Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
FunkyNige said:
If you enjoy the history of ancient Rome I'd thoroughly recommend 'The Storm Before the Storm' by Mike Duncan, it covers the events from 133-80 BC (the period where things went from normal up to utterly bonkers). I bought it as I listened to his podcast and wanted to support him but it's a fairly lighthearted read about a fascinating period of history.
Thanks for the recommendation. Is he the American guy? I was recommended his podcast but I couldn’t fully get along with his presenting style! Maybe better in written form. TomTheTyke said:
FunkyNige said:
If you enjoy the history of ancient Rome I'd thoroughly recommend 'The Storm Before the Storm' by Mike Duncan, it covers the events from 133-80 BC (the period where things went from normal up to utterly bonkers). I bought it as I listened to his podcast and wanted to support him but it's a fairly lighthearted read about a fascinating period of history.
Thanks for the recommendation. Is he the American guy? I was recommended his podcast but I couldn’t fully get along with his presenting style! Maybe better in written form. Just finished Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. Very evocative and beautifully written.
Before that D Day Girls by Sarah Rose. Better than I expected, a really good read.
Just finishing Robert Harris’s Munich. As always with Harris an interesting blend of fact and fiction and very enjoyable.
I’ve read a lot of books recently and most seem to be WW2 based. My Dad died last month and he lived through the war and I think that, and the fact that 2020 is so rubbish, sparked a nostalgic feeling. Going to read the latest Peter Robinson next for a change.
Before that D Day Girls by Sarah Rose. Better than I expected, a really good read.
Just finishing Robert Harris’s Munich. As always with Harris an interesting blend of fact and fiction and very enjoyable.
I’ve read a lot of books recently and most seem to be WW2 based. My Dad died last month and he lived through the war and I think that, and the fact that 2020 is so rubbish, sparked a nostalgic feeling. Going to read the latest Peter Robinson next for a change.
j4r4lly said:
I read this recently which I found fascinating. Henshaw was the Chief Test Pilot at Supermarine's Castle Bromwich factory and is estimated to have flown 10% of all Spitfires ever built.
More Spitfire goodness with Jeffrey Quill's Spitfire, a Test Pilot's StoryAlso RR aero engine history (from Merlin development - jets) as experienced in Sir Stanley Holloway bio Not Much of an Engineer
unrepentant said:
I haven't read the book yet (but will as I'm a fan) so maybe it ties in with the plot, but what's a (post 1956) Morris 1000 doing on the cover of a WW2 based book?Pistonheads, where the trivial things matter!
TomTheTyke said:
Hello all, I've just found this thread. At the start of 2019 I made a resolution to read a bit more and to keep a record of what I was reading. Here is the list. For no particular reason other than I've enjoyed making time to read more regularly and I feel like I've learned a lot within fairly narrow areas, mainly history, politics and cricket!
2019
Our Island Story, HE Marshall
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Kiriakos; A British Partisan in Wartime Greece, Don Turner
How I Found Livingstone, HM Stanley
The Second World War, AJP Taylor
A Classical Education, Caroline Taggart
A Clear Blue Sky, Jonny Bairstow
Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marhsall
Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd
Beyond a Boundary, CLR James
The Five, Hallie Rubenhold
The Secret Barrister
Roman Britain, RG Collingwood
Reach for the Sky, Paul Brickhill
Memoirs, Montgomery of Alamein
1959 The Year that Changed Everything, Fred Kaplan
Executive Summary of the Chilcot Report
SPQR A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard
The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot
Nelson; Britannia's God of War, Andrew Lambert
Greece; A Journey in Time, SFA Coles
One Summer America 1927, Bill Bryson
The Odyssey, Homer
1914 1918 The History of the First World War, David Stephenson
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
2020 so far
Tudor; The Family Story, Leanda De Lisle
Hereward; the Last Englishman, Peter Rex
The Strange Death of Europe, Douglas Murray
Test Match Special Diary 2019
Greek Civilization Vols 1-3, Andre Bonnard
Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
The English Civil War a Peoples' History, Diane Purkiss
How to be a Footballer, Peter Crouch
William Pitt the Younger, William Hague
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare
The Establishment & How They Get Away With It, Owen Jones
The Picador Book of Cricket, Ramachandra Guha ed.
The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared, Jonas Jonasson
Empire, Niall Ferguson
Warren Hastings and British India, Penderel Moon (the only book on this list I had read before)
A Modern History of Hong Kong, Steve Tsang
Currently reading: The Iliad
During this time I've given up on a couple. Ian Wright's autobiography; I like football but it just didn't interest me. Captain Scott's diary, read the dramatic end but the rest of it was descriptions of snow, not sure why that was a surprise. Also The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham. It's so well researched but very dense; 700 pages of small writing for 30 years of history. Might start this up again given current events and I've read a bit on colonialism again recently.
That's quite a list - and some useful books that have now been added to my 'must read' list - thank you2019
Our Island Story, HE Marshall
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Kiriakos; A British Partisan in Wartime Greece, Don Turner
How I Found Livingstone, HM Stanley
The Second World War, AJP Taylor
A Classical Education, Caroline Taggart
A Clear Blue Sky, Jonny Bairstow
Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marhsall
Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd
Beyond a Boundary, CLR James
The Five, Hallie Rubenhold
The Secret Barrister
Roman Britain, RG Collingwood
Reach for the Sky, Paul Brickhill
Memoirs, Montgomery of Alamein
1959 The Year that Changed Everything, Fred Kaplan
Executive Summary of the Chilcot Report
SPQR A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard
The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot
Nelson; Britannia's God of War, Andrew Lambert
Greece; A Journey in Time, SFA Coles
One Summer America 1927, Bill Bryson
The Odyssey, Homer
1914 1918 The History of the First World War, David Stephenson
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
2020 so far
Tudor; The Family Story, Leanda De Lisle
Hereward; the Last Englishman, Peter Rex
The Strange Death of Europe, Douglas Murray
Test Match Special Diary 2019
Greek Civilization Vols 1-3, Andre Bonnard
Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
The English Civil War a Peoples' History, Diane Purkiss
How to be a Footballer, Peter Crouch
William Pitt the Younger, William Hague
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare
The Establishment & How They Get Away With It, Owen Jones
The Picador Book of Cricket, Ramachandra Guha ed.
The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared, Jonas Jonasson
Empire, Niall Ferguson
Warren Hastings and British India, Penderel Moon (the only book on this list I had read before)
A Modern History of Hong Kong, Steve Tsang
Currently reading: The Iliad
During this time I've given up on a couple. Ian Wright's autobiography; I like football but it just didn't interest me. Captain Scott's diary, read the dramatic end but the rest of it was descriptions of snow, not sure why that was a surprise. Also The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham. It's so well researched but very dense; 700 pages of small writing for 30 years of history. Might start this up again given current events and I've read a bit on colonialism again recently.
I've just finished "Carver" by Tom Cain, which was pretty good. I thought that as it was named after the central character in the book it might be the first in a series, but it turns out that it's about the third or fourth. Carver is a random paid assassin with some secret agent background, hired to kill a financier.
Desiderata said:
unrepentant said:
I haven't read the book yet (but will as I'm a fan) so maybe it ties in with the plot, but what's a (post 1956) Morris 1000 doing on the cover of a WW2 based book?Pistonheads, where the trivial things matter!
So I have made it.
Finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. A book I can’t say I loved, but its a good yarn.
It’s clear that 19th century Paris had a distinct lack of decent house servants, since of all the things to admire about the Count, his contemporaries seem to admire the alacrity and anticipation of his servants the most.
7/10
Finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. A book I can’t say I loved, but its a good yarn.
It’s clear that 19th century Paris had a distinct lack of decent house servants, since of all the things to admire about the Count, his contemporaries seem to admire the alacrity and anticipation of his servants the most.
7/10
Gargamel said:
So I have made it.
Finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. A book I can’t say I loved, but its a good yarn.
It’s clear that 19th century Paris had a distinct lack of decent house servants, since of all the things to admire about the Count, his contemporaries seem to admire the alacrity and anticipation of his servants the most.
7/10
I have that on my shelf. I have never got around to reading it. If I can reach the end of "seven Pillars of Wisdom", it may be my next epic classic, at some point.Finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. A book I can’t say I loved, but its a good yarn.
It’s clear that 19th century Paris had a distinct lack of decent house servants, since of all the things to admire about the Count, his contemporaries seem to admire the alacrity and anticipation of his servants the most.
7/10
droopsnoot said:
I've just finished "Endangered" by CJ Box, one of the series featuring Joe Picket, the US Wildlife and Game warden. I always enjoy these, regardless of what other mayhem is going on they paint a nice picture of the wide open countryside.
Read all of them. Great characters and storylines
Finished this last week. Very interesting and insightful read. If you were surprised that Brexit happened and Trump got into power, you need to read this.
Finished this today. Great book. Excellent rebuttal to the woke intersectional politics that appears to be infiltrating everyday life.
Now onto this:
Finished this today. Great book. Excellent rebuttal to the woke intersectional politics that appears to be infiltrating everyday life.
Now onto this:
g3org3y said:
Finished this last week. Very interesting and insightful read. If you were surprised that Brexit happened and Trump got into power, you need to read this.
Finished this today. Great book. Excellent rebuttal to the woke intersectional politics that appears to be infiltrating everyday life.
Now onto this:
I like a bit of realism to balance up the fiction.... will have to take a look.Finished this today. Great book. Excellent rebuttal to the woke intersectional politics that appears to be infiltrating everyday life.
Now onto this:
Am in two minds over the Steven Levy book. It was a bit boring. TBH.
MC Bodge said:
K12beano said:
I like a bit of realism to balance up the fiction.... will have to take a look.
It's also important to find "realism" that isn't just bias / confirmation bias. 
I don't mind a bit of balance.
g3org3y said:
Now onto this:
Finished this morning.Insightful, positive and actually quite uplifting. Did open my eyes to quite a few common misconceptions about the world we live in.
Edited by g3org3y on Wednesday 24th June 06:14
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