Just for the record I thought The Da Vinci Code was trash.

Many didn't think much of the movie either. It was one of those 'marmite' stories.

I'd rather have vegemite....but marmite will do at a pinch....and bovril a distant third.

I might just start a trash books thread. You know, just on the off chance that one of Stephen King or Wilbur Smith's millions of readers may be a ThaiVisa member.

Anyone claiming to to have willingly read James Joyce would be instantly barred from contributing.

Add Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the list of books to avoid unless you want to develop chronic depression.

Add Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the list of books to avoid unless you want to develop chronic depression.

I have a hardback of that on my shelf too.....and I can see where you're coming from....but it's the language that is evocative.

Talking about evocative language..... Not from the last decade but here's a few off my shelf that I have an affection for...

The Night Country: Bryce Courtenay

The Prophet: Khalil Gibran

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam: rendered into English by Fitzgerald.

or interesting reading....

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays: Stephen Hawking

Add Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the list of books to avoid unless you want to develop chronic depression.

A Tale of Two Cities cures accute insomnia.

The books on top of my suitcase at the moment are:

Stephen King's Duma Key, half read and abandoned... maybe temporarily.

James Lee Burke's Rain Gods, currently being read, hard to put down.

Secret Sanction by Brian Haig. Looks good, don't know the writer but unfortunately probably won't have time for it, it's a public library book.

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly. Being saved for the plane flight, I know I'll like this one.

Two books by Val McDermid and Thomas Perry that my mother gave me. They'll go back to Thailand.

Do yourself a favour and burn Nine Dragons now. Utter garbage and by far the worst of his very enjoyable reads.

Boy himselfs admits he never went to Hong Kong and it certainly shows in a total lack of understanding about Asia and certainly an E- for geography............Bloody awful.

For a good holiday read, pick up any Clive Owen book about the " Horse's Arse".

The HA is a fictional police division in seventies England where the cops are worse than the bad guys, sort of like Life On Mars with sex, violence and above all humour. Well worth a giggle on a plane.

Add Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the list of books to avoid unless you want to develop chronic depression.

...................

Another great read is the novel named "The Company" by Robert Littell about the CIA from before the Cuban missile crisis through the cold war into current times.

Spanning 50 years of intrigue, deceit, and open warfare, this novel is a finely woven tapestry of historical and fictional characters couched in real life events that shaped the world we live in today.

Book report.

For all you Aussies out there who want to learn something about your own country I suggest reading Bill Bryson's book... "In a Sunburned Country". I would be willing to bet you'll learn something about the history and little known facts about Australia that you didn't know before you read the book. What constantly amazes Bryson is if certain events that have happened in Australia had happened in other countries, such as the USA, then they would be world famous.

Bill Bryson is a well known travel writer from the USA, but he probably knows more about Australia than 98& of the population there. If he wrote a book about Canada he would probably know more than 99% of most Canadians. And, he probably does anyway.

Bryson is a VERY humourous writer who wanders around Australia and pokes his nose into little, second hand book stores and various local museums. He reads various little known ducuments and from there gets ideas of other places to see. He has a lovely tongue in cheek way of poking fun at a few locals and various historians.

........ What constantly amazes Bryson is if certain events that have happened in Australia had happened in other countries, such as the USA, then they would be world famous......

Just a modest lot are the Antipodeans.

I've read one of Bryson's.....can't remember where it was that he was writing about.

Almost everything Bryson has written has been great.

I'm a big Bryson fan. I was lucky enough to come across one of his I hadn't read recently, Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe. I actually laughed out loud on several occasions.

Thanks for the tip Suiging, I'll carry a spare in reserve.

Alex Kerr's Bangkok Found is a gem. You'll finally get to know why (against all odds) you love Bangkok and Thailand.

I couldn't put down The Dome by Stephen King. I love reading trashy 'horror' - Bentley Little and Richard Laymon are faves. Shame Laymon died, I was gutted when I found out. I've got almost all of Dean Koontz books but I went off him a bit...

I couldn't put down The Dome by Stephen King. I love reading trashy 'horror' - Bentley Little and Richard Laymon are faves. Shame Laymon died, I was gutted when I found out. I've got almost all of Dean Koontz books but I went off him a bit...

King is a master of the "trashy horror" genre. I haven't really enjoyed his later offerings though but will certainly give "The Dome" a try. I wonder if he got the idea from "The Simpson's" Movie?

Stephen Leather is a good adventure read that doesn't challenge the thought processes too severely.

I couldn't put down The Dome by Stephen King. I love reading trashy 'horror' - Bentley Little and Richard Laymon are faves. Shame Laymon died, I was gutted when I found out. I've got almost all of Dean Koontz books but I went off him a bit...

King is a master of the "trashy horror" genre. I haven't really enjoyed his later offerings though but will certainly give "The Dome" a try. I wonder if he got the idea from "The Simpson's" Movie?

lol I thought that, but then he said he'd been working on it for 25 years

Yes, my brother in law loaned me his copy. Some very interesting stuff.

Wasn't popular with the history establishment though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_Hypothesis

Yep. Most historiography the examines curiosities or challenges convention usually ruffles the feathers of the stayed establishment. They're easily threatened and offended. Historians are not curious.

Yes, my brother in law loaned me his copy. Some very interesting stuff.

Wasn't popular with the history establishment though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_Hypothesis

Yep. Most historiography the examines curiosities or challenges convention usually ruffles the feathers of the stayed establishment. They're easily threatened and offended. Historians are not curious.

Unfortunately unmitigated rubbish being passed off as scholarship ruffles their feathers as well which causes some confusion.

Good point.