Book thread: what are you reading?

[The Hallucinating Goose]

6 hours ago, Bleep1673 said:

My father gave me "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", to read when I was about 11/12 & it blew my mind, long before Blade Runner.

An amazing book. Philip K. Dick is undoubtedly my favourite author. My favourite of his is probably 'A Scanner Darkly'. 

[Futtocks]

On 26/04/2021 at 18:49, Futtocks said:

Civilizations by Laurent Binet

That was a very interesting and readable book.

Now on to The Last Interview, a compilation of interview transcriptions with Anthony Bourdain.

[Bleep1673]

16 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

An amazing book. Philip K. Dick is undoubtedly my favourite author. My favourite of his is probably 'A Scanner Darkly'. 

I really enjoyed By A Scanner Darkly, my favourite author though was Sir Terry Pratchett, I have read most of his published stuff, although I can't get into The Long World stuff, I started with Good Omens, and wanted to know more, and became an addict. Nation is very thoughtful. My favourite book in his Discworld series is Guards! Guards! After that, Night watch, then the Tiffany Aching series, or even the Moist trilogy. 

Non-STP people will wonder WTF I am talking about, But DILLIGAF?

[Futtocks]

Not reading, as this is an audiobook, and printed copies go for silly money, but Hawksbee & Jacobs (TalkSport) got someone who sounds a lot like Steve Bruce to read Steve's first crime novel, Striker! Gloriously bad.

https://play.acast.com/s/hawksbeeandjacobs/striker-

[The Future is League]

I have today just finished reading Crusade by Stewart Binns.

A good read and i shall read other books written by him now

[John Drake]

I recently finished reading Time And Time Again by Ben Elton.

It's a time travel adventure (just my cup of tea, that), a 'what if' you could go back in time and change a particular event, which one would you choose to make the present world a better place?

In this instance, it becomes a mission to prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to stop the First World War.

There are plenty of twists and turns. I rattled through it quite quickly on a Kindle, it is a very engaging yarn.

[The Future is League]

13 hours ago, John Drake said:

I recently finished reading Time And Time Again by Ben Elton.

It's a time travel adventure (just my cup of tea, that), a 'what if' you could go back in time and change a particular event, which one would you choose to make the present world a better place?

In this instance, it becomes a mission to prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to stop the First World War.

There are plenty of twists and turns. I rattled through it quite quickly on a Kindle, it is a very engaging yarn.

If the first world war hadn't had happened the Nazis wouldn't have taken power in Germany, and that led to the Second World War and obviously that changed world history for for ever.

Stating the obvious, but the world would be a very different place from what it is today and in my opinion the demographics in this country would be very different as well, and the Soviet Union wouldn't have happened and Rugby League would be the dominant Rugby code in France, but IF is the biggest word in the world.

OK i will get my coat on the way out.

[John Drake]

2 hours ago, The Future is League said:

If the first world war hadn't had happened the Nazis wouldn't have taken power in Germany, and that led to the Second World War and obviously that changed world history for for ever.

Stating the obvious, but the world would be a very different place from what it is today and in my opinion the demographics in this country would be very different as well, and the Soviet Union wouldn't have happened and Rugby League would be the dominant Rugby code in France, but IF is the biggest word in the world.

OK i will get my coat on the way out.

That's pretty much the gist of the book at the beginning: stop the assassination, prevent the war, assume everything that follows would automatically be better.

Or would it...?

Without wanting to give the plot away, the book presents many interesting and thought provoking ideas on how it might not work out that way.

[The Future is League]

5 minutes ago, John Drake said:

That's pretty much the gist of the book at the beginning: stop the assassination, prevent the war, assume everything that follows would automatically be better.

Or would it...?

Without wanting to give the plot away, the book presents many interesting and thought provoking ideas on how it might not work out that way.

One possibly dare i say would be, would the British Empire still exist as the 2 world wars drained the UK dry. Interesting. I shall certainly purchase the book at some time in the near future. 

[DavidM]

Anthony Horowitz ‘ Moonflower Murders ‘ . He sure is an ingenious writer .

[The Future is League]

FRIEDA, The adventures of a female Robinson Crusoe.

An excellent read with some twist and turns in it, and a couple of spicy bits as well which adds credence to the story. Written by Lionel Pettrick and printed here by amazon.

 

[Oxford]

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

and re-reading Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet

[Futtocks]

16 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

 'Grammar Free in the UK' by D&D Philpot. It's basically some guy writing to punk bands during lockdown and pointing out inconsistencies in their songs in a ridiculously pedantic style. ie writing to the Cockney Rejects and saying there wasn't actually 'war on the terraces' ....not as defined by the UN anyway. Basically it's nonsense but fun. And what they write in reply. 

I'm sure @unapologetic pedant would appreciate the pedantry. 

Sounds like fun - almost a modern-day version of the Henry Root letters.

[Futtocks]

Just now, Johnoco said:

He/she/they used to write to famous people with ridiculous proposals or something? I remember the name and it being a thing but not much more. 

That's the one. BTW, is that the correct title of the Philpott book? The only think I can find which comes close by Derek & Dave Philpott is called "Dear Mr Pop Star".

[JonM]

10 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

He/she/they used to write to famous people with ridiculous proposals or something? I remember the name and it being a thing but not much more. 

He (William Donaldson, who wrote the Henry Root letters), had a crack cocaine habit for much of his sixties. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Has anyone here read any of the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian? I've been reading and watching a lot about the Napoleonic Wars in the last year and as a result finally watched Master and Commander which I thought was brilliant so decided I might give the novels a go, just wondering what they are like. 

[Futtocks]

I'm currently reading Starlust by Fred & Judy Vermorel; a trip through the lunatic fringe of pre-internet music fans' brains. There's a lot of Bowie fans, unsurprisingly, and much Barry Mani-love, but it takes in all sorts of objects of desire, from Cheryl Baker to Bruce Foxton.

https://www.tvcream.co.uk/books/starlust/

Edited July 6, 2021 by Futtocks

[Moose]

23 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Has anyone here read any of the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian? I've been reading and watching a lot about the Napoleonic Wars in the last year and as a result finally watched Master and Commander which I thought was brilliant so decided I might give the novels a go, just wondering what they are like. 

I can’t recommend them highly enough. I saw the same film about 10 years ago and then bought the book. Master and Commander is the first book in a twenty book series. It follows the naval career and personal life of Jack Aubrey and his ship’s surgeon and British spy Dr Stephen Maturin.

It’s fictional but extremely accurate in the dates and nautical terms of its time. I have the full series, collected from second hand and charity shops.

One thing you must do is read them in order, they follow each other chronologically as he travels the world.

They are probably my favourite series of books.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

38 minutes ago, Moose said:

I can’t recommend them highly enough. I saw the same film about 10 years ago and then bought the book. Master and Commander is the first book in a twenty book series. It follows the naval career and personal life of Jack Aubrey and his ship’s surgeon and British spy Dr Stephen Maturin.

It’s fictional but extremely accurate in the dates and nautical terms of its time. I have the full series, collected from second hand and charity shops.

One thing you must do is read them in order, they follow each other chronologically as he travels the world.

They are probably my favourite series of books.

Thanks for that Moose! I'll definitely start looking for them now. I am planning on just picking them up in second hand bookshops and charity shops as well. 

As I say, I've been reading a few books about the Napoleonic Wars recently, I'll soon be starting reading a number of diaries written by soldiers on both sides which look fascinating. The first is 'The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier' which (if I'm remembering the right one) was written by an 18 year old German conscript called Jakob Walter in Napoleon's Grande Armee. I think it focuses a lot on events in Prussia and Poland and also the great retreat from Moscow. The others I have are, 'The Recollections of Rifleman Harris' and 'The Letters of Private Wheeler'. Given these are about British soldiers I'm guessing there will be a lot about the Peninsular War. 

As I said, I loved the film, Master and Commander. I decided to finally watch it because I had read there is a prequel currently being developed because despite the original film not being a huge box office success it seems to have found a bit of a cult following in the last few years. 

[Futtocks]

19 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

As I said, I loved the film, Master and Commander. I decided to finally watch it because I had read there is a prequel currently being developed because despite the original film not being a huge box office success it seems to have found a bit of a cult following in the last few years. 

It was a bit of a "grower" on DVD, and also helped sell a lot of Home Cinema equipment, especially the storm and battle scenes.

[Exiled Townie]

2 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

As I say, I've been reading a few books about the Napoleonic Wars recently, I'll soon be starting reading a number of diaries written by soldiers on both sides which look fascinating. The first is 'The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier' which (if I'm remembering the right one) was written by an 18 year old German conscript called Jakob Walter in Napoleon's Grande Armee. I think it focuses a lot on events in Prussia and Poland and also the great retreat from Moscow. The others I have are, 'The Recollections of Rifleman Harris' and 'The Letters of Private Wheeler'. Given these are about British soldiers I'm guessing there will be a lot about the Peninsular War. 

As I said, I loved the film, Master and Commander. I decided to finally watch it because I had read there is a prequel currently being developed because despite the original film not being a huge box office success it seems to have found a bit of a cult following in the last few years. 

Try and get "The Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne, 1812-1813" By Adrien Bourgogne. A diary that covers the French invasion of Russia, with 600,000 men and then the retreat from Moscow which left the French with 100,00.  A good read.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Just now, Exiled Townie said:

Try and get "The Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne, 1812-1813" By Adrien Bourgogne. A diary that covers the French invasion of Russia, with 600,000 men and then the retreat from Moscow which left the French with 100,00.  A good read.

Thanks, I'll definitely have a look for it!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

19 hours ago, Moose said:

I can’t recommend them highly enough. I saw the same film about 10 years ago and then bought the book. Master and Commander is the first book in a twenty book series. It follows the naval career and personal life of Jack Aubrey and his ship’s surgeon and British spy Dr Stephen Maturin.

It’s fictional but extremely accurate in the dates and nautical terms of its time. I have the full series, collected from second hand and charity shops.

One thing you must do is read them in order, they follow each other chronologically as he travels the world.

They are probably my favourite series of books.

Had a good start to my search today. Walked through the city centre, went in all the second hand and charity shops and got 3 books in the series. 

I've got, HMS Surprise, The Nutmeg of Consolation and The Hundred Days; numbers 3, 14 and 19 respectively, just 17 more to go. The Nutmeg of Consolation was actually new from Smiths but on their clearance section for just £3, result!

I'll probably start reading them as soon as I've got say the first 4 or 5.

Edited July 7, 2021 by The Hallucinating Goose

[marklaspalmas]

Currently re-reading the Aubrey Maturin series.

It's ace.

I really didn't like the film.

[Leeds Wire]

Can I have a little gripe about this thread, even though it's absolutely brilliant and has massively inspired me and influenced my reading choices for ages?

There's a separate thread for films so I don't know why people keep comparing books they read to the film version.

Thanks