Me too. I did get a bit confused at the third one which didn't stay as true to the books as the first and second, but all in all I really enjoyed them.

I've just undertaken the entire Culture Series by Iain M Banks, one after t'other; I only started out intending to read The Player of Games again, but I'm a bit obsessive like that.

If you're a sci-fi fan I'd say they're pretty much a must-read, and whilst they do fluctuate in quality (and ability to comprehend what the hell is going on) they are overall a very rewarding read.

I'm just zipping through The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi - any other sci-fi nuts care to suggest where to go next?

Absolutely love the Culture series - weird, fantastic and utterly engrossing. Without doubt some of the best sci-fi I've read, certainly alongside the traditional masters of sci-fi imo. A bit like Stephen King, he can go off on long random tangents but generally those side-plots complement the main plot well.

For a cheap read - I've been working my way through the Kreelan series by the relatively unknown Michael R Hicks. There are 3 trilogies and the first book in each trilogy is free on Kindle, the others are only about £2.49 each. Not hard sci-fi and not overly sophisticated in the manner of some sci-fi, I think he might even be self-published, but they're a good standard, certainly engaging, and I've enjoyed them.

I am not the biggest reader of sci-fi, but the Culture series really is superb. I love, absolutely love, Consider Phlebas – I honestly think it's one of the very best sci-fi novels I've read (and I've read it more than once).

The Ramen King and I - How the inventor of instant noodles fixed my love life.

I'm not a big autobiography reader, but there was something about the bizarre title of this that made it interesting. A brilliant read about one mans obsessive search to contact Mofo, the inventer of the Pot Noodle, and how he was helped to come to terms with his philandering due to his help.

West Leeds Rhino wrote:I would suggest anything from the Sigma series written by James Rollins http://www.jamesrollins.com/books/view/34 just ordered 4 of these novels from a second hand english bookstore .so they better be good its cheaper to buy books online from england and post to oz than it is to buy then over here

West Leeds Rhino wrote:I would suggest anything from the Sigma series written by James Rollins http://www.jamesrollins.com/books/view/34 just ordered 4 of these novels from a second hand english bookstore .so they better be good its cheaper to buy books online from england and post to oz than it is to buy then over here

I have just finished "Spitalfields Life" by someone known only as The Gentle Author.

It's a hefty 400+ pages but is a series of short easily-digestible chunks, each of which is a pen-portrait or vignette of a person or place in or near Spitalfields.
From the old guy who spends half of every day sitting in the passenger seat of his daughter's car parked on Brick Lane watching the world go by and reminiscing about when he ran the foremost boxing club in the area ... to the man who still runs the family business of selling paper bags to the traders of the area, sometimes tens of thousands but, these days, sometimes only ten ... also shopkeepers, stallholders, waiters, hairdressers and even a jewel thief who nearly had his eyes burned out by the Krays.
It's a fascinating read, you'll learn about the church warden whose great, great, great, great grandfather was a Huguenot silk weaver and who got to go (accompanied by The Gentle Author) to see patterns of silken cloth, now held in the V & A, woven by his ancestor.
You'll find out who Tubby Isaacs really was ... and about Bell-founding and banister spindle-making and the man who sweeps-out the Beigel Bake in return for being allowed to sleep there.

I might just start at the beginning and read it again.

I think it's German .. StruwwelPeter ... but, yes, Shock-headed Peter in English.
I saw a musical version by the Tiger Lilies 10 or 15 years ago ... very weird but great fun for adults, kids would have been scarred for life.

Zodiac by Robert Graysmith.

Clare Baldings book "My Animals and Other Family" arrived today. I really like her. She likes dogs, horses and rugby league(my three favourite things) which I hope the latter gets mentioned in her book.