Jump to content

What are you reading - Part II


jrlx

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

I read it quite recently too, they surely did it hard there.

Steve.

 

Very much an understatement there. It was a very uncomfortable read, but I am glad I did.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Walking Dead, by Gerald Seymour. The subject matter did not reach out to me but I was given it to read by an older friend so I plunged into it & am finding it quite readable if not enjoyable so far. I've not read a Seymour since In Honour Bound. I can see me looking for some of his others.

Steve.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/27/2020 at 4:26 AM, fatfingers said:

Just started The Black Bull by Patrick Delaforce. Story of 11th Armoured Div from Normandy to the Baltic.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

A darn interesting read, though I did find some annoyance that many of the maps didn't relate to the text as well as I thought they could have done, but then, I like to flick from text to map & back again to try to get the lie of the land in my mind.

Steve.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Handley Page Victor, Tales from a crew chief by Roger Brookes

 

First few chapters are very interesting

 

Just finished Phantom Boys and that was fascinating

Edited by cherry268
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I've handed in the final assignment of my studies, I can now read for pleasure rather than studies.

 

The first book I've picked up is Record Play Pause Part 1, the autobiography of Stephen Morris, the drummer of Joy Division and New Order, its quirky and funny thus far.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Two sunny light-hearted tomes recently acquired to jolly up these bleak times.

 

In a perpetually illuminated urban world, the majority of people no longer even consider this ancient set of experiences:

416QPP6D94L._AC_SY400_.jpg

Whilst David Edgerton's:

51D3YF8V4TL._AC_SY400_.jpg

- exposes the myths of a benevolent liberalism.

 

You occasionally read two books close together in time and have an uncanny feeling that they are in some way entangled with each other, like small markings on a much larger map that stretches out beyond your peripheral vision...

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If not already mentioned, I read last week on vacation:

 

You’re Stepping on my Cloak and Dagger by Roger Hall. Great quick read on the early days of the OSS. 

 

Spearhead by Adam Makos (also wrote A Higher Calling). Just one fantastic read that you will not put down. Very well written and is a fitting tribute the the troops who served in the European theater in WWII. Liked it so much, purchased his his third book Devotion. That will be read by the end if the week for sure. 

 

Cheers

Collin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just finished  a short personal memoir, "Moon over Burma : and other memories of an air force pilot" by Ray McLauchlan. an interesting snap shot of one mans experiences that dovetailed in with other reading I've done of this theatre. Mohawks & Hurricane with 5 sqn RAF were his mounts. Now reading "The Armed Rovers" by Roy C Nesbit. An easy but slightly harrowing read, they did it hard.

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Two sunny light-hearted tomes recently acquired to jolly up these bleak times.

 

In a perpetually illuminated urban world, the majority of people no longer even consider this ancient set of experiences:

416QPP6D94L._AC_SY400_.jpg

Whilst David Edgerton's:

51D3YF8V4TL._AC_SY400_.jpg

- exposes the myths of a benevolent liberalism.

 

You occasionally read two books close together in time and have an uncanny feeling that they are in some way entangled with each other, like small markings on a much larger map that stretches out beyond your peripheral vision...

 

 

 

Intrigued by the David Edgerton book, I looked it up on Amazon - £70 hardback, £30 paperback!

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Whofan said:

Intrigued by the David Edgerton book, I looked it up on Amazon - £70 hardback, £30 paperback!

 

@WhofanI suspect his “Rise and fall of the British Nation: a 20th Century History” and “Britain’s War Machine” will cover much the same ground (the description of the first reads like it could be the same book with a different title...) and are much more reasonably priced at £10 and £7 on Kindle or as real books...

best,

M.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mephisto. Technology, War and Remembrance by Jeff Hopkins-Weise and Gregory Czechura published by Queensland Museum, 2018. ISBN 978-0-6480944-2-5.

The book is about the only surviving World War One German tank A7V  Methisto. The story is about a small group of soldiers comprising of Queenslanders and Tasmanians of the 26th Battalion AIF, who retrieved the tank within sight of the German lines in July 1918 and its journey to Brisbane in June 1919, where it remains to this day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

@WhofanI suspect his “Rise and fall of the British Nation: a 20th Century History” and “Britain’s War Machine” will cover much the same ground (the description of the first reads like it could be the same book with a different title...) and are much more reasonably priced at £10 and £7 on Kindle or as real books...

best,

M.

Thanks for that. I couldn't believe the prices, though Amazon I know use a sort of price by demand, though I doubt that everyone in BM decided to look at it at the same time!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Whofan said:

Intrigued by the David Edgerton book, I looked it up on Amazon - £70 hardback, £30 paperback!

 

Inter-library loan via local library?

 

Ps. His England and the Aeroplane is one of the better recent histories of aviation in actually analyzing influences and interactions. Very accessible. 

 

'Rise and Fall' volume less worth bothering with as too condensed in relation to his talents.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/08/2020 at 19:12, Ray S said:

The latest I have nearly read is 'Burma '44' by James Holland. A very interesting and thought-provoking read.

 

Ray

That’s on my radar for a future read. I enjoyed the biography of General Slim and his account of the Burma campaign. 
 

Im half way through Holland’s book on Kindle about the Italian campaign which gives that bogey man Mark Clark a more sympathetic run than I’d expected 
 

I have just finished Jeremy Paxmans Great Britain’s Great War which I recommend. It’s a well written book and presents a thought provoking view on the social and other changes it brought to Britain. In many respects 1914 sees an Edwardian Britain looking back and by 1918 you can see it’s a radically different place. The land of lost content ?  Recommended

 

I have just started Ian Kershaw The End which seeks to explain why on earth Germany fought on after the liberation of the occupied countries   with the support of the German nation  when the writing was on the wall. Looks good from the first 50 pages in so far

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Inter-library loan via local library?

 

Ps. His England and the Aeroplane is one of the better recent histories of aviation in actually analyzing influences and interactions. Very accessible. 

 

'Rise and Fall' volume less worth bothering with as too condensed in relation to his talents.

That's a good idea. Thanks!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The latest in the 33 1/3 series of books turned up today;

 

SAM_8962

 

this is numberr 148, to join I'm your fan (songs of Leonard Cohen) and Suicide by Suicide received last week, numbers 147 and 149.

 

The next batch of these books isn't out until November, and will include books on Nick Cave's Murder ballads,  from Elvis in Memphis and 24 Carat black; Misfortune's wealth.

 

There are now 149 published, I have all of them, and truthfully I have started to read all of them, but I haven't necessarily finished all of them.

 

I also have the album (on CD) for 145 of them,  2 are on the way (Velvet Rope and Leonard Cohen.) The two I don't have albums for are the soundtrack to Super Mario Brothers (which doesn't exist outside the game media) and the other is the Golden Hits of the Shangri Las, never released on CD, and the vinyl - I don't have a record player.

 

I am toying with the idea of getting two different greatest hits of the Shangri Las to make a compilation myself of the tracks on the Golden Hits album, but haven't got around to it.

 

So the answer to the question what are you reading is actually ... the first chapter of the Velvet Rope!

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have just started 'Swallowdale' by Arthur Ransome.

 

I am on a childhood revisit kick at the moment...I read quite a few of the 'Swallows and Amazons' books when I was out in Singapore, and rediscovered the joy of them when I read 'Winter Holiday' the other month.

 

Cheers, Ray

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Ray S said:

I have just started 'Swallowdale' by Arthur Ransome.

 

I am on a childhood revisit kick at the moment...I read quite a few of the 'Swallows and Amazons' books when I was out in Singapore, and rediscovered the joy of them when I read 'Winter Holiday' the other month.

 

Cheers, Ray

Must be a major culture shock.  White middle-class kids with inappropriate names doing all kinds of stuff that would have Health & Safety frothing at the mouth (sailing without lifejackets!) completely without responsible adult supervision or preliminary risk assessments.  Tell me when you get to the one where they try smelting copper.

 

Second-hand or are they still in print?  Having visited the Stiperstones not too long ago, I have a similar hankering to reread some of the Lone Pine adventures.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Longest Night. London, 1941. The evening begins and the Luftwaffe are on their way. 

The fears and feelings of those who were waiting for them. An excellent read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Longest-Night-Voices-London-Blitz/dp/0753820684/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3UCO02X0EN258&dchild=1&keywords=the+longest+night&qid=1600795435&s=books&sprefix=the+longest+%2Caps%2C168&sr=1-2

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just discovered the actor, the late Anthony Quayle, wrote a book, Eight Hours from England. It’s a novel but.....  I also discovered he was in the Special Operations Executive in WW2 in the Balkans. Seemingly he didn’t like talking about his experiences but the story is very semi autobiographical. Perhaps a sort of catharsis 

Anyway cheap enough on Kindle and my next read. I will report back. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Seahawk said:

Must be a major culture shock.  White middle-class kids with inappropriate names doing all kinds of stuff that would have Health & Safety frothing at the mouth (sailing without lifejackets!) completely without responsible adult supervision or preliminary risk assessments.  Tell me when you get to the one where they try smelting copper.

 

Second-hand or are they still in print?  Having visited the Stiperstones not too long ago, I have a similar hankering to reread some of the Lone Pine adventures.

In this one @Seahawk, they are off boating and camping out with their Mother's consent!

 

This one is new, but I picked up two more at the bookshop in Henrietta Street, Chelters yesterday (Peter Duck and the Coot Club).

 

Good luck in your quest for the Lone Pine adventures!

 

Ray

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...