Jump to content

The what are you reading at the moment fred


Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Haken

    242

  • dougal

    227

  • Gigolo-Aunt

    140

  • Coco

    124

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

In search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore. It's about the "Eccentric" Scottish cyclist. Very interesting if you are into cycling. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stalingrad and the Berlin one are superb. Heavy heavy stuff going on.

 

I would go for...

 

https://www.amazon.c...87859626&sr=1-1

 

https://www.amazon.c...87859647&sr=1-1

 

Going across to Colditz early next year. Cant bloody wait.

 

Yes, I'm a geek.

 

laugh.gif

 

Enjoyed Stalingrad and Dunkirk currently reading Berlin,at the same time I,m reading Stuart Mcbrides latest Logan Macrae,Dark Blood

Link to comment
Share on other sites

scots civil war

British voices from the Irish war of independance by William Sheehan,very interesting first hand accounts of being a member of the armed forces of great britain,and engaging with the republican movement on irish soil 1918-1921.....

 

Flowers of the Forest,Scotland and the Great War by Trevor Royle,superb examination of Scotlands huge contribution to the Great War 1914-18.well written book on the armed forces,industry,land mass and seas,politics and people etc

 

 

 

excellently written books,would recomend to anyone who is fascinated by the ww1 period in history

 

 

get em on amazon at knockdown n all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre..........again.

 

Going to start this tonight. Are his books any good?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to start this tonight. Are his books any good?

 

Really good. They are usually highly implausible but rollicking good tales told with a big dollop of humour

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Currently reading The Zero Hour by Joseph Finder - so far so good.

Next on my list is Dark Matter by Phillip Kerr - only read The Shot by him, but it was excellent, so hoping this is also good.

 

Plenty of authors to recommend

 

Russell Andrews - Gideon especially

Jeffrey Archer - surprisingly good author, recommend Kane and Abel

Robert Crais - Elvis Cole series

Lee Child - Jack Reacher series

Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar series

Jeffrey Deaver - lots of good books especially the Lincoln Rhyme series

Greg Iles - Quiet Game really good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Struggling to get going on Empires and Barbarians so in between have read:

 

- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Possibly the most brutal book I have ever read. A supposed odyssey but to me an empty list of brutal adventures.

- Crossing the Boundary by "Kevin Pieterson" - cheap rushed job after the 05 Ashes. Not very good.

- Perspective and other Optical Illusions by Phoebe McNaughton. Nice little book with some classic illusions. Not much explanatory stuff but nice enough anyway.

- The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh - Not very good, repetitive samey stuff.

- My Love Affair With Borthwick Castle by Helen Bailey - know some of the people involved so a nice book.

 

Next up is The Generation Game by David McWilliams. Pretty topical given current Irish economic woes.

 

The Generation Game was pretty lightweight and read like an extended magazine article. There will no doubt be better books about what has happened to the Irish economy than that one.

 

Have just finished Tough Guys Don't Dance by Norman Mailer. Awful attempt at a thriller - with no thrills.

 

Next up is Shepherd's Delight by Tom Duncan. Farming stories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 pages into Bomber Boys....

 

Love it...can almost feel yourself wanting to join despite the danger 70yrs ago.

 

The 'Coventrated' chapter probably added to the above feeling.

 

Also have found some of it quite poignant.... eg death in the sky would be almost instant...

 

A lot of these guys had been told about the Great War so had decided to steer clear of the Army.

 

Highly recommended.

 

(Along with Fighter Boys!) :santa4:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...a bit disco

Blackwater-the rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army by Jeremy Scahill.

 

A great argument against privatisation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let-Me-In.jpg

 

I had to put this down after the first sex in the toilet part of the book.Started again on Tuesday and it really is a sad but brilliant read.

Started Sacrifice by S J Bolton as well.So far so good with that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have moved onto a doorstep of a book.

 

Hirohito - and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert Bix.

 

Early days so far but seems to be a very detailed account of a very interesting historical figure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to put this down after the first sex in the toilet part of the book.Started again on Tuesday and it really is a sad but brilliant read.

 

There's some hardcore stuff but if you can past it, it's a great story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's some hardcore stuff but if you can past it, it's a great story.

 

I will more than likely skim through future parts,as you say though it is a brilliant story.

I seem to be reading a lot of fiction by Scandanavian authors the last year.Wallender series by Mankell being another of my favourites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dusk_Till_Dawn

Just finished the girl with the dragon tattoo and now reading the second one in the trilogy.

 

Has to be said, I don't see what the fuss is about. They're not terrible books but they're not brilliant, and both of them could have been slashed by about 150 pages. The passage about her buying furniture from ikea was excruciating.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished D Day by Anthony Beevor. Great book for anyone into military history. Half way through The Thosand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell-fantastically gripping , opening up a whole new world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished the girl with the dragon tattoo and now reading the second one in the trilogy.

 

Has to be said, I don't see what the fuss is about. They're not terrible books but they're not brilliant, and both of them could have been slashed by about 150 pages. The passage about her buying furniture from ikea was excruciating.

 

A bit of fiction true to life then. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking for some ideas on what to read next. Currently reading Tony Blair's book. Nearly finished it, quite an interesting read especially the parts about N.Ireland, the formation of New Labour and Sept 11th. What's weird about it though is the way it reads is scarily similar to how a certain Shaun.Lawson writes on here! :mellow:

 

Anyway, any suggestions? Quite fancy something based on war.

 

Legion of the Damned (Sven Hassel) then read the rest of his books

 

About Sven Hassel

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Hassel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Creepy Lurker

I'm currently reading Napoleon: the Myth of the Saviour by Jean Tulard. Really, really good so far: managing to straddle the line between popular and academic history almost perfectly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished The Selfish Gene by Dawkins, as I fancied something a bit different. Starting Prestor John by John Buchan on the bus today, as I started reading it a few years ago and, to my shame, never finished it.

 

Think I'll try the Dirty Havana book the_liquidator recommends - sounds right up my street.

Dirty Havana was brilliant, by the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kalamazoo Jambo

Blindness, by Jose Saramago.

 

About an unnamed European City hit by an epidemic of blindness. Early days but an interesting (if depressing) read so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have read the following fairly recently, enjoyed them all.

 

_45682406_empireofsun.jpg

 

 

 

The_Men_Who_Stare_at_Goats_poster.jpg

 

 

 

9780141190341-crop-325x325.jpg

 

 

 

About 3 quarters of the way through......

 

 

Keith_Richards_book_cover_Life_08-10.jpg

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong, its a decent enough read bit have found the repetitiveness of the drug taking in the late 70's a bit heavy going at times. He has just got himself clean from the smack so hopefully it picks up a bit now.

 

Reading is such a great thing.

 

thumbsup.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am still wading through Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.

 

It is heavy going, though at least Japan have now lost the War and nothing much else happens in his life I think :whistling:

 

Might get on to reading something a bit more enjoyable soon. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Napoleon  Wilson

Im nearly finished "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. Really enjoying it. Watched the films "Manhunter" and the 2003 "Red Dragon" loads of times, but had never read any of the novels. The book is like a combination of the two. On to Silence of the lambs next. Ebay is brilliant pick up the old paperbacks for bout 2 quid each. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have got 50 quid in vouchers for Waterstones, so keep the posts on this thread coming - always nice to get some recommendations.

 

thumbsup.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started the following this afternoon. It's real e mails between a guy in Dundee and scam folk who are trying to get money out of him. He ties them up in knots with the writing being very very funny. Only started it this afternoon - seriously funny.

 

COVER-Delete+(F+%7BProof).jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johanes de Silentio

Im nearly finished "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. Really enjoying it. Watched the films "Manhunter" and the 2003 "Red Dragon" loads of times, but had never read any of the novels. The book is like a combination of the two. On to Silence of the lambs next. Ebay is brilliant pick up the old paperbacks for bout 2 quid each. :thumbsup:

 

All excellent, imo. :ninja:

 

Currently reading the new Keith Richards autobiography thing - it's good, even if he is constantly on about being hassled by the fuzz...when he is blatantly copping copius amounts of illegal substances!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a-scanner-darkly.png

 

Really not a big fan of sci fi but PKD is ******* brilliant.

 

Ubik & Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep are two of my favourite books ever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started reading the following last night. Very very powerful and incredibly moving. WW1 was a bloody slaughter on all sides.

 

undertones.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started reading the following last night. Very very powerful and incredibly moving. WW1 was a bloody slaughter on all sides.

 

undertones.jpg

 

Had not heard of this before - looks very interesting.

 

Finally have finished the Hirohito doorstop book. And am halfway through a christmas present - Inside the Box - My Life With Test Match Special by Peter Baxter. It's okay.

 

Next up might be a Flashman book I've been saving the reading of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snake Plissken

Just started Empire of Silver by Conn Iggulden.

 

I enjoyed the first three so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The People's Chimp

Not what I'm reading now, although I have bought a copy to give to my girlfriend, but Jim Dodge's Not fade away and Stone Junction are two of my favourite books. Anyone who likes scuzzy Americana, lone souls on a beat trip across the States, Kerouac with a serving of rock n roll on the side should check them out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and really enjoyed them. Have just started Buddah Da by Anne Donovan and it seems ok so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51fLeMdUhOL__SS500_.jpg

 

Quasi-beat poets in 1970s Mexico and their diaspora. The atmosphere it evokes is somewhere between Kerouac and early Tom Wolfe. Starts brilliantly but is incredibly dense - not sure I'm going to make it to the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...