Book thread: what are you reading?

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 12/08/2020 at 10:30, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Rereading War of the Worlds again. First time in a few years I read it. So gripping and fast paced, pulls you right into the story. Its interesting reading about 19th century London and picking out how it's changed in the modern day, for example describing places like Barnet, Twickenham and Kew as completely separate towns separated by just small lanes and people fleeing Martians in horse and carts. Brilliant! Absolute classic! 

I've recently re-read Down and out in Paris and London by Orwell..same interesting thing about reading how the places were back then....obviously more recent and more depressing though 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Basically all about the concept of ‘geo-politics’ and how each country’s foreign policy with the rest of the world tends to be defined by it’s geography and position on a map.

It’s not a new concept and has long been around in diplomatic speak, but it does help you to look through the lens of the likes of Russia, China etc and make sense of their moves from their perspective.

I can recommend it to anyone, as if you have an understanding of international current affairs, it will enhance that.  Or if you’re looking to approach the subject for the first time it’s very clear and concise and a good starter or primer for further reading.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Finished The Body Snatchers and moving straight onto an absolute classic in sci-fi, 'The Space Merchants' by Frederick Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth. 

The Space Merchants is about a future where human society is completely controlled and dictated by advertising firms, where governments are represented by ad firms, votes are weighted towards those with more influence in these companies and companies turn entire countries into businesses. Written in the early 50s, it is an incredible metaphorical commentary on the influence our capitalist society has on just about every aspect of our lives, whether we realise it or not. Of course, being a sci-fi novel it exaggerates these points to the extremes but it's certainly interesting to read it over 60 years after it was written and see how little observations that the authors see as being massively exaggerated are drawing closer and closer to reality as time moves on. The book is set 100 years after it was written so we are about 30 years off that now and with the way media, advertising and marketing already dominate society its not out of the realms of possibility to see our society approaching something seen in the book by 2050 after all, yesterday, apple was valued at $2 trillion which would make it one of the richest countries in the world. 

A brilliant book worth reading! 

[JohnM]

Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

[longboard]

On 20/08/2020 at 09:48, JohnM said:

Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

of Nantucket. 

A Poe choice and a good choice.

[longboard]

On 15/08/2020 at 00:20, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I've recently re-read Down and out in Paris and London by Orwell..same interesting thing about reading how the places were back then....obviously more recent and more depressing though 

Let's hear it for the plongeurs!

[The Future is League]

Just finished reading The Whistler by John Grisham. 

Just another great book by him in my opinion

[Wiltshire Rhino]

"Life in a Railway Factory" by Alfred Williams 

Written in 1915, about the reason why my home town even exists, and described as "the most important literary work ever produced in Swindon, about Swindon" 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Wiltshire Rhino

[bentleyman]

"Prince" by Rory Clements 3rd Book in the John Shakespear series

[Futtocks]

Justin Quirk - Nothin' but a good time: The spectacular rise and fall of Glam Metal.

This is a history of one of history's most reviled, noisy, colourful and ephemeral music genres. There's a lot of outrageous stories, some of which are stoopid fun, some of which are disturbing and sordid.
The writing is mainly pretty decent, although the fanboy hyperbole clearly ratchets up when the author describes the music of his favourite bands. But that could be said of many music writers covering more "serious" types of music.
Odd fact plucked from the pages: Vinnie Vincent, who played for KISS and also fronted one of the poutiest, spiky-guitar-est, big-haired-est, make-up slathered bands in his own right, used to write music for the sitcom 'Happy Days' and the spinoff 'Joanie loves Chachi'.
Just like the genre, this book is good fun, right up 'til it all turns bad.

Now reading: Geoffrey Household's historical novelisation "The Exploits of Xenophon". Good so far.

[Futtocks]

Charlie Brooker - The Hell of it all. A compilation of Brooker's weekly TV columns and other articles, that set out a blackly humorous view of how ghastly it was in 2009.

The problem is that, from a 2020 perspective, it all sounds like a nostalgic idyll.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

True Professional: The Clive Sullivan Story. 

Brilliant account of one of the all-time greats, a player who overcame so much to reach the pinnacle of the sport from being diagnosed with a rare leg muscle deformity when he was a teen and told he might never walk again to being in an almost fatal car crash when he was a paratrooper and the countless injuries he picked up through the first years of his career.

The word legend gets thrown around too much these days but it's totally fitting when talking about Clive! 

[graveyard johnny]

the wizards sleeve 2021

[Adelaide Tiger]

Can’t believe I have finally bought ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.  Halfway through it and it is meeting my expectations.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

Can’t believe I have finally bought ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.  Halfway through it and it is meeting my expectations.

That book was profoundly disturbing, at the time it was released I think Roosevelt was President and it lead to changes in Labour Laws. I think Steinbeck actually travelled or maybe lived with a family of Okies before he wrote it. 

Other great reads by Steinbeck are `Of Mice and Men` and a short story called `The Red Pony` which had a couple of interesting insights into early California.

I`m reading ` The Second Machine Age `, " An ambitious, engaging and at times terrifying vision of where modern technology is taking the human race" _  The Economist.

[GUBRATS]

Only really read on holiday , one I picked up at the airport was ' What if ' by Randall Munroe , basically a series of questions sent in to be asked 

Like how long would a submarine last in orbit ? 

And " if we all isolated for 14 days , would we get rid of the common cold ? "

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Just got 3 books about the Napoleonic Wars, all first hand accounts of the events, very excited to get started! They are:

The Letters of Private Wheeler

The Recollections of Rifleman Harris

The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier. 

The 1st is about Wheeler's account of the whole period from The Peninsular War in Iberia to Waterloo and a bit of the aftermath, the 2nd is about Harris' experiences in Iberia and the 3rd is by a German conscripted into Napoleon's army and talks about his experiences in the Russian Campaign and specifically the Retreat from Moscow. 

Edited October 2, 2020 by The Hallucinating Goose

[bentleyman]

The Accomplice by Joseph Kanon. Fiction  about  Hunting a Nazi War Criminal supposed to be dead

[The Future is League]

I have just finished reading  True Blue by David Baldacci.

Another excellent book by him, but i was quite shocked to see it was first published in 2009, but still very believable that these things happen today, and probably do.

[The Future is League]

I have just finished reading London Bridges By James Patterson.  Well worth a read

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Currently working my way through Mike Pannett's books. If you don't know who he is, he is a former rural police officer based in North Yorkshire and he wrote a series of 6 books about his career in the police force. There are some very funny bits, some heartbreaking bits, some thrilling bits and ultimately every word is very interesting! I have a lot of respect and admiration for those that police our country to make it safer for us ordinary geese and these books are just reinforcing that. Well worth having a read! 

[Bleep1673]

I bought my daughter The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. Unfortunately her (now) religious mother found it, and confiscated, and returned it to me to go through the entire book to redact all the obscenities. 

[Mumby Magic]

Trying to get into Peter Kays autobiography.

[westlondonfan]

I am reading this at  the moment.

 

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

26 minutes ago, Mumby Magic said:

Trying to get into Peter Kays autobiography.

Are the pages stuck together?