• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

What book are you currently reading?

I didn't think I'd be into a kindle, and didn't get one for ages, but now I've got one i love it. So convenient being able to get any book you want in an instant.

+1. Exactly my experience. And your house doesn't get cluttered up with books you'll never read again and your holiday luggage doesn't get weighed down by a load of paperbacks etc. The only downside to mine is the position of the on / off button at the bottom meaning I accidentally switch it off from time to time. Not the greatest hardship granted, but a small design flaw.

Just finished Jon Sopel's If Only They Didn't Speak English. Excellent read from the Beeb's man in Washington during the Trump election.
 
Nearly finished the second book (Before they are hanged) of Joe Abercrombie's 'First Law' trilogy. Very good 'grimdark' fantasy, although I don't think it's so much dark as more realistic in terms of outcomes in a fantastical setting. As everyone says characterisation is Abercrombie's strongest attribute. Everyone has an arc and a number of them are up there as the most enjoyable pov's to go along with. Sand dan Glotka is fantastic and shows that even if he seems very similar to Tyrion Lannister in how he is viewed by others and what is happening to him in this books has similarities to Tyrion's time in Kings Landing, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
 
Recently finished two very different books.

IT - Stephen King
Apparently one of the last books before King kicked his coke habit and you can tell. Overall it's really good but even Brandon Sanderson could have written it with about 300 less pages. The first 400 pages are so are very mixed with some excellent passages and other less so excellent but after that it really picks up momentum. I'm not usually one to get too scared from books but there is definitely some very unnerving and creepy parts.

Prisoners of Geography - Tim Marshall
Excellent book, explained a lot of actions taken by countries which have seemed impossible to understand from our point of view. Don't agree with everything in it but it definitely broadened my understanding of global affairs.
 
The Book Of Signs by Dr. David Jeremiah. It's about the Signs of the Times in regards to Bible prophesy. It's very interesting and well written. I've read several of Dr. Jeremiah's books and enjoyed them all.
 
Last edited:
The Burning Room............by Michael Connelly.
Crime fiction at its best.
 
Just started the original Dune, quite liked the movie as a kid but due to my age, the complexity of the narrative and the focus of the adaptation... I struggled with certain aspects of the story.

Reading the original book as an adult is filling in some of the blanks though and really enjoying it.
 
Sandman slim series. It's set in present time inside adjusted Christian mythology interspersed with a range of other known mythologies, all tweaked or added to, and a few newly invented ones. The characters themselves are very normal, identifiable, human or humanesque. I really liked the first one but my interest is waning the further into the series I go.
 
Last edited:
Just started the original Dune, quite liked the movie as a kid but due to my age, the complexity of the narrative and the focus of the adaptation... I struggled with certain aspects of the story.

Reading the original book as an adult is filling in some of the blanks though and really enjoying it.
Exactly how I feel, I read the book and watched the movie when I was younger and didn't get it at all. Read the original a few months ago and loved it. Not a fan of the sequels though.
 
Exactly how I feel, I read the book and watched the movie when I was younger and didn't get it at all. Read the original a few months ago and loved it. Not a fan of the sequels though.

I'll keep that in mind as I was considering progressing through the series as I love this sort of political sci-fi.
 
Dune Messiah is generally interesting and helps fill the gaps a little the sequels from there on in are ********.
 
I tried reading Terry Pratchett when I was younger and couldn't get into it at all, but recently I took a shot on Small Gods and haven't been able to stop reading his books since. Absolutely brilliant author.
The biggest problem with Pratchett is he took some time to really nail his voice I claim its about Men At Arms but Small Gods is two books before that.

Still not bought myself to read The Shepherd's Crown
 
I'd go as far back as Reaper Man, which I think is #6, but there were a few duffers after that before he hit the mark consistently
 
I'll keep that in mind as I was considering progressing through the series as I love this sort of political sci-fi.
To be fair the first few are generally considered decent, don't let me stop you either way!
I'd go as far back as Reaper Man, which I think is #6, but there were a few duffers after that before he hit the mark consistently
The first few were a bit ropey, from Mort onwards though I think he generally nailed the style he was looking for (despite the odd did which is probably inevitable considering the sheer amount). Guards! Guards! is where it really kicks off for me though and probably the point of entry I'd recommended to someone knew to the series.

Like many others, I also can't bring myself to read The Shepherd's Crown.
 
To be fair the first few are generally considered decent, don't let me stop you either way!

No worries, I'm gonna have to put the book on hold for a week or two as things have picked up in work (was reading it in the office while it was quiet) but when I go back and finish it I'll do a bit of research to decide on whether or not to continue.
 
I recently finished this book. I highly recommend it for every rugby union fan!

1192482.jpg
 
Finished a few books over the last month or two.

Read all three books out in the Stormlight Archive so far. I haven't been let down by Sanderson yet and there was no change here. The Way of Kings was more sombre than I was expecting but really should be the poster child for the 'Sanderson Avalanche' the ending was an absolute crescendo. One moment in particular was genuinely shocking and nearly made me act like one of those American's who cheers at everything in the cinema. Words of Radiance was possibly the most balanced book of Sanderson's that I've read, really enjoyed it. Oathbringer has one section that drags but overall is really excellent. I love that Sanderson never pulls stuff out of his ass, every twist and change is completely earned and there's a really sense of satisfaction with correctly guessing a twist that the groundwork has been laid for half a book in advance. I was not expecting such an examination of mental health issues in epic fantasy.

Also just finished 'All the President's Men'. Some...interesting parallels to today's events. Amazing how the narrative has turned to Watergate simply being the break in and the subsequent cover up when it was so much more. People who are loyal only to Nixon not their party or politics, the pervasive hatred of the media and the left (also equating them as the same thing) from the top down etc is just incredible to read about. As is the diligent (mostly) thoughtful journalism from Woodward and Berstein and everyone else at the post. Just truly impressive how they developed sources and how much integrity they showed. To me the big difference between then and now is that there was a large number of Republican's who were truly disgusted by the administration's actions and willing to actually do something about it. Sure some of them may have acted out of self-interest, although Nixon did win the '72 election by one of the largest margins at the time, there was definitely a contingent that showed an actual moral backbone.
 
Tear It Down by Nick Petrie - the 4th of 4 (so far) Peter Ash novels.
 
Any good reads/listens lately. Really getting back into books in a big way.

Currently reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Very tough read but I'm only halfway through, not even to the psychotherapy part, and it's the most influential book I've ever read.

I read an absolute **** book before that's not worth mentioning...

Listened to Not a Diet Book by James Smith, very good for anyone who wants to improve what they eat and how to stay healthy.

Currently listening to Chasing Excellence: A Story about Building the World's Fittest Athletes by Ben Bergeron and enjoying it, more training focused than Smith's.
 

Latest posts

Top