I struggled badly with the written version and I am a reader but the Audible version read by Ben Miles brings it all wonderfully to life. I only listen whilst hoping to fall asleep.
It was a free download included in my membership.
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As a kid, the only TV show to give me nightmares. I remember it coming on TV while round at a mates house. I had to leave the room 
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Used to be a dab hand at Z80 assembly, was the only way to write a game that ran at anywhere close to a useable speed. When I got to Uni I discovered M68000. The dogs…. I think I still have a manual somewhere 
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Latest John Lawton has just appeared on Kindle and Audible.
Now up to volume 9 of this fascinating post war high society soap opera,history lesson and a bit of spy and detective work.
For those who enjoy Slow Horses or Bernie Gunter it is another well written story line that’s worth a try.
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Finished re-reading “Light in August.” Certainly the most straightforward (although not that straightforward) of Faulkner’s four big novels. By the way - for Kindlers - there are cheap versions available from Amazon. I bough one for a buck. I think they come from India. A lot of typos, especially for Faulkner’s invented words. I also believe my copy of the book, bought maybe 50 years ago new, is not the corrected edition, but I am unsure.
Next I’m thinking of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” (sic) But I also have a book coming from Amazon - a beginner’s guide to quantum mechanics.
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Next up. Not sure how we missed this one.
Well regarded filum based on the story. Brosnan,Rush and Jamie Lee
Other ephemera. Amazon reduction. I have till February next year to finish them
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IIRC that’s sort of Le Carre’s riff on Graham Greene’s “Our Man in Havana,” also the basis of a fine movie, starring Alec Guinness.
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I can’t say this volume is a riveting read but the series as a whole is magnificent. 2-3 books around the middle are a bit slow going but the Wheel of Time has got to be one of the greatest fantasy series ever written. Pity the TV series on Prime has been canned but I didn’t find it anywhere as good as Game of Thrones which remains the benchmark.
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Thanks for the recommendation. Half way through, it’s an enjoyable read. But like you said, quite sad.
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. One of the great joys of retirement is the chance to read some ‘chunkier’ books in the daytime rather than the usual page and a half at bedtime before drooping eyes set in. I’ve always loved Dickens but have never read this, his last complete novel before his death. A dark book but some fine moments of caustic humour, particularly aimed at the parvenus, the Veneerings. Very enjoyable
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Thanks - glad you are enjoying it
I’d suggest start Conclave first. The Second Sleep is less linear, and I found it somehow less satisfying I think. If you enjoy the twisty protocols of Conclave, I’d also recommend The Order, which is one of the excellent Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva that centers around a different papal transition. Some good reads ahead of you, enjoy!
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“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” - a good book (and a good read) about love and friendship. And gaming - but compelling even for a non-gamer like myself.
One thought keeps running through my mind - if anyone asked me if they should read “A Little Life” - a book I detested (and did not finish), I would say read this instead.
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I came across this book through an exchange with my son as to whether we knew of the Bazeley’s of Standish Court. Well yes because they were our customers and I couldn’t help finding their daughters who were my age rather attractive. Fast forward nearly sixty years and their grandson Samuel Selwyn-Bazeley is teaching our grandsons art. He is also a talented sculptor whose work is part of many esteemed private collections. He took the boys to see works of art to ascertain how they respond to different artworks.
I sought to learn more about him and discovered the exhibition inspired by this book by the leading exponent of loop quantum gravity. I recognised the name of Carlo Rovelli in an instant. The theory seeks to describe gravity at a quantum level without recourse to Newton’s proper time.
The book describes the key features of time and almost goes as far as saying the Aristotle’s view of it as change is valid as well. Time is a manifestation of the ever increasing entropy of all natural systems. It cannot go backwards because entropy cannot decrease. There is very little physics needed to understand the arguments and there is a poetry to his language. Strange as it may seem the universe before galaxies and stars had lower entropy, and the sun less entropy than the life on Earth it powers. You will hardly have time to stop reading.
Please excuse some of the puns.
Phil
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