What are you reading now?

[godivatrailrider]

Rob Lilwall Cycling Home from Siberia .... still.
He's in Uzbekistan so not far from Afghanistan .... there's 28 pages left. He's patently lost interest and just wants to get home. To be honest, since he left Australia the detail has been sparce. Nothing about over 1000miles through Vietnam etc
No worries . After 3 years on a bike I guess 1 day blurs into another.

This was another of the loads of info at the start, bugger-all at the end... I found this infuriating..

I found a copy of this in a charity shop this morning. I thought it was one of the ones you'd un-recommended. The forum was down, so I couldn't check (one of the few times I've needed urgent access to the forum!) but I remembered correctly and left it on the shelf.

I'm not sure it's unrecommended, but I found it infuriating. It should have been "Cycling to Australia from Siberia" or Japan, but to give almost zero info on the plethora of countries after Oz ... why do it?
As said previously, they start off with ALL the detail which is interesting, then it just fizzles away, countries, nay continents, are travelled through with barely a mention, surely they can balance it out a bit better, something interesting would happen in every country, on most days...
I'm probably guilty too. On the few ride reports I've done there's probably less detail towards the end of the ride ...

Currently reading Nordy Bank, another local to Ludlow kids book...

[ledburner]

....
.... reading cheap sci fi compilations from ...
Now on Conan the Barbarian which is a must read for all Terry Pratchett fans as this is just the stuff he used to take the pi*s out of. Some it is actually a good read!

That reminds me a climbing route up steep sea cliff at Pen Zawn Gogarth, Anglesey.
Its named 'Conan the librarian'.

[fatbikephil]

Just read Jenny Grahams book on her RTW record.
Overall a good read (although wait for the paperback version next year as its only £10.) but chaotic writing in parts which actually was a reflection of the ride so in context. Looks like she suffered horribly and took a long time to recover physically and mentally. Plus lots of tension about record breaking versus seeing the places and meeting the people.
I got the feeling that after she finished she regretted doing it to some degree...

[Dave Barter]

Just read Jenny Grahams book on her RTW record.
Overall a good read (although wait for the paperback version next year as its only £10.) but chaotic writing in parts which actually was a reflection of the ride so in context. Looks like she suffered horribly and took a long time to recover physically and mentally. Plus lots of tension about record breaking versus seeing the places and meeting the people.
I got the feeling that after she finished she regretted doing it to some degree...

Apparently Lake Wilcox is having a go at it

[Boab]

Just read Jenny Grahams book on her RTW record.

Quite fancy reading it, but was waiting for the paperback! I've just finished The Oxygen Advantage, which was a bit of a chore, as it could've been about a third of the length. It 's also one bit advert for his business, so there's that too. Now reading Endure after Shaf mentioned it in another thread.

[fatbikephil]

Apparently Lake Wilcox is having a go at it

I saw that on Bikepacking.com. Interested to know her route as I suspect Russia is off the cards.... A quick look at the globe would suggest this will make her route much more convoluted and hilly.

[BowlandBikepacking]

Currently reading "Other ways to win" by Lee Craigie after I picked up a copy following a talk by her at the Alpkit Big Shakeout.

Lots of incredible achievements, and came across your as a lovely person.

https://www.adventurebooks.com/products ... ays-to-win

[voodoo_simon]

Just found out Spotify are doing talking books now

[AndreR]

Finished Bothy Tales by John Burns and found it very entertaining. Thoughtful in places funny in many others, would recommend Bought the Last Hill Walker by him as well as I enjoyed his writing so much.

[gecko76]

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth by Dick Crane and his cousin Nick. Recommended on here I think. Makes no sense. Being written in the 80s the only reason I can think of them going ultralight weight was in order to carry enough cocaine and amphetamines to keep them going.

[RIP]

"Makes no sense".

HELLO.... this is BearBones Bikepacking!

I reckon they just wanted to test their limits like many in This Place, while enjoying a bit of a mad stunt, while doing a bit for charidee, spiced up with a touch of OCD. Some might say test to extremes, and potentially even destruction .

Whatever, it certainly makes for a seat-of-the-pants read. It massively influenced and inspired me at the time. My first MTB/ATB was a similar vintage to theirs and they considerably raised the number of possibilities that I saw.

"No further than those distant trees. Don't be too long. Half an hour"......

Be interesting to see other reactions, as there's almost a religious following. Cue "they're not messiahs they're very naughty boys" etc etc

I've probably missed your tongue in cheek as it's too early in the morning .

[gecko76]

It was indeed meant tongue in cheek. Very impressive but verging on madness. The bikes (road bikes, not mtbs) sound very lovely while being totally inappropriate but apparently highly effective.

[RIP]

Good point re road bikes - I was picturing their Saracens in "Bikes Up Kili" by mistake. So yes, road bikes - even more bonkers.

[godivatrailrider]

Stoner - John Williams
Had some concerns it'd be dismal , like "A Little Life".... but not turning out that way. Quite like Steinbeck in some ways and there's hints of Donna Tartt's A Secret History (tbh that's probably the wrong way round - ASH is similar to Stoner)
We'll see.
Awaiting Book 3 of Karen Traviss' Wess Har series ...

[faustus]

Stoner is brilliant, as is Butcher's Crossing by the same author. Really like his style, and he seems to have had a more recent appreciation.

Currently reading Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon, last of that series i've yet to read. Quite like a decent western, and McMurtry's are pretty good.

[BowlandBikepacking]

Newlyweds arrived "Cook Out" by the Fell Foodie. Really impressed with the book and OK it's not one to read cover to cover, a great outdoor persons cook book if you don't just want dehydrated pasta on tour adventures!

IMG_0038.jpeg (47.3 KiB) Viewed 4649 times

[godivatrailrider]

Stoner - John Williams
Had some concerns it'd be dismal , like "A Little Life".... but not turning out that way. Quite like Steinbeck in some ways and there's hints of Donna Tartt's A Secret History (tbh that's probably the wrong way round - ASH is similar to Stoner)
We'll see.
Awaiting Book 3 of Karen Traviss' Wess Har series ...

Stoner is just brilliant. A very moving read. Recommended

Now onto "Jude the Obscure"

[AndreR]

Just finished Ghost Riders (Travels with American Nomads) by Richard Grant. British fellow living in the USA and delving into what sort of people become nomads and why. Surprised at the different sorts of people in society that are "nomadic" and how the distrust between settled people and nomadic people is still there today just as it was all those years ago. Found it an interesting and and thought provoking read.

[psling]

I have been reading The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.
A thoroughly enjoyable read especially if you enjoy an irreverent and humorous take on history from the viewpoint of an irascible 100 year old man. Total bollox really

[RIP]

Ace book that Peter! Am going to take leaf out of Mr Karlsson's book when I'm a centenarian.

The writing style isn't everyone's cuppa. "Sparse" I would call it. And I like it!

[psling]

Ace book that Peter! Am going to take leaf out of Mr Karlsson's book when I'm a centenarian.

What, lose your virginity?!?

The writing style isn't everyone's cuppa. "Sparse" I would call it. And I like it!

I do enjoy dry humour and the book is full of it

[voodoo_simon]

Just finished Shackleton (audio version if it makes a difference?) by Ranulph Fiennes.

Was something I have been meaning to read for a while but just never got around to committing to.

Wow! What a story, thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Blackhound]

This year I am re reading books I have read in the past. Usually I read a book, put it away and get on with the new one.

A couple of days ago I finished the highly entertaining 'My Old Man' by John Major (yes, that one) about the history of music hall.

I have just started Wounds by Fergal Keane about his family's involvement in the Irish war of independence and the civil war that followed.

I have been buying books this year including Lee and Jenny's mentioned ^ there but they are for next year.

[AndreR]

This year I am re reading books I have read in the past. Usually I read a book, put it away and get on with the new one.

I have done that a bit this year too, it's really interesting to re-read a book you enjoyed and found memorable years later and see the differences in what you get from it now. I suppose you have grown and changed and hopefully matured over the years and are seeing them from a different perspective and if it's really good it will offer a different level of enjoyment the second time around.

Steinbeck in my 20's is different to Steinbeck in my 60's

[Blackhound]

Andre - very true, life experiences and all that. Already contemplating doing the same in 2025