BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Recommendations from Hepzibah

hepzibah · June 24, 2012 6:56 am

I read a lot of books, about 2-3 per week. Slightly less lately as I have been spending my spare time on these boards!

I have just finished reading The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, recommended by my sister-in-law. They are written for the Young Adult market but older reader will still enjoy them, They are set in a dystopian future after the breakdown of the United States (now called Panem). The country is divided into 12 Districts (or maybe 13!) and each district must send 2 teenagers each year to take part in the Hunger Games, basically a televised gladiatiorial contest with only one winner. Our heroine, Everdeen, takes her younger sister's place in the games. Fun and hijinks and death ensue. The books are a fast read. I finished the 2nd one, Catching Fire, in one session. The first book has been made into a movie and the others are to follow. The movie was very good, captured the feel of the books. **** (that's 4 stars out of 5).

Another interesting read is How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran. I original sought it out because of an interview she did on a local current affairs show, and she also wrote several fab article about BC and Sherlock.(They are on the web somewhere) She grew up in a dysfunctional family in England, became a writer on a rock magazine, was an outrageous party girl, then marries and lived happily eve after. She has very strong views on feminism, which I agee wholeheartedly with, and is just a very interesting woman.

I aslo read Mr Toppit by Charles Elton. BC reviewed it on his trip to Greece, check it out on YouTube, and I then came across it in a bookshop. Serendipity, i thought! It is the story of the children of a successful children's writer and is based very loosely on A A Milne's son, Christopher Robin. The moral of the story is - don't name your characters after your children! Imagine if J K Rowling had named her kids Harry, Ron and Hermoine. The horror, oh, the horror!

Enough for now, will put some more recs up later, feel free to comment or ignore

veecee · June 24, 2012 2:09 pm

I'm a big reader, too, and appreciate recommendations.
Someone on the forum recommended a book a while ago that I thought was interesting, and now I've lost the thread. It would be great if people put their recs in a recommended books thread, even when they show up elswhere, too.

I saw a guy reading The Disappearing Spoon last night. Haven't had a chance to research it myself yet. He he said it was about the creation of periodic table, but not a scientific book. Very readable. I mention it because what does Sherlock have framed on his bedroom wall?

hepzibah · June 24, 2012 3:44 pm

Veecee, would you believe I nearly bought The Disappearing Spoon a few days ago but I didn't have the funds to spare, may have to go back after payday and pick it up!

SusiGo · June 24, 2012 4:07 pm

That sounds interesting and it's got a very appealing cover. I don't know much about science and I've always been the languages and literature type at school (and until this very day) but there's one book I absolutely adore: "A short history of nearly everything" by Bill Bryson. It really change my view of the world and I loved the chapter about geology so much that I wrote a novel about it. Bryson manages to explain the most complicated matters to people like me and this in an interesting and very funny way. One of my all-time favourites .

veecee · June 24, 2012 5:46 pm

Hep - There must be some cosmic connections in the Sherlockian world. It was just a fluke that I came across that book: We were walking back to our car after dark when I saw the kid sitting alone on the pavement under a streetlight reading it. If you read it first, please report back.

Susi - I LOVE Bill Bryson. As you say, he makes everything so interesting, understandable, and entertaining. Imagine the research he must do, and then to bring it all together.
What have you read of his? I have read A Short History of Nearly Everything, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir, and At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Now, I really have to read Notes from a Small Island -- I mean, that small island is Sherlock's home!
BTW, do you read them in English?

hepzibah · June 24, 2012 6:04 pm

Guys, you should try Bill Bryson's book about Australia - Down Under. It gives a great look at my crazy country and includes the best description of cricket that you will ever read. Apparently, he was going to call it No Worries because that's what every Aussie says, but someone beat him to it. No worries, mate

veecee · June 26, 2012 2:42 am

hepzibah wrote:
Guys, you should try Bill Bryson's book about Australia - Down Under. It gives a great look at my crazy country and includes the best description of cricket that you will ever read. Apparently, he was going to call it No Worries because that's what every Aussie says, but someone beat him to it. No worries, mate

I don't know that one, but In a Sunburned Country about Australia is great. Any book that starts out with a chapter, Ten Things that Will Kill You Instantly in Australia, or something like that... It's been a while since I read it. I will try the other one.

SusiGo · June 26, 2012 6:30 am

@Veecee: I just read A short history and Notes from a small island so far but I will try some of the other ones as well. I love his writing for the very same reasons you mentioned.

Davina · June 26, 2012 7:23 am

Try 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' as well. It's a great way of brushing up on your science.

hepzibah · June 26, 2012 8:40 am

veecee, according to Wikiperdia, Down Under and In A Sunburned Country are the same book. The publisher must have re-named it for a different market.

hepzibah · June 27, 2012 6:46 am

Went out today and used the last of my spare cash to buy The Disappearing Spoon for $8 and also Simple Times:Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris, also for $8. Woohoo

veecee · June 27, 2012 5:49 pm

hepzibah wrote:
veecee, according to Wikiperdia, Down Under and In A Sunburned Country are the same book. The publisher must have re-named it for a different market.

veecee · June 27, 2012 5:50 pm

hepzibah wrote:
Went out today and used the last of my spare cash to buy The Disappearing Spoon for $8 and also Simple Times:Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris, also for $8. Woohoo

Please report back on TDS.

Dramagod · June 27, 2012 5:55 pm

I'd never heard of The Disappearing Spoon but after reading it's description I'm still not sure what it's really about but it does sound interesting. It's £4.50 new in amazon.co.uk so I might check up on it in the near future. So, in a nutshell, someone tell me what it's about? Is it fiction, non-fiction or the combination of both?

veecee · June 27, 2012 7:55 pm

I believe it is the non-fictional story of the development of the periodic table of elements (hence the connection with Sherlock). It has to be pretty good for someone to sit on pavement reading it after dark by the glow of a streetlight, no?

hypergreenfrog · July 11, 2012 10:44 am

Sorry to diverge from the current topic, but I just came accross this thread for the first time today, and just wanted to say that I too am a great fan of Bill Bryson.

I am currently reading A Short History of Neary Everything, although so far, I find myself slightly disappointed after being utterly amazed by At Home. What I loved so much about At Home (among other things) was that you got a little bit of biography or a little anecdote to almost every person mentioned, which made it easy to remember them. In "The Short History..." most scientists are mentioned only in 1-2 sentences, and it all gets a bit distracting. Maybe it's also because I know more about science than I knew about (English) social history, not sure.
But anyway, overall it is still a joy to read, as always.

hepzibah · July 18, 2012 2:51 pm

Has anyone read The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher? I came across a reference to them in a fanfic intro and wondered what they were like.
I normally don't read fantasy, I can't be doing with dragons and that crap, but these sound interesting. I would like an opinion before I go looking on Amazon to see if I can download them to my Kindle. Did I mention that I have a Kindle?

Arya · July 20, 2012 12:03 am

The Dresden Files is pretty good. It's basically a fast-paced paranormal mystery series plus a bit of humor. I wouldn't go looking for anything deep or meaningful in it, but it's a good quick read. It's worth buying the first book in the series, which is one of the better ones, if I remember correctly .

hepzibah · August 17, 2012 6:23 am

All That I Am - Anna Funder

This novel won the 2011 Miles Franklin Award, the Aussie equivalent to the Booker or Pulitzer Prize. It is based on real people and what happened to them in Germany and England in the 1930s just prior to World War II. It is partly from the point of view of Ernst Toller, a poet, and partly from the point of view of Dr Ruth Wesemann, who moved to Australia after the war. Parts of it are very confronting, especially a shocking betrayal. I felt it did drag a bit at the beginning, then moved too fast towards the end, skipping over important events. But it is extremely well written, so I would recommend it, with reservations. It is available to download to your Kindle via Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/All-That-I-Am-Novel/dp/0062077562/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345176464&sr=1-1&keywords=anna+funder

Last edited by hepzibah (August 17, 2012 6:23 am)

SusiGo · August 17, 2012 6:42 am

That sounds good. I read her book "Stasiland: Oh Wasn't it so Terrible - True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall" which has been a sort of eye-opener for me as a West German. She describes her experience with people who have been spied and and oppressed by "Stasi", the former East German secret state police, and with the perpetrators as well. The interesting thing for me was that she tells these stories very objectively not having been involved with either side. I learned many things I'd never heard about before.