Book thread: what are you reading?

[Clogiron]

On 12/19/2018 at 4:56 PM, henage said:

Confessions of a Speedway Promoter . John Berry . 

Then you've got Further confessions of a Speedway Promoter to look forward to

[DavidM]

I’ve got a book in my amazon wish list which has had its release date moved  to April 2020 .... under that it says ‘ expected to arrive after Christmas’

[chuffer]

The Pickwick Papers by Dickens....love it.........for some reason I've never read any of this stuff until a few mths ago I read my wife's copy of Great Expectations that had been gathering dust on the shelf for yrs. It was wittier and more impressive than I'd anticipated.... so I will no doubt be hunting down his entire back catalogue henceforth!

[Futtocks]

41 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

Currently reading The Health Gap by Michael Marmot, which is a very interesting book about health inequalities and how improving healthcare isn't necessarily the most sensible option to improving life expectancy, especially as you move down the social classes. 

If you don't know about him already, Anthony Warner has a blog that addresses this, as well as many other things. Oh, and there's some swearing: https://angry-chef.com/blog/heart-of-the-problem

[gingerjon]

15 hours ago, chuffer said:

The Pickwick Papers by Dickens....love it.........for some reason I've never read any of this stuff until a few mths ago I read my wife's copy of Great Expectations that had been gathering dust on the shelf for yrs. It was wittier and more impressive than I'd anticipated.... so I will no doubt be hunting down his entire back catalogue henceforth!

You can polish off Christmas Carol in a single sitting.

Which I tend to do every Christmas Eve.

[Bleep1673]

2 hours ago, Saint 1 said:

After The Health Gap, I read Narconomics, which applies economics logic to the drug trade. Not a particularly challenging read but funny, and also interesting from a policy perspective.

Hmm, I once talked a med rep out of his job, and now hate Narcomenics, and health centered style sales..

I sis Watch the film K-9, last night, and spent the last scenes examining the anaesthetic macine with 3 Vaporisers on it 

[Futtocks]

Recent books what I have read and would definitely recommend:

Evelyn Waugh - Labels: his travels around the Med in the 1930s.
Ursula le Guin - The Unreal and the Real: an anthology of short stories. Two volumes, both good.
Barry Cryer - the Chronicles of Hernia: an autobiography, punctuated by ancient jokes and the clang of dropped names.
Horace Walpole - The Castle of Otranto: a (deliberately) rather silly cod-Gothic melodrama. Much swooning.
Timon Singh - Born to be bad: articles about, and interviews with, the villains from Eighties action movies. Lots of behind-the-scenes gossip and other revelations.
Karel Capek - Tales from two Pockets: short stories from the inventor of the word 'Robot'. Mostly crime stories, told in a somewhat whimsical yet laconic manner.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Futtocks

[Old Frightful]

On 12/22/2018 at 8:13 AM, gingerjon said:

You can polish off Christmas Carol in a single sitting.

Which I tend to do every Christmas Eve.

 

You don't half spoil her.

Mind you, she must be a bit desperate by then.

[gingerjon]

Just now, Old Frightful said:

 

You don't half spoil her.

Mind you, she must be a bit desperate by then.

*confused*

*Penny drops*

Poor Penny.

[Phil]

Soldiers and Ghosts, a history of warfare in classical antiquity 

[DavidM]

I feel really inferior coming here and seeing what folk are reading . High brow stuff . I’m on a history of the Carry On films 

[Futtocks]

A Stephen Leacock collection on Kindle. Very cheap, and a huge collection. I've been dipping into it every few months for about 2 years now.

He was a Canadian humorist (1869-1944) who wrote absurd tales and essays. Spike Milligan was a big fan of his work, and his influence went on through that to the Monty Python team - Self-made Men is certainly a fore-runner of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch.

[Clogiron]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

I feel really inferior coming here and seeing what folk are reading . High brow stuff . I’m on a history of the Carry On films 

I would enjoy that much more than 70% of the stuff mentioned on here, reading is for your own enjoyment not like school or college where you're told what to read, if it gives you pleasure that's all that matters.

Trying to finishThe Complete History of Flight by R G  Grant a Dorling Kindersley book, I really enjoy them: Transport, Engineering, Ships, the Motor Car, Motorcycle and of course their travel books, there's always some fascinating facts or anecdotes to be found in there. 

[DavidM]

3 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

I would enjoy that much more than 70% of the stuff mentioned on here, reading is for your own enjoyment not like school or college where you're told what to read, if it gives you pleasure that's all that matters.

Trying to finishThe Complete History of Flight by R G  Grant a Dorling Kindersley book, I really enjoy them: Transport, Engineering, Ships, the Motor Car, Motorcycle and of course their travel books, there's always some fascinating facts or anecdotes to be found in there. 

True . I love reading . I’m a slow reader , usually a few chapters in bed or something but I’d take it a lot of the time to watching nothing in particular on tv . I’ve Anthony Horowitz new book I got for Christmas to begin next. I’m a big fan of his 

[Futtocks]

My new commute is much shorter, so I'm not getting through books as much as I used to at my previous job.

The lure of TV/streaming once I get home does impact my reading too.

[MattSantos]

7 hours ago, DavidM said:

I feel really inferior coming here and seeing what folk are reading . High brow stuff . I’m on a history of the Carry On films 

Aye

I'm sadly into the Mitch Rapp saga. Utter trash but perfect for mincing by the pool with.

[hindle xiii]

The Chimp Paradox - Prof Steve Peters.

[Bleep1673]

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacItyre, a true story from the Cold war.

Simon Reeve, Step by Step is hilarious, and slightly worrying if, like me, you tend to travel off the beaten track sometimes, although last weeks trip to Glasgow for a mate's 50th is hardly off the beaten track.

[Robin Evans]

Read a book? I've heard people do that.

[Red Willow]

Quote

 

Just finished the latest London Rivers book, Lies Sleeping. I can't read Horowitz, he is self absorbed and self promoting in his own book.

[Clogiron]

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd, very readable and highlights how the appeasement of the Nazis was widespread amongst those who visited during the 20s & 30s. Remember that travel was mostly only affordable for the middle and upper classes in those day's.

[Moose]

A fruitful visit to my local charity shop today. Picked up Jack Kerouac's Desolation Angels and The High Window by Raymond Chandler. Currently half way through Nesbo's The Son, it's a long read but worth it so far.

[henage]

[Clogiron]

The Struggle and the Daring by Mike Rylance.

[Leeds Wire]

7 hours ago, Clogiron said:

The Struggle and the Daring by Mike Rylance.

Any good?  I read The Forbidden Game and was hoping the sequel wasn't a let down....