What are you reading - Part II

[Redstaff]

Hound of the Baskervilles finished and Robinson Crusoe up next I think 🤔 

 

Ian 

[Bullbasket]

About a quarter of the way through Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club". Nothing gripping but mildly amusing. I suppose that it makes a change from my usual feed of Michael Connelly/James Paterson/John Grisham books.

 

John.

[Neil.C]

22 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

About a quarter of the way through Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club". Nothing gripping but mildly amusing. I suppose that it makes a change from my usual feed of Michael Connelly/James Paterson/John Grisham books.

 

John.

 

It's a nice easy read.

I have the second book on standby.

[psdavidson]

Just finished the Ian Fleming Bond stories on audiobook

Now started listening to Ghost Rider by Neil Peart

 

In an unusual turn of events, I'm also reading non-fiction, local history this time

Midlothian Mayhem: Murder, Miners and the Military in Old Midlothian by Malcolm Archibald

 

/P

[Nigel Bunker]

I've just finished 'Vichy Air Force at War' by Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell, an interesting book about areas of WW" that I had not taken interest in before.

 

In the fiction department, I've just finished 'The Long Call' and 'The Heron's Cry' by Ann Cleeves and am looking forward to the third instalment which is due to be published in late August. Nothing like a complicated murder mystery to while away the evenings.

[stevehnz]

Animal Farm by George Orwell. My youngest had it to read for a course at Uni & asked me would I like to reread it after about 55 years, so here I am, it won't take long but it has rekindled an interest in Orwells other books that I'll attempt to satisfy via libraries rather than buying them.

Steve.

[Bullbasket]

4 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said:

'The Long Call'

I read that about 2 months ago, after seeing the TV adaptation. In fact, it was the second time around for the TV program. About time they moved on to others in the series.

 

John.

[Dogtail2]

[kiseca]

Just finished Memoirs of a Stuka Pilot by Helmut Mahlke.

 

Now reading Memory's Legion, a collection of the short stories from The Expanse universe by the writing partnership known as James S.A. Corey. I really enjoyed the novels from The Expanse. I never bothered with the novellas until the compilation was released and I am glad I waited. They are too short to read one a year or whatever interval they were released at, but they do take me right back into The Expanse and it is nice to be able to work through them back-to-back.

[Mr T]

Bedtime reading is  'The Di Vinci Code' by Dan Brown. Never bothered before, but my brother said it is a decent read, and so far he seems to be right. 

My modelling listening book is 'Like  Nothing in the World' by Stephen Ambrose. This is a non fiction book about the building of the Transcontinental Railway in the USA. It is interesting as it something I knew little about. 

 

[Redstaff]

Nearly finished "The adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and have downloaded (Kindle) "Michael Schumacher, the edge of greatness" biography to read on holiday next week  

 

Ian  

[Guest]

For all those interested in Abe Lincoln, "And There was Light" by Jon Meacham is a recent bio. I have several books about Lincoln however this latest bio is well worth a read. 

[Dogtail2]

3 hours ago, Murfie said:

For all those interested in Abe Lincoln, "And There was Light" by Jon Meacham is a recent bio. I have several books about Lincoln however this latest bio is well worth a read. 

I have listened to a couple of Jon Meacham interviews. Although I have not read the book you mention,  I wouldn't put too much credence in anything he has written. He's a bought and paid for political hack.

[Jagdtiger1]

After 2 years of being unable to just sit down and read due to those idiots at the NHS, I have finally started to get through my massive pile of unread books. Starting with this by John Jordan, better known as the current editor of the Warship annual.

 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Dogtail2 said:

I have listened to a couple of Jon Meacham interviews. Although I have not read the book you mention,  I wouldn't put too much credence in anything he has written. He's a bought and paid for political hack.

Thanks for the comment. Meacham is not alone as many historians attempt to rewrite history once first hand witnesses have passed. When you read multiple accounts of the same past event, you quickly realised how 'interpretations' come into play. Now that I'm old enough to be able to read the history of the times of my early life (post WWII), I can see how fluid and tenuous the truth can become. History is usually written by the conqueror and rarely by the subjugated, that of the British Empire being a classic example. 

 

One should never take any historical account at face value. I try to glean the common points highlighted across multiple accounts as being most likely near to the truth. 

 

Kind regards ...

[stevehnz]

Having finished Animal Farm & being in an Orwell frame of mind, I got his "The Road to Wigan Pier" from the library. Finding it very readable but challenging from his description of mining activities, as somewhat of a claustrophobe, I felt physically repelled by them, his later descriptions of life in mine town slums left me repelled in spirit, it beggars belief such existences were still being lived in my parents time.

Steve.

[Stephen]

Cactus Air Force by Eric Hammel and Tom Cleaver.

[Selwyn]

The chat thread on Britmodeller!

 

Selwyn

[Redstaff]

The secret of Crickley Hall, by James Herbert  

 

Ian 

[stevehnz]

Cripes, tis a while since this thread has popped up & I've quite a list. I kicked for touch after the 1st part of Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier" , the second part degenerated, imho, into a rant about the political systems & options for the UK in the 1930s, tedious & of little relevance afaiwc. I followed that though with another Orwell tome, his novel based on his time as a Colonial Policeman in Burma, "Burmese Days" a somewhat sordid but nevertheless fascinating tale of a small group of ex pats keeping stiff upper lips while wallowing in hypocrisy & racism in up country Burma in the later 1920s. An interesting insight into the things that are normally glossed over in writings from that time. After that it was Tim Burcher's book "Chasing the Devil" a retracing of the Graham Greene book "Journey without Maps" from the mid 1930s, a trip through Sierra Leone & Liberia. In Burcher's take on it, it is a retracing of the Greene volume framed within his experiences as a foreign correspondent during the various civil wars that beset that region in the latter years of the 20th & early years of the 21st centuries. Utterly fascinating & superbly written. As a result of this book I got an interloan copy of Barbara Greene's "Too Late to Turn Back" her account of accompanying her better known cousin & more readable that I've ever found Graham Greene to be. While waiting for that, I chugged through, "Rivenhall, the history of an Essex Airfield" by B A Stait, picked up for a song after reading of it on here, a far more interesting read that I was anticipating. Thats all for now.  

Steve.

[Ray S]

'The Railway Children' by E Nesbit

 

It is rather fun compared to some of my other recent reads (like 'The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' by Stuart Turton)

 

Ray

[stevehnz]

The Valhalla Exchange, by Harry Patterson as he went by at it"s first release, this copy published under his later non de plume, Jack Higgins. Quite readable.

Finished now, really enjoyed it, imho, quite plausible.

Steve.

[Neddy]

On 26/06/2023 at 14:16, Bullbasket said:

About a quarter of the way through Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club". Nothing gripping but mildly amusing. I suppose that it makes a change from my usual feed of Michael Connelly/James Paterson/John Grisham books.

 

John.

This warning might come a little too late but beware - Richard Osman's books are extremely addictive!  Each one has turned out better than the previous one, the characters have developed in a fascinating fashion, the plots are gently gripping and the humour and writing style make the books unique.  Love 'em.

[Neddy]

The Time Police series by Jodi Taylor.  An excellent offshoot of the Chronicles of St Marys series - absorbing and hugely entertaining slightly sideways look at time travel.  I'm halfway through the 4th in the series and have already pre-ordered the 5th which doesn't see the light of day until next June, sadly.

[Bullbasket]

41 minutes ago, Neddy said:

This warning might come a little too late but beware - Richard Osman's books are extremely addictive! 

I must have a built in immunity then, as I gave up after about 100 pages. It was just doing nothing for me and didn't grab my attention. Obviously not my type of book.

 

John.