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The New Coffee Room

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  3. What are you reading now?

What are you reading now?

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  • bachophileB bachophile

    @george-k is that the posthumous one? I’m waiting for a relaxed vacation to read that. The last le carre ever. Maybe this summer

    George KG Offline
    George KG Offline
    George K
    wrote on last edited by
    #434

    @bachophile said in What are you reading now?:

    @george-k is that the posthumous one?

    Don't think so. "Silverview" is listed as his last book, published in 2021.

    https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/john-le-carre/

    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

    1 Reply Last reply
    • bachophileB bachophile

      @george-k is that the posthumous one? I’m waiting for a relaxed vacation to read that. The last le carre ever. Maybe this summer

      George KG Offline
      George KG Offline
      George K
      wrote on last edited by
      #435

      @bachophile said in What are you reading now?:

      @george-k is that the posthumous one? I’m waiting for a relaxed vacation to read that. The last le carre ever. Maybe this summer

      Not a bad story. THere's a lot of "building the foundation" stuff for the first ¾ of the book. In typical Le Carre fashion, you don't know who's important, and who's not.

      The last ¼ is absolutely riveting, with great descriptions of an interrogation discussion with one of the principals and depiction of really interesting spy craft.

      Up next: More Bosch (#5 - "Trunk Music")

      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by George K
        #436

        I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

        Started this today...

        Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        George KG 1 Reply Last reply
        • George KG George K

          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

          Started this today...

          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

          George KG Offline
          George KG Offline
          George K
          wrote on last edited by
          #437

          @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

          Started this today...

          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

          Bumping this for @Renauda who might find it interesting.

          "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

          The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

          RenaudaR 1 Reply Last reply
          • George KG Offline
            George KG Offline
            George K
            wrote on last edited by
            #438

            Finished this this morning. Probably one of MacIntyre's best. It's up there with "Mincemeat" and the Gordoyevsky story. The afterword is written by John Le Carre. Le Carre had occasion to meet the guy who confronted Philby in Beirut in 1963, and had several interviews with him.

            Le Carre also received an invitation to meet Philby in Moscow.

            He declined.

            So, as long as I'm doing spies, I thought I'd give this another shot. I started it when it first came out, but lost interest.

            alt text

            So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.

            Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

            George KG 1 Reply Last reply
            • George KG George K

              Finished this this morning. Probably one of MacIntyre's best. It's up there with "Mincemeat" and the Gordoyevsky story. The afterword is written by John Le Carre. Le Carre had occasion to meet the guy who confronted Philby in Beirut in 1963, and had several interviews with him.

              Le Carre also received an invitation to meet Philby in Moscow.

              He declined.

              So, as long as I'm doing spies, I thought I'd give this another shot. I started it when it first came out, but lost interest.

              alt text

              So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.

              Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

              George KG Offline
              George KG Offline
              George K
              wrote on last edited by
              #439

              @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

              So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.
              Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

              Yeah, it was okay.

              Not "blow me away I want MOAR" away, but a pleasant-enough waste of a few hours where you don't feel like you wasted a few hours.

              Nice twists in the last ¼ of the book.

              I was going to start this (and got about 10% of the way through it), but got, well, not bored, but "I'm not ready for this again," so I gave up - for now.

              61cParSJTJL.jpg

              I think I'll do some more Bosch instead.

              "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

              The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

              George KG LuFins DadL 2 Replies Last reply
              • George KG George K

                @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.
                Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

                Yeah, it was okay.

                Not "blow me away I want MOAR" away, but a pleasant-enough waste of a few hours where you don't feel like you wasted a few hours.

                Nice twists in the last ¼ of the book.

                I was going to start this (and got about 10% of the way through it), but got, well, not bored, but "I'm not ready for this again," so I gave up - for now.

                61cParSJTJL.jpg

                I think I'll do some more Bosch instead.

                George KG Offline
                George KG Offline
                George K
                wrote on last edited by
                #440

                @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                I'll do some more Bosch instead.

                image.jpeg

                Halfway done. Another good tale. Eleanor Wish returns, and Lt. Billetts is introduced.

                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • kluursK Offline
                  kluursK Offline
                  kluurs
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #441

                  Haven't posted in here in a while - currently reading The Education of Henry Adams - a memoir that could be written by Aqua if he were living back in the 19th century.

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                  Read recently

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                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • George KG Offline
                    George KG Offline
                    George K
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #442

                    5172dBvaxAL.AC_UY436_QL65.jpg

                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • George KG Offline
                      George KG Offline
                      George K
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #443

                      Almost finished with "Endurance."

                      A very well-told tale which never, ever gets boring.

                      It reminds me of "Unbroken," the story of survival of the airmen of a downed B-24 in WWII.

                      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                      jon-nycJ 1 Reply Last reply
                      • George KG Offline
                        George KG Offline
                        George K
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #444

                        415plL81oaL.SX331_BO1,204,203,200.jpg

                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • George KG Offline
                          George KG Offline
                          George K
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #445

                          Loved this book. It's, perhaps, one of the more "obscure" LeCarre books. It has all the players you've loved in the past. Guillam, Smiley, Control...

                          And yes, the back story of Mundt, Leamas, and Liz.

                          Full of flashbacks, flash forwards, etc. Gotta pay attention.

                          Gonna re-read "From the Cold" just to enjoy the basis of this story.

                          "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                          The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • George KG Offline
                            George KG Offline
                            George K
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #446

                            But...before I jump into more LeCarre...a short story to keep me engaged.

                            41eZqlPaFBL.jpg

                            Ben Patton is a genuis, a mathematician and a man on the verge of a scientific discovery that could change the world -- if the math he's invented for it works. Ben's secret to his success: A muse, Hestia, who helps him, cares for him and in many ways is the love of his life, as muses so often are for those they inspire.

                            Hestia is Ben's secret -- but Hestia has secrets of her own. As the two of them race toward the completion of their work, Ben discovers the price of having a muse, and learns that the world can change, in ways he does not expect.

                            A tale of science and fantasy, from New York Times best-selling author John Scalzi.

                            I love Scalzi.

                            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • George KG Offline
                              George KG Offline
                              George K
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #447

                              Short novella. Very not-Scalzi in terms of content (not Sci-fi); very Scalzi in terms of humor and snark.

                              image.jpeg

                              "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                              The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • George KG Offline
                                George KG Offline
                                George K
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #448

                                OK that was fun, and very, very different. Nice twist at the end.

                                Started this today. Several people on FB have commented that "Consider Phlebas" is not Banks' strongest work. If you recall, I gave up about 75% of the way through, having gotten bored with it.

                                So, to give Banks another shot I started this today (about 40% of the way through it).

                                image.jpeg

                                The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.

                                Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game. . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life — and very possibly his death.

                                Yeah, in the same "universe" as "Phlebas," but a much, MUCH, better story.

                                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • George KG Offline
                                  George KG Offline
                                  George K
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #449

                                  More Bosch

                                  image.jpeg

                                  "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                  The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  • George KG Offline
                                    George KG Offline
                                    George K
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #450

                                    Oh, between that and the Banks book, I did LeCarre's "Spy Who Came in From the Cold." I enjoyed "A Legacy of Spies" so I thought it might be fun to revisit the premise of LeCarre's penultimate book.

                                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • George KG George K

                                      Almost finished with "Endurance."

                                      A very well-told tale which never, ever gets boring.

                                      It reminds me of "Unbroken," the story of survival of the airmen of a downed B-24 in WWII.

                                      jon-nycJ Offline
                                      jon-nycJ Offline
                                      jon-nyc
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #451

                                      @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

                                      Almost finished with "Endurance."

                                      A very well-told tale which never, ever gets boring.

                                      It reminds me of "Unbroken," the story of survival of the airmen of a downed B-24 in WWII.

                                      Glad you enjoyed it. Awesome book.

                                      Only non-witches get due process.

                                      • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      • George KG Offline
                                        George KG Offline
                                        George K
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #452

                                        Just finished "Angel's Flight," the Bosch book.

                                        It was not my favorite. It had a really nice twist about ⅔ of the way through, but the ending was a bit of a disappointment.

                                        Up next - more Iain M Banks:

                                        51RHThKGOEL.AC_UY436_QL65.jpg

                                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        • George KG George K

                                          @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                                          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

                                          Started this today...

                                          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

                                          Bumping this for @Renauda who might find it interesting.

                                          RenaudaR Offline
                                          RenaudaR Offline
                                          Renauda
                                          wrote on last edited by Renauda
                                          #453

                                          @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

                                          @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                                          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

                                          Started this today...

                                          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

                                          Bumping this for @Renauda who might find it interesting.

                                          Read it a few years ago. Really good. A genuine page turner.

                                          Elbows up!

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