Books -- what are we reading lately?

[Odense 492]

I've got a reading list as longs your arm that I keep adding to but never get round to.

 

Along with 'stay single' and 'lose weight'...'read more' is a New Year's resolution.

 

Only light-stuff for me though.

This works well:

https://calibre-ebook.com/

 

Posted from my mobile so I blame any spelling errors on that.

[jamie392305 764]

After watching the film 'Everest' I decided to read the book written by John Krakauer who was on the expedition, it's a very good read, so far 8/10

Edited February 8, 2016 by jamie392305

[Fatboyfat 361]

After watching the film 'Everest' I decided to read the book written by John Krakauer who was on the expedition, it's a very good read, so far 8/10

Is the DVD worth watching?

[Siam Sam 964]

I finally finished the epic Don Quixote. It took me a long time to read because I didn't enjoy it and I struggled to get into it, particularly with the last two hundred pages because I'd completely lost interest by then. It has to be the most superfluous novel I have ever read, there are so many chapters where nothing of any interest happens at all and it's so boring and tedious to read. My copy is 760 pages but I think it could have been written in half as many pages. There are some interesting stories in the novel but they are few and far between and not enough to make this book enjoyable. If you're thinking of reading this I wouldn't bother, I only read it because it's considered a classic and I want to be able to say I have read it. It's actually considered to be one of the best novels ever written and a canonical novel but surely that's only because it was written in the seventeenth century? The next time I read a novel from that era I will think twice because I find them hard reading! Five out of ten.

[Siam Sam 964]

I've started reading Coming Up For Air by George Orwell. It's the only novel he wrote that I haven't read. I'm only a few chapters in but I'm enjoying it.

[MM 6,562]

I've started on the Jack Reacher series by Lee Childs. It's good action/escapist fiction.

[teelack 9,640]

I have just finished an interesting book. I really enjoyed Andy McNabbs earlier books but he has now moved onto futuristic fiction. I read Fortress and I swear it could have been written by Donald Trump. The tale revolves around a plot in Britain to bring the Brits and the Muslims living in the UK into conflict with the aim of repatriating the Muslims to wherever they came from. All this is to be financed from the US by people with similar aims there. Does this sound familiar?

[MM 6,562]

I have just finished an interesting book. I really enjoyed Andy McNabbs earlier books but he has now moved onto futuristic fiction. I read Fortress and I swear it could have been written by Donald Trump. The tale revolves around a plot in Britain to bring the Brits and the Muslims living in the UK into conflict with the aim of repatriating the Muslims to wherever they came from. All this is to be financed from the US by people with similar aims there. Does this sound familiar?

I like Andy McNabb's tales.

 

This one sounds like a good idea, lol.

[Siam Sam 964]

I finished Coming Up For Air by George Orwell. It wasn't the best Orwell novel I've read but I enjoyed it. There's just something about Orwell's writing that I love, he has a simplistic style yet he always manages to convey exactly what he wants to say perfectly by choosing the right words. As with many of his novels, he also encapsulates many aspects of British culture and the mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of British people beautifully. In that respect, his writing strikes a resonance with me. Eight out of ten. I've now read every novel that he has written.

 

Last night I also started Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs by Hunter S Thompson. I've been looking forward to this. I'm a fan of his but so far I've only read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. First editions of this book are quite rare too - I managed to pick up a paperback first edition in great condition on Ebay recently for £40 so I'm reading it very carefully and trying not to damage the spine of the book!

[nkped 1,208]

"The Centurions" by Jean Larteguy. Novel about the French army in Vietnam and Algeria. Apparently, it has become something of a cult favorite in today's US military. I'm three chapters in and they deal with individual French officers held by the Viet Minh after the fall of Dienbienphu. Very intense although not a lot of action. It was first published in 1960 and was panned by the Harvard Crimson in 1962. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1962/2/24/what-the-french-army-needs-a/ That's a recommendation by itself.

 

You do have to keep track of the characters.

[Siam Sam 964]

I finished reading Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs by Hunter S Thompson which I really enjoyed and give a nine out of ten. It's a candid account of the year that he spent with the Hell's Angels and gives a great insight into their way of life although it's obviously a bit dated now as it was written in the sixties. Still a good read and easy to see why this launched his career as a writer. After this I read The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll. This was made into a film in 1995 that starred Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his early roles. I enjoyed the film but it's taken me twenty years to get a copy of the book and read it. It's a diary that Jim Carroll wrote sporadically over a period of three years from the age of thirteen. It chronicles his experiences growing up in New York City and his decent into drug addiction and a life of crime. It's very graphic and beautifully encapsulates the deplorable levels that people can be reduced to when they have a bad heroin habit. I highly recommend it and gave this nine out of ten too. I'm currently reading The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

[carol palmer 0]

Since I acquired a Kindle several years ago, I've found that I can read all of an author's books in a series IN ORDER, rather than scouring 2nd hand bookstores for one of the books in a series and taking whatever was available in the order it was found.

 

So, in the last few years, I've gotten stuck into several authors that have caught my attention...

 

So, going back to the acquisition of the Kindle....authors in order and their series are:

 

Stephen Hunter, the Sniper series with Bobby Lee Swaggart -- 14 books

 

G.R.R. Martin Game of Thrones -- 5 books...months and months

 

Chris Ryan - author of the Strike Back series...SAS exploits...

 

Andy McNab - Nick Stone, ex SAS adventures...13 or so books ... good reads

 

Bernard Cornwell - Starbuck Copperhead series of 4 books about the USA Civil War - 4 books

 

I took a break and read some single books (not series), one of which was by

Tom Kratman "Caliphate", about the Islamic takeover of Europe..very interesting...let's hope it doesn't happen.

 

And finally, the series that I thought I'd never finish...

George Macdonald Fraser - Flashman Chronicles -- 12 books and I wish there were more

 

I'd have to say that the best of the last 3 years or so was the Flashman series...witty, informative, entertaining, and suspenseful. If you ever want to get a picture of the imperialism of the UK in the mid 19th century, this is the series for you. I finished book 12 last week, and now have to find something else.

 

I think I'll be trying to catch up with Bernard Cornwell's tales of pre-Norman England, but might just go for something else.

 

For the moment, however, I have just finished Midnight Train: Sidetracked, the second book in a trilogy about an Issan girl who comes to Pattaya to work...some interesting insights there, clearly written by an author (David Geoffries) who knows what he is talking about. Of course, you should read book 1 first...Midnight Train: Destination: Pattaya

 

Just yesterday, I started a book written by a pair of defense analysts, many compare it to Tom Clancy's :"RED STORM RISING". It's called GHOST FLEET, a novel of the next world war that is started by China against the USA.

 

So, if any of you are readers, fiction or otherwise, what books do you find most interesting?

Finished fifth mountain on to The cuckoo's calling

[BigusDicus 9,878]

Cornwells Uthred books have been started by the BBC as a series and done very well so far . The series is still on bbc under the title "The last Kingdom" might well be worth a watch for you if you enjoyed any of the books .

 

Finished the BBC series already and hoping for a season 2!

My wife and I just finished the BBC series on Netflix. Found it entertaining, my wife loved it and is diving into Cornwell's books. Knowing my wife she will finish by the weekend!

[atlas2 4,329]

 

The film took me to wiki and wiki to the book of the same name..............

 

Other than this I'm into re-reads of books and authors that have meant something to me over the years.

[jacko 8,815]

The film took me to wiki and wiki to the book of the same name..............

 

Other than this I'm into re-reads of books and authors that have meant something to me over the years.

Just seen that film coincidentally......

Edited August 26, 2016 by jacko

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

It's an old book but well worth reading if you are interested in the subject. Crypto by Steven Levy

 

https://www.amazon.com/Crypto-Rebels-Government-Privacy-Digital/dp/0140244328

[InternationalTraveler 282]

Just finished Dead Centre my 10th Andy McNab thriller about a kidnap in Somalia.

Now Pattaya Tales by Geoffrey Franklin, raconteur's experiences of Thailand.

[MM 6,562]

Pure action/spy/political entertainment lately in reading through Brad Thor's books about Scot Harvath

[Gary 4,119]

I finally finished the epic Don Quixote. It took me a long time to read because I didn't enjoy it and I struggled to get into it, particularly with the last two hundred pages because I'd completely lost interest by then. It has to be the most superfluous novel I have ever read, there are so many chapters where nothing of any interest happens at all and it's so boring and tedious to read. My copy is 760 pages but I think it could have been written in half as many pages. There are some interesting stories in the novel but they are few and far between and not enough to make this book enjoyable. If you're thinking of reading this I wouldn't bother, I only read it because it's considered a classic and I want to be able to say I have read it. It's actually considered to be one of the best novels ever written and a canonical novel but surely that's only because it was written in the seventeenth century? The next time I read a novel from that era I will think twice because I find them hard reading! Five out of ten.

 

I could never figure out why the book Don Quixote is a classic. I guess that I am too low brow to appreciate it. I thought it sucked and I couldn't finish it.

[atlas2 4,329]

 

I could never figure out why the book Don Quixote is a classic. I guess that I am too low brow to appreciate it. I thought it sucked and I couldn't finish it.

 

Congratulations to Siam Sam

 

We have to give these things a go......But I felt the same way as Gary.....and had the same futile experience....An Important work it undoubtably is, and probably classic 17th Century entertainment.......But it wasn't for me. Still it's supposed to have influenced everything that followed...And it certainly influenced that Cyrano thing which I did enjoy....Even the Steve Martin film version.

 

Now, 'The Emperor's new clothes' is the classic I appreciate the most.........It taught me a lot about what's a 'classic'....and wot aint!

Edited September 2, 2016 by atlas2

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

Andy McNab is great. I'm a Stephen Leather fan myself. Just started one of his latest, True Colours.

[MM 6,562]

Andy McNab is great. I'm a Stephen Leather fan myself. Just started one of his latest, True Colours.

I've gone thru all the McNab and Leather books (up to last year, at least).

 

Really, if you like them, and don't mind having a central character from the USA, as opposed to the UK in the other two, get the Scot Harvath series written by Brad Thor (that name's gotta be a pseudonym...please). Good stuff a la Clancy.

 

After Siam Sam's classics, no one will accuse me of being a high-brow.

[wacmedia 277]

 

I could never figure out why the book Don Quixote is a classic. I guess that I am too low brow to appreciate it. I thought it sucked and I couldn't finish it.

 

Hi,

 

Go figure. I love James Joyce, but find Ulysses unreadable.

[Odense 492]

I've gone thru all the McNab and Leather books (up to last year, at least).

 

Really, if you like them, and don't mind having a central character from the USA, as opposed to the UK in the other two, get the Scot Harvath series written by Brad Thor (that name's gotta be a pseudonym...please).

 

Apparently not :-D

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Thor

Edited September 8, 2016 by Odense

[atlas2 4,329]

Not sure what's the most amazing........?

 

........Either that 'Brad Thor' is not a 'nom de plume'......... or that his parents were so lacking in imagination they couldn't be arsed to come up with anything and merely added 'jr' to his dad's name.......No doubt taking inspiration from the parents of Efram Zimbalist Jr.

 

'Job done darling'

 

'You're so clever Papa'

 

I think you'll agree that calling myself atlas2 I know what I'm talking about..

 

I sore Thor interviewed on TV once and I thought the book he was touting sounded great....

 

....I like 'Leather'.....apart from his first I've never really tried McNab........I'll give Bradley George Thor Jr's 'Last Patriot' a go..... sounds up my street.

 

It's quite old now but 'Terence Strong's'.....(That MUST be a sobriquet) 'Whisper Who Dares' and the SAS books that followed I found to be very enjoyable.

Edited September 9, 2016 by atlas2