sure who wrote it ?

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Currently reading The Educated Maurice And His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett with one of the Younglings and For Two Nights Only by Tom Holt by myself. Hope to join the real world shortly.

I would recommend The Scar (or anything else) by China Miéville, it's a sorta reworking of Moby Dick in a post-apocalyptic setting.

After Maurice I'll be starting Harry Potter VI with my daughter, I'm not really looking forward to it as I feel the last coupla books in the series could have done with some pruning.

Edited by Bud the Baker
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Funny, Bud, but I was reckoning the same thing even though I haven't read any of them. Ian Rankin started off with short tomes and ended up developing much greater ones. Same with Mr. B. I suppose once you develop your skill and talent as a writer then you feel the need to incorporate other ideas. I'm not a writer, so I wouldn't know. It's just a thought.

Lochwinnoch, have you read Buddha Da? I'm told it's not too bad.

And Red, what's Birdsong like? Any good?

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What's all this pish about last five books read, what's so hard about picking your five favourite books, like the thread is about?

1. Bear Island - Alisdair MacLean

2. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Doestoevsky

3. The sacred art of stealing - Chris Brookmyre

4. In the Court of the Red Tsar - Simon Sebang Montefiore

5. To kill a mocking bird - Harper Lee

See easy, except for the spelling of the author's names. :unsure:

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Lochwinnoch, have you read Buddha Da? I'm told it's not too bad.

Yes, I read it but can't say it was one of the better books that I have read. Everyone to their own I suppose. A middile aged man is going through mid marrige crises , he finds something is missing from his life so he turns to Buddha. which in turn causes his marrige to go hay wire. That is the basis of the book. When I was reading it I kept thinking that it could be scripted for River City.

As I wrote everyone to their own so you might like it <_<

Home in three weeks so might see you in the pub soon :D

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What's all this pish about last five books read, what's so hard about picking your five favourite books, like the thread is about?

1. Bear Island - Alisdair MacLean

See easy, except for the spelling of the author's names.  :unsure:

183333[/snapback]

I was about to say that it's years since I read MacLean- It's feckin' decades- I was in third year in school :lol:

I thought at the time that HMS Ulysses was a wonderful book, the best of MacLean's output by a country mile- I must find a copy and re-read it. 38 years on will it still be good?

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What's all this pish about last five books read, what's so hard about picking your five favourite books, like the thread is about?

183333[/snapback]

Oy, you! I was the one who first put the most recent I've read, and I started this thread so that's the way it should be, awright?! Okay, mibbe I should've put that on the title but that's not the point.

Anyway. See ye in The Gluepot on the 20th?

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Bloody hell that book is like an episode from a soap-opra. Never took you as a soap man  :blink:

183212[/snapback]

well seeing as we have both read it then i guess that makes you as much of a soap man as myself! :P

To be honest did quite enjoy it as was set in the West End of Glasgow where i have lived and i have also tried some of the meditation classes at the Glasgow Buddhist Centre. An easy read although an interesting exploration of when someone takes a different path to that of their own culture and how their friends and family react. Quite liked how the same story was told from the 3 varying perspectives.

However if you want to read a good book on the differences between eastern and western thought try the Monk and the Philosopher

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Yes, I read it but can't say it was one of the better books that I have read. Everyone to their own I suppose. A middile aged man is going through mid marrige crises , he finds something is missing from his life so he turns to Buddha. which in turn causes his marrige to go hay wire. That is the basis of the book. When I was reading it I kept thinking that it could be scripted for River City.

As I wrote everyone to their own so you might like it  <_<

Home in three weeks so might see you in the pub soon  :D

183409[/snapback]

'Sfunny, I was reading The List's Top 100 Scottish Books of All Time recently and that's in it. I'll mibbe give it a bodyswerve, then.

By the way, in three weeks time I'll be at Cowal Games. Or perhaps Rothesay. Wan o' the two.

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As I said last year...

Good book: Buddha Da by Ann Donovan.

I rattled through it, finishing in the wee sma hours, sair-eyed.

A kind of 'nicer' Roddy Doyle style set in Glesca with some patter.

Emdy else read it?

Good... well... in hindsight... ok, and I'm VERY doubtful if it would make it intae mah best 100 Scots books...

How about for starters:

From Scenes Like These: Gordon M Williams

A Green Tree in Gedde: Alan Sharpe

Dear Green Place: Archie Hind

The L. Grassic Gibbon Trilogy

Lanark, A Chancer, Surviving the Shipwreck, Hamish's Mountain Walk, Swing Hammer Swing, Hugh Miller - Outrage and Order, A Cnetury of Scottish People, Anatomy of Scotland....

or most interesting, bestest of all reads - packed with history drama colour memory characters commerce high and low bits great vision - un-put-downable: OS Landranger Sheet 41, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. :)

Ms Ching complains when I wake her at 2.00a.m. rustling the map as I turn it...

She'd rather I stuck wi books in bed.

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Drew doesn't have much to say for himself, does he ? :blink:

183435[/snapback]

sorry about that - I posted and then realised I was going off topic (didn't want to do that with my first post - I wasn't brought up to behave like that :rolleyes: ). I should have chosen a more straightforward thread for my first post - abusing the Scum perhaps.

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And Red, what's Birdsong like? Any good?

183321[/snapback]

Great book if you like graphic details of WW1 trench warfare! Definately worth a read.

A one hit wonder if ever I heard of one. She writes wan feckin' book, it's a big hit an' whit did she do after that? Not a feckin' thing.  :rolleyes:

183322[/snapback]

There are many one hit wonders! Maybe dying got in her way of writing another! :P

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To be honest did quite enjoy it as was set in the West End of Glasgow where i have lived and i have also tried some of the meditation classes at the Glasgow Buddhist Centre. An easy read although an interesting exploration of when someone takes a different path to that of their own culture and how their friends and family react. Quite liked how the same story was told from the 3 varying perspectives.

Living in the West end I can understand why you liked it.

By the way, in three weeks time I'll be at Cowal Games. Or perhaps Rothesay. Wan o' the two

I gave up my Scotland tickets for the Italy game to take the wife down to Rothesay for a romantic weekend. Romantic I hear you say ? I used to Dj down there in the early 80's when I met my good wife. Oh aye memories :rolleyes:

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Oy, you! I was the one who first put the most recent I've read, and I started this thread so that's the way it should be, awright?! Okay, mibbe I should've put that on the title but that's not the point.

Anyway. See ye in The Gluepot on the 20th?

183442[/snapback]

Been a while since I have been in Rothesay and won't be back until October. :(

Enjoy the gluepot. :)

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Last 5:

Going Postal - Terry Pratchett

The Algebraist - Iain "M" Banks

Be My Enemy - Heartspark

Malt Whisky Companion - Michael Jackson (not that one)

Benny: Life & Times - John Burrowes (biog of Benny Lynch - excellent book)

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Maybe dying got in her way of writing another! :P

183511[/snapback]

No shit, Sherlock. <_<:lol:

Alba, I've read a few of Iain M Banks's stuff and they're feckin' magic. The Use of Weapons is superb but Consider Phlebas is as good as any of his, ahem, "normal" stuff.

And Facepainter, you've only read five books anyway. :P

McCarthy's Bar was good and I'd recommend the late, great Pete's follow up Road to McCarthy. Especially amusing when he meets with a load of pissed-up green bhigots in a New York pub.

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As I said last year...

Good... well... in hindsight...  ok, and I'm VERY doubtful if it would make it intae mah best 100 Scots books...

How about for starters:

From Scenes Like These: Gordon M Williams

A Green Tree in Gedde: Alan Sharpe

Dear Green Place: Archie Hind

The L. Grassic Gibbon Trilogy

Lanark, A Chancer, Surviving the Shipwreck, Hamish's Mountain Walk, Swing Hammer Swing, Hugh Miller - Outrage and Order, A Cnetury of Scottish People, Anatomy of Scotland....

or most interesting, bestest of all reads - packed with history drama colour  memory characters commerce high and low bits great vision - un-put-downable: OS Landranger Sheet 41, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. :)

Ms Ching complains when I wake her at 2.00a.m. rustling the map as I turn it...

She'd rather I stuck wi books in bed.

183482[/snapback]

By the way, Ching, compare and contrast your own choices to the following:-

http://www.list.co.uk/bestbooks/bestbookslist.html

Lanark, I'm told, is a bit like Ulysses for weirdness. James Kelman, I reckon, is much, much better than Irvine Welsh. He rights in the vernacular about very seedy punters that get up to no good and are very much anti-heroes but he does so with things like plot, characterisation, style and talent.

I've got Swing Hammer Swing in the hoose but haven't got round to reading it. A good one is it? As for dear Green Place that's been recommeneded as well.

I find it funny, though, that in that list is included The Bible. This is because of King James's translation into English.

Perhaps you'd class that as science fiction, or summat. :rolleyes:

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A great list, Howard. Thanks for that - it's now a favourite on my machine. Got most of those books but will dip in a bit deeper to know the others.

I've got Swing Hammer Swing in the hoose but haven't got round to reading it. A good one is it? As for dear Green Place that's been recommeneded as well.

183683[/snapback]

It's someone called 'Brookmyre' who wrote the List's splurge for Swing...

He will smack your wrist. He wrote...

A confession: it took me what I now regard as a wastefully long time to get around to reading Swing Hammer Swing!;

It IS dead funny. Torrington lives up Glenburn I believe... though he wisnae that well last I knew... :(

He did a further book about working in Rootes. Devils Carousel. Good, but better is Swing... READ IT!

On THAT List - and my shelves - is the bestest book of my growing up (Coral Island by rm ballantyne) better by far than Treasure Island with much of the same piratey stuff but also... Surfing Natives! Freaky or what?! Mine is an ancient Collins edition (maybe wartime?) but with 8 colour prints.

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