Net Work Book Club discussion

I've just finished Snow Crash and it was a fun cyberpunk tale:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto The Inevitable, it's been on my TBR for a while and the idea of it interests me.

I finished . Speak Swahilli, Dammit! Which I really enjoyed. It had humour, sadness, historical facts and much more all rolled into one book.

I am now reading which I am half way through. One of my favourite authors so he can't disappoint me!

Belshazzar's Daughter Very new to me, it starts with a very bloody murder. I heard the author's name on a BBC documentary so I was curious. I hope the puzzle comes to the fore, blood and guts is not my thing.

I just finished KIYA: Mother of a King, which is the second book in the KIYA series. It was fantastic. I'm usually not big on historical literature, but the author really pulls you in. Loved it even more than the first book. :) Now I'm on First of Her Kind ~ A Darkness & Light Novel. Only a few chapters in, but I'm already hooked. Are you guys participating in any reading challenges as well this year?

I downloaded Ravenfold so hopefully will read it next Frenchie.

I just finished and as expected really enjoyed it.

I have started . Yasmeena's Choice: A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival.

Just Finished


Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman

Just Started

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

Just finished...

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri


Just started...

New York by Edward Rutherford

Well I just finished
The Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book,
Fifty Sheds of Grey
The Psychology of Jury Selection
The Vintage Tea Party
The Mammoth Book of Jokes
I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry

I Just started
Boy Wonder, My Life in Tights
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future
The Unpublished Works of a Lifelong Librarian
Jewish as a Second Language
Jewish Jokes
Math City
Love Story

and I am also currently Reading

War and Peace
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories
Posthumous - the Life and Deaths of Hannah Franklin
The Secret Letters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy
The Book Thief
Holy Terrors
The Ersatz Elevator

and a few others.

That's a lot of books. Do you get mixed up??

No of course not! But once it was Hitler's Birthday in 3 different books and that was pretty interesting to see how it all unfolded. Also when I started War and Peace I was reading Birdsong and I was at the part in both stories where young men went to the war for the first time and it was very interesting how their experiences were similar.

Things like that happen a lot, it's pretty cool.

At the moment, I am reading The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics, Riddles, a collection of Anglo Saxon verse, translated into modern English by Michael Alexander. Years ago, I read his translation of Beowulf, which I found very good. A few extracts from it are included in this collection, which I am enjoying reading. The two elegies, The Seafarer and The Wanderer, are particularly good and very moving. The book is part of a series, called Legends From the Ancient North, which puts together the tales and verses which were loved by J.R.R. Tolkien and which were partly the inspiration for his books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I have always been grateful to him for introducing me through his books to such works as The Elder Edda, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas. It would be good if more English people read the Old English texts, which lie at the root of English literature. Michael Alexander's book would be a good place to start.

I have just finished Yasmeena's Choice by Jean Sasson

It was an extremely moving, emotional and gut- wrenching story to read.

I now have started Ravenfold by Kath Middleton

I've jkust finished and it was a wonderful read:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto

I finished
. Ravenfold by Kath Middleton. I really enjoyed it. Frenchie was right when she said you needed tissues at hand!

Just started
White Bones by Graham Masterton

This just arrived by post:

I wasn't able to appreciate it when I first read it back in the early 90s. Someone gave me a copy and I resold it. But it stayed with me...now I realise what a profound effect that first WTF is This??? reading had on me.
Of course I started life wanting to be an archaeologist/anthropologist (until I actually took Sociocultural Anthropology, that is).

I've just finished , which was a fun good vs evil with a twist:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto

I finished: White Bones by Graham Masterton. Which I really liked. It was quite graphic at times but nothing too extreme IMO

I also finished: Last Christmas by Matthew Drzymala. This is not my usual type of book but I quite enjoyed it (enough that I started the next one). It is called Bittersweet and seems to tell the reader a little more about the little village in the story.



I have also started: .

Last night during no sleep I started The Green Mill Murder. Nice and light, and the writing itself is "tighter" than in the previous ones I've read of this series. No Chinese lover in this one though.

I had a new tattoo done this morning so I had plenty of time for reading, which is unusual, but nice :-) Anyway the first book I finished was Jonathan Hill's rather wonderful Maureen and The Big One:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

What was your tattoo Michael and where (if printable - lol)

It's a tribal style image of Cthulhu on my arm.

I love tattoos :-)

I finished: . Bittersweet by Matthew Drzymala. A lovely wee story.

I started: . by Brian McGilloway

Frenchie wrote: "Michael wrote: "I had a new tattoo done this morning so I had plenty of time for reading, which is unusual, but nice :-) Anyway the first book I finished was Jonathan Hill's rather wonderful "

Ouc..."

It took four hours and it didn't really hurt, although I started to feel it near the end.

....back now - just went to look up Cthulhu (didn't have a clue who or what it was). It looks pretty much like an Octopus-style monster Michael.

Pretty much, it's based on this image:

Not a lover of tattoos myself - but appreciate the artwork. This looks a good design.

https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/saf...

My Granddaughter has done her own design of this pendant
and is going to have it replicated on her hip. Having recently had my Great-Granddaughter - she wants it to represent her love for her.

It fits my upper arm as you can imagine I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's work.

Did you have a look at the pendant that my Granddaughter has designed hers on Frenchie?? The original is made from Clogau gold and silver..... but costs £159!!!

I've got a friend who's mad about cthulus, I gave her a complete collection of HP Lovecraft's works, but as they were ebooks she didn't want them because she only reads REAL books! But I'll always remember going to a boxing day knees up and Elaine, who was pretty well plastered by this point, squealing with delight because there was an F'n CTHULU on the alcohol bottle! (I think it was actually a giant squid).

'Lovecrafian Films'
http://www.imdb.com/list/zstD8joxhbs/...

Oy and how could I forget! I've got this:

The Complete Album to The Fiddler on the Roof Parody -
A Shoggoth on the Roof!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2csnV...

1-6, the others have been deleted, but what a joy!

Very Far From the Home I Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e35lCj...

and the jolly
Victim of Victims...!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5E8xu...

I'm pretty sure I've seen that, there's quite a good silent black and white called 'The Call of Cthulhu' and apparently Peter Jackson has the rights for The Mountains of Madness, which could be fun.

This is fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhKio_...

Linda wrote: "I love tattoos :-)

I finished: . Bittersweet by Matthew Drzymala. A lovely wee story.

I started: . by Brian McGilloway"

Thank you Linda, I'm glad you enjoyed my stories and I appreciate the ratings you gave them :) Many thanks.

I've put it on my "to read" shelf - after buying

Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough

by mistake. I really don't mind though, having read The Thorn Birds by her - I know she is good. So I'll read both Bittersweets

An excellent choice :-)

Just Finished

Meet Me Halfway by Amber T. Smith

Just Started



Bittersweet by Matthew Drzymala

There are loads of books with the Title of Bittersweet!!!

here are 2 good ones.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bittersweet-S...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugar-Bitters...

I've just finished My Granny Writes Erotica 2 and is a very funny read:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I enjoyed the Granny one too.

There is a sequel now too. My Granny Writes Erotica 2 by Rosen Trevithick

It was the sequel I read and it was just as good as the first, an excellent read.

Michael wrote: "It was the sequel I read and it was just as good as the first, an excellent read."

Thanks Michael - I was wondering if it would be as good. I'm quite often disappointed with sequels.

PS - yes, I can see the 2 in your post now - that'll teach me to read things properly!! lol

I've downloaded it!

Just Finished


Bittersweet by Matthew Drzymala
Lovely, funny, novel. I didn't want it to finish, I would have liked to read more about the characters.

Just Started

The Old Man And Mr Smith by Peter Ustinov

I've just finished , which I enjoyed a lot:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...


I'm now onto

I have just finished which is definitely not for the squeamish. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller.

I am just about to start

It's been made into a film too Frenchie!

I expected that book to be on Gutenberg but it isn't. Shame. Benjamin Button has been on there since way before they filmed it.
Was that film any good? BB, I mean?

I thoroughly enjoyed Benjamin Button. It was a lovely story and although the concept was a fantasy - it was an interesting one. I haven't read the book, so I wouldn't know how it compared.

I've just finished Visitor in Lunacy and after a rocky start it is an excellent read:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto Hellbender.