book-book-book said the literary chicken

[swear_jar]

I bought a Henry Rollins book AND "Stuart: A Life Backwards" this week, both of which were 0.01p on Amazon (so £2.81 because postage). Delicious retail therapy.

Question: what did you read last and would you recommend it to me?

Question part two: if you wouldn't recommend the last thing you read, what book do you recommend?

Comments

[marika_kailaya]

i last read 'the silver linings playbook' and i would not recommend it. it was terribly dull and poorly-written. (nb: at the same time i was rereading the regeneration trilogy, which i am sure del has already force-recommended to you.)

i WOULD recommend david wong's 'john dies at the end' and 'this book is full of spiders (seriously, dude, don't touch it)' as they are a level of surreal, disgusting, scary comedy combined with well-thought-out, complex plots, very distinctive character voices, and a writing style that i frankly envy. they sound like books you might assume to be an easy read--like the novel equivalent of a b-rated horror movie, but they aren't. they're unpredictable and intriguing.

[swear_jar]

You know her well, she violently recommended it a few years ago, when I'd actually already read the first one but not enjoyed it, but I decided to give it a re-read and it turns out I was just too young to really grasp a lot of it? Anyway, Yes. REGENERATION IS AMAZING AND PAINFUL.

Oooh, okay I will check those out.

But not Silver Linings Playbook. Because that sounds awful. (To be fair I already thought the film looked pretty awful and haven't heard great things about it either. It has a touch of boring white dude finds a manic pixie dream girl?).

[marika_kailaya]

actually it subverts that trope, in a way: brain-damaged boring white guy finds PTSD-suffering manic pixie dream girl, they ~save each other~ or whatever. problem exists in author's attempt to write that particular story. i suspect someone else could've made it at least interesting.

[squeebo_writes]

What a weird coincidence, I bought Stuart, A Life Backwards for a penny on amazon too.

I last read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and I do recommend it if you're into real MI6 sort of things.

[swear_jar]

I haven't been in the UK long but long enough to start taking advantage of how cheap the second hand books on Amazon are here, ha. It's excellent.

I have tried to read it before, but actually couldn't get into it (there is something about his writing style that just will not sink into my brain), but thank you for the recommendation!

[squeebo_writes]

It took me a while to get used to it, too, but I persevered lol.

Instead I recommend 'Charlotte Sometimes' by Penelope Farmer. It's a strange little story but very enjoyable.