Hi again All,
I just finished " The Best of John Wyndham 1932-1949" an excellent collection of short stories by the acclaimed author of "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Midwich Cuckoos".
Classic "Old Skool" Sci Fi :wink:
Richie
Atonement by Ian McKewan. A superb novel by a great writer.
Hi again All,
I just finished " The Best of John Wyndham 1932-1949" an excellent collection of short stories by the acclaimed author of "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Midwich Cuckoos".
Classic "Old Skool" Sci Fi :wink:
Richie
I'm just finishing "Flyboys" by James Bradley. A fascinating and gruesome account of what happened to a group of downed U.S. naval aviators in the Pacific during WWII (one of the lucky ones was a certain future President Bush). It really struck me how my relatively recent interest in military timepieces has further romanticized my view of that period of history. When I read this book though I'm left with a far greater appreciation of the courage of our soldiers/sailors/pilots and just how ugly the reality of war is and how depraved humans can be when put in such extreme circumstances.
Rick
Just returned from a week's vacation in Aruba. Between playing with the kids in the water I managed to squeeze out two books. First the latest Myron Bolitar mystery from Harlan Coben ("Promise Me"). I've enjoyed all the Bolitar series and this was no exception. The second was "The Hard Way". Another Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. As always, a good read.
Rick
Reading on the train. I've just finished the third book Sovereign C J Sansom's Shardlake series. It is a murder mystery, of sorts, with the detective a lawyer, Jack Matthew Shardlake, who has acted as an agent for Cromwell, and now for Cranmer. Great stuff.
Reading before bed. Livy's The Early History of Rome. Sure to put you asleep after 5 pages.
Best wishes,
Bob
I've just read Terry Pratchett's first book in the Discworld series, The Colour of Magic. I was disappointed, after hearing so much praise about the books. I had to push though it, as I found it boring. It was like Theatre of the Absurd, without the wit.
On my view at least, not such a good read.
Best wishes,
Bob
The early books in general, and the ones relating to wizards/Rincewind in particular,are pretty poor imo. You might find some of the later books a bit better. I recommend the "Death" or "Watch" series. See http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-...-guide-1-5.jpgOriginally Posted by rfrazier
Edit: A short story that might be of particular interest to you: Death and What Comes Next
.
I just finished "Fatherland" as mentioned by Mr1974 earlier on in the thread, excellent book. On the back of reading that I have just started again "The Man in the High Castle" by Phil K Dick. It is based on the same premise of the Axis powers coming out on top in WW2, but this is based in Con. USA instead of Europe, as in the case of Fatherland.
Cheers, Hope you are all having a smashing bank holiday.
Ritchie :wink:
Dunno if it's been mention but just read THE GOOGLE STORY by David A. Vise.
Very good read - scary how much money and how much power these guys have gained in less than ten years !!!
D.
Just finished 'Measuring the World' by Daniel Kehlmann, a fictionalised story of naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss, the mathematician.
Humboldt explores the world by travelling and measuring everything he finds, Gauss stays at home yet does much the same thing using mathematics.
Against the backdrop of world events in the 18th and 19th centuries, Napoleon, Tsarist Russia etc - the scientific discoveries and political upheavals which gave birth to our modern times...
:)
Alan
Just read Daniel by Richard Adams.Topical this year re abolishion of slavery. Couldn't put it down.
Read in the last few weeks -
Kingdom Come - J.G. Ballard
Tescopoly
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Shane Warne, portrait of a flawed genius - Simon Wilde
Steep Approach to Garbadale - Iain Banks
and reading his ' The Crow Road' at the moment...:)
cheers
Alan
Reading "Strip Jack" by Ian Rankin right now. This is the fourth Rebus novel from 1992 and although I thought I'd read all of them, I either missed this one or have forgotten everything about it.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Just finished 'The Crow Road' by Iain Banks - excellent :)
Just bought and thoroughly enjoying "E.O. Hoppe's Amerika" photo documentary of 1920's America ... and has wetted my appetite to seek out his other books on India and Australia ... Hoppe was one of the most successful early to mid 20thC photographers.
http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/spring07/006544.htm
Dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
A few I've recently read and enjoyed.........
Thomas Harris - "Hannibal". You can see why it took him so long to write. One of the best crafted books I've ever read.
Wilbur Smith's "The River God" & "The "Seventh Scroll". Not usually a fan of his but after a recommendation I found these two linked stories excellent.
As another Terry Pratchet fan, I've also just finished reading the "Truckers", "Diggers" and "Wings" trilogy to my son and have to admit to enjoying them even more than he did!
Currently re-reading Eric Bernes "Games People Play" & Thomas Harris' "I'm OK, You're OK". Standard textbooks on Transactional Analysis for many years, but still give fascinating insights into human behaviour.
Just finished "The Walking Dead" by Gerald Seymour. Several threads all combining at the end of a single story and a great read.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Just Finished
"A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami, an excellent read and on a par with his other stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a copy of WG's "Spook Country" pretty soon, but am re reading Virtual Light / Pattern Recognition to get me in the right frame of mind :)
Cheers,
Richie :wink:
i usually get through 18 ish books in my month at work,as lots of time in my bunk doing bugger all, the one that stood out was a book called shantaram, its about a kiwi who breaks out of prison and goes on the run in bombay, helps the poor, works for the indian mafia, and ends up fighting in afghanistan!!!
it was one of those cant put me down til finished books
heared a rumour its being made into a movie next year as its so good.
mike :wink:
I'm about half way through Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, and I've very impressed. It's a fantastic read, and a fascinating story. I highly recommend it!
Not really a detailed discussion of operations, more a history of an incompetent and out of control agency in love with its own legend.
Last Light................... by Alex Scarrow.
A novel about what would happen if there was a crisis in the middle east and the oil supply dried up.
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.
After reading the "teaser" in the Sunday Times this morning, I definitely want to read "The Ghost" by Robert Harris, due for release on 4 October. It's about an ex-Prime Minister and the man employed to ghost-write his memoirs.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/rob ... /ghost.htm
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
I've just finished Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain (I had enjoyed the TV series). An interesting book, but a little disjointed - he does write well at least.
Qatar-wol, just finished that book myself. The CIA is such an entrenched bureaucracy that it's only going to get worse not better. It appears that they haven't got much right in their entire history.
Ted
I finished reading this one last week. For those who like the theme do not miss it. Impressive, to say the least.
Now I´m Reading "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek.
I'm halfway through Johnny Walkers autobiography.
A great read about pirate radio and west coast (weird) American life in the late 1960's so far.
Cheers,
Neil.
Hi Luso,
If you like the Allerberger Text you may like the following two also
Quite hard to get hold of but both good reads :wink:
Richie
"Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue"
I like your sig Richie which I know you realise came from the Clash. :D
A piss take on their manager rearranged from "Al Capone" by Prince Buster :lol:
Cheers,
Neil.
Hi Richie!
I also have Prichard´s work too, although a diferent edition. GREAT book, indeed. The chapter about the training of my countrymen was invaluable and a nice way to get in touch with my great-grandfather that was badly wounded by gas 1918.
Just finished 'Black Mass...apocalyptic religion and the death of Utopia' by John Gray.
This book explained an awful lot to me about what is happening in the world and the world view it proposes makes a lot of sense....but it made my brain hurt :wink:
Next up - something lighter - 'The Howling Miller' by Arto Paasilinna....our Finnish friends may know this guy....
:)
Alan
I can strongly recommend Stuart MacBride. Scottish police thrillers with black humour.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
o
Hi All,
Jusy finished Haruki Murakamis' newest translation, "After Dark". I must say it is a pretty strange read, I think maybe not up to his usual standard.
I'm still waiting for a copy of WG's "Spook Country" to appear in the local charity shops :wink: , if one doesn't turn up soon I may have to go, god forbid, and pay the full price in a proper bookshop :)
Richie
PS, Should god have a capital G ?
Just finished Pratchetts newest Making Money. It wasn't bad typical Discworld.
For work related reasons, I've just reread Karl Popper's Poverty of Historicism. It is more accessible, and much more interesting than I remembered.
Best wishes,
Bob
Earth Abides
George R Stewart..................written in 1949
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.
Reading Richard Branson's autobiography at mo. Very good.
Paul
GOT...TO...KILL...CAPTAIN STUPID!
o
Cor, "Earth Abides" I think I read that as a nipper ? Is it about everybody on earth dying or something and a guy surviving ?
I also read it ages ago.Originally Posted by Richie
There is a great Charlton Heston movie, called "The Omega Man", about something like this.Originally Posted by Ron Jr
Best wishes,
Bob
That was based on "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson read that decades ago also. It is being done with Will Smith in the lead and Vincent Price did a version a long time ago I think it was a Hammer film though not certain.Originally Posted by rfrazier
Big fan of the Nelson DeMille books. I've read and enjoyed all but particularly recommend:
Charm School
Plum Island
Nightfall
Also enjoyed the Janet Evanovich books about Stephanie Plum, if you're looking for a lighter read.
The Omega Man was based on the book, I Am LegendOriginally Posted by rfrazier
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.
By someone like Richard Matherson. Bought it a couple of summers ago, while in a Sci-Fi, horror mood, and really enjoyed it. It's always interesting to see an author or director sweep away all civilization and imagine what comes after - Stephen King's "The Stand", or "28 Days Later".Originally Posted by Griff
I've always liked the 'end of the world' genre.Originally Posted by Qatar-wol
An old favourite is John Christopher's 1956 'No Blade of Grass'
(aka 'The Death of Grass').
Cheers :)
When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.Anyone read any good books recently ?
Henny Youngman
Don't know that - I'll have a look on Amazon now!Originally Posted by Dapper
Edit - Oh, snap! Out of print, and GBP40 for a used one! Wow. Time to try abebooks.com , I think!
"Occupational Hazards" by Rory Stewart, who at the age of 30 was made governor of a province of Iraq. In some circumstances it could be easy to be a little annoyed at someone so precocious, but it's an excellent (if somewhat depressing at times) read, written by a modest man with clearly a great deal of talent.
'What was lost' by Katherine O'Flynn .........excellent book which reminds you what freakin idiots we are in falling for the whole 'consumerism is the path to happiness' lie and what we have given up to live that life.
:?
Alan
I have just got a copy from Abebooks cost £15.Originally Posted by Qatar-wol
In the uk the title was called The Death of Grass.
Here is some interesting info on the author via this link:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Christopher
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.