Books - What are you reading?

[Stan the Bat]

droopsnoot said:

I've just finished "The Night Fire", the latest Michael Connolly book, which was very good, as they all are. Merged Bosch and Ballard into the same novel, with a bit of Mickey Haller thrown in.

Halfway through it, a good read.

[tight fart]

Heard him on the radio over the weekend and it sounded a good plot.

[TheJimi]

tight fart said:

Heard him on the radio over the weekend and it sounded a good plot.

Good yarn, that. I read it a couple of months back, first Harris book I've read.

[matchmaker]

nonsequitur said:

Me by Elton John. Fills in all the gaps from biographies published previously. Honest and frank, an exellent read.

Got given this for my birthday. As above, an excellent read.

[Adam B]

TheJimi said:

Good yarn, that. I read it a couple of months back, first Harris book I've read.

he has done some great stuff - Fatherland, Archangel are best place to start and the Cicero trilogy are also good

Munich I read recently and found it a bit dull

[Craig W]

Any recommendations for books that are fairly easy to read about different historical events? I know that's a very broad question...

I've always enjoyed history and am fairly open to learn about anything as long as it is interesting. I've got a few different books that I haven't begun yet, and in the past I've purchased mostly around the world wars as an obvious starting point, a couple by Max Hastings (yet to start) and also a book called "Guns of August" which I have heard is very good, but again haven't begun that.

I thought I'd start with "The History of The World" by JM Roberts and then pick at specific events or time periods that interest me. I'm halfway through but to be honest I do find I have to be 100% focused and engaged to get the most out of it, which is often not the mood I am in when I want to read. It uses quite a lot of academic language which is fine, but I do prefer the more easy to read books, but without the different historical bias which I realise is not always easy to find.

Any subjects really as long as its engaging... the balkans, cold war, vietnam conflict, general US history, famous rulers from the past (Genghis, Mao, Stalin, whatever), british history pre-1900... really anything that is interesting.

Ta.

[towser]

Craig W said:

Any recommendations for books that are fairly easy to read about different historical events? I know that's a very broad question...

I've always enjoyed history and am fairly open to learn about anything as long as it is interesting. I've got a few different books that I haven't begun yet, and in the past I've purchased mostly around the world wars as an obvious starting point, a couple by Max Hastings (yet to start) and also a book called "Guns of August" which I have heard is very good, but again haven't begun that.

I thought I'd start with "The History of The World" by JM Roberts and then pick at specific events or time periods that interest me. I'm halfway through but to be honest I do find I have to be 100% focused and engaged to get the most out of it, which is often not the mood I am in when I want to read. It uses quite a lot of academic language which is fine, but I do prefer the more easy to read books, but without the different historical bias which I realise is not always easy to find.

Any subjects really as long as its engaging... the balkans, cold war, vietnam conflict, general US history, famous rulers from the past (Genghis, Mao, Stalin, whatever), british history pre-1900... really anything that is interesting.

Ta.

A few more readable ones that I've enjoyed over the years:

1) The Forever War by Dexter Filkins - focuses on the recent conflicts in the middle east
2) The Road to Kosovo by Greg Campbell
3) Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean - more of a "boy's own " tale but set within some interesting historical backdrops
4) Any of the Stephen Ambrose books on WW2 are very readable
5) The Great War For Civilisation by Robert Fisk - although it's a but of a daunting looking book it's a great read, once again focused on the middle east and the "War on Terror"
6) A Peoples Tragedy by Orlando Figes - on the russian revolution
7) The Cold War by Odd Arne Westad - a fairly dense subject but I found this very engaging

[Craig W]

Thanks! will look those up.

[lowdrag]

Well, I've finished "In a House of Lies" by Ian Rankin and it was quite a plot with an unusual ending. I give nothing away by saying that Big Ger Cafferty is still lurking in the background!

[coppice]

TheJimi said:

tight fart said:

Heard him on the radio over the weekend and it sounded a good plot.

Good yarn, that. I read it a couple of months back, first Harris book I've read.

Promising plot , but I found it a plodding and unconvincing read with an underwhelming climax. His other books are much , much better- try Pompeii and An Officer and a Spy - they will certainly not disappoint.

[McGee_22]

Craig W said:

Thanks! will look those up.

Try also 'Jerusalem, The Biography' by Simon Sebag Montefiore, an unbiased history of the City from its first origins up to fairly recently.

And 'Former People' by Douglas Smith, the story of the never-ending persecution of former nobles in Russia who were marginalised and exterminated by every means possible by the Communist State for decades after the revolution.

Both the above are very human stories and as such I have returned to them time and time again.

[droopsnoot]

I've just finished "Blue Moon", the latest Jack Reacher book by Lee Child. Overall it was pretty good, the usual stuff, but I did find that there was some quite "fussy" writing style. Lots of paragraphs. With really short sentences. Designed to sound snappy. But just annoying. After a while.

[Perseverant]

As regards history, I'd certainly endorse Stephen Ambrose, a great American historian. Try "Crazy Horse and Custer" - a dual biography. Currently I'm at last most of the way through "Wolf Hall" - vicious Tudor politics - having started it a couple of times then mislaid the damn book when we moved! C. J. Sansom is also a brilliant novelist on the same period, and I'd recommend "Winter in Madrid" set in the Spanish Civil War, and "Dominion" (same author)
Anthony Beevor is good as a military historian, and I've also enjoyed "What if?" and "More What if?" which are essays by historians looking at what might have been the outcomes if events had gone, in some cases only slightly differently to what actually happened. I haven't phrased that too well and I know that counterfactual history is scorned by some, but approached as an academic exercise is fascinating.

[andy_s]

Ploughing through Thomas Metzinger'sThe Ego Tunnel at the moment, very good investigation into the nature of self from a neurological, theory of consciousness point of view - basically he argues that there is no 'self' but an emergent sense of self. Fascinating stuff.



Next up is a Joe Rogan inspired choice: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.



Blurb:
"In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all. Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second is the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches."

---

@ GoatyBill - have you read any Alexander Herzen? I've been dipping into Isaiah Berlin and he's been brought up a few times.

Edited by andy_s on Saturday 21st December 20:40

[RDMcG]

lowdrag said:

Well, I've finished "In a House of Lies" by Ian Rankin and it was quite a plot with an unusual ending. I give nothing away by saying that Big Ger Cafferty is still lurking in the background!

I enjoyed that very much. Once had a pint with Ian Rankin..absolutely down to earth fellow, and his characters reflect that. There is a humanity to Rebus that I enjoy even if his taste in music is a bit off now and then.

[RDMcG]

Am reading Say Nothing. a factual account of a murder in Belfast at the height of the troubles there. It is searingly accurate and gives a balanced and unsentimental acount of pure hatred. Very well written.

[Prolex-UK]

Just on book 8 of the scitt cullen series by ed james.

Based in edinburgh. Gritty police series.

Some great characters.

Well worth a read

[jimmyjimjim]

Found a series of books on Amazon that I fancied reading last night.
Looked them up on abebooks... no great saving, so was going to get the first in paperback $11. Nope.
Kindle $5, better
Kindle unlimited, $10 a month...tempting.
3 month Kindle unlimited trial...99c - done!

Looks like I'll be binging books for the next 3 months as my entertainment.

Oh, the Hellequin Chronicles, Stephen McHugh.
First one down, like a slightly less good Dresden files. Reviews suggest the series gets better; I'll know by the end of Christmas.

[Goaty Bill 2]

andy_s said:

@ GoatyBill - have you read any Alexander Herzen? I've been dipping into Isaiah Berlin and he's been brought up a few times.

I am peripherally familiar with his name but have never read anything by him.
A quick read though the wiki would suggest that he was quite influential in promoting the emancipation of the serfs and a moderate approach to a reformation towards socialism (not violent radical communism) in early to mid 19th century Russia.

However I have never seen him referenced in the pantheon of the great Russian authors.
May well be worth a little research at some point.

[andy_s]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

andy_s said:

@ GoatyBill - have you read any Alexander Herzen? I've been dipping into Isaiah Berlin and he's been brought up a few times.

I am peripherally familiar with his name but have never read anything by him.
A quick read though the wiki would suggest that he was quite influential in promoting the emancipation of the serfs and a moderate approach to a reformation towards socialism (not violent radical communism) in early to mid 19th century Russia.

However I have never seen him referenced in the pantheon of the great Russian authors.
May well be worth a little research at some point.

Cheers - Tolstoy rated him but I'm not sure I want to embark on 4 volumes of memoirs so was looking for a steer, just thought it may have been be up your alley.