Short books - any ideas?

[JCB123]

Morning all....

I'm off away soon and I really need to relax with a good book or two.

I'm not into long books as I get bored, nor fiction, nor celeb' 'biog's

So does anyone know of any decent short reads? Educational, science, war, inventors etc all fit the bill.....and I've read most Clarkson efforts so they're out too.

Thanks in advance!

[dirty doug]

Decent short read? Jonathon Livingston Seagull. You can read it in an afternoon but you need to read it about 5 times to get the message properly. My most treasured book by far.

[Eric Mc]

The Shepherd by Freddie Forsythe (short aviation based ghost story)

How about a book of science fiction short stories? There are a number of collections of this sort by some of the classic SF writers such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury or Arthur C Clarke. They are often amusing and usually have a little twist at the end.

If you aren't into any sort of fiction, anything by Bill Bryson is eminently readable. Although a BIG book, his "Short History of Nearly Everything" is readable in bite sized chunks. I'd also recommend "Bad Astronomy" by Phil Plait.
There is a new book out called "Bad Science" by Ben Goldacre which looks like it might be worth a read.
On an aviation theme, "Plane Speaking" by Bill Gunston is good.

[nerf]

'The boy who kicked pigs' by Tom Baker (yes, the REAL Doctor Who!).. i'm not a great reader but i finished this in one sitting, utterly brilliant!

[BoRED S2upid]

Mr Men books are a quick read, I read Mr Grumpy last night TWICE!.

[Jem Thompson]

Another vote for Bill Bryson. His tale of travelling America is absolutely wonderful. Also worth a read is Thunderpants Kid, a very humorous account of his childhood.

[V8mate]

Just finished 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell.

Short book and written with a wide audience in mind; fantastic insight into how we come to conclusions about things through rapid decisions and why we are sometimes right and sometimes so very wrong.

Highly recommended if you are interested in the interaction between human physiology and psychology.

Written in a journalistic rather than academic style.

[Andy_stook_2k]

The Boilerplate War by John Foley....191 pages and very well written.

[HiRich]

Raymond Baxter's last autobiography (can't remember the name as it's out on loan). Not short, but it's just a series of anecdotes through his life (Spitfire pilot, racer, commentator, TV presenter and Dunkirk boat owner). So a series of bite-sized chunks - but be warned, you will keep reading "just another couple of pages".

[Menguin]

The long walk - Slavomir Rawicz

Brilliant story of some POWs escaping from a Siberian labour camp and ending up in India.

[DrTre]

Hellraisers

Life and times of Richards Burton and Harris, Peter O'Toole and Ollie Reed.

Brain at the door, laugh along stuff. Not celeb biogs, just funny stories from their lives really.

Edited by DrTre on Tuesday 25th August 11:40

[Eric Mc]

HiRich said:

Raymond Baxter's last autobiography (can't remember the name as it's out on loan). Not short, but it's just a series of anecdotes through his life (Spitfire pilot, racer, commentator, TV presenter and Dunkirk boat owner). So a series of bite-sized chunks - but be warned, you will keep reading "just another couple of pages".

"Tales of My Time" I Think.

[shirt]

nerf said:

'The boy who kicked pigs' by Tom Baker (yes, the REAL Doctor Who!).. i'm not a great reader but i finished this in one sitting, utterly brilliant!

one sitting, i'm not surprised - its a tea break read!

OP - try slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut. its short but also a true modern classic and one of my all time favourite books. can usually be found for £3 or so in HMV and the like.

[Chris71]

dirty doug said:

Decent short read? Jonathon Livingston Seagull.

Excellent suggestion! The Alchemist is quite similar in that regard, although I think I prefer Jonathon Livingston Seagull.

I recently read a collection of (longish) short stories by Frederick Forsyth called The Veteran. The longest of those must have been a couple of hundred pages, so there's enough to get your teeth into.

Also, Saki (Charles Monroe? trying to remember his real name...) was an Edwardian author who wrote some fantastic short stories which you can still get compilations of.

Chocolat is another one on the bookself at the moment and that's not huge either.

[monthefish]

Once Bitten, Twice Fined.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitten-Twice-Fined-Graeme-...

[mattviatura]

The History of French Military Victories.

Sorry

[PhillT]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is really good - read that in an afternoon.
I know you specified short, but I just finished Jackie Stewart's autobiography - Winning is Not Enough - and found it absolutely fascinating.

[tenohfive]

Zombie Survival Handbook - Max Brooks. Short enough, easy going, hilarious at points but some genuinely good advice of what to do in the event of a zombie apolocalypse.

Essential reading for the man that thinks ahead.

[BigBen]

PhillT said:

I just finished Jackie Stewart's autobiography - Winning is Not Enough - and found it absolutely fascinating.

Especailly the bit about what a great chap Sir Fred Goodwin is I agree a really good book for the most part then goes into a celeb sycophancy fest towards the end

[JCB123]

Blimey - now there are too many to choose from - the Seagul book sounds like a must though!