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What are you reading - Part II


jrlx

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My current read is 'Biggles Learns to Fly'

 

This is my 82nd book (that I remember) reading since March 2020 when our 'Lockdown' first kicked in.

 

Ray

 

 

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Just finished "The Secret of Chimneys" by Agatha Christie ,it was her sixth book written in 1925. It does not feature Poirot and Miss Marple was yet to be created. Chimneys is an English country estate which is the scene for much of the book, it is also the unofficial meeting place where international deals are worked out with the blessing of government. Of course the book contains a murder and various suspects and red herrings and an interesting, although rushed in my opinion, ending. Although the book was written 95 years ago I felt the plot and characters still worked and found it a pleasurable read, perhaps one of the better Christie books that I have read.  

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It was Secret Days by Asa Briggs. I didn't realise that Bletchley Park wasn't the only codebreakers outpost nearby! There were in various villages and properties numerous parts of the codebreaking teams!

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I'm into the second of Gavin Youngs world travel books, Slow boats home. I thoroughly enjoyed rereading the first one, Slow Boats to China.

It's now 1982, he's left China and after returning to Hong Kong, which was then just 15 years from handover back to China he is on a 

Container ship down near the Philippines, near the scene of his Pirate hijacking in the previous book. 

These books, despite it being not so long ago, are full of interesting Characters living in a world that, today, seems almost technology free.

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From Audible, Mussolini's Wars by John Gooch. A very interesting account of how, despite warnings from the military, Mussolini committed Italy to more and more military commitments and ended up being ever more reliant on the Germans. Good on the Army and Navy, but a bit light on the Air Force. 

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Quartered Safe Out Here by George Macdonald Fraser, writer of the Flashman books. The story of his service in Burma toward the end of the war, a really good if sobering read, a couple of action descriptions are stunningly well done & left me quite breathless.

Steve.

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48 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

Quartered Safe Out Here by George Macdonald Fraser, writer of the Flashman books.

Brilliant book... one of the best war memoirs of all. Helps that he was an excellent writer, his craft honed as a journalist. Have you read his McAuslan stories @stevehnz
best,

M.

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The McAuslan books are hilarious and worth both reading cover to cover and dipping in to.

I'd also recommend Mr American by George MacDonald Fraser - set in Edwardian times - a great story and a great read.

 

if you like detective stories with a difference, the Bernie Gunter books by Philip Kerr are superb. The stories dip from the Weimar republic through the 2nd WW to the 1950s; they link history to fiction. The information about various real characters at the end of each book give a worrying insight into how many former Nazis ended up in positions of power in what became the EC and Interpol.

 

I'm currently on the final book of Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy; the pictures are far better than the TV series and are really emotionally draining.

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1 hour ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Brilliant book... one of the best war memoirs of all. Helps that he was an excellent writer, his craft honed as a journalist. Have you read his McAuslan stories @stevehnz
best,

M.

I only got this book from the library after recognising his name, my Dad was a big fan of the Flashman series, after reading this, I'll happily look for his other works.

Steve.

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4 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

I only got this book from the library after recognising his name, my Dad was a big fan of the Flashman series, after reading this, I'll happily look for his other works.

Steve.

The Complete McAuslan https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0006513719/
See if your library has this...

And if it was your Dad who read Flashman, but you haven’t, then you DO have a treat in store...

best,

M.

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2 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

And if it was your Dad who read Flashman, but you haven’t, then you DO have a treat in store...

I did read a few, ages ago now but I still have the ones Dad had & intend rereading them, my memory of them, though hazy now, is of enjoyment. 

Steve.

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Fiasco, by John Deane Potter, the inside story of Operation Cerberus & certainly far more in depth that my Dad's copy of Terence Robinsons's, "Channel Dash". It has long been a story that has fascinated me, Eugene Esmond, 485 squadron Spitfires, great personal gallantry & astonishing wooden headedness from the higher echelon, least that is what I've long though, maybe this will change some of that. :unsure:

Thanks to @davecov for the recommendation recently. :)

Steve.

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Adults in the Room, by Yannis Varoufakis.

 

Shall we say, it's interesting?

 

Ray S, you mentioned you were on your 82nd book since our "lockdown" first kicked in - I'm guessing that's since March 23rd last year?

 

This is my 77th book since then. My wife and I have also completed 20 1,000 piece and 1 500 piece jigsaw in the time, as well.

 

I took 75 of the books I’d read since 23rd March last year to Sainsbury's charity shelves a week or so ago - went into Sainsbury's the other day and they'd all gone. I hope everyone who took them made a donation.

 

I now have 62 in my book stash, plus 10 in the 33 1/3rd series of books on albums to read!

 

Edited by Whofan
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I've got one book left unread, by Michael Connolly. I'm hoping that the animal charity near me where I usually get all of my reading material from, will be allowed to open up to sell books again. Otherwise, I'll be back to reading sauce labels again.

 

John.

 

 

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Almost finished "The Quiet Americans" by Scott Anderson. It chronicles the exploits of four spies during the the latter part of WWII, the beginning of the Cold War and the creation of the CIA. While there is a lot of information on the subject matter the author seems to spend a lot of time on the backstory to certain events and the characters involved in them. 

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HMS Laviathan by John Winton. 

Mid sixties Royal Navy. The new huge carrier Lavaithan had a disastrous first cruise, in which if it could go wrong, it did.

The Ship was recalled, Aircraft flown off, and the majority of Officers and crew moved on. Which spells bad news for their promotion prospects.

We join the book as the new Commander, fresh back from the far East, takes up his post, and finds that morale is at the bottom of the harbour.

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The Ship Busters, the story of the RAF torpedo bombers, by Ralph Barker. An older book & to begin with I thought it a bit jingoistic, but after I'd adapted to the more personal style of narrative, I began to really enjoy it. I believe it does a good job of making the personalities involved in this endeavour of war come alive.

Steve.

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