Social What are you reading?

I can't see a thread about books, so I thought I'd start one. Apologies if I've missed it.
I'm mainly interested in crime fiction, thrillers etc to while away the retirement hours until next season, and I'm looking for some advice about NZ/Aus authors.
Years ago I read and really enjoyed Peter Temple's books and Paul Thomas' Tito Ihaka stories.
I've recently been hoovering up every Garry Disher and Chris Hammer book I can find up here ( England ), but getting info about other, similar authors is hard to find - I'm not going to believe everything Amazon 'recommends'.
Has anybody got any recommendations for similar stuff?
thanks
 
Hello! It's always great to see a fellow lover of crime fiction and thrillers here. If you're interested in authors from New Zealand and Australia, you've certainly mentioned some of the best, like Peter Temple, Paul Thomas, Garry Disher, and Chris Hammer. Here are a few more you might enjoy:

1) **Barry Maitland**: He's a Scottish-born author but now resides in Australia. His work includes the 'Brock and Kolla' series, which is a detective series set in London. His more recent 'Harry Belltree' trilogy is set in Australia.

2) **Jane Harper**: An Australian author known for engaging crime novels with a deep sense of place. Her books, like "The Dry", "Force of Nature", and "The Lost Man", are popular for their taut writing and gripping suspense.

3) **Michael Robotham**: Though he was born in Australia, he first made a name as a crime writer in the UK before his career took a more international turn. His books feature tightly woven plots with psychological depth, such as "Life or Death" and "The Secrets She Keeps".

4) **Fiona McIntosh**: Known for her diverse genre writing, McIntosh’s venture into crime fiction with "Bye Bye Baby" and "Beautiful Death" which are set in the UK, has been well received.

5) **Vanda Symon**: She's a top crime author from New Zealand. Her 'Sam Shephard' series, which includes "Overkill", "Ringmaster", and "Containment", has won her a number of accolades.

I hope you find these authors intriguing and that they feed nicely into your reading list. Enjoy finding new narratives and thrilling crime stories from Down Under!
 
Finishing off Jimi Hendrix autobiography by Philip Norman called Wild Thing. Good read. Norman uses some out of it words like sibilant, tonsorial and transmogrification that Ive had to Google and now know their definition but will likely never use in a conversation lol.

Got 3 books lined up after. First two were given to me and recommended by a workmate. Last book I was stoked to pick up at a Salvo store for three bucks.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Chickenhawk - Robert Mason
At Home - Bill Bryson

I'll read them in that order. Love reading Bryson...
 
Finishing off Jimi Hendrix autobiography by Philip Norman called Wild Thing. Good read. Norman uses some out of it words like sibilant, tonsorial and transmogrification that Ive had to Google and now know their definition but will likely never use in a conversation lol.

Got 3 books lined up after. First two were given to me and recommended by a workmate. Last book I was stoked to pick up at a Salvo store for three bucks.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Chickenhawk - Robert Mason
At Home - Bill Bryson

I'll read them in that order. Love reading Bryson...

thanks
I've read Fear and Loathing and enjoyed - if that's the right word for an HST book - it. It sort of stays with you for a while after you've read it!
I had to google Chickenhawk - with care! Looks like it might be worth checking out, especially as recently I'm listening to all those 'Vietnam' themed 60's compilations that are kicking around.
 
Atm a Dan Brown novel my Dad gave me when he’d finished with it. The Lost Symbol. Not bad as a fast paced thriller.

Read a few Bill Bryson ones recently, the best being One Summer. My favourite of his is A Short History of Nearly Everything
I read short history about once every 2 years. Probably my favourite book ever. Learn something on every page. Big fan of Bryson...
 
I used to read a lot of autobiographies. I find the music ones the best, more due to the crazy stories. Some of them you finish reading and think if you ran into a musician on drugs or trying to kick drugs it would be a weird incident you'd never forget. For them it's that thing that happened that day.

At the moment I'm reading some Star Wars books. Mainly ones written by Timothy Zahn. Reading the Last Command and Alliances. A bit weird having two on the go, do that with TV shows and comics as well. The Last Command I was reading while travelling or on holiday. Haven't been doing either so slowed down on it.

Alliances I seem to be going through the trilogy backwards. Or working my way in as I've read the last book and the comic for the first.

Other than that I've been reading a lot of comics the last few years. A lot easier electronically when you can get the full set straight away. Also takes up less space.
 
I used to read a lot of autobiographies. I find the music ones the best, more due to the crazy stories. Some of them you finish reading and think if you ran into a musician on drugs or trying to kick drugs it would be a weird incident you'd never forget. For them it's that thing that happened that day.
That’s what I read a lot of, when I do being a lazy reader. Got any recommendations?
 
That’s what I read a lot of, when I do being a lazy reader. Got any recommendations?
My favourites have been.

Anthony Kiedis - Scar Tissue
Slash - Slash with Anthony Bozza
I am Ozzy

These three are the ones with the crazy drug and alcohol stories.

I've also gone through a few of the Mick Wall books. Lemmy, Black Sabbath, Guns N Roses, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Foo Fighters.

The Black Sabbath on is interesting with their formation and then the different members throughout the 80s. The Zeppelin was an eye opener when you look at the plagerism court case for Stairway to Heaven as you ended up surprised they didn't get sued for the majority of their catalogue.

A Metallica one I enjoyed is called Into the Black which covers their career from 1991 to 2014. Think it was more as it broke their career into two parts as there is another book for the early years. I find that autobiographies can get repetitive if you read about the same person or group. The early years are all about growing up, how they met etc. You end up reading the same stories.
 
A book I was going through years ago but still has the book mark 3 quarters through now is Fantastic - The life of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Laurence Leamer. Think I may have put it down after coming back from holiday or it got to a point in his life like the Netflix series I'm less into which is politics.

Reading about him as a body builder than actor is interesting. He has led an interesting life.
 
My favourites have been.

Anthony Kiedis - Scar Tissue
Slash - Slash with Anthony Bozza
I am Ozzy

These three are the ones with the crazy drug and alcohol stories.

I've also gone through a few of the Mick Wall books. Lemmy, Black Sabbath, Guns N Roses, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Foo Fighters.

The Black Sabbath on is interesting with their formation and then the different members throughout the 80s. The Zeppelin was an eye opener when you look at the plagerism court case for Stairway to Heaven as you ended up surprised they didn't get sued for the majority of their catalogue.

A Metallica one I enjoyed is called Into the Black which covers their career from 1991 to 2014. Think it was more as it broke their career into two parts as there is another book for the early years. I find that autobiographies can get repetitive if you read about the same person or group. The early years are all about growing up, how they met etc. You end up reading the same stories.
Cheers for that, I’ll look into a few. I enjoy them for what you mentioned, the fascination in the life they’ve lived. Just looking on my shelf now I would recommend mick walls one on Jim Morrison called love becomes a funeral pyre, Ronnie woods Ronnie, another Jim Morrison one by Stephen Davis (big doors fan), Eric Clapton’s autobiography, Bruce Springsteen’s born to run, Pete Townsend who I am, Keith Richards- life, Steven Tyler does the noise in my head bother you, started Rod Stewart’s but couldn’t get into it. Might give it another go. Got Cynthia Lennon’s too that I must read. Think Mick Fleetwood brought one out in recent times that I wouldn’t mind.
 
Cheers for that, I’ll look into a few. I enjoy them for what you mentioned, the fascination in the life they’ve lived. Just looking on my shelf now I would recommend mick walls one on Jim Morrison called love becomes a funeral pyre, Ronnie woods Ronnie, another Jim Morrison one by Stephen Davis (big doors fan), Eric Clapton’s autobiography, Bruce Springsteen’s born to run, Pete Townsend who I am, Keith Richards- life, Steven Tyler does the noise in my head bother you, started Rod Stewart’s but couldn’t get into it. Might give it another go. Got Cynthia Lennon’s too that I must read. Think Mick Fleetwood brought one out in recent times that I wouldn’t mind.
What did Eric say about his racist outbursts, it was the drugs?
 
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