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I've just finished 'Brothers in Arms' by James Holland' The Sherwood Rangers (tank regiment) post D-day landings to VE day What a story incredible! The ultimate sacrifice of so many young men is truely humbling
Having finished "Boys in Zinc", quite a heavy and powerful series of accounts from the Afghan/Soviet conflict, I'm looking forward to re-reading A Confederacy of Dunces after about fifteen years.
Just finished Elspeth Beard's Lone Rider, first British woman to travel round the world by motorcycle. Amazingly frank account of herself and the difficulties faced. Really excellent read, if you liked Jupiter's travels you'll like this too.
I'm now back to the fantasy genre with Brandon Sanderson and his Mistborn books, starting with the initial trilogy. Shaping up nicely so far.
My big sis returned my copy of ‘where did the twin towers go?’ by dr. Judy Wood.
Just as freaky a read as when I first read it. Highly recommended 😜
The Great War Explained by Philip Stevens - I have only just started it, but I can tell already that it is going to be a very good read. Beautifully written, and factual but with a certain pace and style that makes it feel less like a historical account, and more like a guided tour.
is that the one where the author suggests an energy beam was directed at the towers to make them turn into dust?
I'm pretty sure i got given a copy of it waay back.
I read McCarthy’s The Passenger over the weekend – anyone else got on this at publication?
I was reading his Child of God when The Passenger was released, so won't get around to reading the latter for a few months. Child of God was excellent. It says something about a writer when you can feel some sympathy for a weird loony serial killer/rapist, who lives in a hut in the woods. But that's also why I need time between McCarthy books!
I am currently reading Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. I heard the R4 Book Club talking about it a week or two ago. I'm enjoying, but not finding it quite as funny as the Book Club suggested. It is a complete antidote to Cormac McCarthy though.
I'm re-reading Piece Of Cake by Derek Robinson, fantastic WWII fiction-based-on-fact about an RAF fighter squadron - decided to get a couple of his other books and, most unexpectedly, a biography of Albert Ball turned up as well. So must contact WoB to advise and pay for it, and I'm now looking forward to learning about a WWI fighter ace. 🙂
Still reading Game of Thrones book 4.
Also, this... savouring this read as its my hobby and satisfies the inner nerd.
"Suspended Animation: Unauthorised History of Herald and Britain's Plastic Figures "
by Peter Cole.
Ps they are not toys but accurate representations of historical figures.....alright toys;)
Lord of the rings. Just started return of the King. Very much enjoying them.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. Very Orwellian, maybe even more so than the man himself!
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs. A collection of gonzo rock 'n roll writings by Bangs from the 70s which will not make any sense to anyone under 60. Quality nostalgia for me.
Change of plan.
Just started reading Ignition! An informal history of rocket propellants by John D Clark
I've just lost my Along the Divide, by Chris Townsend. I think I left in the hotel room 😕
I was enjoying, only halfway through and have 3 hours in airports tonight.
Airports have bookshops - good luck!
Frankie Boyle's Meantime (still 99p on kindle). It started well,reading like an extended Frankie Boyle monologue, then I started to get bored with the constant drug references (drugs are ****ing boring to read about!) .. so it's ok, but looking forward to moving on from it now.
Just finished Lost Realms by Thomas Williams - What happened to some of the Old kingdoms - Elemet Rheged etc. some interesting theories about why they didn't survive. One for the Dark Age geeks (me).
Now Rading James Hollands Invasion of Sicily - nice mix of personal stories from all sides and details of the campaign itself - enjoying it.
Just finished 'Captive', a French romantic thriller (just picked as it was in Audible's French top 10). Not really my scene, but slightly embarrassed to confess I was completely hooked by mid way and was totally sucked in by the plot. Disappointing ending though, pretty much forces you to buy the next one to find out what happens....
Wide Window No3 in the series of unfortunate events.
There is nothing for you here - Fiona Hill.
The Kingdom - Jo Nesbo.
Next up...The Passenger.
Spaceships Over Glasgow - Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai)
And
The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer
When The Evil Waits, a DI Ridpath novel by MJ Lee. It was a quid in the RSPCA shop and they will get it donated back when I've finished it.
Finished Tokyo Vice, which the Beeb made into a telly thing - it's not bad,just kind of felt like it ran out of steam at the end, lots of unresolved stuff. Otherwise pretty good, he writes real good. 🙂
Enjoying The Satsuma Complex. 🙂
The Dark Forest (2nd Three Body Problem book) - it certainly doesn't have the cracking start that the first book has, but I'll stick with it (15%-ish in at the moment).
Looking forward to a complete change and reading How To Build a Car next (Adrian Newey's book)
Reading Cormac McCarthy The Passenger.
Its about… er not a ****ing clue. Its certainly different. Must admit, I just skipped a big section where 2 fellas were having an extremely detailed scientific conversation. You can’t tell who’s saying what and… well, what did it have to do with the plot? Baffling! Yeah, sure is different.
Just finished reading a Sebastian Faulks book - The Snow something or other (I don’t remember). I do, now, remember why I dislike fiction so much - it can be really shite at times. Back on my World War books again now.
I do, now, remember why I dislike fiction so much – it can be really shite at times
Got to agree with this. I've struggled to really engage in any fiction books for ages except re-reading stuff I know is alright that I haven't read for a while.
Struggling with the non fiction as well. Some of the WW2 stuff I've picked up of late lacks real balance and writing is all a bit Daily Wail. The better quality writers in terms of material are sadly too heavy on micro detail to hold my attention as a relative beginner at history books.
it can be really shite at times
Yeah, it can also be ****ing amazing. Hey! like most things really.
Dismissing the whole universe of fiction writing… LoLZ.
Ive just reread my way thru all of John Scalzi's science fiction. Old mans war series and end of all things series.
Looking forward to a complete change and reading How To Build a Car next (Adrian Newey’s book)
Awesome book, enjoy! 🙂
I haven't read a book in years, just tool catalogs.
Ooh, want that, and that 😆
Reading Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. For a history book it's good. Reads like a story. Crazy life that guy had.
Read The Stone Man a few months ago having grown increasingly curious about all the hype. Loved the pacing and dialogue, but ultimately found it unsatisfying because the ending provided no answers and simply encouraged one to read the sequel. Not for me.
Just finished Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows (Cthulu Casebook 1) on Audible. A rather good romp and provides an alternative take on how Holmes and Watson formed their bond whilst tackling a Lovecraftian horror. It also happens to mention a portal to the Ancient Ones literally up the road from me.
Just restarted Rivers of London having given up on it several years ago. I know there are some Aaronovitch fans on here too.
I'm working through the books so far this year Finished American Dirt just after Christmas - very good, feels quite undramatic in a way, which feels appropriate. Wrapped up House of the Dead (about the Siberian exile system under the Tsars) this week, and now half way through The North Water, which is gripping, grim and surprisingly similar to The Terror (TV show)
half way through The North Water, which is gripping, grim and surprisingly similar to The Terror (TV show)
The North Water was also TV series, slightly less supernatural than The Terror 🙂
The North Water - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660970/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
The Terror - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2708480/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1
just finished
the latest William Boyd - the Romantic
...and it's a really good one. Just romps along. And the the latest Ian McEwan
...just brilliant as usual. A world view that resonates with me.
And that's a slight issue. They're two of my favourite writers but they're both getting on a bit (they're ahead of me but it's a reminder that I am too, which I don't like). I'm sure they're good for another few, but this generation who to me were the grown-ups when I was at a formative age (include Amis, Ishiguro etc; Banks, Mantell and others already having left the building) must be into 'late works' territory by now. And I don't quite have replacements. Donna Tartt does a book a decade pretty much. The Goldfinch was worth waiting for but when's the next. David Mitchell I really enjoy but is now basically playing out his fantasy universe. Hari Kunzu I guess could be up there but I've read all his stuff now.
Have just read this
...which was pretty good and ticked a lot of my boxes (middlebrow pretending to be high brow is fine by me) but more confirming than extending world view, which is what I want a good book to do.
So if anyone has suggestions based on the above...?
Reading Cormac McCarthy The Passenger.
Its about… er not a **** clue. Its certainly different. Must admit, I just skipped a big section where 2 fellas were having an extremely detailed scientific conversation. You can’t tell who’s saying what and… well, what did it have to do with the plot? Baffling! Yeah, sure is different.
Is it the first McCarthy that you've read? I'm assuming that it doesn't have long sections of untranslated Spanish dialogue? I love his books - The Crossing is up there with the best - and these two are on my to-be-read pile next to the bed.
Just finished reading a Sebastian Faulks book – The Snow something or other (I don’t remember). I do, now, remember why I dislike fiction so much – it can be really shite at times.
If you dislike fiction, I'm wondering why you chose such an arty-farty book by an arty-farty author? I remember disliking Birdsong when I read it in the 90s but can't remember why. I suspect that it's the same reason that I dislike Ian McEwan and other middle-class metropolitan authors. Maybe it's that I can't relate to most of what they write, which is weird and worrying when I can read a Cormac McCarthy book and sympathise with the serial killer reclusive woodsman main character.
Is it the first McCarthy that you’ve read? I’m assuming that it doesn’t have long sections of untranslated Spanish dialogue? I love his books – The Crossing is up there with the best – and these two are on my to-be-read pile next to the bed.
Nope, I've read them all and absolutely loved them. (The Spanish translation was done by my iPod or Kindle)
The Passenger is so different. Garry_Lager , up in [url= https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-book-s-are-you-reading-now/page/12/#post-12617921 ]page 12[/url] mentions the scientist/mathematician connection too.
I will finish it, but yeah, I just couldn't read that conversation. Maybe I was tired and will go back to it 🙂 (probably not though)
Sunburst and Luminary: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunburst-Luminary-Apollo-Don-Eyles/dp/0986385905 - one of the two MIT'ers who designed the software for the Apollo Lunar Module. Recommended off the space thread. I'm a proper apollo nerd and there's lots in here I didn't know. The description of the 120x alarms on Apollo 11 are really interesting. Also the way the software was developed. It's a bit tech heavy in parts but I loved it.
Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/silk-roads-9781408839973/ - It was on offer on Kindle and I've really got into it. Gives you (well me at least) an perspective I really didn't have being very much of the Western view on history. Funnily enough it was recommended via evil-zon after I'd read a Ghengis Kahn book. As said above ^^^ what a life!
I am not buying any more books until I've got through the 10+ hardbacks bought for me over the last few years. And I probably need a break from reading trashy space opera series as well!
Nope, I’ve read them all and absolutely loved them.
The Passenger is so different.
You've not put me off, I'm still looking forward to reading them! 😀
Just finished reading, With The Jocks by Peter White. It's essentially his diaries from the last year of WW2 as he makes his way from Normandy to Bremen with the KOSB.. It's a very detailed and moving account which includes wonderful sketches of his experiences and the people he encountered. He was an artist after the war.
Recently read, A month in the country, by J.L.Carr which I liked a lot, before that it was, Death and the Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov which is slightly surreal but I enjoyed it enough to get the follow-up, Penguin Lost
You’ve not put me off, I’m still looking forward to reading them! 😀
I’m glad! 😆
Just finished the 2nd Patrick O'Brien, Aubrey/Maturin series, got the 3rd ready-to-go. But thought I'd read The Name of the Rose first,never got round to reading it before.
Just started Becky Chambers “The Galaxy, and the Ground Within”. Read her previous books, enjoyed them, and this one as well, so far.
I'm about three stories in on Murakami's - First Person Singular collection. Short stories are a bit strange aren't they!?!? Its enjoyable so far though.
For a daft laugh I just finished Bob Mortimer's Satsuma Complex. If you like Bob, you'll love it!