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I read Beevor's D-Day recently, how he writes suits me down to the ground. Just making a start on Sleepwalkers, by Christopher Clark, about the causes of WWI (whole lot of Serbian characters I'm struggling to remember at the start of that!), and my first Pratchett, The Colour Of Magic. That one's a little lighter. 🙂
I SO need to read more...
Just making a start on Sleepwalkers, by Christopher Clark, about the causes of WWI (whole lot of Serbian characters I’m struggling to remember at the start of that!)
The Rest Is History podcast did a recent series on that, I know it's not in the spirit of the thread but it's probably a gentler introduction!
I've just started reading Beyond by Stephen Walker. NASA was pretty shonky at its beginnings but oh my goodness, the Soviets!
Reading this at the moment, I was aware it went on but didn't realise it was quite as ingrained into political life quite as much
Lobbying for Zionism on both sides of the Atlantic by Ilan Pappe
I’ve just started reading Beyond by Stephen Walker. NASA was pretty shonky at its beginnings but oh my goodness, the Soviets!
That's a fantastic read, enjoy. 🙂
the Sicily one was excellent. I didn’t know much about that campaign.
Me neither, also really enjoyed it, so looking forward* to this as well.
* well, as much as you can of a narrative about warfare...
Currently reading 'Blood River' by Tim Butcher.
I can heartily recommend it.
Just started 'The way of the hermit' by/about Ken Smith's life. He of 'The Hermit of Loch Treig' documentary that was on telly the other year.
Just started ‘The way of the hermit’ by/about Ken Smith’s life. He of ‘The Hermit of Loch Treig’ documentary that was on telly the other year.
That book was one of a few I bought my mum for Xmas last year after we watched the documentary, she really enjoyed it as he went into a lot more detail than was in the documentary
Thought provoking.
Dont show it to Adam Rutherford or discuss it with any evolutionary geneticists, apparently it didn’t go down to well with them
Personally I gave up with it about halfway through
Just started Beau Geste.
Just started Beau Geste
A 20s British novel about pre WW1 French Colonial soldiering. That'll at least be an interesting little timepiece about race and class. I re-read A Town Like Alice not long ago having first read it in my early teens. It's a great story and I still really enjoyed it but some of that was quite eye-popping in its language and assumptions,
Just finished Voyage by Stephen Baxter. Was recommended it after falling in love with teh alt-history space race of For All Mankind, I've read a ton of sf but I wanted something 60s/70s, all tobacco stains and bakelite, like Lady Astronaut. This absolultely delivered, it's an alternative history if Kennedy had survived and an alternative space race where they cut back on the moon, binned the shuttle but went to Mars instead using super-Saturns. Too many characters, and the pacing's odd but the basic thrust of it was fantastic. I've read some Baxter before and never really engaged with it fully but this one got me. Not entirely sure if it would have if not for me having that specific request, but, still enjoyed it a lot.
I wanted something 60s/70s, all tobacco stains and bakelite
Well, you've just sold me a copy! Added to the ever-lengthening queue...
Dead Lions, by Mick Herron, the second of the Slow Horses books. Having become obsessed with the Apple TV series, and just finished watching season 4, I’m working my way through the books. It’s Gary Oldman’s voice I hear speaking Lamb’s dialogue in the book when I’m reading it.
James Holland The Battle of Britain on the kindle and the latest tome of Peter F. Hamilton, Exodus.
I think I should have swapped them round.
Personally I gave up with it about halfway through
Likewise - too many non-sequiturs and a lot of reaching to draw a conclusion.
Just finished Beau Geste.
Brilliant, loved it. Slightly different from the films ... Cough.
If you have not read it, grab a copy.
Who wants to know what happened to the sapphire..... 😉
Next up...
Secrets of Orford Ness.
I really want to like this, the subject's genuinely fascinating, I like Ned as a presenter and pod-caster...But, it really does feel like some-one who's been asked to write in a way that he simply can't. It feels like he's been sent on a creative writing course, and now he can't resist adding in descriptions (of the weather, his surroundings) that are just weird and unnecessary. Plus it's a wee film about a bit of an old race...yeah; it's of nerdy interest to folks who maybe follow the tour or are interested in it's history, but trying to link it with world events just feels a bit forced. At one point he shoe horns in the fact that as one stage is starting, there's a really bad storm happening in Novgorod then he muses for a good couple of pages about the ownership of a cafe in rural France at the turn of the last century...err, right, thanks Ned.
It's really a curate's egg, there's bits where he gets in his stride about the subject (that he's clearly knowledgeable about) that are really interesting, then he goes off on a tangent about post war occupation of Germany, or a capital punishment case and it's clear that he doesn't really care about it, just stuff he found out lurching down internet rabbit holes. It's written by some-one who's clearly done a large amount of back ground research, and has then written a book where all that background has become the subject.
As others have mentioned, I read Nineteen Eighty Four as a teen, probably because I had to which ruins a lot of books ..... BUT I found my son's A Level copy the other day and started to read it. It's massively relevant to today's era of misinformation.
I also found a copy of Gerald Durrel's "My family and other animals" as a foil to Orwell's bleak dystopia . Re-reading it as an adult is worthwhile escapist entertainment.
While we're on "authors ruined by unimaginative A Level reading lists" can anyone recommend some Dickens as light entertainment? We did Bleak House for A level and it put me off him for life, but surely he deserves another go?
Currently working my way through the Battle for Spain by Antony beevor. It's a rollicking ride as you can imagine, but if you are interested in European history of the 20th century it's a must read. Spoiler, it's not a comedy.
It's on the back of the same author's Downfall, the battle for Berlin. An absolutely tremendous read although again nothing amusing or heartwarming within its pages.
Initially had a great month with a new Bobiverse book from Dennis E. Taylor, followed quickly by the latest Skippy one from Craig Alanson, both really good assuming you like the series. Yudhanjaya Wijeratne released his second book in the Salvage crew series, which was very unlike the first and definitely not as enjoyable. Mr. Scalzi release a short, and then went onto Neal Stephenson Polostan, which I was Meh! (much like Seveneves for me), no humor at all. I've hit a bit of a brick wall with Neal Asher's World Walkers, as I really don't particularly care about any of the characters or the story.. oh well.
Currently working my way through the Battle for Spain by Antony beevor
I really like his stuff, will add that to the list - I'm about a third of the way through his book on the Russian revolution and subsequent civil war, and Downfall, as you say, is a fantastic read, devoured it in days whilst in Berlin on holiday.
I don't read a lot of fiction but picked up The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa on a whim - bit over halfway through and really enjoying it, such a delicate touch on a really quite dark tale!
Sadly, after a conversation with one of my students, I'm delving into all 922 pages of Project 25... published in April 2023. I don't want to go all Tinfoil Hat but....
Preface page XIV
"Our goal is to assemble an army of aligned, vetted, trained, and prepared conservatives
to go to work on Day One to deconstruct the Administrative State."
And recently its "Hello Elon"...
As a teenager in the 80s, I devoured all the gory horror novels I could get. They all pretty much had the same format. A chapter of killer rats, bees, slugs (yes slugs), or guinea pigs horror. Then a chapter of shonky story before onto the next bit of gore with maybe some naughty bits chucked in to keep the teenagers hooked. I loved them and I think I read all of them.
This year was the 50th birthday of Rats by James Herbert. I just finished rereading it yesterday. It's maybe not aged well in certain ways, but it's still great fun to read.
I'm thinking Shaun Hutson might be next on my list. I seem to remember the killer Slugs were fabulously over the top and they even made a really bad movie out of it!
After listening to all seven Mistborn books by Brandon Sanderson I am now reading his The Stormlight Archive series. Currently on the third book Oathbringer. The pace of the story has dropped significantly from the first two books so it seems to be a bit more of a struggle to make time to read.
I will take a break from the Sanderson books after this, I have lined up Band of Brothers to read again after just finishing watching the tv series again.
This year was the 50th birthday of Rats by James Herbert. I just finished rereading it yesterday. It’s maybe not aged well in certain ways, but it’s still great fun to read.
Your description is correct. from memory - I remember reading them as a teen. I occasionally wonder if Sven Hassel books have aged any better? 😀
Tried Anna Burns' "Milkman" - didn't get on with the writing style, so now moved on to Bob Dylan Chronicles. Great writer that young fella. 🙂
Anyone looking for a weighty holiday WW2 book - Sword Beach by Stephen Fraser - good mix of personal accounts and the big picture - well written - astonishing and tragic all at the same time.
Should have also added - purely focused on the British contribution to D-Day.
Two on the go right now:
Red Hotel, about the Metropol Hotel's history as the place where western journalists were billeted during WWII to report on the USSR's war efforts. Interesting reading, not amazingly well written but good bedtime wind down.
All the Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy). Slow going at first, and really felt like the writing style would rob the story of any engagement, but I've really got into it. Being Cormac McCarthy it's only going to end badly, but it's a good read to get there
I've been picking old books off the bookcase because I forget them easily. Finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally recently... Read them before and had no idea what was going to happen in either of them.
About to start A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe.
Re reading Alan Fursts ww2 era spy thrillers . Excellent reads .
Just touched down in Saigon, was reading Embers Of War by Fredrik Logevall - a really fascinating and accessible recount of the conflict in Vietnam. I understand a little now why Ho Chi Minh is so revered.
Given the current political situations these are quite appropriate, all been read over the previous fortnight
I began with this @ start of April
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move onto this by Timothy Snyder, excellent book, my second reading of it
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and finally I’m almost finished this by the excellent graphic journalist Joe Sacco
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I've just started the 8th book in the Vinyl Detective series, and it's promising to be as enjoyable and slightly crazy as the others
I can highly recommend them if you're looking for an alternative take in a detective series
Just read Rememberings by Sinead O’Connor which had me occasionally laughing out loud but is generally a bit muddled and sad - just like the author I guess….
Now halfway through Tale of Two Cities which I’ve never read before though I’m no stranger to Dickens. Its very good.
All the Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy). Slow going at first, and really felt like the writing style would rob the story of any engagement, but I've really got into it. Being Cormac McCarthy it's only going to end badly, but it's a good read to get there
honestly, everything I’ve ever read of his has been different level. Hard to read at times, but truly epic. Haven’t got to this yet mind.
I’m reading third rule of time travel by Philip Fracassi. Blake crouch vibes. Fracassi is a great horror writer, this is pure science fiction atm but presumably will go awry.
Born Fearless: From Kids' home to SAS Pirate Hunter By Phil Campion. Just about to finish them I'm moving on to...
Strangeways by Neil Samworth.
After really enjoying the last series of the Wheel of Time on Amazon, I decided to start reading the books again. I may regret this. I am quarter of the way through the first fairly enormous paperback and precisely one thing has occurred. Also spotted the first tugging-of-braids and crossing-arms-under-breasts in the wild, first of about 10 million.
Still, the payoff in 13 books time is going to be awesome.
Moon dust, in search of the men who fell to Earth, by Andrew Smith.
An extremely well written account of what happened after the Apollo astronauts returned to Earth. I've been meaning to read for ages, but a holiday has given me the perfect time. It's excellent.
It may be out of print - I bought a used copy.
PS Don't let the Richard & Judy recommended on the cover put you off!
Fantastic book, that - kickstarted my interest in Apollo and the space race all on it's own. 🙂
Self-duplicated 🙁