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Just wrapped up Robert Jackson Bennett - Vigilance. I really like a lot of his books (City of Stairs, American Elsewhere etc); and this is slim but a really thought-provoking premise. Unfortunately it completely lacks a third act; there's the setup, it hits its stride and... ends. Still, good.
Next up I think perhaps the Fifth Season ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19161852-the-fifth-season), or possibly Other Minds (about octopuses https://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Minds-Octopus-Evolution-Intelligent/dp/0008226296/ref=asc_df_0008226296/)
I recently finished the audiobook of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (author of The Martian).
I struggle with books if they don't grip me, and this was one of the rare ones I didn't want to end. It slowed down a bit towards the end, and it's pretty far fetched, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Another French period murder mystery ticked off. This one was quite interesting as it turns out we visited the scene of the crime last year - Chateau Amboise, so I was quite familiar with the setting and we had both stood where the murder took place....
The authour supposes that Charles 8th was murdered rather than died from an accident - for which there is a plausible case based on historical records.
Still on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - at about page 380 of 1,200 now and I'm up to September 1938 and Case Green.
Just finished "Alex" by Pierre LeMaitre and I will probably need several weeks of counseling. Some fantastic plot twists, a bit boring in places, but utterly terrifying in others and very graphic descriptions of people being mutilated. Not for the feint hearted. Must be good though, as won awards in the original French and the English translation...
However, I now know how to describe, in French, pouring half a litre of concentrated sulphuric acid into places you really don't ever want to do that with....
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/mar/10/alex-pierre-lemaitre-review
Post Office Charles Bukowski
Reading Judas 62 by Charles Cumming.
I finished Box 88 also by Charles Cumming earlier this year.
Easy to read, great story telling but I feel I need to read something a little lighter next, too many spy stories with graphic details of murder and mayhem can be a bit depressing in a world of mainly bad news.
Just finished Beloved by Toni Morrison (For blokey beer n book club)
Took a while to tune into what was going on due to the writing style, but well worth the effort. Slavery, trauma and a ghost!
Just finished The Gallows Pole by Ben Myers, a well written piece of historical fiction. Could be of particular interest to those in or around the Calder valley. Listened to seven chapters of RTE's Ulysses on flights recently, will do the rest in July. Have Henry Marsh's book lined up on brain surgery, Do No Harm.
I'm currently reading The Books of Babel series by by Josiah Bancroft (Sci-fi Fantasy?). It took me a while to get into the first book (Senlin Ascends) but by the end was enjoying it and was eager to read the second. I think Bancroft does a good job of transporting you to his world of Babel. I would describe it as a 'nothing too heavy' switch off read, but there is also definitely a bit of a social commentary subtext going on. I'm now on the third book and hope the fourth and final book is a fitting end.
Still on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich – at about page 380 of 1,200 now and I’m up to September 1938 and Case Green.
Posted 1 month ago
Update - now on page 750. France have just capitulated, Hitler wrongly assumes Great Britain will ask for peace but Churchill has just made his 'Finest Hour' speech. Anyone that is remotely interested in the World Wars should really read this absolutely fascinating book.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir(d)
It's a bit strange (sci-fi) and, by a long chalk, not my usual genre (historical non-fiction).
Recommended by Neil de Grasse Tyson in his Star Talk podcast.
Johnson at Number 10 - Anthony Seldon. First of probably many to look at Johnsons time as PM. Overall it's somewhat sympathetic to him, but at the same time does not hide the authors obvious criticism and exposes his pretty fundamental flaws. The book aimes a pretty critical bullet at the ministers and advisors with whom Johnson surrounded himself
On Tyranny and On Ukraine - Timothy Synder, bought these as a two for one. On Tyranny is a guide to not being a dick really, it's just a manifesto of how to behave if you're worried that you live in a country that seems to sliding towards despotism. Can be read in an afternoon. Buy it and give it to your children. On Ukraine is his exploration of the history of it, why Putin is wrong, and why you may have the wrong idea about the war. Is designed for the sorts of Americans who probably won't read it because: Tucker Carlson and Trump exist.
A Stranger In Your Own City - Ghailth Abdul-Ahad: Personal account of the 2nd Iraq War from an Iraqi architecture student turned interpreter, cameraman, and reporter.
Ultra Processed People - Chris Van Tulleken: Why your ultra low carb/ultra low fat diet isn't having the long term health effects that you think it should do. Or why it's OK to eat properly made bread, but not cornflakes.
Anyone that is remotely interested in the World Wars should really read this absolutely fascinating book.
Absolutely, it's without doubt the best in an overcrowded field about the Nazis.
Absolutely, it’s without doubt the best in an overcrowded field about the Nazis.
Yeah, I really don't know where to go to next after I've finished it – I think it might have to be Churchill's memoirs.
Just read 'Command' by Al Murray. Some interesting insights into various WW2 Allied leaders and how that leadership developed from the cluster***ks of early in the war, to later successes. It's got the famous ones like Paton and Montgomery - with all their flaws, but it looks much further down the rank structure too, at company commanders who were successful and what made them so. It doesn't hold any punches either - Orde Wingate of Chindit fame, comes out of it looking like an arrogant, inflexible nutter whose tactics were costly and mostly ineffective. His 'fame' it seems, was largely due to good PR when the allies needed some good news at a stage in the war when the Japanese seemed invincible.
Currently reading Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn, about nature reclaiming spaces abandoned by man. First seen in a recommendation earlier in this thread I think. Early days, but really enjoying it.
Just starting Homegrown, Timothy McVeigh and the rise of right-wing extremism.
Hopefully something the Americans have that doesn’t cross the Atlantic to the same degeee, but with Nat Cons stoking fires who knows.
@johndoh Have a look at Daniel Todman's 2 parter; Britains War. Book One (Into Battle) covers 1937-1941 and book two (A New World) covers 1942 -1947.
Both are blend of politics, both domestic and obviously the war, the military and civilian life both at home and abroad. the first obviously the run up and appeasement, and the seconds runs out at the eve of Partition. It's a really impressive bit of reserach of individual accounts while at the same time these massive complex sweeping technological and social changes.
Just started this one
The Denial: A satirical novel of climate change
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Denial-satirical-novel-climate-change-ebook/dp/B08BWR1R9C
@blokeuptheroad, in my Tsundoku (look it up all you bibliophiles) is "With the Jocks" which is the personal account of Peter White who I think is one of the leaders Al Murray examines in Command. Looking forward to it.
Peter White who I think is one of the leaders Al Murray examines in Command.
He is, and Murray read 'with the Jocks' as background - I need to seek out a copy, White sounds an interesting fella.
Another recommendation for those with an interest in WW2, is 'Quartered safe out here' by George McDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman books. It's a personal account of his service in the Burma campaign with the Border regiment, first as a Tom and later commissioning as a Lieutenant. It's a really gripping account although his experience leaves him with a visceral hatred of the Japanese (common I think to many who fought in the far east) to the point of getting very angry in the epilogue about those who questioned the necessity of the nuclear attacks on Japan. The moralities and rights and wrongs of that aside, it's a superb insight into an infantryman's lot in the far east in WW2.
‘Quartered safe out here’ by George McDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman books.
Absolutely brilliant. I remember watching him interviewed on the South Bank Show back in the day. His hatred of the Japanese was quite a thing.
Currently reading Russia by Anthony Beevor, quite a history.
Also re-reading The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams on the side.
‘With the Jocks’
This was one of the first WW books I read and I can certainly recommend it – what really came out from it for me was White's thoughts that at any other time, he could have been friends with the people he was fighting against (as in he appreciated that the 'normal' soldier was only doing what they were told to do just as he was).
Just finished High Fidelity by Nick Hornby for a bit of retro. Light reading but its a rare case where I think the film is better than the book!
Talking of retro I have finally started the Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson with Neuromancer. Considering its central themes of AI, big data, metaverse etc Its absolutely crazy to think it was written in 1984
On Tyranny and On Ukraine – Timothy Synder
Reading that now @nickc after reading an interview in the guardian I think. He's not a man filled with self doubt is he, but very readable. Also have With the Jocks on the Kindle. Added those two other WW2 books - not heard of those before.
Also with my quest to investigate every sci-fi trope, I'm reading the 4 book "Old Mans War" series. Well written, rattles along and has some occasional proper science in it.
He is not @Al. you're not wrong. I think you and I must have read the same Sat Guardian article. I think it's an intriguing read nevertheless and his description of Putin's unique take on fascism is very interesting and well observed.
I'd forgotten this thread was still going!
Just finished: Real Tigers (Slow Horses book 3), Mick Herron. Excellent, and felt like possibly the best of the three I've read so far, after a slightly week second one.
Now onto the Orchard Keeper, Cormac McCarthy.
And just had a big ol' delivery of secondhand books to add to the pile, including Welcome to Lagos, The Wife's Tale, a Tchaikovsky sci-fi, and Ringworld for some old-school scifi. Bosh!
He is not @Al. you’re not wrong. I think you and I must have read the same Sat Guardian article. I think it’s an intriguing read nevertheless and his description of Putin’s unique take on fascism is very interesting and well observed.
Yep that's what drew me in. Like you I've read a lot of military history and I was keen to get some new perspectives.
Just finished High Fidelity by Nick Hornby for a bit of retro. Light reading but its a rare case where I think the film is better than the book!
I missed this. I cannot let it pass. I LOVE that book. The film is pretty good but the book is so much better. I could read the section on him re-organising his record collection every day 🙂
‘Quartered safe out here’ by George McDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman books.
Can I also recommend his MacAuslan series, I think there are 3. Affectionate, funny and slightly biographical stories of a postwar Scottish regiment.
Just finished High Fidelity by Nick Hornby for a bit of retro. Light reading but its a rare case where I think the film is better than the book!
I missed this. I cannot let it pass. I LOVE that book. The film is pretty good but the book is so much better. I could read the section on him re-organising his record collection every day 🙂
Agreed. Some of Hornby's stuff is very good, but I think you need to be a certain sort of person to pick up on the detail. 😀
Also with my quest to investigate every sci-fi trope, I’m reading the 4 book “Old Mans War” series. Well written, rattles along and has some occasional proper science in it.
Well written in a 'rattle along so quickly that the reader doesn't have time to question' way. 😀 I read The Last Colony a few weeks ago. It was enjoyable in that US militaristic way, but absolute rubbish. Not as many ideas as in the first 2 books either.
Recently read:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Can anyone tell me what I missed? This is supposed to be a modern classic, and although it starts well, it disappears up itself for the last 300 pages. I was glad to finish it.
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn - thoroughly enjoyed this.
Warpaths by John Keegan. An account of his travels through North America with accounts of the various campaigns along the way. Interesting but 30 years old.
The Duel by Joseph Conrad. The longish short story that Ridley Scott's The Duellists was closely based on. I enjoy a bit of Conrad. Claustrophobic, 19th century verbiage. 😀
The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Is that the murder set in the stuffy American university inhabited by wholly hateful characters? Yeah, I struggled with it after a while, it is about 150 pages too long for its own good.
Is that the murder set in the stuffy American university inhabited by wholly hateful characters? Yeah, I struggled with it after a while, it is about 150 pages too long for its own good.
That's the one. I couldn't get to grips with the insufferable characters, the narrator who did absolutely nothing with respect to the plot or 300 pages of heavy drinking, drug-taking angsty conversations.
Currently reading "The Nightmare Stacks", book 7 of the Laundry Files by Charles Stross. Pretty damn awesome series.
Having not touched Asimov probalby since my teens, I'm currently re-reading the Foundation series (I'm up to book 3 quite quickly, it's not hard reading), and am intending to pick up the Robots books as well.
Recently finished the Avison Fluke novels from M.W. Craven, and books 2 and 3 of the DS Max Craigie books from Neil Lancaster - all police / crime novels, from 2 authors worth checking out if that's your bag.
I've just finished the Earth Remembrance/Three Body Problem Trilogy by Liu Cixin. Absolutely rammed with ideas and really interesting to read SciFi from a Chinese perspective so lots more focus on collective endeavour than in western SciFi I think
Final book overplays the ending I think but well worth the investment
Reading the Burma Campaign by Frank Mclynn. Good insight into the bonkers politics of the higher command. Slim comes out with credit. Less so others....
Personal connection with "Quartered Safe Out Here" By George Macdonald Fraser - the book is dedicated to my great uncle who was killed in an attack on a Japanese strongpoint described in the book. I think south of Mandalay. Very personal to me - he's buried in Rangoon (Yangon).
Just started Bringing Down Goliath, by Jo Maugham - interesting read so far, bit of a biography anda refreshingly accessible overview of the legal system and its relationship with government.
Talking of retro I have finally started the Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson with Neuromancer. Considering its central themes of AI, big data, metaverse etc Its absolutely crazy to think it was written in 1984
I finally finished it last week, damn I wish I'd read them when they were new. Can't say I really enjoyed the series, but had to keep reminding myself this was the book that spawned a lot of modern Sci-fi, and wasn't re-working someone elses ideas. Going to try his other stuff, and see if I enjoy that any better.
Also just completed Hugh Howey's Sand omnibus, which I enjoyed way more than I expected.
On the look out for something new... between Mick Herron books
Having not touched Asimov probalby since my teens, I’m currently re-reading the Foundation series (I’m up to book 3 quite quickly, it’s not hard reading), and am intending to pick up the Robots books as well.
I am vaguely temped after watching Foundation on Apple TV - can't remember that much from the books.
My favourite Asimov was The End of Eternity - I’d totally forgotten about it as I read it in early 80s but watching Dark reminded me! I think it was a pre-prequel to the Foundation series
Mick Herron's - Bad actors.
Very good.
The Quarry - Iain Banks.
I am a big Banks fan and have been putting off reading this for a long time,I thought it would be too sad.
I was right,it's a tough read 😔
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
Poverty-stricken farmers in the US mid-west getting forced off their land by mechanisation. Not as bleak as it sounds.