Jump to content

What are you reading - Part II


jrlx

Recommended Posts

42 minutes ago, FalkeEins said:

..any more info on these? web site or link perhaps,  sound interesting..

Certainly.

 

The website is a little  - shall we say ordinary, but here it is;

 

http://333sound.com/

 

It isn't up to date and doesn't have the full list of books published and all are still in print, but the full list is here;

 

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/33-13/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

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.

 

Yes, an excellent book, IMHO John Winton's best, certainly of his serious books as opposed to his 'We Joined The Navy' series.  Commander Markready is a very sympathetic character, and you just want him to succeed.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Dead Zone by Stephen King. Have been eyeing this book off in a local bookstore for a couple of months now and decided to purchase it yesterday. It was the first novel by Stephen King that I read in the early eighties.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Widowmaker - Living and Dying with the Corsair by Tim Hillier-Graves. Very interesting as while I had read the Corsair was a handful in the beginning I had not quite registered the appalling loss rates for any pilots even quite far into the war. In some periods of operations it seeme like as many were lost in accidents as by enemy action. The early marks were the worst and from what the author says any airframe from Brewster was downright dangerous due poor manufacturing with wings dropping off. Goodyear production on the other hand was the opposite. One can see why there was debate over stopping production in favour of more Hellcats

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was right. A very different thing from the film. Bond and Kanaka were drinking huge amounts of Saki and suffering the next morning.

Blofeld and his sidekick Irma turned up, As did Kissy Suzuki the love interest, All in all, I can see why they rewrote it.

 

And now I am nearing the end of, Fear is the Hunter by Earnest K Gann, This is the second read but won't be the last one.

A tale of early American Airline flying in the thirties. We begin on the DC-2. You have your route. Minimal Nav aids or navigational knowledge anyway.

Mostly it's look out of the window stuff. Except for when they're iced up, or it's snowing, or for many other reasons.

This book contains some of the most poetic collections of descriptive terms for the weather and flying you could ever find.

You are there in the cockpit when the wings ice up and the engines start to backfire because the carb intakes iced up too. There are moments of terror!

It gradually merges to the DC-3, a much loved Aircraft. And WW2.  By then, Goose bay is a staging post to Bluie West one, which is somewhere down a Fjord in Greenland'

Then came the C-87. A collection of parts that looked a bit like a Liberator but never flew like an Aeroplane and fell out of the sky if it iced up.

Anyone with an interest in the flying of those days or Propflying in general really needs to read this book.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm about halfway through the last Day, by Andrew Hunter Murray, on and off with Vietnam by Max Hastings. 

 

The premise of the Last Day is  ..... 2059, the world has stopped turning. Half the Earth is in sunshine, half in darkness.

 

Only a thin sliver of earth between the day and night zones can sustain life. The UK happens to be in that sliver.

 

The story follows a young scientist who is told by her former tutor at Oxford there is a secret about the world stopping turning - and only she can find it.

 

Murders, sinister secret policement (In the UK ? You betcha, without them there's no story !!)

 

Once Vietnam and The Last Day are finshed, I have Legacy by Michael Gilliard to read.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently I am reading life in a medieval village.... Brushing up for this show season if we get one (I portray a hunter/game keeper/jager in 2 era's the late 14th to early 15th century and late 15th century for living history) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going through a bit of an Eastern Front phase

 

Fiction-wise, just finished Southern of the Main Offensive by Grigory Baklanov, an account of a Soviet artillery troop in the Konrad III offensive in Hungary. Baklanov was there and the writing is is sparse but brilliantly evocative (but I don't think it's just a fictionalised account of his experiences). Moving on to re-reading Frontline Stalingrad by Victor Nekrasov, which I first read donkey's years ago. Again, just beautifully written, don't think I fully appreciated it first time round.

 

Factual-wise, just started David Stahel's Battle for Moscow, covering the final phase of Operation Typhoon in November '41. Heartily recommend Stahel's series of books on Operation Barbarossa and beyond - they give a real insight into the failure of Barbarossa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gone the Dark Night by Graham Clayton. A history of 488(NZ) squadron during WW2. One I had been keeping an eye out for for a while & was pleased to pick it up a couple of months ago for not too much. Really interesting but slightly irritating with the odd bit of erroneous info that grates a bit,  nothing too serious though. 488 operated Beaufighters & Mosquitos in the Intruder & Night Fighter role.

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rules of Evidence by American author Jay Brandon. His legal novels are written from his own court experience and the closest I’ve read to what really happens in a criminal court compared to some better known authors on legal fiction which are, well, fictitious 

 

Bonus that it’s cheap on Amazon as it’s an older book now. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Riding High, by Ted Simon, a sort of sequel to Jupiter's Travels by the same author I read a couple of months ago. Some extra material that was glossed over in the early book, possibly a greater emphasis on the people rather than the places & a fair dose of reflection & introspection. Still a decent read in its own way.

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished a Christmas present from my sister in law. It is called 'The Moth and the Mountain' and is the extraordinary story of Maurice Wilson who was awarded the MC in WW1 and in the early thirties decided to fly to India and then climb Everest on his own. If it was the plot for a novel you would dismiss it as ridiculous. Gives some interesting background on the early years of Himalayan mountain climbing and the author took the trouble to experience flying a Moth (albeit a Tiger Moth) at first hand. His pilot for the air experience flights was a chap called David Morgan. 

Definitely a different read. 

Edited by Mr T
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having finished (second or third read over the years) the Johnnie Walker (English DJ) biography the other day I can thoroughly recommend it.

 

So I remembered I have a copy of 'Filmed in Supermarionation by Steven La Riviere, so I started to reread that.

All you ever wanted to know about Gerry Anderson and AP productions. Lots of pictures and facts.

This morning I thought I'd look online to see if it was still in print.

The only copies I could find were on the bay. One at forty odd pounds, and the other at sixty odd! Wow!

Anyway, I'm just coming up to Thunderbirds, so see you later!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished the latet Jack Reacher book in paperback, The Sentinel.

 

Standard Jack Reacher fare, but a lot better than some reviews I've seen suggest it was.

 

 

Edited by Whofan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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