Currently reading?

[Griff]

Kick starting this with a 'what are you currently reading' topic. A friend of mine recently bought The 10 Rules Of Rock And Roll so picked up a copy myself. It's next on my list!

[Pauline]

Just finished reading The Fish Ladder: A Journey Upstream by Katharine Norbury. It's a beautiful account of her wanderings, following rivers to their source and how it randomly leads to finding the mother who gave her up at birth. Katharine's passionate character and love of nature shines throughout the book. Her journey is wildly descriptive and you can feel the emotions she confides as if she were there with you in person. Highly recommended.

[Willie]

Currently reading the Johnny Marr autobiography..he was 23 when the smiths broke up!!

[Griff]

Blimey! On that note at age 23:

John Singleton directed his first film, "Boyz 'N the Hood."

T. S. Eliot wrote "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

John Keats wrote "Ode on a Grecian Urn," which ends with the lines, "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. "

English poet Jane Taylor wrote "Twinkle, twinkle, little star."

Margaret Mead traveled to the South Seas as part of a "giant rescue operation" to study primative cultures before they perished.

Russian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz made a spectacular concert debut when, impatient with the conductor's slow pace, he ran away from the conductor's tempo and finished Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 several bars ahead of time.

Novelist, playwright, and short-story writer Carson McCullers wrote her acclaimed first book, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

Truman Capote published his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Orson Welles produced and performed his "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, terrifying millions of people. He also got his face on the cover of Time Magazine.

Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Masters.

Francois-Louis Cailler manufactured the world's first eating chocolate to be commercially produced.

Jamaican-born Barrington Irving became the youngest person to fly around the world solo. He had constructed the plane from over $300,000 in donated parts.

At age 23, Stevie Wonder wrote "Higher Ground".

[Canice]

Broken Music by Sting
I'm enjoying this, it richly details his pre Police days and then the early years of the Police up to their first success. I think my favourite part of rock and roll memoirs is the rise of the artist, the rags bit before the riches and this book is mostly the rags. Likewise with the Johnny Marr book, I really enjoyed his account of the '70s and the level of detail he was able to recount about his early bands. I wasn't as interested in his post Smiths career, but I was expecting to be cos it's very well written and he's a great guy but it just didn't grip me as much as the first half of the book (well it's most of the book really).Yes he was young, a mere child as Moz once said. When Sting was 23 it was 1975 and he was a good four years away from top of the pops
also reading
261 Albums since Punk and Disco by Garry Mulholland which is mostly right up my street, he's omitting some of my favourite bands Stranglers, u2, r.e.m but it's a good read and good pics of LP sleeves

[[deleted user]]

I'm currently reading "The Bookman" by Lavie Tidhar, the first in a trilogy of steampunk-esque books, where real & fictional people from 19th century literature (Jules Verne, Moriarty, Irene Adler and so many more!) pop up and cross paths in their attempts to stop an assassin (the titular Bookman.) There are hair-rasing adventures, narrow escapes, pirates, interstellar lizards, automatons and poets.

[Griff]

All sounds good! Course, this group means I'll never get to the end of a 'to read' list now! Not a bad thing of course. Trying to have only one book on the go these days.

[[deleted user]]

Good luck with that, Anthony! I gave up on trying to only have 1 book on the go. These days it's usually 2 and whatever magazines I come across. At the moment I'm also reading a book about red teas (in Spanish), Cometbus #54 & I just picked up 6 issues of The Continental Magazine (surf, garage, R'n'R, etc zine)

[Pauline]

Anthony wrote: "All sounds good! Course, this group means I'll never get to the end of a 'to read' list now! Not a bad thing of course. Trying to have only one book on the go these days."

I've lots of half read books lying around. Not because I don't like them or got bored just life got in the way, then I picked up something else when I had a bit of space. Spending time last night uploading books to here forced me to put the half-read ones in one place - and reminded me of some I'd forgotten about, so renewed enthusiasm abounds!

Just need the time to finish them now :-)

[Anita]

I'm just about to finish Conclave by Robert Harris, which is a pretty decent thriller about the election of a new pope, and then I'm moving on to Lincoln in the Bardo, American short story writer George Saunder's first novel. I'm a big fan of his stories and journalistic pieces, so I'm really excited about this one!

[Griff]

Anita wrote: "I'm just about to finish Conclave by Robert Harris, which is a pretty decent thriller about the election of a new pope, and then I'm moving on to Lincoln in the Bardo, American short story writer G..."

A latecomer, just getting into George Saunders myself these days Anita.

[Alan]

Hi folks, Books you said! Well just finished Richard Harris "Conclave" - fairly good read about the election of a Pope, although not up their with his Roman/ Cicero trilogy , which were a great read- bit of a fan of Historical fiction if you have any recommendations!
Trying to read Dan Stuart's "The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings: A False Memoir " - bit of a struggle , very random and manic but has some moments.
Last Music book I finished was Nile Rodgers "Le Freak"- brilliant, blistering yet poignant at times, an essential read for any music fan.
Keep those recommendations coming!

[Anita]

Alan, if you like historical fiction, you should try (if you haven't already) C.J. Sansom's 'Shardlake' series about a lawyer in 16th century England. They're really good quality whodunits with a fair amount of political intrigue and some great characters. 'Dissolution' is the first one.

[Willie]

Currently on Kim Gordon's "girl in a band".only 100 pages in but enjoying it immensely.she sure doesn't pull any punches!

[Canice]

enjoyed it immensely too, Willie, she's definitely my favourite member of Sonic Youth by a long shot

[Stephen]

Just finished John Williams' "Stoner". I loved it. Very sad though.
Currently reading Flann O'Brien's "At Swim-Two-Birds".
It usually takes me ages to get through a book. I blame the guitar.

[Eddie]

Don't read as much as I should or would like to. Currently reading "I Read The News Today, Oh Boy", about the life of Tara Browne, heir to the Guinness fortune. Supposedly inspire the Beatles song. Enjoying it a lot.

[Willie]

Finished the Johnny Marr.the book,like his career,is perfectly fine after the smiths years..it's just not the smiths! It was great up to that

[Canice]

Now I'm reading "Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain, tis great crack altogether

[Seamus]

Just finished Crime and Punishment (a reread after thirty years) I was struck by the number of parallels with Taxi Driver. I'm now back to reading Absalom! Absalom! by William Faulkner. It's my third Faulkner in the last couple of months. An incredible writer, but requires concentration.

[Aneta]

Hello Everyone

I would like to invite you to visit my blog where I review books. Hope you will enjoy the reading.

https://anopenbookbyaneta.wordpress.com

All the best
Aneta

[Pauline]

Dipping into Reliquiae volume 4. A.collection of nature poems, short stories and texts,new and old, gathered from across the world by Corbelstone Press.

[Alan]

Anita, just about to start Dissolution by C J Samson. Looks like a good read, thanks for the heads up.

[Griff]

and also finished recently. Enjoyed it and so thanks for that Alan and Anita. Back soon. A few on the go if I recall.

Griff

[Canice]

I'm reading In Concert, Favourite Gigs of Irish Music Community it's in aid of Red Cross/Syria, published by Hope Publications, features contributions from myself, Pete Holidai, Elvera Butler, Paul Page, Frank Rynne and loads more. It's a great read, well worth the 12 euro price

[Seamus]

Canice wrote: "I'm reading In Concert, Favourite Gigs of Irish Music Community it's in aid of Red Cross/Syria, published by Hope Publications, features contributions from myself, Pete Holidai, Elvera Butler, Paul..."
Looking forward to getting my hands on this. Wouldn't be able to narrow it down to one gig myself without a sort of 'pin the tail on the donkey' element to it.

[Seamus]

Reading Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath which I'm soundtracking with The Fall's Live at the Witch Trials. And waiting for whatever version of the Inquisition Trump and Bannon come up with...

[Canice]

I'm reading The Progress of Love by Alice Munro, master of the short story

[Pauline]

Just started 'I'm not with the band'. Sylvia Pattersons tales of growing up in the 70s and her subsequent job writing for Smash Hits through the 80/90's. If you ever even glanced at a copy in its hey day then this is essential reading. Warm and funny and name checking everyone who was anyone and a few who werent back then with lots of hi-jinx and endearingly funny stories.

[Seamus]

Recently read Lowdown: The Story of Wire. Although repetitive at times and a little underwhelming it was interesting as an overview of a favourite band. Probably for Wire obsessives only. (But then everyone should be a Wire obsessive...)