Of great read and authors..

Jump starting thread on good reads and authors..

Anyone came across a good read lately? I read more for leisure, and gravitate towards thrillers, mysteries. You can even say it's pulp fiction:p

Latest was Jeffrey Archer's Prisoner of Birth, nice twists so typical of his. Also came across this good english translation of swedish bestseller by Stieg Larsson, Girl with Dragon Tattoo (mystery, with insights into scandinavian big business and landscape, lifestyles).

Frederick Forsythe (cold war genre, middle east), Stephen Leather, Allan Follsom and another favourite Daniel Silva (latest NY bestseller Moscow Rules) and Gerald Seymour (irish landscape). Daniel Silva's pieces are well researched, based on israeli hero (aftermath of munich olympics revenge killings) whose profession outside his secret life is an artist into recovery of great works of art in vatican etc.

Good to see you started a thread.

Used to read a lot of Jeffrey Archer's stuff many years back, then it started to get boring for me. Daniel Silva's "Moscow Rules" is worth looking into.

cheers

Just finished Cormac McCarthy's "The Road", really bleak novel. Wonder how it will translate into the silver screen.

Next up will be some light reading with Monocle.

Have to get ready for year-end Kino binge again.

Does anyone read comics or manga?

lolabunny said:

Does anyone read comics or manga?

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yes i love HEntai

Currently reading:

Shadow Warriors:
The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs and the Party of Surrender by Kenneth R. Timmerman.

Recently finished:
Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos by Roger Warner

Love Comes Softly and Love's Long Journey both books by Janette Oke

<p> Only book to have read multiple times:
</p>
<img alt="http://www.wisdom-books.com/Covers/8260.jpg" src="http://www.wisdom-books.com/Covers/8260.jpg" />
<p>The hundred thousand Songs of Milarepa by....Milarepa.
</p>
<p>&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Another great read:
</p>
<img alt="https://www.storesonlinepro.com/files/2071109/uploaded/Autobiography%20of%20a%20Yogi.jpg" src="https://www.storesonlinepro.com/files/2071109/uploaded/Autobiography%20of%20a%20Yogi.jpg" />
<p>&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.&nbsp;
</p>

snrcitizen said:

..read a lot of Jeffrey Archer's stuff many years back, then it started to get boring for me. Daniel Silva's "Moscow Rules" is worth looking into.

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Archer's a story spinner, with a chequered life as ex Conservative party top honcho and kena prison too:p

Daniel Silva's a good bet, if you are not anti-semitic. As for Frederick Forsythe, if the old foggie could only migrate from his typewriter..

And if anyone's into farang author on LOS (other than Private Dancer by Stephen Leather), Chris Moore is not bad with his latest aptly titled The Risk of Infidelity Index (supposedly real index for wives with expats posted to LOS):p

John Burdett's is another LOS farang with his Bangkok Haunts, Bangkok Tattoo and Bangkok 8. Interesting introspect of a mixed thai/farang policeman with a mamasan mother (in her heydays). Fighting his demons from within

The only novel that I have read more than twice: "The Odessa File" by Frederick Forsyth

Highly recommended!

Black Swan said:

...only novel that I have read more than twice: "The Odessa File" by Frederick Forsyth. Highly recommended!

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His classic must have been Day of Jackal (movie too) with assasination of french president Charles D Gaulle. Political thrillers, very topical -cold war, middle east too. Covered all of his, here's sampling from past and present (last 2006's Avenger).

Glad to see fellow forummers are sharing good reads here. What do you guys think of e-books... don't think it's taken off. I know it's not politically correct or green, but nothing like sitting on tree trunk... or even on toilet seat:p

yinyang said:

His classic must have been Day of Jackal (movie too) with assasination of french president Charles D Gaulle. Political thrillers, very topical -cold war, middle east too. Covered all of his, here's sampling from past and present (last 2006's Avenger).

Glad to see fellow forummers are sharing good reads here. What do you guys think of e-books... don't think it's taken off. I know it's not politically correct or green, but nothing like sitting on tree trunk... or even on toilet seat:p

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I thought his latest was "The Afghan"? Anyway, all his books are equally thrilling and entertaining. I've read all of them.

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
by Jeremy Scahill
Jeremy Scahill takes us from the bloodied streets of Iraq to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to the chambers of power in Washington, to expose Blackwater - the world's most secretive, powerful, and fastest growing
private army, as the frightening new face of the U.S. war machine.

Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Rendition Program
by Stephen Grey
Stephen Grey tells the inside story of international prisons sanctioned by the U.S. Government and used by the CIA to hold and torture people suspected of terrorism.

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
by Steve Coll
Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence and military personnel both foreign and American, Steve Coll details the secret history of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.

1000 Years for Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI - The Untold Story
by Peter Lance
1000 Years for Revenge is a groundbreaking investigative work that uncovers startling evidence of how the FBI missed dozens of opportunities to stop the attacks of September 11, dating back to 1989. Journalist Peter Lance explains how an elusive al Qaeda mastermind defeated the entire American security system in what the author calls "the greatest failure of intelligence since the Trojan Horse". An unparalleled work of investigative reporting and masterful storytelling, 1000 Years for Revenge will change forever the way we look at the FBI and the war on terror in the twenty-first century.

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen
From warrantless wiretapping to secret financial data mining to the CIA's rogue operations, George W. Bush has shown again and again that the executive branch has dangerously overreached, repudiated checks and balances on its power and maintained secrecy even with its allies in Congress. James Risen describes the two-front war that President Bush is now fighting: at home against Congress and the Supreme Court, as his administration is increasingly reined in from its abuses; and in the Middle East, where George W. Bush's great gamble to bring a democratic revolution is failing radically.

snrcitizen said:

Good to see you started a thread.

Used to read a lot of Jeffrey Archer's stuff many years back, then it started to get boring for me. Daniel Silva's "Moscow Rules" is worth looking into.

cheers

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I have read almost all of Archer's books, but I gradually grew to dislike them.
Somehow, his books give me the impresssion that you can predict what's going to happen next.
Just my opinion.

Black Swan said:

..thought his latest was "The Afghan"? Anyway, all his books are equally thrilling and entertaining. I've read all of them.

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My bad (no fault of mind, only fingers:p), yes it's the Afghan. Avenger was 2003

Recomended, enjoyed this swedish translation. Girl with Dragon Tattoo Fave reviews, even going on to silver screen.

An epic tale of serial murder and corporate trickery spanning several continents, the novel takes in complicated international financial fraud and the buried evil past of a wealthy Swedish industrial family. Through its main character, it also references classic forbears of the crime thriller genre while stylistically follows and mixes aspects of the sub-genres. There are mentions of Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers; as well as Sue Grafton, Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky and several other key figures in the history of the detective novel. As a journalist and magazine editor in Stockholm until his death, Larsson reveals a knowledge and enjoyment of both English and American crime fiction. He declared that he wrote his opus in the evening after work for his own pleasure.

The towns mentioned are real, with exception for Hedestad, and the Millennium magazine featured in the books parallels Larsson's own Expo magazine in the real world, which also had financial difficulties and where he was journalist and editor

jw5 said:

I have read almost all of Archer's books, but I gradually grew to dislike them.
Somehow, his books give me the impresssion that you can predict what's going to happen next.
Just my opinion.

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That's one reason I was getting bored with his books. Then I switched to recommendations from others. "Hunt for the Red October" (can't remember the author) is an example of switch.

I read sammboy journal daily.

snrcitizen said:

Good to see you started a thread.

Used to read a lot of Jeffrey Archer's stuff many years back, then it started to get boring for me. Daniel Silva's "Moscow Rules" is worth looking into.

cheers

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Yes, I like Jefferey collection too. In fact, if you never read his works before, I would recommend his short collection of stories. Very engaging read. And full of twists. "Twist in the tale", "A Quiver Full of Arrows". In fact I got the 36 collected short stories version. Very good.

jeffery archer is classified under TRASH literature. one step above Pioneer magazine.

madmansg said:

jeffery archer is classified under TRASH literature. one step above Pioneer magazine.

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Haha, well, different people different taste. But I do like his short stories.