Book thread: what are you reading?

[Futtocks]

4 hours ago, Bearman said:

Just finished Bill Bryson's The Road To Little Dribbling.

One of my very favourite authors. I would really recommend his book "At  Home"

its a journey round a house that looks at the objects and rooms therein.It sounds dry but I found it hugely entertaining

'At Home' is very good.

'The Road to Little Dribbling' is fun, but not his absolute best. Still, not as disappointing as 'A Walk in the Woods'.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Futtocks

[gingerjon]

On 4/4/2017 at 10:56 AM, Phil said:

The North Water by Ian Maguire. A disgraced army surgeon and a psychopathic killer both sign on for a six month whaling trip to Greenland. Shades of Moby Dick almost inevitably but also echoes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

Sumner the surgeon says of Drax the killer "its like talking to a black hole and expecting the darkness to answer back"

Just read that. I was a bit disappointed with the overall ending - it seemed to pull the story back from what could have been an incredibly dark pay off and just settle for something a bit too straightforward.  Very good book though, I powered through it.

[Bleep1673]

Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow, for the 4th time. I Still don't understand the plot. It was a S**t film, but a good book.

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, Bleep1673 said:

Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow, for the 4th time. I Still don't understand the plot. It was a S**t film, but a good book.

Agreed, on both counts (film and book). I've read a couple of Hoeg's other books and enjoyed them, but he switches styles a bit when you compare A History of Danish Dreams, Miss Smilla and Tales of the Night.

[Bleep1673]

OMG, A history  of Danish Dreams... what a surreal book

[Futtocks]

12 minutes ago, Bleep1673 said:

OMG, A history  of Danish Dreams... what a surreal book

One hell of a debut.

[Bleep1673]

Just now, Futtocks said:

One hell of a debut.

Mind you, my 8-yo is being brought up on Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books, so God help her reading levels when she gets to 12

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

[PoorhousePete]

On ‎15‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 7:25 PM, Bleep1673 said:

Mind you, my 8-yo is being brought up on Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books, so God help her reading levels when she gets to 12

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Awesome, I recommend Mr Pratchett's books to anyone who'll listen. There is so much more to them than meets the eye. 

[Futtocks]

My dad just sent me (on loan) Jonathan Meades' book The Plagiarist in the Kitchen. Ostensibly a cookbook, it is a very entertaining read.

[Bleep1673]

Downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle, for my upcoming (Tuesday) holiday to Malta, "D-Day, from a German Perspective". They must have been Kakking themselves.

[Ex-Kirkholt]

On 21/05/2017 at 11:33 AM, Bleep1673 said:

Downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle, for my upcoming (Tuesday) holiday to Malta, "D-Day, from a German Perspective". They must have been Kakking themselves.

I saw that in the 99p sale.

Caught my eye as I'm reading Anthony Beevor's "D-Day".  Great book with lots of detail and great sub-stories.  The one fault is keep having to refer back to the maps all the time to make some sort of geographical sense.  They should issue the maps as separate sheets !

The interesting point he makes again and again (and also came out in "Italy's Sorrow" by James Holland) is what an effective fighting force the Germans still were in 1944.

 

[Futtocks]

On 2017-5-21 at 11:33 AM, Bleep1673 said:

Downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle, for my upcoming (Tuesday) holiday to Malta, "D-Day, from a German Perspective". They must have been Kakking themselves.

The only book I have of WW2 from a German perspective is The First and the Last, by Luftwaffe fighter pilot Adolf Galland. Given his background, it focusses more on the aerial warfare aspect of the war, but is very interesting.

He began his career with the Condor Legion in Spain, and the book ends with him and his crew destroying their own jet fighters, so stop them falling into Allied hands, which explains the book's title. He was there for the duration, flying over 700 missions and being involved in a lot of the Luftwaffe's decision-making..

Edited May 24, 2017 by Futtocks

[Ex-Kirkholt]

On 24/05/2017 at 3:30 PM, Futtocks said:

The only book I have of WW2 from a German perspective is The First and the Last, by Luftwaffe fighter pilot Adolf Galland. Given his background, it focusses more on the aerial warfare aspect of the war, but is very interesting.

He began his career with the Condor Legion in Spain, and the book ends with him and his crew destroying their own jet fighters, so stop them falling into Allied hands, which explains the book's title. He was there for the duration, flying over 700 missions and being involved in a lot of the Luftwaffe's decision-making..

Another one from a German perspective is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer.

The twist here is that he was a Frenchman from Alsace with a German mother who fought for Germany.  It is a very harrowing story although some doubts have been cast on its authenticity.

[Bleep1673]

On ‎21‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 11:33 AM, Bleep1673 said:

Downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle, for my upcoming (Tuesday) holiday to Malta, "D-Day, from a German Perspective". They must have been Kakking themselves.

I read most of the book, Ironically on the beaches (OK, of Malta), and was astonished at how frank the Germans were to talk about the atrocities they, and Allied forces used, and how much they were propergating the United Europe to the soldiers from captured countries, and how a lot of Older, & Hitler Youth were among the Eastern Europe "Volunteers", and semi-able recuperating soldiers seem to be defending the Reich from the Allies, and the considered  the Reich as all the Western Countries captured, they knew they were losing the Eastern Front. After June 6th, it took them only 48 hours to realise they were losing the Atlantic Battle too, and a lot of the stories were about atrocities on both sides, and confusion about who was in charge.

All the Germans though were astonished as to how much armament and resources the Allies had, only one German witness says he saw any Luftwaffe engagement, for a few minutes, captured German & troops said the allies treated them kindly, and some stayed behind after May 1945, after they had been transferred to the UK.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Bleep1673

[distantdog]

Underdogs - By Tony Hannan.

The story of Batley's incredible season just gone! A great read and really feel part of it!

[Futtocks]

Karel Capek - War with the Newts. The author is mainly know for having invented the word 'robot' in his play, R.U.R., but this book is a satire on pretty much the entire human race. After a slow-ish start, the main story gets going and, although some of the references and attitudes are dated, it is often very funny.

[Bleep1673]

20 minutes ago, distantdog said:

Underdogs - By Tony Hannan.

The story of Batley's incredible season just gone! A great read and really feel part of it!

Limited Outlet.

[tonyXIII]

Just finished "The Last Voyage of the Valentina" by Santa Montefiore. A decent story, but, imo, an unsatisfactory ending.

With no 'new' books to go at, I'm now re-reading "The Wind in the Willows". Wallowing in nostalgia for my lost youth. I (probably my dad, actually) bought the book when I was about ten. The world was a different place.

 

[Futtocks]

24 minutes ago, tonyXIII said:

Just finished "The Last Voyage of the Valentina" by Santa Montefiore. A decent story, but, imo, an unsatisfactory ending.

With no 'new' books to go at, I'm now re-reading "The Wind in the Willows". Wallowing in nostalgia for my lost youth. I (probably my dad, actually) bought the book when I was about ten. The world was a different place.

 

It is a wonderfully-written book for readers of any age.

[Bleep1673]

On ‎30‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 6:56 PM, tonyXIII said:

I'm now re-reading "The Wind in the Willows". Wallowing in nostalgia for my lost youth. I (probably my dad, actually) bought the book when I was about ten. The world was a different place.

 

True, very true.

[Futtocks]

Patrick Leigh Fermor - Mani. Travels in Southern Greece.

[Mumby Magic]

Quote

 

Malcolm Allison biography

[Phil]

Porno by Irving Welsh 

Finding it very enjoyable 

[JonM]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

Patrick Leigh Fermor - Mani. Travels in Southern Greece.

I only read "A time of gifts" for the first time a couple of years ago and it was instantly one of my all-time favourite books. I'm trying not to get through everything else he ever wrote too quickly.

[Futtocks]

8 minutes ago, JonM said:

I only read "A time of gifts" for the first time a couple of years ago and it was instantly one of my all-time favourite books. I'm trying not to get through everything else he ever wrote too quickly.

'Between the Woods and the Water' is the sequel to 'A Time of Gifts', so a good one to go for. It is a shame he never wrote about his very interesting wartime exploits.

If you liked his writing, try some books by Norman Lewis, another interesting character whose journeys were more or less contemporary to Fermor's.